WHITEFIELD'S LIFE AND TIMES. 




V 



THE 



LIFE AND TIMES 



OF THE REVEHEN D 



GEORGE WHITE FIELD, M. A. 



BY 

ROBERT PHILIP, 

AUTHOR OF THE EXPERIMENTAL GUIDES, ETC. ETC. ETC, 



" Thou art p-ermitted to speak for thyself." — Acts. 
" That seraphic man ! " — Reed. 



LONDON : 

GEORGE VIRTUE, 26, TVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

BUNGAY : PRINTED BY J R. AND C CHIT.DS. 
MDCCCXXXVII. 



j 

J 



/ 



3 3 



W TO 

I JOSHUA WILSON, ESQ. 

THIS WORK, 

SUGGESTED BY HIS VENERABLE FATHER, 

THE FOUNDER AND TREASURER 
OF 

HIGHBURY COLLEGE, 
AND 

ENRICHED FROM HIS OWN VALUABLE LIBRARY, 
IS INSCRIBED, 

BY HIS OLD FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 

Newington Green, 
May 10, 1837, 



f¥3 



PREFACE. 



This Work is chiefly from Whitefield's own pen. So 
far as it is mine, it is in his own spirit. It will, there- 
fore, help all that is good, and expose not a little of what 
is wrong, in all churches ; and thus, like his actual life, 
tell upon both. At least, if it^ail to do this, my object 
will be defeated. Should its honest catholicity commend 
it, it may be followed by similar " Annals and Illus- 
trations of Evangelical Preaching," from the dawn of 
the Reformation to the close of the last century. 

In regard to the style of this Work I have nothing to 
say ; except that it is my own way of telling the facts of 
personal history. The time is not yet come, for the 
philosophy of Whitefield's Life. It is, however, fast 
approaching : and, therefore, my mass of facts will soon 
be turned to good account by myself, or by some one. 
In the mean time, Whitefield will be known to the 
public ; which he was not until now. 

R. P. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
whitefield's early life, education, and ordination 

CHAPTER II. 

WHITEFIELD'S INTRODUCTION TO LONDON 

CHAPTER III. 

WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VOYAGE AND VISIT TO GEORGIA 

CHAPTER IV. 

WHITEFIELD'S FIRST GREAT MEASURES IN LONDON, 1 739 

CHAPTER V. 

WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISITS TO THE COUNTRY 

CHAPTER VI. 

WH1TEFIELD IN WALES ..... 

CHAPTER VII. 

AVIIITEFIELD IN AMERICA .... 

CHAPTER VIII. 

WHITEFIFLD'S BREACH WITH WESLEY . 

CHAPTER IX. 

WHITEFIELD IN SCOTLAND, 1/41 



CHAPTER X. 

WHITEFIELD AND THE DISSENTERS 



X 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

WHITEFIELD' S DOMESTIC LIFE .... 

CHAPTER XII. 

WHITEFIELD AT CAMBUSLANG .... 

CHAPTER XIII. 

WHITEFIELD ITINERATING .... 

CHAPTER XIV. 

WHITEFIELD ITINERATING IN AMERICA, 1744 . 

CHAPTER XV. 

WHITEFIELD IN BERMUDAS 

CHAPTER XVI. 

WHITEFIELD RANGING . . . . . 

CHAPTER XVII. 

WHITEFIELD IN IRELAND . 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTERISTIC SAYINGS, 1734 TO 1745 

CHAPTER XIX. 

WHITEFIELD REVISITING . 

CHAPTER XX. 

WHITEFIELD IN LISBON, 1754 . 

CHAPTER XXI. 

WHITEFIELD AND THE LONDON MORAVIANS 

CHAPTER XXII. 

WHITEFIELD'S INFLUENCE IN AMERICA. FIRST PART . 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

WHITEFIELL'S PUBLIC SPIRIT . 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXIV. page 

WHITEFIELD'S INFLUENCE IN AMERICA. SECOND PART . . 46/ 

CHAPTER XXV. 

WHITEFIELD AND THE BISHOPS ..... 4/3 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

whitefield's LAST LABOURS AT HOME .... 484 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

WHITEFIELD AND EDMUND-HALL ..... 491 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
whitefield's last VOYAGE ...... 497 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

WHITEFIELD AND THE NOBILITY . . . . . 507 

CHAPTER XXX. 

WHITEFIELD'S LAST ITINERACY ..... 520 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

WHITEFIELD'S FUNERAL ...... 535 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

WHITEFIELD'S CHARACTERISTICS ..... 552 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

WHITEFIELD PREACHING ...... 573 



WHITEFIELD'S LIFE AND TIMES. 



CHAPTER I. 

whitefield's early life, education, and ordination. 

" I was born in Gloucestershire, in the month of December, 
1714. My father and mother kept the Bell Inn." In this un- 
assuming manner Whitefield commences a brief memoir of 
himself. It will not, however, be uninteresting to add some 
particulars respecting his family. His great-grandfather, the 
Rev. Samuel Whitefield, born at Wantage, in Berkshire, was 
rector of North Ledyard, in Wiltshire, and afterwards of Rock- 
hampton. In the latter charge he was succeeded by his son, 
Samuel, who died without issue. Two of his daughters were 
married to clergymen. Andrew, Whitefield's grandfather, was 
a private gentleman, and lived retired upon his estate. He had 
fourteen children ; Thomas, the eldest, was the father of the 
Rev. George Whitefield. Mr. Thomas Whitefield was bred to 
the business of a wine merchant, in Bristol, but afterwards kept 
an inn in the city of Gloucester. . While in Bristol he married 
Miss Elizabeth Edwards, a lady related to the families of Black- 
well and Dinmour, of that city. He had six sons, of whom 
George was the youngest, and one daughter. 

Concerning his father and mother, Whitefield writes : " The 
former died when I was two years old ; the latter is now alive, 



2 



whitefield's life and times. 



(she died in December, 1751, in the 71st year of her age,) and 
has often told me how she endured fourteen weeks' sickness, 
after she brought me into the world ; but was used to say, even 
when I was an infant, that she expected more comfort from me 
than from any other of her children. This, with the circum- 
stance of my being born in an inn, has been often of service to 
me, in exciting my endeavours to make good my mother's ex- 
pectations, and so follow the example of my dear Saviour, who 
was born in a manger belonging to an inn." 

This amiable solicitude to realize his mother's " expectations," 
is the more worthy of notice, because, whatever she was as a 
mother, she was not distinguished as a christian. This seems 
more than implied in the following lamentation, extracted from 
one of his letters : " Why is my honoured mother so solicitous 
about a few paltry things, that will quickly perish ? Why will 
she not come and see her youngest son, who will endeavour to 
be a Joseph to her, before she dies ? " Such was his suspense in 
regard to the spiritual state of his parent ; and yet he gratefully 
owns the salutary influence of her maternal hopes upon his mind, 
and, while afar off on the Atlantic, commemorates her tender- 
ness. " My mother was very careful of my education, and 
always kept me, in my tender years, (for which I never can suf- 
ficiently thank her,) from intermeddling in the least with the 
tavern business." (This paragraph was written on board the 
Elizabeth, during the voyage to Philadelphia.) Now these ac- 
knowledgments were penned during the heat of his zeal and the 
height of his popularity ; at a period when recent converts are 
prone to speak with harshness of their unconverted relatives, 
and to sink the child in the champion towards them. This is 
so common, and, to say nothing of its cruelty, so unwise, that I 
could not record this pleasing exception, without holding it up 
to general imitation. " The servant of the Lord must not 
strive ; but be gentle towards all, — apt to teach, — patient ; in 
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves ; if God, 
peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging 
of the truth." 

Whitefield's humiliating recollections of his own early and 
inveterate opposition to " the truth," contributed, no doubt, to 



whitefield's life and times. 



3 



moderate his natural impatience towards others. The following 
is his own narrative of that period. 

" My infant years must necessarily not be mentioned ; yet I 
can remember such early stirrings of corruption in my heart, as 
abundantly convince me that I was conceived and born in sin ; 
that in me dwelleth no good thing by nature ; and that, if God 
had not freely prevented me by his grace, I must have been for 
ever banished from his presence. I was so brutish as to hate 
instruction ; and used, purposely, to shun all opportunities of 
receiving it. I soon gave pregnant proofs of an impudent 
temper. Lying, filthy talking, and foolish jesting, I was much 
addicted to, even when very young. Sometimes I used to curse, 
if not swear. Stealing from my mother I thought no theft at 
all, and used to make no scruple of taking money out of her 
pockets before she was up. I have frequently betrayed my 
trust, and have more than once spent money I took in the house, 
in buying fruit, tarts, &c. to satisfy my sensual appetite. 
Numbers of sabbaths have I broken, and generally used to be- 
have myself very irreverently in God's sanctuary. Much money 
have I spent in plays, and in the common amusements of the 
age. Cards, and reading romances, were my heart's delight. 
Often have I joined with others in playing roguish tricks ; but 
was generally, if not always, happily detected : for this I have 
often since, and do now, bless and praise God." 

This enumeration of youthful vices and follies, is certainly 
minute, and, in one sense, gratuitous ; but, when the spirit and 
design of the confessions are duly weighed, no man will venture 
to laugh at them, except those who regard sin as a " light mat- 
ter" Every candid mind must be conscious of seeing itself in 
young Whitefield, " as in a glass ;" and every spiritual mind 
will not fail to deplore these early exhibitions of depravity, nor 
to mark this modern exemplification of an ancient truth, " Thou 
makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth." (Job xiii. 26.) 
Were these acknowledgments written in the spirit, or for the 
same purpose, as Rousseau's unblushing " Confessions," I should 
despise myself, as well as insult the public, were I inclined to 
transcribe them. Were they even calculated to suggest the 
bare idea of uncommon sins, I should not have hesitated to 

B 2 



4 



whitefield's life and times. 



merge the particulars in some general charge of corruption : 
but, besides carrying their antidote along with them, in their 
penitential tone and spirit, they are but too common, however 
melancholy. Bishop Lavington, indeed, affects great horror 
and disgust at them, and compares them with the confessions 
of " the wild and fanatical Theresa" in his treatise " On the En- 
thusiasm of Methodists and Papists — a book, to which his own 
description of Whitefield's confessions is far more applicable 5 
" so ludicrous, filthy, and shameless, as quite defiles paper, and 
is shocking to decency and modesty." Such a "perfect Jakes" 
of ribaldry never issued from the episcopal bench ; and yet it 
found an editor in the vicar of Manaccan, in 1820 ! 

I shall have occasion, more than once, to refer to both the 
bishop and the vicar. In the mean time, I cannot but allow 
Whitefield to speak for himself, on the subject of his early life. 
" It would be endless to recount the sins and offences of my 
younger days. ' They are more in number than the hairs of my 
head.'' My heart would fail me at the remembrance of them, 
was I not assured that my Redeemer liveth to make interces- 
sion for me ! However the young man in the gospel might 
boast, that he had kept the commandments from his s youth 
up/ with shame and confusion of face I confess that I have 
broken them all from my youth. Whatever foreseen fitness for 
salvation others may talk of and glory in, I disclaim any such 
thing : if I trace myself from my cradle to my manhood, I can 
see nothing in me but a fitness to be damned. 6 I speak the 
truth in Christ : I lie not I ' If the Almighty had not prevented 
me by his grace, and wrought most powerfully on my soul — 
quickening me by his free Spirit, when dead in trespasses and 
sins, I had now either been sitting in darkness and in the 
shadow of death, — or condemned, as the due reward of my 
crimes, to be for ever lifting up my eyes in torments. But such 
was the free grace of God to me, that though corruption worked 
so strongly in my soul, and produced such early and bitter 
fruits, — yet I can recollect, very early, movings of the blessed 
Spirit upon my heart. I had, early, some convictions of sin. 
Once, I remember, when some persons (as they frequently did) 
made it their business to tease me, I immediately retired to 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



5 



my room, and kneeling down, with many tears, prayed over the 
118th Psalm." 

It appears from the narrative, that, on this occasion, the mind 
of young Whitefield fastened chiefly upon the words, " In the 
name of the Lord will I destroy them." This, of course, he ap- 
plied to his teasing enemies, who had " compassed him about 
like bees :" a coincidence likely to be noticed by an irritated 
boy, of quick perceptions. Even men are but too prone, when 
injured, to appropriate the Messiah's weapons to their own war- 
fare ; — as if revenge could be sanctified by the use of sacred 
language. But what is pitiable in the boy, is contemptible in 
the man. This happened when Whitefield was only ten years 
old ; but the following hint will account for the facility with 
which he turned to a psalm suited to his purpose. " I was 
always fond of being a clergyman, and used frequently to imitate 
the minister's reading prayers, &c." Such being his favourite 
habit at the time, he was sure to be familiar with the impre- 
catory psalms, of which so many occur in the book of Common 
Prayer. 

We have seen that he was addicted to petty thefts. The 
manner in which he seems to have reconciled his conscience to 
them, is not peculiar to boys. " Part of the money I used to 
-steal from my mother I gave to the poor, and some books I pri- 
vately took from others (for which I have since restored four- 
fold) I remember were books of devotion." 

" When I was about twelve, I was placed at a school, called 
St. Mary De Crypt, in Gloucester : the last grammar school I 
ever went to. Having a good elocution and memory, I was 
remarked for making speeches before the corporation, at their 
annual visitation. During the time of my being at school, I 
was very fond of reading plays, and have kept from school for 
days together, to prepare myself for acting them. My master, 
seeing how mine and my schoolfellows' vein ran, composed 
something of this kind for us himself, and caused me to dress 
myself in girls' clothes, (which I had often done,) to act a part 
before the corporation." Thus he contracted that taste for 
theatrical amusements, which gave rise to the well-known in- 
sinuation, that he learned his peculiar style of oratory upon the 



6 whitefield's life and times, 

stage. This, however, is not the fact : his acting was confined 
to the boards of St. Mary De Crypt, and to his own chamber. 
But his fondness for this species of amusement was not left at 
school. When seventeen years of age, he was not weaned from 
this folly. Even while at college he says, "I was not fully 
satisfied of the sin of reading plays, until God, upon a fast day, 
was pleased to convince me. Taking a play, to read a passage 
out of it to a friend, God struck my heart with such power, that 
I was obliged to lay it down again." 

How deeply he deplored the cause stnd consequences of this 
habit, appears from the following remarks. " I cannot but 
observe here, with much concern of mind, how this way of 
training up youth has a natural tendency to debauch the mind, 
to raise ill passions, and to stuff the memory with things as 
contrary to the gospel of Christ, as darkness to light — hell to 
heaven." This fatal " tendency " was but too fully exempli- 
fied when at school. " I got acquainted with such a set of de- 
bauched, abandoned, atheistical youths, that if God, by his free, 
unmerited, and special grace, had not delivered me out of their 
hands, I should have sat in the scorners' chair, and made a 
mock at sin. By keeping company with them, my thoughts of 
religion grew more and more like theirs. I went to public 
service only to make sport, and walk about. I took plea- 
sure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason as they did, 
and to ask, why God had given me passions, and not permitted 
me to gratify them ? In short, I soon made great proficiency 
in the school of the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in 
a fair way of being as infamous as the worst of them." This, 
not oratory, was what young Whitefield learned from plays and 
acting. He fell into sins, of which he says, — " their dismal ef- 
fects I have felt and groaned under ever since" 

Of course, this progress in vice was gradual. During his 
first two years at school, he bought, and read with much atten- 
tion, Kens Manual for Winchester Scholars: a book com- 
mended to him by the use made of it by his mother in her 
afflictions. He was also a diligent scholar, and for some time 
made considerable progress in the Latin classics. But the 
amusements which alienated his heart from virtue, gradually 



whitefield's life and times. 



7 



impaired his taste for education. " Before I was fifteen, hav- 
ing, as I thought, made sufficient progress in the classics, and, 
at the bottom, longing to be set at liberty from the confine- 
ment of a school, I one day told my mother, — that since her 
circumstances would not permit her to give me a University 
education, more learning, I thought, would spoil me for a 
tradesman, and therefore I judged it best not to learn Latin 
any longer. She at first refused to consent, but my corruptions 
soon got the better of her good nature. Hereupon for some 
time I went to learn to write only. But my mother's circum- 
stances being much on the decline ; and, being tractable that 
way, I began to assist her occasionally in the public-house, till 
at length I put on my blue apron and my snuffers — washed 
mops — cleaned rooms, and in one word, became professed and 
common drawer for nigh a year and a half." 

Thus he exchanged the confinement of a school for the im- 
prisonment of an inn ; and, as might be expected in such a 
place, he, was twice or thrice intoxicated. It does not appear, 
however, that he was addicted to drinking. — " He who was 
with David when he was 'following the ewes big with young, 7 
was with me here. For, notwithstanding I was thus employed 
in a common inn, and had sometimes the care of the whole 
house upon my hands, yet / composed two or three sermons, 
and dedicated one of them, in particular, to my elder brother. 
One time, I remember, I was much pressed to self-examination, 
but found myself very unwilling to look into my heart. Fre- 
quently I read the Bible, while sitting up at night. Seeing the 
boys go by to school, has often cut me to the heart. And a 
dear youth would often come, entreating me, whilst serving at 
the bar, to go to Oxford. My general answer was, — I wish I 
could." 

" After I had continued about a year in servile employment, 
my mother was obliged to leave the inn. My brother, who had 
been bred up for the business, married ; whereupon all was made 
over to him ; and I being accustomed to the house, it was agreed 
that I should continue there as an assistant. But God's thoughts 
were not as our thoughts. By his good providence it happened, 
that my sister-in-law and I could by no means agree ; and, at 



8 



whitefield's life and times. 



length, the resentment grew to such a height, that my proud 
heart would scarce suffer me to speak to her for three weeks 
together. But, notwithstanding I was much to blame, yet I 
used to retire and weep before the Lord, as Hagar when flying 
from Sarah ; little thinking that God, by this means, was forcing 
me out of the public business, and calling me from drawing wine 
for drunkards, to draw water from the wells of salvation for the 
refreshment of his spiritual Israel. After continuing for a long 
time under this burden of mind, I at length resolved (thinking 
my absence would make all things easy) to go away. Accord- 
ingly, by the advice of my brother and consent of my mother, 
I went to see my elder brother, then settled in Bristol." 

During a residence of two months in Bristol, Whitefield ex- 
perienced some awakenings of conscience. Once, in St. John's 
church, he was so affected by the sermon, that he resolved to 
prepare himself for the sacrament, and decided against returning 
to the inn. This latter resolution he communicated by letter 
to his mother ; and the former was so strong, that, during his 
stay in Bristol, reading Thomas a Kernpis was his chief delight. 
" And I was always impatient till the bell rung to call me to 
tread the courts of the Lord's house. But in the midst of these 
illuminations, something surely whispered, — this would not last. 
And, indeed, it so happened. For (oh that I could write it in 
tears of blood !) when I left Bristol and returned to Gloucester, 
I changed my devotion with my place. Alas, all my fervour went 
off. I had no inclination to go to church, or draw nigh to God. 
In short, my heart was far from him. However, I had so much 
religion left, as to persist in my resolution not to live in the inn ; 
and, therefore, my mother gave me leave, though she had but a 
little income; to have a bed on the ground, and live at her 
house, till Providence should point out a place for me. 

" Having now, as I thought, nothing to do, it was a proper 
season for Satan to tempt me. Much of my time I spent in 
reading plays, and in sauntering from place to place. I was 
careful to adorn my body, but took little pains to deck and 
beautify my soul. Evil communications with my old school- 
fellows, soon corrupted my good manners. By seeing their evil 
practices, the sense of the divine presence, I had vouchsafed 



whitefield's life and times. 9 

unto me, insensibly wore off my mind. But God would let no- 
thing pluck me out of his hands, though I was continually doing 
despite to the Spirit of grace. He even gave me some foresight 
of his providing for me. One morning as I was reading a play 
to my sister, said I, ' Sister, God intends something for me, 
which we know not of. As I have been diligent in business, I 
believe many would gladly have me for an apprentice, but every 
way seems to be barred up ; so that I think God will provide 
for me some way or other, that we cannot apprehend.' 

" Having thus lived with my mother for some considerable 
time, a young student, who was once my schoolfellow, and then 
a servitor of Pembroke College, Oxford, came to pay my mother 
a visit. Amongst other conversation, he told her, how he had 
discharged all college expenses that quarter, and saved a penny. 
Upon that my mother immediately cried out, i This will do for 
my son ! ' Then turning to me, she said, ' Will you go to Ox- 
ford, George?' I replied, s With all my heart.'' Whereupon, 
having the same friends that this young student had, my mother, 
without delay, waited on them. They promised their interest, 
to get me a servitor's place in the same college. She then 
applied to my old master, who much approved of my coming to 
school again. In about a week, I went and re-entered myself ; 
and being grown much in stature, my master addressed me thus : 
' I see, George, you are advanced in stature, but your better part 
must needs have gone backward' This made me blush. He 
set me something to translate into Latin, and though I had 
made no application to my classics for so long a time, yet I had 
but one inconsiderable fault in my exercises. This, I believe, 
somewhat surprised my master. 

" Being re-settled at school, I spared no pains to go forward 
in my book. I learned much faster than I did before." But, 
whilst thus assiduously preparing himself for college, it does 
not appear that he began to study, with an express view to the 
ministry : if, however, this was his object at the time, and if he 
never, altogether, relinquished the design, which the composition 
of sermons betrayed, then the following events furnish a melan- 
choly insight, not only into the presumption of his own heart, 
but into the prevailing maxims of that age — upon the subject of 



10 



whitefield's life and times. 



the christian ministry. These must have been low and lax in 
the extreme, if they allowed such a young man to anticipate 
office in the church. He was, indeed, diligent in studying the 
classics, but he was, at the same time, living in the indulgence 
of secret and open profligacy. " I got acquainted with a set of 
debauched, abandoned, and atheistical youths — I took pleasure 
in their lewd conversation — I affected to look rakish, and was 
in a fair way of being as infamous as the worst of them." It is 
hardly possible to conceive that, while in this state, he should 
have contemplated the ministry as his object ; and yet there is 
reason to fear that the tone of public feeling, at the time, was 
such as to impose little check upon the morals of ministerial 
candidates. Even now holy character is not indispensable, 
either in college halls, or at national altars ; and then, as we 
shall see, it was still less so. Certain it is, that Whitefield's 
reformation was neither suggested nor enforced, in the first in- 
stance, by any thing moral or religious which the general prac- 
tice of the church insisted upon. Whatever the letter of her 
requirements calls for in candidates, the spirit of them was, in 
a great measure, evaporated in that age. 

I have, already, said that Whitefield is silent upon the subject 
of his express design in preparing himself for the University ; 
but, there being no evidence that he ever contemplated any 
other profession than the ministerial, and it being the only one 
for which he had evinced the shadow of a partiality, or was 
likely to succeed in, under his circumstances, — we must con- 
clude, that he had it in view from the beginning. Such, in all 
probability, being the fact, it might be expected, that the bare 
idea of becoming a minister would, of itself, have imposed a 
restraint upon his passions ; — but neither its own solemnity, 
nor the tone of ecclesiastical feeling at the time, had any moral 
influence upon him. " I went," he says, " to public service only 
to make sport and walk about." At this time he was nearly 
seventeen years of age : a period of life when he must have been 
capable of understanding what is expected from a clergyman. 
And yet, nothing which he saw or heard on this subject seems 
to have suggested the necessity of reformation. " God stopped 
me when running on in a full career of vice. For, just as I 



whitefield's life and times. 



11 



was upon the brink of ruin, He gave me such a distaste of their 
(his companions') principles and practices, that I discovered 
them to my master, who soon put a stop to their proceedings." 

I have been the more minute in recording this event, because 
without clear and correct ideas of the prevailing tone of public 
and ecclesiastical feeling, at the time, no fair estimate can be 
formed of the spirit in which methodism originated at Oxford. 

The breaking up of that vicious combination which existed 
in the school of St. Mary de Crypt produced an important 
change in the morals of Whitefield. "Being thus delivered 
out of the snare of the devil, I began to be more and more 
serious, and felt God at different times working powerfully and 
convincingly upon my soul." This improvement of character 
was so evident, that his friends did not fail to welcome it. It 
was, however, but external at first. " One day as I was coming 
down-stairs, and overheard my friends speaking well of me, God 
deeply convicted me of hypocrisy." This timely discovery 
fixed his attention upon the state of his heart, and gave to his 
reformation a more religious character. 

" Being now near the seventeenth year of my age, I was re- 
solved to prepare myself for the holy sacrament ; which I receiv- 
ed on Christmas day. I began now to be more watchful over 
my thoughts, words, and actions. I kept the following Lent, 
fasting Wednesday and Friday, thirty-six hours together. My 
evenings, when I had done waiting upon my mother, were gene- 
rally spent in acts of devotion, reading Drelincourt i upon Death,' 
and other practical books, and I constantly went to public worship 
twice a day. Being now upper boy, I made some reformation 
amongst my schoolfellows. I was very diligent in reading and 
learning the classics, and in studying my Greek Testament ; 
but I was not yet convinced of the absolute unlawfulness of play- 
ing at cards, and of reading and seeing plays ; though I began 
to have some scruples about it. Near this time, I dreamed 
that I was to see God on mount Sinai ; but was afraid to meet 
him. This made a great impression upon me, and a gentle- 
woman to whom I told it, said, " George, this is a call from God" 

Whatever may be thought of the dream, or of the interpretation, 
such hints have more frequently determined the character and 



12 



whitefield's life and times. 



pursuits of young men, than more rational means. There is, to 
a susceptible mind, a peculiar fascination in these mysterious 
oracles ; and, after all that has been said of their folly and fal- 
lacy, they continue to govern the choice of many, and are still 
followed as leading stars, — whilst sober advice is regarded as a 
dull finger-post on the road of life. In the present instance 
the imaginary omens were not useless. " I grew more serious 
after my dream ; but yet hypocrisy crept into every action. 
As once I affected to look more rakish, I now strove to look 
more grave, than I really was. However, an uncommon con- 
cern and alteration was visible in my behaviour, and I often 
used to find fault with the lightness of others. • One night as I 
was going on an errand for my mother, an unaccountable but 
very strong impression was made upon my heart, that I should 
preach quickly. When I came home, I innocently told my 
mother what had befallen me ; but she (like J oseph's parents, 
when he told them his dream) turned short upon me, crying out, 
' What does the boy mean ? Prithee, hold thy tongue ! 9 

" For a twelvemonth I went on in a round of duties, receiv- 
ing the sacrament monthly, fasting frequently, attending con- 
stantly on public worship, and praying, often more than twice 
a day, in private. One of my brothers used to tell me, he fear- 
ed this would not hold long, and that I should forget all when 
I went to Oxford. This caution did me much service ; for it 
set me on praying for perseverance. Being now near eighteen 
years old, it was judged proper for me to go to the University. God 
had sweetly prepared my way. The friends before applied to, 
recommended me to the master of Pembroke College, An- 
other friend took up ten pounds upon bond (which I have since 
• repaid) to defray the first expense of entering ; and the master, 
contrary to all expectation, admitted me servitor immediately." 

When Whitefield entered the University of Oxford, that seat 
of learning had not shaken off the moral lethargy which followed 
the ejectment of the 2000 nonconformists. The Bartholomew 
Bushel, under which those burning and shining lights were 
placed, proved an extinguisher to the zeal of the luminaries that 
struck into the orbit of uniformity. Those of them who retain- 
ed their light lost their heat. During the seventy years, which 



whitefield's life and times. 



13 



had elapsed since the expulsion of the nonconformists, the lsis 
had heen changing into a Dead sea, upon the banks of which 
the tree of life shrivelled into a tree of mere human knowledge ; 
and, in the adjacent halls, the doctrines of the Reformation were 
superseded, in a great measure, by high church principles. 
Even irreligion and infidelity were so prevalent at both Univer- 
sities, that when the statue of the age was chiselled by that 
moral Phidias, Butler, they seem to have furnished the model. 
" It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted by many 
persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of inquiry, 
but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious ; and, ac- 
cordingly, they treat it as if, in the present age, this were an 
agreed point among all people of discernment ; and nothing re- 
mained but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridi- 
cule, as it were by way of reprisals for its having so long inter- 
rupted the pleasures of the world." Bishop Butler s Analogy. 

So much was this the character of the after-dinner conversa- 
tions at Oxford, that the recent change from gross ribaldry 
to decorum, used to be appealed to with triumph, by Coleridge, 
and other modern advocates : a fact, which betrays the former 
state of things. Even the defences of Christianity, which issued 
from the University press during that age, betray the fatal 
secret, that they were as much wanted for the gownsmen, as for 
the public. Bishop Butler says of this state of things, " It is 
come, I know not how but he might have known soon, if he 
had studied the " analogy" between it and the discipline of the 
colleges. What else could be expected from a nation or a uni- 
versity, after seeing the brightest ornaments of the church sacri- 
ficed to rites and ceremonies ; after seeing talents, learning, and 
piety reckoned " as the small dust in the balance," when weigh- * 
ed against robes and forms? After witnessing diocesan and 
state patronage withdrawn, and exchanged for penalties on such 
grounds, it was not likely that Christianity would be better 
treated by the nation, than its faithful ministers were by the 
government. From that time, down to the year 1734, when 
Whitefield entered at Pembroke College, the motto of the Uni- 
versity might have been, " We care less for character than for 
conformity." 



14 



whitefield's life and times. 



" A dissolution of all bonds ensued ; 

The curbs invented for the mulish mouth 

Of headstrong youth were broken ; bolts and bars 

Grew rusty by disuse ; and massy gates 

Forgot their office, opening with a touch ; 

Till gowns at length are found mere masquerade ; 

The tasselled cap, and the spruce band, a jest, 

A mockery of the world ! " Coivper. 

Such Whitefield found the general character of the Oxford 
students to be. " I was quickly solicited to join in their excess 
of riot, by several who lay in the same room. Once in particu- 
lar, it being cold, my limbs were so benumbed by sitting alone 
in my study, because I would not go out amongst them, that I 
could scarce sleep all night. I had no sooner received the sa- 
crament publicly on a week day, at St. Mary's, but I was set up 
as a mark for all the polite students, that knew me, to shoot at ; 
for though there is a sacrament at the beginning of every term, 
at which all, especially the seniors, are by statute obliged to be 
present ; yet, so dreadfully has that once faithful city played 
the harlot, that very few masters, no graduates, (but the me- 
thodists,) attended upon it." 

I quote the latter part of this extract, not to deplore the fall- 
ing off in attendance, as Whitefield does : the sacrament was 

" More honoured in the breach, than the observance" 

of the statute, by such men ; but the breach illustrates both the 
state of discipline and of religion at the time. There were, 
however, some lilies among the rank thorns of Oxford. Of 
these solitary exceptions, the Wesleys and their associates were 
the most exemplary. This little band had then existed during 
five years, and were called, in derision, methodists. Their re- 
gular habits and rigid virtue, were proverbial throughout the 
University and the city. They were the friends of the poor, 
and the patrons of the serious. But, with all these excellences 
of character, the Wesleys united much enthusiasm, and an 
almost incredible degree of ignorance in regard to the gospel. 
Their avowed ohject, in all their voluntary privations and zeal- 
ous efforts, was, to save their souls, and to live wholly to the glory 



whitefield's life and times. 



15 



of God : a noble enterprise, certainly ; but undertaken by them 
from erroneous motives, and upon wrong principles. For any 
relief which their consciences seem to have obtained from the 
death of the Son of God, and the free salvation proclaimed in 
virtue of it, the gospel might have been altogether untrue or 
unknown ; so grossly ignorant were the whole band at one time. 
And yet, at this period, Mr. John Wesley was a fellow of Lin- 
coln College, and teaching others. Nine years before, he had 
been ordained by Dr. Potter, who was afterwards archbishop of 
Canterbury. 

This fact reveals one of two things : either, that the young 
men were very inattentive to the theological lectures delivered 
from the divinity chair, or that the lectures themselves were 
very unscriptural. Perhaps the fault lay partly on both sides ; 
for it is highly probable, that such young men would underrate 
the cold, systematic lectures of a professor. I am led to form 
this opinion, because the celebrated mystic, William Law, was, 
at the time, their oracle. They imitated his ascetic habits, and 
imbibed his spirit of quietism. He had said to John Wesley, 
who was likely to circulate the notion, " You would have a phi- 
losophical religion, but there can be no such thing. Religion 
is the most simple thing : it is only, We love Him because he 
first loved us." Such indefinite maxims assimilated, but too 
readily, with the mystic temper of the persons they were ad- 
dressed to ; and silent contemplation, in solitude, being the 
very spirit of Law's system, Wesley and his associates were not 
likely to relish argumentative theology, however excellent. 

The following account of their devotional habits, will illustrate 
the true character of their religious sentiments, at the time of 
Whitefield's arrival from Gloucester. " They interrogate them- 
selves whether they have been simple and recollected ; whether 
they have prayed with fervour, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 
and on Saturday noon ; if they have used a collect at nine, 
twelve, and three o'clock ; duly meditated on Sunday, from 
three to four, on Thomas a Kempis ; or mused on Wednesday 
and Friday, from twelve to one, on the Passion." Thus were 
they monks in almost every thing except the name. 

It was necessary to delineate thus minutely the original cha- 



16 



whitefield's life and times. 



racter of methodism, that its natural influence upon the suscep- 
tible mind of Whitefield may be anticipated. Suffering and 
smarting, as he did, from vicious indulgence, and now seriously 
bent upon the ministry, he was not likely to associate with the 
profligate or the profane in the University. He did not. " God 
gave me grace to withstand, when they solicited me to join in 
their excess of riot. When they perceived they could not pre- 
vail, they let me alone, as a singular, odd fellow." He did not, 
however, join himself to the methodists at once. " The young 
men, so called, were then much talked of at Oxford. I heard 
of and loved them before I came to the University ; and so 
strenuously defended them, when I heard them reviled by 
the students, that they began to think that I also, in time, 
should be one of them. For above a twelvemonth, my soul 
longed to be acquainted with some of them, and I was strongly 
pressed to follow their good example, when I saw them go 
through a ridiculing crowd, to receive the holy eucharist at St. 
Mary's." 

How much he was prepared to enter into their peculiar spirit 
when he did join them, will appear also from the following hint. 
" Before I went to the University, I met with Mr. Laws ' Seri- 
ous Call to Devout Life, 5 but had not money to purchase it. 
Soon after my coming up to the University, seeing a small 
edition of it in a friend's hand, I soon procured it. God worked 
powerfully upon my soul by that excellent treatise." Thus, like 
two drops of water, they were quite prepared to unite whenever 
they came in contact. And this soon occurred. " It happened 
that a poor woman, in one of the workhouses, had attempted to 
cut her throat, but was happily prevented. Upon hearing of 
this, and knowing that the two Mr. Wesleys were ready to every 
good work, I sent a poor aged apple-woman of our college, to 
inform Mr. Charles Wesley of it ; charging her not to discover 
who sent her. She went ; but, contrary to my orders, told my 
name. He having heard of my coming to the castle, and to a 
parish church sacrament, and having met me frequently walking 
by myself, followed the woman when she was gone away, and 
sent an invitation to me by her, to come to breakfast with him 
the next morning. I thankfully embraced the opportunity. My 



whitefield's life and times. 



17 



soul, at that time, was athirst for some spiritual friends to lift 
up my hands when hung down, and to strengthen my feeble 
knees. He soon discovered it, and, like a wise winner of souls, 
made all his discourses tend that way. And when he put into 
my hands Professor Frank's ' Treatise against the Fear of Man,' 
and ' The Country Parson's Advice to his Parishioners,' I took 
my leave. 

" In a short time he let me have another book, entitled, ' The 
Life of God in the Soul of Man ;' and though I had fasted, 
watched, and prayed, and received the sacrament so long, yet I 
never knew what true religion was, till God sent me that excel- 
lent treatise, by the hands of my never-to-be-forgotten friend. 
At my first reading it, I wondered what the author meant by 
saying, ' That some falsely placed religion in going to church, 
doing hurt to no one, being constant in the duties of the closet, 
and now and then reaching out their hands to give alms to their 
poor neighbours.' Alas ! thought I, if this be not religion, what 
is ? God soon showed me ; for in reading a few lines further, 
' that true religion was a union of the soul with God, and 
Christ formed within us? a ray of divine light was instanta- 
neously darted in upon my soul, and from that moment, but not 
till then, did I know that I must be a new creature." 

This was an important era in Whitefield's experience ; and, 
if he had been left to the guidance of the book that suggested 
the necessity of regeneration, his feet might soon have stood 
upon the Rock of ages. Pie was now in the right track to 
Calvary ; and, with his anxiety to " be born again," would have 
held on, until he had discovered that, " to as many as received 
Him, Christ gave power to become the sons of God ; even to 
them that believe on his name." But, unhappily, Whitefield 
was not left to follow out his own convictions : Charles Wesley 
— " ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish 
his own righteousness " — interfered with the young convert, 
✓and inoculated him with the virus of legality and quietism. 
Before Whitefield had time to acquire from the gospel the 
relief which his heavy-laden conscience longed for, he was 
introduced to the methodists ; from kind motives on the part 
of his zealous friend, no doubt ; but unhappily for himself. 

c 



IS 



whitefield's life and times. 



The intimacy well nigh proved fatal to his life, and to his 
reason. 

" From time to time, Mr. Wesley permitted me to come unto 
him, and instructed me as I was able to bear it. By degrees he 
introduced me to the rest of his christian brethren. I now 
began, like them, to live by rule, and to pick up every fragment 
of my time, that not a moment of it might be lost. Like them, 
having no weekly sacrament (although the Rubrick required it) 
at our own college, I received every Sunday at Christ-Church. 
I joined with them in keeping the stations, by fasting Wednes- 
days and Fridays, and left no means unused which I thought 
would lead me nearer to Jesus Christ. By degrees I began to 
leave off eating fruits and such like, and gave the money I 
usually spent in that way to the poor. Afterward I always 

^.ehose the worst sort of food, though my place furnished me with 
variety. My apparel was mean. I thought it unbecoming a 
penitent to have his hair powdered. I wore woollen gloves, a 
patched gown, and dirty shoes ; and though I was then con- 
vinced that the kingdom of God did not consist in meats and 
drinks, yet I resolutely persisted in these voluntary acts of self- 
denial, because I found them great promoters of the spiritual 
life. It was now suggested to me, that Jesus Christ was 
amongst the wild beasts when he was tempted, and that I ought 
to follow his example ; and being willing, as I thought, to imi- 
tate Jesus Christ, after supper I went into Christ- Church walk, 
near our college, and continued in silent prayer nearly two 

- hours ; sometimes lying flat on my face, sometimes kneeling 
upon my knees. The night being stormy, it gave me awful 
thoughts of the day of judgment. The next night I repeated 
the same exercise at the same place. Soon after this, the holy 
season of Lent came on, which our friends kept very strictly ; 
eating no flesh during the six weeks, except on Saturdays and 
Sundays. I abstained frequently on Saturdays also, and ate 
nothing on the other days (except Sunday) but sage-tea without 
sugar, and coarse bread. I constantly walked out in the cold 
mornings, till part of one of my hands was quite black. This, 
with my continued abstinence, and inward conflicts, at length 
so emaciated my body, that, at Passion-week, finding I could 



whitefield's life and times. 



19 



scarce creep up-stairs, I was obliged to inform my kind tutor of 
my condition, who immediately sent for a physician to me." 

While it is impossible to read this catalogue of extravagances, 
without pitying the wretched sufferer and his superstitious 
friends, it is equally impossible to refrain from smiling and 
frowning, alternately, at the gross absurdities of quietism, and 
the foolish requirements of the Rubrick. Many of both are 
equal outrages upon common sense ; to say nothing of their 
being unscriptural. But these were not the only baneful effects 
of Whitefield's intimacy with the methodists. " The course of 
my studies I soon entirely changed : whereas, before, I was 
busied in studying the dry sciences, and books that went no 
farther than the surface, I now resolved to read only such as 
entered into the heart of religion. Meeting with Castanza's 
' Spiritual Combat,' in which he says, that ' he that- is employed 
in mortifying his will, was as well employed as though he was 
converting the Indians,' Satan so imposed upon my understand- 
ing, that he persuaded me to shut myself up in my study, till I 
could do good with a single eye ; lest in endeavouring to save 
others, I should, at last, by pride and self-complacence, lose 
f anyself. When Castanza advised to talk but little, Satan said, 
I must not talk at all ; so that I, who used to be the most for- 
ward in exhorting my companions, have sat whole nights with- 
out speaking at all. Again, when Castanza advised to endea- 
vour after a silent recollection, and waiting upon God, Satan told 
pie, I must leave all forms, and not use my voice in prayer at 
all." These habits soon affected his college exercises also. 
" Whenever I endeavoured to compose my theme, I had no 
power to write a word, nor so much as to tell my christian 
friends of my inability to do it. All power of meditating, or 
even thinking, was taken from me. My memory quite failed 
me. And I could fancy myself to be like nothing so much as a 
man locked up in iron armour." 

Having twice neglected to produce the weekly theme, his 
tutor called him into the common room, after fining him, and 
kindly inquired whether any calamity had befallen him, or 
what was the reason of his neglect? " I burst into tears, and 
assured him, that it was not out of contempt of authority, but 



20 



whitefield's life and times. 



that I could not act otherwise. Then, at length, he said, he 
believed I could not ; and, when he left me, told a friend (as he 
very well might) that he took me to be really mad. This friend, 
hearing what had happened from my tutor, came to me, urging 
the command in Scripture, ' to be subject to the higher powers.' 
I answered, Yes; but I had a new revelation. Lord, what is 
man ! " 

During the progress of this direful malady, the Wesleys were 
not wanting, either in attention or tenderness, to their unhappy 
friend ; and if, like Job's friends, they were miserable comfort- 
ers, still, their motives claim the highest respect. They would 
have brought him " water from the well of Bethlehem " at any 
expense ; but, like Hagar weeping over her fainting child in the 
wilderness, their own eyes were not then opened to see that well. 
It is only bare justice to make this acknowledgment. I have 
exposed and censured, freely, the ignorance, mysticism, and su- 
perstition of the Wesleys ; I have deplored, in strong terms, the 
intimacy which Whitefield formed with the Oxford methodists ; 
and traced to their maxims and habits, as the direct cause, a 
great part of his extravagances ; but, in all this, I have been 
actuated by no prejudice against his friends, nor do my remarks 
upon methodism embrace the system as it now exists : they are, 
hitherto, entirely confined to its character at Oxford. Then, 
its influence, according to Mr. John Wesley's own acknowledg- 
ment, was that " of leading him into the desert to be tempted 
and humbled, and shown what was in his heart," Even Dr. 
Coke says of him, it is certain that he was then very little ac- 
quainted with true experimental religion. This is very obvious 
from the advice which he gave to Whitefield, when his case was 
so pitiable, that Charles Wesley was afraid to prescribe. " He 
advised me to resume all my externals, though not to depend on 
them in the least," Now, however wise the latter clause of this 
rule may be, the former part is pitiable: " all" Whitefield's 
({ externals " included many of the very habits which had un- 
hinged his mind, and ruined his health. He did, however, 
"resume" them, and the result was, "a fit of sickness which 
continued during seven weeks." His tutor seems to have been 
the only person about him who acted wisely. Charles Wesley 



wkitefield's life and times. 



21 



referred him to chapters in A Kempis : John, to the maxims of 
quietism. " My tutor lent me books, gave me money, visited 
me, and furnished me with a physician : in short, he behaved in 
all respects like a father." 

The reader must not suppose, however, that Whiteneld him- 
self arraigns the imprudence of his young friends ; or that he 
contrasts, as I have ventured to do, their measures with those of 
his tutor : no, indeed ; he records both with equal gratitude, 
and uniformly pronounces benedictions upon the authors. Even 
when he became the opponent of John Wesley, on the subject 
of " free grace," and might have pointed his arguments by an 
appeal to the early errors of his rival, he does not so much as 
hint at them, but prefaces his letter by declaring, " Was nature 
to speak, I had rather die than write against you." I, however, 
have no such scruples on this head : but, while I shall avoid 
doing injustice to the Wesleys, I shall canvass as freely their 
influence upon Whiteneld, as that of any other persons with 
whom he came in contact. The formation of his character 
must be shown, without regard to the light in which it may 
exhibit the forces that determined it. 

The seven weeks of sickness, already mentioned, Whitefleld 
calls, " a glorious visitation." " The blessed Spirit was all this 
time purifying my soul. All my former gross, notorious, and 
even my heart sins also, were now set home upon me ; of which 
I wrote down some remembrances immediately, and confessed 
them before God morning and evening." This exercise, al- 
though more humiliating and mortifying than even his fasts and 
austerities, was infinitely more useful. While they led him only 
to Castanza and A Kempis — this led him direct to the gospel, 
and to the throne of grace. Unable to sustain such views of the 
evil of sin, and having failed, in all his former efforts, to remove 
a sense of guilt by a series of observances, he was now shut up 
to the faith. " Though weak, I often spent two hours in my 
evening retirements, and prayed over my Greek Testament, and 
Bishop Hall's most excellent ' Contemplations.' " While thus 
engaged in searching the Scriptures, he discovered the true 
grounds of a sinner's hope and justification. The testimony of 
God concerning his Son became "power vuto salvatioii.''' " I 



22 



whitefield's life and times. 



found and felt in myself, that I was delivered from the burden 
that had so heavily oppressed me. The spirit of mourning was 
taken from me, and I knew what it was truly to rejoice in God 
my Saviour. For some time I could not avoid singing psalms 
wherever I was ; but my joy became gradually more settled. 
Thus were the days of my mourning ended : after a long night 
of desertion and temptation, the star, which I had seen at a dis- 
tance before, began to appear again : the day-star arose in my 
heart." 

Such is the history of Whitefield's conversion : in this manner 
was he rescued from the malignant snares of the devil, and from 
the blind guidance of friends who were unconsciously strength- 
ening these snares, and unintentionally enabling the arch-de- 
ceiver to keep this brand in the burning. This, I am aware, is 
strong language ; and, by many,, will be considered unwarrant- 
able : but, as Whitefield will ever be a grand object of attention 
in the church of Christ ; and as myriads, yet unborn, will study 
his character or hear of his conversion ; it shall not be my fault, 
if that conversion is misunderstood by posterity, or any thing 
gathered from it in behalf of such methodism as he was 
led into then. 

I duly appreciate the benevolence, the zeal, and the sincerity 
of the Wesleys ; but, in this instance, and at that time, those 
virtues rank no higher in them, than the same virtues in Ma- 
homedans or Hindoos ; — amount to no more at Oxford than 
they would at Mecca or Benares. Now if, instead of the Wes- 
leys, the same number of Walt a bees had been about Whitefield, 
inculcating their simplified Islamism ; who would have ascribed 
to them, or to it, any usefulness ? Both would have been 
arraigned, as diverting him from the gospel of Christ ; nor would 
the sincerity of the Wahabees, or the self-denying character of 
their habits, have shielded either from severe reprehension. The 
only apology that any one would have thought of offering for 
them, would have been, " I wot that through ignorance ye did 
it." In like manner I am quite ready to say of the Wesleys, 
" I bear them record, that they had a zeal of God ; hit not ac- 
cording to knowledge :" a fact, which neutralizes their Oxford 
piety into well-meant superstition. Such explanations are 



whitefield's life and times. 



23 



wanted, now that devotion apart from faith, and penitential feel- 
ing apart from the knowledge of " the truth/' are often hailed 
as conversion to God. This is a sore evil under the sun ; and 
one not easily touched, without seeming to slight symptoms of 
piety. I must, however, attempt to unmask this plausible 
"form of godliness," whatever suspicions my freedom may 
awaken. 

Whitefield, in the simplicity of his heart, calls the events of 
this period "the dealings of God" with him, and records 
them as the gradual steps by which he was led to believe in 
Christ for righteousness. And, so far as they were made in- 
strumental in discovering to him his own weakness, and in 
weaning him from sin and vanity, they were " the dealings of 
God but, so far as his maxims and habits were superstitious 
and unscriptural, God must not be identified with them, nor 
even implicated in the least. All the hand He had in this 
part of the transaction was, that he made these austerities and 
superstitions their own punishment, and prevented them from 
ruining an ignorant young man. So far as their own natural 
influence went, it increased the spirit of bondage, and diverted 
the sinner from God's appointed remedy. We have seen from 
Whitefield's own acknowledgments, and Wesley's too, that the 
further such measures were pursued, the further the methodists 
were from solid relief. Now, it cannot be supposed for a mo- 
ment, that God's dealings with the soul divert it from the 
Saviour ; nor that any thing is the work of His Spirit on the 
heart, which leads to absurdities and extravagance. And if 
this be granted, then a great part of those things in the expe- 
rience of Whitefield, which strike the mind so forcibly, lose all 
their importance, except as facts. As feelings, motives, or 
maxims in religion, they have no weight ; but were, while they 
continued, the actual rivals of faith and evangelical repent- 
ance. For any thing, therefore, which appears to the contrary, 
his conversion would not have been less genuine, if he had 
never gone through the exercise of mind produced by these 
causes. The horror, the depression, the despair, which pre- 
ceded his being born again, were neither elementary nor neces- 
sary parts of regeneration. Humanly speaking, a clear exhi- 



24 



WHITEFIELD*S LIFE AND TIMES. 



bition of the plan of salvation, if presented to him when he 
entered Oxford, would have relieved his mind at once, and in- 
troduced him into the liberty of the sons of God. He was not, 
indeed, so fully prepared to prize the gospel then, as when he 
did believe it with the heart ; but, although less humble, less 
in earnest, at the time of his arrival, even then he was 
awakened to a sense of his guilt and danger. Now, the ques- 
tion is, would not the gospel itself, if it had been preached to 
him at this time, have effected a change of heart ? Would not 
the glad tidings of a finished salvation, addressed to him, as 
he was, have melted, humbled, and converted him, without 
the preliminary process he went through ? The only thing 
valuable in that process is, the humbling effect of it ; but if 
the same kind and degree of humility would result from believ- 
ing the gospel, then, faith in Christ ought to be the first step 
pressed upon an awakened sinner. 

I have been induced to throw out these hints, because so 
many persons imagine that they have no warrant for believing 
in Christ, until they experience such convictions, and possess 
such feelings, as converts like Whitefield did. The conse- 
quence is, that they live on, looking for what they call " a day 
of power," which shall qualify them for the exercise of faith. 
This false and fatal maxim must not be allowed to shelter itself 
in the example of Whitefield ; and that it may not intrench 
itself there, I have felt it my duty to expose the true character 
of his preliminary experience. It was useful ; but how ? Not 
by its own direct influence ; that was injurious in every sense ; 
but its usefulness in humbling, and in emptying him of self- 
dependence, arose from its being overruled for good by the 
Spirit of God. This being the fact, let no one quote White- 
field's experience in proof of the necessity of going through 
such a process of awakening as he underwent. The gospel itself 
is " power unto salvation to every one that believeth and no- 
thing is religion, which precedes the belief of it, except such 
exercises as naturally lead to faith. 

Although I have grouped, into one view, the mental aberra- 
tions and bodily sufferings of Whitefield whilst at Oxford, there 
were, during the period it embraces, calm and lucid intervals, 



whitefield's life and times. 



25 



in which he combined with his studies, efforts to do good in the 
city. Like his friends, he was the friend of the poor ; but not 
without giving offence to his superiors. 

" I incurred the displeasure of the master of the college, who 
frequently chid, and once threatened to expel me, if I ever 
visited the poor again. Being surprised by this treatment, and 
overawed by his authority, I spake 1 unadvisedly with my lips, 
and said, if it displeased him, I would not. My conscience 
soon smote me for this sinful compliance. I immediately re- 
pented, and visited the poor the first opportunity, and told my 
companions, if ever I was called to a stake for Christ's sake, I 
would serve my tongue as Archbishop Cranmer served his 
hand, — make that burn first" Nor were his efforts confined 
to private houses : he constantly visited the town gaol to read 
and pray with the prisoners. One instance of this is too re- 
markable to be passed over. 

" As I was walking along, I met with a poor woman whose 
husband was then in bocardo, Oxford town gaol. Seeing her 
much discomposed, I inquired the cause. She told me, that not 
being able to bear the crying of her children, and having no- 
thing to relieve them, she had been to drown herself ; but was 
mercifully prevented ; and said, she was coming to my room to 
inform me of it. I gave her some immediate relief, and desired 
her to meet me at the prison with her husband in the after- 
noon. She came ; and there God visited them both by his 
free grace. She was powerfully quickened ; and when I had 
done reading, he came to me like the trembling jailer, and 
grasping my hand, cried out, ' I am ttpon the brink of hell ! ' 
From this time forward both of them grew in grace. God, by 
his providence, soon delivered him from his confinement. 
Though notorious offenders against God and one another before, 
yet now they became helps meet for each other in the great 
work of their salvation." 

In the same spirit he also exerted himself on behalf of his 
relations and friends at Gloucester. His discovery of the ne- 
cessity of regeneration, like Melancthon's discovery of the 
truth, led him to imagine, that no one could resist the evi- 
dence which convinced his own mind. " Upon this, like the 



26 



whitefield's life and times. 



woman of Samaria when Christ revealed himself to her at the 
well, I had no rest in my soul, till I wrote letters to my rela- 
tions, telling them there was such a thing as the new birth. I 
imagined they would have gladly received it ; hut alas ! my 
words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I was 
going beside myself." 

I have not been able to obtain any of the letters on this sub- 
ject, which he addressed to his own family ; but the following 
extract from one to a friend, will be a sufficient specimen of 
their character. 

" Lest you should imagine that true religion consists in any 
thing besides an entire renewal of our nature into the image of 
God, I have sent you a book entitled, " The Life of God in the 
Soul of Man," written by a young, but an eminent christian ; — 
which will inform you what true religion is, and how you may 
attain it ; as, likewise, how wretchedly most people err in their 
sentiments about it, who suppose it to be nothing else (as he 
tells us, page 3) but a mere model of outward performances ; 
without ever considering, that all our corrupt passions must be 
subdued, and a complex habit of virtues — such as meekness, low- 
liness, faith, hope, and the love of God and of man — be implant- 
ed in their room, before we can have the least title to enter into 
the kingdom of God. Our divine Master having expressly 
told us, that unless we " renounce ourselves, and take up our 
cross daily, we cannot be his disciples." And again, "unless 
we have the spirit of Christ, we are none of his." 

This advice met, we are informed, " with a cold reception/' 
and was an ungrateful subject to his friend at first ; and yet, even 
while it was so, such were his own confused notions of religion, that 
he urges his friend to receive " the holy communion" frequently ; 
assuring him that " nothing so much bedwarfs us in religion, as 
staying away from the heavenly banquet." As if a man who had 
no relish for the doctrine of regeneration, could have any religion ! 

Having thus noticed the line of conduct which, notwith- 
standing all his crude notions, he pursued at Oxford, — I pro- 
ceed now to record the means by which he was supported 
during his stay at the University. It will be recollected that 
his chief dependence was upon the emoluments of servitorship. 



whitefield's life and times. 



27 



" Soon after my acceptance I went and resided, and found my 
having been used to a public-house was now of service to me. 
For, many of the servitors being sick, at my first coming up, 
by my diligent and steady attendance, I ingratiated myself into 
the gentlemen's favour so far, that many who had it in their 
power chose me to be their servitor. This much lessened my 
expense ; and, indeed, God was so gracious, that with the pro- 
fits of my place, and some little presents made me by my kind 
tutor, for almost the first three years I did not put all my rela- 
tions together to above £24 expense." When he joined himself 
to the methodists, the profits of his place were, as might be 
expected, diminished : a number " took away their pay from, 
me but other sources of supply were soon opened for him. 
Some of the methodists having left Oxford about this time, and 
being solicitous to keep up the society, wrote to Sir John 
Philips of London, commending Whitefield to his patronage, 
" as a proper person" to stay and encourage their friends in fight- 
ing the good fight of faith. " Accordingly he immediately offered 
me an annuity of twenty pounds. To show his disinterestedness, 
he has promised me that, whether I continue here or not ; and 
if I resolve to stay at Oxon, he'll give me thirty pounds a year. 
If that will not do, I may have more." In this manner was he 
provided for, when his original resources failed. 

The state of his health, however, compelled him to quit, for 
a time, his " sweet retirement" at Oxford. So long as he 
could, he resisted all the persuasions of his tutor and physician, 
and all the invitations of his mother to visit Gloucester. Their 
urgency at length prevailed, and he returned home. " My 
friends were surprised to see me look and behave so cheerfully, 
after the many reports they had heard concerning me." 

" However, I soon found myself to be as a sheep sent forth 
amongst wolves in sheep's clothing ; for they immediately en- 
deavoured to dissuade me from a constant use of the means of 
grace ; especially from weekly abstinence, and receiving the 
blessed sacrament. But God enabled me to resist them, sted- 
fast in the faith ; and, by keeping close to him in his holy ordi- 
nances, I was made to triumph over all." 

" Being unaccustomed for some time to live without spiritual 



28 



whitefield's life and times. 



companions, and finding none that would heartily join me — no, 
not one — I watched unto prayer all the day long ; beseeching 
God to raise me some religious associates in his own way and 
time. ' I will endeavour either to find or make a friend* had 
been my resolution now for some time, and therefore after im- 
portunate prayer one day, I resolved to go to the house of one 

Mrs. W , to whom I had formerly read plays, Spectators, 

Pope's Homer, and such-like trifling books ; hoping the altera- 
tion she now would find in my sentiments, might, under God, 
influence her soul. God was pleased to bless the visit with the 
desired effect : she received the word gladly : she wanted to 
be taught the way of God more perfectly, and soon became ' a 
fool for Christ's sake.' Not long after, God made me instru- 
mental to awaken several young persons, who soon formed them- 
selves into a little society, and had quickly the honour of being 
despised at Gloucester, as we had been before them at Oxford. 
Thus, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer perse- 
cution." 

As his efforts and usefulness, during the period of this visit 
to Gloucester, may be viewed as the dawn of his future zeal and 
success, it will be proper, before enumerating more instances, to 
record, distinctly, the manner in which he prepared himself for 
doing good to others. 

" My mind being now more open and enlarged, I began to 
read the holy Scriptures upon my knees ; laying aside all 
other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and 
word. This proved meat indeed, and drink indeed, to my soul. 
I daily received fresh life, light, and power from above. I got 
more true knowledge from reading the book of God, in one 
month, than I could ever have acquired from all the writings of 
men. In one word, I found it profitable for reproof, for cor- 
rection, for instruction ; every way sufficient to make the man 
of God perfect, throughly furnished for every good work and 
word. About this time God was pleased to enlighten my soul, 
and bring me into the knowledge of his free grace — and the 
necessity of being justified in His sight by faith only. This 
was more extraordinary, because my friends at Oxford had 
rather inclined to the mystic divinity. Burkitt's and Henry's 



whitefield's life and times. 



29 



Expositions were of admirable use, to lead me into this and all 
other gospel truths. It is the good old doctrine of the church 
of England ; it is what the holy martyrs, in Queen Mary's 
time, sealed with their blood." To these habits of reading, 
Whitefield added much secret prayer. " Oh, what sweet com- 
munion had I daily vouchsafed with God in prayer after my 
coming to Gloucester ! How often have I been carried out 
beyond myself, when meditating in the fields ! How assuredly 
I felt that Christ dwelt in me and I in Him, and how daily did 
I walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified and 
refreshed in the multitude of peace ! " 

Such were Whitefield's private habits while attempting to be 
useful in public. His zeal and success will now be understood. 

" I always observed that as my inward strength increased, so 
my outward sphere of action increased proportionably. In a 
short time, therefore, I began to read to some poor people twice 
or thrice a week. I likewise visited two other little societies be- 
sides my own. Occasionally as business and opportunity per- 
mitted, I generally visited one or two sick persons every day ; 
and though silver and gold I had little of my own, yet in imita- 
tion of my Lord's disciples, who entreated in behalf of the 
fainting multitude, I used to pray unto Him ; and he, from 
time to time, inclined several that were rich in this world, to 
give me money ; so that I generally had a little stock for the 
poor always in my hand. One of the poor, whom I visited in 
this manner, was called effectually by God at the eleventh hour : 
she was a woman above threescore years old ; and I really be- 
lieve, died in the true faith of Jesus Christ." 

" At my first coming to Gloucester, being used to visit the 
prisoners at Oxford, I prayed most earnestly that God would 
open a door for me to visit the prisoners here also. Quickly 
after, I dreamed that one of the prisoners came to be instructed 
by me : it was much impressed upon my heart. In the morn- 
ing I went to the door of the county gaol ; — I knocked, but 
nobody came to open it. I waited still upon God in prayer ; 
and in some months after, came a letter from a friend at Ox- 
ford, desiring me to go to one Pebwor/h, who had broken out 
of Oxford gaol, and was retaken at Gloucester. As soon as I 



30 



whitefield's life and times. 



read this letter, it appeared to me that my prayer was now 
answered. Immediately I went to the prison : I met with the 
person, and finding him and some others willing to hear the 
word of God, (having gained leave of the keeper and two ordi- 
naries,) I constantly read to and prayed with them, every day 
I was in town. I also begged money for them, whereby I was 
enabled to release some of them, and cause provision to be dis- 
tributed weekly among them ; as also to put such books into 
their hands as I judged most proper. I cannot say that any 
one of the prisoners was effectually wrought upon ; however, 
much evil was prevented, many were convinced, and my own 
soul was much edified and strengthened in the love of God and 
man." 

" During my stay here, God enabled me to give a public tes- 
timony of my repentance, — as to seeing and acting plays ; for, 
hearing the strollers had come to town, and knowing what an 
egregious offender I had been, I was stirred up to extract Mr. 
Law's excellent treatise, entitled ' The Absolute Unlawfulness 
of the Stage Entertainment.' The printer at my request put 
a little of it in the news, for six weeks successively ; and God 
was pleased to give it his blessing." In this manner White- 
field employed himself during nine months ; and one effect of 
pursuing such plans was, that " the partition-wall of bigotry 
and sect religion was soon broken down" in his heart. " I 
loved all, of whatever denomination, that loved the Lord Jesus 
in sincerity." This acknowledgment stands, in his diary, con- 
nected with an account of the benefit he derived from studying 
the works of the nonconformists. Baxter's " Call " and Allein's 
" Alarm," accorded so with his own ideas of fidelity and unction, 
that wherever he recognised their spirit he acknowledged " a 
brother beloved." 

Upon this portion of his history, the mind dwells with almost 
unmixed delight : the only drawback is, the undue importance 
attached by him to dreams ; and even those, considered as an 
index to his waking thoughts, are interesting ; revealing, as 
they do, his deep solicitude on behalf of souls. His zeal was 
now according to knowledge ; — his object, at once, definite 
and scriptural ; — his measures direct and rational, — and his mo- 



whitefield's life and times. 31 

tives truly evangelical. Drawing his own hope and consolation 
immediately from the oracles of God, he led others direct 
to the same source ; shutting up to the faith those he asso- 
ciated with. In this respect Whitefleld presents a striking 
contrast to Wesley, at the commencement of his public exer- 
tions. The latter, although equally conscientious, was so 
crazed with the crude notions of the mystics, that when he left 
Oxford to visit Georgia, Law's " Christian Perfection" was 
almost his text-book, while instructing his fellow-passengers. 
Accordingly the success of the two, at the time, was as different 
as the means which they severally adopted. While Whitefleld 
won souls by reading the Scriptures, Wesley, by inculcating 
the austerities of the ascetics, laboured in vain : he was long 
" esteemed an Ishmael ; for his hand was against every man, 
and every man's hand was against him." 

During the latter part of Whitefield's residence in Gloucester, 
although " despised " by many, his friends multiplied in spite of 
all the odium which his opinions and practice called forth. 
They became urgent for his immediate ordination, and solicit- 
ous to see him in a sphere worthy of his talents and zeal. But 
such were, now, his views of the ministry, that he put a decided 
negative upon all their applications ; intrenching his refusal in 
a resolution of the diocesans, " not to ordain any under twenty- 
three years of age." He was not yet twenty-one. This ap- 
parently insurmountable objection was, however, soon removed. 
He obtained, about this time, an introduction to Lady Selwyn, 
who had marked her approbation of him by a handsome present 
of money, and by an immediate application to the bishop on his 
behalf. The character she seems to have given of him had its 
due weight with Dr. Benson. " As I was coming from the 
cathedral prayers, thinking of no such thing, one of the vergers 
called after me, and said, the bishop desired to speak with me. 
I immediately turned back, considering within myself, what I 
had done to deserve his Lordship's displeasure. When I came 
to the top of the palace stairs, the bishop took me by the hand, 
told me he was glad to see me, and bid me wait a little, till he 
had put off his habit, and he would return to me again. This 
gave me an opportunity of praying to God for his assistance, 



32 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



and adoring him for his providence over me. At his coming 
again into the room, the bishop told me that he had heard of 
my character, liked my behaviour at church ; and, inquiring my 
age, said, ' notwithstanding I have declared I would not ordain 
any one under three and twenty, yet I shall think it my duty to 
ordain you, whenever you come for holy orders.'' He then made 
me a present of five guineas to buy me a book." Thus was the 
chief external hinderance removed at once ; and with it, his hesi- 
tation vanished. " From the time I first entered the University, 
especially from the time I knew what was true and undeflled 
Christianity, I entertained high thoughts of the importance of 
the ministerial office, and was not solicitous what place should be 
prepared for me, but how I should be prepared for a place. That 
saying of the apostle, e Not a novice, lest being puffed up with 
pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil and that first 
question of our excellent ordination office, ' Do you trust that 
you are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this 
office and administration?' used even to make me tremble, 
whenever I thought of entering into the ministry. The shyness 
of Moses and some other prophets, when God sent them out in 
a public capacity, I thought was sufficient to teach me, not to 
run until I was called. He who knoweth the hearts of men, is 
witness that I never prayed more earnestly against any thing, 
than I did against entering into this service of the church, so 
soon. Oftentimes I have been in an agony in prayer, when 
under convictions of my insufficiency for so great a work ; — with 
strong cries and tears, I have frequently said, ' Lord, I am a 
youth of uncircumcised lips : Lord, send me not into thy vineyard 
yet I ' And sometimes I had reason to think God was angry 
with me for resisting his will. However, I was resolved to pray 
thus as long as I could. If God did not grant my request in 
keeping me out of it, I knew his grace would be sufficient to 
support and strengthen me whenever he sent me into the 
ministry." 

" To my prayers I added my endeavours, and wrote letters 
to my friends at Oxford, beseeching them to pray to God to 
disappoint my country friends, who were for my taking orders 
as soon as possible. Their answer was, ' Pray we the Lord of 



whitefield's life and times. 



33 



the harvest to send thee and many more labourers into his har- 
vest.' Another old and worthy minister of Christ, when I 
wrote to him about the meaning of the word novice, answered, 
it meant a novice in grace, and not in years ; and he was pleased 
to add — if St. Paul were then at Gloucester, he believed St. 
Paul would ordain me. All this did not satisfy me : I still con- 
tinued instant in prayer against gQing into holy orders, and was 
not thoroughly convinced it was the divine will, till God by his 
providence brought me acquainted with the bishop of Glou- 
cester." " Before I came home, the news had reached my 
friends, who being fond of my having such a great man's favour, 
were very solicitous to know the event of my visit. Many 
things I hid from them ; but when they pressed me hard, I was 
obliged to tell them how the bishop, of his own accord, had 
offered to give me holy orders whenever I would. On which 
they, knowing how I had depended on the declaration his Lord- 
ship had made some time ago, said, and I then began to think 
myself, that, if I held out any longer, I should fight against 
God. At length I came to a resolution, by God's leave, to 
offer myself for holy orders the next Ember-days." 

Having thus surmounted his difficulties, he proceeded at 
once to prepare himself for ordination. He had, before, satis- 
fied himself of the truth of the Thirty-nine Articles, by com- 
paring them with the Scriptures ; but it does not appear that 
the Prayer Book, as a whole, was submitted to the same test : 
he seems to have taken its truth for granted. This is the more 
remarkable, because in every thing else he was conscientious. 

" I strictly examined myself by the qualifications required 
for a minister, in St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy, and also by 
every question that I knew would be put to me at the time of 
my ordination. This latter, I drew out in writing at large, and 
sealed my approbation of it every Sunday at the blessed sacra- 
ment. At length, Trinity Sunday being near at hand, and 
having my testimonials from the college, I went, a fortnight 
beforehand, to Gloucester, intending to compose some sermons, 
and to give myself more particularly to prayer. When I came 
to Gloucester, notwithstanding I strove and prayed for several 
days, and had matter enough in my heart, yet I was so restrain- 

D 



34 



whitefield's life and times. 



ed, that I could not compose any thing at all. I mentioned my 
case to a clergyman : he said, I was an enthusiast. I wrote to 
another, who was experienced in the divine life : he gave me 
some reasons, why God might deal with me in that manner ; 
and, withal, promised me his prayers. The remainder of the 
fortnight I spent in reading the several missions of the pro- 
phets and apostles, and wrestled with God to give me grace to 
follow their good examples. 

" About three days before the time appointed for ordination, 
the bishop came to town. The next evening I sent his Lord- 
ship an abstract of my private examination upon these two 
questions : c Do you trust that you are inwardly moved by the 
Holy Ghost, to take upon you this office and administration?'' 
And, 1 Are you called according to the will of our Lord Jesus 
Christ and the laws of this realm ? ' The next morning I waited 
upon the bishop. He received me with much love ; telling me, 
he was glad I was come, and that he was satisfied with the 
preparation I had made. Upon this I took my leave ; abashed 
with God's goodness to such a wretch, but, withal, exceedingly 
rejoiced, that, in every circumstance, he made my way into the 
ministry so very plain before my face ! This, I think, was on 
Friday. The day following I continued in abstinence and 
prayer. In the evening, I retired to a hill near the town, and 
prayed fervently, for about two hours, on behalf of myself and 
those that were to be ordained with me. On Sunday morning 
I rose early, and prayed over St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy, and 
more particularly over that precept, ( Let no one despise thy 
youth.'' When I went up to the altar, I could think of nothing 
but SamueVs standing a little child before the Lord, with a 
linen ephod. When the bishop laid his hands upon my head, 
my heart was melted down, and I offered up my whole spirit, 
soul, and body, to the service of God's sanctuary. I read the 
gospel, at the bishop's command, with power, and afterward 
sealed the good confession I had made before many witnesses, 
by partaking of the holy sacrament." 

His feelings and views upon this solemn occasion, are re- 
corded, still more forcibly, in two letters to a friend. The first is 
so excellent, that no apology is required for inserting it here entire. 



whitefield's life and times. 



35 



" Gloucester, June 20th, 1736. 

" My dear friend, 
This is a day much to be remembered, O, my soul ! for, about 
noon, I was solemnly admitted by good Bishop Benson, before 
many witnesses, into holy orders ; and was, blessed be God ! 
kept composed both before and after imposition of hands. I 
endeavoured to behave with unaffected devotion ; but not suit- 
able enough to the greatness of the office I was to undertake. 
At the same time, I trust, I answered to every question from 
the bottom of my heart, and heartily prayed that God might 
say, Amen. I hope the good of souls will be my only principle 
of action. Let come what will — life or death, depth or height — 
I shall henceforward live like one who this day, in the presence 
of men and angels, took the holy sacrament, upon the profession 
of being inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon me 
that ministration in the church. This I began with reading 
prayers to the prisoners in the county gaol. Whether I myself 
shall ever have the honour of styling myself — ( a prisoner of the 
Lord/ I know not ; but indeed, my dear friend, I can call hea- 
ven and earth to witness, that when the bishop laid his hand 
upon me, I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung 
upon the cross for me. Known unto Him are all future events 
and contingencies. I have thrown myself blindfold, and, I trust, 
without reserve, into his almighty hands ; only I would have 
you observe — that till you hear of my dying for or in my work, 
you will not be apprized of all the preferment that is expected by 

G. W." 

TO THE SAME. 

" June 23. 

" Dear friend, 

Never a poor creature set up with so small a stock. * * 
* * My intention was, to make at least a hundred sermons, 
with which to begin the ministry ; but this is so far from being 
the case, that I have not a single one by me, except that which 
I made for a small christian society, and which I sent to a 
neighbouring clergyman, to convince him how unfit I was to 
take upon me the important work of preaching. He kept it for 

n 2 



36 



whitefield's life and times. 



a fortnight, and then sent it back, with a guinea for the loan of 
it ; telling me, he had divided it into two, and had preached it 
morning and evening to his congregation. With this sermon I 
intend to begin, God willing, next Sunday. * * * * Help, 
help me, my dear friend, with your warmest addresses to the 
throne of grace, that I may not only find mercy, but grace to 
help in time of need. * * * * O, cease not ; for I must 
again repeat it, cease not to pray for 

G. W." 

The intense energy of these appeals to God and man, forms 
a striking contrast to his first views of the ministry, and leads 
the mind to expect a corresponding energy in his preaching. 

" Being restrained from writing, I could not preach in the 
afternoon, though much solicited thereto. But I read prayers 
to the poor prisoners ; being willing to let the first act of my 
ministerial office be an act of charity. The next morning, 
waiting upon God in prayer, to know what he would have me to 
do, these words, ' Speak out, Paul, 9 came with great power to 
my soul. Immediately my heart was enlarged ; and I preached 
on the Sunday following to a very crowded audience, with as 
much freedom as though I had been a preacher for some years." 

The following letter illustrates the truth of this statement, 
and excites curiosity about the sermon itself. 

" My dear friend, 
Glory ! glory ! glory ! be ascribed to an Almighty Triune 
God. Last Sunday, in the afternoon, I preached my first ser- 
mon in the church of St. Mary De Crypt, where I was baptized, 
and also first received the sacrament of the Lord's supper. 
Curiosity, as you may easily guess, drew a large congregation 
together on the occasion. The sight, at first, a little awed me ; 
but I was comforted by a heartfelt sense of the divine presence, 
and soon found the unspeakable advantage of having been accus- 
tomed to public speaking when a boy at school ; and of exhort- 
ing and teaching the prisoners, and poor people at their private 
houses, whilst at the University. By these means I was kept 
from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded, I perceived the 



whitefield's life and times. 



37 



fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and amidst a crowd 
of those who knew me in my infant, childish days, I trust I was 
enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some 
few mocked, but most, for the present, seemed struck ; and I 
have since heard, that a complaint had been made to the bishop, 
that I drove fifteen mad by the first sermon. The worthy pre- 
late, as I am informed, wished that the madness might not be 
forgotten before next Sunday. Before then, I hope my sermon 
upon ' He that is in Christ is a new creature,' will be completed. 
Blessed be God, I now find freedom in writing. Glorious 
Jesus ! 

1 Unloose my stammering tongue to tell 
Thy love immense, unsearchable ! ' 

Being thus engaged, I must hasten to subscribe myself 

G. W." 

The sermon was on " The Necessity and Benefits of Religious 
Society," from Eccles. iv. 9 — 12, " Two are better than one," 
&c. That Whitefield should have chosen to commence his 
public ministry with such a subject, can only be accounted for 
by a reference to his peculiar circumstances. The social re- 
ligion of the Oxford methodists, and of the society he had 
formed in Gloucester, was a new thing, the principles of which 
required to be explained and defended. He had to leave, that 
week, the little flock collected during his visit. They were to 
be as sheep without a shepherd ; and that they might not dis- 
perse on his departure, he wisely vindicated the object of such 
meetings, and removed some of the odium attached to them. 
In this point of view, the subject was well chosen, and quite 
consistent with his determination to know nothing among men, 
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. The sermon will be 
found in the fifth volume of his works ; but as it is not printed 
from his own manuscript, it would be unfair to quote from it 
any specimens of his style. And yet, even in its present form, 
it breathes, in no ordinary degree, that freshness and warmth 
which characterize all his writings. It is not rolled from that 
"secret place of thunder" which the foregoing letters disclose 



38 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



in his bosom, and which afterward pealed like the cloud on 
Sinai ; but it contains earnests of his future energy. 

It is not generally known, and this is not the place to explain 
it, but it is the fact, that whilst Whitefield never lost sight of 
his ordination vows, his views of the form of episcopal ordina- 
tion underwent such a change, that he declared to Ralph Er- 
skine, of his own accord, " I knew of no other way then ; but I 
would not have it in that way again, for a thousand worlds." 
The letter containing this acknowledgment, will be found in 
the Scotch part of his history. 

Perhaps no mind, since the apostolic age, has been more 
deeply affected, or suitably exercised, by " the laying on of 
hands," than Whitefield's was. A supernatural unction from the 
Holy One, could hardly have produced greater moral effects. 
That high sense of responsibility, that singleness of heart, that 
entire and intense devotedness of soul, body, and spirit, which 
characterized the first ambassadors of Christ, seems revived in 
him. Accordingly, after reading the narrative of his ordination, 
we naturally expect from Whitefield a sort of apostolic career. 
This would be anticipated, were we utterly ignorant of the re- 
sult. After witnessing at the altar, a spirit wound up to the 
highest pitch of ardour, throbbing and thrilling with strong 
emotions, and, like a renovated eagle, impatient to burst off, we 
naturally look for a corresponding swiftness of flight and width 
of sweep ; and feel that we shall not be surprised by any thing 
which follows. His unbosomings of himself disclose in his 
heart a " secret place of thunder," and " a fountain of tears," 
from which we expect alternate bursts of terror and tenderness 
— bolts of Sinai, and dew of Hermon ; and we shall not be dis- 
appointed. Agreeably to his engagement with Sir John Philips, 
Whitefield returned to Oxford, and took out his bachelor's de- 
gree. During his residence, he resumed the care of the me- 
thodist society, and of the poor. His stay at Oxford was, how- 
ever, but short. He received and accepted an invitation to 
officiate for a time in the chapel of the Tower of London. 
His first sermon in the metropolis was, however, preached in 
Bishopsgate church. On entering the pulpit, his juvenile aspect 
excited a general sneer of contempt ; but he had not spoken 



wkitefield's life and times. 



39 



long, when the sneer gave place to universal symptoms of won- 
der and pleasure. The sermon stamped his character at once ; 
and from that time his popularity in London continued to in- 
crease. During his stay, which only extended to two months, 
he maintained his usual habits of visiting the prisoners and the 
poor. 

About this time, letters were received from the Wesleys and 
Ingham, then in Georgia. Their descriptions of the moral con- 
dition of the British colonies in America, affected his heart 
powerfully, and awakened in him a strong desire to preach the 
gospel abroad. It was an undertaking suited to his energetic and 
enterprising character ; and therefore sunk deeply amongst his 
thoughts. He could not, however, come to a final determination 
then, and therefore he returned to Oxford again. There, 
Whitefield devoted the chief part of his time to the study of 
Henry's Commentary ; which seems to have been a favourite 
book amongst his associates in the University. " God," says he, 
" works by him (Henry) greatly here." How highly he prized 
his own copy, may be judged from his gratitude when he was 
able to pay for it. To the friend who furnished it, he writes, 
" Herewith I send you seven pounds to pay for Mr. Henry's 
Commentary. Dear Esqr. Thorold made me a present of ten 
guineas, so that now (for ever blessed be divine goodness !) I 
can send you more than I thought for." In a former letter he 
had said, " I hope to send you, in a short time, two guineas to- 
wards paying for Henry's Exposition." 

The study of this invaluable work was soon interrupted, by 
an invitation to officiate for a short time at Dummer in Hamp- 
shire. This was a very different sphere to any he had been ac- 
customed. The people were equally poor and illiterate ; but he 
was soon reconciled to them, and acknowledged that during his 
stay he had " reaped much spiritual benefit." While he con- 
tinued at Dummer, he adhered rigidly to his system of econo- 
mizing time ; dividing the day into three equal parts ; eight 
hours for sleep and meals ; eight for public prayers, catechising, 
and visiting ; and eight for study and devotional retirement. 

While thus occupied in obscurity, he was not forgotten in 
London : a profitable curacy in the metropolis was offered to 



40 



whitefield's life and times. 



him ; but the chord touched by the spiritual wants of Georgia, 
had not ceased to vibrate in his inmost soul. From the moment 
it was struck, Oxford had no magnet, Hampshire no charms, 
the metropolis no fascination, for the young evangelist. He 
promptly and decidedly declined the lucrative and attractive 
curacy, being intent on going abroad. And an opportunity of 
gratifying his truly missionary spirit soon presented itself. 
" He received letters," says Dr. Gillies, " containing what he 
thought to he an invitation to go to Georgia, from Mr. John 
Wesley, whose brother came over about this time to procure 
more labourers." The doctor might have said " letters containing 
what ivas an invitation :" for although, at a future period, it 
was insinuated that Whitefield had intruded himself upon the 
sphere of the Wesleys in America, the imputation is unwarrant- 
ed. Charles Wesley both urged and encouraged him to leave 
England. The following extracts are from a poem addressed 
to Whitefield by Charles Wesley, at the time. 

1. 

" Servant of God, the summons hear - t 
Thy Master calls — arise, obey ! 
The tokens of his will appear, 
His providence points out the way. 
****** 

8. 

" Champion of God, thy Lord proclaim; 
Jesus alone resolve to know ; 
Tread down thy foes in Jesus' name ; 
Go ! conquering and to conquer, go. 
9. 

" Through racks and fires pursue thy way ; 
Be mindful of a dying God ; 
Finish thy course, and win the day ; 
Look up — and seal the truth with blood ! " 

This impassioned adjuration to proceed to America, proves 
that Whitefield did not intrude himself on the mission, nor run 
unsent. Had Dr. Southey observed those lines, he would not 
have said, that " Charles did not invite him to the undertak- 
ing." The truth is, both brothers appealed to him in the form 
most likely to win his consent ; making the call appear to be 



whitefield's life and times. 



41 



from God. " Only Mr. Delamotte is with me," says John, " un- 
til God shall stir up the hearts of some of his servants to come 
over and help us. What if thou art the man, Mr. Whitefield ? 
Do you ask me what you shall have ? Food to eat, and raiment 
to put on ; a house to lay your head in, such as your Lord had 
not ; and a crown of glory that fadeth not away." This is a real 
invitation, or mockery ; and precisely in that spirit which White- 
field could not resist. Accordingly, on reading it, " his heart," 
he says, " leaped within him, and, as it were, echoed to the call." 
A concurrence of favourable circumstances at the time, enabled 
him, thus promptly, to embrace the proposal, and embark in 
the undertaking. Mr. Kinchin, the minister of Dummer, had 
been chosen dean of Corpus Christi College, and was willing to 
take upon him the charge of the prisoners at Oxford ; Harvey 
undertook to supply his place in the curacy ; and in Georgia, 
the novel sphere of usefulness, and the warm friendship of Wes- 
ley, were equally attractive, as inducements to leave England. 
The resolution thus formed, he solemnly confirmed by prayer ; 
and, that it might not be shaken by his relations at Gloucester, 
he wrote to assure them, that unless they would promise not to 
dissuade him, he would embark without seeing them. This 
promise they gave ; but they forgot it when he arrived. His 
aged mother, as might be expected, wept sorely ; and others, 
as Dr. Southey observes, who had no such cause to justify their 
interference, represented to him what " pretty preferment " he 
might have if he would stay at home. But, none of these things 
moved him : their influence was defeated by his own prayers, 
and by the weight of the bishop's opinion ; who, as usual, re- 
ceived him like a father, approved of his determination, and 
expressed his confidence that God would enable him to do much 
good abroad. From Gloucester he went to take leave of his 
friends at Bristol. During this visit, the mayor appointed him 
to preach before the corporation : even the quakers thronged 
to hear him. But the effect of his farewell sermons will be best 
told in his own words. " What shall I say ? Methinks it 
would be almost sinful to leave Bristol at this critical juncture. 
The whole city seems to be alarmed. Churches are as full on 
week-days, as they use to be on Sundays, and on Sundays so 



42 



whitefield's life and times. 



full, that many, very many are obliged to go away because they 
cannot come in. Oh that God would keep me always humble, 
and fully convinced that I am nothing without him ; and that 
all the good done upon earth, God himself doth it." — " The word 
was sharper than a two-edged sword ; the doctrine of the new 
birth made its way like lightning into the hearers' consciences. 
Sanctify it, Holy Father ! to thine own glory and thy people's 
good." 

Similar impressions were made in Bath and Gloucester, and 
unprecedented collections obtained for charitable objects. His 
stay was, how T ever, short : he was called up to London to appear 
before General Oglethorpe, and the trustees of Georgia. Hav- 
ing been accepted by them, he was presented to the bishop and 
primate, who both highly approved of his mission. But his 
departure from England was delayed for some months, owing to 
the vessel in which he was to sail not being ready at the time 
expected. He therefore undertook to serve, for a w r hile, the 
church of one of his friends at Stonehouse. In this retirement 
his communion with God was, at once, intimate and habitual. 
Could the trees of the wood speak, he says, they would tell 
what sweet communion he and his christian brethren had, un- 
der their shade, enjoyed with their God. " Sometimes as I 
have been walking," he continues, " my soul would make such 
sallies, that I thought it would go out of the body. At other 
times I would be so overpowered with a sense of God's infinite 
majesty, that I would be constrained to throw myself prostrate 
on the ground, and offer my soul as a blank in his hands, to 
write on it what he pleased. One night was a time never to be 
forgotten. It happened to lighten exceedingly. I had been 
expounding to many people, and some being afraid to go home, 
I thought it my duty to accompany them, and improve the oc- 
casion, to stir them up to prepare for the coming of the Son of 
man. In my return to the parsonage, whilst others were rising 
from their beds, and frightened almost to death to see the light- 
ning run upon the ground, I and another, a poor but pious 
countryman, were in the field, praising, praying to, and exulting 
in our God, and longing for that time when Jesus shall be re- 
vealed from heaven ' in flaming fire.' Oh that my soul may 



whitefield's life and times. 



43 



be in a like frame when he shall actually come to call me !" 
He refers to this scene in one of his letters. " Honest James 
and I were out in the midst of the lightning, and never were 
more delighted in our lives. May we be as well pleased, when 
the Son of God cometh to judgment." 

He came glowing from this mount of communion to Bristol 
again, prepared to preach the gospel with new energy ; and the 
people were prepared to hear it with new interest ; for such was 
the impatience for his return, that multitudes on foot, and some 
in coaches, were waiting to meet him, a mile from the city ; and 
a still greater number welcomed him, as he passed along the 
streets. And if the city was alarmed during his former visit, it 
was now electrified: persons of all ranks and denominations 
crowded to hear him ; and such was the pressure in every church, 
that he could hardly make his way to the reading desk. " Some 
hung upon the rails of the organ loft, others climbed upon the 
leads of the church, and altogether made the church so hot 
with their breath, that the steam would fall from the pillars 
like drops of rain." When he preached his farewell sermon, 
and said to the people that perhaps they might " see his face no 
more," high and low, young and old, burst into tears. Multi- 
tudes followed him home with tears, and many with entreaties 
that he would remain in England ; but he was firm to his pur- 
pose, and merely consented to spend the next day in speaking 
with those who had been awakened under his ministry. This 
he did from seven in the morning until midnight, when he stole 
away secretly to avoid the parade of a public escort. 

After some brief intermediate visits, he arrived again in Lon- 
don. Here invitations to preach and administer the sacrament 
poured in upon him from so many churches, and were so promptly 
accepted by him, that his friends were afraid for his health ; 
the crowds at each church being so overwhelming. But his 
answer was, " I find by experience that the more I do, the more 
I may do, for God." This was said when he was in the habit 
of preaching four times on the sabbath, and had often to walk 
ten or twelve miles in going from one church to another, and 
to preach five times in the week besides. Such unprecedented 
labours might well be, as they were, called " mighty deeds" by 



44 



whitefield's life and times 



the newspapers ; but, this kind of notice hurt his feelings. In 
a letter to a friend he expresses himself on the subject thus : 
" I suppose you have heard of my mighty deeds, falsely so called 
by the newspapers ; for I find some hack-friend has published 
abroad my preaching four times in a day ; but I beseech Mr. 
Raikes, the printer, never to put me in his news again upon any 
such account, for it is quite contrary to my inclinations and 
positive orders." To his friends, however, he was not reserved 
in communicating either the extent of his labours, or the symp- 
toms of their success. In another letter to the same person he 
writes, " Last week, save one, I preached ten times in different 
churches ; and the last week, seven ; and yesterday four times, 
and read prayers twice, though I slept not an hour the night 
before, which was spent in religious conversation, &c. God 
still works more and more by my unworthy ministry. Many 
youths here sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ ; and thou- 
sands, I hope, are quickened, strengthened, and confirmed by 
the word preached. Last Sunday (in St. Dunstan's) at six in 
the morning, when I gave my farewell, the whole church was 
drowned in tears : they wept and cried aloud, as a mother weep- 
eth for her first-born. Since that, there is no end of persons 
coming and weeping, telling me what God has done for their 
souls : others again beg little books, and desire me to write 
their names in them. The time would fail me, were I to relate 
how many have been awakened, and how many pray for me. 
The great day will discover all ! " This will be more minutely 
detailed in the next chapter. 

Having thus traced the amazing effects of Whitefield's first 
sermons, it will now be interesting to examine their general 
character, and to ascertain what were the truths which thus 
arrested and aroused the public mind. Three of these success- 
ful sermons can, happily, be identified with these " times of re- 
freshing and they may be depended on, as specimens of both the 
letter and the spirit of his preaching, because they were printed 
from his own manuscripts: that " On Early Piety ,-" that "On 
Regeneration" and that " On Intercession" Whoever will 
read these appeals, realizing the circumstances under which they 
were made, will hardly wonder at the effect produced by them ; 



whitefield's life and times. 



45 



the topics of the second and third, and the tone of all the three, 
are so different from the matter and manner of sermonizing, to 
which the public had been long accustomed. They do not sur- 
prise us at all ; because, happily, neither the topics nor the tone 
of them are " strange things to our ears." Both were, however, 
novelties, even in the metropolis, at that time. When — where 
had an appeal like the following been made in London ? "I 
beseech you, in love and compassion, to come to Jesus. Indeed, 
all I say is in love to your souls. And if I could be but an in- 
strument of bringing you to Jesus, I should not envy but rejoice 
in your happiness, however much you were exalted. If I was to 
make up the last of the train of the companions of the blessed 
Jesus, it would rejoice me to see you above me in glory. I 
would willingly go to prison or to death for you, so I could but 
bring one soul from the devil's strong holds, into the salvation 
which is by Christ Jesus. Come then to Christ, every one that 
hears me this night. Come, come, my guilty brethren : I be- 
seech you for your immortal souls' sake, for Christ's sake, come 
to Christ ! Methinks I could speak till midnight unto you ; 
I am full of love towards you. Would you have me go and tell 
my Master, that you will not come, and that I have spent my 
strength in vain ? I cannot bear to carry such a message to 
him ! I would not, indeed I would not, be a swift witness against 
you at the great day of account : but if you will refuse these 
gracious invitations, I must do it." 

In this spirit (not very prevalent even now) Whitefield began 
his ministry. And there is a fascination as well as fervour in 
some of his early sermons. How bold and beautiful is the 
peroration of that on Intercession ! Referring to the holy im- 
patience of " the souls under the altar," for the coming of the 
kingdom of God, he exclaims, " And shall not we who are on 
earth, be often exercised in this divine employ with the glo- 
rious company of the spirits of just men made perfect ? Since 
our happiness is so much to consist in the communion of saints, 
in the church triumphant above, shall we not frequently inter- 
cede for the church militant below ; and earnestly beg, that 
we may be all one ? To provoke you to this work and labour 
of love, remember, that it is the never-ceasing employment of 



46 



whitefield's life and times. 



the holy and highly exalted Jesus himself : so that he who is 
constantly interceding for others, is doing that on earth, which 
the eternal Son of God is always doing in heaven. Imagine, 
therefore, when you are lifting up holy hands for one another, 
that you see the heavens opened, and the Son of God in all his 
glory, as the great High Priest of your salvation, pleading for 
you the all-sufficient merit of his sacrifice before the throne. 
Join your intercessions with His! The imagination will 
strengthen your faith, and excite a holy earnestness in your 
prayers.'' 



CHAPTER II. 



WHITEFIELD'S INTRODUCTION TO LONDON. 

Whitefield's ministry in London began at the Tower — an un- 
likely quarter for attraction or effect. The curate of the 
Tower, who had been his friend at college, having occasion to 
officiate in Hampshire for a season, invited him to supply 
during his absence. Sir John Philips also sanctioned the re- 
quest, and joined in it. Little did either of these good men, 
and still less did Whitefield himself* foresee the remote, or 
even the immediate, consequences of this invitation. And it is 
well they did not ! For had they foreseen Whitefield's splen- 
did irregularities in Moorfields and Blackheath, or his spacious 
tabernacles in London, or even his moderate Calvinism, they 
would not have countenanced him. He himself, notwithstand- 
ing all his constitutional bravery and conscientious simplicity, 
would not have hazarded the experiment, had he suspected the 
result. 

How little he did so, will be best told in his own words. 
" On Wednesday, August 4th, 1737, with fear and trembling I 
obeyed the summons, and went in the stage coach to London ; 
and the Sunday following, in the afternoon, preached at Bi- 
shopsgate church. As I went up the pulpit stairs, almost all 
seemed to sneer at me, on account of my youth. But they 
soon grew serious in the time of my preaching ; and after I 
came down, showed me great tokens of respect, blessed me as 
I passed, and made great inquiry who I was. The question no 
one could answer ; for I was quite a stranger : and, by passing 
speedily through the crowd, returned to the Tower without 
having my name discovered." 



48 



whitefield's life and times. 



" Here (at the Tower) I continued for the space of two 
months, reading prayers twice a week, catechising and preach- 
ing once, besides visiting the soldiers in the infirmary and bar- 
racks daily. I also read prayers every evening in Wapping 
chapel." (It was, no doubt, in going between the Tower and 
Wapping chapel, that his well known expression, " Wapping 
sinners" was first forced upon him.) " I preached at Ludgate 
prison every Tuesday." (This also, together with his visits to 
the castle at Oxford, will account for the frequency of the forms 
of judicial trial and condemnation, in his sermons to the un- 
godly.) " God was pleased to give me favour in the eyes of 
the inhabitants of the Tower. The chapel was crowded on 
Lord's days. Religious friends from various parts of the town 
attended the word, and several young men on Lord's-day morn- 
ing, under serious impressions, came to converse with me on the 
new birth." 

So far all is pleasing; but there was nothing surprising 
marked Whitefield's first visit to London. That it made no 
great impression on himself, is evident from the perfect simpli- 
city with which he records its close : " Having staid in London 
until Mr. B. came out of the country, I returned to my little 
charge at Oxford, and waited on my deaconship according to 
the measure of grace imparted to me." Even when he was 
invited to " a very profitable curacy " in London, and urged to 
accept it, he says, " I had no inclination to accept it. At 
Dummer I soon began to be as much delighted with the artless 
conversation of the poor illiterate people, as I had been formerly 
with the company of my Oxford friends ; and frequently learnt 
as much by an afternoon's visit, as by a week's study." 

It was therefore for the sake of Georgia, solely, that he came 
back to London. The metropolis was to Whitefield, then, 
merely the way to America. Accordingly, he did not seek for 
engagements, nor volunteer his services, on his arrival from 
Oxford. Indeed, he does not seem to have contemplated 
preaching. " I followed my usual practice of reading and 
/praying over the word of God on my knees. Sweet was this 
retirement to my soul — but it was not of long continuance. In- 
vitations were given me to preach at several places." Not, 



whitefield's life and times. 



49 



however, that he was unwilling to preach. All I want to show 
is, that he had no designs upon London, and no idea of creating 
a sensation in it. He could not, however, be hid long. His 
former visit was not forgotten, and his fame in Bristol had 
reached the metropolis. " The stewards and members of the 
religious societies " found him out, and forced him out, on be- 
half of their charity schools : a work which their successors 
carry on, with great fidelity and perseverance, to this hour ! 
I mean no reflection upon stewards. They thus call out minis- 
ters, who would otherwise shrink from publicity ; and extend 
over London the influence of talents and piety, which must 
otherwise have been confined to a corner. It is not their fault, 
if another Whitefield has not been found out. Had there been 
another in the empire since, the nets of religious societies would 
have caught him : and, whenever there is another, they are sure 
to bring him into full notice and employment ! Whitefield says, 
with great simplicity, " The stewards of religious societies were 
very fond of hearing me." No wonder : he collected upwards of 
a thousand pounds for the schools alone ; " in those days," says 
Dr. Southey, " a prodigious sum ; larger collections being made 
than had ever before been known on like occasions." 

Whitefield himself has drawn a distinction between the feel- 
ings with which he accepted invitations from societies, and the 
feelings with which he assisted clergymen on the sabbath. " I 
embraced the invitations to preach and assist in administering 
the sacrament." " With great reluctance I was prevailed on to 
preach a charity sermon at Wrapping chapel." On both occa- 
sions he was, however, equally successful. i( So many came" 
to the sacrament at Cripplegate, St. Anne's, and Foster Lane, 
" that sometimes we were obliged to consecrate fresh elements 
twice or thrice, and the stewards found it somewhat difficult to 
carry the offerings to the communion table." In like manner, 
" more was collected at Wapping chapel, for the charity, than 
had been for many years." At St. Swithin's also, instead of 
ten shillings, as formerly, " eight pounds were collected." 

This was too great a novelty then to be concealed. " Next 
morning as I was at breakfast with a friend at the Tower, I read 
in one of the newspapers, that there was a young gentleman going 

E 



50 



whitefield's life and times. 



volunteer to Georgia, had preached at St. Swithin's, and col- 
lected eight pounds, instead of ten shillings ; three pounds of 
which were in halfpence ; and that he would preach next Wed- 
nesday before the societies, at their general quarterly meeting. 
This advertisement chagrined me very much. I immediately 
sent to the printer, desiring he would put me in his paper no 
more. His answer was, that he was paid for doing it, and 
would not lose two shillings for any body. By this means peo- 
ple's curiosity was stirred up more and more. On Wednesday 
evening Bow church, in Cheapside, was crowded exceedingly. 
I preached my sermon on Early Piety ; and at the request of 
the societies printed it. Henceforward, for nearly three months 
successively, there was no end of people's nocking to hear the 
word of God. Sometimes constables were obliged to be 
placed at the doors, without and within. One might, as it were, 
walk upon the people's heads. Thousands went away from the 
largest churches for want of room. I now preached generally 
nine times a-week. The people were all attention, as hearing 
for eternity ! The early sacraments were exceedingly awful ! 
Oh how often at Cripplegate, St. Anne's, and Foster-lane, 
have we seen Jesus Christ crucified and evidently set forth be- 
fore us ! On Sunday mornings, long before day, you might see 
^streets filled with people going to church, with their lanthorns 
in their hands ; and hear them conversing about the things of 
God." 

By thus specifying the spot where Whitefield preached his 
first published sermon, Bow church will be reconsecrated, in the 
estimation of many, and Bow bells sound more sweetly. Such 
is the force of association. Its laws, like those of nature, can 
neither be set aside nor weakened. Only hallowed men can 
make hallowed ground ; and no minister becomes hallowed to 
posterity, but "he that winneth souls." Accordingly, Bow 
bells remind us of no one but Whitefield. His one sermon in- 
vests that church with more sacredness than its consecration, 
and with more interest than the whole series of its corporation 
sermons. 

There is neither venom nor vapouring in this remark. Visitors 
from the country, and from America, pause even in Cheapside 



whitefield's life and times. 



51 



to gaze at the spire under which George Whitefield preached. 
They remember no one else. Why ? Because no one else has 
"so preached" there, "that many believed." Thus it is only 
the salvation of immortal souls that stamps religious immor- 
tality upon " solemn temples." Accordingly, not all the talent 
and piety which graced the pulpit at Whitehall during the Pro- 
tectorate, nor all the rank which has been in it and around it 
since, can awaken one spiritual emotion or recollection. Even 
Baxter, Owen, and Howe, can hardly be realized there, as 
ministers of the glorious gospel. A barn, where either of them 
had preached Christ to the poor and the perishing, would make 
our hearts burn within us ; but in the chapel-royal, they are 
remembered only as great men. Had Simeon of Cambridge, 
that " Paul the aged," preached there but once, before singing 
his Nunc dimittis, he would have been more remembered by 
posterity, than all his late predecessors put together. It is ut- 
terly in vain to sneer or reason against this law of association. 
Nothing gains or retains a hallowed hold upon the sympathies of 
the pious, but usefulness. Mere talent and heartless orthodoxy 
can no more endear or dignify a church now, than relics from 
Rome or Jerusalem. 

But, to return. Whitefield had soon to pay the usual price 
of popularity. " As my popularity and usefulness increased, 
opposition increased proportionably. At first, many of the 
clergy were my hearers and admirers ; but some soon grew angry, 
and complaints were made that there was no room for the 
parishioners, and that the pews were spoiled. Some called me 
a spiritual pickpocket ; and others thought I made use of a 
charm to get the people's money. A report was spread abroad 
that the bishop of London, upon the complaint of the clergy, 
intended to silence me. I immediately waited upon his Lord- 
ship, and inquired whether any complaint of this nature had 
been lodged against me. He answered, No. I asked his Lord- 
ship whether any objection could be made against my doc- 
trine ? He said, ' No : for he knew a clergyman who heard 
me preach a plain scriptural sermon.' I asked his Lordship 
whether he would grant me a license ? He said, ' I needed 
none, as I was going to Georgia.' I replied — ' Then your Lord- 

e 2 



52 



whitefield's life and times. 



ship would not forbid me.' He gave me a satisfactory answer 
— and I took my leave." 

Why has Dr. Southey stripped the bishop's courtesy of all 
its grace ? He says of the bishop, " Evidently he thought this 
(Georgia) a happy destination for one whose fervent spirit was 
likely to lead him into extravagances of doctrine as well as of 
life." This is no compliment to his Lordship's wisdom, what- 
ever it be to his policy. Even his policy was bad, if this be 
true ; for what could be worse in principle or policy, than let- 
ting loose upon an infant colony an extravagant chaplain ? 
Thus Dr. Southey has imputed to the bishop, unwittingly, a 
heartless, if not reckless, indifference to the religious interests 
of Georgia ; for if Whiteheld was dangerous even in London, 
where he could easily be counteracted, if not controlled, how 
much more dangerous he must have been in a distant colony ! 
This inference is inevitable, if there was any real danger to be 
apprehended from Whitefield's doctrine or example. It is easy 
to say, that " the whole force of his enthusiasm might safely 
expend itself" in Georgia ; but Dr. Southey should not have 
said this ; for he had just said before, of the disorders raised in 
the colony, that Charles Wesley had, " in truth, been the occa- 
sion of them, by his injudicious zeal." But, enough of this. 
Southey is no doubt right in saying, that the bishop was glad, 
and that some of the clergy rejoiced " in Whitefleld's de- 
parture," as a happy riddance. He guessed well, although he 
reasons ill, in this instance. Accordingly, the bishop's " satis- 
factory answer" to Whitefield did not prevent some of the 
London clergy from shutting their pulpits against him. " Soon 
after this, two clergymen sent for me, and told me they would 
not let me preach in their pulpits any more, unless I renounced 
that part of the preface of my sermon on Regeneration, 
wherein I wished, that my brethren would entertain their audi- 
tories oftener with discourses on the new birth. This I had 
not freedom to do — and so they continued my opposers." 

" What, I believe, irritated some of my enemies the more, 
was my free conversation with many of the serious dissenters, 
who invited me to their houses ; and told me repeatedly, f that 
if the doctrine of the new birth and justification by faith was 



whitefield's life and times. 



53 



preached powerfully in the church, there would be but few dis- 
senters in England.' Who the dissenters were that said this, 
cannot now be ascertained : but, certainly, they were not serious 
dissenters, nor sound reasoners, however serious they may have 
been as christians ; for wherever these doctrines are powerfully 
preached in the church, there are many dissenters. The pro- 
gress of both dissent and methodism keeps pace with the 
progress of evangelical sentiment in the church, and ever must 
do whilst they continue evangelical. Whitefield was, however, 
simple enough to believe what he wished, and honest enough to 
act accordingly, in this instance. " My practice in visiting and 
associating with (these dissenters) I thought was quite agree- 
able to the word of God. Their conversation was savoury ; and 
I judged, (' rightly,' says Dr. Southey,) that the best way to 
bring them over, was not by bigotry and railing, but by mo- 
deration and love, and undissembled holiness of life." 

" But these reasons w r ere of no avail. One minister called 
me a pragmatical rascal, and vehemently inveighed against me 
and the whole body of dissenters together." Dr. Southey ex- 
plains the " serious offence " thus taken by the clergy, by say- 
ing, — "for the evils which puritanism had brought on this 
kingdom were at that time neither forgotten nor forgiven." 
No thanks to the Doctor, if ever they should be so ! He has 
done all he could to perpetuate their memory. It will not, 
however, live long. The accidental evils of puritanism, like 
those of the Reformation, will soon be forgiven, and forgotten 
too, in the enjoyment of the truth and liberty which the puri- 
tans bought and sealed with their blood. WyclifFe and Baxter, 
Latimer and Owen, Cranmer and Howe, will be associated and 
enshrined names in the temple of Christianity, when all who 
have hindered their identification will be nameless, or named 
only to be pitied and wondered at for ever. 

Whitefield found pulpits in London, until he embarked for 
America. Not many, indeed, seem to have been shut against 
him. " I have been wearied almost to death," he says, " in 
preaching." " The nearer the time of my embarkation ap- 
proached, the more affectionate and eager people grew. All 
ranks gave vent to their passion. Thousands and thousands of 



54 



whitefield's life and times. 



prayers were put up for me. The people would run and stop 
me in the alleys of the churches, hug me in their arms, and fol- 
low me with wishful looks. Such a sacrament I never saw be- 
fore, as at St. Dunstan's. The tears of the communicants 
mingled with the cup : and had not J esus given us some of his 
( new wine/ our parting would have been insupportable. 

" At length having preached in a good part of the London 
churches, collected about a thousand pounds for the charity 
schools, and got upwards of three hundred pounds for the poor 
in Georgia, I left London on Dec. 28th, 1737, in the twenty- 
third year of my age, and went in the strength of God, as a poor 
pilgrim, on board the Whi taker." 

m 



CHAPTER III. 



WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VOYAGE AND VISIT TO GEORGIA. 

The settlement of Georgia was begun in 1733, by a number of 
English people, who were brought over by General Oglethorpe. 
On the first of February of that year, General Oglethorpe and 
his colony entered the Savannah river, and the same night the 
tents were first pitched where the city of Savannah now stands. 
For several days the people were employed in erecting a fortifi- 
cation, and in felling the woods, while the general marked out 
the town. The first house was begun on the ninth ; and the 
town, after the Indian name of the river which ran by it, was 
called Savannah. The fort being completed, the guns mounted, 
and the colony put into a state of safety, the next object of 
Oglethorpe's attention was, to treat with the Indians for a share 
of their possessions. 

In his intercourse with the Indians, he was greatly assisted 
by an Indian woman, whom he found in Savannah, of the 
name of Mary Musgrove. She had resided among the English, 
in another part of the country, and was well acquainted with 
their language. She was of great use, therefore, to General 
Oglethorpe, in interpreting what he said to the Indians, and 
what they said to him. For this service he gave her a hundred 
pounds a year. 

" Among those who came over with General Oglethorpe was 
a man named Thomas Bosomworth, who was the chaplain, or 
minister, of the colony. Soon after his arrival he married the 
above-mentioned Indian woman, Mary Musgrove. Unhappily, 
Bosomworth was, at heart, a bad man, although by profession 
he was a minister of the gospel. He was distinguished for his 



56 whitefield's life and times. 

pride, and love of riches and influence. At the same time, he 
was very artful. Yet, on account of his profession, he was, for 
a time, much respected hy the Indians. 

" At one of the great councils of the Indians, this artful man 
induced some of the chiefs to crown Malatche, one of the 
greatest among them, and to declare him prince and emperor 
of all the Creeks. After this, he made his wife call herself the 
eldest sister of Malatche ; and she told the Indians that one of 
her grandfathers had been made king, by the Great Spirit, over 
all the Creeks. The Indians believed what Mary told them ; 
for, since General Oglethorpe had been so kind to her, they had 
become very proud of her. They called a great meeting of the 
chiefs together, and Mary made them a long talk. She told 
them that they had been injured by the whites — that they were 
getting away the lands of the Indians, and would soon drive 
them from all their possessions. She said, ' We must assert 
our rights — we must arm ourselves against them — we must 
drive them from our territories. Let us call forth our warriors 
— I will head them. Stand by me, and the houses which they 
have erected shall smoke in ruins.' 

" The spirit of Queen Mary was contagious. Every chief 
present declared himself ready to defend her to the last drop of 
his blood. 

" After due preparation, the warriors were called forth. They 
had painted themselves afresh, and sharpened anew their toma- 
hawks for the battle. The march was now commenced. Queen 
Mary, attended by her infamous and wicked husband, the real 
author of all their discontent, headed the savage throng. 

" Before they reached Savannah, their approach was an- 
nounced. The people were justly alarmed — they were few in 
number, and though they had a fortification and cannon, they 
had no good reason to hope that they should be able to ward off 
the deadly blow which was aimed against them. 

" By this time the savages were in sight of Savannah. At 
this critical moment an Englishman, by the name of Noble 
Jones, a bold and daring man, rode forth, with a few spirited 
men on horseback, to meet them. As he approached them, 
he exclaimed in a voice like thunder : 1 Ground your arms ! 



whitefield's life and times. 



57 



ground your arms ! not an armed Indian shall set his foot in 
this town.' 

" Awe-struck by his lofty tone, and perceiving him and his 
companions ready to dash in among them, they paused, and 
soon after laid down their arms. Bosomworth and his queen 
were now summoned to march into the city, and it was per- 
mitted the chiefs and other Indians to follow, but without their 
arms. 

" On reaching the parade ground, the thunder of fifteen can- 
non fired at the same moment, told them what they might expect 
should they persist in their hostile designs. The Indians were 
now marched to the house of the president of the council, in 
Savannah. Bosomworth was required to leave the Indians while 
the president had a friendly talk with them. 

" In his address to them he assured them of the kindness of 
the English, and demanded what they meant by coming in this 
warlike manner. 

" In reply, they told the president e that they heard that Mary 
w T as to be sent over the great waters, and they had come to learn 
why they were to lose their queen.' 

" Finding that the Indians had been deceived, and that Bo- 
somworth was the author of all the trouble — that he had even 
intended to get possession of the magazine, and to destroy the 
whites, the council directed him to be seized, and to be thrown 
into prison. 

" This step Mary resented with great spirit. Rushing forth 
among the Indians, she openly cursed General Oglethorpe, 
although he had raised her from poverty and distress, and de- 
clared that the whole world should know that the ground she 
trod upon was her own. 

" The warlike spirit of the Indians being thus likely to be re- 
newed, it was thought advisable to imprison Mary also. This 
was accordingly carried into effect. At the same time, to ap- 
pease the Indians, a sumptuous feast was made for the chiefs 
by the president, who during the better state of feeling, which 
seemed to prevail, took occasion to explain to them the wicked- 
ness of Bosomworth, and how by falsehood and cunning he had 
led them to believe that Mary was really their queen — a de- 



58 



whitefield's life and times. 



scendant of one of their great chiefs. ' Brothers/ said he, 
' it is no such thing. Queen Mary is no other than Mary 
Musgrove, whom I found poor, and who has been made the 
dupe of the artful Bosomworth ; and you, brothers, the dupes 
of both.' 

" The aspect of things was now pleasant. The Indians were 
beginning to be satisfied of the villany of Bosomworth, and of 
the real character of Mary. But at this moment the door was 
thrown open, and, to the surprise of all, Mary burst into the 
room. She had made her escape from prison ; and, learning 
what was going on, she rushed forward with the fury of a 
tigress, exclaiming as she entered, e Seize your arms ! seize your 
arms ! Remember your promise, and defend your queen. 5 

" The sight of their queen seemed, in a moment, to bring back 
all the original ardour of the enterprise. In an instant, every 
chief had seized his tomahawk, and sprung from the ground to 
rally at the call of their queen. 

" At this moment Captain Jones, who was present, perceiv- 
ing the danger of the president, and the other whites, drew his 
sword and demanded peace. The majesty of his countenance, 
the fire of his eye, and the glittering of his sword, told Queen 
Mary what she might expect, should she attempt to raise any 
higher the feverish spirit of her subjects. 

" The Indians cast an eye towards Mary, as if to inquire what 
they should do. Her countenance fell. Perceiving his advan- 
tage, Captain Jones stepped forward, and in the presence of 
the Indians, standing round, again conducted Mary back to 
prison. 

" A short imprisonment so far humbled both Bosomworth 
and Mary, that each wrote a letter, in which they confessed the 
wrong they had done, and promised, if released, that they would 
conduct themselves with more propriety in future. The people 
kindly forgave both, and they left the city. 

" But they did not perform their promise. Again Bosomworth 
tried to make Mary queen, and to get possession of three large 
islands, called Ossalaw, Sapelo, and St. Catharine's. He pre- 
tended that they had been given to him by the Indians. Being, 
however, unable to make himself master of them, he went over 



whitefield's life and times. 



59 



to England with Mary, where he instituted a law-suit for their 
recovery. At length, having obtained St. Catharine's island 
by a judgment of the court, he returned with his wife, and 
took up his residence upon that island. There Mary died. 
Some time after, Bosomworth married one of his own servants, 
who did not survive him. At length, he finished his own inglo- 
rious life, and was buried between his two wives, upon the island 
which had given him so much trouble." 

Such (it is said in America) was the first specimen of a 
chaplain, which the Indians and colonists at Savannah had be- 
fore their eyes. No wonder Oglethorpe and the trustees of 
Georgia turned their eyes upon another kind of men ! The 
Oxford methodists were, accordingly, fixed upon, " as men who 
appeared to possess the habits and qualities requisite" for 
preaching the gospel to settlers and the Indians. Dr. Butler, 
of Corpus Christi College, sounded the Wesleys on the subject, 
and introduced them to Oglethorpe. This was going to the 
opposite extreme. Accordingly, on their arrival in the colony, 
they soon proved their unfitness for the religious management 
of an infant settlement. They certainly meant well, and were 
shamefully treated : but it is equally true, that they were both 
very imprudent. Dr. Southey, however, implicates Charles 
Wesley too deeply in the mutinies of the period : for he ought 
to have known, that Oglethorpe acquitted him of this charge, 
and offered to build him a house, and to allow him a deputy, if 
he would return to the colony. This is just as true, and was 
as easily ascertained, as that Oglethorpe, who had been " brutal 
enough to give away from under " Charles, the old bedstead on 
which he lay in a fever, afterwards " embraced and kissed him 
with cordial affection." The Doctor even says, " that the expla- 
nation, then given so satisfied the general, that his feelings 
were entirely changed : all his old love and confidence return- 
ed :" and yet, he says that Charles " had in truth been the oc- 
casion of the disorders by his injudicious zeal." On the other 
hand, however, Watson has admitted into his answer to 
Southey, a vindication of Charles Wesley, from the pen of his 
daughter, somewhat inconsistent with the acknowledgment, that 
the Wesleys " held the reins of ecclesiastical discipline with a 



60 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



tightness unsuitable to infant colonists especially, and which 
tended to provoke resistance." 

But the character of neither brother should be judged of 
from their career in Georgia. I quite agree with Watson, that 
" their integrity of heart, and the purity of their intentions, 
came forth without a stain :" for although I have heard reports, 
and been told of letters, which implicate John in more than 
imprudence, I have found no one to authenticate the reports, or 
to produce the letters. Besides, Whiteiield returned from 
Georgia unchanged in his love or esteem for Wesley : a con- 
clusive proof that he found nothing to justify the fama clamosa. 
Nothing in his journals, letters, or diary, indicates a suspicion. 
(I have learnt, since I wrote this paragraph, that Wesley's pri- 
vate journals of the Causton affair have been discovered by 
the Conference ; and that they justify my argument.) 

It was to this new colony, then in danger from the Spaniards, 
and irritated by the Wesleys, that Whitefleld went forth so 
cheerfully, although solemnly. He does not, indeed, say that 
he knew the distracted state of the people : but it is quite evi- 
dent from the way in which he prepared for his work, and from 
the spirit in which he began his labours, that Oglethorpe, or 
some of the trustees, had apprized him of the rocks on which 
his predecessors had split. Both his hopes and his fears prove 
that he was not ignorant of what he had to do, nor of what he 
had to undo. All his conduct, and especially his utter disregard 
of Wesley's oracular " Let him return to London" shows clearly 
that his heart was set upon healing the breaches in the colony ; 
that thus the benevolent and pure designs of its founders might 
be carried into effect. 

In this spirit, and for this purpose, Whitefield embarked for 
Georgia, in the latter end of December, 1737. It was, how- 
ever, the end of January, 1738, before the vessel was fairly on 
her way ; owing to contrary winds. His reception on board 
was, as might be expected from a motley group of soldiers and 
sailors, of a mixed kind. The captains of both, with the sur- 
geon and cadet, treated him, for a time, as an impostor ; and, 
to mark their contempt for him, turned the vessel into a gam- 
bling-house, during the whole first sabbath. The fact is, he 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



GI 



had begun, the day before, to read prayers on deck : but he 
added to this a short sermon on the text, " I am determined to 
know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
fied." This gave offence. The officers and soldiers " attended 
with decency and reverence " to the prayers : but when he told 
them in the sermon what his " future conduct would be," they 
were indignant ; and, to prove it, began the sabbath with the 
hautboy, and spent it in card-playing and blasphemy. 

He seems to have foreseen this burst of opposition ; and he 
wisely escaped from it. "Sunday, Jan. 1. Rose early in the 
morning, and retired to an adjacent hill with my friends to 
prayer." That day, however, he also preached three times 
(once extempore ; for he had only taken two sermons with him) 
in the church at Gravesend. This was not cowardice. He 
himself was unwilling to leave his " own flock in the ship," and 
he did not leaver them without reading prayers again on the 
Saturday evening. He yielded, however, to the urgency of his 
friends ; and very properly. 

This does not appear from his journals, because he would not 
leave a reflection upon a crew which afterwards treated him 
respectfully : but it appears from his private diary. Dr. Gil- 
lies says truly, "It is worth while to observe, with what pru- 
dence he was helped to behave, and how God was pleased to 
bless his patient and persevering endeavours to do good." 
This retreat from a premeditated storm, was one of his pru- 
dent steps. 

In the same spirit, he began his usual work on board, on 
Monday, without upbraiding. Wherever there was sickness in 
the ship, he visited, counselled, and prayed. When he could 
not assemble the crew to prayers on deck, he read prayers and 
expounded any where between decks. When the soldiers could 
not or would not attend, he devoted himself to the religious 
education of their children. When he could say nothing to 
the swearing officers, he turned a look upon them which they 
understood. Thus he was never idle, nor unamiable. 

Whilst thus employed, a heavy gale sprung up at the Nore, 
which created some alarm and more sickness. Even the ofh- 
cers felt thankful that the vessel was at the Nore, and not in 



62 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



the Downs, (for she had " dragged her anchor two miles/' ) 
which they had been trying to reach. Accordingly, they re- 
quested Whitefield to read prayers to them in the grand cabin 
on Sunday, in addition to the service on deck. What a dif- 
ferent aspect the ship wore on the preceding sabbath ! But he 
had endeared himself during the week by courtesy and kind- 
ness, and had spent the whole morning of this sabbath in going 
from hammock to hammock amongst the sea-sick, administer- 
ing sage-tea to them, as well as good advice. 

He availed himself of this favourable turn of feeling, to ob- 
tain for himself more accommodation in the ship ; for, hitherto, 
he had no place of retirement for prayer or study. He seems, 
however, to have been somewhat afraid of a refusal ; for he 
offered the captain money for the occasional use of his cabin. 
This was not in good taste, but the captain overlooked that, and 
politely granted his request. 

The military captain also (whom Whitefield dreaded most) 
sent him an invitation to take coffee in his cabin. He went ; 
and took the opportunity of saying to him, " that he thought it 
a little odd to pray and preach to the servants, and not to the 
master ! " This good-humoured hint he followed up by pro- 
posing to read " a collect now and then to him and the other 
gentlemen, in the great cabin." At first the captain shook his 
head ; but, after a pause, he said, " I think we may, when we 
have nothing else to do." 

When the ship reached Margate, another storm arose at 
midnight, accompanied by vivid lightnings which seemed to set 
the sea on fire. The long-boat was lost, and many of the sol- 
diers taken very ill. Whitefield became, literally, the mirse of 
his "red-coated parishioners," as he called the soldiers. He 
superintended the making of sage-tea and broth, and distri- 
buted them amongst the sick with his own hands. 

Whilst thus employed he gained the esteem of the surgeon ; 
and so ingratiated himself with the wives of the soldiers, that 
fifteen of them agreed to meet, to hear him explain the Cate- 
chism. Even the captains again requested him to read prayers 
in the state cabin, and expressed "their approbation" of his 
conduct. 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



63 



Whilst the vessel was lying in the Downs, he ventured one 
day to remove " The Independent Whig" from the captain's 
pillow, and replace it with a book called " The Self-Deceiver" 
Next morning the captain came to him smiling, and asked who 
had made the exchange ? Whitefield confessed the charge, 
and begged his acceptance of the book. It produced a visible 
change. The military captain also, without being again asked, 
requested that " they might have public service and expounding 
twice a day in the great cabin." 

In this manner, with occasional preaching on shore, he spent 
the month, during which the ship was waiting for a fair wind ; 
and in that time, not a few of both the soldiers and sailors be- 
came very serious, and the ship's company at large orderly. 
At length the wind changed, and sailing orders were given. In 
the hurry of this movement, Whitefield fell down the stairs of 
the steerage ; but received "little or no hurt." In a few days 
after, the vessel had a very narrow escape. " The men upon 
deck not keeping a good look-out, an East Indiaman ran so 
very near, that had not Captain Whiting been upon deck, and 
beseeched them to tack about, the ships must inevitably have 
split one against another." 

Altogether it was a perilous voyage to Gibraltar : but al- 
though the scene was new, and the labour trying, Whitefield's 
patience never failed. The following sketch is very charac- 
teristic. (i Feb. 14th. May I never forget this day's mercies, 
since the Lord has dealt so lovingly with me ! About twelve 
at night a fresh gale arose, which increased so very much by 
four in the morning, that the waves raged horribly indeed, and 
broke in like a great river on many of the poor soldiers, who 
lay near the main hatchway. Friend Habersham and I knew 
nothing of it ; but perceived ourselves very restless, and could 
not sleep at all. I arose, and called on God for myself and all 
that sailed with me, absent friends, and all mankind. After 
this I went on deck — but surely a more noble and awful sight 
my eyes never beheld ; for the waves rose more than mountain 
high, and sometimes came on the quarter-deck. I endeavoured 
all the while to magnify God for making his 'power to be 
known ! ' And then, creeping on my knees — 'for I knew not 



64 



WHITEF1ELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



how else to go — I went between decks, and sung psalms, and 
comforted the poor wet people. After this I read prayers in 
the great cabin. Then, I laid myself across a chair reading. 
But God was so good, that though things were tumbling, the 
ship rocking, persons falling down around, me, I was never more 
cheerful in my life. I also finished a sermon before I went to 
bed, though in the midst of company." 

On his arrival at Gibraltar, he was courteously received and 
hospitably entertained by the governor first, and then by Major 
Sabine and General Columbine. Gillies reverses the order of 
this reception. Sabine did not seek out Whitefield, until some 
days after he had visited the governor. But whilst all these 
attentions gratified him, he was most interested by a little 
group of pious soldiers, who, for twelve years, had been the 
methodists of Gibraltar. At first, they had assembled secretly 
in dens and caves of the rock, for prayer and conversation. 
The character and spirit of the venerable governor, soon led 
them, however, to apply for permission to build a house of 
prayer for themselves. But instead of granting this, he gave 
them the free use of the church ; and there they statedly met 
for worship three times a day. They seem to have been non- 
conformists ; and thus were called " new ligltts : " whilst another 
society of the Scotch church were called "dark lantkorns" 

Besides visiting the popish chapel, and preaching frequently 
in the protestant church, he attended the Jewish synagogue, 
and was agreeably surprised when one of the rulers showed 
him into the chief seat. The rabbi had heard him preach the 
day before against swearing, and now thanked him for his ser- 
mon. Whitefield remained in the synagogue during the whole 
service, engaged, he says, " in secret prayer, that the veil might 
be taken from the heart of the Jews, and they grafted again 
into their own olive tree." 

His success at Gibraltar was remarkable. He says quaintly, 
" Samson's riddle was fulfilled there : out of the strong came 
forth sweetness. Who more unlikely to be wrought upon than 
soldiers ! And yet, amongst any set of people I have not been 
w T here God has made his power more known. Many that were 
quite stark blind have received their sight ; many that had 



whitefield's life and times. 



65 



-fallen back, have repented and turned to the Lord again ; many 
that were ashamed to own Christ openly, have waxen bold ; 
and many saints had their hearts filled with joy unspeakable 
and full of glory." 

When the journal of this revival was first published in Eng- 
land, it called forth an answer from some T. G. even more 
foolish than any thing Tristram Land, M. A. had written. 
Taking the words, " many that were quite stark blind have re- 
ceived their sight," literally, he says with all gravity, — " This 
being a thing so seldom heard of, it seems likely to be a falsity ; 
and, that he inserted it here, to have the world think that God 
worked this miracle on his account ! " Straws show how the 
wind blows ; and, therefore, I will add a few specimens of this 
first commentary on Whitefield's first journal. Because he 
had lamented the want of the divine presence, on one occasion ; 
and had rejoiced on its return ; T. G. says, " What he means 
will puzzle any one ; for by God's being with him at one time, 
and not at another, seems to infer as if he denied the omni- 
presence of the Deity ! " When Whitefield says, that he " was 
enlarged in intercession," T. G. remarks, " An odd expression 
this, and inexplicable ; but it frequently occurs ! " Whitefield 
says of a dying christian, " His soul seems full of God T. G. 
observes, "An odd expression this, and needs explanation." 
T. G. concludes by recommending, in the words of Sylvester, 
" That we should go to our baptism for the date of our rege- 
neration." What must have been the state of popular senti- 
ment and feeling, when such nonsense could obtain readers ? 
And yet, the authorship of this anonymous pamphlet was 
ascribed to an ex -fellow of a college ; who, although he dis- 
claimed it, did not object to its principles or spirit. " Land's 
Letter to the Religious Societies" 1739. 

Early in March the vessels left Gibraltar, and proceeded on 
their voyage : and being soon in the trade-winds, they often 
joined at the hours of public worship. On one occasion, Cap- 
tain Mackay, after Whitefield had preached against drunken- 
ness, urged the men to attend to the things that had been 
spoken ; telling them, that he had been a notorious swearer 
until he had done so ; and beseeching them, for Christ's sake, 



66 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



to give up their sins. On another occasion, whilst marrying a 
couple on deck, Whitefield suddenly shut the prayer book in 
the midst of the ceremony, because the bridegroom had be- 
haved with levity : and not until the laughter was turned into 
weeping, would he proceed. At the close, he gave the bride 
a Bible. 

The ships were now almost as orderly as churches, when the 
weather allowed of worship. The drum summoned them to 
morning and evening prayers. The captains vied in kindness 
and attention to the chaplain. Cards and profane books were 
thrown overboard, in exchange for religious books. The women, 
in the Whitaker, exclaimed, " What a change in our captain ! " 
An oath became a strange thing. The soldiers began to learn 
to read and write, and the children to repeat their prayers re- 
gularly. This general impression was deepened by the preva- 
lence of a fever on board ; during which, Captain Whiting 
accompanied Whitefield in crawling between decks, to admi- 
nister medicine and cordials to the sailors. 

One of the sufferers, a negro boy, had never been baptized. 
Whiting pledged Whitefield to instruct and baptize him, in the 
event of his recovery. The poor lad, however, died, and was 
buried without the service being read over him. The chaplain 
was afraid to venture upon such a canonical irregularity, al- 
though he was no believer in baptismal regeneration. The 
drum, however, was beaten on the occasion, and an address 
given to the whole ship's crew, calling on them to prepare for 
the time when the sea shall give up its dead. 

Many little traits of Whitefield's character may be traced 
in his journals of this voyage. I only mention another ; — his 
tact in turning every incident into a lesson for himself or others. 
When a shark was caught, with five pilot-fish clinging to its 
fins, he says, " Go to the pilot-fish, thou that forsakest a friend in 
adversity ; consider his ways, and be abashed." When a dol- 
phin was caught, the change of its hues from lovely to livid, re- 
minds him, that " just so is man ; he flourishes for a little, but 
when death cometh, how quickly his beauty is gone ! A chris- 
tian may learn instruction from every thing he meets with." 
When darkness came on whilst he was preaching, on Good 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



67 



Friday, he says, " It put me in mind of that darkness which 
overwhelmed the world, when the God of nature suffered." 

The fever, which only three or four in the ship escaped, at 
length laid hold upon Whitefield, and confined him to his bed 
for a week. The attack, though short, must have been severe ; 
for besides blisters and vomit, he was bled three times. During 
his illness the captain gave up his own bed to him ; Habersham 
watched him day and night ; and (which delighted him most) 
the sick between decks, whom he had perilled his life to con- 
sole, prayed fervently for him. He soon recovered, and repaid 
the kindness of all. 

At length, on May 5th, they came in sight of Savannah 
river, and sent off for a pilot ; and such was the joy of all when 
they came to anchor at Tyby island, that he could not help ex- 
claiming, " How infinitely more joyful will the children of God 
be, when, having passed through the waves of this troublesome 
world, they arrive at the haven of everlasting rest ! " Though 
still weak, he preached a farewell sermon to his " red-coated 
and blue-jacketed parishioners," as he called his military and 
naval congregation. It was heard with floods of tears. 

" Upon this voyage," says Gillies, " he made the following 
reflections many years after." — " Even at this distance of time, 
the remembrance of the happy hours I enjoyed in religious ex- 
ercises on deck, is refreshing to my soul ; and although nature 
sometimes relented at being taken from my friends, and I was 
little accustomed to the inconvenience of a sea life, yet, a con- 
sciousness that I had the glory of God and the good of souls in 
view, afforded me, from time to time, unspeakable satisfaction." 

Whitefield was cordially welcomed at Savannah by Delamotte 
and other friends of Wesley. The magistrates also offered to 
wait upon him, to pay their respects. This he declined, and 
waited on them ; when they agreed to build him a tabernacle 
and house at Frederica, and to accept his services at Savannah 
as long as he pleased. He was soon laid aside again, however, 
by a return of his fever, which terminated in ague. This 
attack brought him so low for a few days, and made such an 
alteration in his person, that he says, " Had my friends seen 
me at that hour, they might have learnt not to have any man's 

f 2 



68 



whitefield's life and times. 



person in admiration, and not to think more highly of me than 
they ought to think." 

The first thing he did after his recovery was to visit Tomo- 
Chichi, the Indian king, then on his death-bed. This was the 
micoe, or king, whom Oglethorpe brought to England in 1734, 
and introduced to George II. He was accompanied by his 
wife and son, and seven other Indians of the Creek nation. His 
eloquent speech to the king and queen is well known ; and 
was so well received at court, that he was loaded with presents, 
and even sent in one of the royal carriages to Gravesend when 
he had to embark again. 

He now lay, says Whitefield, " on a blanket, thin and 
meagre ; little else but skin and bones. Senanki, his wife, sat 
by, fanning him with Indian feathers. There was no one could 
talk English, so I could only shake hands with him and leave 
him." A few days after Whitefield went again to visit Tomo- 
Chichi, and found that his nephew, Tooanoowee, could speak 
English. " I desired him to ask his uncle, whether he thought 
he should die ; who answered, I cannot tell. I then asked, 
where he thought he should go after death ? He replied, to 
heaven. But, alas, how can a drunkard enter there ! I then 
exhorted Tooanoowee (who is a tall, proper youth) not to get 
drunk ; telling him, that he understood English, and therefore 
would be punished the more, if he did not live better. I then 
asked him, whether he believed a heaven ? He said, Yes. I 
then asked, whether he believed a hell ? and described it by 
pointing to the fire. He replied, No. From whence we may 
easily gather, how natural it is to all mankind to believe there 
is a place of happiness, because they wish it to be so ; and on 
the contrary, how averse they are to believe a place of torment, 
because they wish it may not be so. But God is just and true ; 
and as surely as the righteous shall go away into everlasting 
happiness, so the impenitently wicked shall go into everlasting 
punishment." 

Dr. Southey has quoted part of this paragraph in a note, and 
prefaced it thus : " Whitefield was not so likely (as Wesley) to 
have led these Indians into the right way, if we may judge from 
his conference with poor Tomo-Chichi, when that chief was at 



whitefield's life and times. 



69 



the point of death." If the Doctor mean, that Whitefield should 
have shown a dying drunkard how pardon might be obtained, 
instead of exclaiming, " Alas, how shall a drunkard enter 
heaven ! " I quite agree with him. He mistakes, however, if he 
supposes that this exclamation was addressed to the chief. It 
is Whitefield's own private reflection on the case, when he wrote 
an account of it ; and distinguished, like all his private reflec- 
tions of a solemn kind, by italics. Besides, it is highly impro- 
bable that Whitefield, the man who had just been teaching 
soldiers and sailors the way to heaven, would have thus abrupt- 
ly shut the door on a dying Indian ! He who warned the young 
nephew, would not forget to woo the old uncle ; although the 
result only, and not the process, appears in his journal. 

When Whitefield was sufficiently recovered to survey the 
colony, the state of the children affected him deeply. The idea 
of an orphan-house in Georgia had been suggested to him by 
Charles Wesley, " before he himself had any thought of going 
abroad and now that he saw the condition of the colonists, 
he said, " nothing but an orphan-house can effect " the educa- 
tion of the children. From this moment he set his heart upon 
founding one, as soon as he could raise funds. In the mean 
time, he did what he could : he opened a school for the villages 
of Highgate and Hampstead ; and one for girls at Savannah. 
He then visited the Saltzburghers' orphan school at Ebenezer ; 
and if any thing was wanting to perfect his own design, or to 
inflame his zeal, he found it there. The Saltzburghers them- 
selves were exiles for conscience' sake, and eminent for piety 
and industry. Their ministers, Grenaw and Boltzius, were 
truly evangelical. Their asylum, which they had been enabled 
to found by English benevolence, for widows and orphans, was 
flourishing. Whitefield was so delighted with the order and 
harmony of Ebenezer, that he gave a share of his own " poor's- 
store" to Boltzius, for his orphans. Then came the scene — 
which completed Whitefield's purpose. Boltzius " called all 
the children before him : catechised and exhorted them to give 
God thanks for his good providence towards them : then pray- 
ed with them, and made them pray after him : then sung a 
psalm. Afterwards, the Utile lambs came and shook me by the 



70 



whitefield's life and times. 



hand one by one ; and so we parted! " From this moment 
Whitefield made his purpose his fate. 

After spending a few weeks at Savannah, labouring as hard 
as his health would permit, he went to Frederica, where he was 
gladly received ; the people having " had a famine of the word 
for a long season," They had no sanctuary : and therefore he 
had to preach under a tree, or in Habersham's house. This 
visit, although short, endeared him to all the people ; and he 
had the satisfaction before he left, to see them " sawing timber 
for a commodious place of worship, until a church could be 
built." 

His return to Savannah was hastened by a circumstance 
which Gillies overlooked. One of his friends (he does not say 
which) had lost himself in the woods, and was missing from 
Tuesday to Friday. The great guns had been fired in vain to 
direct the wanderer. Some of the people had searched day 
and night for him, without success. This report was sent to 
Whitefield, and it hurried him away from Frederica. He had 
the pleasure, however, on his arrival at Savannah, to find his 
" lost sheep." 

Here an instance of refusing to read the burial service oc- 
curred, which is more creditable to him than its omission in 
the case of the poor negro boy. It will be best told in his own 
words. " I was obliged to-day to express my resentment 
against infidelity, by refusing to read the Burial Office over the 
most professed unbeliever I ever yet met with. God was 
pleased to visit him with lingering illness ; during which I went 
to see him frequently. About five weeks ago, I asked him, 
what religion he was of ? He answered, ' Religion was of so 
many sects, he knew not which to choose.' Another time, I 
offered to pray with him ; but he would not accept it. Upon 
which I resolved to go to see him no more. But being told, 
two days before he died, that he had an inclination to see me, I 
went again, and after a little conversation, put the following 
questions to him : c Do you believe Jesus Christ to be God, 
and the one Mediator between God and man ? ' He said, e I 
believe Jesus Christ was a good man.' ( Do you believe the 
holy Scriptures ? ' i I believe something of the Old Testa- 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



71 



ment : the New, I do not believe at all.' ( Do you believe, 
sir, a judgment to come ? ' He turned himself about, and re- 
plied, ' I know not what to say to that.' i Alas, sir,' said I — 
6 if all these things should be true, what — ? ' which words, 
I believe, gave him great concern ; for he seemed after to be 
very uneasy, grew delirious, and in a day or two departed. Un- 
happy man — how quickly he was convinced ! The day after 
his decease he was carried to the ground, and I refused to read 
the office over him ; — but I went to the grave, and told the 
people what had passed between him and me : and, warning all 
against infidelity, I asked them, whether I could safely say, — 
f As our hope is, this our brother doth ? ' Upon which, I be- 
lieve, they were thoroughly satisfied that I had done right." 
This was equally creditable to the preacher and the people ! 

A few days after this event, Whitefield preached his farewell 
sermon at Savannah ; it being necessary for him to return to 
England. How much he loved and was beloved, although only 
" as a wayfaring man turning aside to tarry for a night," may 
be judged from his own account. " I preached my farewell 
sermon, to the great grief of my dear parishioners, whose hearts 
were full as well as mine, which we all showed by many tears. 
But a sensible alteration appeared in their countenances, when 
I promised them solemnly, before God, to return as soon as 
possible." 

Next day he went to Charleston, in South Carolina, to em- 
bark for England. Gillies says, that Commissary Garden en- 
treated him to preach in the church. This is true : but Gar- 
den was the ecclesiastical, not the civil, commissary. I mention 
this, because his kindness to Whitefield was great at first. It 
is thus recorded in the revised journals : " The bishop of Lon- 
don's commissary, the Rev. Mr. G. received me very cour- 
teously, and offered me a lodging. How does God raise up 
friends wherever I go ! " Gillies's account will now be better 
appreciated : " Mr. G. thanked him most cordially, (he had 
preached twice in the church,) and assured him that he would 
defend him with his life and property, should the same arbitrary 
proceedings commence against him, which Mr. Wesley met 
with in Georgia. He also said something about the colony 



72 



whitefield's life and times. 



of Georgia, which much encouraged Whitefield ; as if he 
thought its flourishing not far off ; " and instanced Charleston 
" as now fifteen times bigger than when he came there." This 
a life and fortune " friend put on a new face afterwards ! 

Gillies sums up Whitefield's labours in Georgia thus : " It 
had been his practice to read prayers and expound (besides 
visiting the sick) twice a day. On Sunday, he expounded at 
Jive in the morning ; at ten, read prayers and preached ; and at 
three in the afternoon ; and at seven in the evening, he expounded 
the Church Catechism. How much easier it is for the clergy 
in England, Scotland, and Ireland, to find fault with such a 
faithful brother in the ministry, than to follow his example 1 " 

The following note from Whitefield's diary will explain, in 
some measure, how he bore the hardships of his perilous voyage 
home. " During my stay (in Georgia) the weather was most 
intensely hot, burning me almost through my shoes. Seeing 
others do it, who were as unable, I determined to inure myself 
to hardships, by lying constantly on the ground ; which, by use, 
I found to be so far from being a hardship, that afterwards it 
became so to lie on a bed." It was well it did : for all the way 
home, he had no bed, until he reached Ireland. Nor was this 
his only privation on the voyage. At the outset they were 
tossed from e J bar to bar," for nearly a fortnight, by contrary 
winds. Their provision began to fail before they had accom- 
plished a third of the passage : and when they reached Ireland, 
they were so worn out by famine and fatigue, that Whitefield 
says, " they were weak and hollow-eyed," even in the great cabin. 
On landing, however, he soon rallied, and preached with great 
power at Limerick and Dublin for some days. The account of 
his reception and success will be found in the chapter, " White- 
field in Ireland." a . 

X 1 1 " ...A 



CHAPTER IV. 



whitefield's first GREAT MEASURES IN LONDON, 1739. 

These had so much influence upon his subsequent character and 
career, that I shall not interrupt their narrative, by his occa- 
sional excursions into the country, until his position in the me- 
tropolis is fully understood. That was, indeed, influenced by 
his proceedings in Bristol and Wales : but he would have be- 
come a field preacher, even if he had not begun at Bristol. 

He arrived in London again at the close of 1738, after a 
perilous voyage. This sudden return was forced upon him ; 
not sought by him. " I was really happy in my little foreign 
cure, and could have cheerfully remained among them, had I 
not been obliged to return to England, to receive priest's orders, 
and make a beginning towards laying the foundation of the 
orphan-house. And thus — the place where I intended to hide 
myself in, became, through my being obliged to return for these 
purposes, a mean of increasing that popularity which was already 
begun ; — but which by me was absolutely unforeseen, and abso- 
lutely undesigned." 

His diary at sea, written amidst hurricanes and famine, illus- 
trates the truth of this explanation. " Had I my own will, I 
could wish myself a speedy passage, that I might return the 
sooner to those few sheep I have left in Savannah." It was thus 
with a single eye and a simple purpose, that Whitefield returned 
to London. 

The first thing he did on his arrival, was, to wait on the 
archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishop of London. Dr. Gil- 
lies says, " he was coldly received by them :" Whitefield him- 
self says, " I met with a favourable reception from both ; but 



74 



whitefield's life and times. 



was not so civilly treated by some of the clergy ; for five churches 
have been already (in two days) denied me. However, I had an 
opportunity of preaching at St. Helen's and at Islington, to 
large congregations indeed ; and in the evening (of that first 
sabbath) I went to a society in Fetter Lane, where we had, 
what might not be improperly called, a love feast ; eating a 
little bread and water, and spending two hours in singing and 
prayers." 

It was now Christmas, and he spent almost every evening in 
expounding to, and praying with, societies of this kind. On 
Christmas eve, he continued the exercise until four in the morn- 
ing. " At six," he says, with his characteristic simplicity, " I 
went to another in Crutched Friars, and expounded as well as I 
could ; — but (no- wonder !) perceived myself a little oppressed 
with drowsiness." He had been from four till six o'clock that 
morning in a large meeting in Red Cross Street ; which is me- 
morable from the fact, that there, for the first time in his life, he 
ventured to pray extempore, " before many witnesses." He 
mentions this fact in a note of his diary. " Dec. 25. The first 
time I ever prayed extempore, before such a number." Extem- 
pore preaching soon followed this prayer ! 

On new-year's day he writes thus : " Received the holy 
sacrament, preached twice, and expounded twice ; and found 
this the happiest new-year's day that I ever saw. Afterwards 
spent the whole night in close prayer, psalms, and thanksgivings, 
with the Fetter Lane society." Well might Dr. Gillies say, of 
Whitefield and his friends, " religious exercises seemed to be 
their meat and drink." 

As might be expected, work of this kind offended many. It 
was shared, however, for a time, by some of the clergy. " Jan. 
5th. Held a conference at Islington, concerning many things of 
importance, with seven ministers of Jesus Christ, despised me- 
thodists, whom God in his providence brought together. We 
continued in fasting and prayer till three o'clock ; and then 
parted with a full conviction that God was about to do great 
things amongst us. Oh that we may be in any way instrumental 
to his glory ! Oh that he would make the vessels pure and holy ; 
meet for such a dear Master's use ! " 



whitefield's life and times. 



75 



Such were Whitefield's habits, and such the state of his mind, 
when he went to Oxford to he ordained a priest. " He was 
ordained," says Gillies, " by his good friend Bishop Benson." 
Benson deserved this epithet from Whitefield's biographer. It 
is well known, however, that he afterwards repented, for a time, 
of having " ever laid his hands upon George Whitefield :" but 
he repented of this repentance ; and sent, from his dying bed to 
Whitefield, a present, with a kind request to be remembered in 
his prayers. 

The ordinary explanation of all this seems to be warranted 
by fact. Benson had been tutor to Lord Huntingdon, and was 
thus naturally sent for to reason with the countess, when she 
became a methodist. Her Ladyship, however, reasoned with the 
bishop ; and so plied him with articles and homilies in favour of 
her creed, and with the solemn responsibilities of his own office, 
that she offended him. " He rose up in haste (says my autho- 
rity) to depart, bitterly lamenting that he had ever laid hands 
on George Whitefield ; to whom he imputed, though without 
cause, the change wrought on her Ladyship. She called him 
back : ' My Lord,' said she, ( mark my words : when you come 
to your dying bed, that will be one of the few ordinations you 
will reflect upon with complacency.'" 

As before, Whitefield was deeply affected by his ordination. 
He went from the altar to the pulpit that very day, " to begin 
to make proof" of his ministry ; and preached twice in Oxford, 
and expounded at Carfax in the evening, and attended a prayer- 
meeting at night. 

On his return to London, he was alternately in the pulpit, 
and at these private meetings : and it is difficult to say which 
of the two spheres of labour had most influence upon his mind 
and movements at this time. It was certainly the crowding at 
church, that first suggested to him the idea of preaching in the 
open air. " When I was informed that nearly a thousand people 
stood out in the churchyard, and that hundreds returned home, 
this put me first upon thinking of preaching without-doors. I 
mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as a mad 
motion. However, we kneeled down and prayed, that nothing 
might be done rashly! Hear and answer, O Lord, for thy 



76 



whitefield's life and times. 



name's sake." It is evident from this prayer, that Whitefield 
himself did not think his design " a mad motion." But still, al- 
though a crowded church suggested it, crowded prayer-meetings 
produced the spirit of the enterprise. It was by expounding 
and praying extempore, that he discovered his own power over 
himself and others ; and found out that the divine presence 
might be calculated upon, whenever the divine glory was con- 
sulted. These Pentecostal seasons in private made him feel 
through all his soul, that he ought to do every thing to win souls, 
and that he could do any thing he might attempt. 

The influence of these meetings upon Whitefield has never 
been fully appreciated. They were to him, however, what the 
wilderness was to John the Baptist ; the school of his spirit. 
There he caught the holy and heroic impulse, which prepared 
him to challenge the scribes and Pharisees any where, and de- 
termined him to warn them, in common with publicans and 
sinners, every where, to " flee from the wrath to come." I might 
go further, and without extravagance say, that prayer-meetings 
were to Whitefield what the " third heavens " were to Paul; the 
finishing school of his ministerial education. He was as much 
indebted to them for his unction and enterprise, as to Pembroke 
Hall for his learning ; or as to the Oxford methodists for his 
piety ; or as to Benson for his ordination to the priesthood ; (for 
what other bishop would have laid his hands on him then ?) 
Wesley also caught the primitive flame of evangelization, in one 
of these private societies at Bristol : for until he saw how " the 
Spirit moved on the face " of these meetings, he was so tena- 
cious of every thing relating to clerical order and decorum, that 
he would have counted it " almost a sin to save souls out of a 
church." Watson, without seeming at all struck by the coinci- 
dence, says, " Mr. Wesley first expounded to a little society in 
Nicholas Street, — and next day he overcame his scruples, and 
preached abroad, on an eminence near Bristol, to more than two 
thousand persons ! " In all this, indeed, he was only following 
the example of Whitefield, who had just preceded him, as well 
as proved both the safety and the success of the experiment : 
but still if these things encouraged Wesley, it was the social 
meeting that convinced and determined him. " I have since" 



whitefield's life and times. 



77 



he says, " seen abundant reason to adore the wise providence 
of God herein, in thus making a way for myriads of people, who 
never troubled any church, or were likely to do so, to hear that 
word which they soon found the power of God unto salvation." 
These facts are as instructive as they are interesting. Private 
devotional meetings were thus the cradle of field preaching, as 
surely as field preaching was the morning star of England's 
second reformation ! How often, in grace as in nature, God 
hangs the greatest weights on the smallest wires ! I mean, on 
wires accounted the smallest by the wisdom of this world, and 
by the folly of the church : for social prayer-meetings are the 
strongest wires in all the machinery of the moral universe. God 
hung upon them all the weighty gifts, and all the weightier 
grace and glory, of Pentecost ! God hung upon them all that 
is great and good in the American revivals, and all that is 
amazing in the success of foreign missions. It was when the 
British churches were as the heart of one man in prayer, that 
African slavery was abolished throughout the British domi- 
nions. The spiritual destiny of America now hangs on her 
prayer-meetings ! 

It is not a misnomer to call the religious societies, which 
Whitefield and Wesley found in London and Bristol, prayer- 
meetings. Whitefield often mentions the prayers he united in 
before he ventured to pray extempore. Bishop Hopkins and 
Dr. Horneck were the authors of them. The members met, 
however, for other purposes. They were bound by their rules 
to meet weekly, " for good discourse ; for the promotion of 
schools and catechising ; for the relief of the poor ; and to dis- 
course only on subjects tending to practical holiness, and to 
avoid all controversy." 

These societies originated in 1667, in consequence of the suc- 
cess of Dr. Horneck's ministry, and the morning lectures in 
Cornhill ; which brought many young men to a very affecting 
sense of their sins, and to a very serious way of treating religion. 
The meetings were so well conducted, and their influence on 
public morals so beneficial, that on the accession of William and 
Mary, they were patronized by the queen and a few of the 
bishops. They gradually, however, fell into decay. Instead of 



78 



whitefield's life and times. 



forty in London, which was their number at the beginning of 
the eighteenth century, I can only trace about ten in White- 
field's journals, in vigorous or healthy action. In these, how- 
ever, there was evidently much vital godliness, when Whitefield 
began to expound and pray in them. Even his devotional spirit 
was improved by them, as well as appreciated in them. They 
not only sympathized in all the fervency of his first love, but 
also fanned it into the blaze of apostolic zeal. Could there be 
better proof of their spiritual health or discernment ? How 
vividly and fondly he remembered the " times of refreshing from 
the presence of the Lord," vouchsafed in these little sanctuaries, 
may be judged from the following note in his diary : " Often 
have we been filled as with new wine. Often have I seen them 
overwhelmed with the divine presence ; and crying out, 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." He also published a letter to them. Whilst thus 
engaged and affected in London, persecution began to assail 
him. One clergyman attacked him by a scurrilous pamphlet, 
(of which Whitefield merely says, " Thou shalt answer for me, 
my Lord and my God,") and others from the pulpit. Gillies 
says, " Pulpits rung with invectives against him, and the parish 
priests threatened some of their parishioners with prosecutions, 
for letting him expound and pray in their houses." Whitefield 
himself, however, records only one instance of threatened pro- 
secution, in his corrected journals. " Jan. 30th. Expounded 
twice on Dowgate Hill, where the people pressed mightily to 
come in. The minister of the parish threatens the master of 
the house with a prosecution. But, blessed be God, we breathe 
in a free air ! " 

I quote this memorandum for the sake of the closing excla- 
mation. He had seen enough of bigotry and intolerance in the 
course of one month in London, to turn his attention to the 
shields of liberty. Besides, during that month, Whitefield had 
visited " some dissenting christian brethren ;" and only a week 
before writing his thanksgiving for the " free air " of religious 
liberty, he had enjoyed an interview with Dr. Watts, at Stoke 
Newington. " Jan. 24. Went to Newington to see Dr. Watts, 



whitefield's life and times. 



79 



who received me most cordially." This record does not, indeed, 
imply that any thing passed between him and the dissenters, on 
the subject of freedom ; but still the coincidence is remarkable, 
because none of his former visits with dissenters drew forth any 
apostrophe to liberty. Then, however, he was only personally 
assailed ; but now that his converts were threatened with prose- 
cutions, nothing was more likely to lead his thoughts to the 
subject, than a visit to Dr. Watts, even if nothing was said on 
the subject. For Whitefield could not but see that he must 
soon need for himself and his adherents, the whole panoply of 
toleration, if he preached in the open air : and that, he had 
made up his mind to do, two days before he penned his apos- 
trophe. " Jan. 28th, Sunday. Received the sacrament at 
Crooked Lane church : afterwards went and preached at Iron- 
monger's Alms-houses — not doubting, but there would be hun- 
dreds more than the chapel would hold. I took two written 
sermons with me — one for within — and the other for without. 
But to my surprise (he might have said disappointment, for he 
wished to get out !) found no more than could conveniently hear 
me from the pulpit." In the course of a few days, he also ex- 
horted the society at Dowgate Hill, particularly, " not to forsake 
the assembling of themselves together, notwithstanding the 
people of the house had been threatened with a prosecution." 
Thus, wherever Whitefield caught the love of religious liberty, 
he soon both cherished and spread the sacred flame, when into- 
lerance menaced his friends. 

In the space of a fortnight from this time, Whitefield was 
preaching to the Bristol colliers, on Hannam Mount, at Rose 
Green ; and on the twenty-seventh of April, he preached in 
Islington churchyard. The churchwarden of Islington had de- 
manded him to produce his licence, although he went there by 
the vicar's appointment, to officiate. " For peace' sake, I de- 
clined preaching in the church ; and after the communion, 
preached in the churchyard ; being assured my Master now 
called me out here, as well as at Bristol." Next day he writes 
thus : " Preached again in Islington churchyard, to a congre- 
gation nearly as large again as yesterday. The second lesson 
was very applicable ; being Acts xxv. I can say with St. Paul, 



80 



whitefield's life and times. 



e Neither against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I done any 
thing and yet I am cast out and reviled as an evil-doer : but 
the Scriptures must be fulfilled — ( If they have persecuted Me, 
they will also persecute you.' " The people must have been 
struck by this coincidence : for they had given Whitefield a 
collection for his orphan-house, amounting to £22, only a few 
weeks before ; and nothing had happened in the interval to dis- 
qualify him for the pulpit, but field preaching ; and that had 
not startled the vicar. The fact is, Stonehouse, the vicar, was 
friendly to the methodists, and disliked by the heads of the 
parish. I have seen some of his sermons, the fidelity of which 
is almost ferocious. 

At this time, too, all London was ringing with the announce- 
ment, that Whitefield would preach next day (Sunday) in Moor- 
fields. " The thing being new and singular," says Gillies, 
" he found, on coming out of the coach, an incredible number 
of people assembled. Many had told him that he should never 
come out of that place alive. He went in, however, between 
two friends, who by the pressure of the crowd were soon parted 
from him entirely, and obliged to leave him to the mercy of the 
rabble. But these, instead of hurting him, formed a lane for 
him, and carried him along to the middle of the fields, where a 
table had been placed, (which was broken in pieces by the 
crowd,) and afterwards back again to the wall that then parted 
the upper and lower Moorfields ; from which he preached with- 
out molestation, to an exceeding great multitude, in the lower 
fields." 

This is not too oratorically told for the greatness of the occa- 
sion. That was worthy of a more graphic and glowing pen, 
than has yet tried to depict the scene. Whitefield himself, how- 
ever, summed up the whole matter, in his corrected journals, 
thus : " Sunday, April 29. Begun to be yet more vile this day ; 
for I preached at Moorfields to an exceeding great multitude : 
and, at five in the evening, went and preached at Kennington 
Common, where upwards of twenty thousand people were sup- 
posed to be present. The wind being for me, it carried my voice 
to the extremest part of the audience. All stood attentive, and 
joined in the psalm and the Lord's prayer so regularly, that I 



whitefield's life and times. 



81 



scarce ever preached with more quietness in a church. Many 
were much affected. 

For this — let men revile my name, 
I'd shun no cross, I'd fear no shame, 
All hail, reproach, and welcome, pain ! 
Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain." 

Such was his own bulletin of this " great field day," when he 
wrote for posterity : — for this is part of his autobiography. 
When he wrote for his public journals, he merely said, " Preach- 
ed in the morning at Moorfields to an exceeding great multi- 
tude." Then, as if he had done no great thing, he adds, 
" Went to Christ- Church, and heard Dr. Trapp preach most 
virulently against me and my friends, from these words, 
' Be not righteous over-much.' God gave me great serenity 
of mind ; but, alas, the preacher was not so calm as I wished 
him." 

It is remarkable that none of his letters, at this time, refer to 
the enterprise. Two days before it, he wrote to a friend, " To- 
day my Master, by his providence and Spirit, compelled me to 
preach in the churchyard of Islington. To-morrow I am to 
repeat that mad trick, and on Sunday to go out into Moorfields. 
I preach until I sweat through and through." Even his diary 
contains nothing on the subject, but the following simple note : 
" Words cannot well express the glorious displays of divine 
grace, which we saw, and heard of, and felt," this day. He 
had, however, a decided opinion upon both the measure and its 
success. " All agreed," he says, " that it was never seen on 
this ways before. I hope a good inroad has been made into the 
devil's kingdom this day. Lord, not unto me, but unto thy 
name be all the glory." Journals. 

Even all this, with all the prospects which it must have 
opened of London as a sphere for vast usefulness, did not divert 
nor divide Whitefield's heart from his u poor orphans or his 
little flock" in the colony ; for on the very day after, he refused 
to preach at all, that he might devote himself to their interests. 
" April 30. Received letters from Georgia this evening, telling 
me of the affairs of the colony. They have a melancholy aspect 

G 



82 



whitefield's life and times. 



at present ; but our extremity is God's opportunity. Lord, thou 
callest me : lo, I come ! " 

" For several months after this/' says Gillies, " Moorfields, 
Kennington Common, and Blackheath, were the chief scenes of 
action. At a moderate computation, the auditories often con- 
sisted of above twenty thousand. It is said their singing could 
be heard two miles off, and his voice nearly a mile. Sometimes 
there were upwards of a hundred coaches, besides waggons, 
scaffolds, and other contrivances, which persons let out for the 
convenience of the audience." The rising ground on Black- 
heath, from which Whiteneld preached, is still known as 
" Whitefield's Mount." After his death, one of his noble friends 
(I believe) planted it with fir-trees. Many spots in the coun- 
try, also, are thus hallowed by his name ; and of these, none is 
more hallowed than a field at Gornal in Staffordshire. When 
I visited that " hill of Zion," Whitefield's park was the first 
object pointed out to me, although the hill of Gornal is crown- 
ed with the most complete establishment for religious instruc- 
tion I have ever seen in a rural district. The reason was ob- 
vious : Whiteneld had laid the foundation of that establishment. 
i\.nd Gornal is just the spot that was sure to arrest him ! He 
could not have looked down from that mount, into the vast cup 
of trie surrounding valley, without weeping over the population. 
He must have wished his mighty voice mightier, that he might 
cry down to them all ! He did what he could ; — set a lamp upon 
the hill. 

But to return to the metropolis. He was much disappointed 
and grieved to find that, notwithstanding all the money he had 
formerly o^P&ined for the London charities, he was not allowed 
to collect for Georgia, except in a few churches. He had, 
therefore, to carry his " begging case " into the fields with him. 
Gillies 3feys, " Having no other method to take, he was obliged 
to collect for the orphan-house in the fields, or not at all, which 
was humbling to himself, and to the friends who assisted him 
in that work ; but the readiness with which the people gave, 
and the prayers they put up while throwing in their mites, were 
very encouraging." They were so : for he thus obtained up-r 
wards of a thousand pounds for his orphan-house. He himself 



whitefield's life and times. 



83 



says, " The readiness with which the people gave is inexpressi- 
ble : for I think they could not have expressed more earnest- 
ness, or taken more pains, had they all been to have received 
an alms. One sign this, I hope, that the word of God has 
taken hold of their hearts." 

On one occasion he collected in Moorfields, £52 19s. 6d., 
" of which, above twenty pounds was in halfpence." On an- 
other, at Kennington, sixteen, of £47, was in copper. He 
says, " I was one of the collectors ; and methinks it would 
have delighted almost any one to have seen with what eager- 
ness the people came up both sides of the eminence on which I 
stqod, and afterwards to the coach doors, to throw in their 
mites ! " He saw, however, how all this would seem to the 
Pharisees, and anticipated them thus, in his public journal : 
" Preached to nearly sixty thousand people in Moorfields, and 
collected £29 17 s. Sd. and came home deeply humbled with a 
sense of what God had done for my soul. I doubt not but 
many self-righteous bigots, when they see me spreading out my 
hands to offer Jesus Christ freely to all, are ready to cry out, — 
' How glorious did the Reverend Mr. Whitefield look to-day, 
when, neglecting the dignity of a clergyman, he stood venting 
his enthusiastic ravings in a gown and cassock, and collecting 
mites from the poor people ! ' But if this be vile, Lord, grant 
that I may be more vile ! Ye scoffers, mock on : I rejoice, yea, 
and will rejoice." (He calls them "Pharisees," in his public 
journal ; but in his Life, he calls them bigots and scoffers.) 

On this memorable day, he received the first letter from 
Ralph Erskine, " a field preacher of the Scots church, and a 
noble soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ," as he calls him then. 
He had added to this record, in his public journal, " Oh that 
all that are truly zealous knew one another ! It must greatly 
strengthen each other's hands." Whitefield, however, did not 
find all he expected from this mutual knowledge ; and therefore 
excluded the whole record from his revised journals, in 1756. 
By that time, he knew more about the Erskines ; and though 
he still venerated their christian character highly, he was too 
honest to compliment their spirit. 

Amongst other coincidences in this memorable week, none 



84 whitefield's life and times. 

gratified him more than the grant of five hundred acres of land 
to himself and his successors for ever, for the use of the orphan- 
house, by the honourable trustees for Georgia. " They re- 
ceived me with the utmost civility, and agreed to every thing I 
asked." This, be it remembered, was done at the very time 
when all the city was moved by his " mad trick " in the fields ; 
and he returned the compliment to the Honourable Board, by 
leaving them, to preach that evening to twenty thousand people 
at Kennington, where (judging from the collection after the 
sermon) he seems to have mentioned the grant made to him in 
the morning. " At night," he says, " my heart was so full, 
that I could not well speak. I could only pour it out in awful 
silence. Oh the happiness of communion with God ! " 

It was also at the height and heat of this crisis, that he en- 
gaged a passage for himself and eleven others, on board the 
Elizabeth, to Pennsylvania ; that he might preach the gospel 
and provide for the orphan-house, on his way to Georgia : — so 
little was Whitefield's original purpose affected by his popu- 
larity. In fact, he never lost sight of it for a moment ; for the 
delay in sailing arose from an embargo. 

A singular incident occurred at this time, which Whitefield 
has recorded at considerable length in his journals. A young 
man, Joseph Periam, who had read his sermon on Regenera- 
tion, and been impressed by it, prayed so loud, and fasted so 
long, and sold "all he had" so literally, that his family sent 
him to Bethlehem mad-house. There he was treated as metho- 
distically mad, and as " one of Whitefield's gang." The keepers 
threw him down, and thrust a key into his mouth, that they 
might drench him with medicine. He was then placed in a 
cold room, without windows, and with a damp cellar under it. 

Periam, however, found some way of conveying a letter to 
Whitefield, requesting both advice and a visit. Both were 
promptly given. Whitefield soon discovered that Periam was 
not mad ; and, taking Mr. Seward and some other friends with 
him, he went before the committee of the hospital to explain 
the case. Seward seems to have been the chief speaker ; and 
he so astounded the committee by quoting Scripture, that they 
pronounced him as mad as the young man ! It must have been 



whitefield's life and times. 



85 



a ludicrous scene. The doctors told the whole deputation 
frankly, that, in their opinion, Whitefield and his followers were 
" really beside themselves." It was, however, agreed that if 
Whitefield would take Periam out to Georgia, a release would 
be granted. Thus the conference ended ; and the young man 
went out as a schoolmaster at the orphan-house. There he 
was useful and exemplary to the last ; and when he died, two of 
his sons were received into the school. 

Whilst the embargo continued, Whitefield made some run- 
ning excursions into the country, with great success. Before 
leaving London, however, he went to St. Paul's, with the Fet- 
ter Lane society, and received the sacrament as " a testimony," 
he says, " that we adhered to the church of England." He was 
perfectly sincere in this ; but many churchmen thought it a 
strange adherence, when he went from St. Paul's to Moorfields 
and Kennington Common, and preached to 30,000 people ! This 
was adherence to Christ and Paul only. 

After spending a week about Northamptonshire, where Dod- 
dridge received him " most courteously," he returned to London, 
and added Hackney Fields to the list of his preaching stations. 
There he made that tremendous attack upon " the impiety of 
the letter-learned teachers, who count the doctrine of the new 
birth enthusiasm," which drew upon him the wrath of the 
clergy. " I could not help," he says, 66 exposing the impiety of 
these vile teachers, who say we are not now to receive the Holy 
Ghost. Out of your own mouths I will condemn you, ye blind 
guides ! Did you not, at the time of ordination, tell the bishop 
that you — were inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost, to take 
upon you the administration of the church ? Surely at that 
time you acted the part of Ananias and Sapphira over again. 
Surely, says Bishop Burnet, you lied not only unto man but 
unto God." 

This is the revised form of the charge. As he first published 
it, he did not quote Burnet, nor use the word " vile." That 
word he substituted for the epithet " letter -learned," because 
Warburton and others represented him as a despiser of learning. 

The Jirst answer given to his sermon on Regeneration, was 
by Tristram Land, A. M. curate of St. James's, GarlickhUhe. 



86 



WHITEFIELtl's LIFE AND TIMES. 



Whitefield deemed it unworthy of notice. I do not. It is a 
fair specimen of the general tone of sentiment and feeling at the 
time. It was written in 1737, although not published (" for 
private reasons") until 1739; by which time, Whitefield and 
Wesley had compelled theologians, at least, to mask their bat- 
tery somewhat, in assailing the doctrine of the new birth. 
Tristram, however, has nothing to conceal. With inimitable 
inanity and frankness, he says to Whitefield, " I hope you'll 
please to alter your practice, and no longer preach up the ne- 
cessity of the new birth, until you better understand the nature 
and commencement of it : for to tell christians they must be 
born again, who in the soundest sense were born again in their 
infancy, is, at least, a great impropriety. And besides, your 
time would be much better spent, after having given so much 
just occasion of offence to your brethren, if, instead of rege- 
neration, you insist more upon repentance and amendment." 

" You tell your readers, ( It is plain beyond all contradiction, 
that comparatively but few of those that are born of water are 
born of the Spirit likewise ; or, to use another Scriptural way of 
speaking, many of those that are baptized with water, are 
not effectually, at least, baptized with the Holy Ghost.' But 
prithee, Sir, attend now to these few following places which I 
set before you, to confront your ill-grounded assertion." Tris- 
tram then quotes the Office of Baptism, and the Rubrick at the 
end of it, and adds triumphantly, " All this, Sir, I take to be 
direct evidence against you, not to be evaded by the word ' effec- 
tually,' with which you thought proper to guard your assertion. 
All the members of our church were baptized in infancy. She 
declares them regenerate ; and gives hearty thanks to God, that 
it has pleased him to regenerate such infants with his Holy 
Spirit. The church supposes they have already been born again, 
and so does not command them to be baptized or born again 
a second time : for to be born more than once in a spiritual 
sense, is just as impossible as to be born twice in a natural. 

" Perhaps, Sir, at another opportunity, I may make it my 
business to point out some more mistakes in your writings and 
conduct ; but if I should not, I dare say you'll excuse your 
humble servant, Tristram Land." 



whitefield's life and times. 



87 



When Whitefield read this letter, he wrote in his diary, 
" Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord." He saw that it was 
unanswerable, if the Office of Baptism, and the Catechism, be 
true ; and he was not prepared then to impeach them by name. 

The clergy seem to have been ashamed of the bald defence 
published by this honest — " Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge :" 
for Whitefield's next opponent, on this subject, was no less a 
person than Dr. Stebbing, his Majesty's chaplain in ordinary, 
and preacher to the honourable society of Gray's Inn. (At 
both Gray's and Lincoln's Inn, sermons against Whitefield and 
Wesley seem to have been popular amongst the lawyers, and 
means of obtaining preferment at court. See Warburton's.) 
Dr. Stebbing's sermon, entitled " A Caution against Religious 
Delusion," went through two or three editions in 1739. It is 
the production of a scholar and a gentleman; and so far of -a 
divine too, that it is silent on the subject of baptismal regener- 
ation. Indeed, it is a dexterous attempt to prove, that the 
new birth is only another expression for " the new man," which 
is, the Doctor says, the figurative name of " practical right- 
eousness." This sermon the bishop of Gloucester sent to 
Whitefield, with a kind letter of caution and advice. The let- 
ter itself he answered with equal firmness and courtesy ; but 
the Doctor, without ceremony. " Dr. Stebbing's sermon (for 
which I thank your Lordship) confirms me more and more in 
my opinion, that I ought to be instant in season and out of sea- 
son. For to me, he seems to know no more of the true nature 
of regeneration, than Nicodemus did, when he came to Jesus 
by night. Your Lordship may observe, that he does not speak 
a word of original sin, or the dreadful consequences of our fall 
in Adam, upon which the doctrine of the new birth is entirely 
founded. No ; like other polite preachers, he seems to think 
that St. Paul's description of the wickedness of the heathen, is 
only to be referred to past ages : whereas, I affirm, we are all 
included under the guilt and consequences of sin, as much as 
they were ; — and if any man preach any other doctrine, he shall 
bear his punishment, whosoever he be. 

" Again, my Lord, the Doctor entirely mistakes us, when we 
talk of the sensible manifestations of the Holy Ghost. In- 



88 



whitefield's life and times. 



deed, I know not that we use the word sensible : but, if we do, 
we do not mean that God's Spirit does manifest itself to our 
senses, but that it may be perceived by the soul, as really as any 
sensible impression made upon the body. But to disprove this, 
the Doctor brings our Lord's allusion to the wind ; which is 
one of the best texts to prove it; for if the analogy of our 
Lord's discourse be carried on, it amounts to this much, — that 
although the operations of the Spirit can no more be accounted 
for, than how the wind cometh, and whither it goeth, yet may 
they as easily be felt by the soul, as the wind by the body. 
But he understands us as the carnal Jews understood Christ, 
when He talked of giving them that bread which came down 
from heaven. But the Doctor, and the rest of my reverend 
brethren, are welcome to judge of me as they please. Yet a 
little while, and we shall all appear before the great Shepherd of 
our souls ! " 

We can scarcely appreciate now the value of this solemn and 
decided stand for the truth as it is in Jesus. Had Whitefield 
conceded an iota to Stebbing, he would have stultified his 
grand object. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit had to be 
maintained by its champion then, as Luther fought for justifi- 
cation by faith ; — giving no quarter to the vulgar or the refined 
opponents of it. Stebbing's sermon could do no injury now. 
It is even calculated to do real good, wherever more stress is 
laid upon strong emotions, than upon personal holiness; but 
then, it was as much a moral " go-by " to the question, as bap- 
tism was a ceremonial one. Whitefield had, therefore, no alter- 
native but to abandon the necessity of spiritual conversion, or to 
refute Stebbing. 

His next opponent, at this time, was the bishop of London, 
who made him, he says, "the chief subject matter" of a pastoral 
letter. That letter charges him with " professing to plant and 
propagate a new gospel, unknown to the generality of ministers 
and people, in a christian country." Whitefield, very properly, 
admits the charge. " Mine is a new gospel — and will be always 
unknown to the generality, if your Lordship's clergy follow 
your Lordship's directions. Your Lordship exhorts your clergy 
to preach justification by faith alone — and quotes the 11th Ar- 



whitefield's life and times. 



89 



tide of our church, which tells us, we are justified by faith only, 
and not for our works or deservings at the same time, — your 
Lordship bids them ( explain it in such a manner, as to leave 
no doubt upon their minds, whether good works are a necessary 
condition of their being justified in the sight of God.' Your 
Lordship, in my opinion, could not well be guilty of a greater 
inconsistency. This, my Lord, is truly a new gospel ! It is 
as contrary to the doctrine of the church of England, as light is 
contrary to darkness." 

This reply, happily, committed Whiten eld as fully upon the 
question of justification, as his letter to the bishop of Glouces- 
ter had upon the question of regeneration : for, until Gibson's 
Letter appeared, Whitefield himself had but confused notions of 
the subject. But the bishop's errors made him aware of his 
own mistakes. In his early sermons, he had used such expres- 
sions as, " washing away the guilt of sin, by the tears of a sin- 
cere repentance, joined with faith in the blood of Christ 
" depending on the righteousness of Christ imputed to and 
inherent in " us ; " things necessary to qualify us for being 
savingly in Christ." The fact is, he had not " read a single 
book on the doctrine of free justification," when he began to 
preach. " No wonder, then," he says, " that I was not so clear 
in some points, at my first setting out. I think it no dishonour 
to retract some expressions that dropped from my pen, before 
God gave me a more clear knowledge of the doctrines of grace. 
St. Austin, I think, did so before me." A Letter to some Church 
Members of the Presbyterian Persuasion. New York, 1740. Both 
American and Scotch presbyterians helped to teach him " the 
way of God more perfectly," at this time. Dr. Watts also had 
some influence upon him, about this time ; although less than 
he wished. The Doctor did not, indeed, take any public part in 
the controversy ; but he privately sustained Bishop Gibson, and 
thus placed himself in a false position, which for ever after pre- 
vented him from being more than the private friend of White- 
field. The bishop had sent him a copy of his Pastoral lie tier 
against Whitefield : and, in answer to it, he says, " Your Lord- 
ship's distinction of the ordinary and extraordinary influences 
of the Holy Spirit is so very necessary, that I think the New 



90 



whitefield's life and times. 



Testament cannot be understood without it : and I wish Mr. 
Whitefield would not have risen above any pretence to the ordi- 
nary influence, unless he could have given better evidences of it. 
He has acknowledged to me in conversation, that it is such an 
impression upon his own mind, that he knows to be divine, 
though he cannot give me any convincing proof of it. 

" I said many things to warn him of the danger of delusion, 
and to guard him against the irregularities and imprudences 
which youth and zeal might lead him into ,* and told him plainly, 
that though I believed him very sincere, and desiring to do good 
to souls, yet I was not convinced of any extraordinary call he 
had to some parts of his conduct : — and he seemed to take this 
free discourse in a very candid manner." Milner's Life of Watts, 
p. 638. In an evil hour this was written ; for however true, it 
was ill timed. No matter that the letter contains some faith- 
ful remonstrances to the bishop, about his clergy : it contains 
none against Gibson's " new gospel," as Whitefield well calls 
it ; and it abets him (unintentionally, indeed) in confounding 
regeneration with the extraordinary influences of the Spirit. 
For that was the real point at issue between Gibson and White- 
field. Accordingly, Gibson took the letter in good part. He 
wrote thus : " Good Sir, it had been well for Mr. Whitefield, if 
he had taken the wise advice and cautions you gave him : but 
from the time that men imagine themselves singled out by God 
for extraordinary purposes, and in consequence of that, to be 
guided by extraordinary impulses and operations, all human 
advice is lost upon them. — I am, with great affection and esteem, 
your very faithful servant, Edm. Lond." 

Watts did not see the bearing of all this ; but it so committed 
him upon the bishop's side of the question, that he could not 
espouse Whitefield's side of it publicly, even when that was no 
longer encumbered with crude notions of impulses and im- 
pressions. 

This incident deserves far more consideration than it has ever 
received. It is often asked, with wonder, why the orthodox 
dissenters of that time did not rally around Whitefield, and 
open their pulpits to him, when he was excluded from the 
churches ? The author of the " Life and Times of Watts " says, 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



91 



" The co-operation of such men as Watts and Doddridge was 
forfeited by the want of a conciliating spirit, and the good will 
they tendered was lost by causeless and imprudent reflections " 
(on the part of the methodists). " When their churches were 
denounced as companies of banded formalists, — when their min- 
isters were proclaimed as feeding the flock with husks, instead 
of salutary food, — it is not surprising if the majority stood aloof, 
or retired disgusted by the exhibition of such censoriousness." 

But what has all this tirade against the methodists to do with 
Whitefield ? He never spoke in this manner or spirit against 
Watts or Doddridge. He revered and loved both from the first. 
Milner surely does not mean, when he says that " Whitefield in 
middle age saw his error," that this was the " youthful intem- 
perance he acknowledged." He did acknowledge, with great 
candour and self-condemnation, that he had spoken both hastily 
and harshly of many ministers. For this he publicly asked 
pardon of God and man. But it was never of such men as Watts 
and Doddridge, and especially not of these men, he had ever 
been an accuser. Indeed, both of them had said of him what 
was not exactly kind or wise, however well meant. Doddridge 
called him " a very weak man," though " very honest and, 
" a little intoxicated with popularity." He might also have 
found " a more excellent way " of appeasing the brethren who 
were " angry " with him for the respect he showed to Whitefield, 
than by saying to Coward's trustees, " I am not so zealously 
attached to him, as to be disposed to celebrate him as one of 
the greatest men of the age, or to think that he is the pillar that 
bears up the whole interest of religion among us." Letters to 
Dr. Wood and Nath. Neal, Esq. vol. iv. This was playing too 
far into the hands of Whitefield's dissenting opponents, just as 
Watts conceded too much to Gibson. Watts went so far in his 
courtesy to the bishop, as to tell him, not only how to " make 
all the Whitefields less regarded, and less dangerous to the 
church," but also how " to lessen separation" from the church: 
" Induce the ministers under your care, to preach and converse 
among their people with that evangelical spirit, that zeal for the 
honour of God and the success of the gospel, and with that com- 
passion for the souls of men, that your Lordship so much 



92 



whitefield's life and times. 



approves and advises in your pious and excellent charge." 
Milner, p. 639. 

All this may surprise some : but the fact is, that the dissenters 
of these times were, in their own way, almost as great sticklers 
for " order " as the bishops. Field preaching was as alarming to 
the board as to the bench. The primate would have as soon 
quitted his throne, as a leading nonconformist his desk, to 
preach from a horse-block or a table, in the open air. Indeed, 
aggression was no part of the character of dissent, in these days. 
No wonder ! Dissenters had been so long persecuted even in 
their secluded and obscure chapels, that they were glad to sit 
still under their vine and their fig-tree ; thankful for their own 
safety, and neither daring nor dreaming to go into the high- 
ways or hedges. It was methodism made dissent aggressive 
upon the strong holds of Satan. Indeed, until the chief of them 
were carried by storm, by Whitefield and Wesley, dissenters 
must have dreaded all co-operation with methodism, as perilous 
to their own peace and safety. They did. Accordingly, all the 
remonstrances addressed to Doddridge, by Coward's trustees 
and the London ministers, harp chiefly upon the string, that the 
church will not think so well of the dissenting interest, if she see 
it countenancing Whitefield. Doddridge nobly despised this 
fear ; but still, it was long and deeply felt by many of the non- 
conformists. This was not/ however, their only reason. They 
did fear for their own standing with the church ; but they feared 
more for the ark of God ; which, they thought, was in danger of 
being " swallowed up in a sea of deism," if the enthusiasm of 
methodism obtained countenance " from prudent christians." 
See NeaVs Letters to Doddridge, vol. iv. 

Do I then regret that Whitefield was not adopted by the 
dissenters, when the church cast him out ? No, in nowise ! They 
would have spoiled him by their orderliness ; and he might have 
confused them by his splendid irregularities. Ralph Erskine 
well said to Whitefield, " I see a beauty in the providence of 
your being in communion with the English church : otherwise, 
such great confluences from among them had not attended your 
ministry; nor, consequently, reaped the advantage which so 
many have done." Fraser's Life of ~R. Erskine. 



whitefield's life and times. 



93 



The 'Scotch dissenters, the Seceders, would, indeed, have 
gladly adopted Whitefield, if they could have had a monopoly 
of his labour : but they, too, were better without him. His re- 
action upon the secession in Scotland, as upon the dissenters of 
England, multiplied and strengthened both eventually, far more 
than his exclusive services could have done. 

This digression, though long, and somewhat out of place, will 
be found useful in its bearings upon his future positions. At 
this time, however, whilst doctors differed, he carried the great 
questions at issue into the midst of " multitudes, multitudes in 
the valley of decision ! " He also preached frequently in the 
church at Bexley, and administered the sacrament. The vicar 
of Bexley, Mr. Peers, was much attached to him; but was com- 
pelled at last, by the diocesan, to deny him the use of the pulpit. 
But the good man went no further than the letter of the injunc- 
tion : he employed Whitefield in the desk, and at the altar, when 
he could no longer admit him into the pulpit. " Read prayers 
and assisted in administering the sacrament at Bexley church. 
Many came from far, and expected to hear me." The pulpit 
being denied, " I preached in the afternoon, in Justice D.'s yard, 
to about three hundred people ; and in the evening, at Black- 
heath, to upwards of twenty thousand, on these words, ( And 
they cast him out.'' I recommended to the people the example 
of the blind beggar, and reminded them to prepare for a gather- 
ing storm ! " 

A few days before this expulsion from the pulpit at Bexley, 
he had introduced Mr. Wesley to Blackheath. This afforded him 
great pleasure. He regarded it " as another fresh inroad made 
into Satan's kingdom," that his "honoured and reverend friend, 
Mr. John , Wesley," was "following him in field preaching in 
London, as well as in Bristol." " The Lord give him ten 
thousand times more success than he has given me." 

Next week, when he himself went to preach at Blackheath in 
the evening, instead of twenty or thirty thousand people as usual, 
there were not one thousand. This arose from a report that 
Whitefield was dead. He does not explain the report in any 
of his journals ; but merely says of it, " Wherever I came, I 
found people much surprised and rejoiced to see me alive." 



94 



whitefield's life and times. 



Next night, however, the heath was again swarming with 
thousands. 

On the following day he went on a tour into Gloucestershire, 
for nearly a month. During his absence, the work was carried 
on by his " honoured friend and fellow-labourer, Charles Wes- 
ley." On his return, he says, " The poor souls were ready to 
leap for joy," at Kennington Common. At Moorfields, " A 
greater power than ever was amongst us. I collected £24 17s. 
for the school-house at Kingswood." 

Whitefield little knew, whilst thus occupied, how narrowly 
his life had escaped at Basingstoke, two days before. He had, 
indeed, been told by one, as he went out to preach in a field, 
that he " should not go alive out of Basingstoke ;" but he 
heeded not the threat, as he had claimed protection from the 
mayor. He would not, perhaps, have thought of it again, had 
not a quaker, at whose house he slept, sent the following letter : 
" I am truly glad that thou wert preserved out of the hands of 
cruel and unreasonable men. Thou heardst of the threatenings 
of many ; but the malice and blind zeal of some went further. 

For hadst thou went to my friend H to bed, or elsewhere 

towards that part of the town, (which I believe was expected,) 
there were ten or twelve men lying in wait to do thee a private 
mischief : which I know by the testimony of one of those very 
men ; who boasted to me — ( We would have given him a secret 
blow, and prevented him making disturbances.' This confession 
came out to me in the warmth of his zeal ; as thinking, perhaps, 
that I could hate, at least, if not destroy, (like him,) all that 
were not of my own party." Revised Journals. 

Gillies has not mentioned this escape. He merely refers to 
the " groundless fictions," then afloat, about Whitefield's mur- 
der or wounds ; for report killed or wounded him, whenever he 
left London for a few days. Gillies has, however, marked a 
coincidence which, although I durst not have noticed in the 
way he has done, I dare not altogether suppress. He says, 
" The bishop of London laid hold of this occasion for publishing 
a charge to his clergy, to avoid the extremes of enthusiasm and 
lukewarmness." And that the charge was ill-timed, and cal- 
culated to endanger Whitefield, cannot be doubted ; for he was 



whitefield's life and times. 



95 



made, as he himself says, " the chief subject matter " of it, 
and thus held up to public odium ; but it certainly was not 
intended to injure him, except in his reputation and influence. 
Bishops, however, should take care how they bark, when curs 
are inclined to bite. Well might Whitefield say at this crisis, 
" People wonder at me, that I should talk of persecution, now 
the world is become christian : but, alas, were Jesus Christ to 
come down from heaven at this time, he would be treated as 
formerly. And whoever goes forth to preach the gospel in his 
Spirit, must expect the same treatment as his first apostles 
met with. Lord, prepare us for all events." 

But if he saw danger, he did not shrink from it. In one 
instance, at this time, he almost courted insult, as well as ex- 
posed himself to it. Having heard that there was to be a 
horse-race at Hackney Marsh, he says, " I appointed, pur- 
posely, to preach there, because the race was to be in the same 
field." He did preach to ten thousand people ; and " very few 
left the sermon :" some who did, " returned back quickly," 
and them he addressed personally. This was certainly im- 
prudent. The whole affair, however, passed off quietly. 

Marybone Fields and Stoke Newington Common then be- 
came the chief scene of his labours, until his embarkation : and 
they were scenes of triumph. Many scoffers were arrested and 
overpowered by the gospel, and more formalists roused to flee 
from the wrath to come. He himself has not hazarded any 
computation of the precise number of avowed converts, won 
by field preaching, in and around London ; but, judging from 
the time he spent in speaking with the awakened, during the 
intervals of preaching, and from the letters and notes he ac- 
knowledges, the numbers must have been great. He says in 
his revised journal, at the close of this grand campaign to win 
souls, " Great things God has already done : for it is unknown 
how many have come to me under strong convictions of their 
fallen state ; desiring to be (more) awakened to a sense of sin, 
and giving thanks for the benefits God has imparted to them 
by the ministry of his word." His last sermon, before leaving 
London to embark, brought so many of these amongst the 
crowd at Kennington Common, and they were so " exceedingly 



96 



whitefield's life and times. 



affected/' that he was " almost prevented from making any ap- 
plication " of the subject. But whatever was the number of his 
converts then, Toplady, who was not inclined to give an ex- 
aggerated answer to the question, ee Are there many that be 
saved ? " gave Whitefield credit for having been, in the course 
of his entire ministry, useful to " tens of thousands besides " 
himself. 



CHAPTER V. 



whitefield's first visits to the country. 



Whatever disadvantages may attend the mode in which I 
trace the first labours and influence of Whitefield, the divisions 
I have adopted will enable the reader to follow him without 
effort or confusion, and to judge fairly of each of his successive 
spheres ; many of which were very dissimilar, however much 
alike were the effects of his preaching in them. Besides, it is 

„ much easier to realize the changes which passed upon his spirit 
as he moved from country to country, and from spot to spot, in 
the glory or gloom of circumstances, than to realize places, 
however vividly characterized ; for they seldom gave a cha- 
racter to his preaching. I mean, that he did not exactly adapt 
himself to localities ; but came into a new field in the spirit he 
had left the old one. He preached "the common salvation" 
every where, although with varied power. According to " the 
brook in the way," he "lifted up the head." He came to 
London under the Bristol impulse ; and he embarked for 
America under the London impulse. This is evident from his 
journals. He had no plans, but for winning souls ; and these, 
although they could never be set aside by circumstances, could 
be inflamed by them. Accordingly, whilst the vessel was de- 
tained in the river or on the coast, he was never idle. Wherever 

( he could land, he preached ; and when on board, he read prayers 
and expounded daily ; just as might be expected from a man 
fresh from the impulses of London. 

His work in England, as distinguished from London and its 
immediate vicinity, began on his return from Georgia ; and 
then, he was full of his orphan school : an institution which, if 

u 



98 



whitekield's life and times. 



it did little for the colony, led him to do much for the mother 
country ! Humanly speaking, but for that school, and the col- 
lege he intended to graft upon it, Whitefield would never have 
traversed England as he did, nor visited Scotland so often. It 
compelled him to travel, and inspired him to preach. It was 
his hobby, certainly ; but by riding it well, he made it like 
" the white horse " of the Apocalypse, the means of going "forth 
conquering and to conquer." 

Having been ordained a priest at Oxford, and received a 
" liberal benefaction " from the bishop of Gloucester for Georgia, 
his first visit was to Windsor. There he could find only a 
school-room to expound in ; but such was the impression made 
by his address, that he exclaimed on leaving, " Not unto me, O 
Lord, not unto me ; but unto thy name be all the glory." 

Next morning he went to Basingstoke, and expounded to 
about a hundred very attentive hearers, in the dining-room of 
the inn ; but on the evening of the next day, the crowd outside 
was noisy, and threw stones at the windows. This roused 
Whitefield's zeal and the curiosity of the town. On the fol- 
lowing day, he had three large rooms nearly filled ; and 
although some interrupted him, many were so struck and over- 
awed, that they said they would "never oppose again."* 

At this time he visited and revisited Dummer, where he had 
once been so useful and happy amongst the poor. " I found," 
says he, that " they had not forgotten their former love. We 
took exceeding sweet counsel, prayed, and sang psalms, and eat 
our bread with gladness and singleness of heart. How did 
Jesus comfort us by the way ! Monstrare neqaeo sentio tan- 
turn ! Lord, melt down my frozen heart, with a sense of thy 
unmerited love." 

From Dummer he went to Salisbury, and there visited " an 
old disciple, Mr. Wesley's mother but found no opportunity 
for preaching. He then went to Bath, with the hope of preach- 
ing in the abbey church for the orphan-house, the trustees 
having obtained leave of the bishop ; but Dr. C. would not 
permit him. " He was pleased " (so Whitefield expresses it) " to 



* See Letter 51. Works, vol. i. 



whitefield's life and times. 



99 



give me an absolute refusal to preach either on that or any 
other occasion, without a positive order from the king or the 
bishop. I asked him his reasons. He said he was not obliged 
to give me any. I therefore withdrew, and reached Bristol." 
There a welcome awaited him ; and he felt the difference. 
" Who can express the joy with which I was received ? " It 
was not long, however, unmixed joy. He was refused the use 
of Redcliffe church, although he had the promise of it. The 
clergyman pretended that " he could not lend his church with- 
out a special order from the chancellor." Whiten eld, with his 
usual promptitude, put this excuse to the test at once. " I im- 
mediately waited on the chancellor, who told me frankly, that 
he would neither give positive leave, nor would he prohibit any 
one that should lend me a church ; but he would advise me to 
withdraw to some other place, till he heard from the bishop, 
and not to preach on any other occasion. I asked him his rea- 
sons. He answered, — ' Why will you press so hard upon me ? 
The thing has given general dislike.' I replied, ' Not the orphan- 
house ; even those that disagree with me in other particulars, 
approve of that. And as for the gospel — when was it preached 
without dislike ? ' 

" Soon after this I waited upon the reverend the dean, who 
received me with great civility. When I had shown hh^ my 
Georgia accounts, and answered him a question or two about 
the colony, I asked him, whether there could be any just ob- 
jection against my preaching in churches for the orphan-house? 
After a pause for a considerable time, he said, he could not 
tell. Somebody knocking at the door, he replied, ( Mr. White- 
field, I will give you an answer some other time : now I expect 
company.' * Will you be pleased to fix any time, Sir,' said I. 
* I will send to you,' says the dean. O christian simplicity, 
whither art thou fled ? " 

Whitefield himself fled, that afternoon, to the Newgate of 
Bristol, and obtained the jailer's permission to preach there to 
the prisoners. " I preached a sermon on the Penitent Thief, 
and collected fifteen shillings for them." On the following 
sabbath he preached at St, Werburgh's church to a large au- 
dience. Even St. Mary RedclifFe was open to him soon, though 

ii 2 



100 



whitefield's life and times. 



not for a collection. " Blessed be God, — I thought yesterday 
I should not have the use of any pulpit ; but God has the hearts 
of all men in his hands." The old effects accompanied this 
new visit to Bristol. " Great numbers were melted down. 
Thousands could not find room." He thus verified a prediction 
which had been sent from London to Bristol, by some raving 
blasphemer ; — " Whitefield has set the town on fire, and now he 
is gone to kindle a flame in the country. I think the devil in 
hell is in you all." 

The flame was kindled in Bristol ; and the devil had cer- 
tainly something to do with those who tried to extinguish it. 
" The chancellor told me plainly, that he intended to stop my 
proceedings. f I have sent for the registrar here, Sir, to take 
down your answers.' He asked me, by what authority I 
preached in the diocess of Bristol without a licence ? I an- 
swered, e I thought that custom was grown obsolete. Why, pray, 
Sir, did not you ask the clergyman, who preached for you last 
Thursday, this question ? ' He said, that was nothing to me ? " 
Dr. Southey says, that Whitefield's reply to the chancellor was 
given " without the slightest sense of its impropriety or its irre- 
levance." But where is its irrelevance ? It is certainly quite 
ad rem, whatever it may be as etiquette, when curates argue 
with chancellors ; and in all respects, it is more gentlemanly 
than the chancellor's "what is that to you " That is real 
vulgarity. 

The Doctor narrates the remainder of this high-church 
scene, with more discrimination. " The chancellor then read 
to him those canons which forbade any minister from preaching 
in a private house. Whitefield answered, he apprehended they 
did not apply to professed ministers of the church of England. 
When he was informed of his mistake, he said, ' There is also 
a canon forbidding all clergymen to frequent taverns and play 
at cards : why is not that put in execution ? ' And he added, 
that notwithstanding these canons, he could not but speak the 
things he knew, and that he was resolved to proceed as usual." 
Now, if the Doctor pleases, Whitefield is as impolite, as the 
apostles were to the chancellor of the Jewish sanhedrim ! " His 
answer was written down, and the chancellor then said, ' I am 



whitefield's life and times. 



101 



resolved, Sir, if you preach or expound any where in this diocess 
till you have a licence, I will first suspend, and then excommu- 
nicate you.' With this declaration of war they parted : but 
the advantage was wholly on the side of Whitefield ; for the 
day of ecclesiastical discipline was gone by." Southeys Wesley. 

Whitefield says, they parted politely. " He waited upon me 
very civilly to the door, and told me, 6 What he did was in the 
name of the clergy and laity (laity indeed !) of the city of Bris- 
tol and so we parted. Immediately I went and expounded 
at Newgate as usual ! " 

The unusual, as might be expected, soon followed this Bar- 
tholomew day in Bristol. Ejected from the churches, White- 
field betook himself to the fields at once. " All the churches 
being now shut — and if open, not able to contain half that came 
to hear — I went to Kingswood, amongst the colliers." There 
he took his station upon Hannam Mount, on Rose Green, and 
preached, not, as Dr. Gillies says, from the sermon on the 
mount, but from John iii. 3, on regeneration, his favourite sub- 
ject. The other text was on a subsequent occasion. " I thought " 
(says he) " it would be doing the service of my Creator, who had 
a mountain for his pulpit, and the heavens for his sounding- 
board ; and who, when his gospel was refused by the Jews, sent 
his servants into the highways and hedges." 

In thus renewing a practice which, as Dr. Southey says, " had 
not been seen in England since the dissolution of the monastic 
orders," and by commencing it at Kingswood, Whitefield dared 
not a little danger. The colliers were numerous and utterly 
uncultivated. They had no place of worship. Few ventured 
to walk even in their neighbourhood ; and when provoked, they 
were the terror of Bristol. But "none of these things moved " 
Whitefield, although he was told them all by his timid friends. 
The fact is, the chancellor had told him something he dreaded 
more than insult, — that he must be silent; and that, he could 
not endure. Instead of insult or opposition at Kingswood, 
however, "the barbarous people," although they had never 
been in a church, " showed him no small kindness." His first 
audience amounted to nearly two thousand, who heard him 
with great attention and decorum for nearly an hour. His 



102 



WHITEFIELD'S LIFE AND TIMES. 



third audience increased to five thousand ; and thus they went 
on increasing to ten, fourteen, and twenty thousand. On one 
of these occasions he says, " The day was fine — the sun shone 
very bright — and the people standing in such an awful manner 
around the mount, in the profoundest silence, filled me with 
holy admiration. Blessed be God for such a plentiful harvest. 
Lord, do thou send forth more labourers into thy harvest." 

Although Whitefield had thus drawn the sword against the 
obsolete canons of the church, he had not " thrown away the 
scabbard for, on the morning of the very next day, he waited 
again on the chancellor, and showed him a letter he had 
received from the bishop of London. "After usual saluta- 
tions, I asked why he did not write to the bishop, according to 
his promise ? I think he answered, — he was to blame. I then 
insisted on his proving I had preached false doctrine, and re- 
minded him of his threatening to excommunicate me in the 
name of the clergy and laity of the city of Bristol. But he 
would have me think — that he had said no such thing ; and con- 
fessed, that to this day he had neither heard me preach, nor 
read any of my writings," Thus, it seems, Whitefield was 
charged with heresy, and threatened with excommunication' — 
and that by a chancellor on mere hearsay evidence ! This reply 
to Whitefield was surely not given " without the slightest sense 
of its impropriety or its irrelevance ! " Southeys Wesley. 

He wrote an account of this shameful affair to the bishop of 
Bristol. " To-day I showed your Lordship's letter to the chan- 
cellor, who (notwithstanding he promised not to prohibit my 
preaching for the orphan-house, if your Lordship was only neuter 
in the affair) has influenced most of the clergy to deny me their 
pulpits, either on that or any other occasion. Last week, he 
charged me with false doctrine. To day, he is pleased to for- 
get that he said so. He also threatened to excommunicate me 
for preaching in your Lordship's diocess. I offered to take a 
licence, but was denied. If your Lordship ask, what evil I have 
done, I answer, — none ; save that I visit the religious societies, 
preach to the prisoners in Newgate, and to the poor col- 
liers at Kingswood, who, they tell me, are little better than 
heathens. I am charged with being a dissenter ! although 



whitefield's life and times. 



103 



many are brought to church by my preaching, and not one 
taken from it. 

" I am sorry to give your Lordship this trouble, but I thought 
proper to mention these particulars, that I might know of your 
Lordship wherein my conduct is exceptionable." A copy of 
this letter he sent to the chancellor, with the following note ; 
" The enclosed I sent to the bishop of Bristol : be pleased to 
peruse it, and see if any thing contrary to truth is there related." 

How the matter ended, I know not ; except that there was 
an end to Whitefield's preaching in the churches of Bristol. 
That led, however, to what he calls, his "beginning to begin" 
to be a preacher. " I hasted to Kingswood. At a moderate 
computation, there were above ten thousand people. The trees 
and hedges were full. All was hush when I began. The sun 
shone bright, and God enabled me to preach with great power, 
and so loud, that all (I was told) could hear me. Blessed be 

God, Mr. spoke right — the fire is kindled in the country. 

May the gates of hell never be able to prevail against it ! To 
behold such crowds standing together in such awful silence, and 
to hear the echo of their singing run from one end of them to 
the other, was very solemn and striking. How infinitely more 
solemn and striking will the general assembly of the spirits of 
just men made perfect be, when they join in singing the song 
of Moses and the Lamb in heaven ! — As the scene was new, and 
I had just began to be an extempore preacher, it often occa- 
sioned many inward conflicts. Sometimes when twenty thou- 
sand people were before me, I had not, in my own apprehen- 
sion, a word to say either to God or them ! But I was never 
totally deserted ; and frequently (for to deny it would be to sin 
against God) so assisted, that I knew by happy experience 
what our Lord meant by saying, ( Out of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living waters.' The gladness and eagerness with 
which these poor despised outcasts, who had never been in a 
church in their lives, received the truth, is beyond description ! 
Having no righteousness of their own to renounce, they were 
glad to hear of a Jesus, who was the friend of publicans, and 
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The 
first discovery of their being affected, was to see the white 



104 



whitefield's life and times. 



gutters made by their tears, which plentifully fell down their 
black faces ; black as they came out of the coal-pits. Hundreds 
and hundreds of them were soon brought under deep conviction, 
which, as the event proved, ended in a sound and thorough con- 
version. The change was visible to all ; though numbers chose 
to impute it to any thing rather than the finger of God." 

Neither the bishop, nor the chancellor, threw any hinderance 
in the way of this mighty work. Would they had helped it 
on ! What an effect would have been produced, had the bishop 
preached to the colliers in the cathedral ! They were in his 
diocess, though without both a fold and a shepherd ; and he 
was more responsible to God for them, than for the dignity of 
the episcopal throne, where " the traditions of men " had seated 
him. Prelacy, if above " the work of an evangelist," is beneath 
the acceptance of good men. 

Though somewhat embarrassed at first by his novel situa- 
tion, Whitefield soon found himself in his native element. In 
churches, however large, there was not room for his mighty 
voice ; and thus not full scope for his mightier feelings. Both 
were cramped, although he knew it not, until the horizon was 
their circle, and the firmament their roof. Immensity above 
and around him, expanded his spirit to all its width, in all its 
warmth ; whilst the scenery touched all his sensibilities. Then 
he knew both his power and his weakness. " The open firma- 
ment above me," says he, — " the prospect of the adjacent fields, 
with the sight of thousands and thousands, some in coaches, 
some on horseback, and some in the trees, — and at times, all 
affected and drenched in tears together ; — to which sometimes 
was added the solemnity of the approaching evening, — was 
almost too much for me, and quite overcame me." 

In recording this impressive scene, Dr. Southey, notwith- 
standing all his recollections of Bristol scenery, has not ascribed 
to it any part of the impression made by Whitefield upon the 
people. He does not say of him, as of Wesley, that " he him- 
self perceived that natural influences operated upon the multi- 
tude, like the pomp and circumstances of Romish worship :" 
and yet, Whitefield, although less refined than Wesley, was 
equally alive to the influence of scenery and seasons ; and often 



Whitefield's life and times. 



105 



chose situations as bold as the amphitheatre of Gwenap, or as 
beautiful as the groves of Hep tens tal, Watson never wrote 
with greater severity, nor with more truth, than when he ex- 
posed the fallacy of ascribing the effect of Wesley's preaching 
to picturesque scenery. " It is not upon uncultivated minds," 
he justly says, " that such scenes operate strongly." Besides, 
" we are not informed how similar effects were produced, when 
no rocks reared their frowning heads, and when the sea was too 
far off to mix its murmurs with the preacher's voice ; when no 
ruined castle nodded over the scene, and when the birds were so 
provokingly timid as to hasten away to an undisturbed solitude." 

Whitefield could turn both scenery and circumstances, what- 
ever they were, to good account. On one occasion, whilst 
preaching at the Bristol glass-houses, he says, " I heard many 
people behind me hallooing, and making a noise ; and supposed 
they were set on to disturb me by somebody. I bless God, I 
was not in the least moved, but rather increased more in strength. 
When I was done, I inquired the cause of the noise : I found a 
gentleman (?) being drunk, had taken the liberty to call me a 
dog, and say, c that I ought to be whipped at cart's tail ;' and 
offered money to any that would pelt me. Instead of that, the 
boys and people near began to cast stones and dirt at him." 
This retaliation Whitefield reprobated in strong terms, before 
he left the ground ; slyly reminding the people, however, of " the 
sorry wages the devil gives his servants." Some days after he 
visited this ungentlemanly disturber, to condole with him upon 
his punishment. The visit was well received, and they parted 
" very friendly." Journals. 

After some hasty trips into Wales, from Bristol, he went to 
his native city, where the congregations were so large, that the 
clergyman refused him the church on week days. He, there- 
fore, preached in his " brother's field" to the crowd. He felt 
deeply for Gloucester, and threw all his soul into his sermons, 
that he might " save some " where he was born. " To-day," 
he says, " I felt such an intense love, that I could have almost 
wished myself accursed (anathema) for my brethren according 
to the flesh." Such was his zeal to win souls in this city, that 
he preached alternately in the Boothall and the fields, almost 



106 



whitefield's life and times. 



every day, during his visit. This encroachment upon the time 
of the people, drew upon him the charge of encouraging idle- 
ness ; — which, with his usual readiness, though not with his 
usual prudence, he retorted by sayings fC Ye are idle, ye are idle, 
say the Pharaohs of this generation ; therefore ye say, Let us 
go and worship the Lord." He was, however, permitted by the 
bishop to baptize an old quaker in the church of St. Mary De 
Crypt, where he himself had been baptized : and there, he did not 
confine himself to the book ; but, giving way to the emotions 
awakened by the font where he himself had been presented be- 
fore the Lord in infancy, he poured out his heart in a free and 
fervent exhortation to the spectators ; " proving the necessity 
of the new birth from the Office." 

From Gloucester he went to Cheltenham, where his acquaint- 
ance with the Seward family began, although they had to fol- 
low him to the bowling-green and the market-cross, the churches 
being all shut against him. And Oxford, to which he went 
next, completed and sealed this expulsion. " The vice-chan- 
cellor came in person to the house " where Whitefield was ex- 
porting, and accosted him thus : " f Have you, Sir, a name in 
any book here ? ' ' Yes, Sir,' said I ; e but I intend to take it out 
soon.' He replied, ' Yes, and you had best take yourself out too, 
or otherwise I will lay you by the heels. What do you mean by 
going about, and alienating the people's affections from their 
proper pastors ? Your works are full of vanity and nonsense. 
You pretend to inspiration. If ever you come again in this 
manner among these people, I will lay you first by the heels, 
and these shall follow.' " It does not appear that Whitefield 
returned any answer to this paltry threat. A few days after it, 
he preached in Moorfields : and from that moment, he cared 
nothing about chancellors or vice-chancellors, when they stood 
in the way of the gospel. 

In the course of his short excursions into the country, whilst 
the embargo prevented him from sailing, he visited Olney, where 
he was " not a little comforted," by meeting, as a field preacher, 
Mr. R of Bedford, who had been both expelled and impri- 
soned for preaching the Scriptural doctrines of justification and 
regeneration. i: I believe," says Whitefield, " we are the first 



whitefield's life and times. 



107 



professed ministers of the church of England, that were so soon, 
and without cause, excluded every pulpit. Whether our bre- 
thren can justify such conduct, the last day will determine." 
An earlier day determined the question ! The people of Bedford 
had made up their minds upon it at the time : for thousands 
assembled regularly around the windmill to hear their expelled 

minister preach from the stairs ; — " Mr. R 's pulpit," as 

Whitefield calls it. Journals. 

During this journey he visited Northampton ; but, although 
" courteously received by Dr. Doddridge," he had to preach 
upon the common, " from the starting post." Indeed, he was 
not welcome to the Doctor's pulpit, even when he did preach 
there afterwards. Doddridge was so far from " seeking his 
preaching," that he took " all the steps he could prudently venture 
on to prevent it." TJie Doddridge Diary and Correspondence. 

The clergy having thus shut their pulpits against him, and the 
dissenters not opened theirs to him, the country magistrates 
followed in the train of his opponents, and even the inn-keepers 
were afraid to admit him. At Tewkesbury he found four con- 
stables waiting to apprehend him, and the whole town in alarm. 
Happily, a lawyer in the crowd demanded a sight of the war- 
rant ; and the constables having none, Whitefield determined 
to preach at all hazards, though beyond the liberties of the town. 
He did preach in the evening, in the field of a neighbouring 
gentleman, and two or three thousand people attended. Next 
morning he waited on one of the town-bailiffs, and meekly re- 
monstrated against the attempted outrage. The bailiff told 
him, that the whole council were against him ; and that a judge 
had declared him a vagrant, whom he would apprehend. 

It was now a crisis ; and Whitefield determined to bring the 
question to an issue. He claimed the protection of the laws, 
The bailiff's answer was equivocal : " If you preach here to- 
morrow, you shall have the constables to attend you." Whether 
this was a threat or a promise, he knew not, and cared not. He 
did preach next day, in another field, to six thousand people ; 
" but saw no constables to molest or attend " him. 

The reports of this affair spread in all forms ; alarming his 
friends for his safety, and preparing his enemies for his approach. 
At Basingstoke, the mayor (a butcher) sent him a warning by 



108 



whitefield's life and times. 



the hands of a constable. This led to an amusing correspond- 
ence, as well as to interviews, between the parties ; in which the 
mayor boasted of what he would do, " although he was a 
butcher ;" and Whitefield told him what he ought to do as a 
magistrate. 

It was the time of the revel at Basingstoke, and many of the 
people were riotous. Whitefield, however, preached in a field, 
although he was unprotected, and even told that he would not 
come out alive. Indeed, it was confessed, some days after, by 
one of the ringleaders, that a party were pledged to " give him 
a secret blow, and prevent his disturbances." He was, however, 
only grossly insulted. 

The fact is, the magistrates and the booth-keepers were afraid 
that he would spoil the revel : and he evidently intended to 
preach at the fair, although he did. not exactly say so ; for he 
repeatedly urged the mayor to prevent the scenes of cudgelling 
and wrestling, which were going forward. Failing in this, he 
set out to go to London ; but when he saw the stage for the 
cudgellers and wrestlers, he could not proceed. 

The following account of his " mad prank," is too charac- 
teristic of him to be suppressed, although he himself erased it 
from his journals. " As I passed by on horseback, I saw a 
stage ; and as I rode further, I met divers coming to the revel ; 
which affected me so much, that I had no rest in my spirit. 
And therefore having asked counsel of God, and perceiving an 
unusual warmth and power enter my soul, — though I was gone 
above a mile, — I could not bear to see so many dear souls, for 
whom Christ had died, ready to perish, and no minister or ma- 
gistrate interpose. Upon this I told my dear fellow-travellers, 
that I was resolved to follow the example of Howel Harris in 
Wales, (he had just come from a tour with him in Wales,) and 
to bear my testimony against such lying vanities, — let the con- 
sequences, as to my own private person, be what they would. 
They immediately consenting, I rode back to town, got upon 
the stage erected for the wrestlers, and began to show them the 
error of their ways. Many seemed ready to hear what I had 
to say ; but one more zealous than the rest for his master, and 
fearing conviction every time I attempted to speak, set the boys 
on repeating their huzza hs. 



whitefield's life and times. 



109 



" My soul, I perceived, was in a sweet frame, willing to be 
offered up, so that I might save some of those to whom I was 
about to speak : but all in vain ! While I was on the stage, 
one struck me with his cudgel, which I received with the utmost 
love. At last, finding the devil would not permit them to give 
me audience, I got off, and after much pushing and thronging 
me I got on my horse,- — with unspeakable satisfaction within 
myself, that I had now begun to attack the devil in his 
strongest holds, and had borne my testimony against the detest- 
able diversions of this generation." OriginalJoumals. 

The reason why Whiten eld excluded this event from his re- 
vised journals, was, perhaps, the tremendous severity of the 
following reflections. " Ye masters in Israel, what are ye 
doing ? Ye magistrates, that are gods in Scripture, why sleep 
ye ? Why do ye bear the sword in vain ? Why count ye me a 
troubler in Israel, and why say ye, I teach people to be idle, 
when ye connive at, if not subscribe to, such hellish 'meetings 
as these, which not only draw people from their bodily work, 
but directly tend to destroy their precious and immortal souls ? 
Surely I shall appear against you at the judgment-seat of 
Christ ; for these diversions keep people from true Christianity, 
as much as paganism itself. And I doubt not, but it will re- 
quire as much courage and power to divert people from these 
things, as the apostles had to exert in converting the heathen 
from dumb idols. However, in the strength of my Master, I 
will now enter the lists, and begin an offensive war with Satan 
and all his host. If I perish, I perish ! I shall have the testi- 
mony of a good conscience : I shall be free from the blood of 
all men." It is easier to find fault with the severity of this in- 
vective, than to prove that any lower tone of feeling could have 
sustained any man, in grappling with such national enormities. 
Whitefield struck the first blow at them, and thus led the way 
to their abandonment ; an issue which may well excuse even the 
wildfire of his zeal. 

Such was his position in London and the country, when he 
sailed for America the second time. He then left enough for 
the nation to think about until his return. 



CHAPTER VI. 



WHITEFIELD IN WALES. 



The following singular account of the commencement of method- 
ism and dissent in Wales, is translated from the " Trysorva," by 
Johnes. " In the reign of James I. a clergyman of the name of 
Wroth was vicar of Llanvaches, in Monmouthshire. Being of a 
joyous temper, and like most of his countrymen, passionately fond 
of music, he was sometimes carried beyond the bounds of pro- 
priety by this enthusiasm. On one occasion, a gentleman with 
whom he was on terms of intimacy, having presented him with 
a new harp, fixed a day on which, in company with some friends, 
he would visit him, and hear him perform upon it. The day ap- 
pointed came, and Wroth was anxiously expecting his visitor,when 
a messenger appeared to inform him that his friend was no more ! 
This incident affected him so deeply, that, repenting the levity 
of his youth, from a gay clerical troubadour he became all at 
once a sad but zealous divine. With these impressions, he de- 
termined to commence preaching to his congregation, a practice 
then almost unknown in the churches of the principality. As 
a preacher, he soon distinguished himself so much, that the 
Welch peasantry flocked from all the neighbouring counties to 
hear him. His audience, being frequently too numerous for 
his church to contain — on such occasions, he was in the habit 
of addressing them in the churchyard. It is said that Sir Lewis 
Mansel, of Margam, a man illustrious for his exalted religious 
and patriotic zeal, was often one of his congregation. 

" The irregularity alluded to at last exposed him to the 
censure of his diocesan, who, on one occasion, asked him, in 
anger, how he could vindicate his infringement of the rules of 



whitefield's life and times. 



Ill 



the church ? To this reprimand Wroth replied, by appealing, 
with tears in his eyes, to the religious ignorance which prevailed 
throughout the country, and to the necessity of employing every 
means to dissipate it : by which answer, the bishop is said to 
have been deeply affected. Eventually, however, by refusing to 
read the 4 Book of Sports,' and by the general tenor of his con- 
duct, he rendered himself so obnoxious to the dignitaries of the 
church, that he was deprived of his benefice. After his expul- 
sion, he continued to preach in secret to his old followers, and 
at last he formed, from amongst them, a regular dissenting con- 
gregation, on the independent model. From Llanvaches, the 
opinions of its pastor soon spread themselves into the remotest 
corners of Wales : during his life, this village was regarded as 
the rallying point of the Welch nonconformists. Wroth, never- 
theless, seems to have cherished to the last some feeling of affec- 
tion towards the church, of which he had once been a minister ; 
for, on his death, which occurred in 1640, he was buried, at his 
own request, under the threshold of the church of Llanvaches. 
During the civil wars, which broke out soon afterwards, the 
independents were not only tolerated, but predominant. In 
Cromwell's time, an attempt was made to get rid of every thing 
like an establishment, and to substitute a few itinerant minis- 
ters in its place. The modicum of preachers proposed to be 
given by this plan of economical piety was six to a county ; it 
was lost in the House of Commons, by a majority of two voices. 
It was felt, however, that the bright thought was too precious 
to be discarded without an experiment ; and, accordingly, it 
was partly carried into effect in Wales, under Hugh Peters and 
Vavasor Powel, and a confiscation of church property in that 
country ensued, to an enormous amount ; for, unhappily, under 
all the various forms of civil and ecclesiastical polity which have 
prevailed in England, the Welch church has been treated as a 
fair field for experiments, no less injurious to the general cause 
of religion than to Wales. 

" In the times of the Stuarts, dissent from the episcopal 
church became once more an object of persecution ; but the 
ministers of the Welch nonconformists still continued to traverse 
the wild hills of the principality, braving all dangers for the sake 



112 



whitefield's life and times 



of their few and scattered followers. Their congregations still 
occasionally met, hut it was in fear and trembling, generally at 
midnight, or in woods and caverns, amid the gloomy recesses of 
the mountains. 

" At the revolution, these dissenters exhausted their strength 
by controversies amongst themselves on the rite of baptism; on 
which subject a difference of opinion had long existed amongst 
them, though persecution had prevented them from making it 
a ground of disunion. Till the breaking out of methodism, 
their cause continued to decline. 

" In the year 1736, there were only six dissenting chapels 
in all North Wales. In this year an incident occurred which 
forms an interesting link between the history of the early 
Welch dissenters (the followers of Wroth) and that of the me- 
thodists, connecting together the darkening prospects of the 
former and the first symptoms of that more powerful impulse 
which was communicated by the latter. One Sunday, Mr. 
Lewis Rees, a dissenting minister from South Wales, and father 
of the celebrated author of the Cyclopaedia, visited Pwllheli, a 
town in the promontory of Ll'eyn, in Caernarvonshire, and one 
of the few places in which the independents still possessed a 
chapel. After the service, the congregation, collecting around 
him, complained bitterly, that their numbers were rapidly di- 
minishing, that the few who yet remained were for the most 
part poor, and that every thing looked gloomy to their cause. 
To which the minister replied, ' The dawn of true religion is 
again breaking in South Wales, — a great man, named Howel 
Harris, has recently risen up, who goes about instructing the 
people in the truths of the gospel.' Nor was he mistaken, either 
in his anticipation that dissent was on the eve of bursting forth 
with tenfold vigour in Wales, nor in the man from whom he 
expected this result : the first elements of methodism were al- 
ready at work ; Howel Harris was its founder, and one of its 
most distinguished champions. Properly speaking, the history 
of methodism is the history of dissent in Wales : before enter- 
ing, however, upon this interesting subject, it will be necessary 
to give a cursory view of the state of the church in Wales at the 
time of its origin, as hardly a doubt can be entertained that the 



whitefield's life and times. 



113 



predisposing causes to methodism were to be found in the in- 
efficiency of the establishment. 

" The following is a translation of an i Account of the State of 
Religion in Wales about the middle of the Eighteenth Century.' 
It was taken from the mouth of a very old Welch methodist, 
and published in 1799, in the 'Trysorva,' a Welch periodical, 
edited by the Rev. Thomas Charles, of Bala ; and I have high 
authority for asserting that the descriptions it affords are in no 
respect exaggerated." Johnes. 

" ( In those days/ says the narrator, ( the land was dark in- 
deed ! Hardly any of the lower ranks could read at all. The 
morals of the country were very corrupt ; and in this respect 
there was no difference between gentle and simple, layman and . 
clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and licentiousness, pre- 
vailed through the whole country. Nor were the operations of 
the church at all calculated to repress these evils. From the 
pulpit the name of the Redeemer was hardly ever heard ; nor 
was much mention made of the natural sinfulness of man, nor of 
the influence of the Spirit. On Sunday mornings, the poor were 
more constant in their attendance at church than the gentry ; 
but the Sunday evenings were spent by all in idle amusements. 
Every sabbath there was what was called : Achwaren-gamp,' 
a sort of sport in which all the young men of the neighbourhood 
had a trial of strength, and the people assembled from the 
surrounding country to see their feats. On Saturday night, par- 
ticularly in the summer, the young men and maids held what 
they called ' Singing eves ' (nosweithian cann) ; that is, they 
met together and diverted themselves by singing in turns to the 
harp, till the dawn of the sabbath. In this town they used to 
employ the Sundays in dancing and singing to the harp, and in 
playing tennis against the town-hall. In every corner of the 
town some sport or other went on, till the light of the sabbath 
day had faded away. In the summer, ' interludes ' (a kind of 
rustic drama) were performed, gentlemen and peasants sharing 
the diversion together. A set of vagabonds, called the ' bobl 
gerdded,' (walking people,) used to traverse the country, begging 
with impunity, to the disgrace of the law of the land.' 

" Such, then, was the state of Welch society, and the Welch 

i 



114 



whitefield's life and times. 



church in the middle of the last century ; and it is a singular 
instance of the impression left by the vice and levity of this 
period, that the sounds of our national instrument are still asso- 
ciated, in the minds of many, with the extravagances of which 
it was formerly an accompaniment, though, apart from adven- 
titious associations, its simple and pensive tones are certainly far 
more congenial with devotional feeling, than with levity or with 
joy. I have frequently heard, that the late Mr. Charles, of 
Bala, was so much under the sway of these recollections, that 
it was quite painful to him to remain in a room in which any 
one was playing upon the harp. 

u At first sight, nothing would appear more improbable than 
that methodism should find proselytes among a people so gay 
and thoughtless, as the Welch of that period ; or that the joy- 
ous group which assembled at Bala on a Sunday evening, should 
become, as was shortly afterwards the case, a leading congrega- 
tion of modern puritans. But the religion of the Welch, and 
their fondness for national music, arose from the same cause, 
an earnest and imaginative frame of mind. A disposition to 
melancholy, disguised by external gaiety of manner, is charac- 
teristic of all Celtic nations. 

' As a beam o'er the face of the waters may glow, 
Though the stream runs in darkness and coldness below.' 

" With all their social sprightliness, the Welch were then a 
superstitious and, consequently, a gloomy race. The influence 
of the church had confessedly done little to civilize the people ; 
they still retained many habits apparently derived from pagan- 
ism, and not a few of the practices of popery. Their funerals, 
like those of the Irish, were scenes of riot and wassail. When 
the methodists first came into North Wales, the peasantry ex- 
pressed their horror of them and their opinions, by the truly 
popish gesture of crossing their foreheads ; they also paid great 
veneration to a tale called ' Brenddwyd Mair,' (Mary's dream,) 
obviously a popish legend. Children were taught, even within 
my recollection, to repeat a rhyme like the following, as soon as 
they had been put into bed at night : 



/ 



whitefield's life and times. 



115 



' There are four corners to my bed, 
And four angels there are spread ; 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ; 
God bless the bed that I lie on.' 

m Some of their customs and notions were extremely fanciful. 
On the Sunday after a funeral, each relation of the deceased 
knelt on his grave, exclaiming, ( Nevoedd iddo,' (literally, Hea- 
ven to him,) that is, f May he soon reach heaven.' This is 
plainly a relic of the popish custom of praying the soul out of 
purgatory. If children died before their parents, the parents 
regarded them as so many candles to light them to paradise. 
When Wesley came into Wales, he found the ignorance of the 
people so great, that he pronounced them s as little versed in 
the principles of Christianity, as a Creek or Cherokee Indian.' 
To this declaration he adds the striking expression, that, notwith- 
standing their superstition and ignorance, the people ( were ripe 
for the gospel,' and most enthusiastically anxious to avail them- 
selves of every opportunity of instruction ; — an interesting proof, 
that the necessary tendency of the corruptions of the Welch 
church to produce the consequences which have since ensued, 
was sufficiently obvious, even to the cursory view of a stranger. 

" It was quite clear, then, to those who lived while methodism 
was yet in its infancy in Wales, that the country was about to 
become the scene of a great religious change. There was evi- 
dently a movement in the minds of the people — a longing for 
the extension of their spiritual advantages, which would ulti- 
mately lead them out from the establishment, unless provided 
with food from within. In such a state of popular feeling to- 
wards existing institutions, whether civil or ecclesiastical, it 
often happens that the most trivial deviation from ordinary 
routine becomes the basis of a series of innovations, and serves 
to impart an impetus and a direction to the dormant elements 
of disunion. It is only by keeping these considerations steadily 
in view, that we can clearly comprehend the early history of 
methodism in Wales, and avoid the confused ideas that are 
sometimes entertained as to the conduct of those with whom it 
commenced, and the exact date of its commencement. The 

i 2 



116 



whitefield's life and times. 



real truth is, that the separation of the Welch methodists from 
the church took place by insensible degrees. The first symp- 
tom was an unusual and somewhat irregular zeal in a certain 
body of clergy in the church itself ; and these first faint traces 
of irregularity (which probably at the time excited little 
notice) gradually, and in the course of generations, widened 
into a broad line of demarcation. It was in this manner that 
the breaking out of methodism was undoubtedly hastened by 
the exertions of two eminent divines, whose only intention was 
to infuse new vigour into the established church, — I mean the 
Rev. Rhees Pritchard, and the Rev. Griffith Jones. 

" The former, who is familiarly known to his countrymen under 
the name of ' Vicar Pritchard,' was vicar of the parish of 
Llanddyvri, in Caermarthenshire, in the time of James the 
First and Charles the First. 

" Of the particulars of his life, little is known, except that 
whilst he stood high in the estimation of his countrymen, as a 
preacher, he was at the same time an object of peculiar favour 
with the ruling powers of the day, — honours which his coun- 
trymen in recent times have rarely seen enjoyed by the same 
individual. Though, like Wroth, he is said to have attracted 
numerous congregations, and to have occasionally preached in 
his churchyard, still he had the good fortune to be made chap- 
lain to the Earl of Essex, received from James the First the 
living of Llanedi, and eventually became chancellor of the 
diocess of St. David's. As a proof of his charitable disposi- 
tion, and of his anxiety to enlighten his eountrymen, we are 
informed that he gave a donation of twenty pounds a year, 
charged upon land, to establish a school in his parish of Lland- 
dyvri, and also a house for the schoolmaster. This endowment 
(no insignificant one in those days) went on prosperously for 
some time, but on the death of the founder's son, Thomas 
Manwaring, son of Dr. Manwaring, bishop of St. David's, who 
had married 'the vicar's' granddaughter, took possession of 
the land belonging to the school, undertaking to pay the school- 
master himself, which he did for a year or two, and then with- 
held from it all support. His biographer adds, that in 1682, 
the land was still in the possession of the Manwaring family, — 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



117 



and that the school-house had been swept away by an inunda- 
tion of the river Tyrvi ! 

" But the veneration still felt in Wales for the memory of 
( Vicar Pritchard,' is mainly attributable to a small volume of 
poems, which are not a little remarkable, as a summary of 
christian doctrine and duty, at once simple, poetical, and con- 
cise. No book, except the Bible., has been there so much and 
so enthusiastically studied : its author may justly be styled the 
Watts of his native country ; and, notwithstanding the unhappy 
divisions that have since his day distracted her, the undiminish- 
ed popularity of his little book proves that there is even yet no 
schism in the principality as far as the ' Divine Poems ' of 
6 Vicar Pritchard ' are concerned. 

" After the poet's death, his works were collected and pub- 
lished by Stephen Hughes, a worthy nonconformist, who zeal- 
ously disseminated them through Caermarthenshire, and the 
adjacent parts of South Wales. In almost every cottage where 
the Scriptures were to be found, 6 the vicar's ' little volume oc- 
cupied a place beside them : it became a class-book in every 
school, and its most striking passages passed into proverbs 
among the peasantry. Hence, at the beginning of the last 
century, a spirit had sprung up in certain districts of South 
Wales, that formed a strong contrast to the general ignorance 
which at that time pervaded the principality. The effect of 
poetry on minds left unoccupied by other reading has in all 
ages been remarked : thus, we are told that the great Bishop 
Bull, when bishop of St. David's, was so much struck with the 
impression made on the minds of the people by the writings of 
' Vicar Pritchard,' that he expressed a wish to be buried in the 
same grave with him ! 

" Griffith Jones was born at Kilrhedin, also in the county of 
Caermarthen.* Even in his boyhood, he evinced a strong 
sense of religion, which has sometimes, though erroneously, 
been thought incompatible with the unformed views and elastic 
spirits of our earlier years. Like Bishop Heber, he might 
justly be termed a ( religious child :' whilst yet a boy at Caer- 



* Trysorva, vol. ii. p. 1. 



118 



whitefield's life and times. 



marthen school, he was in the habit of retiring from the pas- 
times of his play-fellows for the purpose of secret prayer. In 
the year 1709, he was ordained by Bishop Bull ; on which oc- 
casion he experienced marks of peculiar kindness and approba- 
tion from that illustrious prelate, the recollection of which con- 
tinued ever after a source of gratitude and delight to him. In 
1711, he was presented to the living of Llandeilo Abercowyn, 
and in 1716, Llanddowror was added to it by the patron, Sir 
John Phillips, of Picton Castle, in Pembrokeshire, with whom 
he was connected by marriage. 

" His constitution was naturally delicate, and he describes 
himself as having been in early youth so much afflicted with 
asthma, that he could not walk across a room without pain and 
difficulty ; but his was a mind which seemed capable of impart- 
ing a portion of its own energy, even to his debilitated frame ; 
as he advanced in life, this infirmity, in a great measure, for- 
sook him ; and of this we have ample proof in the various la- 
bours he accomplished. 

" The fame of Griffith Jones chiefly rests on an institution 
he devised for the diffusion of education in Wales, still known 
under the name of the 6 Welch Circulating Schools.' The main 
feature of this plan is the instruction of the people by means of 
itinerant schoolmasters. It was first suggested to him by the 
following train of circumstances : — On the Saturday previous to 
sacrament Sunday, it was his practice to assemble his flock to- 
gether, and read to them the service of the church. 

" At the conclusion of the second lesson, he would ask in a 
mild and familiar tone, if any one present wished an explana- 
tion of any part of the chapter they had just heard ; and on a 
difficult verse being mentioned, he would expound it in plain 
and simple language, adapted to the capacities of his hearers. 
On the day following, before admitting communicants to the 
sacrament, he used to examine them on their ideas of christian 
doctrines, and as to their general moral conduct. On these 
occasions, his church was generally crowded : numbers came 
from the neighbouring districts, and it frequently happened that 
twenty or thirty persons were publicly examined by him before 
receiving the communion. But he found that those who were 



whitefield's life and times. 119 

likely to derive most benefit from this plan of instruction — men 
who had grown up in ignorance — were deterred from attending 
by a consciousness of their inability to answer the questions 
that might be put to them. To remedy this, he made a prac- 
tice of fixing the Saturday before the sacrament Sunday, for 
the distribution among the poor of the bread purchased by the 
money collected at the previous sacrament. Having by this 
means brought them together, he arranged them in a class, 
and proceeded to ask them a few easy questions, with an affa- 
bility and kindness of manner that immediately removed all 
embarrassment and reserve ; and pursuant to an arrangement 
he had previously made, these questions were answered by some 
of the more advanced scholars. In a little time the humbler 
classes became willing and constant attendants at the altar. 
And for the purpose of still further grounding his flock in reli- 
gious knowledge, he was in the habit of requesting them to 
commit to memory every month a certain portion of the Bible. 
Thus it became a regular custom among his poor parishioners, 
to repeat each a verse of Scripture on receiving the bread pur- 
chased with the sacrament money. 

" This system of examination had the effect of affording him 
a very clear insight into the notions and attainments of the 
peasantry, the result of which was an opinion that preaching was 
calculated to convey only vague and imperfect views to the 
minds of the poorer classes, unless combined with catechising 
and other methods of instruction. Following up these im- 
pressions, he was led to consider the incalculable benefit that 
would result, were a well-organized system of schools extended 
over the whole surface of his native country. These were the 
steps by which he arrived at the first conception of that noble 
machinery which he soon afterwards set in motion. At first, 
it would seem that he looked upon his plan rather in the 
light of a favourite day-dream, than as a project which had the 
slightest chance of success. Nevertheless, he had too much 
' moral chivalry ' to despair, — too much of that imaginative 
love of enterprise, without which no great impression has ever 
been made on the people with whom he had to deal. Accord- 
ingly, a beginning was made. In the year 1730, the first school 



120 



whitefield's life and times. 



was founded, with the sacrament money of the parish of Llandr 
dowror ; and it answered so well, that a second was established 
shortly afterwards ; and this again was attended with such ad- 
mirable effects, that several benevolent individuals, both in 
Wales and England, were induced to support the scheme with 
a liberality that enabled their founder to realize his fondest an- 
ticipations. The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge 
voted him a very generous donation of Bibles and other books. 
Thus supported, the schools continued rapidly to increase ; 
from an account published in August, 1741, that is, about ten 
years after their commencement, it appears, that the number of 
schools in existence during the past year had amounted to 128, 
and the number of persons instructed in them to 7595. The 
plan on which Griffith Jones proceeded was simply this : he 
first engaged a body of schoolmasters, and then distributed 
them in different directions over the country. The duty of 
these men was to teach the people to read the Scriptures in the 
Welch language, to catechise them, to instruct them in psal- 
mody, and to promote their religious advancement by every 
means in their power. They were sent, in the first instance, to 
the nearest town or village where their assistance had been re- 
quested; and then, having taught all who were desirous of 
instruction, they were to pass on to the next district where a 
similar feeling had been manifested. In the course of time, 
they were to revisit the localities whence they had at first 
started, and resume the work of education anew on the youth who 
had sprung up in their absence ; and thus making a continual cir- 
cuit of the whole country, to present to every generation as it arose 
the means of knowledge, and the incentives to virtuous principle. 

" Griffith Jones seems to have been in his day the most popu- 
lar and indefatigable preacher in the principality. He was, in 
consequence, often solicited by his clerical brethren with appli- 
cations to preach in their pulpits, with which he was in the habit 
of complying, by making a kind of tour through the neighbour- 
ing districts of South Wales, and preaching in the churches as 
he passed. Like Wroth and ' Vicar Pritchard,' he would some- 
times forsake the pulpit for the tombstone or the green sward, 
when he found the church too small for his audience. 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



121 



" He generally managed to make these excursions during the 
Easter and Whitsun-week, as he had a greater chance, at these 
seasons, of falling in with some of those scenes of pugnacious 
uproar, and drunken frolic, which were at that time so much in 
vogue in his native country, and which it was always his object 
to discourage. When he met with one of these rustic carnivals, 
he would attempt to disperse it with all the arguments he could 
employ ; and we are told by an individual who frequently ac- 
companied him on these occasions, that though the beginning 
of his address was generally received with looks of anger and 
churlish disdain, its conclusion was always marked by symptoms 
of strong emotion, and by an expression of reverence and awe, 
from the whole assembled multitude. The great number of 
persons whose conversion (and I use the word in the sense of a 
change, not of opinion, but of conduct — a fundamental, moral 
revolution of the motives of the heart) is traceable to him, fur- 
nishes a strong additional proof, that there was something pe- 
culiarly impressive in the eloquence of Griffith Jones. His 
biographer has very forcibly described the distinctive excellence 
of his pulpit oratory, by saying, it was ' gavaelgar ar y gydwy- 
bod/ that is, it possessed a ' grasp on the conscience ;' and, he 
adds, that the commencement of his discourses were generally 
familiar and unadorned ; but that, as he went on, his spirit 
seemed to kindle and burn, ( gwresogi a thaniaw,' with his sub- 
ject. Indeed, his merits, as a preacher, seem to have been held 
in high estimation beyond the limits of his native country ; for 
it is an interesting incident in his history, that at one period of 
his life, he received an invitation from the Society for the Pro- 
pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to become one of their 
missionaries. Ultimately, as we have seen, he decided that his 
path of duty lay in the humble land of his birth. 

u After accomplishing a variety of labours, which might have 
seemed quite incompatible with his delicate health, — and estab- 
lishing his favourite schools in almost every parish of Wales, — 
this excellent man breathed his last in the month of April, 1761, 
leaving behind him, in the religious regeneration and the reli- 
gious gratitude of a nation of mountaineers, a memorial, which 
will be envied most by those who are at once the greatest and 



122 



whitefield's life and times. 



the humblest of mankind, and which will endure when the osten- 
tatious monuments of worldly power shall melt away 1 like the 
baseless fabric of a vision.' 

" It may now be asked/' says Johnes, " with what degree of 
propriety the rise of dissent in Wales can be connected with 
the name of Griffith Jones — a man whose whole life was spent 
in exertions to render the establishment impregnable against 
dissent on the one hand, and the more fearful encroachments of 
sin, ignorance, and superstition, on the other ? One answer only 
can be given : it is a melancholy truth — a truth, nevertheless, 
but too well sanctioned by experience, that a few pious minis- 
ters are the weakness, and not the strength, of an establishment, 
when the majority of its ministers are sunk in indifference to 
their sacred duties ! The zeal of the few only serves to cast into 
darker shade the apathy of the many ; and, by raising the moral 
sentiment of the people, to make them more sensitively intole- 
rant of the abuses that surround them. It is upon this principle 
only, that we can explain whence it was, that methodism broke 
out first, and most extensively, in that division of Wales where 
the poems of Rhees Pritchard and the schools of Griffith Jones 
had exerted the most powerful influence. And hence it was, 
that so many of those clergymen, who had been connected with 
the latter, became eventually the missionaries of methodism ; 
and it may also be remarked, that the irregularities of the me- 
thodist clergy, which led in the end to systematic itinerancy, 
appear to have begun by the practice of preaching from church 
to church, which they seem to have adopted in imitation of 
Griffith Jones's f Easter and Whitsun ' circuits." 

Whitefield's connexion with Howel Harris of Trevecca led 
to results which deserve to be traced step by step. It began 
by a letter from Whitefield ; which has, happily, been preserved 
at Trevecca. " London, Dec. 1738. My dear brother, Though 
I am unknown to you in person, yet I have long been united to 
you in spirit ; and have been rejoiced to hear how the good 
pleasure of the Lord prospered in your hands." — " Go on, go 
on ; He that sent you will assist, comfort, and protect you, and 
make you more than conqueror through his great love. I am a 
living monument of this truth." — " I love you, and wish you 



whitefield's life AND TIMES. 



123 



may be the spiritual father of thousands, and shine as the sun in 
the kingdom of your heavenly Father, Oh how I shall joy to 
meet you — at the judgment seat ! How you would honour me, 
if you would send a line to your affectionate though unworthy 
brother, G. W." 

Harris's answer was prompt and cordial. I am happy to be 
able to furnish extracts from it. a Glamorgan, Jan. 8th, 1739. 
Dear brother, I was most agreeably surprised last night by a 
letter from you. The character you bear, the spirit I see and 
feel in your work, and the close union of my soul and spirit to 
yours, will not allow me to use any apology in my return to you. 
Though this is the first time of our correspondence, yet I can 
assure you I am no stranger to you. When I first heard of you, 
and your labours and success, my soul was united to you, and 
engaged to send addresses to heaven on your behalf. When I 
read your diary, I had some uncommon influence of the divine 
presence shining upon my poor soul, almost continually. And 
my soul was, in an uncommon manner, drawn out on your ac- 
count : — but I little thought our good Lord and Master intended 
I should ever see your hand-writing." (In his journal Harris 
wrote, " About this time, I heard from a friend that came from 
London, of a young clergyman, namely, Mr. Whitefield, that 
preached four times a day, and was much blessed. In hearing 
this, my heart was united to him in such a manner, that I never 
felt the like connexion with any one before : but yet I had not 
the least prospect of ever seeing him ; being informed that he 
had gone beyond sea to America. I was agreeably surprised, 
in the beginning of January, by a letter from him : he having 
providentially heard of me, wrote to me to encourage me to go 
on. I was at this time greatly distressed in respect to my itin- 
erary way of preaching : — yet I prosecuted my work with the 
utmost activity.") " Sure, no person is under such obligations 
to advance the glory of free goodness and grace, as this poor 
prodigal," — himself. " Oh how ravishing it is to hear of the 
divine love and favour to London ! And to make your joy 
greater still, I have some more good news to send you from 
Wales. There is a great revival in Cardiganshire, through one 
Mr. D. Rowlands, a church clergyman, who has been much 



124 



vvhitkfield's life and times. 



owned and blessed in Caermarthenshire also. We have also a 
sweet prospect in Breconshire, and part of Monmouthshire." 
— " I hint this in general, as I could not testify my love any 
way more agreeably to your soul, than to let you know how the 
interest of our good, gracious, and dear Saviour prospers here- 
abouts." — " Were you to come to Wales, it would not be labour 
in vain. I hope the faithful account I have given you, will ex- 
cite you to send again a line to him, that would be sincerely 
yours, in Jesus Christ, whilst H. H." 

In this way Whitefield and Howel Harris attracted each 
other. How much they influenced each other also, will be best 
told in their own words. In the mean time, however, I must 
give some account of Howel ; for he is too little known. Dr. 
Gillies knew him merely " as one Howel Harris, a layman ;" 
and the Doctor's editors and annotators have not amplified this 
account of him. 

Howel Harris was born at Trevecca, Brecknockshire, in 1714. 
He was intended for the church, by his family ; and had flat- 
tering prospects of patronage. Up to the twenty-first year of 
his age, he had, however, no serious views of his character, or 
of his destined profession. His first thoughtfulness was awak- 
ened in Talgarth church, by a sermon on the neglect of the 
sacrament. He had been a very irregular attendant, and thus 
was conscience-struck when the clergyman exclaimed, " If you 
are unfit to visit the table of the Lord, you are unfit to visit the 
church, you are unfit to live, you are unfit to die." 

From this time, his vague convictions deepened and settled 
into vital principles. On the very day, whilst going home after 
the sermon, he met with a person whom he had offended, and 
both confessed the offence and begged forgiveness. For a time, 
however, he was the victim of great mental anguish. Remorse 
darkened and depressed his spirit, although he had abandoned 
all his old sins, and solemnly resolved to make the service of 
God " the key-stone of his conduct." Happily for himself, he 
did not forget the souls of others, whilst brooding over his own 
fears : but as soon as he caught a glimpse of his way to the 
cross, he began to instruct and invite his neighbours to flee from 
the wrath to come. In this work, he found so much comfort 



whitefield's life and times. 



125 



for himself, and saw so much good done by it, that it became 
" the sole occupation of his life." 

In November, 1735, he went to Oxford, to finish his studies, 
with an express view to ordination : but he was so much dis- 
gusted with the immorality of the University, that he staid 
only one term. He returned home, and renewed his visits and 
exhortations in the cottages of the poor, and commenced field 
preaching. And such was the effect, that in the course of a 
year, " so many had become embued with serious impressions," 
that he began to form them into religious societies. " In the 
formation of these associations," he says, " I followed the rules 
of Dr. Woodward, in a work written by him on that subject. 
Previously to this, no societies of the kind had been founded 
either in Wales or England. The English methodists had not 
become famous as yet, although, as I afterwards learnt, several 
of them in Oxford were at that time under strong religious in- 
fluences." Harris had organized thirty of these societies, before 
Whitefield or Wesley visited Wales : not, however, as dissent- 
ing or methodist congregations ; nor, indeed, with any view of 
their ever separating from the church. The revival of religion 
in the church was his avowed object from the first, and his pro- 
fessed object through life. 

Whitefield and Howel Harris met for the first, time at Car- 
diff, in 1739 ; just whilst the former was glowing with the re- 
collections of what he had seen and felt amongst the colliers at 
Bristol ; and whilst the latter was girding himself for a new 
campaign in Wales. On his way from Bristol to Cardiff, 
Whitefield was delayed, by contrary winds, at the New Passage. 
" At the inn," he says, " there was an unhappy clergyman, who 
would not go over in the passage boat, because I was in it. 
Alas, thought E, this very temper would make heaven itself un- 
pleasant to that man, if he saw me there. I was told, that he 
charged me with being a dissenter. I saw him, soon after, 
shaking his elbows over a gaming-table. I heartily wish those 
who charge me causelessly with schism, and being righteous 
over-much, would consider that the canon of our church forbids 
the clergy to frequent taverns, to play at cards or dice, or any 
other unlawful games. Their indulging themselves in these 
things is a stumblingblock to thousands. 



126 



whitefield's life and times. 



At Cardiff, Whitefield preached in the town-hall, from the 
judges' seat. Harris was there. " After I came from the seat/' 
he says, " I was much refreshed with the sight of Mr. Howel 
Harris ; whom, though I knew not in person, I have long loved, 
and have often felt my soul drawn out in prayer in his hehalf. 

" A burning and shining light has he been in those parts ; 
a barrier against profaneness and immorality, and an indefati- 
gable promoter of the gospel of Jesus Christ. About three or 
four years, God has inclined him to go about doing good. He 
is now about twenty-five years of age. Twice he has applied 
(being in every way qualified) for holy orders ; but was refused. 
About a month ago he offered himself again, but was put off. 
Upon this, he was and is resolved to go on in his work ; and 
indefatigable zeal has he shown in his Master's service ! For 
these three years (as he told me with his own mouth) he has 
discoursed almost twice every day, for three or four hours toge- 
ther. He has been, I think, in seven counties, and has made 
it his business to go to wakes, &c. to turn people from lying 
vanities. Many alehouse people, fiddlers, and harpers, Deme- 
trius-like, sadly cry out against him for spoiling their business. 
He has been made the subject of many sermons, has been 
threatened with public prosecutions, and had constables sent to 
apprehend him. But God has blessed him with inflexible 
courage ; and he still goes on from conquering to conquer. 
Many call and own him as their spiritual father. He discourses 
generally in a field ; but, at other times, in a house ; from a 
wall, a table, or any thing else. He has established nearly 
thirty societies in South Wales, and still his sphere of action is 
enlarged daily. He is full of faith and the Holy Ghost. He is 
of a most catholic spirit ; loves all who love the Lord Jesus 
Christ ; and therefore he is styled, by bigots, a dissenter. He 
is contemned by all that are lovers of pleasure more than lovers 
of God ; but God has greatly blessed his pious endeavours. 

" When I first saw him, my heart was knit closely to him. 
I wanted to catch some of his fire, and gave him the right hand 
of fellowship with my whole heart. After I had saluted him, 
and given an exhortation to a great number of people, who fol- 
lowed me to the inn, we spent the remainder of the evening in 
taking sweet counsel together, and telling one another what God 



whitefield's life and times. 



127 



had done for our souls. A divine and strong sympathy seemed 
to be between us, and I was resolved to promote his interest 
with all my might. Accordingly, we took an account of the 
several societies, and agreed on such measures as seemed most 
conducive to promote the common interest of our Lord. Blessed 
be God ! there seems a noble spirit gone out into Wales ; and 
I believe that, ere long, there will be more visible fruits of it. 
What inclines me strongly to think so is, that the partition 
wall of bigotry and party spirit is broken down, and ministers 
and teachers of different communions join with one heart and 
one mind, to carry on the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The Lord 
make all the christian world thus minded ; for until this is done, 
we must, I fear, despair of any great reformation in the church 
of God." 

Any thing that would lessen the impression of these conclud- 
ing remarks, would be ill-timed, and in bad taste ; but still, it 
would be improper, even if it were possible, to forget that this 
fall of " the partition wall of bigotry and party spirit " has, like 
the fall of popish Babylon, been too often celebrated before the 
time, by sanguine and catholic men. It is now nearly a century 
since Whitefield said that it was fallen. Good man ! he thought 
the whole wall had surely given way, whenever he found an un- 
expected breach in it, at which he could enter with the gospel, 
even if he was pelted with the broken fragments. So other 
good men thought and said, during the novelty of Bible and 
Missionary Societies. Then, not only was the partition wall 
declared to be fallen, but bigotry was registered in the bills of 
mortality, and said to be buried for ever. And yet, even now 
that there is a far nobler spirit of reformation gone forth in the 
church, than ever Whitefield saw, or than the first friends of our 
great societies anticipated, the wall is higher than ever, and has, 
of late, had a copping of broken glass and rusty spikes laid upon 
it. There is, indeed, a sense in which, like Babylon, it is some- 
what fallen ; but the great and final " fall thereof " is yet to 
come in the case of both. Neither will fall, however, like the 
walls of Jericho, at one crash, nor by one crisis ; although both 
will be overthrown by one process — by bearing around them the 
ark of the covenant, with the sound of its own trumpets. 



128 



whitefield's life and times. 



It is when such men as George Whitefield and Howel Harris 
meet and blend their hallowed fires, to set a " whole princi- 
pality in a blaze/' that the wall of bigotry is shaken, by the 
numbers which climb over from both sides, to hear the gospel. 
From the moment these champions of the cross joined issue in 
Cardiff, Wales began to be evangelized. In 1715, the number 
of dissenting chapels was only 35 ; in 1810, it amounted to 
954 ; in 1832, to more than 1400. They are still multiplying; 
and, lately, the debt upon them, so far as they are independent, 
has been wiped off by a burst of " the voluntary principle." 
What then must have been the spiritual state of Wales, at 
the beginning of the last century? In 1715, there were only 
35 dissenting chapels, and about 850 churches, in all the 
principality ! 

Whitefield says of his first interview with Howel Harris, " I 
doubt not but Satan envied our happiness ; but I hope, by the 
help of God, we shall make his kingdom shake. God loves to 
do great things by weak instruments, that the power may be of 
God, and not of man." 

Before leaving Cardiff, Whitefield preached again in the 
town-hall, to a large assembly. " My dear brother Harris sat 
close by me. I did not observe any scoffers within ; but with- 
out, some were pleased to honour me so far, as to trail a dead 
fox, and hunt it about the hall. But blessed be God, my voice 
prevailed. This being done, I went with many of my hearers, 
amongst whom were two worthy dissenting ministers, to public 
worship ; and in the second lesson were these remarkable 
words, ( The high priests, and the scribes, and the chief of the 
people sought to destroy him ; but they could not find what 
they might do to him ; for all the people were attentive to him.' 

" In the afternoon, I preached again without any disturbance 
or scoffing. In the evening, I talked for above an hour and a 
half with the religious society, and never did I see a congrega- 
tion more melted down. The love of Jesus touched them to 
the quick. Most of them were dissolved in tears. They came 
to me after, weeping, bidding me farewell, and wishing I could 
continue with them longer. Thanks be to God, for such an 
entrance into Wales ! I wrestled with God for them in prayer, 



whitefield's life and times. 



129 



and blessed His holy name for sending me into Wales. I hope 
these are the first-fruits of a greater harvest, if ever it should 
please God to bring me back from Georgia. Father, thy will 
be done ! " 

" Friday, March 9. Left Cardiff about six in the morning, 
and reached Newport about ten, where many came from Ponty- 
pool and other parts to hear me. The minister being asked, 
and readily granting us the pulpit, I preached with great power 
to about a thousand people. I think Wales is excellently well 
prepared for the gospel of Christ. They have, I hear, many 
burning and shining lights both among the dissenting and 
church ministers ; amongst whom Mr. Griffith Jones shines in 
particular. No less than fifty charity schools have been erect- 
ed by his means, without any settled visible fund ; and fresh 
ones are setting up every day. People make nothing of coming 
"twenty miles to hear a sermon. Even so, Lord Jesus. Amen ! " 
On the following day Whitefield returned from this short ex- 
cursion to Bristol again, "baptized with" Welch "fire," and 
renewed his labours amongst the Kingswood colliers, with ex- 
traordinary power and success. He could not, however, forget 
the Welch tears, which had entreated him to stay longer. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 4th of April he visited Husk and Pontypool, 
and was met by Howel Harris again. At Husk, " The pulpit 
being denied, I preached upon a table, under a large tree, to 
some hundreds, and God was with us of a truth. On my way 
to Pontypool, I was informed by a man that heard it, that 
Counsellor H. did me the honour to make a public motion to 
Judge P. to stop me and brother Howel Harris from going 
about teaching the people. Poor man, he put me in mind of 
Tertullus, in the Acts ; but my hour is not yet come. I have 
scarce begun my testimony. For my finishing it, my enemies 
must have power over me from above. Lord, prepare me for 
that hour." 

This report did not prevent the curate of Pontypool from 
welcoming Whitefield to his pulpit. He also read prayers for 
him. After the sermon, it was found that so many had come 
to hear, who could not find room in the church, that another 
sermon was loudly called for. " I went," he says, " and preach- 

K 



130 



whitefield's life and times. 



ed to all the people in the field. I always find I have most 
.power when I speak in the open air ; a proof to me — that God 
is pleased with this way of preaching. I betook myself to rest, 
full of such unutterable peace as no one can conceive but those 
who feel it ! " 

" April 5th. All the way from Pontypool to Abergavenny, I 
could think of nothing so much as Joshua going from city to 
city, and subduing the devoted nations. Here I expected much 
opposition, having been informed that many intended to disturb 
me. But God impressed an awe upon all ; so that although 
there were many opposers, no one dared to utter a word. I did 
not spare the scoffers. Afterwards we retired and sung a 
hymn ; and some ladies having the curiosity to hear us, I took 
that opportunity of dissuading them against balls and assem- 
blies. Afterwards I learnt that they were the mistresses of 
the assemblies in Abergavenny. I hope God intended them 
good." 

" April 6th. Reached Carleon, a town famous for having 
thirty British kings buried in it, and producing three martyrs. 
I chose particularly to come hither, because when Howel Harris 
was here last, some of the baser sort beat a drum, and huzzaed 
around him, to disturb him. Many thousands came to hear ; 
but God suffered them not to move a tongue, although from the 
very same place, and I prayed for Howel Harris by name — as I 
do in every place where I have preached in Wales. I believe 
the scoffers felt me, to some purpose. I was carried out 
beyond myself. Oh that the love of Christ would melt them 
down ! " 

" In the afternoon we set out for Trelek, ten miles from Car- 
leon ; but the Welch miles being very long, we could not reach 
it till almost dark ; so that many of the people who had been 
waiting for me were returned home. The church being denied, 
I stood on a horse-block before the inn, and preached to those 
who were left behind ; but I could not speak with such freedom 
as usual ; for my body was weak, through the fatigue of the 
past day." 

At the close of this second short excursion into Wales, 
Whitefield exclaims, " Oh how swiftly this week has glided 



whitefield's life and times. 



131 



away ! To me, it has been but as one day. How do I pity 
those who complain that time hangs on their hands ! Let them 
but love Christ, and spend their whole time in his service, and 
they will find but few melancholy hours." 

Dr. Gillies says that in these tours Howel Harris preached 
after Whitefield, in Welch. He does not mean, of course, in 
the churches ; and Whitefield does not mention any Welch ser- 
mons. Harris followed up, however, the labours of his new 
friend with great power. " I thank God for his goodness to 
brother Howel Harris. I thank you for informing me of it ; " 
says Whitefield in a letter written whilst he was on his way to 
America. In another, from Philadelphia, to Harris himself, he 
writes thus : " I congratulate you on your success at Mon- 
mouth. By divine permission, in about a twelvemonth, I hope 
to make a second use of your field pulpits. Our principles 
agree, as face answers to face in the water. Since I saw you, 
God has been pleased to enlighten me more in that comfortable 
doctrine of election. At my return, I hope to be more explicit 
than I have been. God forbid that we should shun to declare 
the whole counsel of God." 

" The people of Wales are much upon my heart. I long to 
hear how the gospel flourishes among you. How prospers your 
' inward man ? ' Being always doing — no doubt you grow in 
grace. May you increase with all the increase of God ! — As 
fast as I can, our Welch friends shall hear from me. — Salute 
them most affectionately in my name. Put them in mind of 
the freeness and eternity of God's electing love, and be instant 
with them to lay hold on the perfect righteousness of Christ by 
faith. — Talk to them, O talk to them, even till midnight, of 
the riches of His all-sufficient grace. Tell them, O tell them, 
what he has done for their souls, and how earnestly he is now 
interceding for them in heaven. Show them, in the map of the 
word, the kingdoms of the upper world and the transcendent 
glories of them ; and assure them all shall be theirs, if they be- 
lieve on Jesus Christ with their whole heart. Press them to 
believe on Him immediately. Intersperse prayers with your 
exhortations, and thereby call down fire from heaven, even the 
fire of the Holy Ghost, 

k 2 



132 



whitefield's life and times. 



To soften, sweeten, and refine, 
And melt them into love ! 

Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your last ; — 
weep out, if possible, every argument, and compel them to cry, 
e Behold how he loveth us.' Remember me — remember me 
in your prayers, as being ever, ever yours." 

Thus Whitefield fanned the " Welch fire" from time to 
time. In another letter, from Boston, he says, " And is dear 
brother Howel Harris yet alive in body and soul ? I rejoice 
in your success. May you mount with wings like eagles! You 
shall not be taken nor hurt, till the appointed hour be come. I 
hope your conversation was blessed to dear Mr. Wesley. Ob that 
the Lord may batter down his free-will (scheme,) and compel 
him to own His sovereignty and everlasting love. God is 
working powerfully in America. He fills me with His presence. 
Grace, grace ! Dear brother H. — yours eternally." 

In another, from Philadelphia, he says, " Your letter, written 
nearly a twelvemonth ago, came to my hand this afternoon. 
My soul is knit to you. We both speak and think the same 
things. The Lord be with your spirit. — Jesus manifests forth 
his glory daily in these parts. His word is like a fire and a 
hammer. Last week I saw many quite struck down. America, 
ere long, will be famous for christians. Little did I think that 
I should preach in all the chief places of America ; but that is 
now done ! Glory be to rich, free, and sovereign grace. — The 
Lord vouchsafe to us a bappy meeting. O Wales, thou art 
dear to my soul ! Expect another journal shortly. But wait 
till we come to glory, — fully to see and hear what God has done 
for your affectionate brother." 

When Whitefield returned to England, he continued to urge 
on Howel Harris to " abound in the work of the Lord," by 
every event that encouraged himself. " I want to see you face 
to face. I wish you could come up to London immediately, and 
stay whilst I am in the country. Or rather — go and preach at 
Bristol, Gloucester, and Wiltshire, for about a fortnight, and 
then come up to London. — Our congregations are large and so- 
lemn. I never had greater freedom in preaching. I am glad 



whitefield's life and times. 



133 



brother Rowland is with you. Go on in the strength of our 
dear Lord, and you shall see Satan like lightning fall from 
heaven. May the Lord hide your precious soul under the 
shadow of his Almighty wings ! — You need not fear my believing 
any reports to your disadvantage. Cease not to pray for yours, 
eternally." 

In the same spirit, he wrote to him from Edinburgh, the mo- 
ment that the fire began to kindle in Scotland. " My very 
dear brother Harris, though my eyes be dim, and my body calls 
for rest, I would fain send you a line before I go (to rest). I 
hope God is beginning such a work here, as he is now carrying- 
on in New England. Night and day, Jesus fills me with his 
love. — I have preached twice, and talked and walked much to 
day. — My dear man, good night ! " 

He did not conceal from his friend the results of his inter- 
views with the Associate Presbytery, nor his opinion of their 
spirit. " My. heart is much united to you. I utterly disap- 
prove of some persons' separating principles. Satan now turns 
himself into an angel of light, and stirs up God's children to 
tempt me to come over to some particular party. The Asso- 
ciate Presbytery have been hard upon me : but I find no free- 
dom any longer than I continue just as I am, and evangelize to 
all. I know not that I differ from you in one thing. God is 
doing great things here ! — It would make your heart leap for 
joy, to be now in Edinburgh. I question if there be not up- 
wards of 300 in this city seeking after Jesus. Every morning, 
I have a constant levee — of wounded souls. I am quite amazed 
when I think what God hath done here in a fortnight. I am 
only afraid lest the people should idolize the instrument, and 
not look enough to the glorious Jesus, in whom alone I desire 
to glory. Congregations consist of many thousands. Never 
xtid I see so many Bibles, nor people look into them with such 
attention, when I am expounding. Plenty of tears flow from 
the hearers' eyes. The love of Christ quite strikes me dumb. 
O grace, grace ! Let that be my song. I must away (to preach)." 

As might be expected, Whitefield did not fail to appeal 
to Howel Harris from the vantage ground of Cambuslang. 
Along with a copy of his journal of that memorable awakening, 



134 



whitefield's life and times. 



he wrote thus : " The account sent with this will show you how 
often I have been enabled to preach ; but with what efficacy 
and success— pen cannot describe. The glorious Redeemer 
seems advancing from congregation to congregation, carrying 
all before him. The Messrs. Erskine's people have kept a fast 
for me ; and give out that all the work, now in Scotland, is 
only delusion, and by the agency of the devil. O my dear 
brother, to what lengths in bigotry and prejudice may good 
men run ! I bless God, I can see the differences between God's 
children, and yet love them from my heart. — What you say 
about poor Wales, affected me. I am sorry to hear there have 
been such divisions. But dividing times generally precede set- 
tling times. I should be glad to help the brethren in Wales 
My brother, my heart is full ! " 

Whitefield's letters on these subjects were not confined to 
Howel Harris. Both from America and Scotland, he wrote to 
other Welch friends in the church and amongst the dissenters ; 
and thus spread the tidings of the revivals, and of their reaction. 
The following extract from a letter to a clergyman in Wales, is 
highly characteristic of Whitefield. " God is on my side — I will 
not fear what men nor devils say of, or do unto, me. The dear 
Erskines have dressed me in very black colours. Mr. Gibbs's 
pamphlet will show you how black. Dear men, I pity them. 
Writing, I fear, will be in vain. Oh for a mind divested of all 
sects, names, and parties. I think it is my one simple aim, to 
promote the kingdom of Jesus, without partiality or hypocrisy, 
indefinitely amongst all. I care not if the name of George 
,-Whitefield be banished out of the world, so that Jesus be ex- 
alted in it. Glory to His great name, we have seen much of 
his power and greatness in Scotland. Last sabbath and Mon- 
day, great things — greater than ever, were seen at Kilsyth ! I 
preach twice every day with great power, and walk in liberty 
and love. At the same time, I see and feel my vileness, — and 
take the blessed Jesus to be my righteousness and my all." 

To another clergyman in Wales, he wrote from Philadelphia 
thus : " When I first saw you at Cardiff, my heart rejoiced to 
hear what God had done for your soul. You were then under 
some displeasure from your rector (if I mistake not) for speak- 



whitefield's life and times. 



135 



ing the truth as it is in Jesus. Ere now I hope you have had 
the honour of being — quite thrust out. Rejoice, my dear bro- 
ther, and be exceeding glad ; for thus was our Lord and Saviour 
served before you. Naked, therefore — follow a naked Christ. 
Freely you have received, freely give. If you preach the gos- 
pel, you shall live of the gospel. Though you go out without 
scrip or shoe, yet shall you lack nothing. Rather than you shall 
want, — ravens, those birds of prey, shall be commanded to feed 
you. If we go forth in the spirit of apostles, we shall meet with 
apostolical success. Stir up, then, the gift of God which is 
within you. Be instant in season and out of season. Debase 
man, and exalt Jesus. Self-righteousness overturn — overturn! 
The people of Wales (at least the common people) will receive 
you gladly." 

Whitefield not only stirred up labourers thus, in Wales ; he 
also watched over their safety, when their labours brought them 
into trouble. Accordingly, when some of the fellowship meet- 
ings were indicted as conventicles, he appealed at once to the 
candour and justice of the bishop of Bangor. " I assure your 
Lordship, it is a critical time for Wales. Hundreds, if not 
thousands, will go in a body from the church, if such proceed- 
ings are countenanced. I lately wrote them a letter, dissuading 
them from separating from the church ; and I write thus freely 
to your Lordship, because of the excellent spirit of moderation 
discernible in your Lordship." 

Some of these details violate the order of time ; but they pre- 
serve what is better — a connected view of the impulses which 
Whitefield got and gave in Wales ; and will enable the reader 
to appreciate their influence upon future movements and events 
in the principality 



CHAPTER VII. 



WHITEFIELD IN AMERICA. 

When this continent was discovered by the English, it lay 
within the limits of that vast territory which the pope, although 
himself ignorant of its existence, conferred on Spain : — and, in 
these times, papal grants were " holy ground." Accordingly, 
Henry VII. was afraid to colonize it. Henry VIII. had not 
time. Edward VI. had not power. Queen Mary had not in- 
clination. Elizabeth had not spirit. She sanctioned, but never 
seconded, the attempt of Raleigh in Virginia. The credit of 
colonizing North America belongs to James I. He had before 
tried the experiment of colonial towns in the highlands of Scot- 
land, in order to improve the clans ; and although it did not 
answer all his expectations, it confirmed him in the policy of 
the system. Unhappily, his ecclesiastical policy was not equally 
wise. He derided and denounced the puritans and noncon- 
formists. And, alas, bishops ascribed this to inspiration ; and 
even Lord Bacon justified it ! 

Amongst many who fled from this tyranny to the continent, 
for refuge, was the congregational church of the great and 
good John Robinson. In 1609, they settled in Leyden, and 
remained for some years. But the unhealthy climate, and espe- 
cially the unhallowed sabbaths of the city, determined them to 
emigrate to America. 

This resolution was not adopted hastily, nor without much 
prayer. The exiles felt for their children ; and shrunk from 
the danger of their being absorbed in the mass, or assimilated 
to the morals, of a foreign nation. And, what gave irresistible 
effect to all their ordinary motives was, — they felt it to be their 



whitefield's life and times. 



137 



supreme duty to spread the gospel amongst the heathen, and to 
perpetuate the Scriptural system of christian churches. 

It is not to the credit of Dr. Robertson, that he withheld the 
fact of their missionary spirit. He says, with an ill-concealed 
sneer, " They began to be afraid that all their high attain- 
ments in spiritual knowledge would be lost ; and that the per- 
fect fabric of policy which they had erected would dissolve, and 
be consigned to oblivion, if they remained longer in a strange 
land." The historian understood the character of Charles 
V. ; but he was incapable of appreciating the character of John 
Robinson and his church, even although the Scotch martyrs 
furnished a clue to it. It requires, however, more than philo- 
sophical discrimination, to discern mental or moral greatness in 
the zeal of poor men for unpopular truth. The character of 
the first nonconformists must remain a mystery to mere phi- 
losophers, until the New Testament become " The Book of the 
Church." 

A brief sketch of the character and principles of the found- 
ers of the first American churches, will justify this remark. 
Now, that Hume, and writers of his stamp, should designate the 
Plymouth pilgrims, weak or wild fanatics, is only what might 
be expected. Nor is it at all surprising, that even Robertson 
should call them enthusiasts and Brownists. It is, however, a 
matter both of surprise and regret, that such an historian as 
Grahame should have called them Brownists, in the face of a 
solemn injunction which he himself transcribes, and in which 
Robinson disavows the name, as " a brand for making religion 
odious." Even Baylie, the bitter enemy of the first dissenters, 
declares that " Robinson was the principal overthrower of the 
Brownists, and became the father of independency." Hornius 
also distinguishes the independents from the Brownists, and 
calls them Robinsonians. Governor Winslow also, in his 
" Grounds of planting New England," say s, that "the Brownists 
were settled in Amsterdam, and would hardly hold communion 
with the people of Leyden." Besides, there is a work of 
Robinson's, which bears the following title : " A Just and Ne- 
cessary Apology for certain Christians, no less contumeliously 
than commonly called Brownists or Barrowists." 



138 



whitefield's life and times. 



The fact seems to be, — that Robinson had been, at first, a 
stricter dissenter than the generality of the nonconformists ; 
and, by publishing his " Justification of Separation from the 
Church of England," in answer to Bernard's " Separatists' 
Schism," which was chiefly directed against the Brownists, he 
thus subjected himself to the charge of being one of them. But 
both his spirit and his system were of a far higher order. He 
was, in the best sense of the name, an independent, or con- 
gregationalist. 

What he was as a scholar and a divine, may be judged from 
his masterly answer to Bernard, and from his signal triumph 
over the successor of Arminius at Leyden. The university of 
Leyden prevailed on Robinson to accept the challenge of Epis- 
copius ; and he silenced the impugner of Calvinism. In such 
estimation was he held at Leyden, that all the rank and talent 
of the city attended his funeral, and agreed to his interment in 
the chancel of their principal church. 

Such was the man who formed the sentiments and the cha- 
racter of the men who formed the first church in New Eng- 
land. He himself was prevented from joining them there, 
by the intrigues of a faction in the Virginian company in this 
country ; but his mantle and spirit were carried there by his 
elder and members. And nobly did they exemplify the princi- 
ples of their pastor ! 

What these principles were, is not matter of conjecture. As 
to faith, the pilgrims held the doctrinal articles of the reformed 
churches ; and, accordingly, admitted to communion in their 
own church the pious members, of all protestant churches who 
chose to unite with them. 

This open communion, and unshackled freedom of conscience, 
were, however, peculiar to the independents. The puritans 
who colonized Massachusetts Bay, availed themselves, at first, 
of these privileges ; but they did not extend them so freely 
when they settled their own churches. 

Agreeably to the spirit of the church in which they were 
educated, they soon began to govern religion, instead of sub- 
mitting to be governed by it ; and thus practical intolerance was 
grafted upon speculative liberty, as slavery still is, on American 



whitefield's life and times. 



139 



republicanism. The puritans were much upbraided for this 
by the church of England, whilst her own offsets in the southern 
provinces of America could hardly subsist ; but, when they ob- 
tained a legal settlement, she soon fenced them by a sacra- 
mental test. 

Even-handed justice, however, has not yet been rendered to 
the American puritans. Both eulogy and censure are still too 
unqualified. Their errors were the universal errors of their 
age ; whereas their virtues were peculiar to themselves. God, 
indeed, " sifted three nations, that he might sow New England 
with the finest wheat." Magnalia. 

A sketch of the rise and progress of religion in America will 
illustrate this. Its origin, although of recent date, was coeval 
with the discovery of the rock of Plymouth. The pilgrims had 
formed themselves, by covenant, into a church and a state, 
even before they landed ; and thus Plymouth became a settle- 
ment and a sanctuary on the same day. The voice of praise 
and prayer first awoke the echoes of its forests ; and before a 
tree was cut for fuel, or climbed for food, tears of gratitude had 
anointed the rock as an Ebenezer. 

Webster, a member of congress, has depicted this scene with 
great power and pathos. " The morning that beamed on the 
first night of their repose, saw the pilgrims already established 
in their country. There were political institutions, and civil 
liberty, and religious worship. 

" Poetry has fancied nothing in the wanderings of heroes, so 
distinct and characteristic. Here was man, indeed, unprotect- 
ed, and unprovided for, on the shore of a rude and fearful wil- 
derness ; but it was politic, intelligent, and educated man. 
Every thing was civilized but the physical world. Institutions, 
containing in substance all that ages had done for human 
government, were established in a forest. Cultivated mind was 
to act on uncultivated nature ; and, more than all, a government 
and a country were to commence, with the very first foundations 
laid under the divine light of the christian religion. Happy 
auspices of a happy futurity ! Who could wish that his coun- 
try's existence had otherwise begun ? Who would desire to go 
back to the ages of fable ? Who would wish for an origin ob- 



140 



whitefield's life and times. 



scured in the darkness of antiquity ? Who would wish for other 
emblazoning of his country's heraldry, or other ornaments of 
her genealogy, than to be able to say, that her first existence 
was with intelligence ; her first breath, the inspiration of liberty ; 
her first principle, the truth of divine religion ? " 

In a similar spirit, Whelpley, of New York, says, " On the 
day they felt the firm earth, for weal or for woe, they adopted it 
as their country ; they looked off to the surrounding hills and 
snow-clad ranges, and felt that these must henceforth be their 
horizon ; they surveyed the deep and frowning forest, with its 
savage tenantry, and resolved to subdue and make it the abode 
of pure religion ; they looked along the far-sounding shore, and 
resolved to explore its depths and islands, and point out to their 
children the places of cities, and the marts of commerce ; they 
looked up to the broad heavens, where dwelt their covenant 
God, and, in prayer, resolved to build Him a house for his wor- 
ship, wherever under these heavens, like J acob, they rested on 
their pilgrimage." 

Vivid and touching as these pictures are, they are, perhaps, 
surpassed, as to effect, by the simple journals of the pilgrims 
themselves ; from which Prince drew the materials, and, in a 
great measure, the language, of his " Annals — a book almost 
unknown now in this country. 

" 1620. Dec. 20. This morning, after calling on Heaven for 
guidance, they go ashore again, to pitch on some place for im- 
mediate settlement. After viewing the country, they conclude 
to settle on the main, on a high ground facing the bay ; a sweet 
brook running under the hill, with many delicate springs. On 
a great hill they intend to fortify, which will command all 
round ; whence they may see across from the bay to Cape Cod. 
And here, being twenty in number, they rendezvous this even- 
ing ; but a storm rising, it blows and rains hard all night ; con- 
tinues so tempestuous for two days, that they cannot get aboard, 
and have nothing to shelter them. 

" 21st. Dies Richard Bretterige, the first who dies in this 
harbour. 

" 23d. As many go ashore as can ; cut and carry timber for 
a common building. 



whitefield's life and times. 141 



" 24th. Lord's day. Our people ashore are alarmed with 
the cry of savages ; expect an assault, but continue quiet. 
And this day, dies Solomon Martin, the sixth and last who dies 
this month. 

" 25th. Monday. They go ashore again, felling timber, sawing, 
riving, carrying. Begin to erect their first house, about twenty 
foot square, for their common use, to receive them and their 
goods. Leaving twenty to keep a court of guard, the rest return 
aboard at evening. But in the night and next day, another 
sore storm of wind and rain. 

" 28th. Thursday. They go to work on the hill ; reduce 
themselves to nineteen families ; measure out their lots, and 
draw for them. Many grow ill of grievous colds, from the 
great and many hardships they had endured. They see great 
smokes of fires made by Indians, about six or seven miles off. 

" 31st. Lord's day. The generality remain aboard the ship, 
almost a mile and a half off. Some keep the sabbath, for the 
first time, in the place of their building. 

" 1621. Jan. 9th. We labour in building our town in two 
rows of houses for greater safety : divide by lot the ground we 
build on : agree that every man builds his own house, that they 
may make more haste. 

" 13th. Saturday. Having the major part of our people 
ashore, we purpose there to keep the public worship to-morrow. 

" 14th. Lord's day morning at six o'clock, the wind being 
very high, we, on shipboard, see our rendezvous in flames, and 
fear the savages had fired it ; nor can we come to help, for want 
of the tide, till seven o'clock : at landing, find that the house 
was fired by a spark in the thatch." 

" 31st. The people aboard see two savages, but cannot come 
to speak with them. 

" Feb. 9th. This afternoon our house for sick people is set 
on fire by a spark lighting on the roof. 

" About this time the Indians get all the powaws (magicians) 
of the country together for three days, in a horrid and devilish 
manner to curse and execrate us with their conjurations : which 
assembly they hold in a dark and dismal swamp." 

Such was their first winter ; and, before the return of spring, 



142 



whitefield's life and times. 



disease or famine had swept off one half of them. The sur- 
vivors, too, instead of being able to devote themselves to plant- 
ing and building, had to spend the greater part of their time 
in defending their persons and property from the savages. 
Still, the pilgrims neither repented nor repined. " Spring" 
they say, "puts new life into us" "All the summer, no want. 
We fit our houses against winter; are in health, and have all 
things in plenty" Prince's Annals. 

At this time, they had no minister. Mr. Brewster, the elder 
of the church, conducted their worship, until Mr. Robinson 
should be able to join them. But, whilst they were looking 
and longing for his arrival, a faction in the Plymouth company 
at home were intriguing to prevent him from leaving Leyden. 
This faction seem to have had for their object the introduction 
of episcopal forms into the worship of the colony. Accordingly, 
in 1624, they sent out, as their tool, Lyford, a minister who had 
lost his character in Ireland. On his arrival, the pilgrims say, 
" He appears exceedingly complaisant and humble ; sheds many 
tears ; blesses God, that had brought him to see our faces. We 
give hrm the best entertainment we can. We make him larger 
allowance than any others. At his desire, we receive him into 
our church ; when he blesses God for the opportunity and 
freedom of enjoying his ordinances in purity." That purity 
Lyford soon tampered with. He insisted upon administering 
the sacrament in the episcopal form, and on using the liturgy 
Nor was this the worst part of his conduct. He caballed with 
some unprincipled adventurers, who had come out, to betray the 
colony, and usurp its government. The plot was, however, de- 
tected. The governor pursued the ship which brought Lyford 
out, and arrested his letters. On his return, the governor sum- 
moned a general court, and charged Lyford and his party with 
the plot. They denied it. He then produced Lyford's letters, 
and confounded the traitors before all the assembly. 

Incredible as it may seem, such was the leniency of the court, 
that Lyford was even restored to his office, upon a profession of 
repentance, " made with tears/' before the church. But these 
tears, like the former, were hypocritical ; for, in less than a 
month, he wrote another letter to betray the government ; and 



whitefield's life and times. 



143 



was detected again. Cotton Mather says of Lyford, " On this 
he was banished from the plantation, and went into Virginia, 
where he shortly after ended his own life." Soon after this, 
the pilgrims say, " We hear sad news ; our dear pastor, Mr. 
Robinson, is dead; which strikes us with great sorrow. These 
things could not but cast us into great perplexity ; yet, being 
stript of all human hopes and help, when we are now at the 
lowest, the Lord so helps us, as that we are not only upheld, but 
begin to rise." This " rise " was not, however, great nor rapid ; 
for, at the end of ten years, the population of Plymouth was 
only three hundred persons. 

Such was the rise of religion in America. Its progress, at 
this early period, was, of course, by the accession of pious set- 
tlers from Europe, and by the influence of the first churches 
upon the worldly settlers. In the former case, the progress was 
great. Charles I. was then upon the throne, and Laud behind 
it ; and their well-known measures compelled the puritans and 
nonconformists to choose between exile and chains. Many of 
them preferred the former. Aware of this, the Rev. Mr. White 
of Dorchester organized a colony for Massachusetts Bay, which 
obtained a royal charter. Neale, by a strange mistake, says, 
that " free liberty of conscience was granted by this charter." 
An improbable gift, from the iron hand of Charles ! The deed 
itself contains no permission of the kind. Such as it was, how- 
ever, it soon drew into the colony eighteen hundred persons ; 
many of whom were wealthy, and most of them respectable. 
Several eminent ministers also accompanied them. These emi- 
grants laid the foundations of Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, 
and other towns ; in each of which a church was formed. And 
such was their prosperity and peace, that crowds continued to 
pour into the country. 

Whilst this influx was proceeding, the small-pox broke out 
amongst the Indians, and swept off such multitudes, that whole 
tribes were annihilated. Providence, by thus evacuating the 
country, was supposed to indicate his appropriation of it to the 
English. The vacated space proved, however, a temptation ; 
because its best districts being far asunder, they drew the set- 
tlers too far off from each other. It was, however, this dispersion 



144 



whitefield's life "and times. 



that led to the adoption of a representative system of govern- 
ment in New England. 

It cannot surprise any one to hear that, amongst so many 
emigrants, so suddenly thrown together, and all passing at once 
from bondage to full liberty of conscience, there should have 
been some differences of religious opinion. There were, how- 
ever, far fewer than could be expected ; and these were confined, 
in every instance, to very few persons. The celebrated Roger 
Williams was the chief disturber of the harmony of the infant 
churches ; but, with all his singularities, he was a noble-minded 
and right -hearted man. He understood religious liberty better 
than the puritans ; and, to his spirit and firmness in resisting 
the jurisdiction of magistrates in religion, New England is chiefly 
indebted for her charter of conscience. 

Whilst the Massachusetts' colony was thus advancing, similar 
motives and causes led to the settlement of Connecticut and 
Newhaven ; in both of which the Scriptures were adopted as 
the sole code of law and religion. A colony was also planted 
in New Hampshire and Main ; but by men of another spirit. 
It made no progress for some years, until it came under the 
jurisdiction of the Massachusetts' colony. Indeed, all the colo- 
nies, about this time, retrograded during a disastrous war with 
the Indians. Charles had also forbidden further emigration 
from England, without permission. He had even decided on 
taking away the Massachusetts' charter, and on remodelling the 
government agreeably to his own mind. The meeting of the 
long parliament, however, furnished him with other work. But, 
whilst this event saved their charter at the time, it likewise put 
a stop to emigration ; there being then no intolerable pressure 
upon conscience. Whilst that pressure lasted, however, two 
hundred thousand British subjects had settled in New England ; 
and £200,000 had been expended upon it : "a sum," says Ro- 
bertson, " which no principles, inferior in force to those where- 
with the puritans were animated, could have persuaded men to 
lay out on the uncertain prospect of finding subsistence and 
enjoying freedom." 

During the Protectorate, although no great accession was 
made to the population of New England, great favour was shown 



whitefield's life and times. 



145 



to the colonies ; or rather, they were allowed to take great 
liberties beyond their charter. They formed the confederacy of 
the States, and struck a coinage of their own. Whether these 
steps were approved, or overlooked amidst the crowd of nearer 
events, is not known. Cromwell, however, formed a plan for the 
colonists, which, happily, was plausible only to himself. When 
he had conquered Jamaica, he offered to transport to it the 
churches of New England, that they might resist popery in the 
centre of the new world. In this enterprise, so characteristic 
of its author, Cromwell pledged himself to support them with 
the whole weight of his authority and influence. They had, 
however, the wisdom to decline his proposals, without incurring 
his displeasure. 

About this time, a better direction was given to their zeal, 
and new energy infused into their Indian missions, by the spirit 
with which parliament incorporated the Society for propagating 
the Gospel in New England ; and, especially, by the success of 
Eliot. No great accession of numbers or strength was made to 
the infant churches, however, until the restoration of Charles II. 
restored the old system at home. Then the Act of Uniformity 
threw into their arms another large group of pilgrims, in " the 
spirit and power " of the Plymouth fathers. They knew, also, 
how to avail themselves of the crisis created by the Bartholo- 
mew bushel at home ; and promptly invited some of the brightest 
stars which it had covered, to " arise and shine " in the western 
hemisphere. And many of them obeyed the summons. Even 
Dr. Owen was likely to have accepted a call to be pastor of the 
first church in Boston, had not the king laid an embargo upon 
him. 

However much, therefore, we may deplore the Act of Unifor- 
mity, it became the axe which cut down the principle of unifor- 
mity in this country. What the cause of religious liberty lost 
here for a time, it more than regained in America. 

When these victims of the Act of Uniformity arrived in Ame- 
rica, there were forty flourishing churches in New England. 
The emigrants, however, had hardly time to become incorpo- 
rated with them, or to taste the cup of their sweet fellowship, 
when the fatal Indian war broke out. And such were its ra- 

L 



146 



whitefield's life and times. 



vages, that nearly six hundred men, who were the strength both 
of the churches and of the colony, were cut off. And even this 
overwhelming loss was aggravated by a succession of harassing 
measures from home, which almost ruined the trade of the colony, 
until the Revolution. 

The Revolution in England forms an epoch in the ecclesias- 
tical, as well as the civil, history of iVmerica. From that time, 
the churches of New England began to provide for the spiritual 
wants of the southern provinces ; and thus stirred up the bishop 
of London to send a commissary into Maryland, who obtained 
an act of the provincial legislature for a legal establishment 
of episcopacy there. 

There was, however, at this time, a blot upon the character 
of New England, which, if it had not been copied from Old 
England, would call for severe animadversion. The imputation 
of witchcraft was accompanied by the prevalent belief of its 
reality ; and the lives of many weak persons were sacrificed to 
a blind zeal and a superstitious credulity. Still, more persons 
have been put to death for witchcraft in a single county of 
England, than all who suffered in America. Besides, the chief 
judge, Sewall, with more wisdom than our Hale, confessed, soon 
after, the sin of these sentences, in a penitential paper, which 
he gave in to his minister to be read publicly, on a fast day. 
His diary also deplores and condemns them. 

Nothing very memorable occurs in the history of religion, 
from this time, until the revival at Northampton ; except its 
steady progress amongst some of the Indian tribes, and the 
noble, though abortive, effort of Berkley to provide for them all, 
by his projected college at Bermuda. 

The remarkable revival of religion under the ministry of 
Jonathan Edwards, was as timely as it was signal. He himself, 
in narrating it, has said as little as possible of the long and deep 
decay of vital godliness, which preceded it. That sad decay 
has, however, but too many vouchers. " It began to appear," 
says Prince, " in 1660 : in 1670, it was visible and threatening : 
in 1680, it was bewailed bitterly by the few of the first gener- 
ation who remained." 

Governor Stoughton, in a sermon which he preached at Bos- 



whitefield's life and times. 



147 



ton, before he resigned the pulpit for the bench, proclaimed it 
in the presence of the ministry and the magistracy, that, since 
the death of the Massachusetts' fathers, many had become like 
Joash after the death of Jehoiada, rotten, hypocritical — and a 
lie ! In 1683, the venerable Torrey, of Weymouth, also preach- 
ed a sermon before the legislature, and which he entitled " A 
Plea for the Life of dying Religion." " There is," says he, 
" already a great death upon religion ; little more left than a 
name to live. It is dying as to the being of it, by the general 
failure of the work of conversion." In 1700, Mather published 
his " Vindication of the Order of the Gospel in New England 
in which he solemnly affirms, "that if the begun apostasy 
should proceed as fast the next thirty years, as it has done these 
last, it will come to that in New England, (except the gospel 
itself depart with the order of it,) that churches must be gather 
ed out of churches." President Willard, also, (the eloquent de- 
nouncer of the prosecutions for witchcraft,) published in the 
same year his searching sermon, " The Perils of the Times dis- 
played" " Whence," he asks, " is there such a prevalency of 
so many immoralities amongst professors ? Why so little suc- 
cess of the gospel ? How few thorough conversions to be ob- 
served ; how scarce and seldom ! " " It hath been," he adds, 
" a frequent observation, that if one generation begins to de- 
cline, the next that follows usually grows worse ; and so on, 
until God pours out his Spirit again upon them." 

Such was the melancholy state of things which followed the 
death of the first puritans and nonconformists in New England. 
The second generation grew up, not indeed in ignorance nor in 
avowed unbelief, but in a heartless formality which, itself, re- 
laxed more and more, as their fathers went down to the grave. 
Nor was this falling off confined to the large towns. It took 
place even in such remote and obscure towns as Northampton. 
There, after the death of the celebrated Stoddard, who had, 
during his ministry, five signal revivals, or, as he called them, 
" five harvests," an extraordinary deadness in religion crept in. 
Politics divided the people, and pleasure absorbed the young. 
Family discipline was generally neglected, and licentiousness 

l 2 



148 



whitefield's life and times. 



rapidly spreading. The sabbath evening became the chief sea- 
son of mirth and dissipation. 

This last circumstance led Edwards to preach a very solemn 
sermon on the subject ; not, however, that he held the evening 
of the Lord's day sacred. They began their sabbath on the 
Saturday evening, and closed it with the afternoon of Sunday. 
It was, therefore, the "evil tendency" of passing from the sanc- 
tuary to the tavern and the dancing green, that led him to re- 
monstrate. He saw how the custom was defeating all his own 
labours, and defying parental authority to check it ; and he 
singled it out, and threw all his soul into the assault against it. 
He had also planned with the better disposed parents of his 
flock, to take private measures for suppressing the evil. But 
such was the effect of the sermon on the young themselves, that 
they anticipated the wish both of their parents and pastor, 
and abandoned at once and entirely their amusements on the 
sabbath evening. 

This was the first step towards the great revival at North- 
ampton. Edwards then persuaded the young people to spend 
these evenings in little meetings for social prayer and reading. 
In this also he succeeded. These meetings began too at a time, 
when some sudden and awful deaths had made a deep and 
solemn impression in the town. But still, he seems to have 
expected nothing extraordinary to evolve from these symptoms. 
The Arminian controversy was raging around him at the time, 
and he, in common with his pious friends, was more afraid of 
its influence, than encouraged by these "tokens for good." 
Indeed, Edwards, instead of expecting or attempting to pro- 
duce a signal revival of religion, seems to have thought only of 
defending its great foundations. He began to preach boldly 
the sovereignty and freeness of grace, more with a view to keep 
error out of his church, than with the hope of " winning souls " 
by the truth. Accordingly he himself was as much, if not 
more surprised than any one, when the great awakening began. 
He, however, preached the truth from love to it, and not for 
victory ; and the Eternal Spirit wrought mightily by it. 

This series of simple facts has been too much overlooked in 
various accounts of " The work of God in Northampton." It 



whitefield's life and times. 



149 



was in nowise " got up/' on the part of Edwards, as its enemies 
have insinuated ; nor was it so separated from rational means, 
as some of its rash friends pretended. It certainly well de- 
serves to be called wonderful — even miraculous, because the 
same truth had never triumphed so gloriously in America be- 
fore ; but the means which the Spirit thus blessed, were as na- 
tural and orderly as philosophy herself could select or arrange, 
whilst she kept the Bible open. Accordingly Dr. Watts and 
Dr. Guyse did not hesitate to call it " The renewal of the mira- 
cle of Gideon s fleece" 

The chief characteristics of this work, at its commence- 
ment, were, — a melting down of all classes and ages in over- 
whelming solicitude about salvation ; an absorbing sense of 
eternal realities, which banished all vain and useless conversa- 
tion ; a self-abasement and self-condemnation, which acquitted 
God of all severity, whatever he might do ; a spirit of secret 
and social prayer, which redeemed time for itself under all cir- 
cumstances ; and a concern for the souls of others, which 
watched for all opportunities of doing good. It can only sur- 
prise sciolists, that this awakening, so sudden and solemn, 
should have agitated the body, whilst thus agonizing the mind. 
It produced in many instances loud outcries, and in some in- 
stances convulsions. The loudest cries were not, however, so 
loud as the shrieks of Voltaire or Volney, when the prospect of 
eternity unmanned them. What Edwards said of those who, 
in his time, resolved the physical effect into mental delusion, 
may be applied to all who echo their opinion, " I question if 
they would behave themselves better, if they" were equally 
sensible of their guilt and danger, as sinners." Not that Ed- 
wards was the advocate of these things ; but he was too good 
a philosopher to consider them incompatible with sense or sin- 
cerity ; and too honest, to allow them to be called " a distem- 
per caught from Whitefield and Tennent," as some insinuated. 
He candidly acknowledges they had appeared before White- 
field arrived. Indeed, they did not appear under his minis- 
try at all. 

" But, ivhat is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord ? " 
Whatever were the accidental extravagances which marked this 



150 



whitefield's life and times. 



work at any period of its progress, its permanent results were 
" Holiness to the Lord." 

Perhaps a better proof of the substantial character of these 
conversions cannot be given, than the single fact that most of 
them stood the severe test of Edwards's " Treatise on Religious 
Affections :" a work which, if as generally read here as it was- 
there, would tempt a large portion of our acknowledged con- 
verts to unchristianize themselves. There was noise in the 
new stream of religious feeling, which broke out at Northamp- 
ton ; and noisy streams are said to be shallow ; but this one must 
have been an exception to the proverb, seeing it sustained that 
weighty book upon its bosom. 

Besides, whoever will duly examine Edwards's " Narrative," 
will find, to his surprise and pleasure, all the usual varieties of 
experience, which show themselves in our own churches, in the 
succession of single converts. He was honoured to gather at 
once, what we collect slowly. But with this exception, and its 
natural consequences, the history of any hundred of true con- 
verts, won at wide intervals, will present almost all the varieties 
of case, which were crowded into the first year of the revival. 

Wide and great as this revival was, however, it did not pene- 
trate New England at large, until Whitefield and Tennent 
spread it. In many leading places the necessity, or the genuine- 
ness of such a work was doubted and denied. The churches, in 
general, were still in a Sardian or Laodicean state. 

Dr. Holmes says, in his " American Annals," that " the zeal 
which had characterized the churches in New England at an 
earlier period, had, previous to Whitefield's arrival, subsided, 
and a calm, perhaps lethargic, state ensued. The discourses 
from the desk, though evangelical, were not impassioned." 
ShurtlefF, of New Hampshire, in his defence of Whitefield, says 
of the state of the churches at this time, " No serious christian 
could behold it without a heavy heart, and scarce without a 
weeping eye ; to see the solid, substantial piety, for which our 
ancestors were justly renowned, having long languished under 
sore decays, brought so low, and seemingly just ready to give 
up the ghost." Edwards says of the colleges, " It certainly has 
sometimes been so with our colleges that, instead of being 



whitefield's life and times. 



151 



places of the greatest advantage for true piety, one cannot 
send a child thither, without great danger of his being infected 
as to his morals." Dr. Chauncy denies this charge, in unquali- 
fied terms ; but when he proceeds to disprove it, the only 
argument he adduces is, that, during twenty years, he had 
never known Harvard College " under better circumstances, in 
point of religion, good order, and learning, than at this day." 
What it really was, may, perhaps, be gathered from the fact, 
that Whitefield in his Letter to the students, when they became 
serious, says, " It was no small grief to me, that I was obliged 
to say of your college, that ( your light was darkness;' yet 
are ye now become light in the Lord. Now we may expect a 
reformation indeed, since it is beginning at the house of God." 

In regard to the general state of the churches, even Dr. 
Chauncy cannot effectually conceal the low ebb of spiritual reli- 
gion at this time. In spite of all his special pleading, it betrays 
itself throughout the whole series of his " Seasonable Thoughts 
on the State of Religion in New England." At the close of 
that strange book he acknowledges, " that disorderly walkers 
have been suffered to take their course, without the administra- 
tion of those censures which are proper to the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ. Have they not been left to themselves to act as they 
please, without public notice, any more than' if they sustained 
no relation to the church of God ? " 

It is equally painful to review or record these melancholy 
facts. It is, however, necessary to do both, in order to form a 
just estimate of the spirit, the character, and effects, of White- 
field's preaching in New England. He went there, not to spy 
out the nakedness of the land, nor to search for declensions ; 
but to be " refreshed amongst the descendants of the good old 
puritans." It was, therefore, with as much surprise as regret, 
that he found " the fine gold " of puritanism " dim." Indeed, 
it was not until Dr. Chauncy and others began to caricature the 
revivals, that Whitefield began to suspect the spirituality of the 
ministry. His correspondence with Dr. Colman and Mr. Cooper 
of Boston, and his recorded memorials of all the devoted minis- 
ters he met with, prove that he was inclined, and even solicitous, 
to be pleased with New England. 



152 



whitefield's life and times. 



Whitefield had, however, seen enough, in Philadelphia, to 
convince him, that both the matter and spirit of his preaching 
in England were equally wanted in America. He accordingly 
wielded in New York and Boston all the spiritual and splendid 
weapons which he had employed at London and Bristol. The 
effect at Boston was amazing. Old Mr. Walter, the successor 
of Eliot, the apostle of the Indians, said, " It was puritanism 
revived." Such was the interest excited by his preaching, that 
his farewell sermon was attended by 20,000 persons. And, 
during his visit, it was testified by the first authorities in the 
city, that many of the careless were awakened, and more of the 
lukewarm quickened. " Such a power and presence of God 
with a preacher, and in religious assemblies," says Dr. Colman, 
" I never saw before." " Every day gives me fresh proofs of 
Christ speaking in him. A small set of gentlemen amongst us, 
when they saw the affections of the people so moved under his 
preaching, would attribute it only to the force of sound and ges- 
tures. But the impressions on many were so lasting, and have 
been so transforming, as to carry plain signatures of a divine 
hand going along with him." All this was, if possible, exceed- 
ed at Northampton, when Whitefield visited Jonathan Edwards, 
and reminded his people of " the days of old." " It was," says 
Gillies, " like putting fire to tinder." Similar success attended 
his ministry in the town and college of Newhaven. In the lat- 
ter, it overthrew the self-righteousness of the celebrated Hop- 
kins, and fanned into a flame the zeal of David Brainerd — a 
name that needs no epithet. 

In like manner, at Harvard College the effect was great. 
The honourable Secretary Willard says, in a letter to White - 
field, " That which forebodes the most lasting advantage is, the 
new state of things in the college, where the impressions of reli- 
gion have been, and still are, very general ; and many, in a 
judgment of charity, brought home to Christ. Divers gentle- 
men's sons, that were sent there only for a more polite educa- 
tion, are now so full of zeal for the cause of Christ, and of love 
to souls, as to devote themselves entirely to the studies of 
divinity." Dr. Colman also informed Whitefield of this fact. 
" At Cambridge, the college is entirely changed ; the students 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



153 



are full of God, and will, I hope, come out blessings in their 
generation ; and, I trust, are so now to each other. Many of 
them are now, we think, truly born again, and several of them 
happy instruments of conversion to their fellows. The voice of 
prayer and praise fills their chambers ; and sincerity, fervency, 
and joy, with seriousness of heart, sit visibly on their faces. I 
was told yesterday, that not seven of a hundred remain unaf- 
fected. I know how the good tidings will affect you. God 
give you like joy every where in the fruit of your labours." Thus 
Whitefield was then to the churches and colleges, what Wash- 
ington was afterwards to the states. 

Such were the results of his first visit to New England. 
And it deserves special notice that they were accompanied with 
none of the extravagances which marked the revival soon 
after. Much has been written on the subject of the subsequent 
effects of this mighty impulse ; but, after deliberately weighing 
the works on both sides, I am fully persuaded that Whitefield 
himself has given the most judicious view of the whole matter. 
On his return to Boston, in 1745, he writes thus : " Some oc- 
casions of offence had, undoubtedly, been given whilst I was 
here, (before,) and preached up and down the country. No- 
thing, however, appeared but a pure divine power, working 
upon, converting, and transforming people's hearts, of all 
ranks, — without any extraordinary phenomena attending it. 
Good Mr. Tennent succeeded me : numbers succeeded him. 
Lecture upon lecture was set up in various places. One minis- 
ter called to another to help to drag the gospel net. And, by 
all the accounts I can have from private information, or good 
Mr. Prince's weekly history, one would have imagined the mil- 
lennium was coming indeed. But in this mixed state of things, 
wildfire will necessarily blend itself with the pure fire that 
comes from God's altar. This the enemy long waited for. At 
last, it broke out and spread itself. And, it must be confess- 
ed, by the instrumentality of many good souls, both among 
clergy and laity ; who, mistaking fancy for faith, and ima- 
gination for revelation, were guilty of great imprudence. All 
is laid to me, as being the primum mobile ; though there was 
not so much as the appearance of any thing of this nature, when 



154 



WHITEFIELD'S LIFE AND TIMES. 



I left New England last. But, maugre all, my poor labours 
are yet attended with the usual blessings." 

That Whitefield has fairly characterized the first aspect of 
this work, will be seen from the following public testimony, by 
three of the principal ministers in Boston ; Prince, Webb, 
Cooper. It came out the year after his first visit. 

" The wondrous work of God, at this day, making its tri- 
umphant progress through the land, has forced many men of 
clear minds, strong powers, considerable knowledge, and firmly 
rivetted in Arminian and Socinian tenets, to give them all up 
at once, and yield to the adorable sovereignty and irresistibi- 
lity of the divine Spirit, in his saving operations on the souls 
of men. For, to see such men as these, some of them of 
licentious lives, long inured in a course of vices, and of high 
spirits, coming to the preaching of the word ; some only out of 
curiosity, and mere design to get matter of cavilling and banter ; 
all at once, in opposition to their inward enmity, resolutions, 
and resistances, to fall under an unexpected and hated power ; 
to have all the strength of their resolution and resistance taken 
away ; to have such inward views of the horrid wickedness, not 
only of their lives but of their hearts, with their exceeding great 
and immediate danger of eternal misery, as has amazed their 
souls, and thrown them into distress unutterable, yea, forced 
them to cry out in the assemblies with the greatest agonies : 
and then, in two or three days, and sometimes sooner, to have 
such unexpected and raised views of the infinite grace and love 
of God in Christ, as have enabled them to believe in him ; lifted 
them at once out of their distresses ; filled their hearts with 
admiration ; and joy unspeakable and full of glory breaking 
forth in their shining countenances and transporting voices, to 
the surprise of those about them : — and to see them kindling up 
at once, into a flame of love to God, an utter detestation of their 
former courses and vicious habits ; yea, by such a detestation, 
that the very power of these habits receive at once a mortal 
wound : in short, to see their high spirits, on a sudden, humbled ; 
their hard hearts made tender ; their aversion to the Holy Ghost, 
now turned into a powerful and prevailing bent to contemplate 
Him as revealed in Christ ; to labour to be like Him in holi- 



whitefield's life and times. 



155 



ness ; to please and honour him by a universal and glad con- 
formity to his will and nature ; and to promote his holy king- 
dom in all about them — loving them, forgiving them, asking 
forgiveness of them ; abounding in acts of justice and charity, 
in a meek and condescending carriage towards the meanest, and 
aspiring after higher sanctity. 

" And to see other gentlemen, of the like parts, knowledge, 
and principles ; and of sober, just, and religious lives, as far as 
mere reason, with outward revelation, is able to carry them ; 
and prepossessed against this work as imagined enthusiasm ; 
yet, at once, surprised to find themselves entirely destitute of 
that inward sanctity, and supreme love to God, which the gos- 
pel teaches as absolutely needful ; to find themselves no more 
than conceited Pharisees, who had been working out a righteous- 
ness for their own justification ; and to have a clear discovery 
of their inward enmity to Christ, and to the nature and way of 
redemption by him ; with the vileness of their hearts and lives, 
which they had never seen before : in short, to find themselves 
yet unrenewed in the spirit of their minds, and under the heavy 
wrath and curse of God ; to lose all their former confidence ; 
give up their beloved schemes ; to see themselves undone and 
helpless, and sink into great distress : and then, condemning 
themselves as guilty wretches, humbly lying at the foot of abso- 
lute and sovereign grace, looking up to Christ, as the only Me- 
diator, to reconcile them to God, to justify them wholly by his 
own righteousness, and to enlighten, sanctify, and govern them 
by his Holy Spirit ; and there to wait, till they find a new and 
mighty life and power come into their souls, enabling them to 
embrace, trust in, and love this divine Redeemer ; rejoice 
with satisfaction in him ; and perform every kind of duty, both 
to God and man, with pleasure, and with quite another spirit 
than before." 

Whilst such were the moral effects of this American Pente- 
cost, well might the eloquent Parsons, of Byfield, say to the 
mockers and opposers, " Whilst you stand amazed at the rings 
of the wheel, as things too high and dreadful for you ; whilst you 
know not what to make of the effusions of the Holy Spirit, but 
are stumbling at every thing amiss ; beware, lest that come upon 



156 



whitefield's life and times. 



you, which is spoken of by the prophets, ' Behold, ye despisers, 
and wonder, and perish.' Dear, immortal souls ! I beseech and 
persuade you, by the mercies of God, and the astonishing love 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would not sacrifice the oper- 
ations of the blessed Spirit to your own prejudice, by means of 
our imperfections." 

When Whitefield saw the first-fruits of this harvest, he wisely 
pressed into the field, as his successor, Gilbert Tennent. The 
American Biographical Dictionary says of Tennent, " He was 
born in Ireland, and brought to this country by his father ; by 
whom also he was educated for the ministry. As a preacher, 
he was, in his vigorous days, equalled by but few. His reason- 
ing powers were strong ; his language forcible and often sublime ; 
and his manner of address warm and earnest. His eloquence was, 
however, rather bold and awful than soft and persuasive. He 
was most pungent in his addresses to the conscience. When 
he wished to alarm the sinner, he could represent in the most 
awful manner the terrors of the Lord. With admirable dex- 
terity he exposed the false hope of the hypocrite, and searched 
the corrupt heart to the bottom." Such was the man whom 
Whitefield chose to take his place in the American valley of 
vision, when the " dry bones " began to shake. And he entered 
on his new sphere with almost rustic simplicity ; wearing his 
hair undressed, and a large great coat girt with a leathern gir- 
dle. But his " lofty stature and grave aspect dignified " the 
whole. He had been remarkably useful in his former station 
in New Jersey ; and now, in New England, his ministry was 
hardly less successful than Whitefield's had been. Much of the 
happy change which we have just reviewed, is ascribed by 
Whitefield himself to the instrumentality of Tennent. He 
actually shook the country, as with an earthquake. Wherever 
he came, hypocrisy and pharisaism either fell before him, or 
gnashed their teeth against him. Cold orthodoxy also started 
from her downy cushion to imitate or to denounce him. For, 
like Elijah on Carmel, he made neutrality an impossibility. 
Accordingly, the attack upon him soon began, in the true spirit 
of mortified pride, by arraigning his motives. It commenced in 
the Boston newspaper,, in the form of a letter ; — of which Dr. 



whitefield's life and times. 



157 



Chauncy, who was then the American Sacheverell, was, no 
doubt, the author. At least, he has made it his own, by repub- 
lishing it, without note or comment. " Pray, Sir, let me put it 
to your conscience ; was not the reason of your travelling so 
many miles (300) to preach the gospel in this place, founded on 
the insufficiency of the ministers here for their office ? Had you 
not some suspicion, that they were not converted ? Perhaps you 
only thought that you might do a deal more good ? Is not this 
too near to vanity ? " This is a specimen of the letter to Ten- 
nent ; and, in the same spirit, Chauncy assailed the character 
and motives of Whiteneld, and criticized the " Narrative and 
Vindication of the Work of God," by Edwards. By his own 
confession, he travelled farther to collect the materials of his 
book against, what he called, " the new light," than Tennent 
did to guard that light. The book itself was answered by vari- 
ous writers ; but the best reproof it called forth, was adminis- 
tered by a venerable lady, who had been converted under the 
ministry of Flavel. " New light ! " she exclaimed ; " it may 
be new to such as never saw it before ; but it is what I saw fifty 
years ago, from good Mr. Flavel." 

Chauncy's principal charge against Whiteneld is, — " that he 
seldom preached without saying something against unconverted 
ministers." " The first error I would take notice of," he says, 
" is that which supposes ministers, if not converted, incapable of 
being instruments of spiritual good to men's souls. Mr. White- 
field very freely vented this error. He said, the reason why 
congregations have been so dead, is, because they have dead men 
preaching to them." " But conversion," says Chauncy, " does 
not appear to be alike necessary for ministers, in their public 
capacity as officers of the church, as it is in their private ca- 
pacity." If this was untenable ground, the Doctor was still 
more unfortunate, when he attempted to vindicate his brethren 
by quoting from Cotton Mather. Mather says, " No man be- 
comes a minister, or a communicant, in our churches, until he 
hath been severely examined about his regeneration, as well as 
conversation." Backus, in his " History of the American Bap- 
tists," answers this appeal in a few words. " When was it so ? 
This testimony was given in 1696. How does it prove that their 
practice remained the same in 1740 ?" 



158 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



These animadversions upon the conduct and writings of Dr. 
Chauncy are necessary, because his influence was great, and 
eventually beneficial. For, whilst his work on " The State of 
Religion/' is contemptible in many respects, and especially in 
all that regards Whitefield and Tennent, it is invaluable as an 
antidote to the extravagances of conduct and sentiment which, 
in seasons of high and general excitement, the weak and the igno- 
rant are so prone to fall into. It is only bare justice to make 
this acknowledgment; for Dr. Chauncy has embodied in the 
work the best sentiments of our best divines, upon the subject 
of the operations and fruits of the Holy Spirit. And these well- 
selected extracts are such an antidote to his own poison, that 
they could not have failed to correct the rashness and folly of 
others. 

It was, however, the poison which operated first. The repre- 
sentations of the party, of which the Doctor was the champion, 
produced edicts of synod and assembly, which made the Say- 
brook platform all but a scaffold. Ministers who should preach 
out of their own parishes without permission, were subject to 
be treated as " vagrants," and to be " banished from the co- 
lony ;" and if they returned, to u pay the expenses of their 
transportation ; besides being imprisoned until they should give 
a bond of £100, not to offend again." Backus. The full force 
of these sad measures was confined chiefly to Connecticut : and 
there Dr. Finlay, the successor of President Davies, was thus 
treated. 

Such was the state of things in New England, on Whitefield's 
second visit. But neither the acts of assembly, nor the example 
of the leading ministers, could prevent the people from welcom- 
ing him with acclamation. They voted him into some of the 
churches, which would otherwise have been shut against him ; 
and prevailed on him to preach early in the morning, as he had 
done in Scotland. These morning lectures were soon so popu- 
lar, that it became proverbial in Boston, that, between early 
rising to hear Whitefield, and the use of tar-water, the physicians 
would have no practice. During this visit, he made an exten- 
sive tour in New England, with great success. At the close of 
it, he says in his journal, " We saw great things. The flock- 
ing and power that attended the word, was like unto that seven 



whitefield's life and times. 



159 



years ago. Weak as I was and have been, I was enabled to 
travel eleven hundred miles, and to preach daily. I am now 
going to Georgia to winter." 

This preliminary sketch of American ecclesiastical history, 
although it anticipates not a few of Whitefield's movements in 
the western world, will enable the reader to appreciate both 
their wisdom and necessity, when they are recorded at length, 
and in their order, from his journals. 

The question, Why did Whitefield go to America in the first 
instance ? has never been satisfactorily answered. I have re- 
corded, in his early life, some of his views and feelings on the 
subject, without attempting to account for them, or to explain 
them. They are remarkable. He uniformly speaks of his 
object as " a great work and represents himself as " a strip- 
ling going forth like David against Goliath." He prays most 
fervently for " such a deep humility, well-guided zeal, and burn- 
ing love," as should enable him to defy " men and devils," even 
if they did " their worst." Now all this is rather too much to 
be applied exclusively to the claims of an infant colony ; except, 
indeed, he foresaw what it would become eventually. Foresight 
of this kind, however, was not natural to him. Whitefield did 
not " see afar off," into the progress of society, or the bearings 
of colonization. He opened no long nor current accounts with 
Time, but only with Eternity. How his doings would tell upon 
future ages and generations — he seems never to have calculated. 
His immediate object was to win souls, and his final object, to 
present them before the throne €t with exceeding joy." 

Such being the cast of Whitefield's mind, as well as of his 
spirit, a new and destitute colony could absorb him, as fully as 
the hope of being another " apostle of the Indians," or another 
Eliot, did Wesley. That brilliant hope does not seem to have 
dazzled Whitefield at all. At least, I have searched in vain for 
any distinct proof, that the example of Eliot inspired him, or 
that the sanguine expectations of the Wesleys were shared by 
him. No where does he express hopes of great success, nor 
explain his errand (as they did) by a desire to " save his soul." 
Whatever he anticipated or intended in reference to the Indians 
on the banks of the Savannah, he said but little ; and that little 



160 



whitefield's life and times. 



only to an Indian trader in confidence. 182 Let. He may, how- 
ever, have cherished fond expectations, although he did not 
utter them as the Wesleys did. Not that he was more prudent 
than his friends. In general, Whitefleld thought aloud. It is 
possible, however, that his reference to the prophecy, " I will 
make thee the head of the heathen," may mean more than meets 
the eye. I am not making a mystery of his silence. It is easily 
explained by the single fact, that he went out, intending to 
return to England in the course of the year, to " take priest's 
orders." He could not, therefore, anticipate much success from 
so short a visit to America. Besides, his silence is only too 
easily accounted for, by the oracular summons to return imme- 
diately, which Wesley addressed to him, as their vessels met 
and passed in the Channel. What I mean to say, therefore, is, 
that nothing but the future results of his American enterprise 
can explain its origin. It was " the burden of the Lord " upon 
his spirit ; deeply felt, but not fully understood by himself at 
the time, nor ever perhaps in this world. Only He, who " seeth 
the end from the beginning," foresaw the bearings of Whitefield's 
mission to Georgia, upon America. We can now see many of 
the reasons why " the Spirit did not suffer " him to remain in 
England : America needed him, in a sense he did not suppose, and 
to an extent she herself did not suspect ; and the reasons of his 
mission are not all unfolded yet. It had much influence upon 
the recent revivals in that country, when they began ; and is 
likely to have still more as they proceed. In the mean time, 
by a curious coincidence, the new revivals in America are as- 
sailed under the shelter of high-sounding compliments to the 
old. What Dr. Chauncy denounced as wild extravagance, in 
the times of Whitefield, Calvin Colton eulogizes as prudent 
zeal, in his " Reasons for preferring Episcopacy." The truth 
or the merits of Colton's parting charges against his former 
connexions, I am unable to appreciate ; but it is pleasing to find, 
that the episcopal church allows a new champion to compliment 
old revivals. She ought not, however, to plume herself on the 
compliments paid to her " orders," at the expense of the Eng- 
lish independents, by Colton. By what infatuation could he 
have so forgotten all he saw and heard of us, as to tell Ame- 



whxtefield's life and times. 



161 



rica that we prefer recognition to ordination ? It is the very 
sacredness in which we hold the latter, that leads to the dis- 
tinction. 

Whitefield, as we have seen, arrived at Georgia in 1738. 
" When able to look about him," says Dr. Gillies, " he found 
every thing bore the aspect of an infant colony ; and, what was 
more discouraging still, he saw it was likely to continue so, by 
the nature of its constitution. The people were denied the use 
of both rum and slaves ! " This Whitefield wrote, and this 
Gillies recorded, without any comment. Indeed, Whitefield 
considered the denial of rum and slaves, as more than a misfor- 
tune to the colony. Hence he adds, (after stating that female 
heirs were not allowed to inherit lands,) " so that, in reality, to 
place a people there on such a footing, was little better than to 
tie their legs and bid them walk. The scheme was well meant 
at home ; but, as too many years' experience evidently proved, 
it was absolutely impracticable in so hot a country abroad." 

How differently would Whitefield write, if alive, now ! But 
then, he was not wiser than his times, on the subject of slavery. 
Indeed, he soon became a slave owner, when he founded his 
orphan-house at Georgia. I have seen the inventory, in his 
own hand-writing, of the dead and live stock belonging to that 
establishment. In that document, carts, cattle, and slaves are 
described and valued with equal formality and nonchalance ! 

I might have concealed this fact, now that there are Americans 
who may employ it in their own justification : but I have not 
hid it ; because even they cannot hide from themselves the fact, 
that Whitefield ought never to have held a slave. It was not 
like himself — it was unworthy of him, to do so ! So it is of every 
American christian. " I wot that through ignorance " he did it, 
as did their and our fathers. He would not do it now. Who does 
not, instinctively, feel this ? How difficult it is to believe that 
ever George Whitefield could have written the following words ! 
In his memorial to the governor of Georgia, for a grant of lands 
to found a college, he urges his request by stating, that " a con- 
siderable sum of money is intended speedily to be laid out in 
purchasing a large number of negroes." In his memorial to 
the king, praying for a charter to the intended college, he pledges 

M 



162 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



himself to " give up his trust, and make a free gift of all lands, 
negroes, goods, and chattels, which he now stands possessed of 
in the province of Georgia, for the present founding, and to- 
wards the future support, of a college, to he called Bethesda." 
He makes a similar appeal to the archhishop of Canterbury ; 
informing him that " the number of negroes, young and old, is 
about thirty and proving to him, that by " laying out only a 
thousand pounds in purchasing an additional number of negroes," 
the income of the college would be " easily and speedily aug- 
mented." In his own printed account of the state of the orphan- 
house in 1770, he thus classes the negroes ; men 24, women 11, 
children 15. In the college rules, drawn up by himself, although 
not unmindful of the coloured branches of his family, he makes 
a strange distinction : " The young negro boys to be baptized 
and taught to read. The young negro girls to be taught to 
work with the needle." " Lord, what is man ! " 

Whitefield did not, however, forget the negroes in his preach- 
ing. It was not uncommon for him to close his sermons thus : 
" I must not forget the poor negroes ; no, I must not ! Jesus 
Christ died for them as well as for others. Nor do I mention 
you last, because I despise your souls ; but because I would 
have what I shall say make the deeper impression on your hearts. 
Oh that you would seek the Lord to be your righteousness ! 
Who knows but he may be found of you ? For in Christ J esus 
there is neither male nor female, bond nor free ; even you may 
be the children of God, if you believe in Jesus. Did you never 
read of the eunuch belonging to the queen of Candace ? — a negro 
like yourselves. He believed. The Lord was his righteous- 
ness. He was baptized. Do you also believe — and you shall 
be saved. Christ Jesus is the same now as he was yesterday, 
and will wash you in his own blood. Go home, then — and 
turn the words into a prayer, and entreat the Lord to be 
your righteousness. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quick- 
ly, into all our souls ! Amen, Lord Jesus, Amen and Amen ! " 
Serm. 14. 

Whitefield embarked for Philadelphia, with a family consist- 
ing of eight men, one boy, and two children, besides his zealous 
and munificent friend Mr. Seward ; leaving the bishop of Lon- 



whitefield's life and times. 



163 



don, and whoever else it might concern, to digest as they could 
the blunt and bold answer to the " Pastoral Letter a Letter 
which Gibson ought not to have written, and Watts never to 
have sanctioned : for its moral excellences and just discrimina- 
tions, however well meant, were mixed up with maxims sub- 
versive of the gospel of the grace of God. This conviction 
Whitefield proclaimed before 20,000 people at Blackheath, on 
the day the letter appeared ; and he wrote in his diary that 
night, after going on board, the following note : " I felt great 
freedom in myself, and could not but take notice of a mistake 
his Lordship of London was guilty of ; — for he exhorts his 
clergy, so to explain the doctrine of justification by faith alone, 
as to make our good works a necessary condition of it. St. Paul 
pronounces a dreadful anathema against those who join faith 
and works together, in order to their being justified in the sight 
of God. I pray God, that all preachers may be freed from so 
tremendous a sentence ! And let all the people say, Amen and 
Amen." 

I mention this fact again, because it gave Whitefield a new 
point to contend for, which much improved his views of the 
point he began with ; for at first, he almost put regeneration 
in the room of justification; as well as preached too little of the 
truth, by which the Spirit regenerates the soul. 

The delay of the vessel in the river enabled him to answer 
the bishop before sailing ; and the new question absorbed him 
in thought and reading, throughout the voyage. Not, how- 
ever, so as to divert him from the duties of a ship chaplain. 
These he discharged with the same fidelity as formerly ; but as 
they did not make so much demand upon his time, he gave him- 
self " to reading." 

Amongst the books which helped him mightily at this time, 
were Jonathan Warne's " Church of England Man turned Dis- 
senter" and " Arminianism the back-door to Popery" I have 
not been able to obtain these two ; but as they are chiefly com- 
posed of extracts from Dr. Edwards' Preacher, their character 
is no secret ; and it loses nothing of its point in the hands of 
Warne, if I may judge from his pamphlet entitled, " The 
dreadful Degeneracy of the Clergy, the means to promote Irre- 

m 2 



164 



whitefield's life and times. 



ligion, Atheism, and Popery," which he drew from Edwards, 
and dedicated to Whitefleld. 

Warne was thus thejirst dissenter who wrote on Whitefield's 
behalf. The compliment also was well timed, and well judged ; 
for it sustained him against the bishop, by the testimony of the 
fathers and martyrs of the church ; and brought the puritans 
under his notice. Warne tells Whitefield, to " go on in the 
name of the Lord ; " for the truths submitted him (with 
which his own preaching is delicately identified) " are to 
be found sparkling up and down in the labours of our godly 
reformers and holy martyrs, like so many diamonds of the 
greatest lustre, and are the bases of all sound religion both in 
heart and life." 

It was well for Whitefield that he had studied Warne's spe- 
cimens of the reformers and puritans, before he reached New 
England : they enabled him to adjust his phraseology in the 
pulpit to " the form of sound words " in the States ; and pre- 
pared him to retract and explain expressions in his printed 
sermons, which the descendants of the puritans were not slow, 
nor ceremonious, nor wrong, in condemning. 

Another thing which helped to clear and simplify his own 
views of the gospel, during the voyage, was, the discussion he 
carried on with a quaker, who preached occasionally in the 
cabin, and always against the outward Christ. His doctrine of 
the inward Christ, and his confounding of the inward light with 
the Spirit, led Whitefield to confess and contend, that " the 
outward righteousness of Christ imputed to us, is the sole foun- 
tain and cause of all the inward communications received from 
the Spirit." 

In other respects his voyage had not much interest. It was, 
however, so useful to himself, that he said on reviewing the 
knowledge he had acquired during it, " I would not but have 
come this voyage for a thousand worlds." One of the fruits of it 
was his " Letter to the Religious Societies in England and 
Wales, lately set on foot a pamphlet which had no ordinary 
influence upon their faith and patience. It is founded upon Heb. 
x. 23, which he translates thus : " Having been washed in the 
body with pure water, let us hold fast the mutual and uniform 



whitefield's life and times. 



165 



profession of the hope, without wavering ; for He is faithful 
that hath promised." 

The letter bears date Sept. 22 ; and presents a remarkable 
contrast to his own hopes on that day, as these appear in his 
diary : — not that he himself was in despair ; but he felt, he says, 
" something of that which Adam felt when he was turned out of 
Paradise, ate but little, and went mourning all the day long." 
Accordingly, he does not mention the letter, nor intimate that 
he had done any thing but " weep bitterly." 

This arose from the overwhelming discoveries he had made 
of the plagues of his own heart, and of the depths of Satan. 
It happily reminded him, however, of Luther's experience, — 
" that he never undertook any fresh work, but he was visited 
either with a fit of sickness, or with some strong temptation." 
" May I follow him," he says, " as he did Christ." Thus hum- 
bled, improved, and encouraged to persevere in his work, he 
arrived at Philadelphia, after a passage of nine weeks ; and after 
having had, he says, " a legion of devils cast out of his heart by 
the power of Christ." 

His welcome at Philadelphia was cordial. Both ministers 
and laymen of all denominations visited him, and invited him 
to preach. He was especially pleased to find that they pre- 
ferred sermons when " not delivered within the church walls." 
It was well they did ; for his fame had reached the city before 
he arrived, and thus collected crowds which no church could 
contain. " The court-steps " became his pulpit ; and neither 
he nor the people wearied, although the cold winds of November 
blew upon them night after night. 

Old Mr. Tennent, of Neshaminy, (the father of the Ten- 
nents,) came to visit and hear him ; and thus paved his way to 
New Brunswick, where he became acquainted with Gilbert, the 
oldest son " of the good old man," as Whitefield always called 
him. Gilbert Tennent and George Whitefield were just the 
men to meet at this time. Both were popular, and both had 
been persecuted. Accordingly, they understood and appre- 
ciated each other at once. Tennent readily entered into White- 
field's views ; and Whitefield, nobly despising all the abomina- 
ble imputations which the world cast upon Tennent, identified 



166 



whitefield's life and times. 



himself with him in America ; and told England that he was 
" a son of thunder, whose preaching must either convert or 
enrage hypocrites." Journals. 

This was no ordinary magnanimity ; for, at the time, Ten- 
nent's name was loaded with reproach, and the grossest immo- 
ralities were attributed to him. American Biog. Diet. He out- 
lived them all, however, and closed a life of signal usefulness by 
a death of signal peace. 

How much Whitefield was both struck and humbled by his 
preaching, will be seen from the following record : — " Never 
before heard I such a searching sermon. He went to the bot- 
tom indeed, and did not daub with untempered mortar. He 
convinced me more and more, that we can preach the gospel of 
Christ no further than we have experienced the power of it in 
our hearts. I found what a babe and novice I was in the things 
of God." Diary. 

After preaching together in various places, they went to 
Neshaminy, to visit the good old patriarch ; and to see the 
log-house, (so like "the schools of the ancient prophets ! ") where 
Mr. Tennent had by himself trained for the ministry, Rowland, 
Campbell, Lawrence, Beatty, Robinson, and Samuel Blair, be- 
sides his own four sons. Whitefield was delighted with the 
scene, and predicted the result of the patriarch's enterprise : 
" The devil will certainly rage against the work, but I am per- 
suaded it will not come to nought." It did not. It became 
Princetown College. 

At New York Whitefield was refused the use of both the 
church and the court-house. The commissary of the bishop, he 
says, was " full of anger and resentment, and denied me the 
use of his pulpit before I asked for it. He said, they did not 
want my assistance. I replied, If they preach the gospel, I wish 
them good luck : I will preach in the fields ; for all places are 
alike to me." So they were : for in the afternoon he preached 
in the fields, and in the evening in Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Pem- 
berton's meeting-house. (Dr. Pemberton published a funeral 
sermon on the death of Whitefield. He was then at Boston, 
having been dismissed from New York by a cabal of ignorance 
and bigotry.) 



whitefield's life and times. 167 

Whitefield did not excite much public attention in New 
York, at this time, nor, indeed, on any subsequent visit, until 
1764, when he preached there seven weeks, with great accept- 
ance and success. Still, even his first labours were not in vain. 
Pemberton wrote to him at Philadelphia, that " many were 
deeply affected ; and some who had been loose and profligate, 
were ashamed, and set upon thorough reformation." The 
printers also, at both places, applied to him for sermons to pub- 
lish ; assuring him that hundreds had called for them, and that 
thousands would purchase them. This request he complied 
with, and " gave out " (I use his own expression, without know- 
ing its meaning) " two extempore discourses to be published." 

His own opinions of this tour, of which New York and Phi- 
ladelphia were the centres, are expressed in stronger language 
than I can illustrate from my documents, ample as they are. 
" It is unknown," he says, " what deep impressions have been 
wrought upon the hearts of hundreds. Many poor sinners 
have, I trust, been called home, and great numbers are under 
strong convictions. An opposer told me, I had unhinged many 
good sort of people. I believe it." 

One proof of the impression he made, was given in the pre- 
sents he received for his orphan family. " They sent me but- 
ter, sugar, chocolate, pickles, cheese, and flour, for my orphans ; 
and, indeed, I could almost say, they would pluck out their own 
eyes and give me. Oh that what God says of the church of 
Philadelphia, may now be fulfilled in the city called after her 
name — ' I know thy works.'' " 

This readiness to aid him in his favourite enterprise, de- 
termined him to go to Georgia by land, that he might col- 
lect by the way. Several entered heartily into this plan, and 
purchased a sloop (which he called the Savannah) to send on 
the family by sea. 

On leaving Philadelphia, with Seward, nearly twenty gentle- 
men on horseback accompanied him ; and before they reached 
Chester, two hundred more had come to meet him. On his 
arrival, the judges sent him word, that they would defer their 
meeting until his sermon was over ; and the clergyman, finding * 
the church would be too small, (for nearly a thousand people had 



168 



whitefield's life and times. 



come from Philadelphia,) prepared a platform for him, from 
which he addressed an immense assembly. 

Amongst other places which he visited on this tour, was 
Whitely Creek, where he became acquainted with William 
Tennent ; and met with what hardly gratified him less, a 
Welch family who had heard him at Cardiff and Kingswood, 
before they emigrated. In vain any one else begged of him to 
be their guest ; he would go no where but to the Howels. The 
name accounts for their fascination ; it was associated with 
Wales, Bristol, and Howel Harris. 

Whitefield became much attached to William Tennent. It 
was from him he received the well-known reproof against im- 
patience for heaven. They were dining with Governor Living- 
ston one day, and Whitefield being much exhausted by severe 
labour, expressed a hope that he should soon enter into his 
rest. He appealed also to Tennent, if that was not his com- 
fort ? Tennent replied, " What do you think I should say, if I 
were to send my man Tom into the field to plough, and at noon 
should find him lounging under a tree, complaining of the heat, 
and begging to be discharged from his hard service ? What 
should I say ? Why, that he was an idle, lazy fellow, and 
that his business was to do the work I had appointed him." 
This would have been a powerful rebuke from any one. It was 
peculiar from William Tennent. In early life he had lain in a 
trance, which was so like death, that his funeral was prepared, 
and with difficulty prevented. The physician having heard that 
the flesh under the arm had quivered, when the body was laid 
out, insisted upon a delay of three days. At the close of that 
time, no change had taken place ; and, therefore, the family 
resolved to inter the corpse. But still the physician hesitated. 
He begged for another hour ; then for half an hour ; then for a 
quarter of an hour : and just as this last period was expiring, 
whilst he was moistening the swollen tongue, the eyes opened, 
and a groan was uttered. He persevered ; and in the course of 
a few hours, Tennent revived, but with the loss of all his former 
ideas. His mind was a blank for nearly a year, in reference to 
all his past life. He had, however, a vivid impression of having 
been in heaven during his trance ; and, for three years after, 



k whitefield's life and times. 



169 



the sounds he seemed to have heard in glory were never out of 
his ears. Indeed, all through his future life he was a heavenly- 
minded christian. This was the man who reproved Whitefield ; 
and the effect was increased hy the fact, that Tennent was a 
champion for civil and religious liberty, as well as a conscious 
heir of glory. American Biog. Diet. 

In the course of this tour towards Georgia, Whitefield had 
to endure considerable privations and peril in riding through 
the woods. On one occasion, he heard the wolves " howling 
like a kennel of hounds," near to the road. On another, he 
had a narrow escape in trying to cross the Potomac in a storm. 
He had also to swim his horse once, owing to the floods ; for 
it was now the depth of winter. One night Seward and he lost 
themselves in the woods of South Carolina, and were much 
alarmed at seeing groups of negroes dancing around great fires. 
No real injury, however, was sustained from the journey, not- 
withstanding all its hardships. 

He arrived at Charleston in good health and high spirits. 
" Here," says Gillies, " he soon found that, by field preaching, 
he had lost his old friend the commissary, who once promised 
to defend him with life and fortune." The commissary had 
shame enough to keep out of the way, whilst Whitefield staid ; 
and the curate said, he could not admit him into the pulpit 
whilst Garden was absent. The people, however, had not for- 
gotten him. All the town were clamorous for him to preach 
some where. Accordingly, he accepted invitations to both the 
French church and the independent chapel. 

The congregations were large and polite ; but presented " an 
affected finery and gaiety of dress and deportment, which," he 
says, " I question if the court-end of London could exceed." 
Before he left, however, there was what he calls " a glorious 
alteration in the audience." Many wept ; and the light and 
airy had a visible concern in their faces. Such was their urgency 
to hear more, that they won him back from the boat, after he 
had gone to the shore to sail for Georgia, and prevailed on him 
to preach again. 

Here he formed an intimate friendship with the independent 
minister, Josiah Smith ; the first native of South Carolina, who 



170 



whitefield's life and times. 



received a literary degree. Miller's Retrospect. Smith pub- 
lished a remarkable sermon soon after, entitled, " Tlie Cha- 
racter and Preaching of Whitejield, impartially represented and 
supported." Strange as this title is, both Dr. Colman and Mr. 
Cooper of Boston united in writing a recommendatory preface 
to it. And no wonder ; it was worthy of their sanction. I do 
not know of any thing written since, which defines and defends 
the character of Whitefield better. The text is, Job xxxii. 
17, "I said, I will answer also my part, I also will show mine 
opinion." He begins by saying, " My design from this text 
is, to show my impartial opinion of that son of thunder, who 
lately graced and warmed this desk ; and would have been an 
ornament, I think, to the best pulpit in the province." (This was 
a hit as well as a hint to Commissary Garden.) The plan of the 
sermon is stated thus : " The scheme I propose is, First, To 
give my opinion of the doctrines he insisted on, and so well 
established. Second, To speak something of the manner of his 
preaching. Third, To offer my sentiments upon his personal 
character. Lastly, To give you my thoughts, what Providence 
seems to have in its view, in raising up men of this stamp in 
our day ; almost every where spoken against, yet crowded after 
and justly admired." 

Smith's defence of Whitefield's doctrine is masterly. His 
account of his manner is the best I have ever met with. " He 
is certainly a finished preacher. A noble negligence ran through 
his style. The passion and flame of his expressions will, I trust, 
be long felt by many. My pen cannot describe his action and 
gestures, in all their strength and decencies. 

" He appeared to nfe, in all his discourses, very deeply affected 
and impressed in his own heart. How did that burn and boil 
within him, when he spake of the things he had made ( touch- 
ing the King ! ' How was his tongue like the pen of a ready 
writer, touched as with a coal from the altar ! With what a flow 
of words — what a ready profusion of language, did he speak to 
us upon the great concerns of our souls ! In what a flaming light 
did he set our eternity before us ! How earnestly he pressed 
Christ upon us ! How did he move our passions with the con- 
straining love of such a Redeemer ! The awe — the silence — the 



whitefield's life and times. 



171 



attention which sat upon the face of the great audience, was an 
argument how he could reign over all their powers. Many- 
thought he spake as never man spake before him. So charmed 
were the people with his manner of address, that they shut up 
their shops, forgot their secular business, and laid aside their 
schemes for the world ; and the oftener he preached, the 
keener edge he seemed to put upon their desires to hear him 
again. 

" How awfully — with what thunder and sound — did he dis- 
charge the artillery of heaven upon us ! And yet, how could he 
soften and melt even a soldier of Ulysses, with the mercy of God ! 
How close, strong, and pungent were his application to the con- 
science ; mingling light and heat ; pointing the arrows of the 
Almighty at the hearts of sinners, while he poured in the balm 
upon the wounds of the contrite, and made broken bones re- 
joice. Eternal themes, the tremendous solemnities of our reli- 
gion, were all alive upon his tongue ! So, methinks, (if you will 
forgive the figure,) St. Paul would look and speak in a pulpit. 
In some such manner, I am tempted to conceive of a seraph, were 
he sent down to preach among us, and to tell us what things he 
had seen and heard above. 

" How bold and courageous did he look ! He was no flatterer; 
would not suffer men to settle on their lees ; did not prophesy 
smooth things, nor sew pillows. He taught the way of God in 
truth, and regarded not the person of men. He struck at the 
politest and most modish of our vices, and at the most fashion- 
able entertainments, regardless of every one's presence, but His 
in whose name he spake with this authority. And I dare war- 
rant, if none should go to these diversions, until they have an- 
swered the solemn questions he put to their consciences, our 
theatre would soon sink and perish. I freely own he has taken 
my heart ! " 

In a note to this sermon, Smith states that £600 were con- 
tributed in Charleston to the orphan-house, when Whitefield 
returned. 

He left Charleston in an open canoe, with five negro rowers, 
and reached Savannah in safety. " In their way," says Gillies, 
" they lay, for the first time, in the woods, upon the ground, 



172 



whitefield's life and times. 



near a large fire, which keeps off the wild beasts :" " An em- 
blem/' says Whitefield, " of the divine love and presence keep- 
ing off evils and corruptions from the soul." He found Georgia 
much deserted and depressed ; but was much pleased with the 
tract of land, which Habersham had selected as the site of the 
orphan-house. It was about ten miles distant from Savannah, 
and included five hundred acres. On the 24th of January, 1740, 
he took formal " possession of his lot, and called it Bethesda, 
the House of Mercy." Next week, he laid out the ground-plan 
of the building ; and employed many workmen, who would other- 
wise have left the colony. In the mean time, he hired a large 
house, and took in twenty-four orphans. Thus he incurred at 
once the heavy responsibility of a large family and a larger in- 
stitution ; " encouraged," he says, " by the example of Professor 
Franck." Many years after, on reverting to this undertaking, 
he said, " I forgot to recollect, that Professor Franck built in 
Glaucha, in a populous country, and that I was building at the 
very tail of the world, where I could expect the least supply, 
and which the badness of the constitution (of the colony) which 
I expected every day to be altered, rendered it by far the most 
expensive part of all his Majesty's dominions. But had I re- 
ceived more and ventured less, I should have suffered less, and 
others more." It was well for the colony, however, and better 
for the world, that he did " forget to recollect " all this. By 
committing himself upon Bethesda, he was compelled^ like Paul 
when he espoused the cause of the poor saints in J erusalem, to 
visit the churches every where. 

Having laid the foundation of the orphan-house, he left Sa- 
vannah, to provide as he could for forty orphans, and about 
sixty servants and workmen ; for such was the number depend- 
ent on him. He, however, had no fears nor misgivings of heart. 
" Near a hundred mouths," he writes at the time, " are daily to 
be supplied with food ; the expense is great ; but our great and 
good God will, I am persuaded, enable me to defray it, As yet, I 
am kept from the least doubting. The more my family increases, 
the more enlargement and comfort I feel. Set thy almighty 
fiat to it, O gracious Father, and for thine own name's sake 
convince us more and more, that thou never wilt forsake those 



WHITE FIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



173 



who put their trust in thee." On reviewing this passage fifteen 
years after, he wrote, " Hitherto, blessed be God, I have not 
been disappointed of my hope." Rev. Journ. 

Philadelphia was the first place where he pleaded the cause 
of the orphan-house, after having commenced the work : and he 
succeeded, although not in the churches. The commissary told 
him, that he would lend the church no more to him. " The 
fields are open/'' was his laconic answer ; and eight thousand 
people replied to his call that night, and ten thousand next day. 
On the sabbath morning he collected £110 for his "poor or- 
phans ;" and then went to church, where the commissary 
preached a sermon on justification by works. Whitefield had 
been recognised at church ; and, accordingly, was expected to 
answer the sermon in the evening. He did ; and collected £80 
more for Bethesda. 

Money was, however, the least part of his success. Many 
souls were both awakened and won. Negroes came to him, 
asking, u Have I a soul ? " Societies for prayer and mutual edi- 
fication were set up in various parts of the city. Scoffers were 
silent, or only muttered their curses over the punch-bowl in ta- 
verns, " because," says he, " I did not preach up more morality ! " 
Seward relates an anecdote in his journal, at this time, which 
deserves to be extracted. " A drinking club, whereof a clergy- 
man was a member, had a negro boy attending them, who used 
to mimic people for their diversion. The gentlemen had him 
mimic our brother Whitefield ; which he was very unwilling to 
do (Whitefield had just published an appeal on behalf of the 
negroes) ; but they insisting upon it, he stood up and said, ' I 
speak the truth in Christ, I lie not; unless you repent, you will 
all be damned.' This unexpected speech broke up the club, 
which has never met since." Seward's Journal. 

At this time Whitefield and Seward became acquainted with 
Anthony Benezett, the philanthropist. He was a quaker : but 
he confessed to them with tears, that the society, in general, 
were in a state of carnal security. This led Whitefield to " be 
very plain and powerful " in exposing their errors. The conse- 
quence was, that many of them forsook him. Benezett evi- 
dently caught something of Whitefield's spirit, if I may judge 



174 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



from his subsequent history. It was at this amiable philan- 
thropist's funeral^ when hundreds of weeping negroes stood 
round, that an American officer said, " I would rather be An- 
thony Benezett in that coffin, than George Washington with all 
his fame." Amer. Biog. 

The simplicity of Seward, at this time, is amusing. He was 
not only Whitefield's Boswell, but also his trumpeter. And he 
makes no secret of his being the writer of the paragraphs 
and advertisements which then appeared in the newspapers. 
One of them, which he sent from Philadelphia to the New York 
paper, is worth quoting, for the facts it contains. " We hear 
from Philadelphia, that since Mr. Whitefield's preaching there, 
the dancing school and concert room have been shut up, as 
inconsistent with the doctrines of the gospel ; at which some 
gentlemen were so enraged, that they broke open the door. It 
is most extraordinary that such devilish diversions should be 
supported in that city, and by some of that very sect, whose first 
principles are an utter detestation of them ; as appears from 
William Penn's 1 No Cross, no Crown ;' in which he says, 
' Every step in a dance is a step to hell.' " 

It was Seward himself who had taken away the keys of the 
assembly rooms, that all the people might come to hear White- 
field. He obtained the keys from the keeper, on promising to 
meet all consequences. Accordingly, he was threatened with 
a caning, and got well abused ; which quite delighted him. It 
ought, however, to be known, that Seward was hurried away 
into rash zeal on this occasion, by finding a son of Penn one of 
the proprietors of the assembly house. This would have pro- 
voked even an English quaker, as well as a methodist. Journal, 
p. 6. He had, however, to provide for the dancing master's 
family. He did also a better thing at this time: " Agreed 
with Mr. Allen for five thousand acres of land, on the forks of 
the Delaware ; the conveyance to be made to Mr. Whitefield, 
and after that assigned to me as security for my money, £2200." 
This purchase was chiefly made for the benevolent design of a 
negro school, similar to the orphan-house. Seward, however, 
did not live to carry his design into effect. He died before 
Whitefield returned to England. 



whttefield's life and times. 



175 



After visiting various places, and producing every where a 
great impression, Whitefield arrived at New York, where he 
was met by William Tennent. He had, however, overtaxed 
his strength by labour, and lost his appetite. He did not, there- 
fore, create a great sensation there at this time ; at least, not 
equal to that in other places. His audiences, however, were 
never under seven or eight thousand persons, and he obtained 
£300 for Bethesda. 

It is very affecting to read his diary at this time : he was so 
unwilling to give way to his sufferings, and so unable to do jus- 
tice to his burning zeal. He made a desperate effort at Long 
Island to reach his usual pitch ; but almost sunk under it, as 
he turned to the ministers, exclaiming, " Oh that we were all 
a flame of fire ! " 

On his way to Philadelphia again, he revived; having had 
the assistance and society of the Tennents, and some refreshing 
sleep, which, he says, " my body much wanted." This rally 
was opportune ; for the whole city was moved at his coming. 
He, too, was moved with indignation, on hearing that antino- 
mianism had been charged against the tendency of his doctrine. 
Accordingly, he " cleared himself from the aspersion with great 
spirit," in his first sermon. " I abhor the thoughts of it," he 
said ; " and whosoever entertains the doctrines of free grace in 
an honest heart, will find them cause him to be fruitful in every 
good word and work." In this loathing abhorrence of antino- 
mianism, Rowland Hill always appeared to me to inherit the 
mantle and spirit of Whitefield, and to remember that he inhe- 
rited them. His well-known sarcasm, " It is a nasty religion," 
did more execution upon that monster of the mire, than any 
weapon I have seen wielded. The look and the tone, in which 
this was uttered, justified as they were by his own holy charac- 
ter, were irresistible. The hit struck as wit, and stuck as wis- 
dom. Whitefield having repelled the charge of antinomianism 
in Philadelphia, had next to justify his zeal. That was attacked 
on the following sabbath in church, whilst he himself was pre- 
sent. The clergyman took for his text, " I bear them record, 
they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." It 
was an unfortunate selection for the accuser ; and Whitefield 



176 



whitefield's life and times. 



turned the context upon him with tremendous point and power, 
in the evening, before an audience of twenty thousand. " I 
could have wished he had considered the next words — f for they 
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to estab- 
lish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to 
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth,' " Rom. x. 3, 4. That 
night fifty negroes, besides many other converts, came to tell 
him " what God had done for their souls." 

Next day he set out for Derby, and found, when he came to 
the ferry, that " people had been crossing over, as fast as two 
boats could carry them, ever since three o'clock in the morning." 
Many of them followed him to Chester and Wellington also, and 
almost wore him out by their claims upon his time and strength. 
They were not, however, inconsiderate of his object : they gave 
him much, and promised him more, for his orphans. 

Whilst in " Chester county," a new feature was added to the 
effects of his ministry. It had often been accompanied by the 
deep silence of awe, and the silent tears of penitence, both in 
England and America: but it never produced paroxysms of 
crying or conviction. Something of this kind certainly hap- 
pened at Bristol ; for Wesley appeals with triumph to " outward 
signs," similar to those produced there by himself, although 
Whitefield says nothing about them in his journals ; " which," 
says Southey, " assuredly he would have done, had he been con- 
vinced, with W^esley, that these fits were the immediate work of 
God." The only thing of the kind, however, which Whitefield 
mentions before the scenes at Nottingham and Fog's Manor, 
occurred at Philadelphia, whilst he was " settling " one of his 
societies, but not preaching. It was a female society, composed 
of many who had just been awakened by his preaching. When, 
therefore, he met them, and proceeded to organize and exhort 
them, their unexpected number and new position overcame them. 
" Their cries might be heard at a great distance." Still this 
was all. And it took only a devotional form : for he adds, 
" When I had done prayer, I thought proper — to leave them at 
their devotions." But this was far exceeded at Nottingham. 
" I had not spoke long, when I perceived numbers melting. As 



whitefield's life and times. 



177 



I proceeded, the influence increased, till at last, both in the 
morning and afternoon, thousands cried out so that they almost 
drowned my voice. Oh what strong cryings and tears were shed 
and poured forth after the dear Lord Jesus ! Some fainted ; and, 
when they got a little strength, would hear and faint again. 
Others cried out in a manner almost as if they were in the sharp- 
est agonies of death. And after I had finished my last dis- 
course, I myself was so overpowered with a sense of God's love 
— that it almost took away my life." 

Next day, even this commotion was exceeded at Fog's Manor. 
" Look where I would, most were drowned in tears. The word 
was sharper than a two-edged sword. Their bitter cries and 
tears were enough to pierce the hardest heart. Oh what dif- 
ferent visages were then to be seen ! Some were struck pale as 
death, others lying on the ground, others wringing their hands, 
others sinking into the arms of their friends, and most lifting 
up their eyes to heaven, and crying out to God for mercy. I 
could think of nothing, when I looked at them, so much as the 
great day ! They seemed like persons awakened by the last 
trump, and coming out of their graves to judgment ! " 

Remarkable as all this is, it admits of some explanation, al- 
though Gillies passed it over. Now, in both instances, White- 
field, accompanied by Tennent and Blair, rode away from the 
scene, to the distance of twenty miles, immediately after these 
sermons and sensations : a self-evident proof, that they appre- 
hended no danger from the paroxysms. They rode, too, " sing- 
ing psalms and hymns by the way." Now they were not men 
who would have abandoned the conscience-struck, nor sung as 
they left them, had there been any symptoms of bodily or men- 
tal disease, at all ominous. Both W. Tennent and Blair were 
emphatically " nursing fathers," and Whitefield's heart was made 
of tenderness. It is thus evident, that he did not consider the 
people to be unnaturally nor unduly excited. 

Besides, they were not altogether unprepared for the appeals 
of Whitefield. Blair, who was the minister at Fog's Manor, 
was himself a powerful preacher, and had been creating a strong 
impression throughout the county, for some time. The Ten- 
nents also had co-operated in preparing the way of the Lord. 

N 



178 



wiiitefield's life and times. 



Whitefield went to their field of labour, because " a good work 
bad begun " in it by their labours. He had, therefore, " good 
ground " to sow in : and he felt this, when he saw twelve 
thousand people assembled " in a desert place," where he did 
not expect so many hundreds. " I was surprised," he says, 
" to see such a great multitude gathered together, at so short 
warning." And they themselves must have been surprised 
at their own numbers. These facts lessen the mystery of the 
commotion, without diminishing its real interest. It was, as 
at Pentecost, men who had come from all quarters " to wor- 
ship," that were cut to the heart ; and many of whom had 
" smote on their breasts," before they heard the Peter — of 
England's Pentecost. 

Whilst Whitefield was thus moving about from place to place, 
he wrote the following letters, in order to obtain a wife ; and it 
will not be wondered at now, that they defeated their own wise 
purpose by their unwise form. 

TO MR. AND MRS. D. 

" On board the Savannah, bound to Philadelphia 
from Georgia, April 4th, 1740. 

" My dear Friends, 
I find by experience, that a mistress is absolutely necessary 
for the due management of my increasing family, and to take 
off some of that care which at present lies upon me. Besides, 
I shall in all probability, at my next return from England, 
bring more women with me ; and I find, unless they are all 
truly gracious, (or indeed if they are,) without a superior, mat- 
ters cannot be carried on as becometh the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, It hath been therefore much impressed upon my heart, 
that I should marry, in order to have a help meet for me in the 
work whereunto our dear Lord Jesus hath called me. This 
comes (like Abrahams servant to Rebekalis relations) to know 
whether you think your daughter, Miss E , is a proper per- 
son to engage in such an undertaking ? If so ; whether you 
will be pleased to give me leave to propose marriage unto her ? 
You need not be afraid of sending me a refusal. For, I bless 



whitefield's life and times. 179 

God, if I know any thing of my own heart, I am free from that 
foolish passion which the world calls love. I write only because 
I believe it is the will of God that I should alter my state ; but 
your denial will fully convince me that your daughter is not 
the person appointed by God for me. He knows my heart ; I 
would not marry but for him, and in him, for ten thousand 

worlds. — But I have sometimes thought Miss E would be 

my help-mate ; for she has often been impressed on my heart. 
I should think myself safer in your family, because so many of 
you love the Lord Jesus, and consequently would be more 
watchful over my precious and immortal soul. After strong 
crying and tears at the throne of grace for direction, and after 
unspeakable troubles with my own heart, I write this. Be 
pleased to spread the letter before the Lord ; and if you think 
this motion to be of him, be pleased to deliver the enclosed to 
your daughter ; — if not, say nothing, only let me know you dis- 
approve of it, and that shall satisfy, dear Sir and Madam, 
Your obliged friend and servant in Christ, 

G. W." 

TO MISS E . 

" On board the Savannah, April 4th, 1740. 

a Be not surprised at the contents of this : — the letter sent 
to your honoured father and mother will acquaint you with the 
reasons. Do you think you could undergo the fatigues that 
must necessarily attend being joined to one, who is every day 
liable to be called out to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ? 
Can you bear to leave your father and kindred's house, and to 
trust on him (who feedeth the young ravens that call upon him) 
for your own and children's support, supposing it should please 
him to bless you with any ? Can you bear the inclemencies of 
the air, both as to cold and heat, in a foreign climate ? Can 
you, when you have a husband, be as though you had none, and 
willingly part with him, even for a long season, when his Lord 
and Master shall call him forth to preach the gospel, and com- 
mand him to leave you behind ? If after seeking to God for 
direction, and searching your heart, you can say, 1 1 can do all 

n2 



180 



whitefield's life and times. 



those things through Christ strengthening me/ what if you 
and I were joined together in the Lord, and you came with me 
at my return from England, to be a help meet for me in the 
management of the orphan-house ? I have great reason to be- 
lieve it is the divine will that I should alter my condition, and 
have often thought you were the person appointed for me. I 
shall still wait on God for direction, and heartily entreat him, 
that if this motion be not of him, it may come to nought. — I 
write thus plainly, because I trust I write not from any other 
principles but the love of God. — I shall make it my business to 
call on the Lord J esus, and would advise you to consult both 
him and your friends — for in order to attain a blessing, we 
should call both the Lord Jesus and his disciples to the mar- 
riage. — I much like the manner of Isaac's marrying with Re- 
bekah ; and think no marriage can succeed well, unless both 
parties concerned are like-minded with Tobias and his wife. — I 
think I can call the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to wit- 
ness, that I desire ' to take you my sister to wife, not for lust, 
but uprightly and therefore I hope he will mercifully ordain, 
if it be his blessed will we should be joined together, that we 
may walk as Zachary and Elisabeth did, in all the ordinances 
of the Lord blameless. I make no great profession to you, be- 
cause I believe you think me sincere. The passionate ex- 
pressions which carnal courtiers use, I think ought to be avoid- 
ed by those who marry in the Lord. I can only promise by the 
help of God, ' to -keep my matrimonial vow, and to do what I 
can towards helping you forward in the great work of your sal- 
vation.' If you think marriage will be any way prejudicial to 
your better part, be so kind as to send me a denial. I would 
not be a snare to you for the world. You need not be afraid of 
speaking your mind, — I trust I love you only for God, and desire 
to be joined to you only by his command and for his sake. 
With fear and much trembling I write, and shall patiently tarry 
the Lord's leisure, till he is pleased to incline you, dear Miss 

E , to send an answer to, 

Your affectionate brother, friend, 

and servant in Christ, 

G. W." 



whitefield's life and times. 



181 



Whitefield returned to Savannah, with collections for Bethes- 
da, to the amount of £500, in money and goods. On his way 
he preached at Lewis Town, to what he calls " as unaffected a 
congregation" as he had seen in America. Next day, however, 
he compelled the politest of them to weep, whilst he pictured 
the trial of Abraham's faith ; — a favourite and efficient sermon 
with him : but he adds, (what other ministers have found only 
too true,) " Alas, when I came to turn from the creature to the 
Creator, and to talk of God's love in sacrificing his only begot- 
ten Son, their tears, I observed, dried up. I told them of it ; — 
and could not but hence infer the dreadful depravity of human 
nature, that we can weep at the sufferings of a martyr, a mere 
man like ourselves ; but when are we affected at the relation of 
the sufferings of the Son of God ? " 

His reception at Savannah, on this occasion, deserves parti- 
cular attention. It engraved the orphan-house upon his heart, 
as with the pen of a diamond ; and was for ever vividly present 
to him, wherever he went afterwards. " And no wonder ! " — it 
will be said, after reading his own account of this welcome. 
" Oh what a sweet meeting I had with my dear friends ! What 
God has prepared for me — I know not : but surely I cannot 
well expect a greater happiness, till I embrace the saints in 
glory ! When I parted, my heart was ready to break with sor- 
row ; — but now it almost burst with joy. Oh how did each, in 
turn, hang upon my neck, kiss and weep over me with tears of 
joy ! And my own soul was so full of a sense of God's love, 
when I embraced one friend in particular, that I thought I 
should have expired in the place. I felt my soul so full of a 
sense of the divine goodness, that I wanted words to express 
myself. Why me, Lord — why me ? 

" When we came to public worship, young and old were all 
dissolved in tears. After service, several of my parishioners, 
all my family, and the little children, returned home, crying 
along the street, and some could not avoid praying very loud. 

" Being very weak in body, I laid myself upon a bed ; but 
finding so many in weeping condition, I rose and betook my- 
self to prayer again. But had I not lifted up my voice very 
high— the groans and cries of the children would have prevented 



182 



whitefield's life and times. 



my being heard. This continued for near an hour ; till at last , 
finding their concern rather increase than abate, I desired all to 
retire. Then some or other might be heard praying earnestly, 
in every corner of the house. 

" It happened at this time to thunder and lighten, which 
added very much to the solemnity of the night. Next day the 
concern still continued, especially among the girls. I mention 
the orphans in particular, that their benefactors may rejoice in 
what God is doing for their souls." 

This was just the scene to inspire and determine Whitefleld 
to live or die for the orphan-house. Accordingly, the memory 
of it followed him like his shadow, wherever he went. 

His family had now increased to a hundred and fifty persons. 
He therefore visited Charleston again, to plead their cause 
anew. But by this time Commissary Garden was ready to 
stake his " fortune and life " against him. He began by abus- 
ing Whitefleld and the methodists, in their presence, by a ser- 
mon " as virulent, unorthodox, and inconsistent as ever was de- 
livered ; " and ended by refusing him the sacrament. 

This insult had its natural effect. It so disgusted several of 
Whitefield's friends, that they would not receive the sacrament 
from Garden. This led to sacraments in a private house ; and 
there, " Baptists, church folks, and presbyterians, all joined to- 
gether, and received according to the church of England ; ex- 
cepting two, who desired to have it sitting." Garden then 
cited Whitefleld to appear in an ecclesiastical court, for not 
reading the Common Prayer in the presbyterian meeting-house, 
at Charleston. He accordingly did appear, and appealed ac- 
cording to law, to his Majesty's commissioners for reviewing 
appeals. He wrote also to the bishop of London, inquiring 
"Whether the commissary of South Carolina had power to 
exercise any judicial authority over him or any other clergyman, 
not belonging to the province." Garden had, in fact, suspend- 
ed him from the ministry. He had, therefore, no alternative 
but to submit, or to lay his case before the high court of chan- 
cery ; which he did. Strange to say, this suspension, and his 
appeal against it, were afterwards pleaded against him in the 
synod of Glasgow, when they met " anent employing Mr. 



whitefield's life and times. 



183 



Whitefield" in the pulpits of the church of Scotland. One 
member of the synod, however, (probably Dr. Erskine,) asked 
indignantly, " For what was Whitefield suspended ? Why, for 
no other crime than omitting to use a form of prayer prescribed 
in the communion-book, when officiating in a presbyterian con- 
gregation ! And shall a meeting of presbyterian ministers pay 
any regard to a sentence which had such a foundation ? " 

Notwithstanding this suspension, he continued preaching, 
wherever he could, in the province, until the excessive heat of 
the season compelled him to sail for New England. He em- 
barked for Rhode Island, intending to go by land to Boston ; 
and such was the spring of his constitution, that the short voy- 
age completely restored him, although he had often been all but 
dead before he left. 

On his arrival at Newport, he met with a new friend, Mr. 
Clap, whom he describes thus : " An aged dissenting minister ; 
but the most venerable man I ever saw in my life. He looked 
like a good old puritan, and gave me an idea of what stamp those 
men were, who first settled in New England. His countenance 
was very heavenly ! He rejoiced much to see me, and prayed 
most affectionately for a blessing on my coming to Rhode 
Island. Whilst at his table, I could not but think that I was 
sitting with one of the patriarchs." Whitefield has not over- 
rated nor over-coloured the patriarch of Rhode Island. Clap 
" had some singularities ; but his zeal to promote the know- 
ledge of Christ and the interests of the gospel, cast a lustre 
over all his character." American Biog. Children, servants, 
and slaves, were objects of his special care ; and, being a 
bachelor, he gave away all his income to the poor and the 
perishing. I mention this, to distinguish him (in this coun- 
try) from Clap, the president of Yale College, who opposed 
Whitefield. 

After preaching with great success on Rhode Island, he rode 
on to Boston, and was met by the governor's son, and other 
gentlemen, four miles (not ten, as Gillies says) from the city. 
At this time, Jonathan Belcher was governor of Massachusetts ; 
a man equally distinguished for piety and polish. He owed his 
honours to the favourable impression made by his high charac- 



184 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



ter and address, upon the Princess Sophia and her son, (after- 
wards George II.) when in England ; and he regained them, 
when they were lost through calumny, by vindicating himself 
before the throne, where they had been conferred. Princetown 
College owes much to Belcher ; and he was much indebted to 
Whitefield for the impulse, which made him its " chief patron 
and benefactor." His splendid hospitalities and style were in 
their palmy state, when Whitefield first visited Boston. Wil- 
lard, also, the secretary of Massachusetts, was a man of high and 
holy character. He was the son of Vice-President Willard, of 
Harvard College ; the author of the first theological folio print- 
ed in America, and one of the chief opponents of trial for witch- 
craft. The son inherited the father's spirit. 

Such were the statesmen who welcomed Whitefield to Bos- 
ton. Some of the ministers also were not less eminent. Dr. 
Colman, his first friend, had been, when in England, the friend 
of Howe, Calamy, Burkitt, and Mrs. Rowe, then Miss Singer. 
Indeed, he had a caste of Howe in his demeanour and spirit. 
Cooper, also, his colleague, was a man who wanted only the 
visit of Whitefield, in order to be a Whitefield ; which, as a 
revivalist, he soon became. Webb, too, was no ordinary man. 
Dr. Eliot, who was his colleague for eight years, said of him, 
that " he was one of the best of christians, and one of the best 
of ministers." Foxcroft, also, deserves a high place in the reli- 
gious annals of Boston, and in the list of Whitefield's American 
friends ; — Dr. Chauncy, his colleague, being witness. He pub- 
lished " An Apology for Whitefield," in 1745, as well as a ser- 
mon on his " Labours," in 1740. Dr. Chauncy says of Fox- 
croft, " His writings bear testimony to his unfeigned piety, and 
evince clearness of conception, copiousness of invention, liveli- 
ness of imagination, and soundness of judgment." Funeral 
Sermon. 

Prince, the annalist, was another of the Boston stars, which 
ft fought in their courses," for Whitefield and revivals : a some- 
what eccentric star, indeed, when judged of by the plan of his 
u Chronological History of New England," which begins at the 
creation of the world, and ends with the arrival of Governor 
Belcher ! Still, he was evidently a man of great research and 



whitefield's life and times. 



185 



erudition, as well as of ardent piety. Dr. Chauncy (no mean 
judge in the matter) regarded him as next to Cotton Mather 
in learning. By the way, what became of the MSS. and books 
which Prince left to the old south church, as " The New Eng- 
land Library ? " The collection was great and valuable. Can 
it be true, that the MSS. were destroyed by the British, 
except by accident ? I ask this question, because I find " No," 
in pencil-mark, on the margin of my copy of Amer. Biog. 

Gee, also, deserves honourable mention amongst the friends 
of Whitefield. He had been, in early life, the colleague of Dr. 
Cotton Mather. After the Doctor's death, his son Samuel be- 
came the colleague of Gee, and continued so until they differed 
on the subject of revivals ; of which Gee was both a wise and 
warm advocate. He seems to have had, with some of Cole- 
ridge's genius, all his indolence and love of talking. The judi- 
cious and cautious Dr. Sewall, also, was one of the first to wel- 
come Whitefield to his pulpit and his confidence. 

Thus Whitefield fell into the best hands at Boston. Nothing 
gratified him more, however, than his interviews with old Mr. 
Walter, the colleague and successor of the apostolic Eliot, at 
Roxbury. The pastorship of that church had been confined to 
these two patriarchs a hundred and six years at this time. 
Whitefield says of Walter, " he was a good old puritan." He 
returned Whitefield the compliment on hearing him preach at 
the governor's table ; saying of the sermon, " It was puritanism 
revived." Dr. Colman said of this interview, that " it was the 
happiest day he ever saw in his life." One remark of Walter's 
pleased Whitefield very much : " I am glad to hear," said the 
old apostle, " that you call man half devil half beast." 

Neither the governor nor the doctors of Boston, however, 
could get Whitefield into the church. The commissary treated 
him politely, and introduced him to his clergy, but would not 
admit him into the pulpit ; he therefore preached in all the 
large chapels, and when they became too small for the audiences, 
he betook himself to the Common, and there renewed the scenes 
of Moorfields and Blackheath. 

A melancholy catastrophe arose from fright, at one of the 
chapels. The place was crowded to excess, but there had been 



186 



writefield's life and times. 



nothing to create alarm : " yet, on a sudden, all the people were 
in an uproar ; and so unaccountably surprised, that some threw 
themselves out of the windows ; others out of the galleries ; 
others trampled on one another : so that five were actually killed, 
and many dangerously wounded." This awful uproar was at its 
height when Whitefield reached the chapel : and although he 
saw some the victims of it, he had presence of mind enough to 
call off the people to hear him on the Common. This restored 
confidence. Thousands followed him to the fields, and listened 
with deep attention, whilst he improved this " humbling pro- 
vidence." It did humble him. I have no doubt of its being 
the chief consideration, which made him write in his journal, 
on leaving Boston, " I had such a sense of my own vileness upon 
my soul, that I wondered people did not stone me." Not that 
he could blame himself at all for the catastrophe : but it made 
him feel his own nothingness before God, and thus before man 
also. Accordingly, in a letter to Howel Harris, at this time, 
he predicted with great accuracy the reverses of his own popu- 
larity in London : " My coming to England will try my fidelity 
to my Master. Those that before, I suppose, would have plucked 
out their eyes for me, now, I suspect, will be very shy, and avoid 
me." This had no reference to the calamity at Boston ; but 
that had opened his eyes to the precariousness of popularity. 
He saw how any token of judgment, in connexion with his mi- 
nistry, might be turned into an objection against his doctrines, 
now that he had assailed Wesley. 

The calamity did not affect his popularity at Boston. On the 
day after, he preached twice in Mr. Gee's chapel, to immense 
audiences. He then visited Cambridge College, and preached 
before the professors and students, and a great number of the 
neighbouring ministers. What was " the close application " he 
made of the sermon to " the tutors and students," may be easily 
judged from the horror he felt at an unconverted ministry. It 
was, however, too unqualified, bad as the spiritual state of Cam- 
bridge was at the time. Accordingly, he afterwards begged 
pardon for his rashness in taking things upon " hearsay." But, 
whilst some took offence, his Boston friends, including the 
governor, seem to have taken the warning well. They all met 



whitefield's life and times. 



187 



him next day at the governor's table. Before dinner, his Ex- 
cellency thanked him privately with tears, and, after dinner, sent 
him in the state-carriage through the city to the place where he 
had to preach. On the following sabbath he collected, in two 
of the chapels, upwards of £1000 currency for his orphan-house. 

In the excursions he make through Massachusetts, White- 
field met, at Ipswich, with a venerable descendant of Rogers of 
Dedham, who himself was a descendant of Rogers the martyr. 
The hallowed associations which enshrined this hoary head 
were not lost upon him. " Happy lot !" he exclaimed, as he 
looked back to the old man's ancestors, and around upon his 
promising sons. Whitefield inherited the spirit of the Rogers's ; 
but he felt that he had not their mantle. 

On his return to Boston, the public interest was higher than 
ever. A report that he had been poisoned, filled the city. 
Twenty thousand people, therefore, attended his first sermon. 
And both in the fields and in the chapels, all seemed melted, 
and many acknowledged themselves won, by the gospel. One of 
his most effectual sermons at Webb's chapel, was occasioned by 
the touching remark of a dying boy, who had heard him the day 
before. The boy was taken ill after the sermon, and said, " I 
want to go to Mr. Whitefield's God ;" — and expired. This 
touched "the secret place" of both the thunder and the tears of 
Whitefield. " It encouraged me to speak to little ones : but 
oh, how were the old people affected, when I said, i Little chil- 
dren, if your parents will not come to Christ, do you come, and 
go to heaven without them.' " After this awful appeal, no 
wonder that " there were but few dry eyes." Only a White- 
field, however, could have drawn tears by it. In the generality 
of lips, it would harden, not soften, worldly parents ; and only 
shock affectionate children. 

In this state of mind Whitefield set out to visit Jonathan 
Edwards, at Northampton. He was not allowed to quit Boston 
privately. The governor took him in the state-carriage to the 
ferry ; and, as he entered the boat, embraced him, and bade him 
farewell, with many tears. Belcher could not be satisfied with 
even this courtesy. He crossed the country, and met him again 
at Marlborough, Worcester, and Leicester. On parting finally, 



188 



whitefield's life and times. 



his Excellency said to him in private, " Mr. Whitefield, go on 
in stirring up the ministers ; for reformation must begin at the 
house of God. And do not spare rulers, no not the chief of 
them, any more than ministers." 

I have often thought, whilst reviewing the sweeping and 
severe invectives, which Whitefield so bitterly repented, that no 
small part of the blame lay at the governor's door. A charge 
like this, uttered with tears and entreaties, was enough to mis- 
lead a cooler man than George Whitefield. I must, therefore, 
say of it, what he said of his own conduct, " It was well meant, 
but it did hurt." To his credit for impartiality, however, he 
did not spare the governor himself ; but, before leaving New 
England, wrote to him thus faithfully : " I thought your Excel- 
lency wanted a more clear view of your own vileness, and of the 
all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. I mean a more experimental 
view : for what is all head-knowledge without that of the heart ? 
It only settles people more upon their lees. May God give you 
to see and to follow the simplicity of the blessed Jesus ! Ho- 
noured Sir, I make no apology for this freedom ; your Excel- 
lency bade me not spare rulers — no not the chief of them." 
Whitefield has often been charged with flattering himself upon 
the attentions paid to him by the great : this is one instance in 
which he did not flatter the great in return. 

On his arrival at Northampton, that cradle of revivals, he 
was at home at once with Jonathan Edwards. Their meeting, 
as Gillies says, "was like putting fire to tinder." So it was, in 
the best sense. Edwards's family and flock soon glowed with 
the warmth of their first love, and melted to their first penitence. 
But whilst these two eminent ministers esteemed, and even 
loved each other, as servants of God, Edwards did not think 
that Whitefield regarded him as a confidential friend exactly. 
The fact is, Edwards had cautioned him upon the subject of 
impulses, and guarded him against the practice of judging others 
to be unconverted. This was touching sore places, at the time. 
Whitefield seems to have winced a little, with impatience, under 
the metaphysical probe of Edwards ; but to have conceded no- 
thing then. They parted, however, with mutual love ; and 
whatever difference existed between their theories of impulses, 



whitefield's life and times. 



189 



both soon rejoiced equally in " a glorious progress of the work 
of God/' at Northampton, that year. Sereno Dwight's Life of 
Edwards. 

On the way from Northampton to Windsor, Whitefield had a 
narrow escape : his horse shrunk back at a broken bridge ; and 
when urged forward, threw him over it. He fell upon his face ; 
but providentially in the sand, not in the water. He was stunned 
for a time, and bled a little ; but next day he preached twice. 
His evening service was at East Windsor, where Jonathan 
Edwards's venerable father was minister. He was much pleased 
with this family. " Mr. Edwards's wife was as aged, I believe, 
as himself ; so that I fancied I was sitting in the house of Za- 
charias and Elizabeth." 

His visit to Newhaven, also, deserves to be recorded. It had 
not a little to do with the conversion of the celebrated Dr. 
Samuel Hopkins, then a student ; although not so much con- 
nected with it as the subsequent appeals of Brainerd to him. 
Hopkins says, that he was " somewhat impressed " by what 
Whitefield said, both in public and private : and that he " jus- 
tified him " in his own mind, whilst many " condemned him " 
for his severe attacks upon the " mixed dancing and frolicking," 
then so prevalent in New England. Hopkins's Memoirs. Would 
that all the Hopkinsians in America were Hopkinsian in that 
article of their father's creed, " that it is both the duty and in- 
terest of the American State to emancipate all their African 
slaves." 

Whilst at Newhaven, Whitefield dined at the college with 
Principal Clap ; — afterwards his opponent. Clap's dislike to 
him seems to have begun with their first interview. At table, 
Whitefield attacked the scheme of " an unconverted ministry," 
and showed its " ill consequences," without ceremony. He ap- 
pears also to have hinted at his own scheme of supplying " faith- 
ful men " to the American churches, from Britain, to be or- 
dained by the Tennents. 

This was certainly the subject then discussed at Newhaven 
Hall ; and the spirit of the discussion, on the part of Whitefield, 
may be conjectured from the evening note in his diary : " Oh 
that God may quicken ministers ! Oh that the Lord may make 



190 



whitefield's life and times. 



us all flames of holy fire ! Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly. 
Amen and Amen." 

In general, Whitefield's evening reflections embody the spirit 
of the day : and on this day, his spirit was too warm for Clap's 
temperament. Clap, although a good man, would have sympa- 
thized more with a Newton or a Paley, than with a flaming 
evangelist. He could construct an orrery for America ; but he 
could not elevate the stars of her churches. He could refute 
infidels and heretics ; but he could not revive formalists. 

The governor, although very old, sympathized, more than the 
professor, with Whitefield's zeal. He said to him, after sermon, 
" I am glad, Sir, to sfce you, and heartily glad to hear you." 
" His heart was so full, that he could not speak much. The tears 
trickled down his aged cheeks, like drops of rain." " He was 
thankful to God," he said, " for such refreshings on the way to 
our rest : food does us good, when we eat it with an appetite." 

On leaving Newhaven, he thundered out at Stamford and 
Rye, the opinions against unconverted ministers, which he had 
broached at college : and the effect was tremendous. " All 
hearers were ready to cry out." At dinner, two ministers, with 
tears in their eyes, publicly confessed that they had laid hands 
on two young men, without so much as asking whether they 
were born again of God, or not ? " One aged minister confessed 
in private, that he had " never felt the power of the doctrines 
of grace on his soul, although he had preached them long." 

What Whitefield himself thought of the attacks he thus made 
upon an unregenerate ministry, during his tour in New England, 
is but too evident from a letter to his friend Habersham, dated 
on the very day he was with Clap at Newhaven : " I am glad 
God is scourging out the children of Belial. You often heard 
me say, He would do so." All were not the children of Belial 
whom Whitefield scourged at this time ; but still, it is as im- 
possible to doubt the need of the scourge, as it is to approve of 
its sweeping strokes. Those who did not deserve them, would 
not have got them, had every converted minister been faithful 
to his unconverted brother. Had all the spiritual men done 
their duty to the formalists, Whitefield would have been the 
first to honour them. 



WHITEF1 ELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



191 



He now directed his steps again towards New York. His 
former visit to that city disappointed him. He could not forget 
this by the way. " My heart was somewhat dejected. I told 
Mr. Noble (his companion) I expected but little movings in 
New York ; but Mr. Noble bid me expect great things from 
God ; and told me of several who were, as he hoped, savingly 
wrought upon by my ministry, when there last." Accordingly, 
the impression was great for New York — then. It made him 
cry out in his chamber, " Lord, why did I doubt ? " Under his 
first sermon, a few cried out ; and even his friend Noble could 
hardly refrain. 

On the sabbath, however, he was much dejected, before 
the evening sermon. " For near half an hour, I could only 
lay before the Lord, saying, — I was a miserable sinner, and 
wondered that Christ would be gracious to such a wretch. 
As I went to meeting, I grew weaker ; and when I came into 
the pulpit, I could have chosen to be silent, rather than 
speak." 

As might be expected, this self-emptying was followed by a 
rich unction from on high. " After I was begun, the whole 
congregation was alarmed. Crying, weeping, and wailing, were 
to be heard in every corner ; and many seen falling into the 
arms of their friends. My own soul was carried out, till I could 
scarce speak any more." Still, the Common was not needed at 
New York. 

Next day he went to Staten Island, on his way back to Phila- 
delphia ; preaching by turns with Gilbert Tennent. At Bas- 
kerredge, a poor negro woman, who had been converted under 
his sermon, somewhat embarrassed, as well as pleased him, by 
her gratitude. She insisted upon going along with him, (to 
Savannah, I suppose,) and told him that her master had con- 
sented to let her go. He says, " I bid her go home, and with 
a thankful heart serve her present master." 
. At New Brunswick he found, if not a warmer, a more influ- 
ential, friend in Aaron Burr, afterwards the president of New 
Jersey College ; one of the master-spirits of his age and country. 
Whitefield owed much to this friendship, besides the degree of 
A. M. in 1754. It was mainly through Burr's influence that 



192 



vvhitefield's life and times. 



Gilbert Tennent was induced to go to Boston, to water the seed 
Whitefield had sown there. 

As they drew nearer Philadelphia, they had a most providen- 
tial escape. " There were two creeks in the way, much swollen 
with rain. In one of them, two of my fellow-travellers, in all 
probability, must have perished, had not a woman cried out, and 
bid us stop. A man (as I afterwards found) who had been 
touched by my ministry, hearing my voice, came and swam our 
horses over the other creek, and conducted us safe over a very 
narrow bridge." 

On his arrival at Philadelphia, he found a house, 100 feet 
long and 70 broad, building for him to preach in. He opened 
it, although the roof was not on ; and continued to preach in it 
every day, until the snow (it was now the middle of November) 
drove him to the chapels again. One afternoon, whilst preach- 
ing against " reasoning unbelievers," his sermon made but little 
impression on the people. An infidel caught at this failure of 
effect ; and said to one of Whitefield's friends, " What ! Mr. W. 
could not make the people cry this afternoon ? " " A good 
reason for it," (said his friend,) " he was preaching against deists, 
and you know they are a hardened generation." He was not, 
however, always so unsuccessful amongst the Philadelphian in- 
fidels. Brockden, the recorder, who had long been almost an 
atheist, was induced to steal into the crowd at night, to hear 
him for once. The sermon was on Nicodemus's visit to Christ. 
Brockden's visit to Whitefield had a similar motive. He saw, 
as he afterwards confessed, that "the doctrine did people good." 
When he came home, his wife (not knowing where he had been) 
wished that he had heard what she had been hearing. He said 
nothing. Another and another of his family came in, and made 
the same remark. He burst into tears, and said, " I have been 
hearing him, and approve of his sermon." Whitefield after- 
wards knew him as a christian with the spirit of a " martyr." 

His tour was now closing. On reviewing it, before he sailed 
for Charleston, he says, — " Stop, O my soul, and look back 
with gratitude on what the Lord hath done for thee, during this 
excursion. It is now, I think, the seventy-fifth day since I 
arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then weak ; but the 



whitefield's life and times. 



193 



Lord has renewed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, 
I think, a hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides 
exhorting frequently in private. I have travelled upwards of 
eight hundred miles, and gotten upwards of £700 sterling, in 
money, &c. for the Georgia orphans. Never did God vouchsafe 
me greater comforts. Never did I perform my journeys with so 
little fatigue, nor see so much of the divine presence in the 
congregations." 

In this spirit he arrived at Bethesda, and found all his family 
well. For some time he was much occupied with making his 
arrangements for sailing to England ; and having completed 
them, and taken " a sorrowful and affectionate leave " of his 
family, he went to Savannah to take leave there also. On the 
way, he narrowly escaped being shot by a labourer, who was 
walking with a gun under his arm, only two yards behind him. 
The gun went off unawares ; but its mouth was towards the 
ground. " Otherwise," he says, " in all probability, I and one 
of my friends must have been killed." 

Whilst at Charleston, waiting for a vessel, he received many 
inspiring letters from his Boston friends, informing him of the 
amazing progress of conversion in the city and throughout the 
province. He received also a copy of the following letter. 

" To all and singular, the constables of Charleston. — Whereas 
I have received information on oath, that George Whitefield, 
clerk, hath made and composed a false, malicious, scandalous, 
and infamous libel against the clergy of this province, in con- 
tempt of his Majesty and his laws, and against the king's 
peace : — These are therefore, in his Majesty's name, to charge 
and command you and each of you forthwith, to apprehend the 
said George Whitefield, and bring him before me, &c. &c. &c. 
Given under my hand and seal, B. W." 

This mandate referred to a Letter, which Whitefield had 
only revised for the press. It was written by one of his friends, 
and had just come out on his arrival at Charleston. The writer 
was apprehended, and meanly (Whitefield says " frankly ") 
confessed that " corrections and alterations " had been made 
by Whitefield. 

I have not seen the Letter. Whitefield's account of it is, 

o 



194 



whitefield's life and times. 



that " it hinted that the clergy break the canons." If this was 
all, he might well write with emphasis in his diary, " I think 
this may be called persecution ! I think it is for righteousness' 
sake." 

He went before the magistrate at once, and gave security for ap- 
pearing by attorney, under a penalty of £100, proclamation money. 
He became his own attorney, however, before he left. Even next 
day, he preached in the morning upon Herod's stratagem to 
kill Christ : in the afternoon on the murder of Naboth. That 
he did not spare the persecutors, is evident. " My hearers," he 
says, e{ as well as myself, made application. It was pretty close. 
I especially directed my discourse to men in authority, and 
showed them the heinous sin of abusing their power." Neither 
the commissary, nor the magistrate, slept on a bed of roses that 
night. Public opinion was against them. The people so over- 
loaded him with sea-stores for his voyage, that he had to send 
much of the stock to Savannah. Next day, January 15th, he 
embarked for England, on board the Minerva, and arrived at 
Falmouth early in March. On the sabbath following he was 
again on Kennington Common — but with "not above a hun- 
dred " to hear him. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



WHITEFIELD'S BREACH WITH WESLEY. 

Whitefield's absence from London extended from August, 
1739, to March, 1741 ; during which, as we have seen, he 
founded his orphan-house, traversed America with varied suc- 
cess, and revived the revivalists of Northampton, as well as 
caught the spirit of Jonathan Edwards and the old puritans of 
New England. 

On his return, he soon found occasion for all the faith and 
patience he had acquired in America. They were both tried to 
the utmost, for a time. His own account of the new and unex- 
pected situation he found himself in, is very touching. " What 
a trying scene appeared here ! In my zeal, during my journey 
through America, I had written two well-meant, though ill- 
judged, letters, against England's two great favourites, ' The 
whole Duty of Man,' and Archbishop Tillotson, who, I said, 
knew no more about religion than Mahomet. The Moravians 
had made inroads on our societies. Mr. John Wesley, some 
way or other, had been prevailed on to preach and print in 
favour of perfection and universal redemption ; and against 
election, a doctrine which, I then thought, and do now believe, 
was taught me of God ; and therefore could not possibly recede 
from. 

" Thinking it my duty so to do, I had written an answer at 
the orphan-house, which, though revised and much approved 
by some good divines, had I think some too strong expressions 
about absolute reprobation, which the apostle leaves rather to 
be inferred than expressed. The world was angry at me for the 
former, and numbers of my own spiritual children for the latter." 

o 2 



196 



vvhitefield's life and times. 



" One that got some hundreds of pounds by my sermons, re- 
fused to print for me any more. And others wrote to me, that 
God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my fall was as 
great as Peter's. Instead of having thousands to attend me, 
scarce one of my spiritual children came to see me from morn- 
ing to night. Once on Kennington Common I had not above 
a hundred to hear me. 

" At the same time, I was much embarrassed in my outward 
circumstances. A thousand pounds I owed for the orphan- 
house. Two hundred and fifty pounds bills drawn on Mr. 
Seward, were returned upon me. I was also threatened to be 
arrested for two hundred pounds more. My travelling expenses 
also to be defrayed. A family of a hundred ta be daily main- 
tained, four thousand miles off, in the dearest place of the king's 
dominions. 

" Ten thousand times would I rather have died than part 
with my old friends. It would have melted any heart, to have 
heard Mr. Charles Wesley and me weeping, after prayer, that, 
if possible, the breach might be prevented. Once, but no 
more, I preached in the Foundery, a place which Mr. John 
Wesley had procured in my absence. All my work was to begin 
again. 

" Never had I preached in Moorfields on a week day : but 
in the strength of God, I began on Good Friday, and continued 
twice a day, walking backward and forward from Leadenhall, 
for some time preaching under one of the trees ; and had the 
mortification to see numbers of my spiritual children, who but 
a twelvemonth ago would have plucked out their eyes for me, 
running by me whilst preaching, disdaining so much as to look 
at me ; and some of them putting their fingers in their ears, 
that they might not hear one word I said. 

" A like scene opened at Bristol, where I was denied preach- 
ing in the house I had founded. 

" Busybodies on both sides blew up the coals. A breach 
ensued. But as both sides differed in judgment, not in affec- 
tion, and aimed at the glory of our common Lord, (though we 
hearkened too much to tale-bearers on both sides,) we were kept 
from anathematizing each other, and went on in our usual way ; 



whitefield's life and times. 



197 



being agreed in one pointy endeavouring to convert souls to the 
ever-blessed Mediator." 

Gillies records all this without comment or explanation. 
Watson, in his " Life of Wesley," sums up the whole history of 
the breach in a single paragraph. Southey explains the real 
grounds of the rupture, but with equal contempt for Wesley's 
doctrine of perfection, and for Whitefield's doctrine of election. 
The separation of Whitefield and Wesley led, however, to re- 
sults too momentous to be thus treated. Whilst, therefore, I 
have no inclination to revive controversies, which time has laid 
asleep, nor to perpetuate painful recollections of good men, I 
must register instructive facts, however offensive they may be 
to the adherents of Calvinistic or Wesleyan methodism. The 
breach between their founders may well teach a solemn lesson 
to both. 

Neither Whitefield nor Wesley appears to have understood 
Calvinism, when they began to preach, the one for and the 
other against it. Indeed, Whitefield assured Wesley, when 
they began to differ, that he had never read a page of Calvin ; 
and if Wesley read him through the same spectacles he wore 
when reading the works of Calvinists, — of whom he wrote thus 
to Whitefield, " No baptist or presbyterian writer, I have read, 
knew any thing of the liberties of Christ," — his knowledge of 
the question may well be doubted. Whitefield's retort on this 
occasion, although sharp, was not uncourteous : " What ! nei- 
ther Bunyan, Henry, Flavel, Halyburton, nor any of the New 
England and Scots divines, (know any thing of the liberties of 
Christ ? ) See, dear Sir, what narrow-spiritedness and want of 
charity arise out of your principles ; and then do not cry out 
against election any more, on account of its being destructive 
of meekness and love," Answer to Wesley s Sermon on Free 
Grace. 

The sermon which led to this controversy, had a curious ori- 
gin. The Wesleys had threatened (perhaps playfully at first) 
to "drive John Calvin out of Bristol." This led some one to 
charge Wesley, in a letter, with not preaching the gospel — be- 
cause he did not preach up election ; a charge which, at the 
time, was equally applicable to Whitefield : for although his 



198 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES, 



creed was somewhat Calvinistic from the first, he did not 
preach up election, until Wesley began to preach it down. This 
is no conjecture. He appeals to Wesley himself thus, — " For 
Christ's sake, if possible, dear Sir, never speak against election 
in your sermons ; no one can say — that I ever mentioned it in 
public discourses, whatever my private sentiments may be. 
For Christ's sake, let us not be divided amongst ourselves. 
Nothing will so much prevent a division, as your being silent 
on that head." 

Wesley met this solemn adjuration, and many like it, by the 
mock solemnity of " drawing lots," to determine the question 
of silence or assault. The lot was, " preach and print and 
he did both forthwith. He did not publish, however, until 
Whitefield had gone to America. So far he yielded to his 
friend's remonstrances, contenting himself, for a time, with call- 
ing election a " doctrine of devils." 

This sortilege was practised at Bristol ; and it reminded 
Whitefield of " the wrong lot," which Wesley had formerly 
drawn, when their vessels were in sight in the Channel. Ac- 
cordingly, in answering the lot-sermon, Whitefield told the 
story of the lot-letter. He has been much blamed for publish- 
ing this private transaction. Indeed, he blames himself heavily. 
It was done with compunction at the time ; and afterwards, he 
thus deplored it : " My mentioning Mr. Wesley's casting a lot 
on a private occasion, known only to God and ourselves, has 
put me to great pain. It was wrong in me to publish a private 
transaction to the world ; and very ill-judged to think the glory 
of God could be promoted by exposing my friend unnecessarily. 
For this I have asked both God and him pardon, years ago. 
And though I believe both have forgiven me, yet I believe I 
shall never be able to forgive myself. As it was a public fault, 
I think it should be publicly acknowledged ; and I thank a kind 
Providence for giving me this opportunity of doing it." Answer 
to Lavington. Dr. Southey says truly, that this manner of re- 
ferring to the subject does Whitefield " honour." I feel this : 
and yet, unless Wesley's feelings were very much wounded by 
the disclosure, I do not see the necessity of so much self-con- 
demnation and self-abasement. For my own part, at least, I 



whitefield's life and times. 



199 



should have preferred either _m ore, or less, confession on the oc- 
casion. Whitefield played at sortilege as well as Wesley, 
although in another way. His Letter was not like the sermon, 
written in obedience to a drawn lot ; but still, it was deter- 
mined by a mystic reason. He says, " I am apt to think one 
reason why God should so suffer you to be deceived was, that 
hereby a special obligation should be laid on me, faithfully to 
declare the Scriptural doctrine of election." What is this, but 
impulse versus lot ? For, at the time, Whitefield was incapable 
of declaring that doctrine faithfully, if he mean by faithfully, 
Scripturally. This he proved, by declaring in his Letter, that 
" without doubt, the doctrine of election and reprobation must 
stand or fall together :" a fallacy he soon saw through. A 
lot to preach against election could not be a greater fallacy, 
than a " special" call to contend for reprobation. Well might 
Wesley, if he had understood the sovereignty of grace, have 
retorted on Whitefield : he contented himself, however, with 
tearing the Letter before his congregation. " 6 1 will just do what 
I believe Mr. Whitefield would, were he here himself :' he tore 
it in pieces. Every person present followed his example." 
Sonthey's Wesley. 

Who else believes — that Whitefield would have thus torn his 
own Letter ? None but those who believe that Wesley would 
have torn his " lot," when he drew it. Whitefield might, in- 
deed, have torn the printed copy, because it was printed without 
his consent, and published in his absence, by officious friends ; 
but, in the sense of retracting it, he would no more have torn it 
than he would have torn the Thirty-nine Articles. It was a 
pitiful pretence, although a dexterous shift, to say that he would 
have been his own executioner. He was quite capable of tear- 
ing Wesley's u lot," had that been surreptitiously thrust upon 
his friends, to bias their judgment ; for he was as off-hand as 
he was warm and honest, whenever he deemed the honour of 
God at stake. 

It is because I never heard that Wesley humbled himself at 
all for this summary and insulting treatment of the Letter, that 
I think Whitefield too humble for his treatment of the lot. I 
think with Dr. Southey, that it " does him honour;" but as 



200 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



Wesley was evidently more mortified than hurt by the disclosure,, 
and as he amply retaliated, I do not see where the dishonour 
would have been, had the humiliation been less. Whitefield 
had not published the Letter, nor was he aware of its publica- 
tion. Dr. Southey is quite correct in saying, that, although it 
was certainly intended for publication, yet "there seems to 
have been a hope in Whitefield's mind, that the effect which its 
perusal would produce might render publication needless." 
Thus Wesley might have taken the sting out of it, by humbling 
himself for drawing lots ; but as he did not tear his lot along 
with the Letter, it was not very unfair to let the world know 
something of the secret of his attack on Calvinism. Indeed, I 
doubt if it would have been honest to the public, or fair to 
the cause of truth, to have concealed this process of sortilege 
altogether. I do not even see how Whitefield could have dealt 
so gently with Wesley, as by simply stating the facts. He 
could not forget, in answering the sermon, that the author of it 
believed himself divinely warranted to publish it. That sup- 
posed warrant had to be invalidated. By what? If not by 
facts, who does not see that arguments would have implied 
heavier reflections upon Wesley's judgment, and subjected him 
to the suspicion of a presumption worse than that of the old 
lottery ? 

This transaction was made so much of at the time, that I 
could not, as an historian, hush it up ; nor, as an umpire, treat it 
as Whitefield has done. It roused, as may be supposed, the 
partisans of the two creeds ; and created that alienation which 
Whitefield has so feelingly described, in his account of the re- 
ception he met with on his return from America. 

Some of the Calvinistic party were very imprudent. Acourt, 
of London, thrust himself and his high Calvinism upon the 
Wesleys' meetings ; demanding the opportunity of setting them 
right on the subject of election; and prophesying, when re- 
fused, that his proclamation of them as false prophets, would 
throw them all into confusion. At Kingswood also, Cennick 
divided the society, and headed the Calvinists against the Wes- 
leys. Dr. Southey calls him " a certain John Cennick," " who 
had great talents for popular speaking and gives only Charles 



whitefield's life and times. 



201 



Wesley's picture of him. Cennick was both a wiser and a bet- 
ter man than the Wesleys painted him, when he withstood 
them to the face at Kingswood. Until then, John Wesley held 
him a friend, as his "own soul," and one who "lay in his 
bosom." Charles Wesley confirms this by an appeal to Cen- 
nick's knowledge of it : "I need not say how well he loved 
you." It was not because this love was too hot, that it did not 
last. Charles upbraided him for ingratitude and treachery, 
and John excommunicated him, with others, for lying and slan- 
dering, thus : — " I, John Wesley, by the consent and approba- 
tion of the Band Society in Kingswood, do declare the persons 
above mentioned to be no longer members thereof. Neither 
will they be" so accounted until they shall openly confess their 
fault," &c. &c. What was this tremendous fault? "Dissem- 
bling, lying, and slandering," says the excommunicato!*. " In- 
gratitude and treachery," says his brother. Heavy charges, it 
must be allowed ; and, if true, well deserving all the chastise- 
ment they met with. 

The truth of the charges, as they affect Cennick, the friend 
and fellow-labourer of Whitefield, must be examined. Hap- 
pily, this is easily done ; for Wesley rested the proof of " pri- 
vate accusations" upon the copy of a letter from Cennick to 
Whitefield. When Cennick denied that he had " ever privately 
accused him," Wesley produced the letter in the society, and 
said, " Judge, brethren ! " So say I. Here is the letter. — " I 
sit solitary like Eli, waiting what will become of the ark : and 
while I wail and fear the carrying of it away from among my 
people, my trouble increases daily. How glorious did the gos- 
pel seem once to flourish at Kingswood ! I spake of the ever- 
lasting love of Christ with sweet power. But now, brother 
Charles is suffered to open his mouth against this truth, while 
the frighted sheep gaze and fly, as if no shepherd was amongst 
them. It is just as if Sa.tan was now making war on the saints, 
in a more than common way. O, pray for the distressed 
lambs yet left in this place, that they faint not. Surely they 
would, for they have nothing whereon to rest but their own 
faithfulness, who now attend on sermons. With universal re- 
demption, brother Charles now pleases the world. Brother 



202 



whitefield's life and times. 



John follows him in every thing. I believe no atheist can more 
preach against predestination than they : and all who believe 
election are counted enemies to God, and called so. Fly, dear 
brother ! — I am as alone. — I am in the midst of the plague. 
If God give thee leave — make haste ! " 

Now, where is the lie, or the slander, in all this ? No where, 
except it be in the charge, that " all who believe election are 
counted enemies to God, and called so." And even this charge, 
although not literally, is substantially, true. For although nei- 
ther John nor Charles would have called any good man, who let 
them alone, an enemy of God, for believing election, both would 
and must have counted the very best man such, so far as he 
tried to spread the doctrine of election at the Foundery, or at 
Kingswood. How could they reckon otherwise, whilst they 
held themselves to be the friends of God, by enmity to Calvinism ? 
Their forbearance with the silent Calvinists in the society, was 
because they were silent. 

I am no admirer of Cennick's letter. I think the style and 
spirit of it quite as bad as Wesley's sermon ; which affirms, that 
the doctrine in question " directly tends to destroy that holiness 
which is the end of all the ordinances of God and has (t a 
direct and manifest tendency to overthrow the whole christian 
religion." The only difference between this railing and that of 
Cennick, is, that Cennick's is applied to two men by name, and 
Wesley's is an attack upon all men who preached the doctrine. 

This is not, however, the whole case. The chief charge 
against Cennick is, that he " supplanted " Wesley " in his own 
house ; stealing the hearts of the people " from him. This as- 
serted betrayal of trust, Charles depicted in the darkest colours. 
Now it is true, that Wesley placed Cennick as one of the mas- 
ters in the Kingswood school ; and true, that the school was 
Wesley's " own house," in the sense of its being chiefly built 
and furnished by him. On the other hand, it is equally true, 
that Whitefield originated the school ; obtained the gift of " a 
piece of ground for it laid the foundation-stone of it ; and col- 
lected so much money for it, that " the roof was ready to be 
put up " before he left England. However truly, therefore, in 
a legal sense, it was Wesley's " own house," inasmuch as he 



whitefield's life and times. 



203 



alone was responsible for all the debt upon it, and thus the 
possessor of the deeds ; it was morally Whitefield's own house 
too. Accordingly, Wesley bequeathed it to his brother and 
Whitefield by will, the moment the responsibility devolved the 
property on him. 

Cennick was not ignorant of these facts, and ought not to 
have been uninfluenced by them. He was, indeed, Wesley's 
servant ; but he was also a conscientious Calvinist. " Why, then, 
did he not resign," says Charles, " rather than gainsay " his 
employer ? Why, I ask, did his employer undertake the com- 
pletion of Whitefield's school, and then turn it into an Arminian 
nursery, in Whitefield's absence ? The servant did all he could 
to sustain the views of its founder, in the absence of its finisher ; 
and the finisher did all he could to supplant the Calvinistic 
views of its absent founder. Whitefield never would have left 
it to Wesley to carry forward, had this design been avowed. 
Cennick knew this ; and therefore he was just as conscientious 
in opposing Arminianism in the place, as Wesley in opposing 
Calvinism in it. In a word, if the one alienated some hearts 
from Wesley, the other alienated many hearts from Whitefield. 
" I was denied preaching in the house I had founded at Bristol," 
says Whitefield. 

These are, indeed, pitiful transactions on both sides : but they 
were the transactions which brought on the rupture of the socie- 
ties ; and are thus essential to its explanation. Cennick also, 
as the chosen coadjutor of Whitefield afterwards, deserved vin- 
dication from the bitter invectives and aspersions of Charles 
Wesley's letter, and from the ecclesiastical ban of John Wesley 
and the " Band Society in Kingswood." On reviewing his cha- 
racter and career, the late Mr. Wilks, of the Tabernacle, ex- 
claimed, " O my soul, come thou into his secret ; into his 
assembly, mine honour, be thou united ! " He says of Cennick, 
" As to success in his labours, perhaps there was not one in his 
day, except Whitefield, more highly honoured in this particular. 
His language was not with the enticing words of men's wisdom ; 
yet his doctrine and address were powerful, and found access to 
the hearts of thousands. His career was short ; but if life may 
bo estimated by the comparative quantity of good produced in it, 



204 



whitefield's life and times. 



then this truly active, spiritual, and useful man, may be said to 
have lived to a good old age. A good understanding, an open 
temper, and tender heart, characterized the man. His christian 
qualities were not less distinguishable. If unaffected humility, 
deadness to the world, a life of communion with God, and a 
cheerful reliance on a crucified Saviour, constitute the real 
christian, — he was one in an eminent degree. He possessed a 
sweet simplicity of spirit, with an ardent zeal in the cause of his 
divine Master." Preface to Cennick's Sermons, 2 vols, by 
Matthew Wilks. 

Cennick's own account of his expulsion by the Wesleys, is 
highly creditable to his heart ; and as it palliates very much 
the conduct of Mr. Wesley, and is not much known, (the pam- 
phlet being rare,) I gladly insert it. It is the 44th Section of 
a Life of Cennick, written by himself, 4th Edition. " About 
Christmas, 1740, a difference in doctrine broke out between the 
Mr. Wesleys and me ; they believed and taught many things 
which I thought not according to the gospel, neither to mine 
own experience : and in a very little time, while I was preach- 
ing in several parts of Wiltshire, Mr. John Wesley took the en- 
tire possession of Kingswood school, and I was forbid to preach 
there any more ; neither from that time did I. And not long 
after, when I and some of the colliers had met apart to consider 
on these things, and to lay them before the Lord, the rest of the 
society, who held Mr. Wesley's doctrines, were so offended — 
that they would not let Mr. Wesley rest, till he put me, and 
those few who believed my word, out of the society ; — though, 
I believe, against his will. When we separated, we were in 
number twelve men and twelve women. In a short time, we so 
increased our company, that we were about a hundred and 
twenty. In many villages of Wiltshire, the word was received 
gladly." To them " the differences were never once known, 
till Mr. Whitefield came from America, and joined the brethren 
with me ; neither after they knew it, (the difference,) did it make 
any stir, as it were, in all that country." 

The breach between Whitefield and Wesley led, soon, to the 
erection of a new house at Kingswood, and of <<^large tempo- 
rary shed," called a Tabernacle, in London. The latter was 



whitefield's life and times. 



205 



built by " certain free-grace dissenters," as Gillies calls them. 
This phrase does not enable us to identify them with any of the 
three denominations. Perhaps it refers to Whitefield's defi- 
nition of " free grace indeed/' in his Letter to Wesley : — 
" free, because not free to all ; but free, because God may with- 
hold or give it to whom, and when, he pleases." But whoever 
the dissenters thus characterized were, their timely help soon 
enabled him to turn the tide, which had set in against him. It 
realized for him, what had much refreshed him, when all his 
work was to " begin again," — Beza's hint in the life of Calvin ; 
" Calvin is turned out of Geneva ; but, behold, a new church 
arises ! " Dr. Gillies says, " A fre^h awakening immediately 
began. Congregations grew exceedingly large : and, at the 
people's desire, he sent for Messrs. Cennick, Harris, Seagrave, 
Humphries, &c. to assist." In the country also, and especially 
in Essex, (first at Braintree,) the old scene of " multitudes, 
multitudes in the valley of decision," began to be renewed. And 
it was with no ordinary pleasure he then visited the many towns 
in Essex and Suffolk, such as Dedham, Halstead, Ipswich, &c, 
from which the pilgrim fathers of New England came ; and the 
counterparts of which he had found in America, perpetuating 
there the names and recollections of the mother country. 

I know of few studies so fraught and fragrant with delight, 
now that we know New England, as tracing in Mather's " Mag- 
nalia," upon his old maps, the first American edition of Old 
England. I shall never forget how sacred I felt that line of 
English towns to be, when I visited them, as the antitypes of 
the Magnalian maps ; nor the interest taken by the old families 
of the district, whilst I pointed out to them the coincidences, 
and congratulated them on the connexion. I myself, indeed, 
would not pass over Runnymede, to visit the cradles of the pil- 
grim fathers ; but no American christian ought to visit Runny- 
mede, until he has been at Dedham, if he love his country. 

Whitefield's momentary reverses in London did not, as may 
be supposed, at all lessen his fame in Scotland, nor prevent the 
Erskines from urging upon him his promise to visit that coun- 
try. There, the Wesleys were considered as sadly " left to 
themselves," (E. Erskine,) if not as somewhat demented, when 



206 



whitefield's life and times. 



they quarrelled with Whitefield's Calvinism, and avowed them- 
selves Arminians. There was also more than enough in Scot- 
land then, of an Arminianism not redeemed, like that of the 
Wesleys, by holy zeal or sterling piety, to render an eloquent 
Calvinist a welcome visitor to the godly ministers of both the 
kirk and the secession. Had Whitefield, therefore, wanted 
other letters of commendation to them, than his own character 
and fame ; or needed any thing to confirm the confidence he had 
won by his own letters and journals ; his rejection at the Foun- 
dery would have secured him a welcome both at Dunfermline and 
in Edinburgh. 

This he found on his artival : but, lest his old and still dear 
friend, Wesley, should suspect him of accepting any honour at 
his expense, he renewed his correspondence with him, when his 
honours in Scotland were at their height. The following letter 
from Aberdeen is delightful : " Reverend and dear brother, I 
have for a long time expected that you would have sent an an- 
swer to my last > but I suppose you are afraid to correspond 
with me, because I revealed your secret about the lot. Though 
much might be said for my doing it, yet I am sorry now, that 
any such thing dropped from my pen, — and I humbly ask pardon. 
I find I love you as much as ever ; and pray God, if it be his 
blessed will, that we may all be united together. 

" It hath been for some days upon my heart to write to you. 
May God remove all obstacles that now prevent our union ! 
Though I hold particular election — yet I offer Jesus freely to 
every individual soul. You may carry sanctification to what- 
ever degrees you will ; only I cannot agree, that the in-being of 
sin is to be destroyed in this life. 

" O my dear brother, the Lord has been much with me in 
Scotland, In about three weeks I hope to be at Bristol. May 
all disputings cease, and each of us talk of nothing but Jesus, 
and Him crucified ! This is my resolution. The Lord be with 
your spirit. I am, without dissimulation, ever yours." Lett. 363. 

The only letter of Wesley's on this subject, that I know of, 
is not like the above. It concludes thus : " The general tenor 
both of my public and private exhortations, when I touch there- 
on at all, as even my enemies know, if they would testify, is, — 



whitefield's life and times. 



207 



' Spare the young man, even iVbsalom, for my sake.' " Southey's 
Wesley. This is David's language, but not David's spirit. It 
is sarcasm, more than sympathy ; as the whole strain of the 
letter shows. Dr. Southey justly says, " Wesley felt more re- 
sentment than he here thought proper to express." Ibid. 
Whitefleld had, however, been as dictatorial in some of his 
remonstrances, at the beginning of the controversy, as Wesley 
was sarcastic at the close. On one occasion he wrote thus : 
" Dear brother Wesley, what mean you by disputing in all your 
letters ? May God give you to know yourself, — and then you 
will not plead for absolute perfection, nor call election a doc- 
trine of devils. My dear brother, take heed ! See that you are 
in Christ a new creature. Beware of a false peace. Remember 
you are but a babe in Christ — if so much. Be humble. Talk 
little. Pray much. If you will dispute, stay till you are master 
of the subject ; otherwise you will hurt the cause you would 
defend." Whatever truth there may be in this tirade, it is more 
than defeated by its unhallowed form. Such an appeal could 
only exasperate. Not, however, in this style generally, did 
Whitefleld appeal to his brother and friend. It was more usual 
with him to write thus : " Why will you dispute ? I am willing 
to go with you to prison and death ; — but I am not willing to 
oppose you." " Do not oblige me to preach against you : I had 
rather die." " Dear, dear Sir, O be not offended ! For Christ's 
sake be not rash. Give yourself to reading. Study the cove- 
nant of grace. Down with your carnal reasoning. Be a little 
child ; and then, instead of pawning your salvation, as you have 
done, in a late Hymn Book, if the doctrine of universal redemp- 
tion be not true, you will compose a hymn in praise of sovereign, 
distinguishing love. 

" I love and honour you for Christ's sake ; and when I come 
to judgment — will thank you before men and angels for what 
you have, under God, done for my soul. There, I am persuaded, 
I shall see dear Mr. Wesley convinced of election and everlast- 
ing love. And it often fills me with pleasure, to think how I 
shall behold you casting your crown at the feet of the Lamb — 
and, as it were, filled with a holy blushing for opposing the 
divine sovereignty as you have done. But I hope the Lord will 



208 



whitefield's life and times. 



show you this, before you go hence. Oh how do I long for that 
day ! " . (It is somewhat amusing to find this passage, the first 
one quoted by Dr. Southey, just after his declaration, that 
Whitefield's " written compositions are nearly worthless.") 

Having given these specimens of the spirit of both parties in 
this breach, it is only bare justice to Whitefield, to state strongly 
the trying circumstances he was in, when Wesley cut with him. 
Southey truly and tenderly says, " Many things combined to sour 
him at this time." Seward, on whose life and fortune he had 
calculated for the sake of Georgia, was just dead, and had left 
him nothing. He was deeply in debt for the orphan-house, and 
more deeply pledged. He was in danger of being arrested every 
day for £450, whilst he had not twenty pounds in the world, 
and hardly a friend to help him. He was all but hissed by the 
multitude, who formerly were almost ready to cry, "Hosanna," 
when they saw him in the streets. His heart was torn by the 
pressure of strife at home, and by the prospect of distress abroad. 

Is it any wonder that he should have been betrayed into hasty, 
and even some harsh, reflections upon Wesley ? Could he think 
well of the doctrine of "perfection" whilst its champion and 
adherents were so imperfect, as to leave him to sink or swim, as 
it might happen ? True ; he had given his old friend great pro- 
vocation, by turning the laugh against his lottery ; and all men 
resent an exposure of their weakness, more than an injury to 
their property : but still, Wesley could have afforded to wait, 
whilst Whitefield was in danger of imprisonment for debt, and 
well nigh overwhelmed with disappointments. This was just 
the time for a perfectionist to " heap coals of fire " upon the 
head of an enemy ; and to pawn something upon the truth of 
universal love, as well as his " salvation upon the truth of uni- 
versal redemption." Whitefield would have pawned the Foun- 
dery, had it been his, to save and soothe Wesley, had he come 
from America, embarrassed and bowed down with care. Who 
does not see and feel this ? 

It is painful, but it is very necessary, to place the matter in 
this light ; for if the faults of such men are hushed up, such 
faults will be repeated and perpetuated by men who have fewer 
redeeming qualities. Future quarrels are not to be prevented 



whitefield's life and times. 



209 



by forgetting the past. It is by seeing how unseemly strife be- 
tween great brethren is, that little brethren learn to dread its 
beginnings. He is throwing back the progress of brotherly love 
in the church, who would bury in oblivion, or veil in vague ge- 
neralities, the " sharp contention " between Whitefield and 
Wesley. Like Paul and Barnabas, they can afford to have it 
all told, without sustaining any material loss of fame or influ- 
ence. They are just the men whose faults should be transmitted 
to posterity, that posterity may not glory in men, nor think 
more highly of them than they ought to think ; and that similar 
men, of like passions, may not run into like extremes. He is 
not, therefore, the best friend of " peace on earth," whatever be 
his love for Whitefield or Wesley, who would throw a veil over 
the rashness of the former, or over the selfishness of the latter, 
on this occasion. 

Whitefield was rash. He listened to tale-bearers, who put 
the worst construction upon Wesley's hard words against Cal- 
vinism, and harsh treatment of the Kingswood Calvinists. He 
rashly promised not to preach against him, and as rashly threat- 
ened to oppose him every where. He wept with Charles, and 
scolded John. In a word, they were, as he says, only " kept 
from anathematizing each other," for a time ; so divided were 
they in judgment, although not exactly alienated in affection. 

This is, indeed, a humiliating exhibition : but how full of 
warning it is ! The oracle, " ye are brethren," which had so 
often fallen upon their ear and their heart, like music from 
heaven, fell unheeded on both for a time, although both were 
absorbed with equal zeal for the glory of God and the salvation 
of souls. But whilst the spirit of their breach was thus deplor- 
able, it is impossible to deplore the breach itself. It fell out to 
" the furtherance of the gospel." Wesley foresaw this, as well 
as prayed for it : " The case is quite plain. There are bigots 
both for and against predestination. God is sending a message 
to those on either side : but neither will receive it, unless from 
one who is of their own opinion. Therefore, for a time, you are 
suffered to be of one opinion, and I of another." Whitefield's 
heart responded to this, although his acuteness did not discern 
it so fully: " The great day will discover, why the Lord por- 

p 



210 



whitefield's life and times. 



mits dear Mr. Wesley and me to be of a different way of think- 
ing. At present, I shall make no inquiry into that matter, be- 
yond the account he has given of it. I heartily pray God to 
hasten the time, when we shall be closely united in principle 
and judgment, as well as in heart and affection : and then, 
should the Lord call to it, — I care not if I go with him to prison 
or to death. For, like Paul and Silas, I hope we shall sing 
praises to God, and count it our highest honour to suffer for 
Christ's sake, and to lay down our lives for the brethren." 
Preface to " A Letter to Wesley." 

An earlier day than " the great day " discovered why White- 
field and Wesley were permitted both to differ and divide. It 
was a happy thing for the world and the church that they were 
not of one opinion : for had they been united in either extreme, 
truth would have made less progress. As joint Arminians, they 
would have spread Pelagianism ; and as joint Calvinists, they 
would have been hyper, though not antinomian. It was well, 
therefore, that they modified each other : for they were " two 
suns," which could not have fixed in 

" one meridian," 

without setting on fire the whole course of sound theology. In 
their respective spheres, however, they were equally blessed, 
notwithstanding the difference of their creeds on some points. 
This is not inexplicable, when it is remembered that they agreed 
thoroughly in exalting the Saviour, and in honouring the Eter- 
nal Spirit. And their mode of honouring the Spirit deserves 
particular attention. They sought and cherished His unction 
for themselves, as well as enforced the necessity of His opera- 
tions upon others. And until preaching be, itself, a " demon- 
stration of the Spirit and of power," as well as in humble de- 
pendence upon the Spirit, its effects will not be very great, nor 
remarkably good. It will win but few souls to Christ, and even 
their character will not, in general, rise high in the beauty of 
holiness, nor in the zeal of love. They may just keep their name 
and their place in the church of the living God ; but they will 
not be to Him, nor to his church, " for a name and an everlast- 
ing sign." 



WHITEFIELp's LIFE AND TIMES. 



211 



There is much more connexion between the piety of a church, 
and the spirituality of its minister, than appears at first sight ; 
and between his preaching, and the conversion of sinners, than 
is usually kept in view. A minister not spiritually-minded, 
both " quenches the Spirit " on the altar of renewed hearts, and 
prevents the sacred fire from reaching the altar of unregenerated 
hearts. He who is not " a sweet savour of Christ," makes him- 
self" a savour of death unto death," inevitably : — of the second 
death to the undecided ; and of spiritual deadness to the church. 

It was not in this sense, that Paul was a savour of both life 
and death, during his ministry. The lost made him, what he 
became to them ; by turning into death the very truth which 
quickened the saved : for it was the same fragrance of " the 
knowledge of Christ," which proved the savour of death unto 
death to the former, that proved the savour of life unto life to 
the latter. Paul did as much, and said as much, and prayed as 
much, and all in the same spirit too, for the impenitent, as for 
the considerate ; for despisers, as for penitents. Both saw and 
heard in his preaching, the same " demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power." He stood before each class, equally the ambas- 
sador of Christ, and beseeching both alike to be reconciled unto 
God. So did Baxter, Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys. 
Whenever they were the savour of death unto death, they were 
made so by those who perished under their ministry. Such 
men might, therefore, without presumption or imprudence, ap- 
ply to themselves the apostolic maxim, " We are unto God — a 
sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that 
perish." Such ministers would not, indeed, say this without 
adding, " Who is sufficient for these things ?" nor without weep- 
ing whilst they said, " to the other we are a savour of death 
unto death;" but they could not blame themselves with the 
blood of souls. It was not their fault, that any were lost, who 
heard them ; for they extended the golden sceptre of mercy as 
freely, and frequently, and fervently, to the heedless and the 
hardened, as to the thoughtful or the timid. 

This is a very different case from that of a minister, who 
preaches the gospel without the demonstration of the Spirit, or 
power. He makes himself the savour of death unto death to 

p 2 



212 



whitefield's life and times. 



others, even when he teaches " the knowledge of Christ be- 
cause he breathes not the fragrance of that knowledge. He, 
therefore, has no right to throw himself upon the apostolic 
maxim, when 'his ministry is unsuccessful. It is unsuccessful, 
because it is unsavoury. It brings no sinners to life, because it 
is lifeless : for it is the " savour" of the knowledge of Christ, 
that God " maketh manifest in every place," 2 Cor. ii. 14 ; 
and that savour cannot breathe from the lips or looks of a 
minister, unless his heart burn with love to Christ and immor- 
tal souls. 

It is high time that the church of Christ should consider, not 
only the duty of depending on the Spirit, but also the import 
and the importance of the " demonstration of the Spirit," in 
preaching. That is more — than the demonstration of orthodoxy. 
It is more than the demonstration of either sound scholarship or 
hard study. It is even more than the demonstration of mere 
sincerity and fidelity. Sincerity may be cold, and fidelity harsh. 
Even zeal may be party rivalship, or personal vanity ; whilst 
it seems holy fire searching only for incense to the glory of 
God and the Lamb. To preach in demonstration of the Spirit, 
is even more than bringing out " the mind of the Spirit," faith- 
fully and fully. The real meaning of His oracles may be honestly 
given, and yet their true spirit neither caught nor conveyed. 
" What the Spirit saith unto the churches," may be repeated to 
the churches without evasion or faltering ; but it will not be 
heard as His counsel or consolation, unless it is spoken with 
something of his own love and solemnity. He is the Spirit of 
power, and of grace, and of love, as well as the Spirit of truth 
and wisdom ; and therefore He is but half copied in preach- 
ing, when only his meaning is given. That meaning lies in His 
mind, not merely as truth, nor as law, nor as wisdom, but also 
as sympathy, solicitude, and love for the souls it is addressed 
unto. The words of the Spirit are spirit and life ; and there- 
fore the soul, as well as the substance, of their meaning is essen- 
tial to faithful preaching. They can hardly be said to be the 
words of the Holy Ghost, when they are uttered in a spiritless 
or lifeless mood. 

This will be more obvious by looking at " the truth, as it is 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



213 



in Jesus." In Him it is grace as well as truth. All his heart, 
and soul, and strength, breathes and burns in his words. His 
motives are part of his meaning. He explains the great salva- 
tion, that he may endear and enforce its claims at the same 
time. He makes us feel, that he feels more for our souls than 
words can express. He compels us to see a beaming of earnest- 
ness in his eye, and to hear a beating of intense solicitude in his 
heart, and to recognise a fixedness of purpose in all his manner, 
unspeakably beyond all he says. The real pleading of the 
Saviour with sinners begins where his words end. His weep- 
ing silence, after speaking as never man spake, tells more of his 
love to souls than all his gracious words. We feel that he feels 
he has gained nothing by his preaching, unless he has won 
souls. He leaves upon every mind the conviction, that nothing 
can please him but the heart ; and that nothing would please 
him so much as giving him the heart. No man ever rose, or 
can rise, from reading the entreaties of Christ, without feeling 
that Christ is in earnest — is intent — is absorbed, to seek and 
save the lost. 

The apostles evidently marked this with great attention, and. 
copied it with much success, when they became ambassadors 
"for Christ," by the ministry of reconciliation. Then, they 
did more than deliver the truth He taught. They tried to 
utter it with His solemnity, tenderness, and unction. They 
tried to put themselves in " Christ's stead," when Christ was 
no longer on earth to beseech men to be reconciled unto God. 
This was " the demonstration of the Spirit ! " Saying what 
Christ did, was not enough for them : they laboured to say it as 
he did ; or in the spirit, and for the purpose, he had preached 
the gospel. Thus the truth was in them as it was " in Jesus ; " 
not merely as true, but also as impressive, persuasive, and ab- 
sorbing. They spoke the truth, as he had done, " in the love 
of it," and with love to the souls it was able to make wise unto 
salvation. 

And this is not impossible even now, although apostolic in- 
spiration be at an end. The best part of the Spirit's influ- 
ences — love to the gospel and immortal souls — is yet attainable, 
and as easily attained as any other ministerial qualification. A 



214 



whitefield's life and times. 



minister ought to be as much ashamed, and more afraid, of 
being tmbaptized with the Holy Ghost and fire, as of being ig- 
norant of the original languages of the Holy Scriptures. Men 
who can demonstrate the problems of Euclid, or the import of 
Greek or Hebrew idioms, have no excuse if they are unable to 
preach with the demonstration of the Spirit and power. The 
same attention to the latter demonstration, which they gave to 
the former, would fill them with the Holy Ghost, and fire them 
with holy zeal. 

Nothing is so simple, although nothing be so sublime, as 
preaching " the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from 
heaven." Any prayerful and thoughtful minister may preach 
in this spirit ; for it neither includes, nor excludes, great talents, 
learning, or ingenuity. " An unction from the Holy One " can 
subordinate the mightiest and wealthiest minds to the one 
grand object — watching for souls; and it can render subser- 
vient and successful the most ordinary powers of mind. The 
acute reasonings of Wesley, and the warm-hearted remon- 
strances and beseechings of Whitefield, were equally useful, be- 
cause equally demonstrations of the Spirit. In like manner, 
many of their uneducated colleagues " turned many to right- 
eousness ;" and are themselves, now, turned into stars which 
shall shine for ever in the firmament of the church in both 
worlds. The secret of this success in winning souls was the 
same in both classes of preachers ; — their heart, their soul, 
their all, was in their work. Truth had the force of divine 
truth, the fire of eternal truth, and the glory of saving truth, 
upon their minds. Their hearts were full (whether holding 
much or little) of heavenly treasure ; and they held it as hea- 
venly treasure, and poured it out as stewards who had to account 
for it in heaven, and to review their stewardship of it through 
eternity. Accordingly, both regular congregations and pro- 
miscuous mobs, whatever they thought of the office or the 
talents of these itinerants, felt that they were on jire to watch 
for and win souls ; and were compelled to acknowledge, that 
even men who had 4 never been at the University, "had been 
with Jesus," and were, indeed, "moved by the Holy Ghost." 
Another way in which the apostles caught and kept up the de- 



whitefield's life and times. 



215 



monstration of the Spirit in their preaching, was, by trying to 
beseech men to be reconciled unto God, just as God himself 
might be supposed to plead with them, were He to bow the 
heavens and come down as a minister of reconciliation. This 
was a bold attempt ! Even its sublimity and benevolence can- 
not hide its boldness, however they may excuse it. "As 
though God did beseech you, we pray you in Christ's stead, be 
ye reconciled unto God." Archangels would hardly have ven- 
tured to go so far as the apostles, in thus trying to represent 
both God and the Lamb, as reconcilers. It was, however, an 
attempt to win souls, as wise and humble, as it was sublime or 
bold. There was no presumption, nor ostentation, nor pretence 
in it. They magnified their office, only that they might hum- 
ble themselves the more deeply, and discharge its duties the 
more faithfully. The attempt to copy God was, also, the best 
way of relieving themselves from the fear of man, and their 
best security against all trifling, temporizing, and display in the 
work of God. As his representatives, there would, of course, 
be no airs nor affectation in their manner of preaching ; no 
parade of novelty or .learning in their matter ; no taint of bit- 
terness or harshness in their spirit. Thus, by adopting Him as 
their model, they were sure to preach better than any other ex- 
ample could have taught them ; for, whilst it bound them to 
soberness and solemnity, it left them free to speak in thunder 
when the conscience was to be roused ; and in metaphor when 
attention was to be won or relieved ; and with all the forms of 
eloquence whenever their subject inspired 

" Thoughts which breathe, or words that burn." 

Yes ; this divine standard, equally lofty and lovely, left them 
at full liberty to ransack creation for figures ; time for facts ; 
heaven for motives ; hell for warnings ; and eternity for argu- 
ments : binding them only to make the whole bear directly, 
consistently, and supremely, upon their one grand object — re- 
conciling the world unto God by the blood of the cross : for 
whilst that was " all and all" as the final end of their ministry, 
they might warrantably and legitimately employ in the pursuit 
of it, every tone and term, image and emotion, in which God 



216 



whitefield's life and times. 



himself had ever appealed to the hopes or fears of man. Ac- 
cordingly, there was much that was godlike in their preaching. 
They could not, of course, realize fully, nor imitate far, the 
manner or the spirit in which God would plead his own cause, 
were He to preach his own gospel : but still, their reasonings 
were not unlike His manifold wisdom ; nor their appeals un- 
worthy of His paternal tenderness ; nor their remonstrances 
inconsistent with His judicial authority. There was a fine de- 
monstration of the Spirit in the boldness of Peter, in the 
sublimity of Paul, and in the heavenliness of John. 

It was to this beseeching as in the " stead of Christ and 
God," that Paul referred, when he besought the Ephesians to 
pray for him, " that utterance might be given him, to speak 
boldly" as an ambassador, though in bonds, "ought to speak." 
He meant more than not being silent or ashamed ; more than 
rising superior to circumstances and danger. He meant also, 
speaking with equal demonstration of the Spirit and power, in 
peril as in peace ; in Rome as in Jerusalem; before Ceesar as 
before the sanhedrim. 

In nothing, perhaps, did Whitefield keep Paul more before 
him, than in this strong solicitude to ef speak as he ought to 
speak." No phrase occurs so often in his journals as, "preach- 
ed with much power ; with some power." He does not venture 
to call even his greatest efforts a "demonstration of the Spirit ;" 
but the word " power " occurs so uniformly, that it tells plainly 
what he was thinking about, after all sermons which produced 
a visible effect. His enemies said he was complimenting his 
own sermons. They little knew his heart, and still less the 
humility which springs from " an unction " of the Spirit ! To 
prevent unnecessary misunderstanding, however, he explained 
his meaning thus, in a note to his revised journals : " By the 
word power, I mean, all along, no more, nor no less, than en- 
largement of heart, and a comfortable frame, given me from 
above ; by which I was enabled to speak with freedom and 
clearness, and the people were impressed and affected thereby." 
This is only explaining — not retracting nor qualifying. He 
knew, and tens of thousands felt, that God was with him of a 
truth, making the gospel rebound from his heart to their hearts ; 



whitefield's life and times. 



217 



melting them by warming him ; winning their souls, by absorb- 
ing his soul with the glories of salvation. 

Happily, this spirit cannot be imitated in preaching. It may 
be imbibed and breathed by any devotional and devoted minis- 
ter ; but it cannot be copied. No tones, looks, nor tears, can 
demonstrate the presence of the Spirit in a sermon, if the 
preacher has not been " in the Spirit" before coming to the 
pulpit. Neither the melting nor the kindling of men but half 
devoted, or but half-hearted in devotion, can melt down or wield 
an audience, by the gospel ; because the Holy Spirit will not 
honour fits and starts of fidelity. The minister must be a holy 
temple unto the Holy Ghost, who would have that Spirit speak 
to the hearts of men by him. Never does a preacher dupe him- 
self, or endanger others, more, than when he imagines that the 
Spirit will give power to the gospel amongst his people, whilst it 
has not power upon himself. God makes ministers a blessing 
to others, by blessing themselves first. He works in them, in 
order to work by them. 

I throw out these hints, not to ministers, but to private 
christians, who know what it is to pray in the Spirit, and what 
it is to see divine things in the light of eternity. Preaching 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, is just what pray- 
ing in the Holy Ghost is ; not form, nor forcing, nor copying ; 
but the outpouring of a heart penetrated with the greatness of 
the great salvation, and absorbed with the solemn responsibili- 
ties involved in the hope of salvation. Did such hearers sustain 
such preachers, by prayer, and esteem, and co-operation, there 
would be far more demonstration of the Spirit in the evangelical 
pulpits of the land : and many who now content themselves with 
depending on the Holy Spirit, would be compelled to cultivate 
the fellowship of that Spirit, instead of merely complimenting his 
power. 



CHAPTER IX. 



WHITEFIELD IN SCOTLAND. 
1741. 

The state of religion in Scotland at this time will be best un- 
derstood, as well as most fairly represented, by a brief view of 
the rise and progress of the Secession. That second Reforma- 
tion in Scotland brought into full light and play all the good 
and evil of the national church. I shall, therefore, state the 
facts, just as they now challenge and defy investigation. I 
have never seen the Jinal appeals of the Associate Synod inva- 
lidated ; and therefore I employ their own words. 

" The Secession is regarded both by its friends and its ene- 
mies as a highly important event in the history of the church 
of Scotland. However slight and accidental the circumstances 
by which it was immediately occasioned may appear, it un- 
questionably arose from a general state of matters in the church, 
naturally tending towards such a crisis. Divine Providence, 
whose operations are often apparently slow, but always sure 
and progressive, had been gradually paving the way for an open 
division, calculated, notwithstanding all its accompanying evils, 
to prevent the utter extinction of religious principle and free- 
dom in the land, and to advance the interests of truth and 
piety. A torrent of corruption, which threatened the over- 
throw of every thing sacred in doctrine and valuable in privi- 
lege, was proceeding to so great a height, that enlightened and 
conscientious men were impressed with the necessity of bold 
and decisive steps. 

" The prevalence of those erroneous tenets and oppressive 



whitefield's life and times. 



219 



measures, which gave rise to the Secession, may be traced back 
to the defects attending the settlement of ecclesiastical affairs 
at the era of the Revolution 1688. That era was truly glo- 
rious ; and in no quarter of the British empire were its blessings 
more necessary, or more sensibly experienced, than in Scot- 
land. Religious as well as civil rights and liberties were then 
restored to a nation, which, under the tyrannical sway of 
Charles II. and James VII. had been most cruelly degraded and 
oppressed. Episcopacy was abolished ; the presbyterian wor- 
ship and government re-established ; pastors who had been 
ejected from their churches in 1661, were replaced; and the 
law of patronage, though not absolutely annulled, was so modi- 
fied, and, in consequence, so gently administered, that it was 
scarcely felt as a grievance. 

" But while the Scottish presbyterians had much cause for 
gratitude and joy, they had at the same time several sources of 
regret. The omission of an act formally asserting Christ's sole 
headship over the church, and expressly condemning the royal 
supremacy which had been assumed under the two preceding 
reigns, was deeply lamented. Nor was it an inconsiderable evil, 
that, in compliance with the wishes of the court, about three 
hundred of the prelatical incumbents, some of whom had even 
been active agents in the work of persecution, were, ( upon easy 
terms,' permitted to retain their stations in the parishes of 
Scotland, and to sit in the ecclesiastical courts. Attached, in 
many instances, to unscriptural doctrines, no less than to epis- 
copalian forms of worship and discipline, these men could not 
fail to obstruct the efforts of those faithful ministers who at- 
tempted to promote the cause of evangelical truth and practical 
religion. Among those ministers themselves, there were com- 
paratively few who displayed all that magnanimity and zeal 
which the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom required ; and 
the exercise of which, on that momentous occasion, might have 
proved incalculably advantageous to vital Christianity in their 
own days, and in succeeding ages. Owing to the pusillanimity 
of some clergymen, and the waywardness of others, lamentable 
symptoms of degeneracy in principle and practice were dis- 
cernible within a short period after the happy Revolution. The 



220 



whitefield's life and times. 



worthy Halyburton accordingly, amid the triumphant ex- 
pressions of christian faith and hope, which he uttered on his 
death-bed, in 1712, deplored in the strongest terms f the grow- 
ing apostasy ' of the times, and, in particular, that indifference 
to the peculiarities of the gospel and to the power of godliness, 
which prevailed among a great proportion of the clergy. He 
exclaimed, for example, e Oh that the ministry of Scotland 
may be kept from destroying the church of Scotland. Oh that 
I could obtain it of them with tears of blood, to be concerned 
for the church ! Shall we be drawn away from the precious 
gospel, and from Christ.' Frasers Er shines. 

" The Secession did not originate in any dissatisfaction with 
the professed principles of the church of Scotland, which 
seceders venerate as a precious summary of divine truths — 
the most valuable inheritance they have received from their 
fathers — and which they are anxious to transmit in purity to 
their children. But for some time before they were expelled 
from the communion of the national church, a tide of defection 
had been flowing in from the prevailing party in her judi- 
catories, which, while it spared the erroneous in doctrine, and 
the irregular in conduct, bore down the christian people con- 
tending for their religious privileges, and those ministers who 
testified faithfully against ecclesiastical misconduct. 

" A professor of divinity, in one of the Universities, taught 
that the souls of children are as pure and holy as the soul of 
Adam was in his original condition, being inferior to him only 
as he was formed in a state of maturity ; and that the light of 
nature, including tradition, is sufficient to teach men the way 
of salvation. For these doctrines, subversive of the first prin- 
ciples of Christianity, a process was instituted against him, in 
which it was clearly proved that he was chargeable with teach- 
ing publicly these and other errors. But so far from being sub- 
jected to the censure he deserved, he was permitted to retain his 
place in the University and the church ; and the General As- 
sembly were satisfied with declaring that some of his opinions 
were not evidently founded on the word of God, nor necessary 
to be taught in divinity, and prohibiting him from publishing 
such sentiments in future. 



whitefield's life and times 



221 



" The ' Marrow of Modern Divinity ' teaches, ' that God in the 
gospel makes a gift of the Saviour to mankind as sinners, war- 
ranting every one who hears the gospel to believe in him for 
salvation ; that believers are entirely freed from the law as a 
covenant of works ; that good works are not to be performed 
by believers that they may obtain salvation by them.' In the 
unqualified condemnation of these principles, the General As- 
sembly materially condemned some of the most important doc- 
trines of the gospel, such as the unlimited extent of the gospel 
call, and the free grace of God in the salvation of sinners. 

" For a short time after the revival of the law of patronage, in 
1712, such as received presentations were backward to accept 
of them, and the church courts were unwilling to proceed to 
their settlement, where opposition was made by the people of 
the vacant charge. But presentees and judicatories became 
gradually less scrupulous, and several settlements afterwards 
took place in reclaiming congregations, which gave plain evi- 
dence that the rights of the members of the church would be 
no longer regarded. The little influence which might occa- 
sionally be left to the people in the choice of their ministers, 
was destroyed by an act of the General Assembly, passed im- 
mediately before the commencement of the Secession. This 
act, providing that where patrons might neglect, or decline to 
exercise, their rights, the minister should be chosen by a ma- 
jority of the elders and heritors, if protestant, was unconstitu- 
tionally passed by the Assembly, as a great majority of the 
presbyteries, who gave their opinions upon the subject, were 
decidedly hostile to the measure. 

" Many pious and faithful ministers were grieved by these 
defections ; but being deprived, by the prevailing party in the 
Assembly, of the liberty of marking their disapprobation in the 
minutes of the court, no method of maintaining a good con- 
science remained, except testifying against defection, in their 
public ministrations. This method was adopted ; and for a 
public condemnation of these corruptions by the Rev. Ebenezer 
Erskine, 1732, a process was instituted against him, which ter- 
minatedj 1733, in first suspending him and three of his brethren, 
the Rev. Messrs. William Wilson, Alexander MoncriefF, and 



222 



whitefield's life and times. 



James Fisher, who had joined him, from the exercise of the 
ministerial office, and afterwards, 1740, dissolving their relation 
to their congregations and the national church." Dr. Waugh's 
Life. 

" The valuable order of husbandmen, who constituted a very 
considerable portion " of the Secession, " were, at this period, of 
the third generation in descent from the covenanters, who lived 
towards the latter end of the seventeenth century ; to whom their 
country owes a deep debt of gratitude, for their pious zeal, their 
patient sufferings, and their severe, long-protracted, and ulti- 
mately successful struggle with a despotic and persecuting go- 
vernment. Like their ancestors, whose memory for the most 
part they warmly cherished and venerated, besides being zeal- 
ous presbyterians, they were distinguished by frugal habits, 
simple manners, and an ardent regard for evangelical doctrines. 
In addition to a regular and exemplary attendance on the pub- 
lic ordinances of divine worship, they faithfully performed the 
exercises of devotion in their families, and laboured, with patri- 
archal diligence, to instil into the minds of their children and 
domestics the principles of sound doctrine and a holy life. The 
strict and regular observance of the duties of family religion, 
appears to have been one chief cause of the high eminence in 
Scriptural knowledge, in sobriety of manners, as well as in every 
domestic virtue, for which the northern part of Great Britain 
was then justly celebrated. The patriarchal simplicity of man- 
ners which, about the middle of the last century, so especially 
characterized Scottish husbandmen, was calculated, in a high 
degree, to foster deep affections, and a sober but manly earnest- 
ness both of principle and deportment ; and it may be fairly 
stated, as one of the happy privileges of the Secession church, 
that so large a number of its ministers have sprung from this 
virtuous and valuable order of men. 

" But the religious order of the family was the distinguishing 
trait. The whole household assembled in the hall (or kitchen) 
in the morning before breakfast, for family worship, and in the 
evening before supper. The goodman, of course, led their 
devotions, every one having his Bible in his hand. This was 
the stated course even in seed-time and harvest : between five 



whitefield's life and times. 



223 



and six in the morning was the hour of prayer in these busy- 
seasons. 

<e On sabbath all went to church, however great the distance, 
except one person in turn, to take care of the house or younger 
children, and others to tend the cattle. After a late dinner, on 
their return, the family assembled around the master, who first 
catechised the children and then the servants. Each was re- 
quired to tell what he remembered of the religious services they 
had joined in at the house of God ; each repeated a portion of 
the Shorter Catechism ; and all were then examined on heads of 
divinity, from the mouth of the master. Throughout the whole 
of the sabbath, all worldly concerns, except such as necessity or 
mercy required to be attended to, were strictly laid aside ; and 
nothing was allowed to enter into conversation, save subjects of 
religion." Dr. Waugh-s Life. Such were the principles and 
character of the Seceders : and they were common in the kirks 
which possessed evangelical ministers. 

Amongst other steps taken by the Erskines, in order to 
strengthen the Secession, was their overture to Whitefield. 
Fraser's account of this negociation is, upon the whole, the most 
candid and complete that we possess. It hardly shows, however 
all the urgency of the Erskines to secure a monopoly of White- 
field's influence. Ralph's letter to him, of April 10, 1741, con- 
tains more than Fraser has quoted. The following appeals are 
omitted : " Come, if possible, dear Whitefield, come, and come 
to us also. There is no face on earth I would desire more 
earnestly to see. Yet I would desire it only in a way that, I 
think, would tend most to the advancing of our Lord's kingdom, 
and the reformation work, among oar hands. Such is the situ- 
ation of affairs among us, that unless you came with a design to 
meet and abide with us, particularly of the Associate Presbytery, 
and to make your public appearances in the places especially of 
their concern, — I would dread the consequences of your coming, 
lest it should seem equally to countenance our persecutors. 
Your fame would occasion a flocking to you, to whatever side 
you turn ; and if it should be in their pulpits, as no doubt some 
of them would urge, we know how it would be improven against 
us. — I know not with whom you could safely join yourself, if not 



224 



whitefield's life and times. 



with us. 5 ' Oliphanfs Whitefield, Edin. 1826. To all such 
appeals, Whitefield's answer was, et I come only as an occasional 
preacher, to preach the simple gospel to all that are willing to 
hear me, of whatever denomination. I write this, that there 
may be no misunderstanding between us." Letters. With this 
key, the following documents from Fraser will be as intelligible 
as they are interesting. 

Mr. Erskine sustained a heavy disappointment when White- 
field refused to co-operate with him in the manner asked and 
expected. " Having received favourable accounts respecting 
the character and doctrine of this celebrated man, and the ex- 
traordinary success of his ministry in England and America, he 
affectionately invited him to make a visit to Scotland, and to 
unite his efforts with those of the Associate Presbytery, in pro- 
moting the interests of truth and godliness. A letter from Mr. 
Erskine to Mr. Whitefield, a short-hand copy of which we have 
discovered in his 38th Note-book, throws some light on the views 
and motives which influenced him and his brethren in giving 
him that invitation. Several expressions are illegible. We 
give the following extracts :" Fraser } s Life of Erskine. 

" Hilldown, near Dunbar, June, 1741. 

" Rev. and very dear brother, 
I inclined much to have written you as soon as I heard of 
your return to England ; but I was at a loss for want of a direc- 
tion, till I received yours from Bristol, of the 16th of May, which 
was very acceptable. Though I have not yet seen your last 
journal, yet I have heard of it, and of the great things God has 
done for you and by you in the American world, and at home 
also, in this island of the sea ; which brings that doxology to 
mind — ' Thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph 
in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by 
us in every place.' May you be enabled more and more to be 
joyful in his salvation, and in the name of your God to set up 
your banner. The banner which God has given you to display, 
because of truth, is far more glorious than that of (Admiral) Ver- 
non. But I know that you are disposed to say, 4 Not I, but the 



whitefield's life and times. 



225 



grace of God in me ' Not unto us, but unto thy name be the 
glory.' 

" How desirable would it be to all the sincere lovers of Jesus 
Christ in Scotland, to see him ' travelling in the greatness of his 
strength ' among us also in your ministrations ! Truth falls in 
our streets. Equity cannot enter into our ecclesiastical courts. 
As our Assembly did last year eject us from our churches, and 
exclude us from our ministry and legal maintenance, for lifting 
up our reformation testimony ; so, from all I can hear, they have 
this year, in May last, appointed several violent intrusions 
to be made upon christian congregations ; whereby the flock of 
Christ is scattered more and more upon the mountains ; for a 
stranger will they not follow, who know the Shepherd's voice. 
The wandering sheep come with their bleatings to the Associate 
Presbytery ; whereby our work is daily increasing, in feeding 
and rallying our Master's flock, scattered and offended by the 
established church. 

" From this short glimpse of the state of matters among us, 
you wull easily see what reason the Associate Presbytery have to 
say, Come over to Scotland and help us ; come up to the help of 
the Lord against the mighty ; for the enemy comes in like a 
flood, but I hope the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard 
against him. We hear that God is with you of a truth, and 
therefore we wish for as intimate a connexion with you in the 
Lord as possible, for building up the fallen tabernacle of David 
in Britain ; and particularly in Scotland, when you shall be sent 
to us. This, dear brother, and no party views, is at the bottom 
of any proposal made by my brother Ralph, in his own name, 
and in the name of his associate brethren. It would be very 
unreasonable to propose or urge that you should incorporate as 
a member of our Presbytery, and wholly embark in every branch 
of our reformation, unless the Father of lights were clearing 
your way thereunto ; which we pray he may enlighten in his 
time, so as you and we may see eye to eye. All intended by us 
at present is, that, when you come to Scotland, your way may 
be such as not to strengthen the hands of our corrupt clergy and 
judicatories, who are carrying on a course of defection, worrying 
out a faithful ministry from the land, and the power of religion 

Q 



226 



whitefield's life and times. 



with it. * * * * Far be it from us to limit your great 
Master's commission to preach the gospel to every creature. 
We ourselves preach the gospel to all promiscuously who are 
willing to hear us. But we preach not upon the call and invi- 
tation of the ministers, but of the people, which, I suppose, is 
your own practice now in England ; and should this also be 
your way when you come to Scotland, it could do the Associate 
Presbytery no manner of harm. But if, besides, you could find 
freedom to company with us, to preach with us and for us, and 
to accept of our advices in your work, while in this country, it 
might contribute much to weaken the enemy's hand, and to 
strengthen ours in the work of the Lord, when the strength of 
the battle is against us. 

" These things I only propose with all submission. The Lord 
himself, I pray and hope, will direct you to such a course and 
conduct as shall be for his own glory, and the edification of his 
church every where, and particularly among us in Scotland. 
We, in this country, are generally a lifeless, lukewarm, and up- 
sitten generation. What a blessing would it be to us, if your 
visit should be attended with such fruits and effects as at Bos- 
ton ; an account of which I have read in your last to my brother 
Ralph — which yields great matter of thanksgiving. 

" I am truly sorry for the Wesleyans — to see them so far left 
to themselves. I have seen your letter to them, and praise the 
Lord on your behalf, who enables you to stand up so valiantly 
for the truth, and with so much light and energy. May his 
truth be more and more your shield and buckler. 

I am, your unworthy and affectionate brother, 

Ebenezer Erskine." 

This letter had been preceded by one from Ralph Erskine, 
the brother and coadjutor of Ebenezer. 

" Dunfermline, Aug. 21, 1739. 
" Reverend and very dear Sir, 
Yours, dated July 23rd, was most acceptable; and I would 
have answered it by the first post, as you propose, but that, as 
it lay about eight days in my house before I was at home to 



whitefield's life and times. 



227 



receive it, so I delayed a few days thereafter, as I was to meet 
with my brethren of the Associate Presbytery, to whom I com- 
municated your line, and Mr. William Seward's, and at the 
same time gave to each of them a copy of your last journal, as 
a present from you. I received nine of them at Burntisland, 
where we then were. I received also, much about the same 
time, six of your last sermon, on John viL 37 ; some of which, with 
some of the former, I also gave to some of the brethren. And 
as I return you hearty thanks for these presents, so my brethren 
received them as tokens of that love and kindness which you 
express in such affectionate terms, in the close of your letter to 
me, as gave them very much pleasure and satisfaction, and 
tended to increase and inflame their love more and more to you. 
Your being opposed for owning us, and your maintaining such 
a regard for us, give ground to hope and expect that you will 
receive no information about us to our disadvantage, unless or 
until you have account thereof from ourselves, since you have 
laid such a foundation of kindly correspondence with us. 

" I have some acquaintance with Mr. Davidson in Edinburgh, 
whom you mention, and was glad to hear he had sent you Mr. 
Boston's books. However, he has not had so much communi- 
cation with us, as I hear he has with you, since he began to 
sway towards the independent or congregational way, which he 
has for some time been active to promote, though otherwise, I 
hope, a good and well-disposed man. Meantime, by whatever 
hand you please to send any print, (expecting, by the first occa- 
sion, to see the appendix, if published,) it can scarce fail to come 
safe, if but directed as your letters are. I have given orders to 
send you the prints relating to our public affairs in the Asso- 
ciate Presbytery ; and in case of your absence, they are to come 
to Mr. Seward or Mr. John Wesley. 

" I have now read your journals and sermons ; and I can assure 
you, with reference to the whole work in general, and the main 
scope of it, my soul has been made to magnify the Lord for the 
very great things he has done for you and by you ; and I rejoice 
to see you ascribe all to the free grace of God in Christ, and that 
he has so remarkably raised you up to testify against the errors 
and corruptions of the times, to rouse and awaken a secure gene- 

Q 2 



228 



whitefield's life and times. 



ration, and to bring such a number of sinners from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God. If I shall speak 
of any particulars wherein we differ, it shall only be to show 
the greatness of my love to you, by the greatness of the freedom 
I use with you ; also to prevent after-mistakes, and to promote 
unfeigned love, which can both cover a multitude of infirmities, 
and overlook a number of differences — not by quite concealing 
them, which might bring love under a suspicion, but by a 
friendly mentioning of them, which may prove it to be without 
dissimulation. 

" Though we desire to cover with the mantle of love all the 
differences betwixt you and us that flow from your education in 
the church of England, and adore the merciful providence of 
God, who has so far enlightened and qualified you and your 
brethren to be witnesses for him and instruments of reforma- 
tion, yet we hope the more this work is of God, the more will 
it tend to bring about a happy union in the Lord betwixt you 
and us, not only in a private and personal, but even in a more 
public and general way. My brethren and I, that have had 
occasion here to confer about you, see a beauty in the provi- 
dence of your being in communion with the English church. 
Otherwise such great confluences from among them had not 
attended your ministry, nor consequently received the benefit 
or reaped the advantage which so many of them have done. 
And though infinite wisdom has made, and may yet make, this 
an alluring bait to draw them forth, yet as England's reforma- 
tion at first, (from popery and its superstitious and ceremonial 
services,) however great and glorious, was far from being so 
full as that of some other protestant churches, particularly that 
of Scotland ; so we would fain hope that when a new and general 
reformation shall be set on foot, some more at least of the rags 
of that Romish church shall be dropt, such as (abstracting at 
present from the subject of church government) many useless 
rites and customs relating to worship, which have no Scriptural 
foundation. This is what some of the most pious and learned 
divines of your communion have wished to see reformed, know- 
ing that many of these were retained at first, only under the 
view of reforming gradually and from some prudential consider- 



whitefield's life and times. 



229 



ations ; and knowing also that the continued retaining of these 
things, which the reforming fathers designed gradually to cast 
off, has been more stumbling to the friends, than ever it was 
gaming to the enemies, of the Reformation. Therefore, though 
Providence at present be making a good use of your being, ac- 
cording to your light, of that way, yet when you are beginning, 
as it were, to lay a new foundation, may the Lord, in due time, 
enable you to guard against such things as may afterwards 
prove a hinderance to a multitude of tender christians, their 
holding communion with you, as has been the case formerly. 
Principiis obsta, is a caution most necessary in many cases. 
What the great and famous reformer Luther retained from his 
original Romish education, proved a sad dividing snare among 
the protestant churches ; and since, by the good hand of God 
upon you, you are so well occupied in dashing down bigotry and 
party zeal, I hope the hint I here give you on this head will 
be the more agreeable. The first and main business, no doubt, 
is to lay the foundation of saving faith by preaching the pure 
truths and precious doctrines of the everlasting gospel, which 
(glory to God) you are so busy about, and we, I hope, are join- 
ing heart and hand with you. 

" Very dear Sir, if you and your brethren, whom I honour and 
esteem in the Lord as his eminent witnesses, shall judge the 
freedom I have here used already to be rash or unseasonable, 
the least challenge of this sort from you shall be to me as ex- 
cellent oil which shall not break my head ; for I think I would 
choose to suffer many miseries rather than choose to offend you. 
But, hoping my freedom shall rather be taken as a mark of 
that kindness of which my heart is full, I proceed to tell you 
what may be reckoned exceptionable in the last journal, though, 
at the same time, the wonders of divine grace therein recorded 
were most savoury to me, and to all I have spoken with upon 
it, and will, I hope, stir up many to prayer and praise. Your 
opinion about the business of the attorney has I hear been 
written of to you already, and therefore I shall say nothing of 
it. The correction you gave to your opinion of its unlawfulness 
by adding " at least exceedingly dangerous," satisfied me. 
Some have thought your love and charity extended a little too 



230 



whitefield's life and times. 



far beyond the Scripture rule in some instances ; such as Jour- 
nal last, page 59th, where you say the quakers' notions about 
walking and being led by the Spirit, you think are right and 
good. Unless they be quakers of another stamp than the rest, 
whose dangerous tenets are inconsistent with the right notion 
of being led by the Spirit, while, beside other things, they deny 
justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ, or his 
active and passive obedience received by faith, to be the only 
ground of justification before God ; and while thus they cannot 
receive Jesus Christ, they consequently cannot walk in him, 
nor be led by his Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, testifying of 
Christ according to the revelation made of him in the word, 
which they contradict. Whatever duties of love you perform 
towards these men, I will never believe you mean or intend to 
justify their principles and delusive notions. 

" There is a passage in the same book, page 83d, that has 
been improven against us and our secession from the judicato- 
ries ; which yet, when I read it over again, seems to show to 
me how much you are of our mind, and that you would take the 
same course had you been in the same situation. You very 
justly, I think, express your dissatisfaction with three of your 
brethren that were driven to deny Christ's visible church upon 
earth, and show that needless separation from the established 
church would no doubt be attended with ill consequences ; and 
you judge of the state of a church, not from the practice of its 
members, but from its primitive and public constitution. Hence 
to me it would seem that if even the plurality of its members 
meeting judicially should contradict its primitive and public 
constitution, you would see fit to leave them and cleave to the 
said constitution ; which is the case with us in our secession 
from the present judicatories of the established church of Scot- 
land. Such seem to be the defects, it is true, of your eccle- 
siastical government in England, that, unless in the case of 
a convocation, you can never boast of an ecclesiastical and ju- 
dicial cleaving unto, nor complain of a judicial seceding from, 
the primitive public constitution. But as I make no question 
but, in that case, you would find (as matters are at present 
stated in England) there would be defections of the same sort 



whitefield's life and times. 



231 



with you as there are with us, and consequently that you would 
see need to take the same course that we of the Associate Pres- 
bytery do ; so while you want the same advantages for seeing 
clearly when it is that defections are become national and judi- 
cial, and when there is a universal practical departure from 
the Scriptural principles of the church you profess yourselves to 
be of, it is a question how far it is consonant with the word of 
God to maintain close communion with those of that church 
who are either subverting its primitive public constitution, or 
openly and avowedly denying the foresaid principles. 

" Since right communion is founded on union in the truth, 
at least by some open profession of it, which most of your 
clergy seem to have little of, while they excommunicate you 
and your brethren from the use of their churches ; however well 
ordered this also is in providence for good, yet it discovers 
them to be what they are. You likewise add that so long as 
the Articles of the [church of England are agreeable to Scrip- 
ture, you resolve to preach them up, without either bigotry or 
party zeal. This I heartily approve of, and this is the case with 
us also. We preach up and defend, doctrinally and judicially, 
those articles of the church of Scotland agreeable to the Scrip- 
tures, which the judicatories are letting go. Hence, I conclude, 
you seem to be just of our mind as to separation from an 
established church. We never declared a secession from the 
church of Scotland, but, on the contrary, only a secession from 
the judicatories, in their course of defection from the primitive 
and covenanted constitution, to which we stood also bound by 
our ordination engagements. And hence, to this day, we never 
did quit our charges or congregations, to which we were ordain- 
ed by the imposition of the hands of our several respective pres- 
byteries, nor did we ever design, unless we were obliged by vio- 
lence or compulsion, so to do. 

" As to your sermons, dear Sir, I am ashamed you should 
mention my approbation of them, as if it were of any signi- 
ficancy. The general strain of your doctrine I love, admire, 
and relish, with all my soul, and hope, through the blessing of 
God, it will do much service. And, as to some particular ex- 
pressions which I myself could not have used, my love to you, 



232 



whitefield's life and times.. 



and my view of the countenance of Heaven with you, made me 
to put such a favourable gloss upon them as to discern no odds 
betwixt you and us. But since I am using all the kind freedom 
I can, I shall give you some instances : 

" ' Almost Christian/ penult page. — ' We shall then look back 
on our past sincere and hearty services which have procured us 
so valuable a reward.' This I could by no means interpret, as 
if you meant it to the detriment of the doctrine of heaven's 
being a reward of grace in Christ Jesus, and not of debt to our 
services, or of eternal life its being the gift of God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 

" ' Sermon on Justification by Christ,' at the close. — ' Do but 
labour to attain that holiness, without which no man shall see 
the Lord, and then, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
white as snow.' 1 could by no means think that this was in- 
tended any way to thwart the doctrine of free remission of sins 
by the blood and righteousness of Christ only, which is the sub- 
ject of the preceding sermon ; or to make sanctification or la- 
bouring after holiness, which is the fruit and evidence, to be the 
root, ground, cause, or condition of forgiveness. No ; I take 
your view to be, that in this way of labouring to attain holiness, 
people would evidence to themselves and others, that they were 
pardoned persons in Christ, or that they could not maintain 
the knowledge or assurance of it but in this way of holiness. 

" f Sermon on Phil. iii. 10,' page 14. — ' He has passed from 
death to life, and shall never, if he stir up the gift of God that 
is in him, fall into condemnation.' This 'if here, I did not 
interpret as favouring the Arminian error against the certainty 
of the perseverance of saints that are once savingly united to 
Christ by faith of the operation of God, and passed from death 
to life ; but rather viewed it as favouring the gospel doctrine 
concerning the connexion betwixt the means and the end, and 
the necessity of the one in order to the other, though both are 
secured by promise to a believer in Christ. 

" I was told by one, that in some part of your works you 
speak of justification by the act of believing ; but as I noticed 
nothing of this in the prints, so I affirmed that you had not so 
learned Christ, as to put the Arminian to credere, or any thing 



whitefield's life and times. 



233 



done by us, or wrought in us, in the room of Christ and his 
righteousness, or of his obedience and satisfaction, which alone 
received by faith, I was sure, from your writings, you would own 
to be the only matter and ground of justification. 

" Again, though I could not use the English of your Bone 
Dens, because profane persons here sometimes swear in these 
terms, yet, as I know it is common among your writers, so I 
judge nothing is intended by it but a note of astonishment. 

" Though some of these remarks are perhaps but trifling, and 
not so material as others of them, I have noted all down, that 
I may keep nothing back from you that in the least occurred 
to my mind of any seeming dissonancy betwixt us in words. 
Yet I judged, that, under various ways of speaking, we meant 
the same thing, and point at the same end ; and I can say be- 
fore the Lord, I not only approve of your sermons and journals, 
but see much matter of praise to God for them. I see much of 
the glory and majesty of God, and many of the stately steps 
and goings of our mighty King Jesus in them, and have at times, 
with tears of joy, adored his name for what he is doing for you 
and by you, and I pray for the continuance and advancement of 
that work of God. I rejoice that the Lord's work is going on 
with you, and that days of power continue. May it do so till all 
the powers of darkness give way to it, and till every Dagon fall 
before the ark of God ! 

" Your way of arguing against the apostatizing clergy of your 
church in your last sermon, even from the instances drawn out 
of your service-book, may be to them, I think, arguments ad 
hominem. May the Lord bless it for their conviction, and for 
awakening them out of their spiritual lethargy. 

" When I consider how you and your brethren are stirred up 
of God to such a remarkable way of witnessing for him in Eng- 
land against the corruptions and defections of that church, and 
when we of the Associate Presbytery have been called forth in 
a judicial way to witness against the corruptions and defections 
of the church of Scotland, and both at a juncture when popish 
powers are combining together against us, and desolating judg- 
ments are justly threatened from Heaven, — there is perhaps 
more in the womb of providence relating to our several situa- 



234 



whitefield's life and times. 



tions and successes therein than we are aware of. What he 
cloth we know not now, but we may know hereafter. If he be 
gathering his birds together before a storm, according to the 
call, Zeph. i. 1 — 3, and Isa. xxvi. 20, 21, glory to him who doth 
all things well. 

" We have lately been attending several sacramental solem- 
nities in our brethren's congregations, where vast multitudes of 
people were assembled at the tents without doors as well as in 
the church, and I never found more of the presence of God 
than at some of these occasions. The Spirit of God was some- 
times remarkably poured out, and I hope the power of the Lord 
was present to heal many souls. Enemies gnash with their 
teeth, as they do with you, but the Lord carries on his work. 
My brethren salute you most affectionately, they love and respect 
you in the Lord. Now, very dear Sir, I have in this long letter 
opened my very heart unto you, and told you the very worst 
thought that ever entered into it concerning you ; which I 
could not have done, if it were not filled with love to you. 
And it loves you because you love Christ, and he loves you and 
honours you ; and I hope he will spare and honour you more 
and more, to be a happy instrument in his hand for advancing 
his kingdom, and pulling down the throne of iniquity. May the 
weapons of your warfare be more and more mighty through 
God for that end. 

I am, Rev. and dear Sir, 
Yours, most affectionately in our blessed Immanuel, 

Ralph Erskine. 

" I salute the worthy Se wards and Wesleys in the Lord." 

This long and open-hearted epistle afforded great satisfaction to 
Whitefield ; as appears from the following extract of his reply : — 

REV. G. WHITEFIELD, TO MR. RALPH ERSKINE. 

" Savannah, Jan. 16th, 1740. 

" Rev. and dear Sir, 

With much pleasure, though not till last week, I received 
your kind, affectionate letter. I thank you for it with all my 



whitefield 's life and times. 



235 , 



soul, and pray God to reward you for this, and all other your 
works of faith and labours of love. You may depend on my 
not being prejudiced against you or your brethren by any evil 
report. They only endear you to me more and more; and 
were your enemies to represent you as black as hell, I should 
think you were the more glorious in the sight of Heaven. Your 
sweet criticisms and remarks on my journal and sermons were 
exceedingly acceptable and very just. I assure you, dear Sir, 
I am fully convinced of the doctrine of election, free justification, 
and final perseverance. My observations on the quakers were 
only intended for those particular persons with whom I then 
conversed. The tenets of the quakers, in general, about justifi- 
cation, I take to be false and unscriptural. Your adversaries 
need take no advantage against you by any thing I have written, 
for I think it every minister's duty to declare against the cor- 
ruptions of that church to which they belong, and not to look 
upon those as true members of their communion, who deny its 
public constitutions. This is your case in Scotland and ours 
in England. I see no other way for us to act at present than to 
go on preaching the truth as it is in J esus ; and then, if our 
brethren cast us out, God will direct us to that course which is 
most conducive to his glory and his people's good. I think I 
have but one objection against your proceedings — your in- 
sisting only on presbyterian government, exclusive of all other 

ways of worshipping God. Your welfare is much upon my 

heart ; and, as I am enabled, I make mention of you in my 
prayers. 

Your weak unworthy brother, 

and fellow-labourer in Christ, 

George Whitefield." 

In a letter of nearly the same date, addressed to Mr. Gilbert 
Tennent, Whitefield, alluding to the above communication, says, 
" Since my arrival here, I have received a sweet, endearing, and 
instructive letter from Mr. Ralph Erskine." 

About two months, however, prior to the receipt of this "en- 
dearing " letter, Whitefield had despatched three letters from 
Philadelphia ; one to the Associate Presbytery, a second to 



236 



whitefield's life and times. 



Ebenezer Erskine, and a third to Ralph ; in all of which he 
solicits information about the constitution and covenants of the 
Scotch kirk, and especially about the Cameronians : a bishop 
having called the seceders by that name, and thus made him 
somewhat jealous of their spirit. In subsequent letters, also, 
he repeats his determination to be " quite neuter " on the sub- 
ject of church government and reform in Scotland. 

Thus, never were men more prepared to love and welcome 
each other, than Whiten eld and the Erskines. He thought the 
Associate Presbytery " a little too hard upon " him, and Ralph 
too much on their side, in pressing him to "join them wholly 
but, otherwise, he had great confidence in both brothers, and 
they in him. On his arrival in Edinburgh, he accordingly resisted 
all applications made to him to preach there before he went to 
Dunfermline, although they were made to him by persons of the 
first distinction in the city. In a letter to a friend, he says, " I 
determined to give the Erskines the first offer of my poor mi- 
nistrations, as they gave me the first invitation to Scotland." 
Lett. 337, vol. I. Ralph says of him, " he came to me over the 
belly of vast opposition." Whitefield says, " I was received 
very lovingly at Dunfermline." 

So far the interview was mutually gratifying. Whitefield was 
surprised and delighted when he preached in the meeting-house, 
to an immense assembly, by the rustling of a host of Bibles all 
at once, as he gave out his text : " a scene," he says, " I never 
was witness to before ! " and Ralph was equally pleased with 
the sermon and the preacher. He wrote next day to Ebenezer 
thus ; " The Lord is evidently with him ;" and to Adam Gibb, 
(whose spirit seems to have been suspicious of Whitefield from 
the first,) " I have many pleasant things to say of him :" " I see 
the Lord is with him." 

Indeed, Ralph did every thing, wise and kind, in order to bring 
on a happy meeting between Whitefield and the Presbytery. 
He prepared Ebenezer for this by informing him, that White- 
field had " owned " to him, on the subject of his ordination, " that 
he would not have it again in that way for a thousand worlds ; 
but, then, he knew no other way." Eraser's Life of R. Erskine, 
p. 326. To Gibb he wrote, " He designs and desires to meet 



whitefield's life and times. 



237 



with the brethren. I expect he will call for you." Whilst Ralph 
thus conciliated the brethren, he was equally candid in telling 
them what they had to expect : " As to his preaching, he de- 
clares he can refuse no c;ll to preach, whoever gives it: were it 
a Jesuit or a Mahometan, he would embrace it for testifying 
against them." — " I find " (to Gibb) " his light leads him to 
preach, even at the call of those against whom he can freely tes- 
tify. I hope you will inform Mair and Hut ton." Fraser, 327. 

Such were the preliminary steps to an interview and negocia- 
tion, which Dr. Gillies (himself of the church party) has ab- 
ruptly introduced, and hastily dismissed, " as a conference to 
set Whitefield right about church government, and the solemn 
league and covenant." It certainly was about these points ; but 
as certainly not for the sake of these points, apart from the spi- 
ritual purposes they were intended to answer. Besides, neither 
the church government, nor the solemn league and covenant, 
were the inventions or the peculiarities of the Secession. Whe- 
ther good, bad, or indifferent things, they were the platform of 
the kirk of Scotland. Willison of Dundee, sustained by a num- 
ber of the clergy, testified as loudly at the time against " de- 
nying the lawfulness or obligation of our national covenant 
engagements," as Erskine and his brethren. Struthers's Hist. 
Scotland. And who does not see, that Dr. Gillies and his party, 
had they been negociating with Whitefield to join them, would 
just have begun as the Associate Presbytery did, by setting him 

right, about the same points ? " Indeed, Willison of Dundee 
did press the same points upon Whitefield, by letter ; and re- 
ceived from him much the same answer he gave to the seceders : 
" I wish you would not trouble yourself or me, in writing about 
the corruptions of the church of England. You seem not satis- 
fied, methinks, unless I openly renounce the church of England, 
and declare myself a presbyterian. Your letter gave me some 
little concern. I thought it breathed a sectarian spirit, to which 
I hoped dear Mr. W. was quite averse. I have shown my free- 
dom in communicating with the church of Scotland, and in bap- 
tizing children in their own way. / can go no further." Lett. 
p. 429. 

Thus the Secession were not the only sticklers for presbyte- 



238 



whitefield's life and times. 



nanism. They made it^ however, what the clergy did not, the 
condition of employing Whitefield. His own account of the 
negociation with the Presbytery, although graphic, is rather too 
humoursome for the gravity of history, when the facts affect a 
body of christians. Whilst, therefore, I admire the candour of 
Fraser in giving Whitefield's half-playful letter first, I prefer to 
give the Presbytery's own narrative first ; because the transac- 
tion involves their character most, and because their subsequent 
attacks on Whitefield were far more inexcusable than their treat- 
ment of him at Dunfermline. 

The official minutes of this conference are, I am afraid, irre- 
coverably lost. That they did exist is, however, evident from 
a letter to Gibb, from Ralph Erskine, requesting a copy of them. 
" I expected before this time a copy of the conversation we had 
with Mr. Whitefield in this place. I have some occasions that 
require my having it. Therefore, please send me, if you can, a 
copy with this post." Fraser s Life. 

This letter makes it highly probable, that the following ori- 
ginal memorandum, written about the time by Ebenezer Erskine, 
is substantially correct, so far as it goes. It was copied verba- 
tim from the short-hand characters of Erskine, in a note -book 
recently discovered by Fraser. 66 Here follows an account of a 
conversation held with Mr. Whitefield at Dunfermline, Wednes- 
day, Aug. 5th, 1741. The ministers of the Presbytery present 
were Messrs. Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, Mr. Moncrieff, Mr. 
Gibb, Messrs. Tliomas and James Mair, Mr. Clarkson ; and two 
elders, namely, Mr. James Wardlaw, and Mr. John Mowbray." 

" We, being advertised to be here this day, by a letter from 
Mr. Ralph Erskine, who had formed the tryst with Mr. White- 
field ; Mr. Ralph's letter bearing, that Mr. Whitefield desired 
the conference, &c. and that he had yielded so far to him, as to 
his episcopal ordination, that he would not take it again for a 
thousand worlds ; but at the time he knew no better. 

" Upon Tuesday night, when we arrived at the place, we 
waited upon Mr. W. at Mr. Erskine's house ; where and when 
we had some conversation about several things relating to the 
state of affairs in the church. 

" Wednesday forenoon, the ministers and elders above men- 



whitefield's life and times. 



239 



tioned, met with Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of a letter from 
Mr. Ralph Erskine, desiring they would have a conference with 
him : and they having met as above, a motion was made that 
Mr. Ebenezer Erskine pray before they entered upon conversa- 
tion. As Mr. Whitefield showed an inclination to proceed to a 
conference about toleration for a time, it was proposed, that, 
seeing toleration of all sects by a church is an opinion of his, as 
supported by some scriptures, — it was thought fit to consider, 
what is that form of government Christ has laid down in his 
word ? And, agreeably to this, Mr. Whitefield put the question, 
Whether presbyterian government be that which is agreeable to 
the pattern shown in the mount ? And supposing that it is, — 
if it excluded a toleration of such as independents, anabaptists, 
and episcopalians, among whom are good men ? 

" Mr. Ebenezer Erskine said to him, e Sir, God has made you 
an instrument of gathering a great multitude of souls to the 
faith and profession of the gospel of Christ, throughout England 
and in foreign parts : and now it is fit — that you should be con- 
sidering how that body is to be organized and preserved ; which 
cannot be done without following the example of Paul and Bar- 
nabas, who, when they had gathered churches by preaching the 
gospel, visited them again, and ordained over them elders in 
every city ; which you cannot do alone, without some two or 
three met together in a judicative capacity, in the name of the 
Lord.' 

" Unto all which Mr. Whitefield replied, (how like him !) 
that he reckoned it his present duty to go on in preaching the 
gospel, without proceeding to any such work. 

" It was urged, that it might please the Lord to call him (by 
death) ; and in that case, there being none other, the flock might 
be scattered, and fall into the hands of grievous wolves, without 
any to care for them. He said, that he being of the communion 
of the church of England, had none to join him in that work ; 
and that he had no freedom to separate from the church of 
England, until they did cast him out or excommunicate him." 

Here, unhappily, Erskine's memorandum closes ; and, to his 
honour, it contains no reflections upon the spirit of Whitefield, 
although he said some sharp things, which must have been not 



240 



whitefield's life and times. 



a little trying to the patience of stanch presbyterians. Neither 
Whitefield nor the Presbytery, however, were so calm as they 
appear in this still-life picture ; Dr. Jamieson himself being the 
judge. When he animadverted upon Rowland Hill's " Journal 
of a Tour in Scotland/' he said, " That, after a good deal of rea- 
soning (there was some railing too) as to a particular form of 
church government being prescribed in Scripture, Mr. White- 
field, laying his hand on his heart, said, ( I do not find it here.' 
Mr. A. Moncrieif, who was of a warm temper, giving a rap on 
the Bible, which was lying on the table, said, ' But I find it 
here.' " The Doctor adds, " On this, if I mistake not, the con- 
versation terminated ; and it has still been asserted, that the 
proper ground of their giving up any connexion with Mr. White- 
field was — his denial that any particular form of church govern- 
ment was of divine authority ; and declaring his resolution to 
maintain this in his public ministrations." So thought and 
wrote Dr. Jamieson, who was not there : not so, however, did 
Whitefield think or write. I keep out of the question still, his 
playful letter, as it is called, because Fraser says, that " it has 
been eagerly appealed to by writers, who wished to expose the 
Associate Presbytery to ridicule and contempt." Besides, it 
was a letter to Noble of New York, in answer to one about a new 
synod by the Tennents ; and thus had a purpose to answer in 
America, which warranted, what Fraser calls, " its indications " 
of Whitefield's " constitutional vein for humour." None of 
these objections, if they be such, lie against the following letters ; 
which were written " weeping," and to men who knew the facts 
of the Dunfermline conference. Now, on the eighth day after it, 
Whitefield wrote thus to one of the sons of Ebenezer Erskine, 
at Stirling : " The treatment I met with from the Associate 
Presbytery was not altogether such as I expected. It grieved 
me, as much as it did you. I could scarce refrain from bursting 
into a flood of tears. I wish all were like-minded with your 
honoured father and uncle : matters would not then be carried 
on with so high a hand. Such violent methods — such a narrow 
way of acting — can never be the way to promote and enlarge 
the kingdom of our blessed Jesus. 

" It surely must be wrong to forbid even our hearing — those 



whitefield's life and times. 



241 



who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity, and have also been owned 
of him. Christ would not have done so. 

" Supposing the scheme of government for which the Asso- 
ciate Presbytery contend to be Scriptural ; yet, forbearance and 
long-suffering is to be exercised towards such as may differ from 
them. I am verily persuaded there is no such form of govern- 
ment prescribed in the book of God, as excludes a toleration 
of all other forms whatsoever. Were the Associate Presbytery 
scheme to take effect, they must, out of conscience, if they acted 
consistently, restrain and grieve, if not persecute, many of God's 
children, who could not possibly come in to their measures ; and 
I doubt not but their present violent methods, together with 
the corruptions of the Assembly, will cause many to become 
independents, and set up particular churches of their own. 
This was the effect of Archbishop Laud's acting with so high a 
hand : and whether it be presbytery or episcopacy, if managed 
in the same manner, it will be productive of the same effects. 
Blessed be God, I have not so learned Christ ! " Lett. 347. 
Would any man in his senses have written thus to David Er- 
skine, had there been nothing more violent at Dunfermline than 
MoncriefFs ra$> on the table ; or had nothing been insisted upon 
but the divine authority of presbytery ? This letter both im- 
plies and asserts the avowal of intolerance, on the part of all but 
the Erskines : and even they wanted to shackle Whitefield with 
all the links of their own chain of exclusiveness. Ralph forgot 
himself so far, as to suspect and insinuate, in a letter, that 
Whitefield temporized for the sake of the orphans. This fact 
does not appear in the (i previous jottings, which show the scope 
of that letter ;" (Fraser ;) but it appears in the dignified and in- 
dignant answer : " Indeed, dear Sir, you mistake if you think I 
temporize on account of the orphans. Be it far from me \ I 
abhor the very thought of it. I proceed now, — just as I have 
done, ever since I came out in the ministry." Lett. 350. 

Even the "jottings " charge Whitefield (in " sorrow " indeed) 
with " coming harnessed with a resolution, to stand out against 

every thing that might be said against and with not 

" lying open to light," but " declining conversation on that 
head." Now, whatever this mean, the answer is unequivocal : 

R 



242 



whitefield's life and times. 



" I thank you for your kind letter. I believe it proceeded from 
love ; but, as yet, I cannot think the solemn league and cove- 
nant any way binding upon me. You seem to think, I am not 
open to light. That I may give you satisfaction on that head, 
I am willing to confer with Mr. W at Perth, on Thurs- 
day, Sept. 3rd." Ibid. Whitefield takes no notice of the charge 
of " coming harnessed " to the conference. Perhaps Erskine 
softened it in the letter. If this was not the case, then White- 
field did not condescend to notice it. Something equivalent, 
however, was in the letter. Erskine says of it, to Gibb, " I 
have sent Mr. Whitefield this day a letter, wherein I used much 
plainness with him, on account of his declining conversation 
with us upon church government, and upon the influence I 
dreaded he is now under ; — although all my plainness was in the 
most kindly way." Fraser, p. 335. 

Fraser refers this " influence and harnessing " to " prejudices 
infused into Whitefield's mind against the ministers of the Se- 
cession, and the cause in which they had embarked, at the very 
moment of his first landing in Scotland." In proof of this, he 
quotes the fact, that Whitefield was (C met and entertained at 
Edinburgh, by Dr. Webster and some of his brethren ; from 
whom he learned the state of church prejudices and parties in 
Scotland." There can be no doubt of the truth of this. It is, 
however, equally true, that he found the Associate Presbytery 
to be as intolerant as their enemies had represented them : and 
if any thing worse was said against them, in his hearing, it did 
not prevent him from visiting them, nor from treating them as 
brethren in Christ. Even in his playful letter (which I now 
subjoin) there is as much kindliness as humour. 

TO MR. THOMAS NOBLE, AT NEW YORK. 

" Edinburgh, Aug. 8th, 1741. 

" My dear brother, 
I have written you several letters ; and I rejoice to hear 
that the work of the Lord prospers in the hands of Messrs. Ten- 
nents, &c. ; am glad they intend to meet in a synod by them- 
selves. Their catholic spirit will do good. The Associate 
Iresbytery here are so confined, that they will not so much as 



whitefield's life and times. 243 

hear me preach, unless I only will join with them. Mr. Ralph 

E , indeed, did hear me, and went up with me into the 

pulpit of the Canongate church. The people were ready to 
shout for joy ; but, I believe, it gave offence to his associates. 
I met most of them, according to appointment, on Wednesday 
last — a set of grave, venerable men ! They soon agreed to form 
themselves into a presbytery, and were proceeding to choose a 
moderator. — I asked them for what purpose ? They answered, 
to discourse, and set me right, about the matter of church go- 
vernment, and the solemn league and covenant. I replied, they 
might save themselves that trouble, for I had no scruples about 
it ; and that settling church government, and preaching about 
the solemn league and covenant, was not my plan. I then told 
them something of my experience, and how I was led out into 
my present way of acting. One in particular said, he was deeply 

affected ; and the dear Mr. E desired they would have 

patience with me, for that, having been born and bred in Eng- 
land, and never studied the point, I could not be supposed to be 
so perfectly acquainted with the nature of their covenants. One, 
much warmer than the rest, immediately replied, ' that no in- 
dulgence was to be shown me ; that England had revolted most 
with respect to church government ; and that I, born and edu- 
cated there, could not but be acquainted with the matter now 
in debate.' I told him, I had never yet made the solemn league 
and covenant the object of my study, being too busy about mat- 
ters, as I judged, of greater importance. Several replied, that 
every pin of the tabernacle was precious. — I said, that in 
every building there were outside and inside workmen ; that 
the latter, at present, was my province ; that if they thought 
themselves called to the former, they might proceed in their own 
way, and I should proceed in mine. I then asked them seriously, 
what they would have me to do ; the answer was, that I was not 
desired to subscribe immediately to the solemn league and co- 
venant ; but to preach only for them till I had farther light. 

I asked, why only for them ? Mr. Ralph E said, ' they 

were the Lord's people.' I then asked, whether there were no 
other Lord's people but themselves ? and supposing all others 
were the devil's people, they certainly had more need to be 

u 2 



244 



vvhitefield's life and times. 



preached to, and therefore I was more and more determined to 
go out into the highways and hedges ; and that if the pope him- 
self would lend me his pulpit, I would gladly proclaim the right- 
eousness of J esus Christ therein. Soon after this, the company 
broke up ; and one of these, otherwise venerable men, immedi- 
ately went into the meeting-house, and preached upon these 
words, ' Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of the 
night ? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the 
night, if ye will inquire, inquire ye ; return, come. 5 I attended ; 
but the good man so spent himself in the former part of his ser- 
mon, in talking against prelacy, the common-prayer book, the 
surplice, the rose in the hat, and such like externals, that when 
he came to the latter part of his text, to invite poor sinners to 
Jesus Christ, his breath was so gone, that he could scarce be 
heard. What a pity that the last was not first, and the first 
last ! The consequence of all this was, an open breach. I re- 
tired, I wept, I prayed, and after preaching in the fields, sat 
down and dined with them, and then took a final leave. At 
table, a gentlewoman said, she had heard that I had told some 
people, that the Associate Presbytery were building a Babel. 
I said, 1 Madam, it is quite true ; and I believe the Babel will 
soon fall down about their ears :' but enough of this. Lord, 
what is man, what the best of men, but men at the best ? I 
think I have now seen an end of all perfection. Our brethren 
in America, blessed be God, have not so learned Christ. Be 
pleased to inform them of this letter." 

Now, certainly, had it not been for the use made of this letter 
by the enemies of the Secession, — who interpreted the prophecy, 
and wielded the wit of it wantonly, — it requires no apology. It 
is as true as it is graphic ; not, perhaps, to the very letter of the 
scene, but to the spirit of it. It just embodies, in lively forms, 
the very ideas suggested by the preceding details. Even the 
prophecy in it was sufficiently fulfilled, to accredit the foresight 
of Whitefield. Enough of what was " Babel " in the synod, 
soon fell down " about their ears." The division of the Seces- 
sion, in 1747, into burghers and antiburghers, with the bitter 
controversy it originated, was more than enough to justify the 



whitefield's life and times. 



245 



prediction. Even Fraser applies to that sharp contention fa- 
ther Paul's proverb, that " In verbal contentions, the smallness 
of the difference often nourishes the obstinacy of the parties." 
It was not, therefore, necessary to rebut Whitefield's prophecy, 
even if it was uttered with " oracular solemnity," by the fact, 
that the edifice of the Secession " has now lasted for almost a 
century," and was not te so obnoxious to the frowns of Heaven, 
as that good man imagined." Fraser 's E. Erskine. Had that 
" good man " seen it as it now subsists, he would have been as 
ready as Fraser or Jamieson to say, " the Secession church has 
become a fair, strong, and extensive fabric, — in no great danger 
of soon tumbling into ruins." Ibid. 

The bad use made of this far-famed letter, by Sir Harry Mon- 
criefF and others, in order to ridicule the Secession, and carica- 
ture its venerable founders, has tempted Fraser to find more 
fault with the letter than it is really chargeable with, or than 
he could justify. Hence he has quoted from a Review of Sir 
Harry's Life in ee The Christian Repository," the unchristian 
assertion, that " no one, who knew any thing of Ralph Erskine, 
will for a moment believe that he would have said of the Se- 
ceders, ' we are the Lord's people.' " It is believed by many 
who know and believe that Ralph Erskine, a year before this 
time, and many times in later years, said, " We are far from 
thinking all are Christ's friends that join with us, or that all 
are His enemies that do not. No, indeed ! This would be to 
cast off all that have Christ's image — unless they have our 
image too." Fraser. 

There is so much candour characterizes Fraser's version of 
these transactions, that I am unwilling to criticize his narrative. 
It is, however, impossible to agree with him in his conclusion — 
" that considerate and unbiassed judges will see cause, on the 
whole, to conclude that Mr. Whitefield and the Associate Pres- 
bytery parted in a manner, which has left no credit to either 
party." Neither the manner nor the spirit of Whitefield's part- 
ing reflects any discredit upon him. 

In Edinburgh the issue of this negociation was waited for 
with more than curiosity. The clergy welcomed Whitefield's 
return to their pulpits in the city as a triumph to the kirk : and 



246 



whitefield's life and times. 



it was a triumph at the time. As such, however, he cared no- 
thing about it. He forgot, equally, the joy of the kirk, and the 
mortification of the chapel, in seeking the triumphs of the cross. 
Whilst churchmen were pluming themselves on their gain, and 
seceders trying to despise their loss, he was singing with Paul, 
" Now thanks unto God, who always causeth us to triumph 
in Christ, and maketh manifest by us the savour of His know- 
ledge in every place." It was manifested in Edinburgh, and 
became " the savour of life unto life " to very many in all ranks. 
For some weeks he preached twice or thrice every day in the 
churches, and renewed in the orphan-house park the scenes of 
Moorfields and Blackheath. He obtained also £500 for his 
orphans, in money or goods. 

The latter was a timely help to him. How much he felt this 
will be best told by himself. In a letter to Mr. Habersham, he 
says, " O my dear friend, how faithful is the Lord J esus ! He 
has enabled me to pay my brother, and Mr. Noble's bill of £300. 
I have sent you £70 worth of different sorts of goods to be dis- 
posed of, and the money applied to the orphan-house. I have 
sent also six hundred yards of cloth, a present of my own, to 
make the boys and girls gowns and coats. You will find some 
damask table cloths, which I desire you will sell, they being too' 
good, in my opinion, for our use." 

Whitefield could not appreciate the moral value of this last 
gift ; but all Scotchmen well understand the sacrifice made by 
Scotchwomen, in thus contributing damask nappery ! It was 
next to parting with their wedding ring. Had he known this, 
he would not have sold the table cloths ! 

Such presents in money or goods were new things in Edin- 
burgh then, and, of course, misrepresented by many. Some 
were alarmed, lest he should " impoverish the country ! " His 
answer to all insinuations of this kind was, " I value them not 
in the least. My largest donations are from the rich and sub- 
stantial. The mites which the lower sort of the people have 
given, will not prevent them from paying their debts, nor impo- 
verish their families." When, however, it was proposed to make 
a contribution in Edinburgh for himself, although privately, he 
changed his tone, and said, — " I know nothing of— and will not 



whitefield's life and times. 



24? 



admit of any such thing ! I make no purse. What I have I 
give away. ' Poor, yet making many rich/ shall be my motto 
still." Letter. 

Whitefield's own accounts of the success of the gospel in 
Edinburgh at this time, although flaming, are not exaggerated. 
Dr. Muir, who witnessed the effect, says, " Upon the whole, we 
hope there is such a flame kindled, as shall never be extin- 
guished. The ministers are learning to speak with new 
tongues." Edin. Memoir. The only drawback upon the fol- 
lowing accounts is, an appearance of vanity, when the nobility 
are mentioned ; and of flattery, when they are addressed. Dr. 
Southey says truly, that " Wesley would not have written in this 
strain:" but it is equally true, that Jeremy Taylor, and Dr. 
Donne, wrote both letters and dedications quite as fulsome, and 
more servile ; and which e( might well provoke disgust and in- 
dignation, were not the real genius and piety of the writers be- 
yond all doubt." Southey s Wesley, p. 360, vol. 2. 

To Habersham, Whitefield writes from Edinburgh thus, 
" God is pleased to bless my ministrations here in an abundant 
manner. The little children in the hospitals are much wrought 
upon. Saints have been stirred up and edified, and many others, 
I believe, translated from darkness to light. The good that 
has been done is inexpressible. I am intimate with three no- 
blemen, and several ladies of quality, who have a great liking 
for the things of God. I am now writing in an earl's house, 
(Melville,) surrounded by fine furniture ; but, glory be to free 
grace, my soul is in love only with Jesus." 

y - To Cennick he wrote, " This day Jesus enabled me to preach 
seven times ; notwithstanding, I am as fresh as when I arose in 
the morning. Both in the church and park the Lord was with 
us. The girls in the hospital were exceedingly affected. One 
of the mistresses told me, that she is now awakened in the 
morning by the voice of prayer and praise ; and the master of 
the boys says, that they meet together every night to sing and 
pray. The presence of God at the old people's hospital was 
really very wonderful. The Holy Spirit seemed to come down 
like a rushing mighty wind. The mourning of the people was 
like the weeping in the valley of Hadadrimmon. Every day I 



248 



whitefield's life and times. 



hear of some fresh good wrought by the power of God. I scarce 
know how to leave Scotland." 

Thus the rich and the poor, the young and the old, not only 
heard him gladly, but melted down alike under his preaching ; 
and that — in Scotland, where the melting mood is not predo- 
minant. And then, Whitefield's doctrine was not new to them 
as a people, as it was to the English. Why, therefore, do we 
see nothing of this kind now, upon a large scale, in either Eng- 
land or Scotland ? The gospel is widely and faithfully preach- 
ed in both ; but not with remarkable success in either. This 
is not satisfactorily explained by saying, that a greater blessing 
attended Whitefield's ministry than follows ours. The fact 
is, that the outpouring of the Spirit on his audiences was pre- 
ceded by an unction of the Spirit on his own soul, which we 
hardly understand, and still less cultivate. What a heart he 
had in Edinburgh ! He does not, indeed, always describe its 
emotions in good taste ; but, alas for the man, and especially 
the minister, who can read the bursts and outpourings of George 
Whitefield's heart, without shame, or without feeling his own 
heart burn to share them ! " Night and day Jesus fills me 
with his love." — " The love of Christ strikes me quite dumb." 
— " I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost." — 
"My heart is melted down with the love of Jesus." — " I de- 
spair not of seeing Scotland like New England." — " I want a 
thousand tongues to set off the great Redeemer's praise." — " I 
am daily waiting for the coming of the Son of God." — " I every 
morning feel my fellowship with Christ, and he gives me all joy 
and peace in believing." — " The sight I have of God by faith 
ravishes my soul : how I shall be ravished when I see him face 
to face ! " — " I would leap my seventy years, and fly into His 
presence." All this is as burning as abrupt. He lived, and 
moved, and had his being, in this warm and pure element ; and 
thus preached, not only in dependence on the Holy Spirit, but 
" in demonstration of the Spirit and in power." Thus the holy 
oil which anointed so many under him, had first been poured on 
his own head. I have endeavoured to illustrate this fact in 
another part of the volume. In the mean time, however, I can- 
not quit this hint, without solemnly reminding myself and 



whitefield's life and times. 



249 



.others, that we can be Whitefielcls in unction, although not in 
energy or eloquence ; we can walk with God as he did, although 
unable to "go about" doing good upon his scale. 

The results of his first visit to Edinburgh are thus summed 
up by himself : " Glory be to God ; he is doing great things 
here. I walk in the continual sunshine of his countenance. 
Never did I see so many Bibles, nor people look into them with 
such attention, when I am expounding. Plenty of tears flow 
from hearers' eyes. I preach twice daily, and expound at pri- 
vate houses at night ; and am employed in speaking to souls 
under distress great part of the day. Every morning I have a 
constant levee of wounded souls, many of whom are quite 
slain by the law. I have a lecture in the fields, attended not 
only by the common people, but persons of great rank. I have 
reason to think some of the latter sort are coming to Jesus. I 
am only afraid, lest people should idolize the instrument, and 
not look enough to Jesus, in whom alone I desire to glory." 

Scotland, and especially Edinburgh, owes much to this visit. 
Any check it gave to the Secession for a time, was more than 
counterbalanced by the impulse it gave to the establishment. 
The evangelical clergy had as much need of a commanding 
ally, as the Associate Presbytery ; and, in general, as well de- 
served the weight and fame of Whitefield's name. That name 
drew on their side some of the peerage, who would never have 
followed him into a chapel ; and thus strengthened the hands 
of " the wild men/ 9 (as the evangelical party were called,) when 
they were but weak. Edinburgh should never forget this. 
Next to Knox, Whitefield deserves a monument on the Calton 
Hill, as the second reformer of the metropolis. But for him, 
the moderate party would have held the ascendant in it. I do 
therefore hope that, at least, no Scottish champion of the gos- 
pel will imitate some in England, by trying to prove that White- 
field had little or no influence upon the revival of evangelical 
preaching in the establishment. If any do try there, I can only 
say, as I do here, — their fathers knew better, and posterity will 
laugh at them. Venn's Life of Venn. 

As a counterpart to the sermon against Whitefield in the 
meeting-house, by one of the Associate Presbytery, the follow- 



250 



whitefield's life and times. 



ing scene in the kirk at Aberdeen may instruct as well as 
amuse. Dr. Southey has told the story well ; but Whitefleld 
tells it better. " Aberdeen, Oct. 9, 1741. At my first coming 
here, things looked a little gloomy ; for the magistrates had 
been so prejudiced against me by one Mr. Bisset, that when ap- 
plied to, they refused me the use of the kirk-yard to preach in. 
This Mr. Bisset is colleague with one Mr. O. at whose repeated 
invitation I came hither. Though colleagues of the same con- 
gregation, they are very different in their natural tempers. 
The one is, what they call in Scotland, of a sweet-blooded, the 
other of a choleric, disposition. Mr. B. is neither a seceder, 
nor quite a kirk -man ; having great fault to find with both. 

et Soon after my arrival, dear Mr. O. took me to pay my re- 
spects to him. He was prepared for it ; and immediately pull- 
ed out a paper, containing a number of insignificant questions, 
which I had neither time nor inclination to answer. The next 
morning, it being Mr. O.'s turn, I lectured and preached. The 
magistrates were present. The congregation was very large, 
and light and life Jled all around. 

" In the afternoon, Mr. B. officiated. I attended. He begun 
his prayers as usual ; but in the midst of them, naming me by 
name, he entreated the Lord to forgive the dishonour that had 
been put upon him, by my being suffered to preach in that pul- 
pit. And that all might know what reason he had to put up 
such a petition, — about the middle of his sermon, he not only 
urged that I was a curate of the church of England, (had 
Whitefleld been an archbishop or bishop, Bisset would have 
begun his prayers against him,) but also quoted a passage or two 
out of my first printed sermons, which he said were grossly 
Arminian. 

" Most of the congregation seemed surprised and chagrined, 
especially his good-natured colleague, Mr. O. ; who, immediately 
after sermon, and without consulting me in the least, stood up, 
and gave notice that Mr. Whitefleld would preach in about hall 
an hour. The interval being so short, the magistrates returned 
into the sessions-house, and the congregation patiently waited 
— big with expectation of hearing my resentment. 

" At the time appointed I went up, and took no other notice 



whitefield's life and times. 



251 



of the good man's ill-timed zeal, than to observe in some part 
of my discourse, that if the good old gentleman had seen some 
of my later writings, wherein I had corrected several of my 
former mistakes, he would not have expressed himself in such 
strong terms. 

" The people being thus diverted from controversy with man, 
were deeply impressed with what they heard from the word of 
God. All was hushed, and more than solemn ! On the mor- 
row, the magistrates sent for me, expressed themselves quite 
concerned at the treatment I had met with, and begged me to 
accept the freedom of the city. But of this enough." Dr. 
Southey justly says, "this triumph Whitefield obtained, as 
much by that perfect self-command which he always possessed 
in public, as by his surpassing oratory." 

Bisset's hostility did not end here, nor confine itself to White- 
field. Next year he assailed the Scotch clergymen, who had 
employed the English curate ; and charged them with caressing 
Whitefield, " as it would seem, to break the seceders." Bissefs 
Letter on Communion with a Priest of the Church of England. 
Thus it was not the Associate Synod alone who attributed the 
friendship of the kirk for Whitefield to selfish motives. 

One thing occurred in Edinburgh which pleased Whitefield 
very much. After preaching in the orphan-house park, a large 
company came to salute him. Amongst the rest a fine portly 
quaker took him by the hand, and said, " Friend George, I am 
as thou art. I am for bringing all to the life and power of the 
ever-living God ; and, therefore, if thou wilt not quarrel with 
me about my hat, I will not quarrel with thee about thy gown." 
I know some ex-quakers who would say, that Whitefield would 
not have been so much pleased, if he had known the mystery of 
the hat in quakerism. 



CHAPTER X. 



WHITEFIELD AND THE DISSENTERS. 

Neither the revivals in Scotland, nor the riots in England, 
won for Whitefield the sympathy of the London ministers. 
Bradbury lampooned him ; Barker sneered at him ; Dr. Watts 
was silent ; and Coward's trustees were insolent to Dr. Dod- 
dridge, because he gave him some countenance at Northampton. 
There was a deeper cause for all this than their dread of his 
enthusiasm. They were then in treaty with some of the bishops, 
in order to revive that scheme of Comprehension, which Bates, 
Manton, and Baxter tried to negociate with Stillingneet ; but 
which Clarendon, even whilst in banishment, had influence 
enough at home to defeat, although the bill in favour of it was 
drawn up by Lord Chief Baron Hale. Tillotson's Life. 

The Clarendon party were not dead nor idle, when the sub- 
ject of the comprehension was revived by Chandler and Dod- 
dridge with Archbishop Herring. Warburton, who knew them 
well, foretold the issue thus, even when the prospect was bright- 
est before curtain ; " I can tell you of certain science, that not 
the least alteration will be made in the ecclesiastical system." 
Letter to Doddridge. The progress of this affair will explain 
both the shyness and the sharpness of the London ministers 
towards Whitefield. They could not have negociated with him 
and the archbishop at the same time. Indeed, they had no 
wish to be identified with any of his measures. 

It belongs to history to tell this matter gravely : I prefer the 
graphic sketch of its origin and progress, given in the following 
letters. The first letter is from Barker to Doddridge. " As 



whitefield's life and times. 



253 



for the comprehension, so much talked of in town and country, 
the utmost of the matter is this : — Mr. Chandler, while his 
meeting-place was shut up, made a visit to his friends at Nor- 
wich ; and there happened to hear the bishop give a charge to 
his clergy, which he thought not very candid. One expression 
appeared to him invidious, viz. that the heads of the rebellion 
were presbyterians ; as appeared by those lords in the Tower 
sending for presbyterian confessors. Upon Mr. Chandler's re- 
turn to London, he wrote a letter to Dr. Gooch, complaining of 
his charge, and particularly of that expression. This letter was 
written very handsomely, and it brought a very civil, respectful 
answer. After Gooch came to town, Chandler, at his desire, 
made him a visit, in which they had much discourse ; and 
amongst other things, there was talk of a comprehension. This 
visit was followed, at Gooch's desire, with another, -when the 
bishop of Salisbury was present, who soon discovered his shrewd- 
ness, but said, i Our church, Mr. Chandler, consists of three 
parts, — doctrine, discipline, and ceremonies : as to the last, they 
should be left indifferent, as they are agreed on all hands to be : 
as to the second, our discipline,' said he, f is so bad, that no one 
knows how, or where, to mend it : and as to the first, what is 
your objection ? ' He answered, ( Your Articles, my Lord, must 
be expressed in Scripture words, and the Athanasian creed be 
discarded.' Both the bishops answered, they wished they were 
rid of that creed, and had no objection to restoring the Articles 
into Scripture words ; i but what shall we do about reordination ? " 
To this Mr. Chandler made such a reply as he judged proper ; 
but, I think, granted more than he ought : he said none of us 
would renounce his presbyterian ordination ; but if their Lord- 
ships meant only to impose their hands on us, and by that rite 
recommend us to public service in their society or constitution, 
that, perhaps, might be submitted to : but when he told me this, 
I said, ' perhaps not — no, by no means ; that being, in my opi- 
nion, a virtual renunciation of our ordination, which I appre- 
hend not only as good but better than theirs.' The two bishops, 
at the conclusion of the visit, requested Mr. Chandler to wait on 
the archbishop, which he did, and met Gooch there by accident. 
The archbishop received him well, and being told by Gooch 



254 



vvhitefield's life and times. 



what Chandler and he had been talking on, viz. a comprehen- 
sion, said, A very good thing ; he wished it with all his heart ; 
and the rather, because this was a time which called upon all 
good men to unite against infidelity and immorality, which 
threatened universal ruin ; and added, he was encouraged to 
hope, from the piety, learning, and moderation of many dissent- 
ers, that this was a proper time to make the attempt. But, 
may it please your Grace, said Gooch, Mr. Chandler says the 
Articles must be altered into the words of Scripture. And why 
not ? replied the archbishop ; it is the impertinences of men, 
thrusting their words into articles instead of the words of God, 
that have occasioned most of the divisions in the christian 
church, from the beginning of it to this day. The archbishop 
added, that the bench of bishops seemed to be of his mind ; that 
he should be glad to see Mr. Chandler again, but was then oblig- 
ed to go to court. And this is all. I have smiled at some who 
seem mightily frighted at this affair, are very angry with Mr. 
Chandler, and cry out, ' We won't be comprehended — we won't 
be comprehended. 9 One would think, they imagined it was like 
being electrified, or inoculated for the small pox. But most of 
your fault-finders, I apprehend, are angry with Mr. Chandler, for 
an expression he used in the second visit. When urging the ex- 
pediency of expressing the Articles in Scripture words, he said, it 
was for others, not himself, he suggested this, his conscience not 
being disturbed by them as they now stood, for he freely owned 
himself a moderate Calvinist" 

Six months after this, Doddridge himself had an interview 
with Herring, and found, at first, that although the archbishop 
had ee most candid sentiments of his dissenting brethren, he had 
no great zeal for attempting any thing in order to introduce 
them into the church ; wisely foreseeing the difficulties with 
which it might be attended." Doddridge's Letters. He was not 
likely to have zeal for it. He had not zeal even for the orthodox 
of his own church. Jortin concludes his formal and inflated 
sketch of him thus ; " he was willing to think the best of other 
people's principles." What this means, may, perhaps, be guessed 
from the primate's letters to Duncombe ; of which, the follow- 
ing is one specimen : " I abhor every tendency to the Trinity 



vvhitefield's life and times. 



255 



controversy. The manner in which it is always conducted is 
the disgrace and ruin of Christianity." 

When Doddridge saw that the comprehension scheme, as 
proposed by Chandler, did not suit Herring, he suggested " a 
sort of medium between our present state, and that of a perfect 
coalition." " I mentioned," he says, " acknowledging our 
churches as umchismatical ; by permitting their clergy to offi- 
ciate amongst us, if desired, and dissenting ministers to officiate 
in churches. It struck him as a new and important thought. 
He told me, more than once, that I had suggested — what he 
should lay up in his mind for further consideration." 

Next year, however, Doddridge learned from Sir Thomas 
Birch, that, although " several of the bishops endeavoured to 
have White's Third Letter (see Towgood) suppressed, as un- 
friendly to comprehension, Sherlock insisted upon having all 
objections brought out at once." Good Doddridge, however, 
still cherished hopes for his own plan ; and, accordingly, culti- 
vated intimacy with the heads of the church so closely, that the 
very men who censured him for risking the comprehension, at 
first, by countenancing Whitefield, came at last to insinuate that 
he paid more court " to eminent members of the establishment," 
than was prudent. However this may be, he rejoiced with Lady 
Huntingdon, at the same time, that " the mighty, the noble, the 
wise, and the rich," assembled at her house, " to hear White- 
field." 

How Doddridge acted and was censured, in reference to 
Whitefield, when the vision of a comprehension dawned upon 
some of the leading dissenters of 1743, will be best told by the 
secretary of Coward's trustees, Nathaniel Neal, Esq. of Million 
Bank. 

" It was with the utmost concern that I received the inform- 
ation of Mr. Whitefield's having preached last week in your 
pulpit, and that I attended the meeting of Coward's trustees 
this day, when that matter was canvassed, and that I now find 
myself obliged to apprize you of the very great uneasiness which 
your conduct herein has occasioned them. 

" The many characters you sustain with so much honour, and 
in which I reverence you so highly, make me ashamed, and the 



256 



whitefield's life and times. 



character I sustain, of your friend, makes it extremely irksome 
for me, to express any sentiments as mine, which may seem to 
arraign your conduct ; but when I reflect in how disadvantageous 
a light your regard to the methodists has for some considerable 
time placed you in the opinion of many, whom I have reason to 
believe you esteem amongst your most judicious and hearty 
friends, and what an advantage it has given against you to your 
secret and avowed enemies, of either of which facts I believe 
you are not in any just degree sensible, I could run any hazard of 
your censure rather than that you should remain unapprized of 
these facts. 

" You cannot be ignorant, how obnoxious the imprudences 
committed, or alleged to be committed, by some of the method- 
ists, have rendered them to great numbers of people ; and 
though, indeed, supposing they have a spirit of religion amongst 
them to be found no where else, so that a man would, for his 
own sake, and at any temporal hazard, take his lot amongst 
them ; yet if, besides their reputation for a forward and indis- 
creet zeal, and an unsettled, injudicious way of thinking and 
behaving, they have nothing to distinguish them from other 
serious and devout christians, surely every man would choose to 
have as little concern with them as possible. 

" But in the case of such a public character, and so extensive 
a province for the service of religion, as yours, it seems to me a 
point well worth considering, whether, supposing even the ill 
opinion the world entertains of them to be groundless, it is a 
right thing to risk such a prospect as Providence has opened 
before you, of eminent and distinguished usefulness, for the sake 
of any good you are likely to do amongst these people. 

" For my own part, I have had the misfortune of observing, 
and I must not conceal it from you, that wherever I have heard 
it mentioned, that Dr. Doddridge countenanced the methodists, 
and it has been the subject of conversation much oftener than I 
could have wished, I have heard it constantly spoken of by his 
friends with concern, as threatening a great diminution of his 
usefulness, and by his adversaries with a sneer of triumph. 

" The trustees are particularly in pain for it, with regard to 
your academy ; as they know it is an objection made to it, by 



VVHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



257 



some persons in all appearance seriously, and by others craftily ; 
and yet they are almost afraid of giving their thoughts even in 
the most private manner concerning it, lest it should be made 
an occasion of drawing them into a public opposition to the 
methodists, as they are likely to be in some measure by your 
letter to Mr. Mason, (excusing your prefixing a recommendation 
of a book of theirs, without the advice of the trustees,) which 
letter they have desired me to inform you has given them great 
offence. 

" What weight these considerations will or ought to have with 
you, I cannot determine ; as I have thrown them together in a 
good deal of haste, I am afraid lest I should have said any thing 
in such a manner as may justly give you offence : this, however, 
I am sure of, that you will not read any such line with more 
pain than that in which I wrote it. If I have used any assum- 
ing language, my heart did not dictate it ; if I have betrayed 
any earnestness or warmth unbecoming the deference due to 
your superior judgment, impute it to the passionate regard I 
bear to so great and so valuable a character : if, on the other 
hand, I have said any thing worthy your consideration, I am 
persuaded it will have its weight, notwithstanding any disadvan- 
tage from the mode of saying it, and the person who says it, 
especially when I assure you, that that alone which you may 
find in it becoming the sincerity^and affection of a friend, and 
the respect and veneration due to a man of eminent learning 
and piety, has the approbation of, 

Reverend and dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate and faithful, humble servant, 

Nathaniel Neax." 

The answer to this first letter from the Coward trust, Dod- 
dridge himself did not trouble himself to preserve. A second 
came. 

" The candid reception you gave my last of the 11th instant, 
I impute principally to your own condescending and friendly 
disposition, and next, to the credit you gave to that simplicity of 
intention with which it was written, and wherein alone I can in 
any way be sure that it was not defective. 



258 



whitefield's life and times. 



" I am not insensible, Sir, that the respect many of your 
people bore to Mr. Whitefield, and your own acquaintance with 
him, must have made it a matter of difficulty for you entirely to 
have avoided showing him some polite regards on his coming to 
Northampton ; and I greatly rejoice in being furnished with so 
particular an account of the circumstances attending his visit, 
that may enable me to say, you were so far, at that time, from 
seeking his preaching in your pulpit, that you took several steps, 
and indeed all that you thought you could prudently venture on, 
and such as might, if they had succeeded, have been sufficient to 
have prevented it ; which I doubt not will, and I am sure ought, to 
have some weight with those who censure this step on the ground 
of imprudence. I could only wish that I were able to make 
these circumstances known as far as that censure is likely to 
extend. 

I should be very sorry, Sir, if you had any just reason to 
apprehend, that what has been written to you on this subject by 
any of your friends was intended to have any weight on the 
footing of authority. They ought to be ashamed of wishing for 
any greater influence over you than what their arguments, backed 
by the affection which all who deserve the name of your friends 
so justly entertain, will give them. And it is in that confidence 
that you will not think me vain, or so weak as to wish any greater 
for myself, that I venture to write another word to you on this 
subject. 

" And there is one thing which your letter gives me an occasion 
to suggest for your present consideration, with regard to your 
apprehensions of the growth of infidelity, which I am abundantly 
satisfied are too well founded ; and that is, whether the enthu- 
siasm and extravagances of weak christians have not furnished 
out some of the most specious pleas, as well as splendid triumphs, 
of infidelity ? The pamphlet of " Christianity not founded on 
Argument " alone, sufficiently convinces me that they have ; 
inasmuch as that pamphlet was calculated to serve the interests 
both of enthusiasm and deism ; actually made both enthusiasts 
and deists ; and raised a doubt, not yet, as I apprehend, fully 
cleared, whether the world was obliged to the one or other of 
these parties for that excellent performance. If enthusiasts, 



whitefield's life and times. 



259 



therefore, by their principles, are laying a foundation of deism, 
however they may abhor it in their intentions, it surely behoves 
us to see to it, that we give them no assistance in that work ; 
and the rather, as deists are watching for every possible advan- 
tage of this kind. A remarkable instance of which was acci- 
dentally mentioned to me very lately. In a late conversation in 
a mixed company of deists, the countenance which a certain 
eminent divine had given to some reputed enthusiasts was men- 
tioned by one of the deists in support of this position, — that the 
most learned and considerable among christian divines, who 
were really honest men, were enthusiasts. You may certainly 
depend on the truth of this relation." 

The answer to this also is not preserved. A third came. 

" Million Bank, Dec. 10th, 1743. 

" I am sorry you appear so apprehensive in your last letter, 
lest I should interpret what you said in your first too unfavour- 
ably of the methodists and Mr. Whitefield, as it confirms me in 
my fears of your attachment to them ; but, whatever my wishes 
were in that respect, you may be assured I could never venture 
to represent you as indifferent to them, when I read your com- 
mendation of his sermon for its excellence and oratory, and re- 
member the low, incoherent stuff I used to hear him utter at 
Kennington Common. 

" Whilst I continued oppressed and hurt with these reflec- 
tions, your excellent sermon for the County Hospital came in to 
my relief. The piety, the justness of the sentiments and argu- 
ments, the manly, graceful diction, and the benevolent spirit 
that runs through the whole of it, both amazed and charmed 
me. It must have extorted from any heart less acquainted with 
your disposition for public usefulness than I am, a devout eja- 
culation, that God would never permit such talents to come 
under a wrong direction, or suffer the disadvantages they must 
necessarily submit to, if engaged amongst men of weak heads 
and narrow, gloomy sentiments, who may and ought to be pitied 
and prayed for, and better informed, as opportunity allows, but 
whom no rules of piety or prudence will oblige us to make our 
friends and confidants. 

s 2 



260 



whitefield's life and times. 



" There are letters shown about town, from several ministers 
in the west, which make heavy complaints of the disorders occa- 
sioned by Whitefield and Wesley in those parts. One of them, 
speaking of Mr. Whitefield, calls him i honest, crazy, confident 
Whitefield.' These letters likewise mention, that some minis- 
ters there, who were your pupils, have given them countenance ; 
and you can hardly conceive the disrespect this has occasioned 
several ministers and other persons in town to speak of you with. 
Whether you are aware of this I know not ; and I am sure, if I 
did not esteem it a mark of sincere friendship, I would not give 
you the uneasiness of hearing it." 

The answer to this letter Doddridge preserved, and I would 
perpetuate. 

TO NATHANIEL NEAL, ESQ. 

" I am truly sorry that the manner in which I spoke of Mr. 
Whitefield in my last should give you uneasiness. I hope I did 
not assert his sermon to have been free from its defects ; but I 
must be extremely prejudiced indeed, if it were such e wild, in- 
coherent stuff,' as you heard on Kennington Common. Nor does 
it seem at all difficult to account for this ; for that preached 
here, which, I believe, was one of his more elaborate and, per- 
haps, favourite discourses, might deserve to be spoken of in a 
different manner. What I then said, proceeded from a princi- 
ple which I am sure you will not despise : I mean a certain 
frankness of heart, which would not allow me to seem to think 
more meanly of a man to whom I once professed some friendship, . 
than I really did. I must, indeed, look upon it as an unhappy 
circumstance, that he came to Northampton just when he did, 
as I perceive, that, in concurrence with other circumstances, it 
has filled town and country with astonishment and indignation. 
Nor did I, indeed, imagine my character to have been of such 
great importance in the world, as that this little incident should 
have been taken so much notice of. I believe the true reason 
is, that for no other fault than my not being able to go so far as 
some of my brethren into the new ways of thinking and speak- 
ing, I have long had a multitude of enemies, who have been 



whitefield's life and times. 



261 



watching for some occasion against me ; and I thank God, that 
they have hitherto, with all that malignity of heart which some 
of them have expressed, been able to find no greater ! 

" As for you, dear Sir, I must always number you among my 
most affectionate and faithful friends ; and though the human 
heart is not so formed that it is agreeable to hear ourselves 
spoken of with disrespect, yet I am well assured that the writing 
the information you gave me was among the instances of your 
greatest kindness. You know, Sir, that a fear to offend God, 
by doing as most seZ/'-prudent people do, has generally been 
esteemed a weakness : and my conscience testifies that those 
actions of mine which have been most reproached, have pro- 
ceeded from that principle. It is impossible to represent to you 
the reason, at least the excuse, I have had, and esteemed a 
reason, unless I could give you an account of the several cir- 
cumstances in which I have successively been placed for these 
few past years. If I could, I believe you would be less inclined 
to blame me than you are ; though I am sensible your censures 
are very moderate, when compared with those of many others. 

" I had, indeed, great expectations from the methodists and 
Moravians. I am grieved, from my very heart, that so many 
things have occurred among them which have been quite unjus- 
tifiable : and I assure you faithfully, they are such as would have 
occasioned me to have dropped that intimacy of correspondence 
which I once had with them. And I suppose they have also 
produced the same sentiments in the archbishop of Canterbury, 
who, to my certain knowledge, received Count Zinzendorf with 
open arms, and wrote of his being chosen the Moravian bishop, 
as what was done c plaudente toto coelesti choro.' I shall al- 
ways be ready to weigh whatever can be said against Mr. 
Whitefielcl, as well as against any of the rest : and, though I 
must have actual demonstration before I can admit him to be a 
dishonest man, and though I shall never be able to think all he 
has written, and all I have heard from him, nonsense, yet I am 
not so zealously attached to him as to be disposed to celebrate 
him as one of the greatest men of the age, or to think that he 
is the pillar that bears up the whole interest of religion among 
us. And if this moderation of sentiment towards him will not 



262 



whitefield's life and times. 



appease my angry brethren, as I am sensible it will not abate 
the enmity which some have, for many years, entertained to- 
wards me, I must acquiesce, and be patient till the day of the 
Lord, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest ; in 
which, I do from my heart believe, that with respect to the part 
I have acted in this affair, I shall not be ashamed. 

" I had before heard from some of my worthy friends in the 
west of the offence which had been taken at two of my pupils 
there, for the respect they showed to Mr, Whitefield ; and yet 
they are both persons of eminent piety. He whose name is 
chiefly in question, I mean Mr. Darracott, is one of the most 
devout and extraordinary men I ever sent out ; and a person 
who has, within these few years, been highly useful to numbers 
of his hearers. Some of these, who were the most abandoned 
characters in the place, are now become serious and useful chris- 
tians ; and he himself has honoured his profession, when to all 
around him he seemed on the borders of eternity, by a behaviour 
which, in such awful circumstances, the best of men might wish 
to be their own. Mr. Fawcett labours likewise at Taunton ; 
and his zeal, so far as I can judge, is inspired both with love 
and prudence. Yet I hear these men are reproached because 
they have treated Mr. Whitefield respectfully ; and that one of 
them, after having had a correspondence with him for many years, 
admitted him into his pulpit. I own I am very thoughtful when 
these things will end : in the mean time, I am as silent as I can 
be ! I commit the matter to God in prayer, and earnestly beg 
his direction, that he would lead me in a plain path. Sometimes 
I think the storm will soon blow over, and that things will re- 
turn again to their natural course. I am sure I see no danger 
that any of my pupils will prove methodists : I wish many of 
them may not run into the contrary extreme. It is really, Sir, 
with some confusion that I read your encomium upon my ser- 
mon : I am sensible it is some consolation to me, amidst the 
uneasiness which, as you conclude, other things must give me. 
I hope our design will go on, though it has not at present the 
success I could have wished. The dissenters do their part, but 
I am sorry to say the neighbouring clergy are exceedingly defi- 
cient in theirs." Doddridge. 



whitefield's life and times. 



263 



Neal was not the only person of influence amongst the dis- 
senters who was alarmed at Doddridge's liberality. Dr. Jen- 
nings assailed him for prefacing a book of Mason's ; by which 
" his friends were given by name/' he says, " to be baited by 
the methodists, — as their opposers." At the same time, also, 
Mr. Blair wrote to him, begging his opinion of Whitefield — " a 
man," he says, " more railed at by some, and idolized by others, 
than any person I ever knew in my life." His friend Barker 
also told him, that he had thought it " needful to warn his hearers 
to avoid the errors " of Whitefield and his followers. So little 
did good men appreciate or understand Whitefield at this time ! 



CHAPTER XI. 



whitefield's domestic life. 



It is, indeed, almost a misnomer, to call Whitefield's conjugal 
life, domestic. His engagements, like Wesley's, were incom- 
patible with domestic happiness, — as that is understood by do- 
mestic men. iVccordingly, their kind and degree of home 
enjoyment he neither expected nor proposed to himself. All 
that he wanted was, a help meet, who could sympathize in his 
absorbing public enterprises, as well as in his personal joys and 
sorrows ; and a home, where he might recruit after labour and 
exhaustion. And such a wife and a home he deserved, as well 
as needed. He mistook sadly, however, when he sought for 
such a wife in the ranks of widowhood, then. There were no 
missionaries' widows "in these days." A young female, of 
eminent piety and zeal, might have fallen in with his habits and 
plans, and even found her chief happiness in sustaining his 
mighty and manifold undertakings, like Paul's Phoebe : but a 
widow, who had been " a housekeeper " (her own) " many 
years," and that in the retirement of Abergavenny, in Wales, 
could hardly be expected to unlearn the domestic system of 
the country, nor to become a heroine for the world. Both 
Whitefield and Wesley forgot this obvious truth, and married 
widows. 

How much Wesley smarted for this oversight, is as proverbial 
as it is painful. Mrs. Whitefield had none of Mrs. Wesley's 
faults. She had, however, no commanding virtues, running in 
grand parallel with any of the noble features of her husband's 
character ; and thus, because she was not prominently a help to 
him, she seems to have been reckoned a hinderance, by the 



whitefield's life and times. 



265 



gossips and busybodies who watched Mrs. Wesley. These, in 
their fears for their own " dear minister's comfort/' watched 
Mrs. Whitefield also, lest he should be made as unhappy as his 
old friend ! 

The tattle of such spies is beneath contempt. It has, how- 
ever, found some countenance from a quarter which no impar- 
tial judge can overlook or underrate. Cornelius Winter, in the 
letters which form the substance of his "Life," by Jay of 
Bath, has said expressly, that Whitefield "was not happy in 
his wife ;" that " she certainly did not behave as she ought 
and that "her death set his mind much at rest." Now, what- 
ever this sweeping charge means, it came from a man of the 
highest character. Of Cornelius Winter, Matthew Wilks used 
to say, " I am never in this man's company without being re- 
minded of Paradisaical innocence." Rowland Hill also, al- 
though he did not give Winter credit for all the candour Jay 
has done, did not hesitate to say of him, that " he would make 
the worst devil of any man in the world ;" meaning, that he 
was the most unlike the devil. All this is so true, — that Win- 
ter's account of Mrs. Whitefield has acquired currency, although 
it is neither confirmed nor illustrated by a single document or 
line from any other writer, so far as I can learn. It will, no 
doubt, surprise some, however, who have formed their opinion 
of her from this single source, to be informed that Winter's 
opportunity of knowing her, from personal observation, was 
very short. Whitefield was married to her before Winter was 
born. She died in 1768. Now Winter says, that Berridge in- 
troduced him to Whitefield by letter, in February, 1767. Jay's 
Life of Winter. And even then, he did not become " one of the 
family" until his " fidelity was proved." Thus he had not two 
years to judge ; and even this brief space occurred when Mrs. 
Whitefield was breaking down. Unless, therefore, he received 
his information from Whitefield himself, (and he does not say 
so,) Winter must be deemed, for once, rash, at least. 

This is a painful conclusion ; but it is inevitable, except on 
the supposition that the sweeping charge was made against her 
by her husband. But his first report of her is, that " Mrs. 
James," although "once gay, is now a despised follower of the 



266 



whitefield's life and times. 



Lamb." Gillies. In like manner, throughout a long series of 
his letters, he uniformly styles her his " dear partner," or 
" dear fellow-pilgrim," or " dear yoke-fellow," or " dear wife." 
He also tells with evident delight, how she assisted the sailors 
to make cartridges, when their vessel was preparing for battle, 
on the voyage to America. He also praises her as his " ten- 
der nurse," whilst he was ill at Toronto. He often joins her 
name with his own, in sending salutations to Lady Huntingdon, 
Mr. Hervey, and other dear friends. In July, 1768, he writes 
thus from Edinburgh, " tender love to all, particularly to my 
dear wife." In the same month (she died in August) he writes 
to another friend, " My wife is as well as can be expected. Both 
of us descending, in order to ascend, 

1 Where sin, and pain, and sorrow cease, 
And all is calm, and joy, and peace/ " 

Is it likely that the man who wrote thus of his wife, from first 
to last, would have said of her afterwards to Winter, a com- 
parative stranger, what would have warranted Winter to throw 
so dark a cloud over her memory ? 

I have given Winter credit for a longer opportunity of ob 
serving her, than he himself pretends to have had. " Thrice," 
he says, " it pleased the Lord to lay him upon a bed of sick- 
ness," after he became one of the family. Then, " eight 
months " of his short opportunity were spent in Bristol, for the 
recovery of his health. This is not all the subtraction to be 
made from the time. "A second visit to Bristol held four 
months." Besides, when he returned to London, he had to 
" bury the dead at Tottenham Court chapel." Jay's Life. 
Now certainly, whatever may be thought of Winter's high cha- 
racter, it is impossible to attach much importance to his facili- 
ties for observation : they were both few and small ; and he 
ought to have said so, instead of leaving the fact to be thus 
found out by comparing scattered dates, and calculating long 
intervals of absence. 

A great deal, indeed, may be learnt in a short time, in any 
family, where all is not right between husband and wife ; and if 
Winter, whilst a bachelor, had all those delicate and noble per- 



whitefield's life and times. 



267 



ceptions of conjugal love, which he exemplified when he became 
a husband, long observation was not necessary in order to en- 
able his fine eye to see exactly how matters stood between Mr. 
and Mrs. Whitefield. 

I have felt it to be rny duty to scrutinize this only recorded 
stigma upon Mrs. Whitefield; — not because I question the 
general truth of it, so far as Winter was a witness, — but be- 
cause it passes for more than I think he ever intended. The 
Whitefields, so far as I can judge, neither lived nor loved like 
Mr. and Mrs. Winter. They were not unhappy in the sense 
Mr. and Mrs. Wesley were so ; but still their communion of 
spirit, or oneness of soul, was not what Cornelius Winter nor I 
could conscientiously call domestic happiness. 

I say this, because I cannot forget the strangeness, to say the 
least, of Whitefield's text, when he preached his wife's funeral 
sermon. It was, — " For the creature was made subject to 
vanity ; not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected 
the same in hope," Rom. viii. 20. Gillies. Now, even if he 
dwelt upon the context, there was still an implication, anything 
but complimentary to her memory. In like manner, his letter 
to Torial Joss on her death, is more pious than tender : — " The 
late very unexpected breach is a fresh proof that the night soon 
cometh when no man can work. Pray, where may Yfind that 
great promise made to Abraham, after Sarah's death ? May it 
be fulfilled in you, whilst your Sarah is yet alive ! Sweet be- 
reavements, when God himself fills up the void. I find it so." 
Letters. There was no promise, great or small, given on that 
occasion. 

On the other hand, I find a letter a year after her death, in 
which he says to a friend, " I feel the loss of my ' right hand ' 
daily ; but right hands and right eyes must be parted with for 
Him, who doeth all things well." Letter 1406. This acknow- 
ledgment Winter had access to when he said that her death set 
Whitefield's " mind much at rest." He might also have read, 
as well as myself, the following references to the early and mid- 
dle parts of their domestic history. Whitefield wrote thus 
from on board the Wilmington, in 1744 : " All except myself 
seem ready for fire and smoke. My wife, after having dressed 



268 



whitefield's life and times. 



herself to prepare for all events, set about making cartridges, — 
whilst the husband wanted to go into the holes of the ship, 
hearing that was the chaplain's usual place." k After recovering 
from an attack of colic, which seemed likely to terminate in 
mortal convulsions, at York, in the same year, he sang with 
gratitude, 

" My wife and friends stood weeping by, 
In tears resolved to see me die." 

In a subsequent letter, he bears testimony to her usefulness 
and zeal : " My dear wife is fully employed in copying my let- 
ters. We do not, however, forget our dear London and Eng- 
lish friends. We pray for them often, and cannot help wishing 
some may come over into this delightful wilderness (Pisca- 
taqua) ; it is a fruitful field." In 1747, he wrote from Charles- 
ton to Wales, " My dear yoke-fellow is in Georgia. Blessed be 
God, she is well, and prospers in soul and body. We hope to 
live and have our hearts warmed with our Welch friends ere 
we go hence and be no more." In the same year he wrote thus 
of her to a friend, " We lead a moving life, but I trust we move 
heavenward." " We are more than happy." " We go on like 
two happy pilgrims, leaning on our Beloved." In 1748, when 
he sailed from Bermudas to England, he wrote, " I intend to 
return to beloved America next year, which is one reason why 
I leave my dear yoke-fellow behind. Oh that I knew how it was 
with her ! But I see God will make those he loves to live by 
faith and not by sense." In 1749 he says, " We are both well, 
and surrounded with mercies on every side : — only ungrateful, 
ill, and hell-deserving I, want a grateful and humble heart ! " 

At a later period, 1754, 1 find him writing from Lisbon thus : 
" You will not forget to visit my widow-wife ! Blessed be God, 
her Maker is her Husband ; and ere long we shall sit down to- 
gether, at the marriage-supper of the Lamb." In 1756, he 
says, " I have no thoughts at present of her ever seeing the 
orphan-house again. We shall ere long see heaven. Some ante- 
pasts of it we are favoured with already." Letters. 

But enough, more than enough, is now presented, to prove 
that Winter's unqualified statements were unwarranted. I 



whitefield's life and tjmes. 



269 



must, however, add, that they are to me unaccountable, unless 
he meant only the period whilst he was a witness of the White- 
field family, and unless he made his own experience the standard 
by which he tried their conjugal love ; and this he has not said. 
I must, therefore, leave the case of Whitefield versus Winter to 
the verdict of time. 

Whitefield's marriage did not interrupt his work, nor damp 
his ardour. In a few days after, his success in Wales made 
him exclaim, " God has been pleased to work by my hands 
since I have been here. O stupendous love. O infinitely con- 
descending God ! " He was married on the 11th of November, 
1741, and before the end of the month he was electrifying Bris- 
tol, as in the days of old. " We have a growing church " here 
again. It had been checked for a time by the breach between 
Wesley and Cennick. " Yesterday, and several other times, 
the Lord hath filled many as with new wine. Sometimes I have 
scarce known whether I have been in the body or out of the 
body. It is a good thing to know how to manage a manifesta- 
tion aright ; nature so frequently and artfully blends with grace ! 
The more grace I receive, the more I desire to lie as a poor, 
very poor sinner at the feet of the wounded Lamb." 

In this spirit he came to Gloucester, " where, by a particular 
providence," one of the churches was again opened to him ; St. 
John's. The old incumbent, who had been his "grand op- 
poser " formerly, was dead ; and the new minister had not taken 
possession of the pulpit ; and, therefore, the churchwardens paid 
their townsman the compliment of a church to preach in, be- 
cause he was newly married. He preached twice on the sab- 
bath " with unspeakable power ;" and then upon " a hill six 
miles off," and at night at Stroud. There was, he says, " a new 
awakening, and revival of the work of God." " We shall never 
know," he -exclaims, " what good field preaching has done, till 
we come to judgment." 

At Stroud and Painswick he flew as on eagles' wings, he says, 
" with wondrous power, and every sermon was blessed." 
Whilst thus darting off every now and then from his home, he 
sent word to Gilbert Tennent, that Mrs. Whitefield, although 
neither " rich in fortune, nor beautiful in person, was a true 



270 



whitefield's life and times. 



child of God/' who would not " for the world hinder him in 
God's work." " The Lord hath given me a daughter of Abra- 
ham/' he says to another American friend. 

In February, 1742, Whitefield returned to London, where 
"life and power soon flew all around" him again; "the Re- 
deemer getting himself victory daily in many hearts." The 
renewed progress of the gospel at this time in London, he calls 
emphatically, " the Redeemer's stately steps ." Well he might; 
for during the Easter holidays, " Satan's booths " in Moor- 
fields poured out their thousands to hear him. This deter- 
mined him to dare all hazards on Whit-Monday, the great gala- 
day of vanity and vice there. Gillies' account of this enterprise, 
although not incorrect nor uninteresting, is very incomplete, 
considering the fame of the feat at the time. The following 
account is from the pen of Whitefield himself ; and written 
whilst he was reporting, at home and abroad, his marriage. 

ee For many y ears,, from one end of Moorfields to the other, 
booths of all kinds have been erected for mountebanks, players, 
puppet-shows, and such like. With a heart bleeding with com- 
passion for so many thousands led captive by the devil at his 
will, on Whit-Monday, at six o'clock in the morning, attended 
by a large congregation of praying people, I ventured to lift up 
a standard amongst them in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 
Perhaps there were about ten thousand in waiting, not for me, 
but for Satan's instruments to amuse them. — Glad was I to find, 
that I had for once as it were got the start of the devil. I 
mounted my field pulpit ; almost all flocked immediately around 
it. I preached on these words, ' As Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, so shall the Son of man be lifted up/ &c. 
They gazed, they listened, they wept ; and I believe that many 
felt themselves stung with deep conviction for their past sins. 
All was hushed and solemn. Being thus encouraged, I ven- 
tured out again at noon ; but what a scene ! The fields, the 
whole fields seemed, in a bad sense of the word, all white, ready 
not for the Redeemer's, but Beelzebub's harvest. All his 
agents were in full motion, drummers, trumpeters, merry-an- 
drews, masters of puppet-shows, exhibiters of wild beasts, 
players, &c. &c. all busy in entertaining their respective audi- 



whitefield's life and times. 



271 



tories. I suppose there could not be less than twenty or thirty 
thousand people. My pulpit was fixed on the opposite side, 
and immediately, to their great mortification, they found the 
number of their attendants sadly lessened. Judging that, like 
Saint Paul, I should now be called as it were to fight with 
beasts at Ephesus, I preached from these words : e Great is 
Diana of the EphesiaYis? You may easily guess, that there 
was some noise among the craftsmen, and that I was honoured 
with having a few stones, dirt, rotten eggs, and pieces of dead 
cats thrown at me, whilst engaged in calling them from their 
favourite but lying vanities. My soul was indeed among lions ; 
but far the greatest part of my congregation, which was very 
large, seemed for a while to be turned into lambs. This en- 
couraged me to give notice that I would preach again at six 
o'clock in the evening. I came, I saw, but what — thousands 
and thousands more than before, if possible, still more deeply 
engaged in their unhappy diversions ; but some thousands 
amongst them waiting as earnestly fo hear the gospel. 

This Satan could not brook. One of his choicest servants 
was exhibiting, trumpeting on a large stage ; but as soon as the 
people saw me in my black robes and my pulpit, I think all to 
a man left him and ran to me. For a while I was enabled to 
lift up my voice like a trumpet, and many heard the joyful 
sound. God's people kept praying, and the enemy's agents 
made a kind of a roaring at some distance from our camp. At 
length they approached nearer, and the merry-andrew (attend- 
ed by others, who complained that they had taken many pounds 
less that day on account of my preaching) got up upon a man's 
shoulders, and advancing near the pulpit attempted to slash me 
with a long heavy whip several times, but always with the vio- 
lence of his motion tumbled down. Soon afterwards they got 
a recruiting serjeant with his drum, &c. to pass through the 
congregation. I gave the word of command, and ordered that 
way might be made for the king's officer. The ranks opened, 
while all marched quietly through, and then closed again. 
Finding those efforts to fail, a large body quite on the opposite 
side assembled together, and having got a large pole for their 
standard, advanced towards us with steady and formidable steps, 



272 



whitefield's life and times. 



till they came very near trie skirts of our hearing, praying, and 
almost undaunted congregation. I saw, gave warning, and 
prayed to the Captain of our salvation for present support and 
deliverance. He heard and answered ; for just as they ap- 
proached us with looks full of resentment, I know not by what 
accident, they quarrelled among themselves, threw down their 
staff and went their way, leaving, however, many of their com- 
pany behind, who, before we had done, I trust were brought 
over to join the besieged party. I think I continued in praying, 
preaching, and singing (for the noise was too great at times to 
preach) about three hours. 

" We then retired to the Tabernacle, with my pockets full of 
notes from persons brought under concern, and read them amidst 
the praises and spiritual acclamations of thousands, who joined 
with the holy angels in rejoicing that so many sinners were 
snatched, in such an unexpected, unlikely place and manner, out 
of the very jaws of the devil. This was the beginning of the 
Tabernacle society. — Three hundred and fifty awakened souls 
were received in one day, and I believe the number of notes ex- 
ceeded a thousand ; but I must have done, believing you want 
to retire to join in mutual praise and thanksgiving to God and 
the Lamb. 

" Fresh matter of praise ; bless ye the Lord, for he hath 
triumphed gloriously. The battle that was begun on Monday, 
was not quite over till Wednesday evening, though the scene 
of action was a little shifted. Being strongly invited, and a 
pulpit being prepared for me by an honest quaker, a coal mer- 
chant, I ventured on Tuesday evening to preach at Mary le Bow 
Fields, a place almost as much frequented by boxers, gamesters, 
and such like, as Moorfields. A vast concourse was assembled 
together, and as soon as I got into the field pulpit, their coun- 
tenances bespoke the enmity of their hearts against the preacher. 
I opened with these words — ( I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one 
that believeth.' I preached in great jeopardy ; for the pulpit 
being high, and the supports not well fixed in the ground, it 
tottered every time I moved, and numbers of enemies strove to 
push my friends against the supporters, in order to throw me 



whitefield's life and times. 



273 



down. But the Redeemer stayed my soul on himself, therefore 
I was not much moved, unless with compassion for those to 
whom I was delivering my Master's message, which I had reason 
to think, by the strong impressions that were made, was welcome 
to many. But Satan did not like thus to be attacked in his 
strong holds, and I narrowly escaped with my life : for as I was 
passing from the pulpit to the coach, I felt my wig and hat to 
be almost off. I turned about, and observed a sword just touch- 
ing my temples. A young rake, as I afterwards found, was de- 
termined to stab me, but a gentleman, seeing the sword thrust- 
ing near me, struck it up with his cane, and so the destined 
victim providentially escaped. Such an attempt excited abhor- 
rence ; the enraged multitude soon seized him, and had it not 
been for one of my friends, who received him into his house, he 
must have undergone a severe discipline. The next day, I re- 
newed my attack in Moorfields ; but, would you think it ? after 
they found that pelting, noise, and threatenings would not do, 
one of the merry -andrews got up into a tree very near the pulpit, 
and shamefully exposed himself before all the people. Such a 
beastly action quite abashed the serious part of my auditory ; 
whilst hundreds of another stamp, instead of rising to pull down 
the unhappy wretch, expressed their approbation by repeated 
laughs. I must own that, at first, it gave me a shock. I 
thought Satan had outdone himself. But, recovering my spirits, 
I appealed to all, since they had now such a spectacle before 
them, whether I had wronged human nature, in saying, after 
pious Bishop Hall, e that man, when left to himself, was half a 
beast and half a devil or, as the great Mr. Law expressed 
himself, ( a motley mixture of beast and devil.' 

" Silence and attention being thus gained, I concluded with 
a warm exhortation, and closed our festival enterprises in read- 
ing fresh notes that were put up, praising and blessing God, 
amidst thousands at the Tabernacle, for what he had done for 
precious souls, and on account of the deliverances he had wrought 
out for me and his people. I could enlarge ; but being about 
to embark in the Mary mid Ann for Scotland, I must hasten 
to a close : but I cannot help adding, that several little boys and 
girls who were fond of sitting round me on the pulpit, while I 

T 



274 



whitefield's life and times. 



preached, and handing to me people's notes, though they were 
often pelted with eggs, dirt, &c. thrown at me, never once gave 
way ; but, on the contrary, every time I was struck, turned up 
their little weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they could receive 
the blows for me. God make them in their growing years great 
and living martyrs for him, who out of the mouths of babes and 
sucklings perfects praise ! " Letters. 

In this way Whitefield signalized his marriage ; verifying to 
his wife the assurance he had given her, that he would not 
preach a sermon less, nor travel a mile fewer, than formerly. 
And she had no occasion to regret, that he did not take her 
with him in his short excursions around London ; for, however 
good a rider he was, he was a bad driver. The first time he 
took her out in a chaise, he drove into a ditch. 66 My wife," he 
says to a friend, " has been in trying circumstances, partly 
through the unskilfulness of a chaise-driver ; — I mean myself. 
Being advised to take her out into the air, I drove her, as well 
as myself, through inadvertency, into a ditch. Finding that we 
were falling — she put her hand across the chaise, and thereby 
preserved us both from being thrown out. The ditch might be 
about fourteen feet deep ; but, blessed be God, though all that 
saw us falling, cried out, They are killed, yet, through infinite 
mercy, we received no great hurt. The place was very narrow 
near the bottom, and yet the horse went down, as though let 
down by a pulley. A stander-by ran down and catched hold of 
its head, to prevent its going forwards. I got upon its back, 
and was drawn out by a long whip, whilst my wife, hanging be- 
tween the chaise and the bank, was pulled up on the other side 
by two or three kind assistants. Being both in a comfortable 
frame, I must own, to my shame, that I felt rather regret than 
thankfulness in escaping what I thought would be a kind of a 
translation to our wished-for haven. But, O amazing love ! we 
were so strengthened, that the chaise and horse being taken up, 
and our bruises being washed with vinegar in a neighbouring 
house, we went on our intended way, and came home rejoicing 
in God our Saviour. Not expecting my wife's confinement for 
some time, I intend making a short excursion, and then you 
may expect further news." 



whitefield's life and times. 275 

It must not be supposed that the chaise was his own. He 
was so poor, at this time, that he had to borrow furniture for his 
house. This may surprise some ; but it is only too true. " I 
thank you a thousand times for your great generosity," he writes 
to a friend, " in lending me some furniture ; — having little of 
my own. I know who will repay you." Lett. 546. 

Even this is not all the fact concerning his poverty. Almost 
immediately after the baptism of his son, he wrote to the same 
friend, " My dear wife and little one will come to Gloucester, 
for I find it beyond my circumstances to maintain them here. 
But why talk of wife and little one ? Let all be absorbed in 
the thoughts of the love, sufferings, free and full salvation of 
the infinitely great and glorious Emmanuel. In respect to 
other things, at present, this is the habitual language of my 
heart, 

* Thy gifts, if called for, I resign ; 
Pleased to receive, pleased to restore. 
Gifts are thy work. It shall be mine, 
The Giver only to adore.' " 

It was well he was thus minded ; for he had soon to give up 
his Isaac. The journey to Gloucester proved fatal to the child: 
and yet, how slightly he refers to the poverty which rendered 
that journey necessary ! His narrative of the event is very 
touching, in all respects. 

" Who knows what a day may bring forth ? Last night I 
was called to sacrifice my Isaac ; I mean to bury my only child 
and son, about four months old. Many things occurred to 
make me believe he was not only to be continued to me, but to 
be a preacher of the everlasting gospel. Pleased with the 
thought, and ambitious of having a son of my own so divinely 
employed, Satan was permitted to give me some wrong im- 
pressions, whereby, as I now find, I misapplied several texts of 
Scripture. Upon these grounds I made no scruple of declaring 
'that I should have a son, and that his name was to be John? 
I mentioned the very time of his birth, and fondly hoped that 
he was to be great in the sight of the Lord. Every thing hap- 
pened according to the predictions ; and my wife having had 

t 2 



276 



whitefield's life and times. 



several narrow escapes while pregnant, especially by her falling 
from a high horse, and my driving her into a deep ditch in a 
one-horse chaise a little before the time of her confinement, and 
from which we received little or no hurt, confirmed me in my 
expectation, that God would grant me my heart's desire. I 
would observe to you, that the child was even born in a room, 
which the master of the house had prepared as a prison for his 
wife for coming to hear me. With joy would she often look 
upon the bars, and staples, and chains which were fixed in 
order to keep her in. About a week after his birth, I publicly 
baptized him in the Tabernacle, and in the company of thousands 
solemnly gave him up to that God who gave him to me. A 
hymn, too fondly composed by an aged widow, as suitable to 
the occasion, was sung, and all went away big with hopes of the 
child's being hereafter to be employed in the work of God ; 
but how soon, are all their fond, and, as the event hath proved, 
their ill-grounded expectations blasted as well as mine ! House- 
keeping being expensive in London, I thought it best to send 
both parent and child to Abergavenny, where my wife had a lit- 
tle house of my own, the furniture of which, as I thought of soon 
embarking for Georgia, I had partly sold, and partly given 
away. In their journey thither, they stopped at Gloucester, at 
the Bell Inn, which my brother now keeps, and in which I was 
born. There my beloved was cut off with a stroke. Upon my 
coming here, without knowing what had happened, I inquired 
concerning the welfare of parent and child ; and by the answer 
found that the flower was cut down. I immediately called all to 
join in prayer, in which I blessed the Father of mercies for 
giving me a son, continuing it to me so long, and taking it from 
me so soon. All joined in desiring that I would decline preach- 
ing till the child was buried ; but I remembered a saying of 
good Mr. Henry, i that weeping must not hinder sowing,' and 
therefore preached twice the next day, and also the day follow- 
ing ; on the evening of which, just as I was closing my sermon, 
the bell struck out for the funeral. At first, I must acknow- 
ledge, it gave nature a little shake, but looking up I recovered 
strength, and then concluded with saying, that this text on 
which I had been preaching, namely, i All things worked toge- 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



277 



ther for good to them that love God/ made me as willing to 
go out to my son's funeral, as to hear of his birth. Our part- 
ing from him was solemn. We kneeled down., prayed, and shed 
many tears, but I hope tears of resignation : and then, as he 
died in the house wherein I was born, he was taken and laid in 
the church where I was baptized, first communicated, and first 
preached. All this you may easily guess threw me into very 
solemn and deep reflection, and I hope deep humiliation ; but I 
was comforted from that passage in the book of Kings, where 
is recorded the death of the Shunammite's child, which the pro 
phet said, ' the Lord had hid from him and the woman's 
answer likewise to the prophet when he asked, ' Is it well with 
thee ? Is it well with thy husband ? Is it well with thy child ? ' 
And she answered, ' It is well. 9 This gave me no small satis- 
faction. I immediately preached upon the text the day follow- 
ing at Gloucester, and then hastened up to London, preached 
upon the same there ; and though disappointed of a living 
preacher by the death of my son, yet I hope what happened be- 
fore his birth, and since at his death, hath taught me such les- 
sons, as, if duly improved, may render his mistaken parent more 
cautious, more sober-minded, more experienced in Satan's de- 
vices, and consequently more useful in his future labours to the 
church of God. Thus, ( out of the eater comes forth sweet- 
ness.' Not doubting but our future life will be one continued 
explanation of this blessed riddle, I commend myself and you 
to the unerring guidance of God's word and Spirit." 

Happily for himself, Whitefield had the prosecution of the 
Hampton rioters to provide for at this time. This compelled 
him to bestir himself in visiting and corresponding, in order to 
obtain money to meet the expenses of the trial. He took a right 
view of that outrage when he said, " much depends on our get- 
ting the victory." Colonel Gardiner (now his friend) entered 
into this view of the case, and sustained him. So did many 
other influential men. A lady, also, in Wales, subscribed five 
pounds towards the expenses. The Welch Association were 
" very generous, according to their circumstances ;" and the 
Tabernacle friends had " a glorious fast, at which they collected 
above sixty pounds " for the assistance of their suffering brethren 



278 



whitefield's life and times. 



at Hampton. The following is his own account of " The Oc- 
casion, Process, and Issue of the Trial at Gloucester, March 
3, 1743." 

" On Thursday evening I came hither from the Gloucester 
assizes, where I have been engaged in a trial between some of 
those who are called methodists, and some violent rioters. 
Perhaps this news may a little startle you, and put you upon 
inquiry (as it hath done some others) ' How we came to go to 
law with our adversaries, when it is our avowed principle to 
suffer patiently for the truth's sake ? ' I will tell you, my dear 
friend : though perhaps there is nothing in the world more 
abused than the law, and there are very few that go to law out 
of a proper principle ; yet we hold that there is a proper use of 
it, and the law is good when used lawfully. Whether or no we 
have used it lawfully in the present case, I shall leave my 
friend to judge, after I have told him the motives that induced 
us to engage in it. — The methodists, you know, are every where 
accounted enthusiasts, in the worst sense of the word ; but 
though they are accounted such, yet they would not be enthu- 
siasts in reality. Now we look upon it to be one species of en- 
thusiasm, to expect to attain an end without making use of 
proper means. We also think that believers should be very 
careful not to be fond of suffering persecution, when they may 
avoid it by making application to the high powers. We are 
likewise of opinion, that good christians will be good subjects, 
and consequently it is their duty, as much as in them lies, to 
put a stop to every thing in a rightful way, that may prove de- 
structive to the king or the government under which they live. 
Christian ministers, in particular, we think, ought to consider 
the weakness of people's grace, and, in pity to precious souls, 
do what they can to remove every thing out of the way that 
may discourage or prevent poor people's hearing the everlasting 
gospel. These considerations, my dear friend, for some time 
past, have led me to examine whether the methodists in general 
(and I myself in particular) have acted the part of good sub- 
jects, and judicious christian ministers, in so long neglecting to 
make an application to the superior courts, and putting in exe- 
cution the wholesome laws of the land, in order to prevent those 



whitefield's life and times. 



279 



many dreadful outrages which have been committed against us. 
I need not descend to particulars. Our Weekly History is full of 
them ; and before that came out, several of our brethren, both 
in England and Wales, have received much damage from time 
to time, and been frequently in great hazard of their lives. 
Wiltshire has been very remarkable for mobbing and abusing 
the methodists ; and, for about ten months last past, it has also 
prevailed very much in Gloucestershire, especially at Hampton, 
where our friend Mr. Adams has a dwelling-house, and has 
been much blessed to many people. This displeased the grand 
enemy of souls, who stirred up many of the baser sort, privately 
encouraged by some of a higher rank, to come from time to 
time, in great numbers, with a low-bell and horn, to beset the 
house, and beat and abuse the people. 

" About the beginning of J uly last, their opposition seemed 
to rise to the highest. For several days they assembled in 
great bodies, broke the windows, and mobbed the people to 
such a degree, that many expected to be murdered, and hid 
themselves in holes and corners, to avoid the rage of their ad- 
versaries. Once, when I was there, they continued from four 
in the afternoon till midnight, rioting, giving loud huzzas, cast- 
ing dirt upon the hearers, and making proclamations, ( That no 
anabaptists, presbyterians, &c. should preach there, upon pain 
of being first put into a tan-pit, and afterwards into a brook.' 
At another time they pulled one or two women down the stairs 
by the hair of their heads. And on the 10th of July they came, 
to the number of near a hundred, in their usual way, with a 
low-bell and horn, about five in the afternoon, forced into Mr. 
Adams's house, and demanded him down the stairs whereon he 
was preaching, took him out of his house, and threw him into a 
tan-pit full of noisome things and stagnated water. One of our 
friends named Williams asking them, ' If they were not ashamed 
to serve an innocent man so ? ' they put him into the same pit 
twice, and afterwards beat him, and dragged him along the 
kennel. Mr. Adams quietly returned home, and betook him- 
self to prayer, and exhorted the people to rejoice in suffering 
for the sake of the gospel. In about half an hour they came 
to the house again 3 dragged him down the stairs, and led him 



280 



whitefield's life and times. 



away a mile and a half to a place called Bourn Brook, and then 
threw him in. A stander-by, fearing he might be drowned, 
jumped in and pulled him out ; whereupon another of the 
rioters immediately pushed him into the pool a second time, 
and cut his leg against a stone, so that he went lame for near 
a fortnight. Both the constable and justices were applied to, 
but refused to act, and seemed rather to countenance the mob- 
bing, hoping thereby. methodism (as they called it) would be put 
a stop to, at least at Hampton. For a season they gained their 
end. There was no preaching for some time, the people fear- 
ing to assemble on account of the violence of the mob. 

" Upon my return to town, I advised with my friends what to 
do. We knew we wanted to exercise no revenge against the 
rioters, and yet we thought it wrong that the gospel should be 
stopped by such persons, when the government under which we 
lived countenanced no such thing ; and also that it was absurd 
to thank God for wholesome laws, if they were not to be made 
use of. We knew very well, that an apostle had told us, that 
magistrates were ordained for the punishment of evil-doers ; 
and that they bear not the sword in vain. We were also fear- 
ful that if any of our brethren should be murdered by future 
riotings, (as in all probability they might,) we should be acces- 
sary to their death, if we neglected to tie up the rioters' hands, 
w r hich was all we desired to do. Besides, we could not look 
upon this as allowed persecution, since it was not countenanced 
by the laws of the land, and we might have redress from these 
rioters and inferior magistrates,by appealing to Caesar, whose real 
friends and loyal subjects we judged ourselves not to be, if we 
suffered his laws to be publicly trampled under foot by such 
notorious rioting ; and which, though begun against the metho- 
dists, might terminate in open rebellion against King George. 
For these and such like reasons, we thought it our duty to 
move for an information in the King's Bench against five of the 
ringleaders, and fixed upon the riot which they made on Sun- 
day, July 10th, when they put Mr. Adams and Williams into 
the tan-pit and brook. But before this was done, I wrote a let- 
ter to one whom they called Captain, desiring him to inform his 
associates, ' That if they would acknowledge their fault, pay for 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



281 



curing a boy's arm, which was broken the night I was there, 
and mend the windows of Mr. Adams's house, we would readily 
pass all by ; but if they persisted in their resolutions to riot, 
we thought it our duty to prevent their doing, and others re- 
ceiving, further damage, by moving for an information against 
them in the King's Bench.' I also sent a copy of this letter to 
a minister of the town, and to a justice of the peace, with a let- 
ter to each from myself : but all in vain. The rioters sent me 
a most insolent answer, wrote me word, 6 They were in high 
spirits, and were resolved there should be no more preaching in 
Hampton.' Finding them irreclaimable, we moved the next 
term for a rule of court in the King's Bench, to lodge an in- 
formation against five of the ringleaders, for the outrage com- 
mitted, violence offered, and damage done to Mr. Adams and 
Williams, on Sunday, July 10th. The rioters were apprized of 
it, appeared by their counsel, and prayed the rule might be en- 
larged till the next term. It was granted. In the mean while 
they continued mobbing, broke into Mr. Adams's house one 
Saturday night at eleven o'clock, when there was no preaching, 
made those that were in bed get up, and searched the oven, cel- 
lar, and every corner of the house, to see whether they could 
find any methodists. Some time after, they threw another 
young man into a mud pit three times successively, and abused 
the people in a dreadful manner. 

" The next term came on. We proved our accusations by 
twenty-six affidavits ; and the defendants making no reply, the 
rule was made absolute, and an information filed against them. 
To this they pleaded not guilty ; and, according to the method 
in the Crown Office, the cause was referred to the assize held 
at Gloucester, March 3d. Thither I went, and on Tuesday 
morning last the trial came on. It was given out by some, 
that the methodists were to lose the cause, whether right or 
wrong. • And I believe the defendants depended much on a 
supposition that the gentlemen and jury would be prejudiced 
against us. We were easy, knowing that our Saviour had the 
hearts of all in his hands. Being aware of the great conse- 
quences of gaining or losing this trial, both in respect to us and 
the nation, we kept a day of lasting and prayer through all the 



282 



whitefield's life and times. 



societies both in England and Wales. Our Scotch friends also 
joined with us, and cheerfully committed our cause into His 
hands by whom kings reign and princes decree justice. We 
had about thirty witnesses to prove the riot and facts laid down 
in the information. Our counsel opened the cause (as I heard, 
being not present when the trial begun) with much solidity and 
sound reasoning : they showed, that rioters were not to be 
reformers ; and that his Majesty had no where put the reins of 
government into the hands of mobbers, or made them judge or 
jury. One of them in particular, with great gravity, reminded 
the gentlemen on the jury of the advice of Gamaliel,^ doctor 
of the law, recorded Acts v. 38, 39, ee Refrain from these men, 
and let them alone ; for if this counsel, or this work, be of men, 
it will come to nought ; but if it be of God, ye cannot over- 
throw it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.' 
Our witnesses were then called. I came into court when the 
second witness was examining. Mr. Adams and four more 
(three of which were not called methodists) so clearly proved both 
the riot and the facts laid to the charge of the defendants, that 
the judge was of opinion there needed no other evidence. The 
counsel for the defendants then rose and exerted a good deal of 
oratory, and I think said ail that could well be said, to make 
the best of a bad matter. One urged, that we were enthu- 
siasts, and our principles and practices had such a tendency to 
infect and hurt the people, that it was right, in his opinion, for 
any private person to stand up and put a stop to us ; and who- 
ever did so, was a friend to his country. He strove to influ- 
ence the jury, by telling them, that if a verdict was given 
against the defendants, it would cost them two hundred pounds ; 
that the defendants' rioting was not premeditated ; but, that 
coming to hear Mr. Adams, and being offended at his doctrine, 
a sudden quarrel arose, and thereby the unhappy men were led 
into the present fray, which he could have v/ished had not hap- 
pened ; but however it did not amount to a riot, but only an as- 
sault. Their other counsel then informed the jury, that they 
would undertake to prove that the methodists began the tumults 
first. He was pleased also to mention me by name, and ac- 
quainted the court, that Mr. Whitefield had been travelling 



whitefield's life and times. 



283 



from common to common, making the people cry, and then 
picking their pockets, under pretence of collecting money for 
the colony of Georgia ; and knowing that Gloucestershire was 
a populous country, he at last came there. That he had now 
several curates, of which Mr. Adams was one, who in his 
preaching had found fault with the proceedings of the clergy, 
and said if the people went to hear them, they would be 
damned. He added, that there had lately been such a mobbing 
in Staffordshire, that a regiment of soldiers was sent down to 
suppress them ; insinuating that the methodists were the au- 
thors ; that we had now another cause of a like nature de- 
pending in Wiltshire ; and that we were not of that mild, pacific 
spirit as we would pretend to be. — This, and much more to the 
same purpose, though foreign to the matter in hand, pleased 
many of the auditors, who expressed their satisfaction in hear- 
ing the methodists in general, and me in particular, thus lashed, 
by frequent laughing. The eyes of all were upon me. Our 
Saviour kept me quite easy. I thought of that verse of Horace, 

< Hie murus aheneus esto, 

Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.' 

Tertullus's accusing Paul came also to my mind, and I looked 
upon myself as highly honoured in having such things spoken 
against me falsely for Christ's great name's sake. To prove 
what the defendants' counsel had insinuated, they called up a 
young man, who was brother to one of the defendants, and one 
of the mob. He swore point blank, that Mr. Adams said, 
if people went to church they would be damned ; and if they 
would come to him, he would carry them to Jesus Christ. He 
swore also, that the pool into which Mr. Adams was thrown, 
was no deeper than half way up his legs. He said first, that 
there were about ten of them that came to the house of Mr. 
Adams ; and then he swore that there were about threescore. 
He said, there was a low-bell, and that one of the defendants 
did ask Mr. Adams to come down off the stairs, but that none 
of them went up to him ; upon which Mr. Adams willingly 
obeyed, went with them briskly along the street, and, as he 
would have represented it, put himself into the tan-pit and 



284 



whitefield's life and times. 



pool, and so came out again. He said also some other things ; 
but throughout his whole evidence appeared so flagrantly false, 
that one of the counsellors said, it was enough to make his 
hair stand on end. The judge himself wished he had had 
so much religion as to fear an oath. So he went down in dis- 
grace. Their second evidence was an aged woman, mother to 
one of the defendants. She swore that her son did go up 
the stairs to Mr. Adams, and that Mr. Adams tore her son's 
coat, and would have broken his neck down-stairs. But she 
talked so fast, and her evidence was so palpably false, that she 
was sent away in as much disgrace as the other. Their third 
and last evidence was father to one who was in the mob, though 
not one of the defendants. The chief he had to say was, that 
when Mr. Adams was coming from the pool, one met him, and 
said, f Brother, how do you do ? ' Upon which he answered, 
that he had received no damage, but had been in the pool, 
and came out again. So that all their evidences, however con- 
trary to one another, yet corroborated ours, and proved the riot 
out of their own mouths. The book was then given to a justice 
of the peace, who had formerly taken up Mr. Cennick for 
preaching near Stroud, and had lately given many signal proofs 
that he was no friend to the methodists. But he intending to 
speak only about their characters, and the counsel and judge 
looking upon that as quite impertinent to the matter in hand, 
he was not admitted as an evidence. Upon this, his Lordship, 
with great candour and impartiality, summed up the evidence, 
and told the jury, that he thought they should bring all the 
defendants in guilty ; for our evidences had sufficiently proved 
the whole of the information, and also that the riot was preme- 
ditated. He said, that, in his opinion, the chief of the de- 
fendants' evidence was incredible ; and that, supposing the me- 
thodists were heterodox, (as perhaps they might be,) it belonged 
to the ecclesiastical government to call them to an account ; 
that they were subjects, and riotous men were not to be their 
reformers. He also reminded them of the dreadful ill conse- 
quences of rioting at any time, much more at such a critical 
time as this ; that rioting was the forerunner of, and might end 
in, rebellion ; that it was felony, without benefit of clergy, to 



whitefield's life and times. 



285 



pull down a meeting-house ; and, for all he knew, it was high 
treason to pull down even a "brothel. That this information 
came from the King's Bench ; that his Majesty's justices 
there thought they had sufficient reason to grant it; that 
the matters contained in it had been evidently proved before 
them, and consequently they should bring all the defendants 
in guilty. Upon this the jury were desired to consider of 
their verdict. There seemed to be some little demur amongst 
them. His Lordship perceiving it, informed them, They had 
nothing to do with the damages, (that was to be referred to the 
King's Bench,) they were only to consider whether the defend- 
ants were guilty or not, 

" Whereupon, in a few minutes, they gave a verdict for the pro- 
secutors, and brought in all the defendants, c guilty of the whole 
information lodged against them.' I then retired to my lodg- 
ings, kneeled down, and gave thanks with some friends to our 
all-conquering Emmanuel. Afterwards I went to the inn, 
prayed, and returned thanks with the witnesses, exhorted them 
to behave with meekness and humility to their adversaries, and 
after they had taken , proper refreshment sent them home re- 
joicing. In the evening I preached on those words of the 
psalmist, ( By this I know that thou favourest me, since thou 
hast not suffered mine enemy to triumph over me.' God was 
pleased to enlarge my heart much. I was very happy with my 
friends afterwards, and the next morning set out for London, 
where we have had a blessed thanksgiving season, and from 
whence I take the first opportunity of sending you as many par- 
ticulars of the occasion, progress, and issue of our trial, as I can 
well recollect. What report his Lordship will be pleased to 
make of the case, and how the defendants will be dealt with, 
cannot be known till next term ; when I know I shall apprize 
you of it, as also of our behaviour towards them. — In the mean 
while let me entreat you to give thanks to the blessed Jesus in 
our behalf, and to pray that his word may have free course, may 
run and be glorified, and a stop be put to all such rebellious 
proceedings." The Trial, in a Letter to a Friend. 

Whitefield had also at this time to put some writers as well 
as rioters upon their defence. An anonymous pamphlet, " On 



286 



whitefield's life and times. 



the Conduct and Behaviour of the Methodists/' had obtained 
no small sanction from the bishops. Indeed, the bishop of Lon- 
don was reported to be the author of it. The object of it was, 
to prove the methodists to be dangerous to both church and 
state, and to obtain an Act of Parliament against them, which 
would stop their field preaching and conventicles, or compel 
them "to secure themselves by turning dissenters." The Toler- 
ation Act, it argued, did not permit their irregularities : and 
besides, they were enthusiasts ! Parts of this pamphlet seem 
to have been printed and handed about secretly at first, as 
feelers of the pulse of the religious societies. Strict injunctions 
were given to every one who was intrusted with any of them, 
" not to lend them, nor let them go out of his hands." White- 
field, however, obtained a sight of them ; and finding that they 
contained not only charges against himself, but a deep design 
against religious liberty, he advertised in the newspapers, and 
demanded their speedy publication, that he might answer them 
before he went to America. He followed up this advertisement 
by a private letter to the bishop of London. " My Lord, sim- 
plicity becomes the followers of Jesus Christ, and therefore I 
think it my duty to trouble your Lordship with a few lines, con- 
cerning the anonymous papers which have been handed about 
in the societies. As I think it my duty to answer them, I should 
be glad to be informed whether the report be true, that your 
Lordship composed them, that I may the better know how to an- 
swer them. A sight also of one of the copies, if in your Lordship's 
keeping, would much oblige." His Lordship sent word by the 
bearer, that Whitefield should " hear from him but he forgot 
his promise. Whitefield heard from the printer, not from the 
prelate. " Sir, my name is Owen. I am a printer in Amen 
Corner. I have had orders from several of the bishops to print 
for their use, such numbers of the ( Observations ' (with some few 
additions) as they have respectively bespoken. I will not fail 
to wait on you with one copy, as soon as the impression is 
finished." Owen kept his word. He did not venture, how- 
ever, to put his name on the title page of the pamphlet, " to let 
the world know where, or by whom, it was printed." " It came 
into the world," says Whitefield in a letter to the bishop, "like 



whitefield's life and times. 



287 



a dropt child, that nobody cares to own. And, indeed, who can 
be blamed for disowning such a libel ? A more notorious libel 
has not been published." Lett. 

Whitefield was fully justified in branding the pamphlet thus. 
It charged the methodists with making " open inroads on the 
national constitution with pretending to be " members of the 
national church with being " open defiers of government," 
as well as breakers of " the canons and rubrics." His answer 
to this, Whitefield addressed, very properly, to " The bishop 
of London, and the other bishops concerned in the publica- 
tion" of such charges; taking for his motto the appropriate 
words, " False witnesses did rise up : they laid to my charge 
things I knew not." They did not sit down so easily as they 
rose up ! They told the religious societies, clandestinely, that 
methodism was unlawful ; and Whitefield told the world, openly, 
that this mode of attack was " like Nero setting fire to Rome, 
and then charging it on the christians." u I cannot think," he 
says, " that such a way of proceeding will gain your Lordships 
any credit from the public — or any thanks from the other 
bishops who have not interested themselves in this affair, and 
who, I believe, are more noble than to countenance the publi- 
cation of any such performance." 

This bold retort upon anonymous slanderers, astounded both 
the slaves and the sycophants of " superiors." Prebendary 
Church, the vicar of Battersea, was horrified to find the heads 
of the church made accountable for a libel they had adopted, 
if not indorsed. This is the worthy to whom Bolingbroke said, 
" Let me tell you seriously, that the greatest miracle in the 
world is, the subsistence of Christianity, and its preservation as 
a religion, when the preaching of it is committed to the care of 
such unchristian wretches as you." This tremendous rebuke 
does not, I think, imply all that the word wretch means. It 
refers to principles, not to morals. I am led to this conclusion, 
because Whitefield treats Church respectfully, in answering his 
pamphlet, and because the following is the true account of the 
prebendary's interview with the peer. Church found Boling- 
broke reading Calvin's Institutes, one day, and was surprised. 
" You have caught me," said the viscount, " reading John Cal- 



288 



whitefield's life and times. 



vin. He was, indeed, a man of great parts, profound sense, 
and vast learning. He handles the doctrines of grace in a very 
masterly manner." (Strange language from Bolingbroke ! But 
he had been hearing Whitefleld at Lady Huntingdon's the week 
before.) " Doctrines of grace ! " exclaimed Church, " the doc- 
trines of grace have set all mankind by the ears." " I am sur- 
prised," said Bolingbroke, " to hear you say so, who profess to 
believe and preach Christianity. Those doctrines are certainly 
the doctrines of the Bible ; and if I believe the Bible I must 
believe them." Then came the well known rebuke I have 
quoted. This is the anecdote, as the Countess of Huntingdon 
was wont to tell it ; and she had it from the lips of Bolingbroke. 
Toplady. 

I would not have referred to the prebendary or his pamphlet, 
had he not become the scape-goat for the bishops he vindicated. 
There is quite as much of the gospel in his letter to White- 
field, as in their charges to their clergy. The only thing 
amusing in Church's letter is its conclusion. He charges 
Whitefield with glaring inconsistency, in blaming the clergy 
for non-residence. " You have been more culpable than any of 
them," he says, in reference to Whitefield's residence at Georgia. 
He then proceeds to count the times, and the length of each 
time, that Whitefield was at his post. This was pitiful ; know- 
ing as he did why the chaplain of the colony travelled. Well 
might Whitefield say, in answer to this charge, " I wish every 
non-resident could give as good an account of his non-residence, 
as I can give of mine. When I was absent from my parishioners, 
I was not loitering nor living at ease, but begging for them and 
theirs ; and when I returned, it was not to fleece my flock, and 
then go and spend it upon my lusts, or to lay up a fortune for 
myself and my relations." Letter to Church. 

Whitefield's letter to the bishops called forth another cham- 
pion of the clandestine papers ; a Pembroke College man, who 
called himself " a gentleman," although he took a motto from 
that vilest of all vulgar books, " The Scotch Presbyterian Elo- 
quence." He did not fail in imitating his original. He finds 
in Whitefield's letter, instead of " the arguing of the true saint, 
the wheedling of the woman ; the daring of the rebel ; the pert- 



whitefield's life and times. 



289 



ness of the coxcomb ; the evasions of the Jesuit; and the bitter 
maliciousness of the bigot. He classes him with Bonner and 
Gardiner, as " a fire-brand minister of wrath and with Crom- 
well, whom he calls "the Whitefield of the last century." 
Why ? Because he " artfully compounded churchmen and dis- 
senters." " It will be an eternal monument of your disgrace," 
he says, " that dissenters lived peaceably, according to the na- 
tional constitution, and preached in licensed places, until you 
poisoned and corrupted them, by your evil communications." 
Would he had ! But unfortunately for the dissenters then, 
Whitefield's influence had brought only two into the fields, as 
fellow-helpers with him in the gospel. 

He does not appear to have noticed this Pembroke gentle- 
man; but he renewed his attack upon the bishops, when he 
went to sea. On his voyage, he wrote a second letter to them. 
They had made the anonymous pamphlet their own, by printing 
and circulating it at their own expense ; and he held them ac- 
countable for its doctrines, as well as its politics. It had im- 
pugned justification by faith, and he stretched them on Luther's 
rack ; and on what must have been more annoying to their 
Lordships, the fact, that this doctrine was singled out by Ed- 
ward VI. and Elizabeth, to be principally taught to the people ; 
" First, because it is the chiefest cause and means of our peace 
with God ; second, that ministers might go with a right-foot 
(opQo7ro$eii>) to the gospel ; third, because it is the best way ' to 
discover and suppress Romish antichrist ;' and fourth, because 
' such bishops as do, by terms of error, schism, or heresy, hin- 
der this main light of God's word from the people, are the 
chiefest traitors in the land ; traitors to God, traitors to their 
king, traitors to their own souls and bodies, and traitors to the 
whole country." Homily. Gibson remembered this homily 
when he said, "Justification by faith alone is asserted in the 
strongest manner by our church :" but he forgot it when he 
added, " I hope our clergy explain it in such a manner, as to 
leave no doubt whether good works are a necessary condition of 
being justified in the sight of God." Pastoral Letter. 

From this vantage ground, Whitefield assailed both Chil- 
lingworth and the author of " The Whole Duty of Man," as 

u 



290 



whitefield's life and times. 



traitors to this " articulus stantis aut caudentis ecclesice" The 
latter, he said, had shown only " Half the Duty of Man;" and 
the former had made " universal obedience" a necessary con- 
dition of justification. In like manner, whilst be begged par- 
don of the public for saying that Tillotson knew no more of the 
gospel than Mahomet, (a comparison, by the way, which he 
had borrowed,) he repeated, that " the good archbishop, in turn- 
ing people's minds to moral duties, without turning them to the 
doctrine of justification by faith," erred from the faith. 

" Incidit in Scyllam, qui vult vitare Charibdin." 

He did not embarrass their Lordships less on the subject of re- 
generation. Their adopted champion had said, " If there be 
such a thing — as a sudden, instantaneous change." " If there 
be," says Whitefield ; " does he not lay an axe to the very root 
of the baptismal office ? If the child be actually regenerated, 
when the minister sprinkles it, the change must be instantaneous 
and sudden. If there be any such thing ! Do your Lordships 
assent thereto ? An instantaneous change is the very essence of 
baptismal regeneration, — that Diana of the present clergy." 

He concludes this bold appeal thus, " If the whole bench of 
bishops command us to speak no more of this doctrine, we take 
it to be an ungodly admonition. Whether it be right in the 
sight of God, to obey man rather than God, — judge ye ! " 
Second Letter. 

These were the public affairs which diverted Whitefield from 
his private sorrows. The off-hand and unceremonious style in 
which they are told, can only offend those who venerate titles 
more than truth. It may be vastly unpolite to treat bishops in 
this straightforward way, when they pervert the gospel : it is, 
however, apostolical to pay neither deference nor respect to an 
angel, if he preach " another gospel " than Paul's. This Gather- 
cole affair of the bishop of London cannot be too bluntly told, 
if such affairs are to be put down. Binney told the last one so 
well, that there will be fewer Gathercoles* patronized in the 
next century. 



CHAPTER XII. 



WHITEFIELD AT CAMBUSLANG. 



Whitefield went in the power of the Spirit from the Pentecost 
at Moorfields, to the Pentecost at Cambuslang and Kilsyth, in 
Scotland. His return to the north was, however, wormwood 
and gall to some of the Associate Presbytery. Adam Gibb, 
especially, signalized himself on the first sabbath of Whitefield's 
labours in Edinburgh, by publishing a " Warning against coun- 
tenancing his ministrations." This pamphlet is so strange, and 
now so rare, that I must preserve some specimens of it, as me- 
morials of the provocation as well as opposition given to White- 
field by the seceders of that day. Most cheerfully, however, do 
I preface them with Fraser's declaration, that " the violence then 
discovered by individual members of the Presbytery, has not 
only been sincerely deplored by their successors in office ; but 
that they themselves lived to repent of the rancour into which 
the heat of controversy had at first betrayed them." Even 
Gibb, it is said, wished, on his death-bed, that no copies of his 
pamphlet were on the face of the earth ; and said, if he could 
recall every copy he would burn them. My copy was presented 
by Dr. Erskine to Dr. Ryland, who wrote the following note 
upon it, — " A Bitter Warning against Mr. Whitefield, by Mr. 
Gibbs, the Seceder. He became more moderate afterwards, 
and spoke respectfully of Mr. Hervey's writings, and Mr. 
Walker's of Truro." I am quite willing that these facts should 
be borne in mind, whilst the following astounding charges are 
read. 

" This man (' Mr. George Whitefield') I have no scruple to 

u 2 



292 



whitefield's life and times. 



look upon as one of the false Christs, of whom the church is 
forewarned. Matt. xxiv. 24. It is no unusual thing with him, 
in his journals, to appfy unto himself things said of and by the 
Christ of God." — " I look upon him, in his public ministrations, 
to be one of the most fatal rocks whereon many are now split- 
ting." — " That he is no minister of Christ, appears from the 
manner wherein that office he bears is conveyed to him. He 
derives it from a diocesan bishop, who derives his office from the 
king, and the king professes not to be a church officer." — " Mr. 
Whitefield, in swearing the oath of supremacy, has sworn that 
Christ is not supreme and sole Head of the church. He will not 
allege that he hath yet vomited that spiritual poison." — " His uni- 
versal love proceeds on the erroneous and horrid principle, that 
God is the lover of all souls, and the God of all churches." — " The 
horror of this is still more awful, because he hales in our Lord 
and his apostles to patronize this catholic spirit." — " He breaks 
off a piece of the glass of truth, and turns his back on the re- 
mainder : thus, though he hold up that piece of the glass, I say, 
before his face, he cannot see the true Christ, because his back 
is toward Him. So then, the doctrine of grace Mr. Whitefield 
retains, cannot possibly discover the true Christ, because his 
back is toward him, in flouting away the doctrine that discovers 
Christ a King of a visible kingdom." — " The doctrine of grace," 
he publishes, " is carried off from its true posture, connexion, 
and use, and applied to a diabolical purpose ; viz. to create a 
Christ in people's imaginations, as a competition with the true 
Christ." — " The horror of this scene strikes me almost dumb. 
I must halt, and give way to some awful ideas that I cannot 
vent in language. 

' Obstupui, steteruntque comae, et 
Vox faueibus haesit ! ' " — 

" The proper and designing author of his scheme, is not Mr. 
Whitefield, but Satan : and thus our contendings against Mr. W. 
must be proportioned, not to his design, but Satan's ; while 
hereof he is an effectual though blinded tool." — " As for the 
gentleman himself, while he is under a very ruinous delusion, 
and thereby gathering upon him his own blood, and the blood 



whitefield's life and times. 



293 



of multitudes, this his condition loudly requires the pity of all 
that know him. And I know of no way wherein this can be 
rightly exercised, without avoiding company with him, that he 
may be ashamed, 2 Thess. iii. 14. In this manner it is, that we 
are called to exercise love to his person, and desire of his reco- 
very : for as his unwarrantable and woeful ministrations must 
be idolatrous, so idolaters (Whitefield's I) slay their own chil- 
dren." — " The complex scheme of Mr. W.'s doctrine is diaboli- 
cal, as proceeding through diabolical influence, and applied to a 
diabolical use, against the Mediator's glory and the salvation of 
men." — " What shall be the procedure of God in such a dis- 
mal case ? Can His justice sleep now? No ! " — " Forasmuch 
as Mr. Whitefield's followers do, as such, seek after a Christ, 
convictions, and conversions, that are really idols, it is therefore 
to be fearfully expected, that God will, in judgment, answer them 
accordingly, and send them an idol Christ, and idol conversions, 
according to their lust. God's great executioner, Satan, must 
be employed in the producing of such effects. He will ape the 
work of God's Spirit." — " The doctrine of impressions, which 
Mr. W. is at pains to teach, is a very necessary part of Satan's 
doctrine." — " Hence Satan, while kindling men's fancies, must 
carry them out under strong and blind impulses, frights, freaks, 
raptures, visions, boastings, blunders, &c." 

All this, as it stands here, seems mere rant and raving. In 
the pamphlet, however, it is blended with much acute reasoning 
upon the subject of the Kingship of Christ. Gibb's grave charge 
against Whitefield was, that he preached Christ only as a Sa- 
viour : not meaning, however, that he did not enforce holiness 
of life ; but that he taught a latitudinarian scheme of church 
polity, the tendency of which was, to " make men sceptics as to 
the discipline and government of the house of God." And there 
is some truth in this. Whitefield knew little and cared less 
about the visible form of the kingdom of Christ in the world. 
All his concern was, to see His spiritual kingdom set up in the 
hearts of individuals. But whilst it is well that this was his 
chief object, it was well too that others laid more stress than 
himself upon church government. Gibb laid too much ; but 
Whitefield went to an equally unscriptural extreme. Accord- 



294 



whitefield's life and times. 



ingly, Whitefield's societies, in general, subsided into other 
churches ; especially in America. 

It 'must not be supposed, that Gibb predicted the scenes of 
Cambuslang or Kilsyth. It was cheap prophesying on July 23rd, 
1742, that a lying spirit, working by " the foreigner" (White- 
field,) would produce u strong impulses, frights, freaks, and 
visions." The effects, thus exaggerated, had begun at Cam- 
buslang in the winter of 1741, under the ministry of M'Cullock, 
the pastor of the parish. " His hearers, in considerable num- 
bers, were on different occasions so violently agitated, while he 
preached regeneration, as to fall down under visible paroxysms 
of bodily agony. But nothing can be more certain, than that 
the unusual events had been a subject of general observation 
and inquiry, for many months before Whitefield had ever been 
at Cambuslang. It is impossible to identify their commence- 
ment with his labours, by any fair examination of the facts as 
they occurred." Sir Henry Moncrieff WelwoooVs Life of Dr. 
Erskine. 

Whitefield did not lessen the effect, however, when he went ; 
and thus Gibb's tirade, being well timed to Whitefield's visit, 
seemed prophecy ; for the warning and the work came before 
the public at large together. It was this coincidence that gave 
so much point and currency amongst the seceders, to the prover- 
bial maxim, that " the wark at Caumuslang ivas a wark o' the 
deevil." Seceders were not the only persons, however, that said 
that Whitefield cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub. 
Bishop Lavington concludes his examination of the enthusiasm 
of methodists thus : " If there be any thing in it exceeding the 
powers of nature ; any thing beyond the force of distemper, or 
of imagination and enthusiasm artfully worked up ; any thing 
beyong the reach of juggle and imposture ; (which I take not 
upon me to affirm or deny ;) in that case, I see no reason against 
concluding, that it is the work of some evil spirit ; a sort of ma- 
gical operation, or other diabolical illusion." Lavington, p. 
398. Polwhele's Ed. Again : " We know that in the latter days, 
demons should be the authors of many surprising things ; God 
permitting Satan to work upon the affections of false prophets 
and evil men." Ibid. 217. Thus prelate and presbyter were 



whitefield's life and times. 



295 



equally vulgar and virulent upon this subject ; and, therefore, 
ought to he placed together at the bar of posterity. 

Thus caricatured and denounced, Whitefleld came to Cam- 
buslang ; a parish four miles distant from Glasgow. He came 
by the special invitation of Mr. M'Cullock, the minister of the 
parish, to " assist at the sacramental occasion, with several wor- 
thy ministers of the church of Scotland." Gillies says, " he 
preached no less than three times upon the very day of his 
arrival, to a vast body of people, although he had preached that 
same morning at Glasgow. The last of these exercises he began 
ilt nine at night, continuing until eleven, when he said he had 
observed such a commotion among the people, as he had never 
seen in America. Mr. M'Cullock preached after him, till past 
''one in the morning ; and even then they could hardly persuade 
the people to depart. All night in the fields might be heard the 
voice of praise and prayer." 

Whitefield said to a friend, before going to this sacramental 
service, " I am persuaded I shall have more power — since dear 
Mr. Gibb hath printed such a bitter pamphlet." He did not 
miscalculate. " On Saturday," he says, " I preached to above 
twenty thousand people. In my prayer the power of God came 
down and was greatly felt. In my two sermons, there was yet 
more power. On sabbath, scarce ever was such a sight seen in 
Scotland. There were undoubtedly upwards of twenty thousand 
people. A brae, or hill, near the manse of Cambuslang, seemed 
formed by Providence for containing a large congregation. 
Two tents were set up, and the holy sacrament was administered 
in the fields. The communion table was in the field. Many mi- 
nisters attended to preach and assist, all enlivening and enlivened 
by one another. 

" When I began to serve a table, the power of God was felt 
by numbers ; but the people crowded so upon me, that I was 
obliged to desist, and go to preach at one of the tents, whilst 
the ministers served the rest of the tables. God was with them 
and with his people. On Monday morning I preached to near 
as many as before : but such a universal stir I never saw before ! 
The motion fled as swift as lightning, from one end of the audi- 
tory to another. You might have seen thousands bathed in 



296 whitefield's life and times. 

tears. Some at the same time wringing their hands, others 
almost swooning, and others crying out, and mourning over a 
pierced Saviour. 

" But I must not attempt to describe it. In the afternoon 
the concern again was very great. Much prayer had been pre- 
viously put up to the Lord. All night, in different companies, 
you might have heard persons praying to and praising God. 
The children of God came from all quarters. It was like the 
passover in Josiah's time. We are to have another sacrament, 
in imitation of Hezekiah's passover, in about two or three 
months. The Messrs. Erskines and their adherents (would 
you have thought it ?) have appointed a public fast, to humble 
themselves, among other things, for my being received in Scot- 
land, and for the delusion, as they term it, at Cambuslang and 
other places ; and all this, because I would not consent to preach 
only for them, till I had light into, and could take, the solemn 
league and covenant. To what lengths may prejudice carry even 
good men ! " Letters. 

Before the next sacrament he was suddenly taken ill. The 
efforts and the excitement overcame him for a short time. " My 
friends thought I was going off : but how did J esus fill my heart ! 
To-day I am, as they call it, much better. In the pulpit, the 
Lord out of weakness makes me wax strong, and causes me to 
triumph more and more." — " I feel the power of His precious, 
live-giving, all-atoning blood more and more every day. I was 
happy when in London. I am ten times happier now. The 
Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." 

When the second sacrament came, the scenes of the first were 
renewed. " Mr. Whitefield's sermons," says Mr. M'Cullock, 
" were attended with much power ; particularly on sabbath night 
about ten. A very great but decent weeping and mourning was 
observable throughout the auditory. While serving some tables, 
he appeared to be so filled with the love of God, as to be in a 
kind of transport. This second occasion did, indeed, much excel 
the former, not only in the number of ministers and people, but, 
which is the main thing, in a much greater increase of the power 
and special presence of God. The lowest estimate of numbers, 
with which Mr. Whitefielcl agrees, and he has been used to great 



win tefield's life and times. 



297 



multitudes, makes them upwards of thirty thousand. The 
number of communicants appears to have been about three 
thousand. Some worthy of credit, and that had opportunities to 
know, give it as their opinion, that such a blessed frame fell upon 
the people, that, had they possessed means to obtain tokens, 
(tickets of admission to the sacrament,) there would have been 
a thousand more." Robe's Narrative. " Some who attended, 
declared they would not for a world have been absent from this 
solemnity. Others cried, ( Now let thy servants depart in peace, 
since our eyes have seen salvation here.' Others wishing, if it 
were the will of God, to die where they were attending God in 
his ordinances, without ever returning to the world." Ibid. 

It will be seen from these extracts that Whitefield did not ex- 
aggerate the power under which he spoke, although he states it 
in strong terms. Again, therefore, let him bear witness. " Such 
a commotion, surely, was never heard of, especially at eleven at 
night. For about an hour and a half, there was such weeping, 
so many falling into deep distress, as is inexpressible. The 
people seem to be slain by scores. They are carried off, and 
come into the house, like soldiers wounded and carried off a field 
of battle. Their cries and agonies are exceedingly affecting." 
This occurred at the first sacrament. Of the second he says, 
^ People sat unwearied till two in the morning. You could 
scarce walk a yard, without treading on some, either rejoicing 
in God for mercies received, or crying out for more. Thousands 
and thousands have I seen, before it was possible to catch it by 
sympathy, melted down under the word and power of God." 
Letters. 

Sir Henry Moncrieff Welwood, in his Life of Dr. Erskine, 
says, " From this time (Whitefield's visit) the multitudes who 
assembled were more numerous than they ever had been, or 
perhaps than any congregation ever before assembled in Scot- 
land. The religious impressions made on the people were 
apparently much greater, and more general." 

These were engrossing scenes. They did not, however, divert 
Whitefield from any of the ordinary duties of life or godliness 
at the time. Some spy did, indeed, insinuate that he gave but 
little time to secret devotion at night, after preaching. In an- 



298 



whitefield's life and times. 



swer to this charge, he said, " I think not my spirit in bondage, 
if through weakness of body, or frequency of preaching, I can- 
not go to God at my usual set times. It is not for me to tell 
how often I use secret prayer. If I did not use it, — if in one 
sense I did not pray without ceasing, it would be difficult for 
me to keep up that frame of mind, which by the divine blessing 
I daily enjoy. God knows my heart : I would do every thing I 
could to satisfy all men, and give a reason of the hope that is in 
me with meekness and fear ; but I cannot satisfy all that are 
waiting for an occasion to find fault. Let my Master speak for 
me." Letters. 

He redeemed time to write the following letter to his mother, 
also, from Cambuslang : — " Honoured mother, I rejoice to hear 
that ,you have been so long under my roof. Blessed be God, 
that I have a house for my honoured mother to come to ! You 
are heartily welcome to any thing my house affords, as long as 
you please. If need was, indeed, these hands should administer 
to your necessities. I had rather want myself, than you should : 
I shall be highly pleased when I come to Bristol, and find you 
sitting in your youngest son's house. Oh may I sit with you in 
the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ! Ere long 
your doom, honoured mother, will be fixed. You must shortly 
go hence and be no more. Your only daughter, I trust, is now 
in the paradise of God. Methinks I hear her say, ( Come up 
hither.' I am sure J esus calls you by his word. May His Spirit 
enable you to say, e Lo, I come.' — Oh that my dear mother may 
be made an everlasting monument of free and sovereign grace ! 
How does my heart burn with love and duty to you ? Gladly 
would I wash your aged feet, and lean on your neck, and weep, 
and pray until I could pray no more." 

Besides this, and many other private letters, he wrote fre- 
quently to his coadjutors at the Tabernacle, and to his managers 
at Georgia. Indeed, at this time, his responsibilities for the 
orphan-house pressed heavily upon his spirits. " I yet owe 
upwards of £250 in England, and have nothing towards it. How 
is the world mistaken about my circumstances ! Worth nothing 
myself, — embarrassed for others, — and yet looked upon to flow 
in riches ! Our extremity is God's opportunity." So it was ! 



whitefield's life and times. 



299 



Before he left Scotland he could say, " Blessed be God, I owe 
nothing now in England on the orphan-house account. What 
is due is abroad. At Edinburgh I collected £128 ; at Glasgow 
£128 ; in all about £300. Since I have been in England, we 
have got near £1500. The Lord will raise up what we further 
need." 

Thus no relative duty was neglected, notwithstanding the 
multiplicity of his public engagements. He even found time 
at Cambuslang (just the spot for the task !) to write his letter, 
entitled " A Vindication and Confirmation of the Remarkable 
Work of God in New England; being remarks on a late 
pamphlet, entitled, The State of Religion in New England, 
since the Rev. G. Whitefield's arrival there ; in a Letter to a 
Minister of the Church of Scotland." This pamphlet, like 
Gibb's " Warning," was intended to depreciate both Whiteneld 
and his work in Scotland. In answering it, however, he wisely 
left the work at Cambuslang to vindicate itself, and confined 
his explanations to New England ; that the revivals there might 
in nowise depend upon those in Scotland for their justification. 
He also proved pretty fully, although without bringing home 
the fact to any one, that the pamphlet was altered in Scotland, 
to suit a purpose. And there are dates of Scotch publications 
in it, which could not have been known in Boston, when it was 
written. Hence he asks, "How could that gentleman (the au- 
thor) see at Boston on May 24th, that Edwards' Sermon was 
reprinted in Scotland ; which was not done till June following ? 
I myself was chiefly concerned in publishing it." 

Besides the great awakening at Cambuslang at this time, 
there was another similar at Kilsyth, which Whiteneld visited 
also. As might be expected, both were misrepresented by 
formalists and bigots. The seceders, Whitelield says, " Taking 
it for granted that God had left the Scotch established church 
long ago, and that he would not work by the hands of a curate 
of the church of England, condemned the whole work as the 
work of the devil ; and kept a fast throughout all Scotland to 
humble themselves, because the devil was come down in great 
wrath ; and to pray that the Lord would rebuke the destroyer — 
for that was my title." Oliphan fs Memoirs. 



300 



whitefield's life and times. 



The Associate Presbytery, in their hot zeal to depreciate the 
conversions, confounded them, like Lavington, with the extra- 
vagance of fanatics and impostors, Camizars, and the first 
quakers. They issued from Dunfermline an Act of Presbytery 
anent a public fast, of which Mr. Robe of Kilsyth says, " It is 
the most heaven-daring paper that hath been published by any 
set of men in Britain these three hundred years past." This is 
a bold charge. It was not, however, advanced in a bad spirit ; 
as the following appeals and explanations abundantly show, 
" My dear brethren, (of the Secession,) my heart's desire and 
prayer to God for you is, that he may open your eyes to see 
the many mistakes you labour under. Whatever bitter names 
you give us, and however you magnify yourselves against us, 
we take all patiently ; and there are thousands of witnesses 
that we return you blessing for cursing. We would lay our 
bodies as the ground, and as the street, for you to go over, if it 
could in the least contribute to remove your prejudices, and 
advance the kingdom of our dear Redeemer." 

This is humble and earnest pleading ; and so far as the word 
"we" includes Mr. Robe and the leaders of the revival, the 
pleading is honest. It must not, however, be considered as a 
specimen of the spirit of the clergy, in general, towards the 
seceders. This being understood, I proceed with the appeal. — 
" You declare the work of God to be a delusion, and the work 
of the grand deceiver. Now, my dear brethren, for whom I 
tremble, have you been at due pains to know the nature and 
circumstances of this work ? " (Their Act was issued whilst the 
work was going on.) "Have you taken the trouble to go to any 
of these places, where the Lord has appeared in his glory and 
majesty ? Have you so much as written to any of the ministers 
to receive information of it ? Is it not amazing rashness, with- 
out inquiry or trial, to pronounce that a work of the devil, 
which, for any thing you know, maybe the work of the infinitely 
good and holy Spirit ? " 

" My dear brethren, can you find in your hearts, after all the 
prayers you have put up in public and private for the outpour- 
ing of the Spirit upon this poor church and land, to deny that it 
is He, when he is come ? — Will ye be so fearless, can you be 



whitefield's life and times. 



301 



so cruel to thousands of perishing sinners, who begin to fly to 
Jesus Christ as a cloud and as doves to their windows ; as in 
the most solemn manner, with lifted up eyes and hands, to pray 
that there may be a restraint upon the influences of the Holy 
Spirit, and that this outpouring of His grace may be withdrawn, 
and not spread over the length and breadth of the land?" 
Robe's Preface. 

It is impossible not to ask, and that with strong emotion too, 
after reading such remonstrances, — how could such good men 
as the Erskines withstand these appeals ? Now it is not easy 
to explain this anomaly, without seeming to palliate its enor- 
mity. It admits, however, of some explanation. The Ers- 
kines, on raising the standard of Reformation in Scotland, 
planted it upon the mount of the solemn league and covenant ; 
arguing, that God would carry on his work only " in a way of 
solemn covenanting," as in the days of their " reforming fore- 
fathers." R. Erskine, on Witnessing for God. With this prin- 
ciple, Whiter! eld had no sympathy ; for, whether right or wrong, 
he did not understand it. He would not therefore submit to it. 
The reformers also laid it down as a maxim, "that little truths" 
(at such a time) were "like the little pinnings of a wall, as ne- 
cessary as the great stones that it was " a false conversion," 
which " draws men off from any of the ways of God ;" that 
"aversion from, and opposition to, the testimony of the time" 
was opposing God. Ralph Erskine's Sermons, 2nd vol. folio. 
All this, as they understood it, Whiter! eld rejected ; and there- 
fore they rejected him, and defamed his principles, in order to 
defend their own. " I shall show you, in eight or ten particu- 
lars," said Ralph in a sermon, " what another God, and what 
another Christ, is appearing in the delusive spirit of this time, 
brought in by the instrumentality of the foreigner (Whiter! eld) ; 
of whom we had some grounds for very favourable thoughts 
and expectations, till we understood him more fully, and found 
him in several respects a stranger to our God, and setting up 
another God." Sermons, folio. 

The chief ground of this charge, however hollow, is plausible. 
The Associate Presbytery were asserting the legislative su- 
premacy of Christ, as King of Zion. The evils they were con- 



302 



whitepield's life and times. 



tending against in the kirk, had grown out of a long disregard 
to this sacred principle. Now Whitefield sided with the minis- 
ters who, however good in other respects, did not "testify" 
against the violations of this principle ; but against the Seces- 
sion who avowed and advocated it. Hence, he was identified 
and denounced with the enemies of church reform. He had 
joined their ranks, and therefore he had to share in their re- 
buke, as well as to suffer for mortifying the Presbytery. It was 
thus the Erskines were tempted to oppose and impugn the re- 
vivals at Cambuslang and Kilsyth. These revivals checked 
the kind of reformation, which the Erskines were chiefly plead- 
ing for. They saw and felt this, and hence they said, " Satan 
seems content that Christ should preach, providing He do not 
reign nor rule ; knowing that his doctrine will not be long un- 
corrupted, if His government can be overturned." Sermons. 
" The power and policy of hell is at work, to bring any attempt 
at reformation under contempt." Ibid. Thus the seceders 
could not imagine that any thing could be another work of 
God, which was visibly and virtually hindering that work of 
God which they had so solemnly espoused, and which was so 
much needed at the time. It became, therefore, a solemn duty, 
as they supposed, to pour contempt and obloquy upon conver- 
sions, which were pouring doubt upon the necessity and value 
of church reform. " That must be a wrong conversion," says 
Ralph, " that hath no tendency to the public good, but a ten- 
dency to oppose a public reformation." Sermons. 

The depicting power also of Whitefield's oratory, so unlike 
Scotch reasonings, gave the Erskines another handle against 
him. Cornelius Winter says of him, " It was not without great 
pathos, you may be sure, he treated upon the sufferings of the 
Saviour. He was very ready at that kind of painting, — which 
frequently answered the end of real scenery. As though Geth- 
semane were within sight, he would say, stretching out his 
hand, — f Look yonder ! What is it I see ? It is my agonizing 
Lord ! ' And, as though it were no difficult matter to catch 
the sound of the Saviour praying, he would exclaim, c Hark, 
hark ! — do you not hear ? ' You may suppose that as this oc- 
curred frequently, the efficacy of it was destroyed :— -but, no ; 



whitefield's life and times. 



303 



though we often knew what was coming, it was as new to us as 
though we had never heard it before." Jay's Life of Winter. 
Such painting Ralph Erskine had witnessed, and the effect of it 
upon the people led him to say, " They see a beautiful and glo- 
rious person presented to their imagination, or to their bodily 
eye. What a devil, instead of Christ, is this ! " <e Never, I 
think, did Satan appear as an angel of light, so evidently, as in 
the delusive spirit now spreading." Sermons. 

On the other hand, Robe and some of his brethren founded a 
theory upon the vivid images thus produced ; and argued that 
" imaginary ideas of Christ as man, belonged to saving faith ; 
or at least, were helpful to the faith of His being God-man." 
Fraser. Ralph Erskine replied to this theory, in a work, en- 
titled, " Faith no Fancy, or a Treatise of Mental Images." 
Well might Fraser say of this book, " it is not every where 
level to mere ordinary capacities." It is not, indeed ! It proves, 
however, that the author was a man of extraordinary capacity ; 
and could be as much at home amongst the depths of metaphysics 
as amongst the heights of poetry or devotion. It is said, that 
Reid found in this work the principles on which he afterwards 
built his System of the Philosophy of the Human Mind. If he 
did, happily he did not draw the spirit of his philosophy from it. 
The treatise certainly displays " an extraordinary degree of 
metaphysical acuteness :" but if it prove any thing against such 
mental images as Whitefield created, and Robe commended, it 
stultifies the author's " Gospel Sonnets;" for they are " cham- 
bers of imagery." It is not necessary to illustrate this retort, 
to those who have read both the poetry and the philosophy of 
Ralph Erskine ; and the point of it could not be explained to 
those who have not read both. Suffice it to say, that his son- 
nets refute his system, and have survived it, although they are 
often as fantastical as they are devotional. 

It is amusing to read the charges and disclaimers of the parties 
in Scotland, upon the subject of religious liberty. The Asso- 
ciate Presbytery gravely charged the revivalists in the kirk 
" with pleading for a boundless toleration and liberty of con- 
science :" no great crime, as we now judge. Not so, however, 
did the revivalists of that day deem it. The imputation roused 



304 



WHITEFIELD^S LIFE AND TIMES. 



then, however, the Scotch blood of even the kind-hearted and 
liberal Robe. " Where and when did we that ? " he exclaims. 
" I know none of my brethren ever did it : and I am so far con- 
scious of my innocence, that I insist upon your making your 
charge good. If you do not, as I am sure you cannot, it is no 
pleasure to me, that you give reason to the world to reckon you 
slanderers" How true it is, that nations are 

" slowly wise, and meanly just;" 

and that even good men are seldom wiser than their times ! 
Whitefield's visits would have been a blessing to Scotland, had 
they led to nothing but a canvassing of the rights of con- 
science ; for he was far ahead of both parties on the subject of 
religious liberty. 

Another handle against the Cambuslang and Kilsyth revivals, 
was, the physical effects of the awakening. " We have convul- 
sions instead of convictions," said Erskine. He might and 
ought to have known, that this was not true of one in six of the 
converts. " They are greatly mistaken, who imagine, that all 
those who have been observably awakened, have come under 
faintings, tremblings, or other bodily distresses. These have 
been by far the fewest number." Robe. Notwithstanding this 
assurance from the principal witness, the Erskines went on to 
confound the exceptions with the rule, in these conversions. 
Even in 1765, the editor of Ralph's Sermons kept up this mis- 
representation, and said, in a note, " the subjects of the extra- 
ordinary work" were " strangely agitated by strong convulsions, 
fearful distortions, foamings, and faintings." This is caricature, 
not history. In 1742, the instances of " conversion carried on 
in a calm, silent, quiet manner, for six months, are the more 
numerous and unquestionable." Robe. W 7 hiteneld's visit oc- 
curred in this period. Besides, even Ralph Erskine himself 
could not always prevent, though he reproved, " clamorous 
noise," under his own ministry. Faith no Fancy. Appendix 
to Preface. But these effects have been sufficiently explained 
in the American department of this volume. 

It would be wrong, after having quoted so often from Ralph 
Erskine's Sermons, were I not to say even of the sermons which 



whitefield's life and times. 



305 



are most disfigured with tirades against Whitefield and the re- 
vivals, that they are full of evangelical truth, and flaming with 
love to immortal souls, and as faithful to the conscience, as any 
that Whitefield preached at Cambuslang. Indeed, had they 
been preached on the brae-head, at the great sacrament there, 
Erskine would as surely have " slain his hundreds," as White- 
field did " his thousands." 



x 



CHAPTER XIII. 



WHITEFIELD ITINERATING. 

On returning from Cambuslang to London, Whitefield found, 
says Gillies, " the Tabernacle enlarged, and a new awakening " 
begun. As might be expected, he was just in the right spirit 
for turning both facilities to the best account. Remembering 
the unction he enjoyed in Scotland, he wrote to a friend on 
arriving at London, " I feel it — I feel it now, and long to preach 
again ! " When he did, he soon had occasion to inform one of 
his Cambuslang companions, " Our glorious Emmanuel blesses 
me in like manner, now he has brought me to England." 

This flourishing state of the Tabernacle society, now equally 
large and harmonious, enabled him to forget all his old griev- 
ances, and to renew his wonted spirit towards the Wesleys. 
They were then triumphing gloriously at Newcastle, and he 
"heartily rejoiced" in their success. He wrote to one of their 
friends thus : — ee I am dead to parties now, and freed from the 
pain which, on that account, once disturbed the peace of my 
soul. I redeem time from sleep rather than your letter should 
not be answered." 

His letters at this time are full of a holy impatience to get 
out of his " winter-quarters," pleasant as they were, and to en- 
ter upon a " fresh campaign." His old friends in the country, 
and especially in Wales, were crying out for him, to do there 
what he had done in Scotland. He could not, however, gratify 
them at once. Persecution had begun to harass some of his 
coadjutors in Wales and Wiltshire ; and therefore he kept upon 
his vantage ground in London, to expose and defeat it. Ac- 
cordingly, he appealed thus to the bishop of Bangor, on behalf 



whitefield's life and times. 



307 



of Cennick, who had been " shamefully used" in that diocese : 
'* In Wales they have little fellowship meetings, where some 
well-meaning people meet together, simply to tell what God 
hath done for their souls. In some of these meetings, I believe, 
Mr. C. used to tell his experience, and to invite his companions 
to come and be happy in Jesus Christ. He is, therefore, indicted 
as holding a conventicle ; and this, I find, is the case of one if 
not two more. Now, my Lord, these persons, thus indicted, 
as far as I can judge, are loyal subjects to his Majesty, and true 
friends to, and attendants upon, the church of England service. 
You will see by the letters (I send with this) how unwilling 
they are to leave her. And yet, if all those acts against per- 
sons meeting to plot against church and state, were put in ex- 
ecution against them, what must they do? They must be 
obliged to declare themselves dissenters. I assure your Lord- 
ship it is a critical time for Wales. Hundreds, if not thousands, 
will go in a body from the church, if such proceedings are coun- 
tenanced. I lately wrote them a letter, dissuading them from 
separating from the church ; and I write thus freely to your 
Lordship, because I would not have such a fire kindled in or 
from your Lordship's diocese." To this letter the bishop re- 
turned a prompt and polite answer, promising to hear both sides. 
What he did eventually, I know not. However, six months 
afterwards, Whitefield found some difficulty, though he carried 
his point, in preventing a separation from the church in Wales ; 
as we shall soon see. 

The next case of persecution which he had to resist, came 
to him from Wiltshire. It was of a kind not altogether cured 
by another century of " the march of intellect." It was this : 
" The ministers of Bramble, Segery, Langley, and many others, 
have strictly forbidden the overseers and churchwardens to let 

any of the C s (Cennickites ?) have any thing out of the 

parish ; and they obey them, and tell the poor, if they cannot 
stop them from following any other way (than the church !) 
they will famish them. Several of the poor, having large fami- 
lies, have already been denied any help. Some, out of fear, de- 
nied they ever came, (to the conventicle,) and others have been 
made to promise they will come no more ; whilst the most part 

x 2 



308 



whitefield's life and times. 



come at the loss of friends and all they have. When the offi- 
cers threatened some to take away their pay, they answered, " If 
you starve us we will go ; and rather than forbear, we will live 
on grass like kine." 

These facts, in this form, Whitefield submitted to the bishop 

of Old Sarum ; telling his Lordship plainly, that if C left the 

church, "hundreds would leave it with him." The effect, as 
usual, is not known. The only thing certain is, that both per- 
secution and petty annoyance went on in most quarters. 

Whitefield having done what he could by letters, left Lon- 
don to visit these disturbed districts, and attend the associa- 
tions of the Welch methodists. On his way he preached at 
Hampton Common, to about " twelve thousand." Gillies does 
not mention the occasion. It was this. " A man was hung in 
chains " there, that day. " A more miserable spectacle," says 
Whitefield, " I have not seen. I preached in the morning to a 
great auditory, about a mile off from the place of execution. I 
intended doing the same after the criminal was turned off ; but 
the weather was very violent. Thousands and thousands came 
and staid to hear ; but through misinformation, kept on the top 
of the hill while I preached at the bottom." 

From this he went to Dursley, one of the seats of persecu- 
tion, to dare the consequences ,• but although the mob had 
taken down an itinerant on the sabbath before, " no one was 
permitted to touch or molest" him. "The word came (upon 
them) with a most gloriously convincing power." He then 
went to his Tump again at Hampton. " I cannot tell you," he 
says, " what a solemn occasion that was ! They do, indeed, 
hang on me to hear the word. It ran, and was glorified. 
Preaching in Gloucestershire now, is like preaching at the 
Tabernacle." 

After preaching at Bristol and Bath, he went to Waterford 
in South Wales, and there presided at the first Association of 
the Welch Calvinistic Methodists. All who know how much 
Wales owes to the meetings of this union, and how often and 
signally they have been Pentecostal scenes, well accounting for, 
if not excusing, the shouts of " Gogunnyant, bendyitti" will 
learn with pleasure that Whitefield "opened the Association." 



whitefield's life and times. 



309 



Gillies. "I opened, with a close and solemn discourse on 
walking with God. Afterwards we betook ourselves to business ; 
settling the affairs of the societies, till about two in the morn- 
ing." Next day, they sat till midnight. " All acknowledged 
God was with them." Thus began that which eventually im- 
mortalized Bala (bach !) and sainted Charles. 

In the spirit of this meeting he went to Cardiff, and again 
made " the greatest scoffers quiet." But at Swansea, the effect 
was so great, that he wrote off to a friend after preaching, 
" Swansea is taken ! I never preached with a more convincing 
power. Free grace for ever ! " From this he went to Caer- 
marthen, and preached from " the top of the Cross." The 
great sessions were then sitting. " The justices," he says, " de- 
sired I would stay till they rose, and they would come. Ac- 
cordingly, they did, and many thousands more, and several 
people of quality." He was still more pleased, however, with 
an audience " of several thousand souls at Jefferson," because 
they were " very like the Kingswood colliers ; and at Llassivran, 
because he had, " as it were, a Moorfields congregation," and 
chiefly, because "Jerusalem sinners bring most glory to Christ." 

Whilst thus in what he calls " a new and very unthought-of 
world," a clergyman in the neighbourhood of Larn preached 
against him by name on the sabbath day, much and violently. 
This defeated its own purpose. To his surprise, on crossing the 
ferry at Larn, one vessel fired a salute, and several hoisted their 
flags as tokens of respect and welcome. 

During this itineracy in Wales he travelled, he says, " four 
hundred miles in three weeks, spent three days in attending two 
associations, preached about forty times, visited about thirteen 
towns, and passed through seven counties." Lett. 514. At the 
close of this tour, his first question to himself was, " Where shall 
I go next ? " He was at a loss to determine. " A visit to York- 
shire would be very agreeable. Perhaps Exeter and Cornwall 
may be the next places. That is dry ground. I love to range in 
such places." He determined, however, to make, first, one more 
attack upon the prince of darkness in Moorfields. This he did ; 
and one of its effects was, that he was enabled to remit £25 to 
Georgia, in addition to £100 sent out by his brother's ship a lit- 



310 



whitefield's life and times. 



tie before. " Grace, grace/' he exclaims in his letter to Haber- 
sham, " I have paid all that is due in England, and have sent you 
£25 by the bearer. God willing, I will remit you more soon." 

After a few weeks, he left London again for Gloucestershire, 
to " strengthen the persecuted," or to share the brunt with Cen- 
nick, of whom he was very fond. He thus describes him at this 
time : " He is truly a great soul ! one of those weak things, 
which God has chosen to confound the strong. Such a hardy 
worker with his hands, and. hearty preacher at the same time, I 
have scarce known. All call him a second Bunyan." Having 
countenanced and consoled Cennick, he went to Bristol. On 
his arrival he learnt that the king had fought and conquered in 
Germany. Whitefield did not know before, that George had 
joined the army. He, therefore, said, with his characteristic 
simplicity and loyalty, " I had observed for some time past, when 
praying for him, that, whether I would or not, out came this 
petition, — Lord, cover thou his head in the day of battle. While 
praying, I wondered why I prayed so ; not knowing he was gone 
to fight. This gave me confidence." Lett. 124. He had need 
of it ; for his own day of battle was at hand. A letter came to 
him from his itinerant at Hampton, urging him to place himself 
in the breach. The appeal, as will be seen, was not likely to be 
lost on Whitefield. " On sabbath morning," says the writer, 
" about twenty of the society met. In the afternoon, the mob 
came to my house, demanding me to come down. I asked, by 
what authority they did so ? They swore they would have me. 
Then said I, you shall, so they took me to the lime-pit, (for 
skins,) and threw me in. But oh, what a power of God was on 
my soul ! I thought, with Stephen, the heavens opened to my 
sight, and the Lord Jesus was ready to receive me. I believe 
my undaunted courage shook some of them. I told them, I 
should meet them at the judgment-seat, and then their faces 
would gather paleness. They let me out, — and I came home 
and prayed with the people who were there. After that, I ex- 
horted. And when I was concluding, the mob came again, and 
took me to a brook to throw me in there. They told me, they 
would let me go, if I would forbear preaching for a month. I 
would make no such promise. So forward I went. One of them 



whitefield's life and times. 



311 



threw me in, and I went to the bottom, but came up again, with 
my hands clasped together. I did not desire to come out until 
they fetched me. Accordingly, in jumped one or two of them, 
' and took me out. But then, one maliciously and cowardly pushed 
me in again, and much cut and bruised one of my legs against 
a stone. Some of the others were going to throw him in for 
doing so. I came home talking with them. Many seemed to 
repent of what they had done, and promised to molest me no 
more. The chief says, he will in nowise touch me again. Many 
advise us to prosecute them : but if they are quiet, I am con- 
tent, and can say from the heart, c Father, forgive them.' I 
should be glad if you would be here next Sunday." Thomas 
Adams. 

Whitefield was soon on the spot ! " On Thursday I came 
here, and expected to be attacked; because I had heard that 
the mob had threatened that, if ever I came there again, they 
would have a piece of my black gown to make aprons with. No 
sooner had I entered the town, but I heard and saw the signals ; 
such as blowing of horns, and ringing of hells, for gathering the 
mob. My soul was kept quite easy. I preached on a large 
glass-plat. I finished just as the ringleader of the mob broke 
in upon us. One of them called me coward. I then went to the 
house and preached on the stair-case, to a large number of seri- 
ous souls : but the troublers in Israel soon came in to mock and 
mob us. But, feeling what I never felt before, as I have very 
little natural courage, — strength and power from above, — I leaped 
down-stairs ; and all ran away before me. However, they con- 
tinued making a noise about the house till midnight ; abusing 
the poor people as they went home, and, as we hear, they broke 
one young lady's arm in two places. 

" Hearing that two or three clergymen were in the town, one 
of whom was a justice of the peace, (query, of the war ?) I went 
to them : but, alas, — they laid the cause of all the grievance at 
my door ; but, by the help of my God, I shall persist in preach- 
ing, and in encouraging those to do so, who are moved by the 
Holy Ghost. As I came out from the clergymen, two of the 
unhappy mobbers were particularly insolent, and huzzaed us out 
of town. Let us f rejoice and be exceeding glad,' for now, I 



312 



whitefield's life and times. 



humbly hope, I begin to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, since to 
suffer for Him is given unto me." 

Whitefield had to " appeal unto Caesar " for justice, in this 
case. The trial of the Hampton rioters came on very soon after 
the sudden death of his only son ; and as the preparation and 
bustle of the affair diverted him somewhat from brooding upon 
his loss, I have connected the report with his domestic life. 

About this time, a motion was made at one of the associations 
in Wales, whilst Whitefield was present, to separate from the 
established church. This grieved him much, although it was 
made only by " a few contracted spirits," as he calls them. 
" By far the greater part most strenuously opposed it," and 
agreed to go on as usual, because they enjoyed such " great 
liberty under the mild and paternal government of his Majesty." 
Thus, with all his attachment to the church, Whitefield was too 
honest to ascribe any of his liberty to her government. His 
definition of liberty, at this association, is characteristic of him- 
self and his coadjutors ; — " the privilege of ranging up and down, 
preaching repentance to those multitudes, who come neither to 
church nor meeting, but who are led from curiosity to follow us 
into the fields ;" — a privilege, which very few exercise now, how- 
ever many would contend for it. The crushing of Sidmouth's 
bill was not followed by much field preaching. 

In the course of his itineracy this year, Whitefield visited 
Exeter twice, and created a stir which turned the bishop into 
a pamphleteer. Lavington had heard of the u enthusiasm of 
the methodists," and now he saw it. It drew ten thousand of 
his flock out to Southern Bay, and several of his clergy out of 
their stalls into the fields, to hear Whitefield. Some of the 
latter, however, " went off," when " the Lord made way for 
himself into the hearts of the people." Having introduced this 
leaven into the city, Whitefield left it to ferment for two months, 
and then returned, determined to be " all heart and all humility, 
at the same time." The result was, " the common people began 
to feel, and even some of the polite were much affected," although 
in the fields. This will account for Lavington's tirades against 
itinerant preaching. The bishop had the insolence to insinuate, 
though not the boldness to say, that the methodist preachers, 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



313 



" as well as St. Anthony, were attended with a sturdy set of fol- 
lowers, as their guards, armed with clubs under their clothes, 
menacing and threatening such as should dare to speak lightly 
of their apostle. I have often heard it affirmed." In the same 
mean spirit Lavington chose to forget, that itineracy had been 
practised by other churches than St. Anthony's. Knox provided 
for it in Scotland, in his " First Book of Discipline." Queen 
Elizabeth appointed twelve, to travel continually. By the way, 
who pockets the salary of the church-itineracy now ; for the 
work is neglected ? Whitefield knew both the legitimacy of 
his office and the need of it ; and therefore persisted in Exeter, 
until the bishop saw nearly " a third part of the city " attending 
on " the word preached " in the fields ; and until he himself 
could say, ef I am here, as in Scotland and New England. Praise 
to free grace ! Here is work enough for months. The weather 
is favourable : range, therefore, I must and will ! " Lett. 

On the morning of the last day of his visit, he went to Ottery 
to preach in the market-place : but just as he named his text, 
the bells rang. He then went to the fields, and the people ran 
after him " in droves." On his way, one of the clergymen, with 
the same zeal as the bell-ringers, questioned his authority, and 
denounced the meeting as illegal and as a riot. " I answered 
him pertinently, as I thought, and showed my authority by 
preaching from these words, ' GO ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature. 5 " 

Next day he went to Biddeford, and was much pleased to 
find there a clergyman, nearly eighty years of age, who had lately 
preached three times in one day, and rode forty miles : but says 
Whitefield, "he is not above one year old in the school of Christ." 
" Dear Hervey," he says, ee laid the blessed foundation, whilst a 
curate here." Such was the " Edinburgh-like " effect of a sermon 
in the dissenting chapel, that he wrote off to the Tabernacle, 
" I cannot think of nestling in London. I am more and more 
convinced, that I should go from place to place." Accordingly, 
instead of nestling, he flew into Cornwall, and alighted once again 
in a church, at St. Gennis. " Many, many prayers," it seems, 
" had been put up by the good rector and others, for an out- 
pouring of God's blessed Spirit." — " They were answered. 



314 



whitefield's life and times. 



Arrows of conviction fled so thick and fast, and such a universal 
weeping prevailed from one end of the congregation to the other, 

that good Mr. J could not help going from seat to seat 

to comfort the wounded souls." After preaching some time in 
Cornwall thus, he said, fe But I must away to Biddeford, just to 
give Satan another stroke, and then return the way I came to 
the great metropolis." 

It was now winter ; " but the Lord," he says, " warms my 
heart." In this spirit he came to Birmingham. There he 
heard of the mobs which had been stirred up at Wednesbury, 
against the Wesleyans, by a sermon in the church ; of which 
Wesley says, " I never heard so wicked a sermon, delivered with 
such bitterness of voice and manner." Its effect, as is well 
known, was almost murder. Ill as Adams was treated at Hamp- 
ton, it was mercifully, compared with the fiend-like assault upon 
Wesley. Whitefield went to Wednesbury, and was well received. 
" I cannot tell you," he says, " what a sweet melting time there 
was. Many were in tears." Next day, however, whilst preach- 
ing at Mare Green, in the neighbourhood, " several clods were 
thrown," one of which fell on his head, and another struck his 
fingers, whilst he was praying. He then returned to Birming- 
ham, and preached to many thousands on a common, with 
great effect. When he went on the ground, a regiment of 
soldiers were exercising ; but the officers, when they saw him, 
dismissed them, and promised that there should be no dis- 
turbance. 

Whitefield closed this itineracy by a visit to his old friend 
Mr. Williams of Kidderminster. In his house, he recognised 
" a sweet savour," amongst the visitors, " of good Baxter's 
doctrine, works, and discipline, remaining until this day." That 
savour he did not find in Baxter's church ; its bells were rung 
whilst he was preaching ; and that by men who " had promised 
not to do so." 

On his return to London, Whitefield had to sustain the loss 
of his child, to prosecute the Hampton rioters, and to answer 
some pamphlets, as well as to prepare for revisiting America. In 
June, 1744, he engaged his passage from Portsmouth ; but the 
captain of the vessel refused to let him on board, when the time 



whitefield's life and times. 



315 



to sail came, lest he should " spoil the sailors." He had, there- 
fore, to go to Plymouth for a vessel. 

Whilst at Plymouth, he had a very narrow escape from being 
murdered. On the night of his arrival, a hear and drum were 
paraded on the ground where he was expected to preach. He 
did not, therefore, preach that night. Next night he did ; and 
after returning to his inn, some ruffians, under the pretence of a 
" hue-and-cry " warrant, broke into his room, and insulted him. 
This led him to remove to private lodgings. Again he preached 
and visited the French prisoners, without any thing happening 
to awaken fear or suspicion. That night, however, his landlady 
informed him, that " a well-dressed gentleman desired to speak 
with him." — " Imagining," he says, " that it was some Nicode- 
mite, I desired him to be brought up. He came, and sat down 
by my bedside ; told me he was a lieutenant of a man of war ; 
congratulated me on the success of my ministry, and expressed 
himself much concerned from being detained from hearing me. 
He then asked me if I knew him ? I answered, no. He re- 
plied, his name was Cadogan. I rejoined, I had seen one Mr. 
Cadogan, formerly an officer at Georgia, about a fortnight ago 
at Bristol. Upon this, he immediately rose up, uttering the 
most abusive language ; calling me dog, rogue, villain ; and beat 
me most unmercifully with his gold-headed cane. As you know 
I have not much natural courage, guess how surprised I was ! 
Being apprehensive that he intended to shoot or stab me, I 
underwent all the fears of a sudden, violent death. 

" It providentially happened, that my hostess and her daughter, 
hearing me cry ' murder/ rushed into the room, and seized him 
by the collar. However, he immediately disengaged himself 
from them, and repeated his blows upon me. The cry of ' mur- 
der ' was repeated ; which putting him in some terror, he made 
towards the chamber-door, from whence the good woman pushed 
him down-stairs. 

" At the bottom, a second cried out, ' Take courage, I am 
ready to help you.' Accordingly, whilst the other was escaping, 
he rushed up ; and, finding one of the women coming down, he 
took her by the heels, and threw her upon the stairs, by which 
her back was almost broken. By this time, the neighbourhood 



316 



whitefield's life and times. 



was alarmed. Unwilling to add to it, I desired the doors to be 
shut, and retired to rest." 

This mysterious affair Whitefield did not prosecute for, al- 
though much urged to do so. " I am better employed/' he says, 
" being greatly blessed in preaching the gospel. I was well 
paid for what I had suffered ; curiosity having led, perhaps, 
two thousand more than ordinary to see and hear a man that 
had like to have been murdered in his bed. Thus all things 
work for the furtherance of the gospel. 

£ Thus Satan thwarts, and men object, 
And yet the thing they thwart, effect.' " 

The only explanation of this outrage that I know of, only 
rendered it more mysterious. " I had," he says, (( some parti- 
cular information about the late odd adventure. It seems, four 
gentlemen came to the house of one of my friends, kindly in- 
quiring for me ; and desiring to know where I lodged, that they 
might come and pay their respects. He directed them. Some 
time afterwards, I received a letter, informing me that the writer 

was a nephew to Mr. S , an eminent attorney at New York ; 

that he had the pleasure of supping with me at his uncle's house ; 
and desired my company to sup with him and a few more friends 
at a tavern. I sent him word, that it was not customary for me 
to sup out at taverns ; but should be glad of his company, out 
of respect to his uncle, to eat a morsel with him at my lodgings. 
He came. We supped ; and I observed that he looked around 
him frequently, and seemed very absent. But having no sus- 
picion, I continued in conversation with him and my other 
friends, until we parted. 

" This, I now find, was to have been the assassin. On being 
interrogated by his companions, on his return to the tavern, 
about what he had done, he answered, that being so civilly used 
he had not the heart to touch me. Upon which, as I am in- 
formed, the person who assaulted me laid a wager of ten guineas 
that he would do my business for me. Some say, that they took 
his sword from him ; — which I suppose they did, for I saw and 
felt only the weight of his cane." 

The deserved odium of this dastardly attack must be equally 



whitefield's life and times. 



317 



divided between England and America. That the volunteer 
assassin was an American, there can be no more doubt, than 
that the bravo was an Englishman. Whitefield could not have 
mistaken the former. Indeed, it was " out of respect " to the 
uncle in New York, that he welcomed the nephew without 
hesitation. 

He availed himself adroitly of the notoriety thus given to 
him in Plymouth, to divide public attention with the bishop of 
the diocese, who was there at the time confirming. " Could 
you think it," he says, " I have been preaching a confirmation 
sermon ? Do you ask me where ? In a quakers field. As I saw 
thousands flocked to the church to have the bishop's hand im- 
posed upon them, I thought it not improper to let them have a 
word of exhortation suitable to the occasion." 

This confirmation sermon produced one good effect, equal at 
least to any that resulted from the confirmation itself. The 
late Rev. Henry Tanner, then a young man, and a ship-builder, 
had just come to Plymouth, in search of employment at the 
dock. Whitefield's powerful voice from the field arrested his 
attention, and that of his fellow-workmen. They deemed him 
mad, and determined to capsize him from his block. Nor was 
this all : they went, not only to throw him down from his stand, 
but with their pockets full of stones, " to injure the mad parson." 
Dr. Hawker's Life of Tanner. 

Tanner's resolution failed him, when he saw Whitefield with 
open arms and gushing tears, entreating u poor, lost sinners " to 
come to Christ. He went home much impressed, and resolved 
to hear the preacher again next evening. He did. The text 
was, "Beginning at Jerusalem." Whitefield "depicted the 
cruel murder of the Lord of life " there. Then, turning to the 
spot where Tanner stood, he said, " You are reflecting on the 
cruelty of these inhuman butchers, who imbrued their hands in 
innocent blood." At this moment his eye fell upon Tanner, and 
his lips said, " Thou art the man." The convicted sinner was 
forced to cry, " God be merciful to me." Whitefield saw the 
effect, and met the emotion with a burst of tenderness which 
cheered the penitent. Another sermon, on Jacob's vision of 
the Bethel ladder, led Tanner up to the Lamb slain in the 



318 



whitefield's life and times. 



midst of the throne, and thus gave him both joy and peace in 
believing. 

The advances he made, from this time, in religious knowledge 
and experience, were great and rapid. They eventually en- 
couraged and enabled him to preach the everlasting gospel to 
others. This he did with such success, that even Dr. Hawker 
(that strange compound of spirituality and absurdity) acknow- 
ledges, that Tanner seldom preached " one sermon in vain." 
Tanner's frequent prayer was, that he might die in his Master's 
work. His petition was granted. He broke down in the pulpit, 
before he could finish his sermon ; and soon fell asleep in Jesus. 
Life by Hawker. 

This was not the only good effect of Whitefield's detention at 
Plymouth. Some of the very persons who opposed him at first, 
offered him " a piece of ground, surrounded with walls, for a 
society house." No wonder : for he came from the docks every 
evening, " with great companies, singing and praising God." 
Letters. As he was now about to leave for America, he com- 
municated the glad tidings of this new opening to Cennick ; and 
wrote to those who had most influence over him — " Brother 
Cennick must come to these parts soon." One thing he wrote 
for his encouragement was, that the ferrymen, who were like 
Levi at the receipt of custom, would take nothing of the multi- 
tude who came to hear him preach. They said, " God forbid 
that we should sell the word of God." Thus preserved and 
blessed, he embarked for America with two New England 
friends. 

7- I 



CHAPTER XIV. 



WHITEFIELD ITINERATING IN AMERICA. 

1744. 

" In the beginning of August, 1744, Whitefield embarked, 
though in a poor state of health ; and after a tedious passage of 
eleven weeks, arrived at York." Gillies. He sailed from Ply- 
mouth, with nearly a hundred and fifty ships, under several con- 
voys. It was, however, <e full six weeks " before they reached 
the Western islands. This was owing to the want of wind. 
When the wind did spring up, one of the vessels, which missed 
stays, drove right upon his ship ; striking her mainsail into the 
bowsprit. Whitefield's vessel, being large, sustained little dam- 
age ; but the other received a blow, which disabled and well 
nigh sunk her. The cries and groans of her crew, he says, 
e{ were awful ! 99 

He had been singing a hymn on deck when the concus- 
sion took place. This fact, with the news of the concussion, 
was communicated to the convoy. It drew out, he says, the 
remark, " This is your praying, and be damned ! with many 
sayings of the like nature." He adds, " this, I must own, shocked 
me more than the striking of the ship." It did not, however, 
stop nor intimidate him. " I called my friends together, and 
broke out into these words in prayer ; God of the sea, and God 
of the dry land, this is a night of rebuke and blasphemy. Show 
thyself, O God, and take us under thine own immediate protec- 
tion. Be thou our Convoy, and make a difference between 
those who fear thee, and those that fear thee not." 

Providence soon made a difference ! Next day, a " violent 



320 



whitefield's life and times. 



Euroclydon arose/' which " battered and sent away our convoy, 
so that we saw him no more all the voyage." Letters. White- 
field, at first, thought this " no loss :" but when two strange sail 
appeared in the distance, and preparation was made for action, 
by mounting guns, slinging hammocks on the sides of the ship, 
and encircling the masts with chains, he (being " naturally a 
coward," as he says) found it " formidable " to have no convoy. 
The vessels were, however, only part of their own fleet. This 
was a pleasant discovery to more than the skulking chaplain in 
the holes of the ship. c - The captain, on clearing the cabin, said, 
1 After all, this is the best fighting.' You may be sure I con- 
curred, praying that all our conflicts with spiritual enemies 
might, at last, terminate in a thorough cleansing, and an eternal 
purification of the defiled cabin of our hearts." Letters. 

No other accident occurred during the voyage. Its tedious- 
ness overcame his patience, however, when he saw the port. In 
order to land a few hours sooner than the vessel, he went on 
board a smack in the bay ; but darkness coming on, she missed 
her course, and was tossed about all night. Unfortunately, too, 
she had no provisions, and he was so hungry that he " could 
have gnawed the very boards." Besides this, he was suffering 
from "nervous cholic." Altogether he was thoroughly morti- 
fied, until a man, lying at his elbow in the cabin, began to talk 
of " one Mr. Whitefield, for whose arrival the new lights in New 
England" were watching and praying. " This," he says, 
" made me take courage. I continued undiscovered ; and in a 
few hours, in answer, I trust, to new-light prayers, we arrived 
safe." 

He was received at York by a physician, once a notorious 
deist, who had been converted under his ministry. This was a 
signal providence : for in about half an hoar after he entered the 
doctor's house, he became racked with cholic, and convulsed 
from the "waist to the toes." A " total convulsion " was appre- 
hended by the physician. He himself dreaded delirium, and 
implored his weeping wife and friends not to be " surprised if 
he uttered any thing wrong." Both fears, however, were soon 
allayed : but he was brought so low, that he could not " bear 
the sound of the tread of a foot, or the voice of friends." Four 



whitefield's life and times. 



321 



days elapsed before nature could be relieved ; and for weeks he 
had to be carried like a child. The fact is, he had eaten 
" eagerly 99 of some potatoes, during his gnawing hunger on 
board the smack, and they had remained on the stomach undi- 
gested. They were not even " discoloured " when they were 
removed. 

When Whitefield recovered, the excellent though eccentric 
Moody, the minister of York, called upon him, and accosted him 
thus : " Sir, you are first welcome to America ; secondly, to 
New England ; thirdly, to all faithful ministers in New Eng- 
land ; fourthly, to all the good people in New England ; fifthly, 
to all the good people of York ; and sixthly and lastly, to me, 
dear Sir, less than the least of all." This welcome was followed 
by an urgent request for a sermon. Whitefield hesitated for a 
time ; but " good old Mr. Moody " did not give him the benefit 
of his own favourite maxim, " When you know not what to do, 
— you must not do you know not what." This, however, he 
did. He preached, and immediately after went over the ferry 
to Portsmouth. As might be expected, he caught cold, and was 
again brought to the gates of death. Three physicians attended 
him during the night. 

With his usual simplicity, he says, " My pains returned ; but 
what gave me most concern was, that notice had been given' of 
my being to preach next evening. I felt a divine life distinct 
from my animal life, which made me, as it were, laugh at my 
pains, though every one thought I was f taken with death. 
My dear York physician was then about to administer a me- 
dicine. I, on a sudden, cried out, Doctor, my pains are sus- 
pended : by the help of God, I '11 go and preach, — and then come 
home and die ! With some difficulty I reached the pulpit. All 
looked quite surprised, as though they saw one risen from the 
dead. Indeed, I was as pale as death, and told them they must 
look upon me as a dying man, come to bear my dying testimony 
to the truths I had formerly preached to them. All seemed 
melted, and were drowned in tears. The cry after me, when I 
left the pulpit, was like the cry of sincere mourners when attend- 
ing the funeral of a dear departed friend. Upon my coming 
home, I was laid on a bed upon the ground, near the fire, and 

Y 



322 



whitefield's life and times. 



I heard them say, ( He is gone ! ' But God was pleased to order 
it otherwise. I gradually recovered." 

Gillies has added to this account an interesting anecdote, 
from some of Whitefield's papers. " A poor negro woman insisted 
upon seeing the invalid, when he began to recover. She came 
in, and sat down on the ground, and looked earnestly in his face. 
She then said, in broken accents, ' Massa, you just go to 
heaven's gate. But Jesus Christ said, Get you down, get you 
down, you must not come here yet : go first, and call some more 
poor negroes.' I prayed to the Lord that, if I was to live, this 
might be the event." Gillies. 

He thought himself " dying indeed," when he was laid near 
the fire, after preaching. But when he recollected " the life and 
power which spread all around," whilst " expecting to stretch 
into eternity," he said, " I thought it was worth dying for a 
thousand times ! " In three weeks after, he was able to go to 
Boston, though still very weak. His arrival was announced 
thus in Prince's Christian History : " The Rev. George White- 
field was so far revived, as to be able to set out from Portsmouth 
to Boston, whither he came in a very feeble state, the Monday 
evening after : since which he has been able to preach in several 
of our largest houses of public worship, with great and growing 
success. He comes with the same extraordinary spirit of meek- 
ness, sweetness, and universal benevolence, as before. In oppo- 
sition to the spirit of separation and bigotry, he is still for hold- 
ing communion with all protestant churches. In opposition to 
enthusiasm, he preaches a close adherence to the Scriptures, and 
the necessity of trying all impressions by them, and of rejecting 
as delusions whatever is not agreeable to them. In opposition to 
antinomianism, he preaches up all kinds of relative and religious 
duties — though to be performed in the strength of Christ ; and 
in short, the doctrines of the church of England, and of the first 
fathers of this country. As before, he applies himself to the 
understanding of his hearers, and then to their affections. And 
the more he preaches, the more he convinces people of their 
mistakes about him, and increases their satisfaction." Prince. 

This defence was not needless at the time. Both calumny and 
caricature had been busy at Boston against Whitefield. Har- 



whitefield's life and times. 



323 



vard College, and half -penny squibs, called " testimonies," 
united against him. A good old puritan of the city said of the 
testimonies, " they do not weigh much :" this was equally true 
of the more learned charges from the college. Accordingly 
neither weighed with the public. They soon offered to build 
for Whitefield " the largest place of worship that was ever seen 
in America." This he declined. He did not decline, however, 
when the people voted him into the pulpits of their " shy pas- 
tors." This led him to say, in reference to the old joke, t( that 
the lord brethren of New England could tyrannize as well as the 
lord bishops of Old England," — " Well is it at present, that the 
people are lord brethren ; for they have passed votes of invita- 
tion to me to preach in the pulpits ! " Had he been himself at 
the time, however, he would have gone into the fields. 
- The coolness and shyness of many ministers did not surprise 
him now. When he was the guest of Governor Belcher, on his 
former visit to Boston, he quite understood the " civil nod " of 
the clergy, at table ; and said, at the time, " many who are now 
extremely civil, will turn out my open and avowed enemies." 
They did; and he said now, " I have been no false prophet." 
Still he felt the difference, when the clergy, " freed from re- 
straints, appeared in puris naturalibiis." Letters. He found 
that " the good old man (Moody) judged too much by his own 
honest feelings," when he welcomed him " to all the faithful 
ministers of New England." But Whitefield soon forgot all 
who forgot him at Boston, when the high sheriff, who was once 
the leader of the persecution, began to hear him, and especially 
when his " spiritual levees," for the awakened, became crowded. 
At one of them, a very singular Bostonian visited him ; — a man 
of ready wit and racy humour, who delighted in preaching over 
a bottle to his boon companions. He had gone to hear White- 
field, in order to get up a new (e tavern harangue :" but when he 
had caught enough of the sermon for his purpose, and thus 
wanted to quit the church for the inn, " he found his endeavours 
to get out fruitless, he was so pent up." Whilst thus fixed, and 
waiting for " fresh matter of ridicule," he was arrested by the 
gospel. That night he went to Prince, full of horror, and longing 
to beg pardon of Whitefield. Prince encouraged him to visit 



324 



whitefield's life and times. 



the preacher. Whitefield says of him, " by the paleness, pen- 
siveness, and horror of his countenance, I guessed he was the 
man of whom I had been apprized. { Sir, can you forgive me ? f 
he cried, in a low but plaintive voice. I smiled, and said, ' Yes, 
Sir, very readily.' ' Indeed you cannot,' he said, i when I tell 
you all.' I then asked him to sit down ; and judging that he 
had sufficiently felt the lash of the law, I preached the gospel 
unto him." This, with other remarkable conversions, gave in- 
creased energy and influence to his preaching in Boston. " My 
bodily strength," he says, " is recovered, and my soul more than 
ever in love with a crucified J esus ! " 

At this time, the Cape Breton expedition was committed to 
his friend Colonel Pepperell ; the first and last native of New 
England created a baronet of Great Britain. For his success 
at the siege of Louisburgh, which led to this unusual honour, 
Pepperell was not a little indebted to Whitefield. He gave him 
a rallying motto for his flag, and preached to his soldiers before 
they embarked. It is painful to recollect this patronage of war 
by a minister of peace ! He himself did not easily get over his 
scruples of conscience. His friend Sherbourne, the commissary 
of the war, had to tell him, that if he refused men would not 
enlist. This made him " sleep and pray " on the subject. It 
was, however, Lady Pepperell who vanquished him, by assuring 
him, that " God enabled her to give up the general to the ex- 
pedition, for His glory, and the good of the country." He 
preached on the surrender of Louisburgh. So also did Mr. 
Prince. The latter published his sermon. Alas, both have had 
too many imitators ! 

Whitefield was now himself again, and began to move south- 
ward, hunting for souls. On his way to Philadelphia, he had 
the privilege (to him unspeakable !) of preaching by an inter- 
preter " to some converted Indians, and of seeing nearly fifty 
young ones in one school, learning the Assembly's Catechism." 
This was at one of Brainerd's stations ; and thus doubly inter- 
esting to him. 

His reception at Philadelphia was very flattering. The place 
erected for him on his former visit was flourishing, and its ma- 
nagers offered him £800 a year, with liberty to travel six months 



whitefield's life and times. 



325 



a year wherever he chose, if he would become their pastor. 
This pleased him, although he declined the offer at once. He 
was more pleased, however, to learn, that after his former visit 
there were so many under " soul-sickness," that even Gilbert 
Tennent's feet were blistered with walking from place to place 
to see them. 

When he went into Virginia, he was agreeably surprised to 
find " a fire kindled " there, by a volume of his sermons, which 
had been brought from Glasgow to Hanover. " It fell into the 
hands of Samuel Morris," says Whitefield : " he read and found 
benefit. He then read them to others. They were awakened 
and convinced. Other labourers were sent for, and many, both 
whites and negroes, were converted to the Lord." Gillies. 
Whitefield's version of this event is too brief. The following 
version is from the lips of Morris himself, in 1751. It was taken 
down by Mr. Davies of Hanover, his minister. " In 1740, 
Whitefield preached at Williamsburgh ; but, we being sixty 
miles distant, he left the colony before we could hear him. I 
invited my neighbours, in forty-three, to hear a book of his ser- 
mons. A considerable number met to hear, every sabbath, and 
on week days. My dwelling-house soon became too small to 
contain the people ; whereupon we determined to build a meet- 
ing-house, merely for reading ; for, having never been accus- 
tomed to social extempore prayer, none of us durst attempt it. 
Many were convinced of their undone condition, and could not 
help crying out and weeping bitterly. 

" When the report was spread abroad, I was invited to several 
places, at a distance, to read these sermons ; and by this means 
the concern was propagated. iVbout this time, our absenting 
ourselves from the established church, contrary, it was said, to 
the laws of the land, was taken notice of, and we were called 
upon to say what denomination we belonged to ? We knew but 
little of any, except quakers, and were at a loss what name to 
assume. At length, recollecting that Luther was a noted re- 
former, and that his books had been of special service to us, we 
called ourselves Lutherans ; and thus we continued till Provi- 
dence sent us that zealous and laborious minister, Mr. Robinson. 
Afterwards Mr. Roan came, speaking pretty freely about the 



326 



whitefield's life and times. 



degeneracy of the clergy. I was tried for letting him preach in 
my house. Afterwards, I was repeatedly fined in court for ab- 
senting myself from church. Messrs. Tennent and Blair then 
visited us. When they were gone, Mr. Whitefield came and 
preached four or five days, which was the happy means of giving 
us further encouragement, and of engaging others to the Lord, 
— especially among church people, who received the gospel more 
readily from him, than from ministers of the presbyterian deno- 
mination." Morris's Narrative. In 1747, there were four 
chapels in and around Hanover, which had sprung from the 
" mustard seed " of sermons taken in short-hand from White- 
field's lips at Glasgow. 

Amongst the converts in this quarter, who saw Whitefield, 
was deaf and dumb Isaac Oliver. He had been so from his 
birth. And yet he could represent the crucifixion with such sig- 
nificant signs, that any one could understand his meaning. He 
could also converse in signs at home, about the love of Christ, 
until he was transported to rapture, and dissolved in tears. 
Many incredible things are told of Oliver. It is evident, how- 
ever, that he was, what he was called, " a miraculous monument 
of Almighty grace." It is enough to say, in proof of this, that 
Blair, of Fog's Manor, thought him (C truly gracious." Robin- 
son, the first minister of the Hanover Lutherans, (as they called 
themselves,) seems unknown by American biography. And yet 
his success in Kent county, and Queen Anne's, was astonishing. 
" Oh, he did much in a little time," says Davies to Bellamy ; 
" and who would not choose such an expeditious pilgrimage 
through the world ?" In Maryland also, about Somerset coun- 
ty, there was " a most glorious display of grace " under his 
ministry. 

Many instances of his former usefulness came under White- 
field's notice in New England. He was much pleased with a 
negro, who had been his chaise-driver, when he first visited 
Cambridge. The negro had been allowed to hear him in the 
college ! The sermon was an invitation to the " weary and 
heavy laden." It took such a hold upon poor Sambo, that he 
repeated it in the kitchen, when he came home. Cooper, of 
Boston, was so satisfied with his conversion, and Whitefield so 



whitefield's life and times. 



327 



pleased with it, that Sambo was soon admitted to the Lord's 
table. 

Another " brand plucked from the burning " ought not to be 
forgotten. A son of Mackintosh, the rebel consigned to per- 
petual imprisonment by George I. had settled in New England. 
One of his daughters, a lady of fortune, heard Whitefield at 
Prince's meeting in Boston. She was arrested and won. She was 
soon ripe for heaven. On her death-bed, she cried out for her 
soul-friend, Mr. Whitefield ; but soon stopped, saying, " Why 
should I do so ? He is gone about his Master's work, and in a 
little time we shall meet to part no more." Whitefield had a 
high opinion of her piety ; and his interest in her was enhanced 
by a signal escape from some bribed ruffians, who attempted to 
transport her and her sister to Scotland, that their uncle might 
seize on an estate of a thousand a year. Hist. Coll. 

There were at this time not less than twenty ministers, in the 
neighbourhood of Boston, who did not hesitate to call White- 
field their spiritual father ; thus tracing their conversion to his 
ministry. One of them, who went merely to " pick a hole in 
his coat," (to find fault,) said, " God picked a hole in my heart, 
and afterwards healed it by the blood of sprinkling." 

Although Whitefield travelled eleven hundred miles during 
this itineracy in America, I have found it impossible to trace 
him much, except by letters, which merely state his health or 
his happiness : and even his letters, at this time, are both few 
and brief. They leave, however, a conviction, that he was in- 
clined, as Gillies says, " to return no more to his native coun- 
try." New England had evidently won his heart, and for a time 
almost weaned him from Old England and Scotland too. When 
he left it for North Carolina, he said, " God only knows what a 
cross it was to me to leave dear New England so soon. I hope 
death will not be so bitter to me, as was parting with my friends. 
Glad shall I be to be prayed thither again, before I see my 
native land ! But future things belong to God. I would just 
be where He would have me, although in the uttermost parts of 
the earth. I am now hunting for poor lost sinners in these 
vngospelizcd wilds." 

This expression, " hunting for souls," occurs so often in 



328 



whitefield's life and times. 



Whitefield's American letters, that I long thought it was his 
own, from his fondness of it. I am now inclined to think that 
he borrowed it from Brainerd's converted Indians ; some of 
whom were very zealous to win the souls of other red men. 
But however this may be, the expression is common still amongst 
the Indians. An old hunter once said to me, " When my 
soul was caught by Jesus Christ, I gave up the chase of beasts 
to hunt for more souls to Jesus. The old traders called me an 
idle fellow ; but I knew better, and hunted for my new Master." 
This was Whitefield's favourite work. " I would not but be 
thus employed," he says, " for millions of worlds ! " 

He did not, however, forget Bethesda. When he had pleaded 
its cause over New England, he visited it, and added a Latin 
school to the orphan-house. His South Carolina friends also 
enabled him to purchase a plantation in aid of it, " of six hun- 
dred and forty acres of excellent land, with a good house, barn ? 
and out-houses, and sixty acres of ground ready cleared, fenced, 
and fit for corn, rice, and every thing necessary for provisions," 
— except slaves ! They gave him only one. 

Having found Bethesda prosperous, he started for Maryland, 
where he found " thousands who had never heard of redeeming 
grace." This roused him anew. " The heat tries my wasting 
tabernacle," he said, " but, through Christ strengthening me, I 
intend persisting until I drop." He did persist, although some 
discouraged him ; and he had soon to say, in answer to their 
question, — " Have Marylanders also received the grace of God ?" 
— <e Amazing love, Maryland is yielding converts to J esus. The 
gospel is moving southward. The harvest is promising. The 
time of singing of birds is come." His circuit in this quarter 
extended over three hundred miles, besides some visits in Penn- 
sylvania. The secret of this mighty effort was this — " thousands 
and thousands are ready to hear the gospel, and nobody goes 
out scarcely but myself. Now is the time for stirring. The 
time for sitting is coming ; in no meaner place (O amazing love !) 
than at the right hand of the Lamb of God. Let us see what 
we can do for precious and immortal souls." It was such con- 
siderations as these, that inspired Whitefield, and determined 
him " to die fighting." 



whitefield's life and times. 



329 



After this tour he went to Philadelphia, much exhausted. 
But still he preached, although his convulsions returned, and 
the " whole frame " of his " nature seemed to be shocked." 
" I have," he says, " almost always a continual burning fever. 
With great regret I have omitted preaching one night, (to 
oblige my friends,) and purpose to do so once more, that they 
may not charge me with murdering myself. But I hope yet to 
die in the pulpit, or soon after I come out of it. Next Monday 
I purpose to set out for New York, to see if I can gain strength. 
It is hard work to be silent : but I must be tried every way." 

On his arrival at New York, he said, " I am as willing to 
hunt for souls as ever. I am not weary of my work." Next 
day he was at his work again ! " I have preached to a very 
large auditory, and do not find myself much worse for it." He 
did so again with success. Then he said, " I shall go to Bos- 
ton like an arrow out of a bow, if Jesus strengthen me. I am 
resolved to preach and work for Him until I can preach and 
work no more. I have been upon the water three or four days, 
and now eat like a sailor." He went to Boston, and there con- 
gregations were larger than ever ; and what was better, " ar- 
rows of conviction fled and stuck fast, and opposers' mouths 
were stopped." This good news he sent to Tennent, in order 
to tempt him to make " another trip " there ; adding, " I am 
determined to die fighting, though it be on my stumps." He 
had just heard of the sudden, but happy, death of his aged and 
excellent friend Dr. Colman. 

In these journeyings and vicissitudes, Whitefield never forgot 
the Wesleys. They had sent him word, that they were " more 
moderate with respect to sinless perfection," than when he left 
England ; and he returned the compliment by assuring them, 
that he would "never preach for or against reprobation." 
Some one had written to him charges against Charles Wesley. 
He immediately sent word to him of them ; adding, " I do not 
believe them. Love thinks no evil of a friend. Such are you 
to me. I love you most dearly." 

He returned again to Maryland ; and as his New York friends 
were anxious about his health, he wrote to them from Bohe- 
mia. In one of these letters, to an aged veteran whom he 



330 



whitefield's life and times. 



could not expect to see again, he says, (referring to the J ewish 
tradition,) " Honoured Sir, may He who kissed away the soul 
of his beloved Moses, appoint a Joshua to succeed you, when 
He calls you up into the mount to die." His own health was 
still very fluctuating, even when he reached North Carolina. 
" I am here," he says, " hunting in the woods, these ungospel- 
ized wilds, for sinners. It is pleasant work, though my body is 
weak and crazy. But after a short fermentation in the grave, 
it will be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. The 
thought of this rejoices my soul, and makes me long to leap 
my seventy years ! I sometimes think all will go to heaven be- 
fore me. Pray for me as a dying man ; but oh pray that I 
may not go off as a snuff. I would fain die blazing — not with 
human glory, but with the love of Jesus." At this time, a very 
little riding fatigued him much, and thus his progress was both 
slow and painful. He preached, however, with great power ; 
cheered from stage to stage by the hope that the conversion of 
" North Carolina sinners would be glad news in heaven." 

In the autumn of 1747, he sailed again for Georgia. From 
this time, until he went to Bermudas for a change of climate, in 
1748, I am unable to trace him. 

The only thing melancholy in this sketch of Whitefield's his- 
tory in New England, during his visit, is, the conduct of the 
president and professors of Harvard College ; and that was 
worse than it appears from the anecdotes I have told. They 
published a testimony against him, in which they said, "We 
look upon Mr. Whitefield as an uncharitable, censorious, and 
slanderous man." In proof of this, they refer to his monstrous 
reflections on Archbishop Tillotson ; whom, they say, Dr. In- 
crease Mather called " great and good." They forgot to say, 
that Mather, whilst he spoke highly of Tillotson's character 
and spirit, " constantly warned the students against his books." 
They testified against his extempore preaching also, " because 
/it is impossible any man can manage an argument instructive to 
the mind, or cogent to the reasonable powers," thus. He 
meekly said, " Indeed, gentlemen, I love study, and delight to 
meditate. Preaching without notes costs as much, if not more, 
close and solemn thought, as well as confidence in God, than 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



331 



with notes." They had also the audacity to say, " that it is 
not unlikely, indeed to he suspected, that he is an antinomian 
yea, " stronger in the antinomian scheme than most of the pro- 
fessors of that heresy." In answer to this charge he appealed, 
as he well might, to the tenor and tendency of his preaching, 
and reminded them that the lapsus Ungues from which they 
argued had heen retracted publicly before they wrote. 

His " itinerant way of preaching " comes in, as might be ex- 
pected, to be testified against in the " strongest " language of 
the learned doctors. They define an itinerant to be " one that 
stands ready to preach the gospel to any congregation that may 
call him." Whitefield says at once, — " I own the charge. Were 
not Knox, Welch, Wishart, and several of the good old puri- 
tans, itinerant preachers ? " 

They also repeated the charge of Clap, of Yale College, that 
he came into New England " to turn out the generality of their 
ministers, and to replace them with ministers from England, 
Ireland, and Scotland." " Such a thought," Whitefield says, 
f never entered my heart ; neither, as I know of, has my 
preaching any such tendency." This solemn denial ought to be 
held decisive on this point. I did not know of it when I wrote 
the account of his interviews with Jonathan Edwards. 

Their closing charge against Whitefield was, that "the 
coming in of hot men, disturbing the churches, was wholly 
owing to his influence and example." This refers, of course, to 
the Tennents, — and the heat of their memory is not yet ex- 
hausted in America ! Gilbert Tennent will be remembered 
and revered, long after all the cold men of Harvard are forgot- 
ten. As Whitefield said, " thousands will thank him for coming 
into New England, through all the ages of eternity." Having 
said this, he left the cold men in his own way : — " if pulpits 
should be shut, the fields are open, and I can go without the 
camp. This I am used to, and glory in. If I have done your 
society any wrong in my journal, I ask forgiveness. If you 
have injured me in the testimony you published against me, (as 
I really think you have,) it is forgiven already, without asking." 
Letter to Harvard College, Cambridge. 

Whilst in New England, Whitefield wrote his letter on the 



332 



whitefield's life and times. 



bishop of Litchfield's charge to his clergy. This charge was 
delivered in 1741, but not published until 1744. It was, there- 
fore, a deliberate attack on methodism. Indeed, in a subse- 
quent charge, printed in 1746, now before me, his Lordship re- 
fers his clergy to it ; assuring them, that " if the false doctrines 
of the methodists prevail, they must unavoidably create a 
general disorder in our constitution ; and if so, favour the re- 
turn of popery itself." The bishop, Dr. Smalbroke, was a bet- 
ter scholar than this prophecy indicates. He had grappled with 
Whiston, on Arianism ; with Bentley, on the authority of the 
primitive Complutensian ; and with Woolston, on miracles. It 
was not, however, a very formidable matter to grapple with him, 
when the subject was the grace of the Holy Spirit. Smalbroke 
certainly believed that there is a Holy Ghost ; but no one could 
well believe less about His work and witness. 

It will hardly be credited now, but it is only too true, that a 
bishop preached, and his clergy called for, the publication of 
the following sentiments : — " The indwelling and inward wit- 
nessing of the Spirit, are all extraordinary gifts, belonging only 
to apostolical and primitive times ; and consequently all preten- 
sions to such favours in these last days, are vain and enthu- 
siastical." The Spirit spoken of as helping our infirmities in 
prayer, " was the Spirit acting in the inspired person, who had 
the gift of prayer, and who in that capacity prayed for the whole 
assembly. It is he (not the Holy Spirit) that maketh inter- 
cession with God for private christians " with groanings which 
cannot be uttered ! The Searcher of hearts " knowing the 
mind of the Spirit," means that " God knows the intentions of 
the inspired " prayer-leader ! Preaching in " the demonstration 
of the Spirit," means no more than proving " Jesus to be the 
Messiah, by propfs out of the Old Testament," and by miracles ! 

No wonder Whitefield could not forget these perversions of 
truth and soberness in America, They haunted him on his 
voyages, and whilst he was hunting in the woods. He sent 
over an answer to the charge, addressed to the clergy who call- 
ed for its publication ; not to the bishop, " because I hear," he 
says, " that he is very aged." 

I wish I could say, that either the episcopal bench, or the 



whitefield's life and times. 



333 



dissenting board, had answered it also. They knew better than 
Whitefield, that Smalbroke, although an old man, was a sturdy 
polemic, and in no danger of death or illness from hard blows. 
But the bench slumbered. They could worry Whitefield or 
Wesley for an extravagant word ; but they would not even bark 
when a bishop sapped the very vitals of Christianity. Pope cer- 
tainly knew his men when he said, 

" A saint in crape, is twice a saint in lawn." 

A man in lawn then, might say almost any thing with impunity, 
if it was only well said, or argued with a show of learning. 
Happily, it is not so now. Such a theologian as Smalbroke 
would not be left to the lash of methodists or dissenters ; he 
would be chastised by some of his own 'clergy, or rebuked by 
some of the bench. It is needless to analyze or characterize 
Whitefield's answer to the bishop. It is enough to say, that it 
is full of the great doctrines of the Reformation. Even where 
it pleads for too much of the direct witness of the Spirit, it is 
more than excusable ; for had not Whitefield and the Wesleys 
said both strong and startling things on this subject, when both 
the work and witness of the Spirit were denied and denounced 
from " high places," those in low places would not have listened, 
or not brought " a pressure from without" upon the hierarchy. 

iff 



CHAPTER XV. 



WHITEFIELD IN BERMUDAS. 

The isles of Bermuda are more associated in the public mind 
with the memory of good Bishop Berkeley, and the poetry of 
Waller, than with Whitefleld. They were probably indebted to 
Berkeley's example for Whitefield's visit. 

In 1721, the " Vanessa" of Swift bequeathed her fortune to 
Berkeley. This was soon followed by his deserved elevation to 
the deanery of Derry — worth eleven hundred pounds per an- 
num. Never was preferment better bestowed. He had long 
cherished the design of evangelizing the American Indians, by 
means of a college in the Bermudas. Now, he issued proposals 
for it in London ; offering to resign his preferment, and to de- 
vote his life to the instruction of young Americans, and stipu- 
lating for only a hundred a year to himself. This noble disin- 
terestedness won patronage at first. Government gave him a 
grant of £10,000 ; and he sailed to carry his plans into effect. 
He was not sustained by the ministry, however, in the way he 
expected. He, therefore, made presents of his library to the 
clergy of Rhode Island, and to Yale College. To the latter, 
although not at all episcopalian, he gave a thousand volumes, 
besides his estate at Newport, where he wrote his " Minute 
Philosopher." 

Berkeley then returned to Ireland, and in 1773 was made 
bishop of Cloyne. It is almost impossible, in the presence of 
these facts, to remember either his Platonism or his idealism. 
He was a great and a good man. Atterbury might well say of 
him, " So much understanding, so much knowledge, so much 
innocence, and such humility, — I did not think had been the 
portion of any but angels, till I saw this gentleman." 



whitefield's life and times. 



335 



These facts, as well as the climate, drew Whitefield to Ber- 
mudas, where he met with the kindest reception, and for about 
a month preached generally twice a day, traversing the island 
from one end to the other. His activity, treatment, and success, 
will best appear from the following extracts from his manuscript 
journal of that period. 

" The simplicity and plainness of the people, together with 
the pleasant situation of the island, much delighted me. The 
Rev. Mr. Holiday, minister of Spanish Point, received me in a 
most affectionate christian manner ; and begged I would make 
his house my home. In the evening I expounded at the house 
of Mr. Savage, at Port Royal, which was very commodious ; 
and which also he would have me make my home. I went with 

Mr. Savage, in a boat lent us by Captain , to the town of 

St. George, in order to pay our respects to the governor. All 
along we had a most pleasant prospect of the other part of the 
island, but a more pleasant one I never saw. One Mrs. Smith, 
of St. George's, for whom I had a letter of recommendation 
from my dear old friend, Mr. Smith of Charlestown, received 
me into her house. About noon, with one of the council, and 
Mr. Savage, I waited upon the governor. He received us cour- 
teously, and invited us to dine with him and the council at a 
tavern. We accepted the invitation, and all behaved with great 
civility and respect. After the governor rose from table, he 
desired, if I stayed in town on the Sunday, that I would dine 
with him at his own house. 

" Sunday, March 20. Read prayers and preached twice this 
day, to what were esteemed here large auditories, — in the morn- 
ing at Spanish Point church, and in the evening at Brackish 
Pond church, about two miles distant from each other. In the 
afternoon I spoke with greater freedom than in the morning ; and 
I trust not altogether in vain. All were attentive — some wept. I 
dined with Colonel Butterfield, one of the council ; and received 
several invitations to other gentlemen's houses. May God bless 
and reward them, and incline them to open their hearts to re- 
ceive the Lord Jesus ! Amen and Amen ! 

" Wednesday, March 23. Dined with Captain Gibbs, and 
went from thence and expounded at the house of Captain 



336 



whitefield's life and times. 



F le, at Hunbay, about two miles distant. The company 

was here also large, attentive, and affected. Our Lord gave me 
utterance. I expounded on the first part of the 8th chapter of 
J eremiah. After lecture, Mr. Riddle, a counsellor, invited me 
to his house ; as did Mr. Paul, an aged presbyterian minister, to 
his pulpit ; which I complied with, upon condition the report was 
true, that the governor had served the ministers with an injunc- 
tion that I should not preach in the churches. 

" Friday, March 25. Was prevented preaching yesterday by 
the rain, which continued from morning till night ; but this af- 
ternoon, God gave me another opportunity of declaring his eter- 
nal truths to a large company at the house of one Mr. B s, 

who last night sent me a letter of invitation. 

(i Sunday, March 27. Glory be to God ! I hope this has 
been a profitable sabbath to many souls ; it has been a pleasant 
one to mine. Both morning and afternoon I preached to a large 
auditory, for Bermudas, in Mr. Paul's meeting-house, which I 
suppose contains about four hundred. Abundance of negroes, 
and many others, were in the vestry, porch, and about the 
house. The word seemed to be clothed with a convicting power, 
and to make its way into the hearts of the hearers. Between 
sermons, I was entertained very civilly in a neighbouring house. 
Judge Bascom, and three more of the council, came thither, and 
each gave me an invitation to his house. How does the Lord 
make way for a poor stranger in a strange land ! — After the 
second sermon, I dined with Mr. Paul ; and in the evening ex- 
pounded to a very large company at Counsellor Riddle's. My 
body was somewhat weak ; but the Lord carried me through, and 
caused me to go to rest rejoicing. — May I thus go to my grave, 
when my ceaseless, uninterrupted rest shall begin ! 

" Monday, March 28. Dined this day at Mrs. Dorrel's, 
mother-in-law to my dear friend the Rev. Mr. Smith ; and 
afterwards preached to more than a large house full of people, 
on Matthew ix. 12. Towards the conclusion of the sermon, the 
hearers began to be more affected than I have yet seen them. 
Surely the Lord Jesus will give me some seals in this island ! 
Grant this, O Redeemer, for thy infinite mercy sake ! 

" Thursday, March 31. Dined on Tuesday, at Colonel Cor- 



whitefield's life and times. 



337 



busiers, and on Wednesday, at Colonel Gilbert's, both of the 
council ; and found, by what I could hear, that some good had 
been done, and many prejudices removed. Who shall hinder, 
if God will work ? Went to an island this afternoon, called 
Ireland, upon which live a few families ; and to my surprise, 
found a great many gentlemen, and other people, with my 
friend Mr. Holiday, who came from different quarters to hear 
me. Before I began preaching, I went round to see a most re- 
markable cave, which very much displayed the exquisite work- 
manship of Him, who in his strength setteth fast the mountains, 
and is girded about with power. — Whilst I was in the cave, 
quite unexpectedly I turned and saw Counsellor Riddle, who, 
with his son, came to hear me ; and whilst we were in the boat, 
told me that he had been with the governor, who declared he 
had no personal prejudices against me — and wondered I did not 
come to town, and preach there, for it was the desire of the 
people ; and that any house in the town, the court-house not 
excepted, should be at my service. Thanks be to God for so 
much favour ! If his cause requires it, I shall have more. He 
knows my heart ; I value the favour of man no further than as 
it makes room for the gospel, and gives me a larger scope to 
promote the glory of God. There being no capacious house 
upon the island, I preached for the first time here in the open 
air. All heard very attentive ; and it was very pleasant after 
sermon to see so many boats full of people returning from the 
worship of God. I talked seriously to some in our own boat, 
and sung a psalm, in which they readily joined. 

" Sunday, April 3. Preached twice this day at Mr. Paul's 
meeting-house, as on the sabbath, but with greater freedom 
and power, especially in the morning ; and I think to as great, 
if not greater, auditories. Dined with Colonel Harvy, another 
of the council — visited a sick woman, where many came to 
hear — and expounded afterwards to a great company, at Cap- 
tain John Dorrel's, Mrs. Dorrel's son, who, with his wife, cour- 
teously entertained me, and desired me to make his house my 
home. — So true is that promise of our Lord's, ( that whosoever 
leaves father and mother, house or lands, shall have in this life 
a hundredfold, with persecution, and in the world to come, life 

z 



338 



whitefield's life and times. 



everlasting.' Lord, I have experienced the one : in thy good 
time grant that I may experience the other also ! 

" Wednesday, April 6. Preached yesterday at the house of 
Mr. Anthony Smith, of Baylis Bay, with a considerable degree 
of warmth ; and rode afterwards to St. George's, the only town 
on the island. The gentlemen of the town had sent me an in- 
vitation by Judge Bascom ; and he, with several others, came 
to visit me at my lodgings, and informed me that the governor 
desired to see me. About ten I waited upon his Excellency, 
who received me with great civility, and told me he had no ob- 
jection against my person, or my principles, having never yet 
heard me ; and he knew nothing in respect to my conduct in 
moral life, that might prejudice him against me ; but his in- 
structions were, to let none preach in the island, unless he had 
a written license to preach some where in America, or the West 
Indies ; at the same time he acknowledged that it was but a 
matter of mere form. I informed his Excellency that I had 
been regularly inducted to the parish of Savannah ; that I was 
ordained priest by letters dimissory from my lord of London, 
and under no church censure from his Lordship ; and would 
always read the church prayers, if the clergy would give me the 
use of their churches. — I added further, that a minister's pulpit 
was looked upon as his freehold, and that I knew one clergy- 
man who had denied his own diocesan the use of his pulpit. 
But I told his Excellency, I was satisfied with the liberty he 
allowed me, and would not act contrary to his injunction. I 
then begged leave to be dismissed, because I was obliged to 
preach at eleven o'clock. His Excellency said he intended to 
do himself the pleasure to hear me. At eleven the church bell 
rung. The church Bible, prayer book, and cushion, were sent 
to the town-house. The governor, several of the council, the 
minister of the parish, and assembly-men, with a great number 
of the town's people, assembled in great order. I was very 
sick, through a cold I caught last night ; but read the church 
prayers. The first lesson was the 15th chapter of the 1st book 
of Samuel. I preached on those words, " Righteousness ex- 
alteth a nation." Being weak and faint, and afflicted much 
with the head-ache, I did not do that justice to my subject I 



whitefield's life and times. 



339 



sometimes am enabled to do ; but the Lord so helped me, that, 
as I found afterwards, the governor and the other gentlemen 
expressed their approbation, and acknowledged they did not ex- 
pect to be so well entertained. Not unto me, Lord ! not unto 
me, but unto thy free grace be all the glory ! 

" After sermon, Dr. F bs, and Mr. P 1, the collector, 

came to me, and desired me to favour them and the gentlemen 
of the town with my company to dinner. I accepted the invi- 
tation. The governor, and the president, and Judge Bascom 
were there. All wondered at my speaking so freely and fluently, 
without notes. The governor asked, whether I used minutes ? 
I answered, No. He said it was a great gift. At table, his Ex- 
cellency introduced something of religion, by asking me the 
meaning of the word hades ? Several other things were started 
about free will, Adam's fall, predestination, &c. to all which 
God enabled me to answer so pertinently, and taught me to 
mix the utile and dulce so together, that all at table seemed 
highly pleased, shook me by the hand, and invited me to their 
respective houses. The governor, in particular, asked me to 

dine with him on the morrow ; and Dr. F bs, one of his 

particular intimates, invited me to drink tea in the afternoon. 
I thanked all, returned proper respects, and went to my lodgings 
with some degree of thankfulness for the assistance vouchsafed 
me, and abased before God at the consideration of my unspeak- 
able unworthiness. In the afternoon, about five o'clock, I ex- 
pounded the parable of the prodigal son to many people at a 
private house ; and in the evening had liberty to speak freely 
and closely to those that supped with me. Oh that this may 
be the beginning of good gospel times to the inhabitants of this 
town ! Lord, teach me to deal prudently with them, and cause 
them to melt under thy word ! 

" Friday, April 8. Preached yesterday with great clearness 
and freedom, to about fourscore people, at a house on David's 
Island, over against St. George's Town — went and lay at Mr. 
Holiday's, who came in a boat to fetch me — and this day I 
heard him preach and read prayers ; after which I took the sa- 
crament from him. Honest man ! he would have made me ad- 
minister and officiate ; but I chose not to do it, lest I should 

z 2 



340 



whitefield's life and times. 



bring him into trouble after my departure. However, in the 
afternoon, I preached at Mr. Todd's, in the same parish, to a 
very large company indeed. The Lord was with me. My heart 
was warm — and what went from the heart, I trust went to the 
heart ; for many were affected. Oh that they may be converted 
also ! Then will it be a good Friday, indeed, to their souls. 

" Sunday, April 10. Dined and conversed yesterday very 
agreeably with Judge Bascom, who seems to have the greatest 
insight into the difference between Arminian and Calvinistical 
schemes, of any one I have met with upon the island. — In the 
afternoon, I visited a paralytic ; and this day preached twice 
again at Mr. Paul's meeting-house. The congregations were 
rather larger than ever, and the power of God seemed to be 
more amongst them. I think I see a visible alteration for the 
better every Lord's day. Blessed be God ! — In the evening I 
expounded at Mr. Joseph Dorrell's, where I dined, to a very 
large company ; then went to his kinsman's, my usual lodging 
on Saturday and Sunday evenings ; who with his wife and other 
friends, seemed kinder and kinder daily. Good measure, press- 
ed down, and running over, may the Lord, both as to spirituals 
and temporals, return into all their bosoms ! 

" Saturday, April 16. Preached since Lord's day at five 
different houses, to concerned and affected congregations, at 
different parts of the island ; but was more indisposed one night 
after going to bed, than I had been for some time. On two of 
the days of this week, I dined with the president, and Captain 
Spafford, one of the council, both of whom entertained me with 
the utmost civility. 

" Sunday, April 17. Still God magnifies his power and 
goodness more and more. This morning we had a pleasing sight 
at Mr. Paul's meeting-house. I began to preach, and the peo- 
ple to hear and be affected as in days of old at home. Indeed, 
the prospect is encouraging. Praise the Lord, O my soul ! — 
After preaching twice to a large congregation in the meeting- 
house, I, at the desire of the parents, preached in the evening a 
sermon at the funeral of a little boy, about five years of age. 
A great number of people attended, and the Lord enabled me 
so to speak, as to affect many of the hearers. Blessed be the 



whitefield's life and times. 



341 



Lord for this day's work ! Not unto me, O Lord ! not unto me, 
but unto thy free grace be all the glory ! 

" Sunday, April 24. The last week being rainy, I preached 
only five times in private houses ; and this day but once in the 
meeting-house ; but I hope neither times without effect. This 
evening expounded at Counsellor Riddle's, who, with the other 
gentlemen, treat me with greater respect every day. Colonel 
Gilbert, one of the council, has lent me his horse, during my 
stay ; and Mr. Dorrell, this morning, informed me of a design 
the gentlemen had, to raise a contribution to help me to dis- 
charge my arrears, and support my orphan family. Thanks be 
given to thy name, O God ! Thou knowest all things ; thou 
knowest that I want to owe no man any thing, but love ; and 
provide for Bethesda, after my decease. Thou hast promised 
thou wilt fulfil the desire of them that fear thee. I believe, 
Lord, help my unbelief, that thou wilt fulfil this desire of my soul. 
Even so. Amen. 

" Saturday, April 30. Preached since Lord's day two funeral 
sermons, and at five different houses in different parts of the 
island, to still larger and larger auditories, and perceived the 
people to be affected more and more. Twice or thrice I preach- 
ed without doors. Riding in the sun, and preaching very ear- 
nestly, a little fatigued one ; so that this evening I was obliged 
to lie down for some time. Faint, yet pursuing, must be my 
motto still. 

" Sunday, May 1 . This morning, was a little sick ; but I 
trust God gave us a happy beginning of the new month. I 
preached twice with power, especially in the morning, to a very 
great congregation in the meeting-house ; and in the evening, 
having given previous notice, I preached about four miles dis- 
tant, in the fields, to a large company of negroes, and a number 
of white people who came to hear what I had to say to them. 
I believe, in all, near fifteen hundred people. As the sermon 
was intended for the negroes, I gave the auditory warning, that 
my discourse would be chiefly directed to them, and that I 
should endeavour to imitate the example of Elijah, who, when 
he was about to raise the child, contracted himself to its length. 
The negroes seemed very sensible and attentive. When I 



342 



vvhitefield's life and times. 



asked; if they all did not desire to go to heaven ? one of them, 
with a very audible voice, said, i Yes, sir.' This caused a little 
smiling ; hut, in general, every thing was carried on with great 
decency ; and I believe the Lord enabled me so to discourse, as 
to touch the negroes, and yet not to give them the least um- 
brage to slight or behave imperiously to their masters. If ever 
a minister, in preaching, need the wisdom of the serpent to be 
joined with the harmlessness of the dove, it must be when dis- 
coursing to negroes. Vouchsafe me this favour, O God, for thy 
dear Son's sake ! 

" Monday, May 2. Upon inquiry, I found that some of the 
negroes did not like my preaching, because I told them of their 
cursing, swearing, thieving, and lying. One or two of the 
worst of them, as I was informed, went away. Some said, they 

would not go any more. They liked Mr. M r better, for 

he never told them of these things ; and I said, their hearts 
were as black as their faces. They expected, they said, to hear 
me speak against their masters. Blessed be God, that I was 
directed not to say any thing, this first time, to the masters at 
all, though my text led me to it. It might have been of bad 
consequences, to tell them their duty, or charge them too 
roundly with the neglect of it, before their slaves. They would 
mind all I said to their masters, and, perhaps, nothing that I 
said to them. Every thing is beautiful in its season. Lord, 
teach me always that due season, wherever I am called, to give 
either black or white a portion of thy word ! However, others 
of the poor creatures, I hear, were very thankful, and came home 
to their masters' houses, saying, that they would strive to sin 
no more. Poor hearts ! These different accounts affected me ; 
and upon the whole, I could not help rejoicing, to find that their 
consciences were so far awake. 

" Saturday, May 7. In my conversation these two days, with 
some of my friends, I was diverted much, in hearing several 
things that passed among the poor negroes, since my preaching 
to them last Sunday. One of the women, it seems, said, ( that 
if the book I preached out of was the best book that was ever 
bought at London, she was sure it had never all that in it 
which I spoke to the negroes.' The old man, who spoke out 



whitsfield's life and times. 



343 



loud last Sunday, and said, ' yes,' when I asked them whether 
all the negroes would not go to heaven ? being questioned by 
somebody, why he spoke out so ? answered, ' That the gentle- 
man put the question once or twice to them, and the other fools 
had not the manners to make me any answer ; till, at last, I 
seemed to point at him, and he was ashamed that nobody should 
answer me, and therefore he did.' Another, wondering why I 
said negroes had black hearts ; was answered by his black 
brother thus ; ( Ah, thou fool ! dost thou not understand it ? 
He means black with sin.' Two more girls were overheard by 
their mistress talking about religion : and they said, ' They 
knew, if they did not repent, they must be damned.' From all 
which I infer, that these Bermudas negroes are more knowing 
than I supposed ; that their consciences are awake, and conse- 
quently prepared, in a good measure, for hearing the gospel 
preached unto them. 

" Sunday, May 8. This also, I trust, has been a good sab- 
bath. In the morning I was helped to preach powerfully to a 
melting, and rather a larger congregation than ever, in Mr. 
Paul's meeting-house ; and in the evening, to almost as large a 
congregation of black and white as last Sunday in the fields, 
near my hearty friend, Mr. Holiday's house. To see so many 
black faces was aifecting. They heard very attentively, and 
some of them now began to weep. May God grant them a 
godly sorrow, that worketh repentance not to be repented of ! 

" Friday, May 13. This afternoon preached over the corpse 
of Mr. Paul's eldest son, about twenty-four years of age ; and 
by all I could hear, and judge of by conversing with him, he 
did indeed die in the Lord. I visited him twice last Lord's 
day, and was quite satisfied with what he said, though he had 
not much of the sensible presence of God. I find he was a 
preacher upon his death-bed : for he exhorted all his companions 
to love Christ in sincerity ; and blessed his brother and sister, 
and, I think, his father and mother, just before his departure. 
A great many people attended the funeral. I preached on 
Luke viii. 13, ( And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion 
on her, and said unto her, Weep not.' Many were affected in 
the application of my discourse ; and, I trust, some will be in- 



344 



whitefield's life and times. 



duced, by this young man's good example, to remember their 
Redeemer in the days of their youth. Grant it, O Lord, for 
thy dear Son's sake. 

" Sunday, May 15. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that 
is within me, praise his holy name ! This morning I preached 
my farewell sermon at Mr. Paul's meeting-house — it was quite 
full ; and, as the president said, above one hundred and fifty 
whites, besides blacks, were round the house. Attention sat 
on every face ; and when I came to take my leave, oh ! what a 
sweet, unaffected weeping was there to be seen every where ! I 
believe there were few dry eyes. The negroes, likewise, without 
doors, I heard weep plentifully. My own heart was affected ; 
and though I have parted with friends so often, yet I find every 
fresh parting almost unmans me, and very much affects my 
heart. Surely, a great work is begun in some souls at Bermudas. 
Carry it on, O Lord ! and if it be thy will, send me to this dear 
people again. Even so. Lord J esus. Amen ! 

" After sermon, I dined with three of the council, and other 
gentlemen and ladies, at Captain Bascom's ; and from thence 

we went to a funeral, at which Mr. M r preached ; and after 

that, I expounded on our Lord's transfiguration, at the house of 
one Mrs. Harvey, sister to dear Mr. Smith, of Chaiiestown. 
The house was exceeding full, and it was supposed above three 
hundred stood in the yard. The Lord enabled me to lift 
up my voice like a trumpet. Many wept. Mr. M r re- 
turned from the funeral with me, and attended the lecture ; as 
did the three councillors, with whom I conversed freely. May 
God reward them, and all the dear people of the island, for those 
many favours conferred on me, who am the chief of sinners, and 
less than the least of all saints ! 

" Sunday, May 22. Blessed be God ! the little leaven thrown 
into the three measures of meal, begins to ferment, and work 
almost every day for the week past. I have conversed with 
souls loaded with a sense of their sins ; and, as far as I can judge, 
really pricked to the heart. I preached only three times, but 
to almost three times larger auditories than usual. Indeed the 
fields are white ready unto harvest. God has been pleased to 
bless private visits. Go where I will, upon the least notice, 



whitefield's life and times. 



345 



houses are crowded, and the poor souls that follow, are soon 
drenched in tears. This day I took, as it were, another fare- 
well. As the ship did not sail, I preached at Somerset in the 
morning to a large congregation in the fields ; and expounded 
in the evening at Mr. Harvey's house, round which stood many 
hundreds of people. But in the morning and evening, how did 
the poor souls weep ! Abundance of prayers and blessings were 
put up for my safe passage to England, and speedy return to 
Bermudas again. May they enter into the ears of the Lord of 
Sabaoth ! With all humility and thankfulness of heart, will I 
here, O Lord, set up my Ehenezer ; for hitherto surely thou hast 
helped me ! Thanks be to the Lord for sending me hither. I 
have been received in a manner I dared not expect ; and have 
met with little, very little opposition, indeed. The inhabitants 
seem to be plain and open-hearted. They have loaded me with 
provisions for my sea-store ; and in the several parishes, by a 
private voluntary contribution, have raised me upwards of one 
hundred pounds sterling. This will pay a little of Bethesda's 
debt, and enable me to make such a remittance to my dear 
yoke-fellow, as may keep her from being embarrassed, or too 
much beholden, in my absence. Blessed be God, for bringing 
me out of my embarrassment by degrees ! May the Lord reward 
all my benefactors a thousandfold ! I hear that what was given, 
was given exceedingly heartily ; and people only lamented that 
they could do no more." 

Transmitting to Georgia the contributions he had received, 
and fearing a relapse if he had returned to America in the heat 
of the summer ; and also being much pressed to return to Eng- 
land, Mr. Whitefield took his passage in a brig, and arrived safe 
in twenty-eight days at Deal ; and the next evening, July 6, he 
came to London, having been absent near four years. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



WHITEFIELD RANGING. 

In 1748, after an absence of four years, Whitefield returned to 
his native land ; not exactly from choice, but because he was 
afraid to risk his restored health in America again, during the 
heat of July. He embarked at Bermudas in June, on board 
the Betsey ; and lived, as he expresses it, " like people that 
came from the continent, not from an island — so bountiful were 
his friends." His appetite was, however, somewhat spoiled one 
day. The Betsey was chased by a large French vessel, and 
shot at thrice. " We gave up all for lost ! We were almost 
defenceless. I was dressing myself to receive our visitors. In 
the mean time our captain cried, e The danger is over.' The 
Frenchman turned about and left us. In the Channel we expect 
such alarms daily." 

During the voyage he abridged, and endeavoured to gospelize, 
Law's " Serious Call and finished a revisal of his own jour- 
nals : but he was not allowed to preach on board. This, he 
says, " may spare my lungs, but it grieves my heart." It seems 
he could not write with much composure. The reason he 
assigns for this is, " We have four gentlewomen on board ; so you 
may guess how it is ! " 

His own private review of his sayings, doings, and writings, 
up to this time, I have recorded in " The Specimens of White- 
field," at the close of this volume. It is equally humble and 
honest ; and it led to many improvements in his conduct and 
spirit towards the opponents of truth and godliness. 

The prospect of home led him naturally to anticipate the 
pleasure of seeing his aged and beloved mother. He had been 



whitefield's life and times. 



347 



so long absent, and she was so poor, that he did not know, when 
he wrote, where she resided. He added to the prayer for her, 
" Oh that I may see you laden with holiness, and bearing fruit 
in old age," the request, " Let me know whether you stand in 
need of any thing." There was a contemporary clergyman of 
notoriety, Sterne, who could weep over a dead ass, and a caged 
starling, who neither prayed nor felt for his aged mother, al- 
though she was in distress : but Sterne was a wit, not a 
methodist ! 

On his arrival in London, Whitefield was welcomed by thou- 
sands, with a joy which well nigh overcame them and himself 
too. One cause of this joy was, that a large church was open to 
him on his return. It was St. Bartholomew's, where he had a 
thousand communicants on the first sabbath, besides "multitudes 
flocking to hear." How different from the reception he met 
with on his former return from America. The fact is, both he 
and the Wesleys were now wiser men. 

He was not, however, without his cares on this occasion. 
His outward affairs were "far behindhand." Antinomianism had 
"made sad havoc " in the religious societies, during his absence. 
" I came," he says, " at a critical juncture." One of the hyper par- 
ty threatened to rival him in Moorfields — a sphere which these 
zealots have seldom coveted. Whitefield sent him word, — " The 
fields are no doubt as free to you as to another. God send you 
a clear head and a clean heart. I intend preaching there on 
Sunday evening." He did ; and found " Moorfields as white to 
harvest as ever." In other respects, also, he had soon the satis- 
faction of seeing " things take a good turn " in London. 

At this time he renewed his intimacy with Hervey, who was 
now popular as a writer ; and that not undeservedly. It has 
been fashionable, of late, to denounce his florid style : and, so 
far as this prevents Hervey from becoming a model to young 
preachers or imaginative writers, it is a good fashion. It is, 
however, bad, so far as it prevents the young from reading his 
works, or from yielding to their inspiration. They cannot be 
read without interest by the young. Both the " Meditations " 
and " Theron and Aspasio " have an irresistible charm to them. 
They lay hold upon the heart at once, and are never forgotten. 



348 



whitefield's life and times. 



The secret of this fascination is, their sympathy with visible 
nature, as young eyes see it, and young hearts enjoy it. Hervey 
reflects the heavens and the earth to them, in the broad and 
brilliant forms which haunt their own dreams. Who does not 
remember this ? True ; we cease to read Hervey, and learn to 
find fault with his style : but, which of us would have relished 
or read, in early life, the chaster works on piety, which now 
charm us ? Even our taste for the simple, is the reaction of the 
gorgeous. I owe this passing tribute to Hervey. My love of 
nature was made religious by him. And, had I never tried to 
imitate him, I should never have formed a puritanical style for 
myself. 

The second reformation in this country owes much to Hervey. 
He was the Melancthon of it, by his writings. They suited, as 
Whitefield says of them, " the taste of the polite world." They 
refined the taste of the methodists also. The former read them, 
because they were flowery ; the latter, because they were savoury. 
The one looked at grace, through their medium, with less pre- 
judice; the other at nature, with more delight than formerly. 
Whitefield saw this twofold influence of Hervey's works, and 
wisely said nothing against their style, when they were submitted 
to his revision. 

Amongst all Whitefield's converts, no one has been more 
useful than Hervey, as a writer. That he was one of them is 
certain, although seldom remembered. In a letter to White- 
field, he says, " Your journals and sermons, and especially that 
sweet sermon, on e What think ye of Christ ? ' were a mean of 
bringing me to the knowledge of the truth." Brown's Memoirs 
of Hervey. This will account for the deference he paid to his spi- 
ritual father, and for the eulogium he pronounced on him at Dod- 
dridge's : " I never beheld," he said, " so fair a copy of our Lord ; 
such a living image of the Saviour ; such exalted delight in God ; 
such unbounded benevolence to man ; such steady faith in the 
divine promises ; such fervent zeal for the divine glory ; and all 
this, without the least moroseness of humour, or extravagances 
of behaviour ; but sweetened with the most engaging cheerful- 
ness of temper, and regulated by all the sobriety of reason and 
wisdom of Scripture : insomuch, that I cannot forbear applying 



whitefield's life and times. 



349 



the wise man's encomium on an illustrious woman, to this emi- 
nent minister of the everlasting gospel — f Many sons have done 
virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 5 " 

It was not in return for this compliment, but before it, that 
Whitefield introduced Hervey's works into America, and re- 
joiced in their popularity. " The author," he said, " is my old 
friend ; a most heavenly-minded creature ; one of the first me- 
thodists, who is contented with a small cure, and gives all he 
has to the poor. We correspond with, though we cannot see, 
each other." Gillies says, that Whitefield left a blank in his 
manuscripts thus, — " Here a character of Hervey and adds, 
" What a pity he did not write it down ! " Doddridge also was 
not ashamed to preface a work of Hervey's, although Warburton 
called it a weak rhapsody, and said it would degrade the 
Doctor. 

At this time his acquaintance with the Countess of Hunting- 
don commenced. She had engaged Howel Harris to bring him 
to Chelsea, " as soon as he came ashore." He went and preached 
twice in her drawing-room, in a manner that determined her to 
invite some of the nobility to hear him. 

As she had, from this time, much influence upon his future 
movements, the following masterly sketch of her history and 
character v/ill tell best here. It is by a descendant of Dod- 
dridge, who hates Calvinism. 

" The Right Honourable Selina Countess Dowager of Hunt- 
ingdon, second daughter, and one of the coheiresses of Wash- 
ington, second Earl of Ferrars, was born August 13th, 1707, and 
married in the year 1728, to Theophilus Earl of Huntingdon, by 
whom she had issue four sons and three daughters : of these, 
only one, the Countess of Moira, survived their mother, whose 
death occurred in 1791, at the age of eighty-four, and after a 
widowhood of forty -five years. 

" Upon the decease of her mother, the Countess of Moira 
received an accession to her income of fifteen hundred pounds 
per annum, and her son, Lord Rawden, a bequest of two thou- 
sand two hundred pounds. Lady Huntingdon also left an an- 
nuity of a hundred a year to her friend Lady Ann Erskine, and 
the sum of four thousand pounds to be disposed of in charitable 



350 



whitefield's life and times. 



gifts, at the direction of the Earl of Dartmouth, Sir Richard 
Hill, and her chaplain, Mr. Haws. The residue of her fortune 
was bequeathed for the support of sixty -four chapels, which she 
had contributed to establish throughout the kingdom. 

" 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. 

" The circumstance of her having forbade the publication of 
her papers, and her retired mode of life, for even her charities 
were principally distributed through the medium of her chap- 
lains, were the causes which baffled the curiosity of those who 
felt desirous of discovering the motives which could tempt a 
woman to resign the allurements of station, and to devote, in 
addition to what is mentioned in her will, at least a hundred 
thousand pounds, given during her life, for the extension of pe- 
culiar religious opinions, without any view towards that personal 
distinction which has been too often a leading inducement with 
the founders of new sects. 

" In the absence of circumstantial detail, all that remains is to 
collect the few personal traits which are here and there acci- 
dentally mentioned, and to unite them with facts of public noto- 
riety. Having thus combined these scattered rays, their con- 
densed light at once reveals the actual character of this remark- 
able woman ; and we perceive her peculiarities to have arisen 
from the blight of domestic sorrow, acting upon a mind swayed 
to a great extent by the imagination, and, therefore, highly 
susceptible of religious impressions. 

" In the spring day of her life, there was little to distinguish 
Lady Huntingdon from the many charming and intelligent young- 
women who ever grace the courtly circle in which she moved. 
She was naturally gay, and the quickness of her disposition ren- 
dered her sprightly and amusing ; but it does not appear that 
her gaiety tended towards dissipation, or that her conversational 
talents amounted to wit. How far her religious education had 
been attended to is not indicated, but there is no reason to sur- 
mise that it was defective ; and had not her maternal and con 
jugal affections suffered from the shock of family bereavements, 



whitefield's life and times. 



351 



her character would probably have remained not less worthy, 
but far less remarkable, than it is at present. 

" The loss of children, and the death of her lord, which occurred 
before the charms of existence had with her been subdued by 
the lapse of time, gave a blow to the elasticity of her mind from 
which it never recovered. When the first paroxysm of grief had 
subsided, her exhausted feelings naturally sought a refuge in 
devotion ; and it is only to be regretted that under the melan- 
choly impressions of the period, her mind the more deeply im- 
bibed the Calvinistic tenets." (Not exactly !) 

" An affecting incident shows that at this time she still re- 
tained the fond recollections of human regard in all their wonted 
intensity. Lady Huntingdon had a fine bust of herself placed 
upon the tomb of her deceased husband ; and it is but justice to 
observe, that the widowed bosom in which his memory was en- 
shrined ever remained as cold to earthly passion, as the insen- 
sible marble, whose gentle smile, amid the symbols of death, 
seemed eloquent with immortality. 

" For some years the religious views of Lady Huntingdon 
were those of the church of England ; she was pious and bene- 
volent in an eminent degree, as her letters in this work evince, 
but her sentiments were unmarked by peculiarity. As might, 
however, have been expected, the spirit-stirring eloquence of 
Whitefield caught her attention, and she became one of his most 
determined proselytes ; and, doubtless, felt delighted to obtain 
so important a witness to a reality of her election. Be this as it 
may, under his influence, although she never renounced the doc- 
trines of episcopacy, yet she embraced sectarian views incompa- 
tible with its practice and well-being ; she endowed chapels, and 
sanctioned an independent form of worship. 

" Of the results to which her conduct, in such respects, was 
likely to lead, she was doubtless unconscious, and, in fact, acted 
from the impressions produced upon her mind by the interested 
parties around her. She was, indeed, so much the child of 
emotion, that she is related to have described herself ' as like a 
ship before the wind, carried on by an impulse she could not 
resist or describe.' 

" The influence of Whitefield and his friends over the mind 



352 



whitefield's life and times. 



of Lady Huntingdon, was most apparent from the year 1748, 
when he became her chaplain. That influence was, however, 
so guardedly employed, that the natural vigilance of her charac- 
ter was fully exercised in plans for the propagation of the highly 
Calvinistic ideas she had espoused. It was not until the year 
1768, that she opened her c college ' near Talgarth, in South 
Wales, 6 for the education of serious and godly young men, and 
such as she believed had a divine call? Besides this academy, 
the whole expense of which she defrayed, she was deeply inter- 
ested in the missionary schemes then in motion ; and that she 
might the better uphold the cause, reduced her style of living far 
below what her station in society demanded ; and even exhausted 
her income to such an extent, that she was not able to afford 
charitable relief in some cases of the utmost necessity, that were 
brought under her notice. 

" Her death occurred on the 17th of June, 1791, and was 
marked with the serenity of the christian, and the humble con- 
fidence of a saint. As the awful moment was approaching, she 
said, f My work is done ; and I have nothing to do but to go to 
my Father.' (This was her Calvinism !) 

" The romantic turn of her feelings was as strongly marked 
during her last illness, as in any former period of her life. She 
desired that her remains might be dressed in the suit of white 
silk which she wore at the opening of the chapel in Goodman's 
Fields ; and in speaking of death, said, ( It was like putting off 
her cloak.' When the blood-vessel burst, which was the com- 
mencement of her illness, on being asked how she did, by Lady 
Ann Erskine, she observed, ' I am well — all is well — well for ever ! 
I see, wherever I turn my eyes, whether I live or die, nothing 
but victory.' And a day or so before her decease, she remarked, 
■ The Lord has been present with my spirit this morning in a 
remarkable manner : what He means to convey to my mind, I 
know not ; it may be my approaching departure. My soul is 
filled with glory ; I am in the element of heaven.' " Humphries. 

Such was Lady Huntingdon. She soon brought around 
Whitefield some of the stars of the court. Chesterfield and 
a whole circle of them attended, and having heard once, desired 
they might hear him again. " I, therefore, preached again," he 



whitefield's life and times. 



353 



says, " in the evening, and went home, never more surprised at 
any thing in my life. All behaved quite well, and were in some 
degree affected. The Earl of Chesterfield thanked me, and said, 
' Sir, I shall not tell you what I shall tell others, how I approve 
of you ;' or words to this purpose. At last Lord Bolingbroke 
came to hear ; sat like an archbishop, and was pleased to say, 
I had done great justice to the divine attributes in my dis- 
course. (Hume also was present.) Soon afterwards, her Lady- 
ship removed to town, where I generally preached twice a week, 
to very brilliant auditories. Blessed be God, not without effec- 
tual success on some." Gillies. Bolingbroke invited White- 
field to visit him ; which he did, and found him both candid 
and frank. And the impression made upon him, 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, admit- 
ting the Bible to be true, I shall have little apprehension of 
maintaining the doctrines of predestination and grace, against 
all your revilers." All the nobility also accepted, with pleasure 
and surprise, copies of Whitefield's sermons. On recording this, 
he says, " Thus the world turns round ! In all time of wealth, 
good Lord, deliver me." Lord Bath and others had given him 
money for the orphan-house. One of the Prince of Wales's 
favourites, a privy counsellor of the king of Denmark, and seve- 
ral persons of rank, dined and drank tea with him. 

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 Wesley, and 
other private friends, " the noble, the mighty, the wise, have 
been to hear me." These are also the very words which 
Lady Huntingdon employed in her letters to Doddridge, at the 
time. Was she vain or flattered, because she rejoiced that a 
door was opening for " the nobility to hear the gospel ? " Be- 
sides, 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 this elevation, he said to Wesley, " My attachment 
to America will not permit me to abide long in England. 
If I formed societies, I should but weave a Penelope' 's web. I 
intend, therefore, to go about preaching the gospel to every 

2 A 



354 



whitefield's life and times. 



creature." Accordingly, he was off to Scotland in a few 
days. 

On his arrival at Edinburgh, he found a Moorfields congre- 
gation, as to numbers, to welcome him. At Glasgow also, the 
prospects were still more encouraging. Many at both places 
came to inform him of their conversion, on his former visits. 
Cambuslang also kindled again. All this was too much for 
some of the kirk folks, now that the Seceders were quarrelling 
amongst themselves. The synod of Glasgow and Ayr debated 
a motion, " tending to prohibit ministers from employing White- 
field — because he was a priest of the church of England ; 
because he had not subscribed the formula ; because the scheme 
of the orphan-house was chimerical, and the money collected for 
it not fully accounted for ! The first count in the indictment is 
not so heavy now. Dr. Chalmers is the champion of the Eng- 
lish priesthood. The charge was better met, however, by the 
clergyman who said at the synod, " If Bishop Butler, Sherlock, 
or Seeker, were in Scotland, I should welcome them to my pul- 
pit ; and in this, I should imitate Rutherford, as firm a presby- 
terian as any of us, who employed Usher. There is no law of 
Christ, and no act of assembly, prohibiting me to give my pul- 
pit to any episcopal, or anabaptist, or independent minister, if 
of sound principles in the fundamentals of religion. Our church 
expressly enjoins, Art. 13, that great tenderness is to be used to 
foreign protestants." Gillies. 

Whitefield's personal character was nobly and indignantly vin- 
dicated by Dr. Erskine. He appealed to the affidavit of the magis- 
trates of Georgia, in the Philadelphia Gazette, in proof of the ho- 
nest application of the money collected for the orphan-house ; and 
cried shame upon presbyterians, who could object to Whitefield 
as a " suspended minister," whilst his only fault was, refusing to 
** use the communion-book in a presbyterian chapel." The result 
of the debate was, " the decent burial of the motion." It 
was, however, supported by thirteen. Twenty-seven voted for 
employing Whitefield in the pulpits of the kirk. Gillies says 
truly, " Upon the whole, the attacks informed the synod of the 
falsehood of many aspersions thrown out against him : and thus 
what was intended for his reproach, turned out to his honour." 



whitefield's life and times. 



355 



Whitefield himself says of these conclaves, " Two synods and 
one presbytery brought me upon the carpet ; but all has worked 
for good. The more I was blackened, the more the Redeemer 
comforted me. If my enemies show themselves, I am persuaded 
Jesus will bless me to his people more and more." Amongst 
the charges then advanced against him, in order to injure him 
in the estimation of the poor, one was, that he was sent and paid 
by government to preach against the Pretender ! This charge 
came with an ill grace from both the Kirk and the Secession. 
Both preached against the Pretender, as much as he did ; with 
only this difference, that the former had pay and the latter 
thanks, while he had neither. 

It was, I think, about this time, that Whitefield had another 
interview with Ralph Erskine. Their last was in 1750. It was 
short, but affecting. On parting, Erskine embraced him and 
said, " We have seen strange things." They had both seen strange 
things ! Whitefield had seen himself traduced by ministers 
of a kirk, which had gladly played him off against the Secession : 
and Erskine had seen himself excluded by the presbytery of 
Dunfermline, whilst his own son, John, sat in judgment upon 
him. It is not true that John pronounced the sentence of ex- 
communication on his father. Gibb did that. It is, however, 
true, that the good old man said, " It was a sword piercing 
my heart, to see Johnny sitting with them." Erskine and 
Whitefield might well embrace as brethren after these strange 
things. Erskine \s Life. This reconciliation went no further. 
The other Seceders kept up the old clamour against him, be- 
cause he did not " preach up the covenant ;" and he gave his 
old answer, " I preach up the covenant of grace." 

Notwithstanding all these attempts to lower him in public 
estimation, his old friends in Scotland stood by him. The godly 
ministers not only encouraged his attempts to serve the New 
Jersey college ; but also entered into his spirited (though im- 
prudent) design of turning the orphan-house into a college. 

On his return to London, he resumed his lectures at Lady 
Huntingdon's to the " great ones," as he calls them. Thirty, 
and sometimes sixty, persons of rank attended, although the 
newspapers were full of " strange lying accounts " of his recep- 

2 a 2 



356 



whitefield's life and times. 



tion in Scotland. He availed himself of this influence, to for- 
ward his intended college : for which his plea was, — " If some 
such thing he not done, I cannot see how the southern parts will 
be provided with ministers ; for all are afraid to go over." On 
this ground he appealed to the trustees of Georgia ; reminding 
them that he had expended £5000 upon the orphan-house ; beg- 
ging them to relieve it, as a charitable institution, from all quit- 
rent and taxes ; and especially to allow him slaves. " White 
hands," he said, had left his tract of land uncultivated. 

Whilst thus pleading for his own seminary, he did not forget 
New J ersey. He wrote to Mr. Pemberton, " If you or some 
other popular minister come over, and make an application in 
person, a collection might be recommended by the general as- 
sembly, and large contributions be raised from private persons. 
If one of the Indians was brought over, — and a proposal made to 
educate some of the converted Indians in the college, — it would 
certainly be of service." Thus he had our best missionary plans, 
as well as spirit, a century ago. 

Having set these schemes on foot, he went to Bristol ; and 
attended the sacrament at the cathedral next day. The bishop, 
he says, " behaved respectfully " to him. He visited also his 
old tutor, now one of the prebendaries, and met with the old 
kindness of Oxford. Those who have had a kind tutor will quite 
understand the following account of the interview. " I told him, 
that my judgment (as I trust) was a little more ripened than it 
was some years ago ; and that as fast as I found out my faults, 
I should be glad to acknowledge them. He said, the offence of 
the governors of the church would lessen and wear off, as I grew 
moderate." Whitefield did not tell the Doctor how little he 
cared for such moderation as the governors of that day required : 
but he wrote to Lady Huntingdon, on the subject of their fa- 
vour, — " I am pretty easy about that ! If I can but act an honest 
part, and be kept imm trimming, I leave all consequences to 
Him who orders all things well." 

On his return to London, he found his assemblies at the 
Countess's " brilliant indeed," and Bolingbroke still one in 
them. It was now winter, and some of his noble friends from 
Scotland joined them. He felt not only deep interest in Boling- 



whitefield's life and times. 



357 



broke, but had much hope of him at one time ; owing to his 
declared satisfaction with the doctrines of grace. " Who knows/' 
he says, " what God may do?" If Bolingbroke was hoaxing 
Whitefield, it is to his everlasting disgrace. If he was not, it 
was no small item in his advantages, that God gave him a place 
in Whitefield's heart and prayers. The place he held there, 
had proved the means of salvation to many. Two or three of 
the nobility were won to Christ at this time. 

Still, they could not keep him from itinerating. In a few 
weeks he was at Bristol again. " I long to take the field" he 
said to the Countess ; and he did not take it in vain. " There 
was a great stirring among the dry bones at Kingswood and 
Bristol. Many new converts were won. One of them was a 
counsellor, who was so much affected, that his style of counsel- 
ling others to hear Whitefield, led his wife to suspect him of 
madness. 

At Plymouth also, where he had so many enemies formerly, 
he found a Tabernacle had been built in his absence, to which 
he was welcomed. He became the guest of a married couple, 
who claimed him as their spiritual father. Plymouth, he says, 
(t seems quite a new place to me." He was much amused there 
to learn, that he had been called a Roman catholic. " If I am 
a Roman catholic," he said, " the pope must have given me a 
large dispensation." 

The "married couple" were the Kinsmans; soon the useful, 
as well as the intimate, friends of Whitefield. Mr. Kinsman 
became a popular preacher at the Tabernacle in London. He 
preached the first sermon in the present Tabernacle. His fame 
and success at Bristol were such that Whitefield was in the 
habit of calling Bristol, " Kinsman's America" in allusion to 
his own foreign labours. His eloquence also must have been 
considerable ; for Shuter, the comedian, was fond of hearing 
him. Poor Shuter once told Kinsman a sad story. He had 
been acting Falstaff in London so often, that the physicians 
ordered him to Plymouth for change of air. Kinsman too had 
been sent home, after a hard campaign at the Tabernacle. Both 
had been wrought out. " Had you died," said Shuter, " it 
would have been in the service of the best of masters ; but had 



358 



whitefield's life and times. 



I, it would have been in the service of the devil. O Sir, do 
you think I shall ever be called again ? I certainly was — whilst 
studying my part in the park ; and had Mr. Whitefield let me 
come to the sacrament with him, I never should have gone back 
again. But the caresses of the great are insnaring. Poor 
things ! they are unhappy, and they want Shuter to make them 
laugh. O Sir, for such a life as yours ! But when I have you 
I shall be Richard the Third again. That is what they call a 
good play ; as good as some sermons. And there are some 
striking moral things in it. But, after it, I shall come in again 
with my farce, ' A Dish of all Sorts,' and knock all that on the 
head. * Fine reformers we are ! " 

It was on Shuter, as Ramble, that Whitefield fixed his eye 
one morning at Tottenham Court, while inviting sinners of all 
classes to Christ, and said, — " And thou, poor Ramble, who 
hast long rambled from Him, come thou also. Oh, end thy 
ramblings, and come to Jesus." Cornelius Winter says, 
" Shuter was exceedingly struck, and coming unto Whitefield 
said, — ' I thought I should have fainted ; how could you serve 
me so ? ' " At Plymouth also, when asked if he was a methodist, 
he said, " Mine is a fine method, is it not ? A methodist ! no ; 
I wish I was. If any are right, they are." 

Whitefield found in Plymouth and its neighbourhood many 
proofs, that his former visit had been very useful. Next to the 
conversion of Kinsman, no case pleased him so much as that of 
a young man, "now a preacher," who had then ascended a tree, 
to hear and mock. His levity had drawn the notice of White- 
field, who exclaimed, " Come down, Zaccheus, come down, and 
receive the Lord Jesus Christ. The word was backed with 
power. He heard, came down, believed, and now adorns the 
gospel." Letter to Lady Huntingdon. 

He had also the pleasure, at this time, to administer the sa- 
crament to a whole family, " who had no pastor." " It was an 
affecting sight," he says; — "two parents presenting two daugh- 
ters and a son, in the most solemn manner, for the first time, 
to be communicants. I received them with all joy." 

It was not all sunshine, however, in Devonshire. He was 
rudely treated at Tavistock. The rabble brought a bull and 



whitefield's life and times. 



359 



dogs, and created much disturbance whilst he was praying. 
He managed, however, to preach down the uproar. At Exeter, 
also, a man came prepared to knock him on the head with a 
stone, whenever the sermon should furnish an offensive ex- 
pression. He stood with the stone in his hand. He could find 
no fault. The sermon soon interested him so, that the stone 
dropped from his hand. Then his heart melted. After the 
service he went to Whitefield, and said with tears, " Sir, I 
came to break your head ; but God has given me a broken 
heart." 

Whitefield now returned to London in high health, after an 
itineracy in the west of 600 miles. He came back, however, 
" with a kind of fear and trembling," lest his health should 
break down in the city, and thus unfit him " to speak to the 
great and the noble, so as to win them to Jesus." But he soon 
rid himself of this fear, by his old maxim, " I throw myself 
"blindfold into my Master's hands." The bishop of Exeter's 
pamphlet also, " The Enthusiasm of the Methodists and Papists 
compared," came out at this time, and created a stir, which 
helped him to forget his fears. He began immediately to an- 
swer it, and made greater efforts than ever to ingratiate the 
truth with the aristocracy. But this kind of work did not 
suit him. * 

He was equally out of his element at his own desk, and in 
Lady Huntingdon's drawing-room. Accordingly, in a month, 
he was too ill to hold a pen. He therefore started off on a new 
itineracy ; and by the time he reached Portsmouth, he was him- 
self again. The night after his arrival, he preached to many 
thousands ; and with such power, in spite of disturbance, that 
the chief opposer was conquered, and received him into his 
house with tears of shame and joy. Indeed, many who, a few 
days before, had been speaking all manner of evil of him, were 
soon urgent with him to prolong his visit. But Wales was wait- 
ing for him, and he could not stay long. 

In the Principality he had soon the pleasure, as in the days of 
old, to see "Jesus riding on in the chariot of the everlasting gos- 
pel." He now found all towns open, and all justices and magis- 
trates civil. On some occasions his audience amounted to twenty 



360 



whitefield's life and times. 



thousand persons. He himself computed the whole number he 
addressed, in eight Welch counties, at more than a hundred 
thousand ; and adds, " I think we have not had one dry meet- 
ing." So complete was his ascendancy in Wales now, that 
" not a dog stirred a tongue," during his circuit of eight hun- 
dred miles. From this vantage ground, he made a powerful 
appeal to Hervey, in the hope of drawing him into the fields. 
" Had you seen the simplicity of so many dear souls, I am per- 
suaded you would have said, Sit anima mea cum methodistis." 
But Hervey was too weak for field work. Whitefield himself 
broke down after this mighty effort, and was for some days at 
" the gates of the grave." 

He returned to London to welcome his wife home from Ber- 
mudas. On her arrival he learned that his character had been 
aspersed in the island by one of the clergy. But whilst he did 
not overlook this calumny altogether, he merely sent out the 
following answer ; <( I am content to wait until the day of judg- 
ment for the clearing up of my character ; and after I am dead, 
I desire no other epitaph than this, — Here lies George Wliite- 
field. What sort of a man he was, the great day will discover" 
He then arranged his London affairs, and started again for the 
fields. 

On his arrival at Bristol, he was told that the bishop of W. 
(Wells ?) had charged him with perjury at the pump-rooms. 
The bishop had not, however, used the word perjury. He had 
only left others to give a name to his picture of violated ordi- 
nation vows. Indeed, the question had a parliamentary settle- 
ment on both sides. Whitefield said, that he vowed to obey 
only "godly admonitions." And the bishop meant " nothing 
personal." 

In a few days after, Whitefield set out for Exeter, by way of 
Wellington. At this time he does not appear to have known 
Darracott, whom he afterward designated, — " The Star of the 
West transferring the title from its first owner, Hieron. In- 
deed, he would have rode through Wellington without stopping, 
had not a woman recognised him in the street. She implored 
him to alight, and give the people a sermon. When he com- 
plied, she soon spread the news, and " a great company " came 



whitefield's life and times. 



361 



to hear him. He was so pleased, that he preached next day to 
a still larger audience. It does not appear that Darracott at- 
tended either sermon. He made ample amends, however, af- 
terwards. 

One reason of Whitefield's visit to the west, at this time, was 
(although perhaps he hardly acknowledged it to himself) 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 wrote 
like an honest man, and has recanted several things;" but, 
added Lavington, u he goes on in the same way yet." He did. 
He went to Exeter, and appeared in the fields again. The 
bishop, therefore, threatened another pamphlet. Lavington 
could do more against methodists than write. About this time, 
he threatened to strip the gown from one of his own clergy, who 
was methodistical, and countenanced Whitefield. The bishop 
was saved the trouble. That moment the clergyman stripped 
himself, saying, " I can preach the gospel without a gown ;" 
and retired. Lavington was then glad to " send for him, and 
soothe him :" but he indemnified himself for this condescension, 
by publishing immediately the second part of his " Enthusiasm 
compared." Whitefield had good reason, as well as great pro- 
vocation, to say of both parts, " The bishop has served the me- 
thodists, 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, 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 people awe-struck by his appeals. 
Theysaw also three large stones thrown at his head in suc- 
cession, by a furious drunkard, — one of which cut him deeply ; 
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. Letter to Lady H. 

Next week he returned to London, and found some of the 



362 



whitefield's life and times. 



pious peeresses waiting to receive the sacrament from him. He 
spent a few days at home, and then started off for Yorkshire. 
There he visited Grimshaw, at Haworth, and administered the 
sacrament to above a thousand communicants in the church. 
When he preached, the churchyard was crowded. On a future 
occasion, when preaching in the church, he had such a high 
opinion of the pastor, that he took for granted the piety of the 
flock. " No, no, Sir," said good Grimshaw aloud, " the half of 
them are not converted by the grace of God. Speak to them 
faithfully." It is easy to conceive the effect of such an appeal 
on Whitefield. It was just the kind and manner of appeal, to 
set him on fire. It would have disconcerted almost any other 
man ; but it was vantage ground to him. 

He went from Haworth to Leeds, at the invitation, he says, 
" of one of Mr. Wesley's preachers, and by all his people." He 
was also introduced into their pulpit at Newcastle, by Charles 
Wesley, who, meeting him by the way, turned back to accom- 
pany him. This gratified him so much, that he preached four 
times in their rooms at Newcastle ; but he was obliged, at last, 
to go into the open air, to meet the crowds. At Leeds both 
the crowds and the commotion were immense. So much so, 
that he returned back upon it, after visiting some other parts of 
Yorkshire and Lancashire. 

During this tour, he won to Christ many of the men, who 
laid the foundations of not a few of the flourishing churches in 
these counties. He met, however, with as much " rude treat- 
ment," here and there in both, as sent him home praying, " Lord, 
give me a pilgrim heart, for my pilgrim life." 

On his arrival in London, he found many urgent invitations 
awaiting him from Ireland ; and the Cork riots had awakened 
his sympathies for the sufferers ; but although he used his influ- 
ence on their behalf with the great, and sent them word of this, 
he was afraid lest a visit might be deemed an intrusion upon the 
Wesleyan sphere. Besides, the primate of Ireland wished to 
give him preferment ; a thing he did not wish for. 

He was now " in winter quarters ;" but he was not idle nor 
useless. To use his own words, " the glory of the Lord filled 
the tabernacle, and the shout of a King was in the camp," from 



whitefield's life and times. 



363 



week to week. " Thousands, thousands crowded to hear." 
Every day, also, he heard of instances of conversion. One in- 
stance pleased him very much. It was that of a boatswain, who 
before hearing him, knew no more about divine truth, " than the 
whistle he blew on board." He particularizes also a boy of eleven 
years of age, a woman of eighty, and a baker, who had been " a 
Jerusalem sinner." 

At this time, his intended college occupied much of his atten- 
tion. He wrote in all directions, in order to make friends to 
the plan. His usual appeal was, " We propose having an aca- 
demy or college at the orphan-house. The house is large ; it 
will hold a hundred. My heart, I trust, is larger, and will hold 
ten thousand." 

Still, his heart was in America. London did not, he says, 
ee agree with his outward man." " Ranging seems my pro- 
vince ; and methinks I hear a voice behind me saying, This is 
the way, walk in it. My heart echoes back, Lord, let thy pre- 
sence go along with me, and then send me where thou pleasest." 
That America would have pleased himself best, is evident from 
the following apostrophe, " In the midst of all, America, dear 
America ! is not forgotten. I begin to count the days, and to 
say to the months, ' Fly fast away, that I may spread the gospel 
net once more in dear America ! ' " This is delightful. It must 
be gratifying to American christians to be thus reminded of the 
place which their country held in Whitefield's heart a century 
ago. It is gratifying to me to tell them, that we did not learn 
from Whitefield, but from the revivals and missionary spirit in 
their own churches, to say, " America, dear America." When 
will they fulfil our joy, and be likeminded with us on the subject 
of slavery ? Surely no one will quote Whitefield against us ! 

Another object lay near to Whitefield's heart. It was during 
this winter's quarters, that he formed the design of identifying 
Lady Huntingdon with his societies — the only plan he ever laid 
for perpetuating them. He saw her a Dorcas, at " that dead 
place " — Ashby Place, and felt that she might and ought to be 
a Phcebe. She had used her influence, at his solicitation, with 
the court and the government, on behalf of the sufferers in the 
Cork riots ; and had readily patronized such poor or persecuted 



364 



whitefield's life ani> times. 



ministers, as he brought under her notice. All this, and the 
want of a leader, led him to seek her patronage, especially for 
his societies in the west end of the town. 

How he opened the subject to her, I have been unable to dis- 
cover. It does not seem, however, to have been ill received : 
for she desired the public prayers of the Tabernacle for herself 
at the time ; — (not, of course, in reference to this matter ;) — and 
Whitefield read that part of her letter to the people, and in- 
formed her, that " thousands heartily joined in singing the fol- 
lowing verses for her Ladyship : " 

" Gladly we join to pray for those 
Who rich with worldly honour shine, 
Who dare to own a Saviour's cause, 
And in that hated cause to join : 
Yes, we would praise Thee, that a few 
Love Thee, though rich and noble too. 

" Uphold this star in thy right hand, 
Crown her endeavours with success ; 
Among the great ones may she stand, 
A witness of thy righteousness, 
Till many nobles join thy train, 
And triumph in the Lamb that 's slain." 

All this was in bad taste on both sides, however well meant 
or meekly taken. In the same letter, he said to her, " A leader 
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 on 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, by always abound- 
ing in the work of the Lord, is the fervent prayer of ." 

How much " leader " means, in this document, or how far, if 
at all, it refers to the Tabernacle, I cannot judge. 

In the midst of all these attentions from and to nobility, 
Whitefield did not forget nor overlook his aged mother. A 
woman had neglected to procure for him some things he had 
ordered for her. A week's delay was thus occasioned. The 
moment he discovered this, he wrote, " I should never forgive 



whitefield's life and times. 



365 



myself, was I, by negligence or any wrong conduct, to give you 
a moment's needless pain. Alas, how little I have done for you ! 
Christ's care for his mother excites me to wish I could do any 
thing for you. If you would have any thing more brought, pray 
write, honoured mother ! " 

On this occasion he reminded her of his age. " To-morrow, it 
will be thirty-Jive years since you brought unworthy me into 
the world. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes foun- 
tains of tears, that I might bewail my barrenness and unfruitful- 
ness in the church of God." About the same time he wrote 
thus to Lady Huntingdon, " Next Saturday I am thirty-five 
years old : I am ashamed to think how little I do or suffer 
for Christ. Fye upon me, fye upon me ! " 

These anecdotes are, I know, little ; but they reveal much of 
Whitefield's real character : and surely his deep self-abasement 
before God, may be allowed to balance his self-complacency in 
the patronage of the countess and her " elect ladies." His 
compliments to them admit of no excuse. They are almost as 
many and fulsome, as the flatteries which used to be addressed 
to the royal and noble patrons of Bible Societies. Those who 
remember that incense, and the assemblies which offered it, will 
hardly wonder, however much they deplore, that a poor method- 
ist burnt more incense to rank, than was wise or seemly. 
Whitefield was not constitutionally humble, bold, or unam- 
bitious. It took " twice seven years " of " pretty close intimacy 
with contempt" he says, to make contempt an " agreeable com- 
panion " to him. Like Paul, he had to learn contentment. " I 
did not like to part with my pretty character at first. It was 
death to be despised ; and worse than death to think of being 
laughed at by all. God knows how to train us up gradually for 
the war. He often makes me bold as a lion ; but I believe 
there is not a person living more timorous by nature. I find, 
a love of power sometimes intoxicates even God's dear children. 
It is much easier for me to obey than govern. This makes me 
fly from that which, at our first setting out, we are too apt to 
court. I cannot well buy humility at too dear a rate." Letters. 

At this time, Whitefield was not unknown at court, nor his 
elect ladies unnoticed by the king. On one occasion, Lady 



366 



whitefield's life and times. 



Chesterfield appeared in a dress, " with a brown ground and sil- 
ver flowers/' of foreign manufacture. The king came up to her, 
smiling significantly. He then laughed aloud, and said, — " I 
know who chose that gown for you, — Mr. Whitefield : I hear 
you have attended on him for a year .and a half." Her Lady- 
ship confessed she had, and avowed her approbation of him. 
She also regretted deeply afterwards, that she had not said more 
whilst she had such an opportunity. The secretary of state 
also assured him, that " no hurt was designed by the state " to 
the methodists. He had gone to the secretary, accompanied 
by a dissenting minister, Mr. G. (query Dr. Gifford ?) to " open 
the case " of the Irish brethren. The outrages committed upon 
them, brought him nearer to the dissenters and the Wesleyans. 
They had now a common cause. Accordingly, he was invited 
to preach in the Wesleyan chapel. Mr. Wesley read the prayers 
for him ; and next time Whitefield read them, before Mr. Wes- 
ley preached, and then united with him in administering the 
sacrament. This delighted him much. " Oh for love and gra- 
titude ! " he exclaims, — " I have now preached thrice in Mr. 
Wesley's chapel, and God was with us of a truth." 

He was now tired of London, and relapsing into his old com- 
plaints. The fact is, he had grown field-sick ; for that was his 
home-sickness. Accordingly, he started for the west of Eng- 
land again, and although rain and hail pelted him in his field 
pulpits, he preached " about twenty times in eight or nine days." 
The moment he was in his own element, he saw every thing in 
his old lights. Hence he says, " Every thing I meet with seems 
to carry this voice with it, — ( Go thou and preach the gospel ; 
be a pilgrim on earth ; have no party or certain dwelling-place.' 
My heart echoes back, Lord Jesus, help me to do or suffer thy 
will. When thou seest me in danger of nestling, — in pity — in 
tender pity, — put a thorn in my nest, to prevent me from it." 

Whilst at Bristol, Charles Wesley talked with him about 
preaching in the new Wesleyan room ; but it does not appear to 
have been much desired. Accordingly, Whitefield says, " / 
said but little." He found, however, a larger sphere. He was 
allowed to preach from the window of Smith's Hall, and thus 
many thousands heard him. 



whitefield's life and times. 



367 



From Bristol he went to Wellington, and became the welcome 
guest of Darracott, whom he calls " a flaming and successful 
preacher of the gospel." Good Darracott had just lost three 
lovely children. Two of them had died on <( the Saturday even- 
ing before the sacrament : but/' says Whitefield, " weeping did 
not prevent sowing. He preached the next day, and administered 
as usual. Our Lord strengthened him ; and, for his three natural, 
gave him above thirty spiritual, children; and he is likely to 
have many more. He has ventured his little all for Christ : 
and, last week, a saint died who left him and his heirs £200 in 
land. Did ever any one trust in God, and was forsaken ? " 

This interview with Darracott, who had also suffered much 
reproach in the service of Christ, and an interview with Pearsall 
of Taunton, who had been a preacher of righteousness before 
Whitefield was born, had an inspiring influence upon him. " I 
began to take the field again at his dwelling," he says, " for the 
spring ! I begin to begin to spend and be spent for Him who 
shed his own dear heart's blood for me. He makes ranging 
exceedingly pleasant. I want more tongues, more bodies, more 
souls, for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand, — He should 
have them all." In this state of mind he visited many parts of 
Devonshire and Cornwall. At Gwinnop, he preached to a large 
audience, although the clergyman had preached a virulent ser- 
mon against him in the morning. This worthy had said on 
Saturday, " Now Whitefield is coming — I must put on my old 
armour." He did. Whitefield says, " It did but little execu- 
tion, because not Scripture -proof ; consequently, not out of 
God's armoury. I preached to many thousands. The rain drop- 
ped gently upon our bodies, and the grace of God seemed to fall 
like a gentle dew, sprinkling rain upon our souls." Thus in 
Cornwall, " an unthought-of and unexpectedly wide door " was 
opened. He preached in many churches, and the power of God 
came down so, that even the ministers were overcome. Such 
was the flying of doves to their windows there, that he ceased 
for a time to long for the wings of a dove to flee away to America. 

He returned to London much improved in health and spirits ; 
and, having rested a few days, he visited Doddridge and Her- 
vey, in order to promote a public subscription for the New 



368 



whitefield's life and times. 



J ersey college. Doddridge entered warmly into the plan ; nobly 
hazarding all the consequences of associating with the man whom 
the Coward trust despised. Whitefield appreciated his kind- 
ness : i( I thank you a thousand times/' he says, " for your 
kindness, and assure you it is reciprocal. Gladly shall I call 
upon you again at Northampton." In this letter, he informed 
the Doctor, that Lady Huntingdon was to write to him that 
night, and thus playfully prepared him for her news : " She is 
strangely employed now. Can you guess ? The kind people of 
Ashby stirred up some of the baser sort to riot before her Lady- 
ship's door, whilst the gospel was preaching. Some of the peo- 
ple narrowly escaped being murdered, in their way home. The 
justice has ordered to bring the offenders before him." To her 
Ladyship he said on this occasion, " I trust you will live to 
see many of these Ashby stones become children to Abraham." 

Soon after this he went again into Yorkshire. At Rother- 
ham, he says, " Satan rallied his forces. The crier was em- 
ployed to give notice of a bear-baiting. You may guess who 
was the bear! However, I preached twice. The drum was 
heard, and several watermen attended with great staves. The 
constable was struck, and two of the mobbers apprehended, but 
rescued afterwards. But all this does not come up to the kind 
usage of the people of Ashby ! " Sheffield and Leeds, he found 
to be a new and warmer climate. Lancashire, however, he still 
found to be but cold to him. All was quiet at Manchester, and 
he humbly hoped " some had enlisted but no great impres- 
sion was made, although thousands attended. Liverpool he did 
not visit, at this time. At Bolton, a drunkard stood up to 
preach behind him ; and the wife of the person who lent him 
the field, twice attempted to stab the workman who put up the 
stand for him. This roused him, and he bore down all oppo- 
sition by a torrent of eloquence, which quite exhausted him. In 
the night, however, some of the Boltoners got into the barn and 
stables where his chaise and horses were put up, and cut both 
shamefully. This he called, " Satan showing his teeth." 

From this quarter, he went into Cumberland ; new ground to 
him. At Kendal, " such entrance was made as could not have 
been expected." The impression was so great under his first 



whitefield's life and times. 



369 



sermon, that he could not forget it when he left, and therefore 
he returned to confirm " the souls of the disciples." At Ulver- 
ston, also, much good was done. " There," he says, " Satan 
made some small resistance : a clergyman, who looked more 
like a hutclier than a minister, came with two others, and charged 
a constable with me. But I never saw a poor creature sent off 
in such disgrace." 

Further particulars of this northern itineracy would only 
present similar alternations of insult and success. He preached 
" above ninety times, and to a hundred and forty thousand 
people," on this route from London to Edinburgh, where he 
arrived in the beginning of July. 

" He was received," says Gillies, " as usual, in the most tender 
and loving manner ; preaching generally twice a day to great mul 
titudes, whose seriousness and earnest desire to hear him, made 
him exert himself beyond his strength." " By preaching always 
twice," (he says,) " and once thrice, and once four times, in a day, 
I am quite weakened ; but I hope to recruit again. I am burn- 
ing with a fever, and have a violent cold : but Christ's presence 
makes me smile at pain, and the fire of His love burns up all 
fevers whatsoever." 

Whitefield's own estimate of this visit to Scotland, was very 
high. He says, u I shall have reason to all eternity to bless 
God for it. I have reason to think that many are under con- 
victions, and am assured of hundreds having received great 
benefit and consolation. Not a dog moved his tongue all the 
while I was there, and many enemies were glad to be at peace 
with me. Oh that I may spring afresh ! " 

On his return to London, he was received with great joy both 
at the Tabernacle and West-Street. During his stay, Hervey 
came up on a visit, and resided with him, and Wesley met with 
them occasionally. As may be supposed, they had much " sweet 
fellowship." But even that could not divert him from the fields 
long. It was now autumn ; and, therefore, he resolved to work 
hard before going into winter quarters. Chatham owes much to 
this resolution ! The awakening produced by his visit he calls 
" as promising a work as in almost any part of England." It re- 
acted also upon Sheerness. There a few pious people won the con- 

2 B 



370 



whitefield's life and times. 



fidence of good Shrubsole, and drew him on step by step to read 
and pray amongst them, until he became a minister, although 
without relinquishing his office in the dock-yard. In reference 
to this, he said, " I am accounted a phenomenon, there never 
having been a preaching master mast-maker before. However, 
I know there has been a preaching Carpenter, of the most ex- 
alted rank, and this blessed person I am resolved, by the grace 
of God, to imitate while I live." He did. Mr. Shrubsole wrote 
a " Pilgrim's Progress," in which he has drawn the character 
of Whitefield with great accuracy, and sustained it with much 
effect, under the name, Fervidus. He wrote also an elegy on White- 
field's death, quite equal to any thing of the kind which appeared 
on that occasion. His " Pilgrim, or Christian Memoirs," pre- 
sents, perhaps, a fairer and fuller view of the state of religion in 
England at this time, than any other contemporary book. I hope 
it is not out of print ! It was the first book which drew my at- 
tention to the Times of Whitefield. It was lent to me, whilst a 
student at Hoxton College, by the late W. Shrubsole, Esq. of 
the Bank of England ; the son of the author, in every sense, 
and one of my earliest and kindest friends, when I was " a 
stranger in a strange land." I never enter the Bank of Eng- 
land, without remembering with a thrill of grateful emotion, the 
sweet evenings I spent there in his chambers, and in his family 
circle ! There I obtained my first glimpses of English society, 
(and I shall never forget them,) on my arrival in the metropolis 
from the mountains and solitudes of Aberdeenshire. I feel 
young again in recording this fact. There I heard, for the first 
time, instrumental music and musical science combined with 
divine worship ; and now I never hear them, without remem- 
bering how all my Scotch prejudices against this combination 
were charmed away at the Bank chambers of Mr. Shrubsole. 




CHAPTER XVII. 



WHITEFIELD IN IRELAND. 



Whitefield's connexion with Ireland was too slight to impress 
any character upon the religion of the country, or even to give 
an impulse to it. His preaching won souls ; but it set in mo- 
tion no evangelizing enterprise, except the itineracy of the cele- 
brated John Cennick, who obtained for the methodists in Ire- 
land the nick-name of swaddlers, by a Christmas sermon. His 
text was, " Ye shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, 
lying in a manger." A catholic who was present, and to whom 
the language of Scripture was a novelty, says Dr. Southey, 
" thought this so ludicrous, that he called the preacher a swad- 
dler, in derision ; and this unmeaning word became the nick- 
name of the methodists, and had all the effect of the most op- 
probrious appellation." It had indeed ! When persecution arose 
against the Wesleys and their adherents, the watchword of the 
mob was, " Five pounds for a swaddler's head ! " " Anti-swad- 
dlers " was a name chosen for themselves, by the popish party, 
and even avowed by them at the trial of the rioters. A public 
notice was posted up at the Exchange, with the writer's name 
affixed to it, in which he offered to head any mob that would 
pull down any house that should harbour a swaddler. And 
houses were demolished, and much furniture destroyed. Nor 
was this all. In Cork, Butler's mob fell upon men and women, 
old and young, with clubs and swords, and beat and wounded 
them in a dreadful manner. Even the mayor told one of the 
complainants, whose house was beset and about to be pulled 
down, that if he would not " turn the preachers out," he must 
take whatever he might get. The sheriff also sent a poor 



372 



whitefield's life and times. 



woman to Bridewell, for expressing regret at seeing the vagabond 
ballad-singer, Butler, going about in the dress of a clergyman, 
with the Bible in one hand, and ballads in the other. Moore's 
Life of Wesley. Mr. Wesley himself describes, what he calls, 
" Cork persecution," thus;— "breaking the houses of his Majes- 
ty's protestant subjects, destroying their goods, spoiling or 
tearing the very clothes from their backs ; striking, bruising, 
wounding, murdering them in the streets ; dragging them 
through the mire, without any regard to age or sex ; not sparing 
even those of tender years ; no, nor women, though great with 
child; but, with more than pagan or Turkish barbarity, de- 
stroying infants that were yet unborn." 

These enormities were well nigh over before Whitefield visit- 
ed Ireland. The higher powers had interfered, when they found 
that the lower were nearly as low as Butler. Whitefield found 
the benefit of the shield which Wesley so much needed, and so 
nobly won. He had, however, preached in Ireland before 
Wesley visited it; which was in 1747. In 1738, Whitefield 
touched there, on his return from America, weak and weary, 
after a tedious and famishing voyage. When he landed from 
the vessel, " we had," he says, " but half a pint of water left, 
and my stomach was exceeding weak through long abstinence. 
Most of us begin to be weak, and look hollow-eyed. My clothes 
have not been off, except to change, all the passage. Part of 
the time I lay on open deck, part on a chest, and the remainder 
on a bedstead covered with my buffalo's skin." He was wel- 
comed at a " strong castle," where, he says, " I asked the ser- 
vant for water, and she gave me milk, and brought forth butter 
in a lordly dish. And never — did I make a more comfortable 
meal!" 

After resting for a day or two at Kilrush to renew his 
strength, he went to Limerick, where the bishop, Dr. Burs- 
cough, received him with much hospitality and candour. His 
Lordship requested him to preach in the cathedral on Sunday, 
and on parting with him kissed him, and said, " Mr. Whitefield, 
God bless you ; I wish you success abroad ; had you staid in 
town, this house should have been your home." This welcome 
was the more gratifying, because his sermon had agitated the 



whitefield's life and times. 



373 



people. In walking about the town next day, " all the inha- 
bitants/' he says, "seemed alarmed, and looked most wishfully 
at me as I passed along." The contrast in his circumstances, 
also, affected him very deeply. " Good God ! " he exclaims, 
" where was I on Saturday last ? In hunger, cold, and thirst- 
ing ; but now I enjoy fulness of bread, and all things convenient 
for me. God grant I may not, Jeshurun-like, wax fat, and 
kick ! Perhaps it is more difficult to know how to abound, than 
how to want." 

From Limerick he went to Dublin, where he preached twice 
in the churches ; the second time to such a rivetted crowd, that 
he calls it, "like a London congregation." Here also the 
bishops were neither afraid nor ashamed of him. The primate 
of all Ireland invited him to dinner, and told him that he heard 
of him from Gibraltar. The bishop of Londonderry also was 
equally kind. Whitefield felt all this deeply, and rejoiced with 
trembling. " Dearest J esus," he exclaims, " grant me humility ; 
so shall thy favours not prove my ruin." 

Such was his first reception in Ireland. His second, in 1751, 
although upon the whole favourable, was not " like unto it." 
He was now a field preacher, and just hot from Wales, where 
he had been preaching twice a day, over a space of 500 miles. 
He began his labour in Dublin, and found at once large con- 
gregations hearing, " as for eternity." In Limerick and Cork, 
also, his commanding eloquence overawed the old persecutors. 
The public cry was, " Methodism is revived again ;" but it was 
the signal of welcome, not of war, as formerly. At this time he 
was both very weak in body, and subject to daily vomiting. 
During this visit, he preached eighty times, and with great suc- 
cess. " Providence," says he, " has wonderfully prepared my 
way, and overruled every thing for my greater acceptance. 
Every where there seems a shaking among the dry bones, and 
the trembling lamps of God's people have been supplied with 
fresh oil. The word ran and was glorified." " Hundreds," 
says Dr. Southey, " prayed for him when he left Cork ; and 
many of the catholics said, that, if he would stay, they would 
leave their priests." 

One cause of Whitefield's popularity at this time was, that 



374 



whitefield's life and times. 



he meddled not with Irish politics. " He condemned all poli- 
tics," says Dr. Southey, " as below the children of God :" but 
why did the Doctor add, " alluding, apparently, to the decided 
manner in which Wesley always inculcated obedience to govern- 
ment as one of the duties of a christian ; making it his boast, 
that whoever became a good methodist, became at the same 
time a good subject." Was Whitefield less loyal than Wesley ? 
When ? Where ? Not in Ireland certainly. I have now be- 
fore me the letter which justifies the Doctor in hinting that 
Whitefield " seems to have regarded the conduct of Wesley and 
his lay-preachers," in Ireland, " with no favourable eye." But 
why should this be interpreted to mean their politics chiefly, or 
at all ? Dr. Southey quotes from Whitefield, as if he had said 
that " some dreadful offences had been given " by the Wes- 
leyans ; and argues as if they had been political offences. 
Whitefield himself says, "I find, through the many offences 
that have lately been given, matters (among the methodists) 
were brought to a low ebb ; but now the cry is, £ Methodism is 
revived again.' Thanks be to God, that I have an opportunity 
of showing my disinterestedness, and that I preach not for a 
party of my own, but for the common interest of my blessed 
Master. Your Ladyship " (the letter is to Lady Huntingdon) 
u would smile to see how the wise have been catched in their 
own craftiness." Now this justifies the hint, that Whitefield 
" seems to have regarded their conduct with no favourable eye." 
Indeed, it is the severest thing I know of, that he says in con- 
nexion with Wesley's name, — for that he meant him, by " the 
wise caught in their own craftiness," is obvious. It is not " ap - 
parent," however, that he alluded to "the decided manner in 
which Wesley inculcated obedience to government." That, in 
fact, was not a matter of policy, but of vital principle, with 
Wesley and Whitefield too. Wesley had, however, lines of 
policy, which Whitefield was jealous of, and opposed to, not 
without reason. 

Whitefield's last visit to Ireland was in 1757, when he nearly 
lost his life, after preaching at Oxminton Green. This was 
popish outrage. The church was not unfriendly to him. In- 
deed, one of the bishops said to a nobleman, who told White- 



whitefield's life and times. 



375 



field, " I am glad he is come to rouse the people." Even the 
primate solicited him to " accept of some considerable church 
preferment, which he declined." De Courcy. 

" Preferments, honours, ease, he deemed but loss, 
Vile and contemptible, for Jesus' cross : 
Inur'd to scandal, injuries, and pain, 
To him to live was Christ ; to die was gain." 

De Courcy's Elegy. 

His own narrative of the outrage is as interesting as it is cir- 
cumstantial. — " Many attacks have I had from Satan's children, 
but yesterday you would have thought he had been permitted 
to give me an effectual parting blow. I had once or twice ven- 
tured out to Oxminton Green, a large place like Moorfields, 
situated very near the barracks, where the Ormond and Liberty 
boys, that is, the high and low party boys, generally assemble 
every Sunday, to fight each other. When I was here last, the 
congregations were very numerous, and the word seemed to 
come with power, and no noise nor disturbance ensued. This 
encouraged me to give notice, that I would preach there again. 
I went through the barracks, the door of which opens into the 
Green, and pitched my tent near the barrack walls — not doubt- 
ing of the protection, or at least interposition, of the officers 
and soldiery, if there should be occasion. But how vain is the 
help of man ! Vast was the multitude that attended. We sang, 
prayed, and preached without molestation ; only now and then 
a few stones and clods of dirt were thrown at me. 

" It being war time, I exhorted, as is my usual practice, my 
hearers, not only to fear God, but to honour the best of kings ; 
and after sermon, I prayed for success to the Prussian arms. 
All being over, I thought to return home the way I came ; but, 
to my great surprise, access was denied, so that I had to go 
near half a mile from one end of the Green to the other, through 
hundreds and hundreds of papists, &c. Finding me unat- 
tended, (for a soldier and four methodist preachers, who came 
with me, had forsook me and fled,) I was left to their mercy. 
But their mercy, as you may easily guess, was perfect cruelty. 
Volleys of hard stones came from all quarters, and every step I 
took a fresh stone made me reel backwards and forwards, till I 



376 



whitefield's life and times. 



was almost breathless, and all over a gore of blood. My strong 
beaver hat served me as it were for a scull cap for a while ; but 
at last it was knocked off, and my head left quite defenceless. 
I received many blows and wounds ; one was particularly large, 
and near my temples. I thought of Stephen, and as I believed 
that I received more blows, I was in great hopes that like him 
I should be despatched, and go off in this bloody triumph to the 
immediate presence of my Master. But providentially a minis- 
ter's house lay next door to the Green ; with great difficulty I 
staggered to the door, which was kindly opened to, and shut 
upon, me. Some of the mob in the mean time having broke 
part of the boards of the pulpit into large splinters, they beat 
and wounded my servant grievously in his head and arms, and 
then came and drove him from the door. For a while I con- 
tinued speechless, panting for, and expecting every breath to 
be my last. Two or three of the hearers, my friends, by some 
means or other, got admission, and kindly with weeping eyes 
washed my bloody wounds, and gave me something to smell to 
and to drink. I gradually revived, but soon found, the lady of 
the house desired my absence, for fear the house should be 
pulled down. What to do I knew not, being near two miles 

from Mr. W 's place ; some advised one thing, and some 

another. At length, a carpenter, one of the friends that came 
in, offered me his wig and coat, that I might go off in dis- 
guise. I accepted of and put them on, but was soon ashamed 
of not trusting my Master to secure me in my proper habit, 
and threw them off with disdain. I determined to go out 
(since I found my presence was so troublesome) in my proper 
habit ; immediately deliverance came. A methodist preacher, 
with two friends, brought a coach ; I leaped into it, and rode 
in gospel triumph through the oaths, curses, and imprecations 
of whole streets of papists unhurt, though threatened every 
step of the ground. None but those who were spectators of the 
scene, can form an idea of the affection with which I was received 
by the weeping, mourning, but now joyful methodists. A chris- 
tian surgeon was ready to dress our wounds, which being done, 
I went into the preaching-place, and after giving a word of ex- 
hortation, joined in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to Him 



whitefield's life and times. 



377 



who makes our extremity his opportunity, who stills the noise 
of the waves, and the madness of the most malignant people. 
The next morning I set out for Port Arlington, and left my 
persecutors to His mercy, who out of persecutors hath often 
made preachers. That I may be thus revenged of them, is my 
hearty prayer." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

whitefield's characteristic sayings.. 
1734 to 1745. 

Contentment. " I find all uneasiness arises from having a 
will of my own ; therefore I would desire to will only what God 
wills." 

Condition. " Alas ! that any one should inquire after such 
a wretch as I am. As for my quality ; I was a poor, mean 
drawer (tapster) ; hut, by the grace of God, I am now intended 
for the ministry. As for my estate ; I am a servitor. And as 
to my condition and circumstances ; I have not (of my own) where 
to lay my head. But my friends, by God's providence, minister 
daily to me : and, in return for such unmerited, unspeakable 
blessings, I trust the same good Being will give me grace to 
dedicate myself without reserve to his service — to spend and be 
spent for the welfare of my fellow- creatures, and in endeavour- 
ing to promote the gospel of his Son as much as lieth in my poor 
power." Whiter! eld's early purpose turned out an accurate 
prophecy ! He became what he wished to be, and did what he 
designed. 

Humility. " Catch an old christian without humility — if you 
can ! It is nothing but this flesh of ours, and those cursed seeds 
of the proud apostate, which lie lurking within us, that make us 
think ourselves worthy of the air we breathe. When our eyes 
are opened by the influence of divine grace, we then shall begin 
to think of ourselves ( as we ought to think ;' even that Christ is 
all in all, and we less than nothing." 

Inexperience. " Oh let us young, inexperienced soldiers, be 
always upon our guard. The moment we desert our post, the 



whitefield's life and times. 



379 



enemy rushes in : and if he can but so divert our eyes from look- 
ing heavenward, (often,) he will soon so blind us, that we shall 
not look towards it at all. A great deal may be learnt from a 
little fall." 

Example. " The degeneracy of the age is not the least ob- 
jection against advances in piety. It is true, indeed, that in- 
stances of exalted piety are rarely to be met with in the present 
age : one would think, if we were to take an estimate of our 
religion from the lives of most of its professors, that Christianity 
was nothing but a dead letter. But then — it is not our religion 
but ourselves that is to blame for this." 

Such were some of Whitefield's " first principles," when he 
began to study at Oxford. How well they lasted, and how much 
they influenced him, all through life, will appear equally from 
his history, and from their frequent recurrence in other and 
more powerful forms, in this sketch of his governing maxims. 
The sketch itself I have made with some care, in order to illus- 
trate both his talents and piety ; that those who speak of him, 
may judge of him from his " sayings," as well as from his " do- 
ings." Had Dr. Doddridge reviewed the following Miscellany 
of Whitefield's maxims, he would have retracted the charge of 
" weakness " he made against him, and heightened all his eulo- 
giums on the piety and zeal of his friend. But Doddridge saw 
Whitefield chiefly, if not only, when Whitefield had preached 
away all his strength and spirits, in " the great congregations," 
and could speak only of his work and warfare. Thus he judged 
of his talents, as a Scotch minister did of his devotion, when he 
was jaded by hard labour. Posterity will now judge of both 
for themselves, — from the following specimens of both. 

Self-renunciation. " What is there so monstrously terri- 
ble in a doctrine, that is the constant subject of our prayers, 
whenever we put up that petition, ( Thy will be done on earth as 
it is in heaven ? ' The import of which seems to be this, — that 
we do every thing God wills, and nothing but what he willeth ; 
that we do those things he willeth, only because he willeth. This 
cannot, indeed, be done in a day. We have not only a new house 
to build up, but also an old one to pull down." 

Temptation. " We find our Saviour was led into the wil- 



380 



whitefield's life and times. 



derness before he entered upon his public ministry : and so must 
we too, if we would tread in his steps." 

Prayers requested. " If Pauncefort's petitions for me should 
run in this manner, I should be thankful :— That God should 
finish the good work he has begun in me ; that I may never seek 
nor be fond of worldly preferment ; but may employ every mite 
of those talents it shall please God to intrust me with, to His 
glory and the church's good ; and likewise, that the endeavours 
of my friends to revive pure religion in the world, may meet with 
proper success." 

Consecration. " I can call heaven and earth to witness, that 
when the bishop laid his hand upon me, I gave myself up a mar- 
tyr to him who hung upon the cross for me. Known unto him 
are all future events and contingencies : I have thrown myself 
blindfold, and I trust without reserve, into His almighty hands." 

First Sermon. " It was my intention to have at least a hun- 
dred sermons with which to begin my ministry : I have not a 
single one by me, except one which I sent to a neighbouring 
clergyman — to convince him how unfit I was to take upon me 
the important work of preaching. He kept it a fortnight, and 
then sent it back with a guinea for the loan ; telling me he had 
preached it morning and evening to his congregation, by divid- 
ing it." 

Reproach. " Strange, that any one should let a little re- 
proach deprive them of an eternal crown ! Lord, what is man ! 
In a short time we shall have praise enough. Heaven will echo 
with the applause given to the true followers of the Lamb." 

A Wife's Portrait. "I live in hopes of seeing you and your 
wife again (growing in grace) in England. You told me, she 
desired I would draw her picture ; but, alas ! she has applied to 
an improper limner. However, though I cannot describe what 
she is, I can tell what she ought to be : — Meek, patient, long- 
suffering, obedient in all things, not self-willed, not soon angry, 
no brawler, swift to hear, slow to speak, and ready to every good 
word and work. But I can no more ; I dare not go on in telling 
another what she ought to be, when I want so much myself ; 
only this I know, when possessed of those good qualities before- 
mentioned, she will then be as happy as her heart can wish." 



whitefield's life and times. 



381 



Miracles. " What need is there for them, now that we 
see greater miracles every day done by the power of God's 
word ? Do not the spiritually blind now see ? Are not the spi- 
ritually dead now raised, and the leprous souls now cleansed, 
and have not the poor the gospel preached unto them ? And if 
we have the thing already, which such miracles were only in- 
tended to introduce, why should we tempt God in requiring fur- 
ther signs ? He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 

Warning. " God forbid I should be called, at the great day, 

to say, that my dear Mr. put his hand to the plough and 

turned back unto perdition. Good God ! the thought strikes 
me as though a dart was shot through my liver. Return, re- 
turn. My dear friend, I cannot part from you for ever. Do not 
speak peace to your soul, when there is no peace. Do not turn 
factor for the devil. Do not prejudice or hurt my brother, and 
thereby add to the grief you have already occasioned." 

Zeal. " I love those that thunder out the word. The chris- 
tian world is in a deep sleep. Nothing but a loud voice can 
awaken them out of it." 

Zeal and Prudence. " Had we a thousand hands and tongues, 
there is employment enough for them all : people are every where 
ready to perish for lack of knowledge. As the Lord has been 
pleased to reveal his dear Son in us, oh let us stir up that gift of 
God, and with all boldness preach him to others. Freely we 
have received, freely let us give : what Christ tells us by his 
Spirit in our closets, that let us proclaim on the house-top. He 
who sends will protect us. All the devils in hell shall not hurt 
us, till we have finished our testimony. And then if we should 
seal it with imprisonment or death, well will it be with us, and 
happy shall we be evermore ! But the proof of our sincerity 
will be when we come to the trial. I fear for no one so much 
as myself." 

Impatience. " I want to leap my seventy years. I long to 
be dissolved, to be with Christ. Sometimes it arises from a fear 
of falling, knowing what a body of sin I carry about me ! Some- 
times from a prospect of future labours and sufferings, I am out 
of humour, and wish for death as Elijah did. At others, I am 
tempted, and then I long to be freed from temptations. But it 



382 



whitefield's life and times. 



is not thus always : there are times when my soul hath such 
foretastes of God, that I long more eagerly to be with him ; and 
the frequent prospect of the happiness which the spirits of just 
men made perfect now enjoy, often carries me, as it were, into 
another world." 

Bunyan. " 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." 

Blasts. " The light that has been given us, is not to be put 
under a bushel, but on a candlestick. Satan, indeed, by blasts 
of persecution, will do all he can to put it out . If our light be the 
light of Christ, those blasts will only cause it to shine the brighter." 

Friends. <e Nothing gives me more comfort, next to the 
assurance of the eternal continuance of God's love, than the pleas- 
ing reflection of having so many christian friends to watch, with 
my soul. I wish they would smite me friendly, and reprove me 
oftener than they do ; I would force my proud heart to thank 
them." 

Candour. " Success I fear elated my mind. I did not be- 
have towards you, and other ministers of Christ, with that hu- 
mility which became me. I freely confess my fault ; I own my- 
self, to be but a novice. Your charity, dear Sir, will excite you 
to pray that I may not through pride fall into the condemnation 
of the devil. Dear Sir, shall I come out into the world again 
or not ? Must I venture myself once more among firebrands, 
arrows, and death ? Methinks I hear you reply, ' Yes, if you 
come forth in the strength of the Lord God, and make mention 
of his righteousness only.' It is my desire so to do. I would 
have Jesus all in all. Like a pure crystal I would transmit all 
the light he poureth upon me." 

Humility. " If possible, Satan will make us to think more 
highly of ourselves than we ought to think. I can tell this by 
fatal experience. It is not sudden flashes of joy, but having 
the humility of Christ Jesus, that must denominate us chris- 
tians. If we hate reproof, we are so far from being true fol- 
lowers of the Lamb of God, that in the opinion of the wisest of 
men, we are brutish." 

Ingenious Fidelity. " The principles which I maintain, 



whitefield's life and times. 



383 



are purely Scriptural, and every way agreeable to the Church of 
England Articles. What I have been chiefly concerned about 
is, lest any should rest in the bare speculative knowledge, and 
not experience the power of them in their own hearts. What 
avails it, Sir, if I am a patron for the righteousness of Jesus 
Christ in behalf of another, if at the same time I am self- 
righteous myself? I am thus jealous, I trust with a godly 
jealousy, because I see so many self-deceivers among my ac- 
quaintance. There is one in particular, (whom I love, and for 
whom I most heartily pray,) who approves of my doctrine, and 
hath heard it preached many years past, but I could never hear 
him tell of his experiences, or of what God has done for his 
soul. He hath excellent good desires and intentions, but I think 
he wants something more : Lord, for thy infinite mercy's sake, 
grant he may know himself even as he is known ! I need not 

tell Mr. D who this dear friend is — you are intimately 

acquainted with him ; you love him as you do your own heart ; 
you are never out of his company. O dear Sir, be not angry. 
Methinks I hear you, by this time, making an application, and 
saying, ' Then I am the man.' True, dear Sir, I confess you 
are. But love, love for your better part, your soul, your pre- 
cious soul, this love constrains me to use this freedom. You 
are more noble than to take it ill at my hands : I could not bear 
even to suspect that you deceived yourself, dear Sir, and not 
tell you such a suspicion was in my heart. That God may 
powerfully convince you of self-righteousness, and clothe you 
with the righteousness of his dear Son ; that he may fill you 
with his grace, and thereby fit you for, and at last translate you 
to, his glory, is the hearty prayer of, 
dear Sir, 

your most obliged and affectionate friend, 

and humble servant, 

G. W." 

Catholicity. " I wish all names among the saints of God 
were swallowed up in that one of christian. I long for pro- 
fessors to leave off placing religion in saying, ' I am a church 
man,' f I am a dissenter.' My language to such is, ' Are you of 
Christ ? If so, I love you with all my heart.' " 



384 



whitefield's life and times. 



Self-Knowledge. " My heart is like Ezekiel's temple, the 
further I search into it, the greater abominations I discover ; 
but there is a fountain opened for sin and all uncleanness." 

Godly Jealousy. " There is nothing I dread more than 
having my heart drawn away by earthly objects. — When that 
time comes, it will [he over with me indeed ; I must then bid 
adieu to zeal and fervency of spirit, and in effect bid the Lord 
Jesus to depart from me. For alas, what room can there be for 
God, when a rival hath taken possession of the heart ? My 
blood runs cold at the very thought thereof. I cannot, indeed 
I cannot away with it." 

Wonder. " As for my own part, I often stand astonished 
at the riches of free distinguishing grace, and I often feel my- 
self so great a sinner, that I am tempted to think nothing can 
be blessed which comes from such unhallowed hands and lips ; 
but yet the Lord is with me, and attends his word with mighty 
power." 

Assurance. " The root of the matter is twisted round every 
faculty of the soul, which daily is supported with this assurance, 
that Christ can no more forsake the soul he loves, than he can 
forsake himself." 

Confession. " All that people do say of me, affects me but 
little ; because I know worse of myself than they can say con- 
cerning me. My heart is desperately wicked. Was God to 
leave me I should be a remarkable sinner." 

Zeal. " Nature would sometimes cry out, ' Spare thyself 
but when I am offering Jesus to poor sinners, I cannot forbear 
exerting all my powers. Oh that I had a thousand lives ; my 
dear Lord Jesus should have them all." 

Affliction. " Well may God afflict me ; I richly deserve 
it ; and when he brings me low, nothing grieves me so much, as 
to think that I should be so froward, as to oblige the God of love 
to strike me with his rod. But, oh the goodness of the Lord ! 
His rod, as well as staff, do comfort and build up my soul. I 
would not but be tried for ten thousand worlds. Blessed be God, 
I am enabled to clasp the cross, and desire to glory in nothing 
more." 

Luther. " I find Luther's observation to be true : ' Times 



whitefield's life and times. 



335 



of reformation are times of confusion as yet the churches in 
America are quiet, but I expect a sifting time ere long." 

America. " I am more and more in love with the good old 
puritans ; I am pleased at the thoughts of sitting down hereafter 
with the venerable Cotton, Norton, Elliot, and that great cloud 
of witnesses, which first crossed the western ocean for the sake 
of the gospel, and the faith once delivered to the saints. At 
present, my soul is so filled, that I can scarce proceed." 

Parliament. " Though I scarce know an oak from a hickory, 
or one kind of land from another, I am subpoenaed to appear 
before parliament, to give an account of the condition of the 
province of Georgia, when I left it." 

Assurance. " As for assurance, I cannot but think all who 
are truly converted must know that there was a time in which 
they closed with Christ : but then, as so many have died only 
with an humble hope, and have been even under doubts and 
fears, though they could not but be looked upon as christians, 
I am less positive than once I was, lest haply I should condemn 
some of God's dear children. The farther we go in the spi- 
ritual life, the more cool and rational shall we be, and yet more 
truly zealous. I speak this by experience." 

Holy Fire. " I desire that none of my wildfire may be 
mixed with the pure fire of holy zeal coming from God's altar. 
I think it my duty to wait, to go on simply in preaching the 
everlasting gospel, and I believe we shall yet see the salvation 
of God." 

/'Field Preaching. " Every one hath his* proper gift. Field 
preaching is my plan. In this I am carried as on eagles' 
wings." 

Pharisees. " I find no such enemies to the cross of Christ, 
as those who keep up the form of religion, and are orthodox in 
their notions, but are ignorant of an experimental acquaintance 
with Jesus." 

Punning. " Once in my sermon I said, ' Oh that New Eng- 
land was full of new creatures ! ' " 

Catholic Spirit. " I talk freely with the Messrs. Wes- 
ley, though we widely differ in a certain point. Most talk of 
a catholic spirit ; but it is only till they have brought people 



386 



whitefield's life and times. 



into the pale of their own church. This is downright secta- 
rianism, not Catholicism. How can I act consistently, unless I 
receive and love all the children of God, whom I esteem to he 
such, of whatever denomination they may be ? Why should we 
dispute when there is no probability of convincing ? I think 
this is not giving up the faith, but fulfilling our Lord's new 
command, e Love one another and our love is but feigned, 
unless it produces proper effects. I am persuaded, the more 
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, the more all nar- 
rowness of spirit will subside and give way : besides, so far as 
we are narrow T -spirited, we are uneasy. Prejudices, jealousies, 
and suspicions make the soul miserable, so far as they are en- 
tertained." 

Zeal. " Those who are not solidly established in the love 
of God, will fall too much in love with the outward form of their 
particular church, be it what it will. But as the love of God 
gets the ascendency, the more they will be like him and his 
holy angels, and consequently rejoice when souls are brought to 
Jesus, whatever instruments may be made use of for that pur- 
pose. If therefore some that you and I know, are too confined 
(as I believe is too much the case) ; if they do not preach more 
frequently, and abound more in good works ; I think it is for 
want of having their hearts more inflamed with the love of God, 
and their graces kept in more constant exercise. To stir up 
the gift of God that is in us, is an apostolical injunction ; and 
if we do not keep upon our watch, we shall fall into a false still- 
ness. Nature loves ease ,• and as a blind zeal often prompts us 
to speak too much, so tepidity and lukewarmness often cause us 
to speak too little. Divine wisdom alone is profitable to direct ; 
and I would be very cautious how I speak, lest I should take 
too much upon me." 

Bigotry. " Disputing with bigots and narrow-spirited people 
will not do. I intend henceforward to say less to them, and 
pray more and more to our Lord for them. < Lord, enlarge 
their hearts,' is my continual prayer for such, w T ho are so strait- 
ened in their own bowels. Blessed be God, this partition- wall 
is breaking down daily in some of our old friends' hearts in 
London. I exhort all to go where they can profit most. I 



whitefield's life and times. 



387 



preach what I believe to be the truth, and then leave it to the 
Spirit of God to make the application. When we have done 
this, I think we have gone to the utmost bounds of our com- 
mission." 

Life and Death. u ' Why are you reconciled to life ? ' Be- 
cause I can do that for Jesus on earth, which I cannot do in 
heaven : I mean, be made instrumental in bringing some poor, 
weary, heavy laden sinners to find rest in his blood and right- 
eousness ; and, indeed, if our Saviour was to offer either to take 
me now, or to stay only to take one sinner more, I would desire 
to stay to take him with me." 

Devotion. " Morning and evening retirement is certainly 
exceeding good ; but if through weakness of body, or frequency 
of preaching, I cannot go to God in my usual set times, I think 
my spirit is not in bondage. It is not for me to tell how often 
I use secret prayer ; if I did not use it, nay, if in one sense I 
did not pray without ceasing, it would be difficult for me to 
keep up that frame of soul, which by the divine blessing I 
daily enjoy. If the work of God prosper, and your hands be- 
come more full, you will then, dear Sir, know better what I 
mean. But enough of this. God knows my heart; I would do 
every thing I possibly could to satisfy all men, and give a rea- 
son of the hope that is in me with meekness and fear ; but I 
cannot satisfy all that are waiting for an occasion to find fault : 
our Lord could not ; I therefore despair of doing it." 

But a Sinner. " You are but a sinner, and Jesus died for 
sinners. Come and welcome to Jesus Christ." 

God's Work. " I have been faulty in looking too much to 
foreign help, and despising that which God had given me. 
When our Lord was to feed the multitude, he would not create 
new bread, but multiplied the loaves that were already at hand. 
* Ye need not send them away, give ye them to eat,' said he : 
so say I to my dear brethren at the Tabernacle. Work with 
the materials you have. In doing the work, God will toach 
you how to do it. Experience will grow up with the work 
itself. Thus God hath dealt with me, and so he continues to 
deal." 

Luther and Calvin. " Mr. Wesley I think is wrong in 

2 c 2 



388 



whitefield's life and times. 



some things, and Mr. Law wrong also ; yet I believe that both 
Mr. Law and Mr. Wesley, and others, with whom we do not 
agree in all things, will shine bright in glory. It is best there- 
fore for a gospel minister, simply and powerfully to preach those 
truths he has been taught of God, and to m,eddle as little as 
possible with those who are children of God, though they should 
differ in many things. This would keep the heart sweet, and at 
the same time not betray the truths of Jesus. I have tried both 
the disputing and the quiet way, and find the latter far prefer- 
able to the former. I have not given way to the Moravian 
brethren, or Mr. Wesley, or to any, whom I thought in an 
error, no not for an hour. But I think it best not to dispute, 
when there is no probability of convincing. I pray you, for 
Cnrist's sake, to take heed lest your spirit should be imbitter- 
ed, when you are speaking or writing for God. This will give 
your adversaries advantage over you, and make people think 
your passion is the effect of your principles. Since I have been 
in England this time, Calvin's example has been very much 
pressed upon me. You know how Luther abused him. As we 
are of Calvinistical principles, I trust we shall, in this respect, 
imitate Calvin's practice, and show all meekness to those who 
may oppose." 

Poverty. " How is the world mistaken about my circum- 
stances : worth nothing myself, embarrassed for others, and yet 
looked upon to flow in riches ! Our extremity is God's op- 
portunity." 

* Head and Heart. " Though principles are not to be rested 
in, yet it is a good thing to have a clear head as well as a clean 
heart. Some people make nothing of principles ; but why are 
they so zealous in propagating their own." 

Judging. " Do not think that all things the most refined 
christian in the world does, is right ; or that all principles are 
wrong, because some that hold them are too imbittered in their 
spirits. It is hard for good men, when the truths of God are 
Opposed, to keep their temper, especially at the first attack. 
Nothing but the all-conquering blood of the dear Redeemer 
can destroy the wildfire in the heart." 

Usefulness. " I have the pleasure often to go without the 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



389 



camp, and to bear a little of his sacred reproach, and I prefer it 
to all the treasures in the world. Weak as I am, my Jesus 
makes me more than conqueror through his love. He has 
brought mighty things to pass here, and gotten himself the vic- 
tory in many hearts. I trust there is not a day passes but some 
poor creature or another is plucked as a brand out of the burn- 
ing. I wish I could hear God was more in the camp." 

Persecution. " I had once the honour of being publicly ar- 
raigned, for not reading the Common Prayer in a meeting- 
house. At another time, I was taken up by a warrant for cor- 
recting a letter wherein were these words, ' Shall our clergy 
break the canons?' The prosecutions were unjust; but there is 
our glory. I remember when Socrates was about to suffer, his 
friends grieved that he suffered unjustly. What ! says he, would 
you have me suffer justly ? e If we are buffetted for our faults, 
and take it patiently,' says a greater than Socrates, ' we are not 
to glory ; but if we are reproached for Christ, and suffer as 
christians, happy are we.' I think our present sufferings . are 
for him." 

Self-Knowledge. " I know what a dreadful thing it is, to 
carry much sail without proper ballast, and to rejoice in a false 
liberty. Joy floating upon the surface of an unmortified heart, 
is but of short continuance. It puffs up, but doth not edify. I 
thank our Saviour that he is showing us here more of our hearts, 
and more of his love." 

Christ's Library. " Oh that I could lie lower ! then should I 
rise higher. Could I take deeper root downwards, then should 
I bear more fruit upwards. I want to be poor in spirit. I want 
to be meek and lowly in heart. I want to have the whole mind 
that was in Christ Jesus. Blessed be his name for what he has 
given me already. Blessed be his name, that out of his fulness 
I receive grace for grace. Oh that my heart was Christ's 
library ! I would not nave one thief to lodge in my Redeemer's 
temple. ' Lord, scourge out every thief,' is the daily language 
of my heart. The Lord will hear my prayer, and let my cry 
come unto him." 

Maxim. " When I discover a new corruption, I am as thank- 
ful as a sentinel keeping watch in a garrison, would be at spying 



390 



whitefield's life and times. 



a straggling enemy come near him. I stand not fighting with 
it myself in my own strength, but run immediately and tell the 
Captain of my salvation. By the sword of his Spirit, he soon 
destroys it, and makes me exceeding happy. This is what I call 
a simple looking to Christ. I know of no other effectual way 
of keeping the old man down, after he has gotten his deadly 
blow." 

Melancthon. " As Luther said to Melancthon, ( Nimis es 
nullus.' You are kept in bondage by a false humility. It is 
good to see ourselves poor, and exceeding vile ; but if that sight 
and feeling prevent our looking up to, and exerting ourselves 
for, our dear Saviour ; it becomes criminal, and robs the soul of 
much comfort. I can speak this by dear-bought experience. 
How often have I been kept from speaking and acting for God, 
by a sight of my own unworthiness ! but now I see that the 
more unworthy I am, the more fit to work for Jesus, because he 
will get much glory in working by such mean instruments ; and 
the more he has forgiven me, the more I ought to love and serve 
him. Fired with a sense of his unspeakable loving-kindness, I 
dare to go out and tell poor sinners that a Lamb was slain for 
them ; and that he will have mercy on sinners as such, of whom 
indeed I am chief." 

Whitefield's Tump. " I preached to about ten thousand on 
Hampton Common, at what the people now call Whitefield's 
Tump, because I preached there first. I cannot tell you what a 
solemn occasion that was. I perceive a great alteration in the 
preople since I was in these parts last. They did indeed hang 
on me to hear the word. It ran and was glorified." 

Rams' Horns. " The rams' horns are sounding about Jeri- 
cho ; surely the towering walls will at length fall down. But 
we must have patience. He that believeth, doth not make 
haste. The rams' horns must go round seven times." 

Jerusalem Sinners. " I purpose once more to attack the 
prince of darkness in Moorfields, when the holidays come. 
Many precious souls have been captivated with Christ's love in 
that wicked place. Jerusalem sinners bring most glory to the 
Redeemer." 

Orphan School. " I think I could be sold a slave to serve . 



whitefield's life and times. 



391 



at the galleys, rather than you and my dear orphan family should 
want." 

^Old Cole* " I must acquaint you of the following anecdote 
of the old Mr. Cole, a most venerable dissenting minister, whom 
I was always taught to ridicule, and (with shame I write it) used, 
when a boy, to run into his meeting-house, and cry, Old Cole ! 
old Cole ! old Cole ! Being asked once by one of his congrega- 
tion, what business I would be of ? I said, e A minister, but I 
would take care never to tell stories in the pulpit, like the old 
Cole.' About twelve years afterwards, the old man heard me 
preach in one of the churches at Gloucester ; and on my telling- 
some story to illustrate the subject I was upon, having been 
informed what I had before said, made this remark to one of his 
elders, i I find that young Whitefield can now tell stories, as 
well as old Cole.' Being affected much with my preaching, he 
was as it were become young again ; and used to say, when 
coming to and returning from Barn, 1 These are days of the Son 
of man indeed ! ' Nay, he w T as so animated, and so humbled, 
that he used to subscribe himself, my curate, and went about 
preaching after me in the country, from place to place. But one 
evening, whilst preaching, he was struck with death, and then 
asked for a chair to lean on till he concluded his sermon, when 
he was carried up-stairs and died. O blessed God ! if it be 
thy holy will, may my exit be like his ! " The Tump at Hamp- 
ton had been Cole's stand before it was called Whitefield's 
Tump. 

Party. " Those who think I want to make a party, or to 
disturb churches, do not know me. I am willing to hunt in the 
woods after sinners ; and, according to the present temper of my 
mind, could be content that the name of George Whitefield 
should die, if thereby the name of my dear Redeemer could be 
exalted. Indeed, I am amazed that he employs me at all. But 
what shall we say ? He hateth putting away, therefore I am 
not consumed. Grace, sovereign, free grace ! shall be all my 
song." 

Behind the Curtain. " Satan hath desired to have you, 
that he may sift you as wheat; but surely Jesus prays for you, 
though as it were behind the curtain." 



392 



whitefield's life and times. 



The Rod. " 0 happy rod, 

That brought me nearer to my God. 

I think I can say, it is good to bear the yoke of affliction in 
youth. It teaches one to keep silence, and weans us from a too 
great attachment to all sublunary enjoyments. I have a few 
strokes of my Father's rod from time to time, as well as you. 
But I find that his rod as well as his staff do comfort. I am a 
naughty child, and want much correction ; but he that wounds, 
heals also, and in glory we shall find, that his loving correction 
hath made us great. O glory ! It is yonder in view ; Jesus 
stands at the top of the ladder to receive us into it." 
, Colonel Gardiner. " The noble Colonel Gardiner once 
wished me i a thriving soul in a healthy body.' Or however 
it may be with the one, I earnestly pray that the other may 
prosper. Sickness is often made use of as a means, in the hands 
of an all-gracious Father, to ripen our graces and fit us for hea- 
ven. Through grace, I can say it is good for me to be sick, 
though I am afraid I am too impatient to be gone. * Well ! He 
that cometh, will come, and cannot tarry long : till then may I 
be resigned, and work the works of him that sent me whilst it 
is day, before the night cometh when no man can work." 

Resignation. " My schemes are so frequently disconcerted, 
that I would willingly put a blank into his hands, to be filled up 
just as he pleases. But this stubborn will would fain avoid 
swallowing some wholesome bitter-sweets, which the all-gracious 
Physician reaches out unto me. Nevertheless, through grace, 
the prevailing language of my heart is, ( Not my will, but thine 
be done.'" 

Candour. " Alas ! alas ! in how many things have I judged 
and acted wrong. — I have been too rash and hasty in giving 
characters, both of places and persons. Being fond of Scripture 
language, I have often used a style too apostolical, and at the same 
time I have been too bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed 
with it, and I find that I frequently wrote and spoke in my own 
spirit, when I thought I was writing and speaking by the assist- 
ance of the Spirit of God. I have likewise too much made in- 
ward impressions my rule of acting, and too soon and too ex- 



whitefield's life and times. 



393 



plicitly published what had been better kept in longer, or told 
after my death. By these things I have given some wrong 
touches to God's ark, and hurt the blessed cause I would defend, 
and also stirred up needless opposition. This has humbled me 
much since I have been on board, and made me think of a say- 
ing of Mr. Henry's, ' Joseph had more honesty than he had 
'policy, or he never would have told his dreams.' At the same 
time, I cannot but bless, and praise, and magnify that good and 
gracious God, who filled me with so much of his holy fire, and 
carried me, a poor, weak youth, through such a torrent both of 
popularity and contempt, and set so many seals to my unworthy 
ministrations. I bless him for ripening my judgment a little 
more, for giving me to see and confess, and I hope in some de- 
gree to correct and amend, some of my mistakes." 

Popularity. " It is too much for one man, to be received as 
I have been by thousands. The thoughts of it lay me low, but 
I cannot get low enough. I would willingly sink into nothing 
before the blessed Jesus, my All in All." 

Nobility. " Paul preached privately to those that were of 
reputation. This must be the way I presume of dealing with 
the nobility, who yet know not the Lord. Oh 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." 

To Dr. Doddridge. " The Moravians first divided my fa- 
mily, then my parish at Georgia, and after that the societies 
which, under God, I was an instrument of gathering. I suppose 
not less than four hundred, through their practices, have left 
the Tabernacle. But I have been forsaken otherwise. I have 
not had above a hundred to hear me, where I had twenty 
thousand ; and hundreds now assemble within a quarter of a 
mile of me, who never come to see or speak to me, though they 
must own at the great day that I was their spiritual father. 
All this I find but little enough to teach me to cease from man, 
and to wean me from that too great fondness which spiritual 
fathers are apt to have for their spiritual children. Thus blessed 
Paul was served ; thus must all expect to be treated who are of 
Paul's spirit, and are honoured with any considerable degree of 
Paul's success. But I have generally observed, that when one 
door of usefulness is shut, another opens." 



394 



whitefield's life and times. 



Samuel. " ' Surely ' (says the prophet that was sent to anoint 
one of Jesse's sons) ' the Lord's anointed is before me.' He 
guessed several times ; hut always guessed wrong, till little 
David was sent for, who was thought nothing of. And if a pro- 
phet was mistaken, when thus sent in a peculiar manner, and, 
no doubt, particularly engaged in prayer for direction, is it any 
wonder, that we should find ourselves mistaken in many things, 
even when we have been most earnest with God for guidance and 
direction ? God often guides us by disappointments." 

Secrets. " You know me too well to judge I have many 
secrets. May the secret of the Lord be with me ! and then I 
care not if there were a window in my heart, for all mankind to 
see the uprightness of my intentions." 

Maxim. " Like a pure crystal, I would transmit all the glory 
God is pleased to pour upon me, and never claim as my own 
what is his sole property." 

Angels. " As we advance in the divine life, we shall be more 
and more conformed to those ministering spirits, who, though 
waiting on us below, do always behold the face of our heavenly 
Father above." 

Luther. " How was Paul humbled and struck down before 
he was sent forth to preach the everlasting gospel ! Prayer, 
temptation, and meditation, says Luther, are necessary ingre- 
dients for a minister. If God teach us humility, it must be 
as Gideon taught the men of Succoth, by thorns." 

Blossoms. " I have always found awakening times like spring 
times ; many blossoms, but not always so much fruit." 

Popularity. " You judge right, when you say, ' It is your 
opinion, that I do not want to make a sect, or set myself at the 
head of a party.' No, let the name of Whitefield die, so that 
the cause of Jesus Christ may live. I have seen enough of po- 
pularity to be sick of it, and, did not the interest -of my blessed 
Master require my appearing, in public, the world should hear 
but little of me henceforward. But who can desert such a cause ? 
Who, for fear of a little contempt and suffering, would decline 
the service of such a Master ? Oh that the Lord J esus may thrust 
out many, many labourers into his harvest ! Surely the time 
must come, when many of the priests also shall be obedient to 
the word. I wait for thy salvation, O Lord ! " 



whitefield's life and times. 



395 



Compliment. " Luther observed, that e he was never em- 
ployed in any new thing, but he was beset with some tempta- 
tions, or visited with a fit of sickness. 5 I only wish I could bear 
it for your Ladyship ; but then your crown would not be so 
bright, nor the inward purity of your heart so great." 

Nature. " Nature is a mere Proteus, and till renewed by the 
Spirit of God, though it may shift its scene, will be only nature 
still." 

A pretty Character. " I wish the beloved physician was 
more reconciled to the cross. I am persuaded, let him say what 
he pleases, that a too great attachment to the world makes him 
reason as he does in many things. Well, — he is in good hands. 
He must either come or be dragged to the cross. That pretty- 
character of his must be crucified and slain ; and, as well as 
others, he must be content (as Mr. Gurnall expresses it) ' to 
go to heaven in a fool's coat.' " 

The King. " Lately his Majesty, seeing Lady Chesterfield 
at court with a grave gown, pleasantly asked her, c whether Mr. 
Whitefield advised her to that colour.' Oh that all were clothed 
in the bright and spotless robe of the Redeemer's righteousness ! 
How beautiful would they then appear in the sight of the King 
of kings ! " 

Self-knowledge. {t Oh 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 underfoot, than to have it in one's power to serve 
others so. This makes me fly from that which, at our first set- 
ting out, we are too apt to court. Thanks be to the Lord of all 
lords for taking any pains with ill and hell-deserving me ! I can- 
not well buy humility at too dear a rate." 

The Hollow Square. " As long as we are below, if we have 
not one thing to exercise us, we shall have another. Our trials 
will not be removed, but only changed. Sometimes troubles 
come from without, sometimes from within, and sometimes 



396 



whitefield's life and times. 



from both together. Sometimes professed enemies, and some- 
times nearest and dearest friends, are suffered to attack us. 
But Christ is the believer's hollow square ; and if we keep 
close in that, we are impregnable. Here only I find my refuge. 
Garrisoned in this, I can bid defiance to men and devils. Let 
who will thwart, desert, or overreach, whilst I am in this strong 
hold, all their efforts, joined with the prince of darkness, to dis- 
turb or molest me, are only like the throwing chaff against a 
brass wall." 

A good Soldier. " I am called forth to battle ; remember 
a poor cowardly soldier, and beg the Captain of our salvation, 
that I may have the honour to die fighting. I would have all 
my scars in my breast. Methinks, I would not be wounded 
running away, or skulking into a hiding-place. It is not for 
ministers of Christ to flee or be afraid. — And yet, alas ! — Well 
— nil desperandum Christo duci." 

Preachers. " It has long since been my judgment, that it 
would be best for many of the present preachers to have a tutor, 
and retire for a while, and be content with preaching now and 
then, till they were a little more improved. Otherwise, I 1 fear 
many who now make a temporary figure, for want of a proper 
foundation, will run themselves out of breath, will grow weary 
of the work, and leave it." 

Heaven. " Oh 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 ! Then all will appear symmetry and harmony, and 
even the most intricate and seemingly most contrary dispensa- 
tions, will be evidenced to be the result of infinite and consum- 
mate wisdom, power, and love. Above all, there the believer 
will see the infinite depths of that mystery of godliness, ' God 
manifested in the flesh and join with that blessed choir, who, 
with a restless unweariedness, are ever singing the song of Moses 
and the Lamb." 

The Scotch. " Though I preached near eighty times in 
Ireland, and God was pleased to bless his word, yet Scotland 
jseems to be a new world to me. To see the people bring so 
many Bibles, turn to every passage when I am expounding, 



whitefield's life and times. 



397 



and hang as it were upon me, to hear every word, is very en- 
couraging." 

Letters. " I must have aliquid Christi in all my letters." 

Uprightness. " I am easy, having no scheme, no design of 
supplanting or resenting, but, I trust, a single eye to promote 
the common salvation, without so much as attempting to set up 
a party for myself. This is what my soul abhors. Being thus 
minded, I have peace ; peace which the world knows nothing 
of, and which all must necessarily be strangers to, who are fond 
either of power or numbers. God be praised for the many strip- 
pings I have met with : it is good for me that I have been sup- 
planted, despised, censured, maligned, judged by, and separated 
from, my nearest, dearest friends. By this I have found the 
faithfulness of him, who is the Friend of friends ; by this I have 
been taught to wrap myself in the glorious Emmanuel's ever- 
lasting righteousness, and to be content that He, to whom all 
hearts are open, and all desires are known, now sees, and will 
let all see hereafter, the uprightness of my intentions towards 
all mankind." • 

Unbelief. " Unbelief is the womb of misery, and the grave 
of comfort. Had we faith but as a grain of mustard seed, how 
should we trample the world, the flesh, the devil, death, and 
hell under foot ! Lord, increase our faith ! I know you say, 
Amen. Even so, Lord Jesus, Amen and Amen ! " 

Policy. " Worldly wise men, serpent like, so turn and wind, 
that they have many ways to slip through and creep out at, 
which simple-hearted, single-eyed souls know nothing of, and if 
they did, could not follow after them. Honesty is. the best 
policy, and will in the end (whether we seek it or not) get the 
better of all." 

Such was the progress of Whitefield's opinions and maxims, 
during the first ten years of his ministerial life. I need not say, 
that these samples are not from his sermons. They are all spe- 
cimens of the spirited hints he was scattering over the world by 
his letters and conversation. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



WHITEFIELD REVISITING. 

It was a maxim with Whitefield to return back in a few days, 
if possible, upon new spots where his first or second sermon had 
made a visible impression. On the same principle, he often 
revisited the chief scenes of his early labours ; ei confirming the 
souls of the disciples," and confronting his enemies. In refer- 
ence to his avowed converts, he cherished much godly jealousy 
as well as brotherly love. He did not, like one of his friends, 
pretend to " know when persons are justified." " It is a lesson," 
he says, " I have not yet learnt. There are so many stony- 
ground hearers which receive the word with joy, that I have de- 
termined to suspend my judgment, till I know the tree by its 
fruits." In like manner, when he reports individual cases of 
sudden arrest under the gospel, it is common for him to say, u I 
shall wait, until we see how the physic works." 

Thus whilst he had other reasons which compelled him to 
travel and revisit much, he was also impelled by solicitude for 
the stedfastness and consistency of his widely scattered con- 
verts. He would have looked well to the state of his herds and 
flocks, (although perhaps not so well,) had he had no orphan- 
house to sustain, and no college in contemplation. Witness his 
countless letters ! What are they in general, but the overflow- 
ing of his pastoral love and watchfulness for and over the souls 
whom he deemed committed to his charge ? 

In this spirit he left Ireland to revisit Scotland in 1751, to 
talk " with the winter as well as with the summer saints." He 
landed at Irvine, where he preached before the magistrates, at 
their own request. Next day the whole city of Glasgow was 



whitefield's life and times. 



399 



moved at his coming. " Thousands attend every morning and 
evening. They seem never to be weary. I am followed more 
than ever. Scotland seems (still) to be a new world to me. To 
see the people bring so many Bibles, and turn to every passage 
as I am expounding, and hang upon me to hear every word, is 
very encouraging." He abruptly breaks off this letter to the 
Countess by saying, " I could enlarge, but am straitened. Some 
ministers wait for me." These were Mac Laitrin, Scott, Mac 
Culloch, &c. who delighted to visit him at his friend Niuen's, 
near the Cross, after the labours of the day. Mac Laurin was 
both the guardian and champion of his reputation, in public 
and private ; and therefore gave Whitefield no rest, nor himself 
either, until he cleared up all flying reports. He would get at 
the facts of the case, even if he tried his friend's patience. 
Whitefield often smiled at the Scotch scrutiny of this great and 
good man. It left no stone unturned, when there was a calumny 
to overturn, or a mistake to rectify. 

It was not, however, for this purpose chiefly that these good 
men sought his company. They admired and enjoyed his con- 
versational talents. These were sprightly, and could be hu- 
moursome ; and as he thought aloud, and had seen much of real 
life, his company was equally instructive and enlivening, espe- 
cially over his light supper. He then unbent the bow of his 
spirit, until it cooled from the friction of the burning arrows he 
shot during the day. A seat at Niven's table was then an 
honour, as well as a privilege. Gillies says truly, " One might 
challenge the sons of pleasure, with all their wit, good humour, 
and gaiety, to furnish entertainment so agreeable. At the same 
time every part of it was not more agreeable than it was useful 
and edifying." 

He was much pleased to find, while at Glasgow, that Din- 
widdie, the brother-in-law of Mac Culloch of Cambuslang, had 
been appointed governor of Virginia. This had an important 
bearing on the work Whitefield began there. He himself states it 
thus. " In that province, there has been for some years past a 
great awakening, especially in Hanover county, and the coun- 
ties adjacent. As the ministers of the establishment did not 
favour the work, and the first awakened persons put themselves 



400 



whitefield's life and times. 



under the care of the New York synod, the poor people were 
from time to time fined, and very much harassed, for not at- 
tending on the church service : and as the awakening was sup- 
posed to he hegun by the reading of my books, at the instiga- 
tion of the council a proclamation was issued out to prohibit 
itinerant preaching. However, before I left Virginia, one Mr. 
Davies (afterwards President) was licensed, and settled over a 
congregation. Since that the awakening has increased, so that 

Mr. D writes, " that one congregation is multiplied to 

seven." He desires liberty to license more houses, and to preach 
occasionally to all, as there is no minister but himself. This, 
though allowed of in England, is denied in Virginia, which 
grieves the people very much. The commissary is one of the 
council, and with the rest of his brethren, I believe no friend to 
the dissenters. The late lieutenant-governor was like-minded. 

I therefore think that Mr. D is raised up to succeed him, 

in order to befriend the church of God, and the interest of 
Christ's people. They desire no other privileges than what dis- 
senting protestants enjoy in our native country. This I am 
persuaded your brother-in-law will be glad to secure them." 

On revisiting Edinburgh, the only thing he did deplore was, 
that Mr. Wesley intended to " set up societies " in Scotland, 
upon his own plan. This he thought " imprudent ;' ? and he 
said so. He had before warned Wesley, that the Scotch did 
not want him ; that neither his sentiments nor his system would 
suit the north, even if he preached "like an angel." Wesley 
would not believe this, and tried both ; but the experiment, for 
him, was a complete failure. And it deserved to be so, so far 
as he conducted it ; for he libelled and caricatured the people. 
True ; they heard him coldly : not more so, however, than his 
own people at the Foundery would have listened to one of the 
Cambuslang Calvinists. Besides, his very resolution to avoid 
all controversial points, was, however well meant, unwise, in a 
country where he was so well known to be an Arminian. It 
created suspicion, if not disgust, when they found that he kept 
back his notorious peculiarities. The people would have listen- 
ed to them, and disputed them one by one with him, and counted 
him a " paivky chiel" had he come off with the best of the argu- 



whitefield's life and times. 



401 



ment. But he was silent, and they suspected him of blinking 
the questions at issue between them. This is the real secret 
of Wesley's failure. His very candour seemed artifice to the 
Scotch. 

So far, they misunderstood him, and thus did him injustice. 
He also misunderstood and misrepresented them. They were 
not "unfeeling multitudes," because he could not move them. 
The same multitudes had wept and rejoiced under Whitefield's 
preaching. He could bring them out on week days, as well as 
on sabbath, although Wesley found his congregation "miserably 
small," and said it verified what he had often heard, " that the 
Scotch dearly love the word of the Lord on the Lord's day." 
For, what did Whitefield's week-day congregations verify ? At 
this time, as well as formerly, he had to say, " I now preach 
twice daily to many thousands. Many of the best rank attend. 
O Edinburgh, Edinburgh, surely thou wilt never be forgotten 
by me ! The longer I stay, the more eagerly both rich and 
poor attend on the word preached. Perhaps, for near twenty- 
eight days together, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, I preached to 
near 10,000 saints every day." In like manner, when he took 
his leave at Glasgow, " numbers set out from the country, by 
two or three o'clock in the morning." 

Whitefield left Scotland in the autumn, to revisit Georgia ; 
becoming again, as he calls himself, " a floating pilgrim" In- 
deed, he was fit for nothing but floating at the time. He had 
been much reduced at Edinburgh by vomitings of blood ; and 
though his journey to London recruited him somewhat, he went 
on board the Antelope very weak. His voyage was, however, 
short and easy ; and he arrived at Georgia in good health. His 
spirit also was much cheered by the flourishing condition of the 
orphan-house, and the flattering prospect of a college, now made 
plausible by the grant of a tract of excellent land. But whilst 
enjoying all this, he heard of the death of Dr. Doddridge at 
Lisbon, and started off to his old work with new diligence. He 
says, " Dr. Doddridge I find is gone. Lord Jesus, prepare me 
to follow after ! I intend to begin ; for as yet I have done no- 
thing. Oh that I may begin in earnest. It is a new year. God 
quicken my tardy pace, and help me to do much work in a little 



402 



whitefield's life and times. 



time. This is my highest ambition." Under this impulse he 
revisited South Carolina. He durst not, however, risk the heat 
of the summer in America, and therefore he returned to England 
in the spring. 

Whilst resting for a little in London, he revised some of 
Hervey's manuscripts. This he called, on his own part, " hold- 
ing up a candle to the sun." With his usual tact, however, he 
foretold their fate. " Nothing but your scenery can screen you. 
Self will never bear to die, though slain in so genteel a man- 
ner, without showing some resentment against its artful mur- 
derer." But reviewing did not suit him : he rose up from his 
desk, exclaiming, " Oh that I could fly from pole to pole, pub- 
lishing the everlasting gospel ! " Even the transfer of Georgia 
from trustees into the hands of government, at this time, and 
all the prospects which the change opened for the colony, could 
not detain him in London. 

He was invited to revisit Ireland ; but as it was for the pur- 
pose of organizing the Calvinistic methodists, he refused. " I 
hate to head a party. It is absolutely inconsistent with my 
other business to take upon me the care of societies in various 
parts." He, therefore, revisited Bristol, where he preached 
nine times in four days, to congregations almost equal in num- 
bers to his Moorflelds audiences. " Old times revived again. 
Much good was done. The last evening it rained a little, but 
none moved. I was wet, and contracted a cold and hoarseness ; 
but I trust preaching will cure me again." It did. In the 
course of the next fortnight, he preached twenty times, and tra- 
velled three hundred miles on horseback, in Wales. He also 
attended an association, at which nine clergymen, and nearly 
forty other labourers, were present. His interview with these 
brethren was inspiring as well as refreshing to him. t( All was 
harmony and love." He left them, more resolved than ever, to 
" expose the wine and milk of the gospel to sale," and to ex- 
postulate with sinners to " come down to the price, and be willing 
to be saved by grace." 

On his return to London he wrote, amongst many other let- 
ters, one to Dr. Franklin. Franklin, as well as Hume, admired 
him ; and for much the same reason, — his genius and power as 



whitefield's life and times. 



403 



an orator. They cared about equally little for the grand Truth 
which fired his eloquence, and made him wise to win souls. It 
is painful to state this, but it is only too true. Franklin was, 
indeed, friendly to the moral and philanthropic tendency of 
Whitefield's doctrine, and had abandoned the rabid infidelity 
of Shaftesbury and Collins : but still, all the Christianity he put 
into his own epitaph, was only the hope of a resurrection ; and 
all he put into his confession, a few weeks before his death, in 
answer to President Stiles, was, that he had doubts as to the 
divinity of J esus of Nazareth, and thought his system of reli- 
gion, although the best, not free from " various corrupting 
changes." In this opinion, he claimed kindred with most of 
the dissenters in England ! To the credit of Dr. Priestley, he 
contradicted Franklin, and set the Americans right on this 
point. 

Whitefield tried to set Franklin right upon a more important 
point ; that divine change of heart, without which no man can 
enter heaven. "I find," he says, "that you grow more and 
more famous in the learned world. As you have made a pretty 
considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity, I would 
now humbly recommend to your diligent, unprejudiced pursuit 
and study, the mystery of the new birth. It is a most impor- 
tant and interesting study, and when mastered will richly an- 
swer and repay you for all your pains. One at whose bar we 
are shortly to appear, hath solemnly declared that without it we 
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You will excuse this 
freedom. I must have aliquid Christi in all my letters. I am 
yet a willing pilgrim for his great name's sake." This honest 
letter ought to have delighted the philosopher in his closet, even 
more than the eulogium he heard whilst standing behind the 
bar of the House of Lords, when Chatham said of him, e< Frank- 
lin is one whom Europe holds in high estimation, for his know- 
ledge and wisdom ; one who is an honour, not to the English 
nation only, but to human nature." 

The American Biographical Dictionary has done all it 
honestly could, to rescue the memory of this great patriot from 
the charge of being " friendly to infidelity." It quotes an in- 
stance in which he rebuked a youth, who was treating religion 

2 d 2 



404 



whitefield's life and times. 



as a vulgar prejudice, and who had appealed to him for coun- 
tenance. Franklin said emphatically, " Young man, it is best 
to believe." Hume once said to La Roche, " Oh that I had 
never doubted." Such expressions prove nothing, but the sus- 
picions of the sceptical. Besides, there could have been no re- 
ligious tone about Franklin, if a raw witling could thus have 
dared to appeal to him against religion. 

The most ingenious vindication of him I have ever seen, is 
in the sketch of his history in the American National Portrait 
Gallery : — " With such a life as Franklin led, we should, per- 
haps, offer an injury to religion, in supposing him, as some have 
done, an enemy to its prevalence, or a stranger to its benign in- 
fluence." This is plausible, but hollow. His life in Paris will 
not sustain the argument. True ; he said there, that his suc- 
cess as a negociator would have convinced him of the being 
and government of a Deity, had he ever before been an atheist. 
Equally true it is, however, that, as a philosopher, he was often 
the companion of both atheists and infidels. Besides, what was 
he upon his death-bed ? The best said of him then is, " that 
he was afraid he did not bear his pains as he ought," and was 
grateful for the many blessings he had received from the Su- 
preme Being, who had raised him from " a humble origin to such 
consideration among men." In a word, he was not so unchris- 
tian in his creed as unitarians : he only doubted, what they deny, 
the divinity of the Saviour. 

Franklin died in 1790. Whitefield's letter to him was in 
1752. Their acquaintanceship seems to have commenced when 
the claims of the orphan-house were first pleaded in Philadel- 
phia. Then Franklin, although he approved of the object, re- 
fused to contribute to it, when applied to in private, because he 
disapproved of the situation. He went to hear Whitefield, 
therefore, resolved to give nothing. He had, however, in his 
pocket, a handful of copper, three or four dollars, and five pis- 
toles in gold. As the sermon began to kindle, Franklin began 
to soften, and was willing to give the copper. The next stroke 
won the silver ; and the finishing stroke was so admirable, he 
says, " that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish 
— gold and all." This is a good story ; but he tells a still bet- 



whitefield's life and times. 



405 



ter one of his friend Hopkinson. He had gone empty-handed, 
that he might be sure to give nothing. But he was melted too, 
and tried to borrow money of a quaker. The quaker's answer 
was, " At any other time, friend, I would lend thee freely : but 
not now ; for thee seems to me to be out of thy right senses." 
This is unlike a quaker ! And it was unlike a christian, for 
Franklin to say, " The request was fortunately made to perhaps 
the only man in the company, who had the firmness not to be 
affected by the preacher." 

It is no pleasure to me to write thus. Franklin was White- 
field's friend, and the friend of liberty and humanity ; but his 
half -homage to Christianity should be rejected by her friends. 
She needs not the compliments of almost christians. Indeed, 
they only tend to prevent inquirers from becoming altogether 
like Paul. It is all very well, when infidelity is to be put down, 
to appeal to the great cloud of scientific, philosophical, and poet- 
ical witnesses, who have complimented Revelation ; but when 
Christianity is to be enforced, it is worse than useless to appeal 
to great names who only believed the half of it. What minister 
would tell young men, that they might safely stop at the points 
where such doubters as Franklin stood still ? Not any " able 
minister of the New Testament." Let Unitarianism take (and 
welcome !) all the philosophers and poets she can prove to have 
been Arians. 

With what satisfaction the mind turns from such men, to fol- 
low Whitefield to Lutterworth, where he was drawn by the 
magnetic memory of Wycliffe, on his way from London to visit 
Scotland again ! There, a protestant is at home. The interest 
of this hallowed spot was, if possible, enhanced to Whitefield — 
at least he was prepared to enjoy it — by meeting on the way to 
it one of Doddridge's students, who had been converted at 
Olney, four years before, from a u bitter scoffer," to be a young 
evangelist. He felt this to be a call to " go forward " in his 
work. He did ; and preached " twice in the famous Wycliffe's 
parish " with such effect, that, before he reached Scotland, he 
received a letter, informing him that he had won souls in the 
reformer's parish. How enviable his associations with Lutter- 
worth ! My own were sadly disturbed, when I passed througli 



406 



whitefield's life and times 



it. I had watched the morning-star from the window of the 
mail, as it lingered and smiled over the tower of the church ; 
and had pleased myself all night long with the hope of being 
able to " drink of the brook 55 into which WyclifFe's ashes were 
thrown. The guard, however, would not allow me to run down 
the hill, whilst the horses were changing. I was more than 
mortified ; but he was inexorable. When, lo, he discovered 
that one of the fresh horses wanted a shoe ; and there was no 
other horse in the stable. " Call the blacksmith," he cried in 
thunder. Off I ran that moment, down the hill, rejoicing in the 
accident. I leaped the hedge, and reached the brook. Alas, 
it was covered with yeasty scum from the dye-houses, or manu- 
factories, upon its banks. I could not drink ! It was then only 
three o'clock in the morning. I tasted the water, however, by 
laving up a handful where the slime was least offensive. My 
reader will pardon this digression, when he remembers old Ful- 
ler's climax. This brook conveyed the ashes of WyclifFe into 
the Avon ; the Avon into the Severn ; and the Severn into the 
main sea ; and thus the reformer's ashes became emblems of his 
doctrine, which shall spread from the rivers to the ends of the 
earth. 

Whitefield's associations were less sublime at Leicester. He 
had turnips thrown at him, whilst preaching his first sermon. 
At his second, however, " all was hushed," and he " heard 
afterwards that good was done." Then he revisited Newcas- 
tle ; and there he was, " as it were, arrested to stay." Accord- 
ingly, he preached four times, and " a whole shower of blessings 
descended from heaven on the great congregation." This led 
to a second arrest, and the shower was repeated. I use his own 
strong language concerning Leicester and Newcastle, because 
he afterwards told Lady Huntingdon that he had received 
" brave news " from both places. 

These arrests by the way, made him due in Scotland. His 
invitations to revisit Edinburgh and Glasgow, had been very 
strong ; and he was nothing loth to comply. " I love state too 
well, especially in Scotland, not to take it upon me as often as 
possible," by mounting " my despised throne." There is truth 
as well as playfulness in this confession. Whitefield did love a 



whitefield's life and times. 



407 



little state now and then ; — who does not ? Edinburgh was his 
throne, and coronets graced it. None of these things, however, 
estranged or diverted him from humbler spheres, or lessened 
his interest in " men of low estate." Accordingly, his letters 
to the Countess at this time, whilst they report briefly the 
"abundance of the better sort," who came out to hear him 
twice a day, in common with the multitude, dwell chiefly upon 
the case of a poor highland schoolmaster, who had been very 
useful amongst the young Gaels ; and upon the claims of a poor 
student, who had not the means of finishing his ministerial edu- 
cation. In none of his letters at this time, is there any refer- 
ence to the personal honours paid to him, although they were 
neither few nor small. What he mentions with most compla- 
cency, is, an account he had received of " a dozen young men, 
that were awakened " under his ministry, " ten years ago," and 
who were now useful preachers. This was emphatically good 
news to Whitefield ; for although he was not far-sighted, he 
saw clearly all the bearings of his own favourite maxim, that 
"every student's name is legion ;" "catching him is catching 
thousands ; helping him, helping many." 

This maxim (in a better form) deserves the consideration 
and adoption of both ministers and wealthy christians. Who 
can calculate how many souls have been won, or what trains of 
good have been set in perpetual motion, by the young men, 
whom the Thorntons, and especially the Simeons and Wilsons, 
of England, the Haldanes of Scotland, and the Bethunes of 
America, took by the hand, and sustained at college ? The re- 
flection of that good is already bright upon " the sea of glass 
before the throne," and it will increase in space and splendour 
there until the end of time, and then " shine as the stars for 
ever and ever." Go thou, and do likewise ! Or if unable to 
bear the entire expense of a student, unite some of your friends 
with you. In like manner, each of the voluntary churches in 
large towns should sustain a young evangelist. I have tried 
the experiment, and my little flock have always come to my 
help. 

To the poor student who applied to him for advice, White*- 
field wrote, " God willing, I shall not bo unmindful of you." 



408 



whitefield's life and times. 



Like myself, he had neither silver nor gold enough of his own ; 
but he had friends, and he pleaded the case with them. He seems 
also, whilst in Edinburgh, at this time, to have aimed much to 
catch students ; many of whom from the classes, as well as from 
the divinity hall, came daily to hear him. This was the case at 
Glasgow, when he revisited it. There, indeed, his audiences 
were even greater than at Edinburgh. 

An event had occurred at the General Assembly this year, 
which called forth Whitefield's characteristic vein of humour. 
The assembly had deposed Gillespie, the founder of the Relief 
Presbytery. " I wish Mr. Gillespie joy," he said : " the pope 
is turned jiresbyierian. How blind is Satan ! "What does he 
get by casting out Christ's servants ? I expect great good will 
come out of these confusions. Mr. Gillespie will do more good 
in a week now, than before in a year." Yi hitefield's jokes are 
not two-edged swords, which cut both ways at once : but if his 
sarcasm against the Secession cut deep, this one against the 
Kirk cut deeper. The Babel story, and the Babylon story, 
therefore, if told at all again, should be told together, in justice 
to Whitefield's impartiality. Both, however, had better be 
dropped, when the Assembly and the Synod contend at all. 

On leaving Scotland, Whitefield revisited several of his old 
stations in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire, in a state of 
mind so heavenly and absorbed, that he scarcely knew at times, 
he says, " whether he had been in heaven or on earth." During 
three weeks of such preaching, he " never had more encourage- 
ment, since the Lord of the harvest sent him out. A gale of 
divine influence every where attended it." This does not rest 
on his own testimony only. His Leeds friends brought him 
back from Sheffield again, " to make hay while the sun shone." 

It was now November : but the weather was e: uncommonly 
favourable ;" and, therefore, he thought it " a pity to go into 
winter quarters, whilst work could be done in the fields." He 
was, however, driven in soon by rain and sickness. He expect- 
ed death in the coach, between Northampton and London. 
When he reached home, he found his wife had almost as much 
need of a nurse as himself. Next day, however, he set himself 
to reconsider the claims of Ireland, and again refused to go over 



whitefield's life and times. 



409 



to head a party. In a few days, also, he resumed his corre- 
spondence with Hervey ; and in a week, he was absorbed with 
the affairs of Georgia ; writing now a short letter to a manager 
of the orphan-house, and anon a long one to " dear Nat" one 
of the orphans. By December, he was " longing to range York- 
shire again, and to revisit Leeds." Night nor day, he could not 
forget the scenes he witnessed there, although he was now hear- 
ing " every day of fresh awakenings " in the Tabernacle. 

At this time, Charles Wesley consulted him on a delicate 
subject — separation from John; some of whose measures he 
could not fall in with. His letter I have never seen. It em- 
barrassed Whitefield. He knew not what to say. Something, 
however, rendered it necessary for him to say, that he thought 
John " still jealous " of him and his proceedings. But lest this 
should injure John with Charles, he said also, " The connexion 
between you and your brother hath been so close, — and your 
attachment to him so necessary to keep up his interest, — that I 
would not willingly, for the world, do or say any thing that may 
separate such friends. I have seen an end of all perfection! 
More might be said were we face to face." Wesley was some-y 
what jealous of Whitefield at this time. A new Tabernacle was 
now on the carpet ; and for a long time the nobility had smiled 
on Whitefield. Wesley felt this. He could have taken their 
smiles more coolly than Whitefield ; but he could not sustain 
their neglect philosophically. It was, however, the contrast, not 
the loss, that mortified him. 

When Whitefield agreed to the plan of a new Tabernacle, 
he resolved, he says, "on the principle that burnt children 
dread the fire, not to begin till he had £1000 in hand, and 
then to contract at a certain sum for the whole." His 
fingers had been burnt at Bethesda ; and he told his friends so. 
They took the hint, and soon raised upwards of £900 ; and by 
the time the foundation-stone was laid, the contributions amount- 
ed to £1100. Whitefield himself laid the stone, 1st March, 
1753, on the old spot, and preached from Exod. xx. 24. 

To the credit of the Wesleys, his kind but honest letter to 
Charles not only prevented their rupture, but also led to a loan 
of their Spitalfields' chapel, when the old Tabernacle was pulled 



410 



whitefield's life and times. 



down. Whitefield returned this compliment, by remonstrating 
with one of his preachers against giving offence or creating 
jealousies amongst the friends of Wesley. 

When the time of the year came, that he could sing, " Lo, the 
winter is past," he quitted winter quarters. " The time of the 
singing of birds and the voice of the turtle in the land," called 
forth his voice too. He revisited Norwich for a few days in 
April. He says, that he " triumphed there in spite of all oppo- 
sition." What the opposition was I do not know. One part of 
the triumph Whitefield did not know on earth. The late Ful- 
ler of Kettering was wont to tell the following anecdote, which 
he had from the lips of the person. A young man who had gone 
out in the morning on a frolic, with a party of his companions, 
would have his fortune told by a gipsy they met. She predict- 
ed for him a good old age, and lots of children and grandchil- 
dren. He believed the prophecy, and resolved to store his 
mind with such knowledge as would make young folks like an 
old man. " Let me see," he said, " what I can acquire first ? 
O, here is the famous methodist preacher, Whitefield ; he is to 
preach to-night, they say ; I will go and hear him." From these 
strange motives, he really went to hear. The sermon was on 
John's appeal to the Sadducees and Pharisees, to " flee from the 
wrath to come." "Whitefield," said he, "described the Saddu- 
cean character : but that did not touch me. Then the Phari^ 
saic : that shook me a little. At length he abruptly broke off 
— then burst into a flood of tears — then lifting up his hands, 
he cried with a loud voice, O my hearers ! the wrath is to come 
— the wrath is to come ! These words sunk into my heart like 
lead in the waters. I wept. I went alone. These words fol- 
lowed me wherever I went. For days and weeks I could think 
of little else but the awful words, f The wrath is to come — is to 
come.' " Fuller said, the young man became " a considerable 
preacher." 

Whitefield's work and reward during his revisits in 1753, were 
much as usual for him ; — like that of nobody else. I can scarcely 
believe my own eyes, as I read the distances, dates, and numbers 
of his audiences, in his memoranda ; connected as these are 
with frequent and even startling attacks of sickness. If he had 



whitefield's life and times. 



411 



not eagle's wings, his strength was certainly renewed like the 
eagle's, even in a physical sense. 

Having opened the new Tabernacle, and preached in it for a 
short time, (" weeping in secret," however, to get back to York- 
shire,) he set out again for the north. Some of his Leeds con- 
verts met him by the way, to hurry him off from Sheffield. 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 " converted to God, and ready 
to welcome him under their roof. He became their guest. 
Rotherham had signalized itself by hostility to Whitefield. 
Both his person and character had been assailed there ; and by 
none more than the late Thorpe of Masborough, then a young 
man. He was in the habit of meeting his boon companions in 
the alehouse, to mimic Whitefield, and turn religion into mock- 
ery. One evening Thorpe and three others laid a wager, which 
of them could imitate him in the highest style, at an off-hand 
sermon, from the first text which should turn up on opening 
the Bible. The buffoonery of the three soon failed, and Thorpe 
sprung on the table, saying, " I shall beat you all hollow." The 
Bible was handed to him. He opened it at random. His eye 
fell on the words, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
perish." He uttered them without fear or hesitation. But that 
moment his conscience smote him. It burst into flames. It 
compelled him to preach repentance to himself and all the club. 
He went on in spite of himself, until his own hair stood on end 
with horror, and all the bacchanals were blanched with terror. 
Not a word was said of the wager when he came down. He 
walked out in awful silence. Soon after this he joined the 
Wesleyans, and was sent out by Wesley himself as a preacher, 
who wisely stationed him at Rotherham. He afterwards became 
an independent. 

When Whitefield arrived at Leeds, he found that neither 
reports, nor his own hopes of his past success, were exaggerated. 
Twenty thousand assembled to hear him on the sabbath, and 
many fruits of his former ministry were presented to him. Such 
was his elevation of soul now, that he saw nothing impossible. 



412 



WHITEFIELD'S LIFE AND TIMES. 



which it was proper to attempt by the preaching of the gospel ; 
for even York could not resist the fascination of his field preach- 
ing. The methodist thinned out the Minster, and overawed 
the mob. Indeed, so great was his success at this time in York- 
shire, that he exceedingly regretted his engagement to visit 
Scotland. He had heard that " poor Scotland was dead" again, 
notwithstanding the power of the revivals ; and, therefore, he 
was afraid to breathe a cold atmosphere, now that he was on fire 
amidst " a people full of fire," and enjoying " perpetual Cam- 
buslang seasons." He kept his promise, however ; and found 
Scotland not so dead as it was reported. Both the rich and the 
poor thronged to hear him twice every day at Edinburgh. 
" Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came round like bees, 
importuning him to stay another week." It was the same at 
Glasgow. There, the owner of the play-house was made so un- 
easy by a sermon against theatrical amusements, that he pulled 
the roof off the building, to put an end to them so far as he was 
concerned. This was laid hold of by Whitefield's enemies, and 
held up as the act of his mobs. He says, " The devil owed me 
a grudge for speaking against the play-house." That grudge 
appeared in the following form, in the Newcastle J ournal : " We 
are informed, that Mr. Whitefield, the itinerant, being at Glas- 
gow, and preaching near the play-house lately built, influenced 
the mob so much against it, that they ran directly from before 
him, and pulled it down to the ground. Several of the rioters 
are since taken up, and committed to gaol." This was all a lie. 
The " lately built " house was only a temporary booth, supported 
by the old walls of the bishop's palace ; — a strange spot, it will 
be said, for a theatre. Perhaps not, in Scotland ! I recollect, 
however, to feel it more than strange at Chester, to find that 
part of the abbey had been turned into a theatre ! I shrunk 
from the desecration, notwithstanding all my Scotch prejudices. 

Whitefield came back upon York and Leeds, on leaving Scot- 
land; and again what he saw and felt " was inexpressible." 
The parting at Leeds was so overpowering, that he did not re- 
cover the shock for some time. At Haworth also, they had a 
sacrament at which thirty-jive bottles of wine were used. What 
a day for good Grimshaw ! I say good ; for with all his eccen- 



whitefield's life and times. 



413 



tricities, he was a noble-minded man. He made the wilderness 
blossom as the rose around him. And God did not forget his 
labours of love. His prodigal son was restored to him in heaven. 
This young man was reclaimed ; and said on his death-bed, 
" What will my father say, when he sees me in heaven ? " 

Altogether, this was, perhaps, Whitefield's most successful 
campaign in England, although I am unable to illustrate it by 
a detail of facts. In the space of three months, he travelled 
about " twelve hundred miles, and preached a hundred and 
eighty sermons, to many, very many thousands of souls." 

" The partings " in Yorkshire, he says, " nearly killed me." 
He does not write thus, except when parting from those he 
hoped to meet in heaven. Whenever he speaks strongly of suc- 
cess, I have found that he had strong reasons. Ordinary suc- 
cess never inflames nor inflates his language. 

Having rested a few days in London, he started again, to make 
the most of the autumn, whilst it lasted. He went first into 
Northamptonshire, where " a new scene of usefulness opened " 
to him. It was the season of their feasts in that county. He 
says, in his own off-hand style, " If I mistake not, some of their 
feasting was spoiled." He did not mistake. I once saw a ve- 
nerable patriarch there, sitting smoking his evening pipe under 
a hoary sycamore, who remembered having seen Whitefield at 
this time. He had no recollection of the sermon ; but his eye 
brightened, when he told me, how the people made him and the 
other boys keep quiet. My friend, George Bennet, Esq. the 
missionary traveller, will recollect this scene under the sycamore 
tree, near Long Buckbey. We must, however, have loved the 
-'old man, even if he had not seen Whitefield ; for, like Simeon, 
he had seen Jesus. 

On leaving Northamptonshire, Whitefield revisited Birming- 
ham ; and there " souls fled to the gospel like doves to their 
windows." At Gornall, (a place I have already described,) he 
heard of " a whole company," who had been " awakened by 
reading his sermons." But conversions were not his only reward 
in this quarter. Many aged believers blessed him. One said 
to him, " I was comforted when you were here last, and now I 
can go more cheerful to heaven." Another, who had been long 



414 



whitefield's life and times. 



a pilgrim, said, on first hearing him, " Why, this is just the old 
story of fifty-five years ago." Upon the whole, he was much 
cheered by his success in Staffordshire. He would not, however, 
give his judgment upon it, until he came, as he expresses it, " to 
cross-plough the ground again." 

He now went into Cheshire, where his " way was prepared " 
by the usefulness which had sprung from his books. Accord- 
ingly, at Chester a great concourse, together with some of the 
clergy, attended ; and the most " noted rebel in the town " was 
so alarmed under the sermon, that he could not sleep night or 
day for some time afterwards. At Wrexham, however, and at 
Nantwich, he was stoned whilst preaching ; but, providentially, 
he " got off pretty free," although some of his friends were 
" much pelted." " I met," he says, " with a little rough treat- 
ment " (he calls it apostolic treatment in one letter) ; "but what 
have pilgrims to expect better in the wilderness." He found 
better at Liverpool. There another convert, won by his printed 
sermons, met him on landing, and took him home, and convened 
great numbers to hear him. 

It was now November, and he returned to London ; but not 
for winter quarters. In a few days, he was in his " native coun- 
ty," at the house of a "nineteen years' friend," one of the al- 
dermen of Gloucester. That house, he says, was made a Bethel 
to him ; and never before had he such " freedom " in preaching 
to his townsmen. Altogether, this new freedom was " so pleas- 
ant " to him, that he resolved to take Gloucestershire again on 
his way home. On his arrival in Bristol, he found his usual 
welcome, and what surprised him more — that not a few of " the 
quality, and one of Caesar's household, wished to hear him at his 
brother's great house." He preached to them twice. On the 
sabbath following, he opened the new Tabernacle at Bristol. 
" It is large," he says, " but not half large enough. Would the 
place contain them, I believe as many would attend as in London." 

It was now cold weather ; but he was unwilling to return to 
his metropolitan nest. " Winter quarters ! " — he says, " the 
word ivinter almost shocks me." He, therefore, went into 
Somersetshire. How much he enjoyed this detention from 
London, and the work that detained him, let the following fine 



whitefield's life and times. 



415 



memorial tell : " At seven in the evening I preached in the 
open air, to a great multitude. All was hushed, and exceeding- 
ly solemn. The stars shone exceedingly bright. Then, if ever, 
I saw by the eye of faith, Him who calleth them all by their 
names. My soul was filled with a holy ambition, and I longed 
to be one of those, who shall shine as the stars for ever and 
ever. My hands and my body were cold ; but what are out- 
ward things, when the soul within is warmed by the love of 
God. Oh that I may die in the field." The scene of this apos- 
trophe I once visited. The air was equally cold — the stars 
equally bright — all nature the same ; but there was no White- 
field! I had only fifty persons to preach to. However, my 
"soul within" was not cold. 

Whilst thus reluctant to give in, Whitefield heard of the ill- 
ness of Wesley, and forgot every thing but his dying friend, 
The disease was said to be " galloping consumption," and he 
threw up all his engagements, and hastened to London. He 
also wrote to both brothers, before he could set out. To " poor 
Mr. Charles," he wrote thus : " The Lord help and support you. 
A wife, a friend, a brother, all ill together ! Well, this is our 
comfort — all things shall work together for good i to them that 
love God. May a double spirit of the ascending Elijah descend 
and rest upon the surviving Elisha ! To-morrow I leave Bristol." 

The letter from which these lines are transcribed, enclosed 
one to Wesley himself, written, as Whitefield says, out of the 
fulness of his heart. " The news and prospect of your ap- 
proaching dissolution hath quite weighed me down. I pity my- 
self and the church ; — but not you. A radiant throne awaits 
you, and ere long you will enter into your Master's joy. Yon- 
der He stands with a massy crown, ready to put on your head, 
amidst an admiring throng of saints and angels. But I — poor 
I, who have been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen 
years, must be left behind to ' grovel here below.' Well, this 
is my comfort — it cannot be long until the chariots will be sent 
even for worthless me. If prayers can detain you — even you 
shall not leave us yet. But if the decree is gone forth, that you 
must now fall asleep in J esus — may He kiss your soul away, and 
give you to die in the embraces of triumphant love. If in the 



416 



whitefield's life and times. 



land of the living, I hope to pay my last respects to yon next 
week. If not — farewell ! My heart is too big. Tears trickle 
down too fast. And I fear you are too weak for me to enlarge. 
May underneath you be Christ's everlasting arms. I commend 
you to his never-failing mercy, and am your most affectionate, 
sympathizing, and afflicted younger brother in the gospel." 
Well might, and well did, Wesley say, in his funeral sermon 
for Whitefield, " He had a heart susceptible of the most 
generous and the most tender friendship : I have frequently 
thought, that this, of all others, was the distinguishing part of 
his character." Funeral Sermon. 

Whilst Wesley continued in danger, Whitefield remained in 
almost agonizing suspense ; " praying and inquiring, inquiring 
and praying again, and always dreading to hear the worst." It 
was, however, his friend's usefulness to the church and the 
world, which made him thus solicitous ; for when he heard that 
his lungs were injured, he said to Lady Huntingdon, " I cannot 
wish him to survive his usefulness. It is poor living to be 
nursed." At this time a storm of persecution broke upon some 
quarter of his vineyard, and an appeal was made to his sympa- 
thy by the sufferers. He did sympathize with them ; but told 
them, " should the present illness of dear Mr. Wesley issue in 
his death, that will be a storm of a far more threatening na- 
ture." Happily for the world and the church, Wesley was 
spared nearly forty years longer. 

Whitefield was cheered in his winter quarters this year, by 
the visit of his friends Tennent and Davies of America, who 
had come over to collect for the college of New Jersey. He 
entered with all his soul into their object, and threw all his in- 
fluence upon their side. He also obtained, in prospect of his 
return to Georgia, " twenty-two prizes" as he calls the orphans, 
whom he had selected to go with him. He then prepared to sail. 
The next chapter contains his own account of Lisbon ; and is 
worthy of deep notice at this time, whilst popery is softened by one 
class of politicians, and libelled (if that be possible) by another. 

It is curious, that living popery made Whitefield forget, 
during his visit, dead Doddridge, at Lisbon : at least, I have 
found no letter yet that shows any visit to his tomb. 



CHAPTER XX. 



WHITEFIELD IN LISBON. 

1754. 

" The following letters were written about a twelvemonth ago, 
and are now sent into the world at the earnest desire of many. 
If an infinitely condescending God shall vouchsafe to bless the 
perusal of them, to excite in any, either at home or abroad, a 
more obediential and zealous thankfulness for the civil and reli- 
gious liberties we enjoy ; or make them any way instrumental in 
stirring up my fellow-protestants and dear countrymen to exert 
themselves more vigorously, at this critical juncture, against 
those who, if conquerors, would quickly rob us of those inva- 
luable blessings, I shall not repent that the publication of them 
was consented to by, courteous reader, thy willing servant, for 
Christ's sake, G. W. 

" By this time, I suppose, you have heard of my having been 
at Lisbon, and are wondering what led me thither, especially 
since my last informed you of my intention to go to Georgia by 
way of New York. This was really my design at the time of 
my writing ; but being afterward called by Providence to take 
with me several orphan children, I thought it most advisable to 
go and settle them, and my other domestic affairs, at the orphan- 
house first ; that I might visit the northern parts of America 
with more ease and freedom in my own mind. — It happened that 
the Success, Captain Thompson, bound for Port Royal, Soutli 
Carolina, (which is not very far from Georgia,) was then almost 
ready to sail. I sent for the owner, and finding that the ship 
was to touch at Lisbon to unload some wheat, it occasioned a 
little demur ; but, upon second thoughts, believing it might be 
serviceable to me, as a preacher and protestant, to sec something 



418 



whitefield's life and times. 



of the superstitions of trie church of Rome, I took my passage 
and embarked in the Success the 7th of March. On the 14th 
we reached Cape Finisterre ; on the 15th came in sight of the 
Burlings ; and on the 16th anchored safe before Bellem, about 
four miles distant from Lisbon city, the metropolis of Portugal. 
As I knew nobody there, and had formed but an indifferent idea 
of the inhabitants, from the account that had been given me of 
them, I had purposed within myself to keep on board, and go 
ashore only now and then in the day-time. But Providence so 
ordered it, that a gentleman of the factory, who had heard me 
himself, and whose brother had been awakened under my mi- 
nistry several years ago, immediately, upon hearing of my ar- 
rival, sent me an offer of his house during my stay. I thank- 
fully accepted it ; and special leave being procured for my going 
ashore, I was carried in a chaise and pair from Bellem to Lis- 
bon. A new scene, both in respect to the situation of the place, 
the fashion of the- buildings, and the dress of the inhabitants, 
presented itself all the way. But what engaged my attention 
most, was the frequency of crucifixes and little images of the 
Virgin Mary, and other real or reputed saints, which were placed 
almost in every street, or fixed against the walls of the houses 
almost at every turning, with lamps hanging before them. To 
these I observed the people bow as they passed along ; and near 
some of them stood several little companies, singing with great 
earnestness. This seemed to me very odd, and gave me an idea 
of what further ecclesiastical curiosities would probably fall in 
my way, if I should be detained any time here. These expecta- 
tions were quickly raised ; for, not long after my arrival at my 
new lodgings, (where I was received and entertained with great 
gentility, hospitality, and friendliness,) upon looking out of the 
window, I saw a company of priests and friars bearing lighted 
wax tapers, and attended by various sorts of people, some of 
which had bags and baskets of victuals in their hands, and 
others carried provisions upon their shoulders on sticks between 
two. After these followed a mixed multitude, singing with a 
very audible voice, and addressing the Virgin Mary in their 
usual strain, ' Or a pro nobis* In this manner they proceeded 
to the prison, where all was deposited for the use of the poor 



whitefield's life and times. 419 

persons confined therein. But a far more pompous procession 
of the like nature (as a stander-by informed me) passed by a few 
days after. In this there were near three hundred Franciscan 
friars, many of which (besides porters hired for the purpose) 
were loaded with a variety of food ; and those who bore no bur- 
den, carried either ladles or spoons in their hands. Sights of 
this nature being quite a novelty to me, I was fond of attending 
as many of them as I could. Two things concurred to make 
them more frequent at this juncture, viz. the season of Lent, 
and an excessive drought, which threatened the total destruc- 
tion of the fruits of the earth. For the averting so great a judg- 
ment, and for the imploring the much-longed-for blessing of 
rain, daily processions had been made from one convent or an- 
other for a considerable time. One of these I saw. It was 
looked upon as a pretty grand one, being made up of the Car- 
melite friars, the parish priests, and a great number of what they 
call the brothers of the order, who walked two by two in divers 
habits, holding a long and very large lighted wax taper in their 
right hands. Amidst these was carried, upon eight or ten men's 
shoulders, a tall image of the Virgin Mary, in a kind of man's 
attire ; for I think she had a very fine white wig on her head, 
(a dress she often appears in,) and was much adorned with jewels 
and glittering stones. At some distance from the lady, under a 
large canopy of state, and supported likewise by six or eight 
persons, came a priest, holding in his hand some noted relic. 
After him followed several thousands of people, joining with the 
friars in singing, ' Eandem cantilenam, ora pro nobis/ all the 
way. Still rain was denied, and still processions were con- 
tinued. At length the clouds began to gather, and the mercury 
in the barometer fell very much. Then was brought out a 
wooden image, which they say never failed. It was the figure 
of our blessed Lord, clothed with purple robes, and crowned with 
thorns. I think they call him the Lord of the passion. Upon 
his shoulders he bore a large cross, under the weight of which 
he was represented as stooping, till his body bent almost double. 
He was brought from the Le Grass convent in very great pomp, 
and placed in a large cathedral church. Being on board at that 
time, I lost this sight ; but, the subsequent evening, I beheld the 

2 e 2 



420 



whitefield's life and times. 



Seigneur fixed on an eminence in a large cathedral church, near 
the altar, surrounded with wax tapers of a prodigious size. He 
was attended by many noblemen, and thousands of spectators 
of all ranks and stations, who crowded from every quarter, and, 
in their turns, were admitted by the guards to come within the 
rails and perform their devotions. This they expressed by 
kneeling, and kissing the Seigneur's heel, by putting their left 
and right eye to it, and then touching it with their beads, which 
a gentleman in waiting received from them, and then returned 
again. This scene was repeated for three days successively | 
and, during all this time, the church and space before it was so 
thronged with carriages and people, that there was scarce any 
passing. The music on this occasion was extremely soft, and 
the church was illuminated in a very striking manner. The 
third day in the forenoon it rained, and soon after the Seigneur 
was conducted home in as great splendour, and much greater 
rejoicing, than when he was brought forth. As my situation 
was very commodious, I saw the whole ; and afterwards went and 
heard part of the sermon, which was delivered before him in the 
church to which the Seigneur belonged. The preacher was full 
of action ; and in some part of his discourse, (as one who under- 
stood Portuguese informed me,) pointing to the image, he said, 
' Now he is at rest. He went out in justice, but is returned in 
mercy.' And towards the conclusion, he called upon the people 
to join with him in an extempore prayer. This they did with 
great fervency, which was expressed not only by repeating it 
aloud, but by beating their breasts, and clapping their cheeks, 
and weeping heartily. To complete the solemnity, immediately 
after the delivery of the blessing, all on a sudden, from the place 
near which the image stood, there was heard a most soft and 
soothing symphony of music ; which being ended, the assembly 
broke up, and I returned to my lodgings, not a little affected to 
see so many thousands led away from the simplicity of the gos- 
pel, by such a mixture of human artifice and blind superstition, 
of which indeed I could have formed no idea, had I not been an 
eye-witness of it myself. This concern was still increased by 
what I heard from some of my fellow -passengers, who informed 
me, that about eleven one night, after I came aboard, they not 



whitefield's life and times. 



421 



only heard a friar preaching most fervently before the Seigneur, 
but also saw several companies of penitents brought in, lashing 
and whipping themselves severely. How little unlike this to 
those who cut themselves with knives and lancets, and cried out 
from morning till night, f O Baal, hear us ! ' Methinks I hear 
you say, And, had I been present, I should have wished for the 
spirit of an Elijah to — Hush, my friend — I am content to guess 
at the rest till we meet. In the mean while, let us comfort our- 
selves with this thought, that there is a season approaching, 
when the Lord God of Elijah will himself come, and destroy 
this and every other species of antichrist, ( by the breath of his 
mouth, and the brightness of his appearing,' even by the all- 
conquering manifestations of his eternal Spirit. Whether as 
men, christians, and protestants, we have not more and more 
reason to pray, night and day, for the hastening on of that glo- 
rious and long wished-for period, you will be better able to judge, 
when I send you (as I purpose to do, if I have time) a further 
account of a Lent procession or two, of which I was also a spec- 
tator. At present I can only beg a continual remembrance at a 

throne of grace, as being, my dear friend, . 

" Though some other business demands my attention, yet I 
must not forget the promise made you of a further account of 
the processions I saw at Lisbon. Some of those already men- 
tioned were extraordinary, by reason of the great drought ; but 
that which is to be the subject of my present letter was an an- 
nual one ; it being always customary at Lisbon to exhibit some 
procession or another every Friday in Lent. An intelligent 
protestant who stood near me, was so good as to be my inter- 
preter of the dumb show as it passed along — I say dumb show 
— for you must know it was chiefly made up of waxen or wooden 
images, and carried on men's shoulders through the streets, in- 
tending to represent the life and death of St. Francis, the found- 
er of one of their religious orders. They were brought out 
from the Franciscan convent, and were preceded by three per- 
sons in scarlet habits with baskets in their hands, in which 
they received the alms of the spectators, for the benefit of the 
poor prisoners. After these came two little boys in parti- 
coloured clothes, with wings fixed on their shoulders, in imita- 



422 



whitefield's life and times. 



tion of little angels. Then appeared the figure of St. Francis, 
very gay and beau-like, as he used to be before his conversion. 
In the next, he was introduced under conviction, and conse- 
quently stripped of his finery. Soon after this was exhibited an 
image of our blessed Lord himself, in a purple gown with long 
black hair, with St. Francis lying before him, to receive his im- 
mediate orders. Then came the Virgin Mother, (horresco re- 
fer ens J with Christ her Son at her left hand, and St. Francis 
making his obeisance to both. Here, if I remember aright, he 
made his first appearance in his friar's habit with his hair cut 
short, but not as yet shaved in the crown of his head. After a 
little space followed a mitred cardinal gaudily attired, and be- 
fore him lay St. Francis almost prostrate, in order to be con- 
firmed in his office. Soon after this he appears quite metamor- 
phosed into a monk, his crown shorn, his habit black, and his 
loins girt with a knotted cord. Here he prays to our Saviour 
hanging on a cross, that the marks of the wounds in his hands, 
feet, and side, might be impressed on the same parts of his 
body. The prayer is granted ; blood comes from the hands, 
feet, and side, and the saint with great devotion receives the 
impressions. This was represented by red waxen strings, reach- 
ing from those parts of the image to the corresponding parts of 
St. Francis's body. Upon this he begins to do wonders ; and 
therefore in^a little while he was carried along, holding up a 
house which was just falling. This miracle they say was per- 
formed (if my information be true) at Madrid, but the parti- 
culars of its history I have forgotten. At length the father 
dies, and is brought forth lying in his grave. But lo ! the 
briers and nettles under which he lay are turned into fine and 
fragrant flowers. After this he is borne along upon a bier 
covered with a silver pall, and four friars lamenting over him. 
He then appears for the last time, but with an increase of power ; 
for he was represented as drawing tormented people out of pur- 
gatory with his knotted cord, which, as you may well imagine, 
the poor souls catched at and took hold of very eagerly. At 
length came a gorgeous friar under a splendid canopy, bearing 
in his hand a piece of the holy cross. After him followed two 
more little winged boys, and then a long train of fat and well- 



whitefield's life and times. 



423 



favoured Franciscans, with their calceis fenestratis, as Erasmus 
calls them ; and so the procession ended. Methinks I hear you 
say, It is full time. And so say I — for as the sight itself dis- 
gusted me, so I am persuaded the bare narration of it, though 
ever so short, cannot be very pleasant to you, who I know abhor 
every thing that savours of superstition and idolatry. We will 
therefore take our leave of St. Francis, whose procession was in 
the day-time ; but I must tell you it is only to inform you of 
another of a much more awful and shocking nature, which I 
saw afterwards by night. It was about ten o'clock, when being 
deeply engaged in conversation with my kind host, in came an 
Englishman, and told me in all haste, that he had seen a train 
of near two hundred penitents passing along, and that in all pro- 
bability I might be gratified with the same sight, if I hastened 
to a place whither he would conduct me. I very readily obeyed 
the summons, and, as curiosity quickened my pace, we soon 
came up with some of those poor creatures, who were then making 
a halt, and kneeling in the street, whilst a friar from a high 
cross, with an image of our Lord crucified in his hand, was 
preaching to them and the populace, with great vehemence. 
Sermon being ended, the penitents who had already been preach- 
ed to, went forwards, and several companies followed after with 
their respective preaching friars at their head bearing crucifixes. 
These they pointed to and brandished frequently, and the 
hearers as frequently beat their breasts and clapped their cheeks. 
At proper pauses they stopped and prayed ; and one of them, 
more zealous than the rest, before the king's palace, sounded 
out the word penitenlia through a speaking trumpet. The peni- 
tents themselves were clothed and covered all over with white 
linen vestments, only holes were made for their eyes to peep 
out at. All were barefooted, and all had long heavy chains 
fastened to their ancles, which, when dragged along the street, 
made a dismal rattling : but though alike in dress, yet in other 
respects there was great variety amongst them ; for some car- 
ried great stones on their backs, and others dead men's bones 
and sculls in their hands. Some bore large and seemingly very 
heavy crosses upon their shoulders, whilst others had their 
arms extended quite wide, or carried a bow full of swords with 



424 



whitefield's life and times. 



the points downwards. Most of them whipped and lashed them- 
selves, some with cords, and others with flat bits of iron. It 
being a moonshine night I could see them quite well ; and, in- 
deed, some of them struck so hard that I perceived that their 
backs (left bare on purpose to be slashed) were quite red, and 
swollen very much by the violence and repetition of the blows. 
Had my dear friend been there, he would have joined with me 
in saying, that the whole scene was horrible — so horrible, that, 
being informed it was to be continued till morning, I was glad 
to return from whence I came, about midnight. Had you been 
with me, I know you would have joined in praising and grate- 
fully adoring the Lord of all lords, not only for the great won- 
der of the Reformation, but also for that glorious deliverance 
wrought out for us in stopping of our late unnatural rebellion. 
Oh with what a mighty Spirit and power from on high, must 
Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Zuinglius, and those glorious Re- 
formers, be necessarily endued, who dared first openly to oppose 
and stem such a torrent of superstition and spiritual tyranny ! — 
And what gratitude owe we to him, who, under God, was instru- 
mental in saving us from the return of such spiritual slavery, 
and such blind obedience to a papal power ! To have had a 
cardinal for our king — a cardinal, if not born, yet from his in- 
fancy nursed up, at Rome — a cardinal, one of whose sons is ad- 
vanced to the same ecclesiastical dignity, and both under the 
strongest obligations to support the interest of that church 
whose superstitions, as well as political state principles, they 
have sucked in and imbibed even from their infancy. But, 
blessed be God, the snare is broken, and we are delivered. Oh 
for protestant practices to be added to protestant principles ! 
Oh for an obediential acknowledgment to the ever blessed God 
for our repeated deliverances ! But alas ! pardon me, my dear 
friend, I stop to weep — adieu — I cannot enlarge, but leaving you 
to guess from what source my tears flow, I must hasten to sub- 
scribe myself, . 

" Providence still detains us at Lisbon, and therefore I know 
you will be inquiring what more news from thence ? Truly, as 
extraordinary as ever — for I have now seen the solemnities of a 
Holy Thursday, which is a very high day in this metropolis, 



whitefield's life and times. 



425 



and particularly remarkable for the grand illuminations of the 
churches, and the king's washing twelve poor men's feet. — 
Through the interest of a friend I got admittance into the gal- 
lery where the ceremony was performed. It was large, and 
hung with tapestry ; one piece of which represented the humble 
Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Before this, upon a 
small eminence, sat twelve men in black. At the upper end, 
and several other parts of the gallery, were sideboards with gold 
and silver large basons and ewers most curiously wrought ; and' 
near these a large table covered with a variety of dishes, all 
cold, set off and garnished after the Portuguese fashion. Public 
high mass being over, his Majesty came in attended with his 
nobles, who seemed to me to look like so many Roman senators. 
The very act of washing the feet I did not get in time enough 
to see ; but that being ended, several of the young noblemen 
served up the dishes to the king's brother * and uncles ; these 
again handed them to his Majesty, who gave (I think) twelve of 
them in all to each poor man. Every thing was carried on with 
a great deal of decency and good humour. The young noble- 
men served very cheerfully, their seniors looked quite pleased, 
and the king and his royal relations behaved in a very polite, 
easy manner. Upon the whole, though, as you may easily guess, 
it was not an exact copy of the tapestry, yet as the poor men's 
clothes and food, when sold, came to about ten moidores, and as 
there was little mixture of superstition in it, I cannot say but I 
was as well pleased with my morning's entertainment as with 
any thing I had met with since my arrival. I believe the whole 
took up near two hours. After dinner we went to see the 
churches, but the magnificence and sumptuousness of the furni- 
ture, on this occasion, cannot well be expressed. Many of them 
were hung with purple damask trimmed with gold. In one of 
them there was a solid silver altar of several yards circum- 
ference, and near twelve steps high ; and in another a gold one, 
still more magnificent, of about the same dimensions. Its basis 
was studded with many precious stones, and near the top were 
placed silver images in representation of angels. Each step 
was filled with large silver candlesticks, with wax tapers in 
them, which, going up by a regular ascent till they formed them- 



426 



whitefield's life and times. 



selves into a pyramid, made a most glittering and splendid 
blaze. The great altars also of the other churches were illu- 
minated most profusely, and silver pots of artificial flowers with 
a large wax taper between each, were fixed all round several of 
them. Between these were large paintings in black and white, 
representing the different parts of our Saviour's passion. And, 
in short, all was so magnificently, so superstitiously grand, that 
I am persuaded several thousands of pounds would not defray 
the expenses of this one day. Go which way you would, no- 
thing was to be seen but illuminations within and hurry with- 
out. For all persons, the crowned heads themselves not ex- 
cepted, are obliged on this day to visit seven churches or altars, 
in imitation, as is supposed, of our Lord's being hurried from 
one tribunal to another before he was condemned to be hung 
upon the cross. I saw the queen pass by in great state to visit 
three of them. Velvet cushions were carried before her Ma- 
jesty, and boards laid along the streets for herself and retinue 
to walk upon. Guards attended before and behind, and thou- 
sands of spectators stood on each side to gaze at them as they 
passed along. Being desirous of seeing the manner of their en- 
trance, we got into the last church before they came. It was 
that of St. Domingo, where was the gold altar before mentioned, 
and at which her Majesty and train knelt about a quarter of an 
hour. All the while the Dominican friars sung most sur- 
prisingly sweet. But as I stood near the altar over against the 
great door, I must confess my very inmost soul was struck with 
a secret horror, when, upon looking up, I saw over the front of 
the great window of the church the heads of many hundred 
Jews, painted on canvass, who had been condemned (by what 
they call the Holy Inquisition) and carried out from that church 
to be burnt. Strange way this of compelling people to come 
in ! Such was not thy method, O meek and compassionate 
Lamb of God ! Thou earnest not to destroy men's lives, but 
to save them. But bigotry is as cruel as the grave. It knows 
no remorse. From all its bitter and dire effects, good Lord, de- 
liver us. But to return to the queen — having performed her 
devotions she departed, and went in a coach of state, I believe, 
directly from the church to her palace, and without doubt sufn- 



whitefield's life and times. 



427 



ciently fatigued. For, besides walking through the streets to 
the several churches, her Majesty also, and the princesses, had 
been engaged in waiting upon and washing the feet of twelve 
poor women, in as public a manner as the king. In our walk 
home we met his Majesty with his brother and two uncles, 
attended only with a few noblemen in black velvet, and a few 
guards without halberts. I suppose he was returning from his 
last church, and, as one may well imagine, equally fatigued with 
his royal consort and daughters. When church and state thus 
combine to be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to supersti- 
tion, is it any wonder that its credit and influence is so diffusive 
among the populace ? O Britain ! Britain ! hadst thou but zeal 
proportionable to thy knowledge, and inward purity adequate 
to the simplicity of thy external worship, in what a happy and 
god-like situation wouldst thou be ! Here I could weep again. 
Again I leave you to guess the cause ; and if I can send you one 
more letter of a like nature, before we leave this place, it is all 

you must expect from, . 

" After the news sent you in my last, I thought our Lisbon 
correspondence would entirely have been put a stop to. For 
upon returning to my lodgings, (as weary, I believe, as others 
that had been running from church to church all day,) word was 
sent me, that our ship would certainly sail next morning. This 
news, I own, was not altogether agreeable to me, because I wanted 
to see the conclusion of the Lent solemnities. However, I made 
ready ; and having despatched my private affairs the over-night, 
was conducted very early in the morning, by my kind host, 
down to Bellem, where the ship lay. We parted. The wind 
promised to be fair ; but dying away, I very eagerly went ashore 
once more. But how was the scene changed ! Before, all used 
to be noise and hurry : now, all was hushed and shut up in the 
most awful and profound silence. No clock or bell had been 
heard since yesterday noon, and scarce a person was to be seen 
in the street all the way to Lisbon. About two in the afternoon 
we got to the place where (I had heard some days ago) an ex- 
traordinary scene was to be exhibited. Can you guess what it 
was 1 Perhaps not. Why, then, I will tell you. ' It was the 
crucifixion of the Son of God, represented partly by dumb im- 



428 



whitefield's life and times. 



ages, and partly by living persons, in a large church belonging 
to the convent of St. De Beato.' Several thousands crowded 
into it ; some of which, as I was told, had been waiting there 
ever since six in the morning. Through the kind interposition 
and assistance of a protestant or two, I was not only admitted 
into the church, but was very commodiously situated to view 
the whole performance. We had not waited long before the 
curtain was drawn up. Immediately, upon a high scaffold, hung 
in the front with black baize, and behind with silk purple dam- 
ask laced with gold, was exhibited to our view an image of the 
Lord J esus at full length, crowned with thorns, and nailed on a 
cross, between two figures of like dimensions, representing the 
two thieves. At a little distance, on the right hand, was placed 
an image of the Virgin Mary, in plain long ruffles, and a kind 
of widow-weeds. Her veil was purple silk, and she had a wire 
glory round her head. At the foot of the cross lay, in a mourn- 
ful, pensive posture, a living man, dressed in woman's clothes, 
who personated Mary Magdalene ; and not far off stood a young 
man, in imitation of the beloved disciple. He was dressed in a 
loose green silk vesture, and bob-wig. His eyes were fixed on 
the cross, and his two hands a little extended. On each side, 
near the front of the stage, stood two sentinels in buff, with 
formidable caps and long beards ; and directly in the front stood 
another yet more formidable, with a large target in his hand. 
We may suppose him to be the Roman centurion. To complete 
the scene, from behind the purple hangings came out about 
twenty little purple-vested winged boys, two by two, each bear- 
ing a lighted wax taper in his hand, and a crimson and gold cap 
on his head. At their entrance upon the stage they gently 
bowed their heads to the spectators, then kneeled and made 
obeisance^ first to the image on the cross, and then to that of 
the Virgin Mary. When risen, they bowed to each other, and 
then took their respective places over against one another, on 
steps assigned for them at the front of the stage. Opposite to 
this, at a few yards' distance, stood a black friar, in a pulpit hung 
in mourning. For a while he paused, and then, breaking si- 
lence, gradually lifted up his voice, till it was extended to a 
pretty high pitch, though, I think, scarce high enough for so 



wiiitefield's life and times. 



429 



large an auditory. After he had proceeded in his discourse 
about a quarter of an hour, a confused noise was heard near the 
front great door ; and, upon turning my head, I saw four long- 
bearded men, two of which carried a ladder on their shoulders, 
and after them followed two more with large gilt dishes in their 
hands, full of linen, spices, &c. These (as I imagined) were 
the representatives of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. 
On a signal given from the pulpit, they advanced towards the 
steps of the scaffold. But upon their very first attempting to 
mount it, at the watchful centurion's nod, the observant soldiers 
made a pass at them, and presented the points of their javelins 
directly to their breasts. They are repulsed. Upon this a let- 
ter from Pilate is produced. The centurion reads it, shakes his 
head, and, with looks that bespoke a forced compliance, beckons 
to the sentinels to withdraw their arms. Leave being thus ob- 
tained, they ascend ; and having paid their homage, by kneeling 
first to the image on the cross, and then to the Virgin Mary, 
they retired to the back of the stage. Still the preacher con- 
tinued declaiming, or rather (as was said) explaining the mourn- 
ful scene. Magdalene persists in wringing her hands, and vari- 
ously expressing her personated sorrow ; whilst John (seemingly 
regardless of all besides) stood gazing on the crucified figure. 
By this time it was near three o'clock, and therefore proper for 
the scene to begin to close. The ladders are ascended, the 
superscription and crown of thorns taken off, long white rollers 
put round the arms of the image, and then the nails knocked 
out which fastened the hands and feet. Here Mary Magdalene 
looks most languishing, and John, if possible, stands more thun- 
der-struck than before. The orator lifts up his voice, and al- 
most all the hearers expressed concern by weeping, beating their 
breasts, and smiting their cheeks. At length the body is gently 
let down. Magdalene eyes it, and, gradually rising, receives the 
feet into her wide-spread handkerchief ; whilst John, (who 
hitherto stood motionless like a statue,) as the body came nearer 
the ground, with an^eagerness that bespoke the intense affection 
of a sympathizing friend, runs towards the cross, seizes the upper 
part of it into his clasping arms, and, with his disguised fellow- 
mourner, helps to bear it away. And here the play should end, 



430 



whitefield's life and times. 



was I not afraid you would be angry with me if I did not give 
you an account of the last act, by telling you what became of the 
corpse after it was taken down. Great preparations were made 
for its interment. It was wrapped in linen, and spices, &c. and 
being laid upon a bier richly hung, was afterwards carried round 
the churchyard in grand procession. The image of the Virgin 
Mary was chief mourner, and John and Magdalene, with a whole 
troop of friars with wax tapers in their hands, followed after. 
Determined to see the whole, I waited its return ; and in about 
a quarter of an hour the corpse was brought in, and deposited 
in an open sepulchre prepared for the purpose ; but not before 
a priest, accompanied by several of the same order in splendid 
vestments, had perfumed it with incense, sung to and kneeled 
before it. John and Magdalene attended the obsequies ; but the 
image of the Virgin Mary was carried away and placed upon the 
front of the stage, in order to be kissed, adored, and worshipped 
by the people. This I saw them do with the utmost eagerness 
and reverence. And thus ended this Good Friday's tragi- 
comical, superstitious, idolatrous droll. A droll which, whilst 
I saw, as well as now whilst I am describing it, excited in me a 
high indignation. Surely, thought I, whilst attending on such 
a scene of mock devotion, if ever, now is the dear Lord Jesus 
crucified afresh ; and I could then, and even now, think of no 
other plea for the poor beguiled devotees, than that which suf- 
fering Innocence put up himself for his enemies, when actually 
hanging upon the cross, viz. i Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do.' There was but one thing wanting to 
raise one's resentment to the highest pitch, and that was for 
one of the soldiers to have pierced the side of the image upon 
the cross. This, in all probability, you have heard hath actually 
been done in other places, and, with a little more art, might, I 
think, have been performed here. Doubtless it would have 
afforded the preacher as good, if not a better, opportunity of 
working upon the passions of his auditory, than the taking down 
the superscription and the crown of thorns, and wiping the head 
with a blooded cloth, and afterwards exposing it to the view of 
the people ; all which I saw done before the body was let down. 
But alas ! my dear friend, how mean is that eloquence, and how 



whitefield's life and times. 



431 



entirely destitute of the demonstration of the Spirit, and of a 
divine power, must that oratory necessarily be, that stands in 
need of such a train of superstitious pageantry to render it im- 
pressive ! Think you, my dear friend, that the apostle Paul 
used or needed any such artifices to excite the passions of the 
people of Galatia, amongst whom, as he himself informs us, 
e Jesus Christ was crucified, and evidently set forth ? ' But thus 
it is, and thus it will be, when simplicity and spirituality are 
banished from our religious offices, and artifice and idolatry 
seated in their room. I am well aware that the Romanists deny 
the charge of idolatry ; but after having seen what I have seen 
this day, as well as at sundry other times since my arrival here, 
I cannot help thinking but a person must be capable of making 
more than metaphysical distinctions, and deal in very abstract 
ideas indeed, fairly to evade the charge. If ' weighed in the 
balances of the sanctuary,' I am positive the scale must turn on 
the protestant side. But such a balance these poor people are 
not permitted to make use of ! Doth not your heart bleed for 
them ? Mine doth, I am sure ; and I believe would do so more 
and more, was I to stay longer, and see what they call their hal- 
lelujah and grand devotions on Easter day. But that scene is 
denied me. The wind is fair, and I must away. Follow me 
with your prayers, and believe me to be, ." 



CHAPTER XXI. 



WHITEFIELD AND THE LONDON MORAVIANS. 



Although Whitefield derived neither the good nor the evil 
from the Moravians that Wesley did, his personal history would 
be incomplete, and his Times would lack a slight feature of 
their true character, were I to pass over his connexion with that 
singular people, — then so ill represented, in some respects, in 
London. It is, however, with great reluctance I touch the sub- 
ject. I am dissolving (so far) a charm, which has often soothed 
and cheered me, when I have been soured or saddened by looking 
too closely at human nature. Oh, what have the tyrants of con- 
science to answer for ! Truly " oppression makes a wise man 
mad." Had the first quakers been free to follow the Lamb by 
the lamp of the New Testament, and to reject "Roman can- 
dles," they and their posterity might have been as useful to the 
church as they have been to the world. In like manner, had 
the Bohemian church not been deprived of Huss and Jerome, 
nor denounced for reading WyclhTe, the descendants of her 
martyrs might have had no startling singularities of sentiment 
or ceremony. The Moravians were drawn into both, because 
their fathers were driven into unnatural and trying positions, 
which inevitably created fancies, and called forth rhapsodies. 

Time, happily, has so pruned both the wild luxuriance and 
the worldly policy of Moravianism, that it is almost impossible 
to believe now, that Molther ever taught the doctrines, or 
Nitschmann ever sung the hymns, or ZinzendorfF ever sanction- 
ed the practices in London, which Whitefield and Wesley ex- 
posed. These things, however, ought not to be forgotten. Their 
memory is the safeguard against their recurrence. It is wanted 



whitefield's life and times. 



433 



too as ballast, by the Moravian church ; just as all churches 
need to remember the blots upon their escutcheon. Dr. Southey 
says, " few religious communities may look back upon their his- 
tory with so much satisfaction as the united brethren." This 
is true of their general history ; but it is equally true that their 
vagaries in London did them no credit. These first alarmed, 
and then alienated, both Watts and Doddridge, as well as White- 
field and Wesley. Doddridge was right too in supposing, that 
" they produced the same sentiments in the archbishop of Can- 
terbury." Potter could forgive much to a people whom he re- 
cognised as an " apostolical and episcopal church but he seems 
to have doubted eventually, whether ZinzendorfF was elected 
their bishop, " plaudente toto ccelesli clwro." At least his arms 
were not so "open" to him as at first. And it was well for the 
Moravians, that good men both took and sounded an alarm, 
from the exposures made by Rimius. It taught them, as Dr. 
Southey well says, " to correct their perilous error in time ;" 
and since, " they have continued not merely to live without re- 
proach, but to enjoy in a greater degree than any other sect, the 
general good opinion of every other religious community." Both 
Wesley and Whitefield contributed not a little to this improve- 
ment by the influence they had over Ingham, Dellamotte, and 
Gambold, and by their writings. The manner in which White- 
field dealt with the subject will be best seen in his own letter to 
ZinzendorfF. 

He remonstrated thus with the Count, as the lord advocate 
of the unitas fratrum. " For these many years past I have 
been a silent, and I trust I can say, an impartial, observer of the 
progress and effects of Moravianism, both in England and Ame- 
rica ; but such shocking things have been lately brought to our 
ears, and offences have swelled to such an enormous bulk, that 
a real regard for my king and my country, and, if I am not 
greatly mistaken, a disinterested love for the ever-blessed 
J esus, that King of kings, and the church which he hath pur- 
chased with his own blood, will not suffer me to be silent any 
longer. 

" Pardon me, therefore, my Lord, if at length, though with great 
regret, as the Searcher of hearts knows, I am constrained to in- 

2 F 



434 



whitefield's life and times. 



form your Lordship, that you, together with some of your lead- 
ing brethren, have been unhappily instrumental in misguiding 
many real, simple, honest-hearted christians ; of distressing, if 
not totally ruining, numerous families ; and introducing a whole 
farrago of superstitious, not to say idolatrous, fopperies into the 
English nation. 

" For my own part, my Lord, notwithstanding the folio that 
was published (I presume under your Lordship's direction) 
about three years ago, I am as much at a loss as ever, to know 
what were the principles and usages of the ancient Moravian 
church ; but if she was originally attired in the same garb, in 
which she hath appeared of late amongst many true-hearted, 
though deluded protestants, she is not that simple, apostolical 
church the English brethren were made to believe about twelve 
years ago. Sure I am, that we can find no traces of many of 
her present practices in the yet more ancient, I mean the primi- 
tive churches, and which we all know were really under an im- 
mediate and truly apostolical inspection. 

" Will your Lordship be pleased to give me leave to descend 
to a few particulars ? Pray, my Lord, what instances have we 
of the first christians walking round the graves of their deceased 
friends on Easter-day, attended with hautboys, trumpets, French 
horns, violins, and other kinds of musical instruments ? Or 
where have we the least mention made of pictures of parti- 
cular persons being brought into the first christian assemblies, 
and of candles being placed behind them, in order to give a 
transparent view of the figures ? Where was it ever known, 
that the picture of the apostle Paul, representing him handing 
a gentleman and lady up to the side of Jesus Christ, was ever 
introduced into the primitive love-feasts ? 

" Or do we ever hear, my Lord, of incense, or something like it, 
being burnt for Paul, in order to perfume the room before he 
made his entrance among the brethren ? Or can it be supposed 
that he, who, together with Barnabas, so eagerly repelled the 
Lycaonians, when they brought oxen and garlands, in order to 
sacrifice unto them, would ever have suffered such things to be 
done for him, without expressing his abhorrence and detestation 
of them ? And yet your Lordship knows both these have been 



whitefield's life and times. 



435 



done for you, and suffered by you, without your having shown, 
as far as I can hear, the least dislike. 

" Again, my Lord, I beg leave to inquire, whether we hear any 
thing in Scripture of elderesses or deaconesses of the apos- 
tolical churches seating themselves before a table, covered with 
artificial flowers, and against that a little altar surrounded with 
wax tapers, on which stood a cross, composed either of mock or 
real diamonds, or other glittering stones ? And yet your Lord- 
ship must be sensible this was done in Fetter Lane chapel, for 
Mrs. Hannah Nitschman, the present general elderess of your 
congregation, with this addition, that all the sisters were seat- 
ed, clothed in white, and with German caps ; the organ also 
illuminated with three pyramids of wax tapers, each of which 
was tied with a red riband ; and over the head of the general 
elderess, was placed her own picture, and over that (horresco 
referensj the picture of the Son of God. A goodly sight, this, 
my Lord, for a company of English protestants to behold ! 
Alas ! to "what a long series of childish and superstitious devo- 
tions, and unscriptural impositions, must they have been ha- 
bituated, before they could sit silent and tame spectators of 
such an antichristian scene. Surely, had Gideon, though but 
an Old Testament saint, been present, he would have risen and 
pulled down this, as he formerly did his father's altar. Or had 
even that meek man Moses been there, I cannot help thinking, 
but he would have addressed your Lordship, partly at least, in 
the words with which he addressed his brother Aaron, ' What 
did this people unto thee, that thou hast introduced such super- 
stitious customs among them ? ' 

" A like scene to this was exhibited by the single brethren, in 
a room of their house at Hatton Garden. One of them, who 
helped to furnish it, gave me the following account. The floor 
was covered with sand and moss, and in the middle of it was 
paved a star of different coloured pebbles, upon that was placed 
a gilded dove, which spouted water out of its mouth into a ves- 
sel prepared for its reception, which was curiously decked with 
artificial leaves and flags ; the room was hung with moss and 
shells. The Count, his son, and son-in-law, in honour of whom 
all this was done, with Mrs. Hannah Nitschman, and Mr. Peter 

2 f 2 



436 



whitefield's life and times. 



Boehler, and some other labourers, were present. These were 
seated under an alcove, supported by columns made of paste- 
board, and over their heads was painted an oval, in imitation of 
marble, containing the ciphers of Count Zinzendorff's family. 
Upon a side table, was a little altar covered with shells, and on 
each side of the altar was a bloody heart, out of or near which 
proceeded flames. The room was illuminated with wax tapers, 
and musicians placed in an adjacent apartment, while the com- 
pany performed their devotions, and regaled themselves with 
sweetmeats, coifee, tea, and wine. After this the labourers de- 
parted, and the single brethren were admitted in. I am told, 
that most, if not all, of these leading persons were present also 
at the celebration of Mrs. Hannah Nitschman's birth-day. 

" But this is not all ; I have another question to propose to 
your Lordship. Pray, my Lord, did any of the apostles or 
leaders of the primitive churches, ever usurp an authority, not 
only over people's consciences, but their properties also ? Or 
draw in the members of their respective congregations to dis- 
pose of whole patrimonies at once, or to be bound for thousands 
of pounds more than they well knew they were worth ? And 
yet your Lordship knows this has been done again and again, in 
order to serve the purposes of the brethren for several years 
last past ; and that too, at, or very near the time, when, in order 
to procure an act in their favour to go abroad, (which now ap- 
pears to be rather a scheme to settle at home,) they boasted to 
an English parliament, how immensely rich they were. 

" Your Lordship cannot but be sensible, that at this present 
time you stand indebted to sundry persons to the value of forty 
thousand pounds sterling ; and unless some of your brethren 
had agreed to stay six years for about twenty thousand pounds, 
due to them ; (though after the expiration of that term, as they 
have no security, in all probability they will be just where they 
are now ;) and if the other creditors also, upon consideration of 
some bonds given, and mortgages made for principal and in- 
terest, had not agreed to stay four years, for twenty-one thou- 
sand pounds more, many of the English brethren, who, out of I 
know not what kind of infatuation, have not only given their all, 
but have been bound for thousands more than they are able to 



whitefield's life and times. 



437 



pay, must either have immediately become bankrupts, and 
thereby the creditors perhaps not have had a shilling in the 
pound, or have been obliged to shut up their shops, go to prison, 
or be turned out into the wide world, to the utter ruin of them- 
selves and families. 

" I have been told of a very singular expedient made use of by 
Mr. Peter Boehler, one of the brethren's bishops, in order to 
strengthen the faith and to raise the drooping spirits of Mr. 
William Bell, who hath been unhappily drawn in (with several 
others) to be one of their agents. It was this : It being Mr. 
Bell's birth-day, he was sent for from his house in Nevil's Al- 
ley, Fetter Lane ; but for a while, having had some words with 
Mr. Boehler, he refused to come : at length he complied, and 
was introduced into a hall, in the same alley, where was placed 
an artificial mountain, which, upon singing a particular verse, 
was made to fall down, and then behind it was discovered an 
illumination, representing Jesus Christ and Mr. Bell, sitting 
very near, or embracing each other ; and out of the clouds was 
also represented plenty of money falling round Mr. Bell and the 
Saviour. This story appeared to me so incredible at the first 
hearing, that, though I could not doubt the veracity of the re- 
later, yet fearing he might be misinformed, I sent for him again, 
and he assured me, that Mr. Bell told this story himself some 
time ago in company, and a person of good reputation of that 
company related it to an acquaintance of mine. May God 
grant him and all others who have been undesignedly concern- 
ed, a more sure and stable prop for their faith, even his own 
word, in which he causes his people to trust ! Then, and not till 
then, even upon the greatest emergency, they may without any 
fanciful representations, boldly say, ' Who art thou, O great 
mountain ? before the Lord Jesus, our all-conquering Zerubba- 
bel, thou shalt become a plain.' 

" The distress and anguish of mind that hundreds have been 
involved in upon this very account, is, I believe, unspeakable. 
And the bare reflection upon it, whilst I am writing, makes my 
heart almost to bleed within me. Who, who, but themselves, 
my Lord, can tell the late perplexity of their minds, who have 
been already arrested, or obliged to break off their respective 



438 



whitefield's life and times. 



partnerships ? Or what words can express the great concern 
which Mr. Freeman and Mr. Thomas Grace must have been 
necessarily under, when they found that bills had been drawn 
in their name, unknown to them, to the value of forty-eight 
thousand pounds ? And how pitiable, my Lord, must the pre- 
sent circumstances of young Mr. Rhodes be, who, to stop a 
little of the above-mentioned gap, was prevailed on, (your 
Lordship knows by whom,) about eighteen months ago, to sell 
his estate of above four hundred pounds a year, and went or 
was sent off very lately, as I am assured, to France, (leaving a 
destitute mother behind him,) and only with twenty -five pounds, 
for the payment of which he left his watch, bureau, horse, and 
saddle ! 

" These are but a few instances, my Lord, amongst many, in- 
deed, too, too many, that might be given. The brethren's 
agents, and those concerned with them, can best tell what hor- 
rid equivocations, untruths, and low artifices have been used, to 
procure money, at high interest, wherever it was to be had, in 
order to keep up the brethren's credit ; and in that poor, lame 
manner, it hath been kept up for a considerable time. Was the 
whole scene to be opened, I believe every one would be of 
opinion, that such an ecclesiastical project never was heard of 
before in any part of his Majesty's dominions. 

" Of this, my Lord, the Royal Exchange hath long since rung ; 
and if the same part hath been acted abroad, how many fami- 
lies must have been ruined there, and how many more may yj^ 
be ruined, in order to fill up the present English chasm ; and 
consequently, what loads of guilt must needs lie at the door of 
somebody ! Surely, the Lord of all lords, whose eyes are like 
a flame of fire, and who requires truth in the inward parts, 
will one day or other visit for these things, by bringing to light 
the hidden things of darkness, and thereby making manifest the 
counsels of the heart ! 

" I need not inform your Lordship, that Babels are generally 
suffered to be built pretty high, before God comes down to 
confound the language of the builders. If knaves are employ- 
ed, (as commonly they are,) God's honour is concerned to dis- 
cover them. And if any of his own children are undesignedly 



whitefield's life and times. 439 

drawn in, (which is frequently the case,) he, who hath promised 
not to suffer them to be tempted above what they are able to 
bear, will in mercy, some way or other, rebuke the tempter, 
and make a way for them to escape. It is true, this, in public 
concerns, may sometimes expose them to a little worldly con- 
tempt, and for a while they may seemingly be crushed under 
the rubbish of the fallen fabric, but even this shall work toge- 
ther for their good ; and happy will it be for them, if, after all, 
they at length learn this important lesson, ' That it is danger- 
ous, upon any pretence whatsoever, to go from the written 
word, or give up their consciences to the guidance of any man, 
or body of men, under heaven.' This, your Lordship well 
knows, is what weak and unstable souls are too apt to do ; and 
artful and designing men, who are fond of power, especially if 
naturally they are of an ambitious turn of mind, easily catch 
at the pleasing bait. But honesty, my Lord, will be found to 
be the best policy after all ; and therefore, God forbid that any 
who call themselves the followers of the Lamb, should glory in 
any thing save the cross of Christ. 

" At present, I shall add no more, but earnestly say Amen, to 
that part of the brethren's litany, however exceptionable in other 
respects, ( From untimely projects, and from unhappily becom- 
ing great, keep us, our good Lord and God ! ' " 

This controversy had one effect, which Whitefield did not an- 
ticipate, nor can I fully explain ; it led Cennick to quit him, and 
ta^o over to the Moravians : a proof, however, that the Mora- 
vians as a body were not perverted by their leaders. A large 
party went over with Cennick on this occasion ; amongst whom 
was Mrs. Greenfield, one of Queen Caroline's ladies. She is 
the person called in Whitefield's Letters, " one of Caesar's house- 
hold." He visited her at St. James's Palace, and found her 
" ready to shozv oat." Indeed, she had ; for the palace was then 
ringing about her. But whilst he thought she would make a 
glorious martyr, if she stood firm, he saw the peril of her posi- 
tion, and said to her friend Lady Huntingdon, " Till Mrs. 
Greenfield can meet with company really in earnest, the closer 
she keeps to her God and her book the better." She retired 
from the court on a pension ; and though she joined the Mo- 



440 whitefield's life and times. 

ravians, she continued to correspond with Whitefield, and to 
hear him at the house of the Countess. She also parted with 
her favourite servant, to furnish the Tahernacle house in Bris- 
tol with a suitable housekeeper. I ought to add, that White- 
field's letter to Zinzendorff " cured many of the fopperies and 
faults it exposed." 



CHAPTER XXII. 



WHITEFIELD'S INFLUENCE IN AMERICA. 
FIRST PART. 

Whitefield's former visits to America, although not unwel- 
come to her spiritual churches, were, in some measure, unsought 
for by them, as churches. I mean, he consulted his own sense 
of duty, and the interest of his orphan-house, and the urgency 
of private friends, rather than public opinion, on either side of 
the Atlantic. On the present occasion, besides his ordinary 
reasons for ranging America, he had many pressing invitations 
" to cross-plough " his old grounds, and to water where he had 
planted. He had also a home reason. He wished to come back 
upon England and Scotland again, in the power of an American 
unction ; a savour he had found to be " of life unto life," in all, 
his movements through his native land. Hence he said on his 
voyage, " After a short tour through America, I hope to see my 
native country, and begin to begin to ramble after poor sinners 
again." It was there he learnt to range, and there he dis- 
covered how much he could range, as well as how much good 
ranging did ; and therefore he was unwilling to forget the lesson. 
And no wonder. Had he not hunted in the American woods 
and wilds, he would not have done nor dared what he attempted 
at home. Indeed, every foreign place was a school, where he 
studied for home. And he was an apt scholar. It must have 
been a strange place indeed, where Whitefield could pick up 
nothing useful. Every where his maxim was, " I would fain be 
one of Christ's bees, and learn to extract honey from every 
flower ;" — whilst every where his feeling was, " Alas, I am a 
drone, and deserve to be stung out of God's hive." 



442 



v/hitefield's life and times. 



He arrived in safety with his orphans at Bethesda, after an 
easy voyage ; and found himself at the head of a family of a 
hundred and six members, " black and white/' all dependent 
upon his personal efforts and influence. But he had no fears. 
He regarded his charge as a stewardship of Providence, and 
hoped and begged accordingly, nothing doubting. Having 
arranged his household, he started to his work, and traversed 
Carolina. It was now high summer; and besides the oppressive 
heat, " great thunders, violent lightnings, and heavy rains," 
frequently beat upon him as he journeyed from town to town ; 
but his health improved and his spirits rose, as he advanced. 
One reason of this was that he chiefly travelled by night. " In 
spite of thunder, lightning, rain, and heat, God is pleased," he 
says, " to hold my soul in life, and to let me see his glorious 
work prosper in my unworthy hands." One part of this pros- 
perity was, the conversion of a clergyman, and the prospect of 
a faithful successor to Smith at Charleston — from Bethesda ! 
This was the first student sent forth from the orphan-house. 
I can give no account of him : but he must have had consider- 
able ministerial talent, to commend himself to Josiah Smith's 
flock. The reader remembers Ms sermon on Whitefield's 
character. 

Having " fully preached the gospel " in the regions of Caro- 
lina, he went to New York and Philadelphia, and found at both 
" prejudices removed, and a more effectual door than ever," for 
labour. At this time, however, he seems to have lost his horse; 
and thus to have been dependent upon his friends for convey- 
ances. He had been so before, and remembered that neither 
all horses nor all drivers were alike. To one of his former ivhips 
he wrote, " You must bring a chaise ; — I have no horse — I will 
once more venture your throwing me down." This was on the 
way to Philadelphia. There he was thrown down suddenly, but 
not from a chaise. He was seized - s with a violent cholera mor- 
bus" and soon brought to the gates of death. He had, he said, 
" all his cables out, ready to cast anchor within the port " of 
eternity : but he was soon " at sea again although only able to 
preach once a day, for some time. When he was himself again, 
and looked at the " glorious range for hunting in the American 
woods," he was at a loss what hand to go to : " Affection, in- 



whitefield's life and times. 



443 



tense affection, cries aloud, Away to New England, dear New 
England, directly. Providence, and the circumstances of the 
southern provinces, point directly to Virginia." Whilst thus 
undecided, he visited his old friend Governor Belcher, and found 
him an improved and ripening pilgrim, now willing to depart 
and be with Christ. The venerable governor enjoyed this visit 
much ; and found it as conducive to his own peace, as his patron- 
age and state-coach had formerly been to Whitefield's popularity. 
It was now the New J ersey commencement, and the president 
and trustees of the college presented Whitefleld with the de- 
gree of M. A. He was pleased with this mark of their respect 
from the senate : but much more pleased with the synod of 
ministers. " I was much refreshed," he says, i( with the com- 
pany of the whole synod : such a number of simple-hearted, 
united ministers, I never saw before. I preached to them 
several times, and the great Master of assemblies was in the 
midst of us." 

By their counsel he determined to visit New England first, 
and to return through Virginia to Georgia ; a circuit of about 
V two thousand miles but not at all intimidating to him. On 
looking at it he said, " The Redeemer's strength will be more 
than sufficient." President Burr accompanied him to New 
England, and saw at Boston, morning after morning, three or 
four thousand people hanging in breathless silence on the lips 
of the preacher, and weeping silent tears. Whitefleld himself 
calls it " a lovely scene," and says, he " never saw a more effec- 
tual door opened for the gospel." " Sinners have been awak- 
ened, saints quickened, and enemies made at peace with me. 
Grace, grace ! Surely my coming here was of God ! Convic- 
tions do fasten, and many souls are comforted." Such was the 
crowd at the early sermons, that he had to get in at the win- 
dows of the chapels, in order to reach the pulpit. In a letter to 
the Countess, he says, " At Boston the tide ran full as high as 
ever your Ladyship knew it at Edinburgh, or in any part of 
Scotland." 

Before leaving Boston he heard with unspeakable satisfaction, 
that his friend Habersham was appointed secretary to the new 
governor of Georgia. "I wish you joy," he wrote lo him, 
" of your new honour. May the King of kings enable you to 



444 



whitefield's life and times. 



discharge your trust as becomes a good patriot, subject, and 
christian. You have now a call, I think, to retire from business, 
and to give up your time to the public." His complete triumph 
in Boston, opened for him " a wider and wider door " all around. 
He hardly knew where to go first, or how to go fast enough, in 
order to meet the public demand. He seems on one occasion 
to have let down, or over-ridden his horse, in his haste ; but he 
knew the owner ; obtained another ; and sent word, " I left the 
horse a little lame at Long Island, with one who is called Saint 
Dick. All hail such reproach." 

On his journey northward, he was able to preach twice or 
thrice every day : and his success will be best judged from his 
own account, for he never speaks strongly without strong reason. 
" What have I seen ? Dagon falling every where before the ark ; 
enemies silenced, or made to own the finger of God ; and the 
friends of Jesus triumphing in his glorious conquests. A 
hundredth part cannot be told. We had scarce one dry meet- 
ing." When he came near to Portsmouth, the end of his north- 
ern boundary, he was overwhelmed with humility as well as joy, 
by the cavalcade which came out to meet and welcome him. 
He says of them, they " were too many ;" and of the whole ex- 
pedition so far, " It seems to me the most important one I was 
ever engaged in." 

He now turned back, " to preach all the way to Georgia ;" a 
journey of sixteen hundred miles. This had no terrors to him. 
He called it " a ride," and said, " Nil desperandum, Christo 
duce, auspice Christo" Little, I regret to say, is to be found 
in either his memoranda or letters to illustrate this ride, except 
proofs that many of his hearers must have ridden forty or fifty 
miles, in order to reach the line of his itineracy. From the 
manner also in which he was received at every town, and from 
the multitudes who assembled, it is evident that great exertions 
had been made to prepare them for his coming, and to enable 
him to keep his appointments. This throws no small light 
upon the influence he now had in America. It was felt to be 
a privilege every where, to forward him on his mission, " after 
a godly sort," and to telegraph the wilderness before him : 
and rich and poor answered the signals ; churches and chapels 
opened to them. 



whitefield's life and times. 



445 



When he reached Charleston, he had the pleasure of see- 
ing the student from Bethesda ordained there. It does not 
appear whether he took any part in the ordination, or not. 
He merely says, that it was solemn. He was not less pleased, 
however, on this occasion, to find that one of the players of 
Charleston had been " snatched as a brand from the burning." 

His health failed again now. His old vomitings returned 
with violence, and his spirits sunk with his strength. He, there- 
fore, embarked for England, in the fond hope that the voyage 
would recruit him for his " Father's business — for which, he 
says, " I am a poor pilgrim, willing to give up all that is near 
and dear to me on this side eternity ! " 

This brief chapter is merely preparatory to one on the same 
subject. Whitefield's influence in America would, however, 
fill a volume ; were it traced in all its bearings and on-goings, 
from the first rousing of her churches, down through the pro- 
gress of her revivals. This cannot, perhaps, be done by any 
British writer. Indeed, it would be imprudent to attempt the 
task on this side of the Atlantic. We do not know enough 
of the men who caught and carried on the influence which 
Whitefield's ministry had upon the public mind ; to tell where 
their influence began, or where his ended. We should thus be 
for ever in danger of ascribing too much to him, and too little 
to them. We see only the mighty impulses which he gave ; 
and not the men nor the measures by which they were turned 
to immediate account, or transmitted to posterity. For, after 
all, they were but impulses on the public mind. They were, 
indeed, many, and mighty, and good, and unparalleled: and 
just because they were all this, there must have been much of 
this goodness and greatness about the agency which wrought 
with them and by them. The " action taken upon them," 
(to use an Americanism,) was one chief cause of their ex- 
tensive and enduring usefulness. I have not dared, there- 
fore, to bring together the proofs of Whitefield's influence in 
America, which might be collected and embodied from the 
results of all his visits : but have simply given illustrations of 
it from ttvo of them ; and these, perhaps, not the most in- 
fluential. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



whitefield's public spirit. 

" On his return from America, the first thing he took notice 
of," says Gillies, " was the success of religion in his native 
country." He was delighted to find u the poor methodists as 
lively as ever ; the gospel preached with power in many churches ; 
some fresh ministers almost every week determining to know 
nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and many at 
Oxford awakened to the knowledge of the truth." 

Almost the first thing he did on his arrival, was, to use his 
influence with the Marquis of Lothian, for a diploma to his 
friend President Burr of New J ersey. His Lordship applied to 
the university of Edinburgh ; and the senate consented at once ; 
requiring only " an account of Mr. Burr's literature." This 
Whitefield sent to the Marquis ; assuring him, that the favour 
done to the president would " endear " his Lordship to " the 
good people in America." I suppose the degree of D. D. was 
sent, seeing it was thus readily promised: it is not noticed, 
however, in the " American Biographical Dictionary." There, 
the president is styled Mr. Burr, to the end of the chapter. 
How is this ? Was the diploma lost, or not sent out ? Or, was 
the president too modest to adopt the title ? I put this ques- 
tion, because all the American diplomas, which are not acknow- 
ledged in this country, are neither lost nor unappreciated. They 
are not all used ; but none of them are lightly esteemed by their 
possessors. They never can be so, unless the future issue of 
degrees becomes promiscuous : and America will surely respect 
herself too much to permit this. 

Whitefield had at the Tabernacle, on his return, what he 



whitefield's life and times. 



447 



calls " golden seasons :" but by this time there were other cler- 
gymen in London, who preached the gospel faithfully ; and as 
that was the only thing he cared for, it made, he says, his " call 
to go abroad still more clear." Indeed, so little did he like 
London as a sphere of labour, and so much did he judge of 
spheres by their destitution, that he wished to return to America 
this year, without ranging England or Scotland. Hence he 
says, " Methinks I could set out for America to-morrow, though 
I have not yet entered upon my country range." Lett. 1534. 

But if he loved America most, England loved herself more, 
and drew him with " the cords of love," into Gloucestershire 
and Bristol again. He went also to open the Norwich Taber- 
nacle, at the request of the Countess ; and there he so turned 
the tide out of the Wesleyan channels, that he deemed it neces- 
sary to apprize his friend Wesley of the fact, and to assure him 
that there were no party designs on foot. At first, and for a 
long time, the Norwich Tabernacle was distinguished amongst 
the Countess's chapels, as one of the most promising. In 1777, 
the Hon. Walter Shirley spent some time at it, and had eight 
hundred communicants in fellowship. He said of them, " Their 
experience, lives, and conversation are so excellent, that there 
is nothing like it in the whole kingdom." This once flourish- 
ing place the trustees have managed to break up. In 1836, the 
great body of the congregation retired to another sanctuary. 

When Whitefield returned to London, he was goaded by not 
a few, to engage in controversy with the Wesleys again. His 
measures at Norwich seem to have been misrepresented to them. 
Instead, however, he preferred to wait until he could converse 
with Wesley " face to face." " I have no time for controversy," 
he says. He redeemed time, however, at this crisis, to write a 
grateful letter to his old tutor at Oxford ; begging his prayers, 
and blessing him for his instructions and counsels. 

At this time, the encroachments of the French upon the 
British colonies in America, awakened his jealousy. He saw 
more than civil liberty at stake. He trembled for the ark of 
God. Accordingly, when he heard that his old friend Colonel 
Pepperell was in the field again to resist the enemy, he wrote to 
Lady P. an inspiring letter; and one to the colonel, challenging 



448 



WHITEFIELD'S LIFE AND TIxMES. 



him to meet him often at the throne of grace, in prayer for suc- 
cess against " popish tyranny and arbitrary power." In like 
manner, when he set out on his northern tour, he carried this 
subject with him, like his shadow, through Yorkshire and Lan- 
cashire. " At this time," he says, " next to Jesus, my king and 
country were upon my heart. I hope I shall always think it my 
bounden duty, next to inviting sinners to the blessed Jesus, to 
exhort my hearers to exert themselves against the first ap- 
proaches of popish tyranny. Oh that we may be enabled to pray 
and watch against antichrist in our hearts ; for there, after all, 
lies the most dangerous man of sin." 

With all his partiality, indeed love, to Leeds, Whitefield was 
sadly disconcerted there, when he found that his friends, with- 
out his knowledge, had built a large chapel. He saw at a 
glance that it would create an " awful separation amongst the 
societies and lost no time in writing off to Wesley, that they 
might try to prevent a breach. Both the plan and the spirit 
of this undertaking so vexed him, that he exclaimed, " Oh 
this self-love — this self-will — is the devil of devils" This he 
wrote to Lady Huntingdon ; a proof that party was not their 
object, i 

During two months, he preached twice or thrice a day, to 
still greater numbers than before ; inviting them to Christ, and 
" exhorting them to pray for King George, and the dear friends 
in America." On his return to London, he heard that the 
American ladies were making the soldiers' coats ; and he wrote 
off immediately to urge his own female friends there, to be 
" some of the most active in this labour of love." 

Notwithstanding his immense labours on this tour, he grew 
fat : but it was disease, not strength. Sore throat set in, and 
was followed by an inflammatory quinsey, which assumed almost 
a fatal aspect. One physician prescribed " silence and warmth 
and he promised to be "very obedient." He was so for a few 
days. Then another physician prescribed a "perpetual blister 
this proposal roused him, and he soon tried his old remedy, — 
"perpetual preaching." It was, of course, painful; but he said, 
" When this grand catholicon fails, it is all over with me." In 
this, he judged aright of his own constitution. 



whitefield's life and times. 



449 



Whilst compelled to take " the medicine of silence" the sad 
news of the earthquake at Lisbon arrived. At the time, it was 
doubtful whether death or life would be the issue of the quinsy : 
but he forgot his own sufferings, when told of the public cala- 
mity : " Blessed be God/' he said, " I am ready ; I know that 
my Redeemer liveth. Oh that all in Portugal had known this ! 
Then, an earthquake would only be a rumbling chariot, to carry 
the soul to God. Poor Lisbon ! how soon are thy riches and 
superstitious pageantry swallowed up ! " One almost regrets 
that Whitefield was unable to preach on this catastrophe. His 
vivid recollections of Lisbon, with his deep sense of its super- 
stitions, would have enabled him to render the scene visible to 
the eye, as well as overpowering to the heart and conscience. 
This reflection just reminds me, that I have seen nothing in all 
his memoranda or letters, of his own well-known heroism at the 
time of the earthquake in London. He preached then in the 
parks at midnight to trembling thousands ; and presented to 
them, in his own composure, a sublime illustration of " the peace 
which passeth all understanding." So did Charles Wesley at 
the Foundery. I quite agree with Watson, that it is difficult to 
say which was the nobler spectacle, Charles Wesley in the 
chapel, or Whitefield in the open air, at midnight ; and both 
triumphing in God, whilst the earth shook and trembled ! How 
could methodism fail to commend itself then to the public mind ? 
Doddridge also signalized himself in London, by a sermon on 
the earthquake, which produced a thrilling effect amongst the 
dissenters. One of its fruits was, the formation of " The Lon- 
don Religious Book Society," by Benjamin Forfitt, Esq. ; then 
& British though not a Foreign Bible Society; for its object was 
" to distribute Bibles, Testaments, and other books, gratis, 
among the poor, and particularly to send such books to the 
country." That this society originated from the sermon is 
evident from Forfitt's letter to the preacher : " If the world 
receives any advantage from this design, I think it is indebted, 
under God, to Dr. Doddridge for it ; as the sacred fervour 
which animated your addresses from the pulpit, when last in 
town, kindled a spark of the same benevolence to the souls of 
men, in the breast of one, who could no longer retain his desires 



450 



whitefield's life and times. 



of usefulness within the compass of his own small abilities, with- 
out exciting others to the same views." Doddridge's Diary, 
vol. iv. 192. 

In the winter of 1755, Whitefield was applied to by his 
friends, who resided near the theatres, to preach regularly at a 
chapel they had licensed in Long Acre. It was hazardous 
ground ; but he did not hesitate a moment. He engaged to 
" preach twice a week, and read prayers." On the first night 
the chapel was overflowing. Hundreds went away, who could 
not get in. But he was soon disturbed. " The sons of Tubal 
and Cain," as he called the rioters, serenaded him every night 
with " bells, drums, clappers, and a copper-furnace" as a kettle- 
drum. These men were hired by subscription, although some 
of them were soldiers, to annoy and insult him. It became, 
therefore, necessary to arrest some of them as rioters. These 

the bishop of B sent for, and inquired of them, where 

Whitefield lived? This surprised him; for he thought his 
" house pretty public." This bishop, however, neither knew it, 
nor the law of the land ; for he sent him a prohibition, although 
the chapel was duly licensed, and unconsecrated. 

Whitefield took the episcopal " bull by the horns at once 
but with the greatest courtesy. He began by telling the bishop, 
" I thought I might innocently preach the love of a crucified 
Redeemer, — and, for His sake, loyalty to the best of princes, 
our dread sovereign King George, without giving any just 
offence to Jew or gentile, — much less to any bishop or overseer 
of the church of God." He ended by telling his Lordship, " I 
hope you will not look upon it as contumacy, if I persist in pro- 
secuting my design, till I am more particularly apprized wherein 
I have erred. I trust the irregularity I am charged with (if 
called to answer for it) will appear justifiable to every lover of 
English liberty ; — and, what is all to me, be approved at the 
awful and impartial tribunal of the great Shepherd and Bishop 
of souls." Whilst waiting for an answer to this letter, White- 
field took up the case of the persecuted French protestants, and 
collected £80 for them at the Tabernacle. He had likewise 
the gratification of finding that one of the subscribers to the riots 
had been arrested by the gospel at Long Acre, and was now 



whitefield's life and times. 



451 



weeping to see him. A once " confirmed deist/' also, had be- 
come " as a little child." 

The next time Whitefield preached in Long Acre, " all was 
hushed and he publicly ascribed the peace to the bishop's 
intervention. It was only a pause in the storm. The rioters 
contented themselves with making " odd noises " in an adjoin- 
ing house, whilst a scaffold was preparing for the full flourish 
and chorus of " such instruments of reformation " as " a copper- 
furnace, bells, drums, clappers, marrow-bones and cleavers, and 
large stones of a pound weight to break the windows." This 
volley was planted and played off against the chapel, in the yard 
of his Lordship's overseer, by some of his Lordship's vestry and 
parishioners. This fact Whitefield told him, Lett. 1122, 1124 ; 
and added, " C, one of your Lordship's relations, can acquaint 
you with many more particulars ; and if you would be so good 
as ride to C.'s house, you would see such a scaffold, (if not taken 
down,) and such costly preparations for a noise upon it, that 
must make the ears of all that shall hear it to tingle. I have 
only one favour to beg of your Lordship, that you will send to 
the gentlemen, as they are your parishioners, and desire them 
henceforward to desist from such riotous and dangerous pro- 
ceedings." — " Indeed, my Lord, it is more than noise. It de- 
serves no milder a name than premeditated rioting." 

His Lordship's answer to these appeals seems to have been 
respectful to Whitefield, but useless to the occasion. He quoted 
canons, instead of quelling the riots ; and threw doubts upon 
the lease and license of the chapel, instead of displacing the 
overseer of the parish. He had admonished some of the rioters, 
whilst they merely serenaded the congregation ; but when they 
" sadly wounded " some of the hearers, he sailed out of the dif- 
ficulty upon a raft of canonical technicalities. But he mistook 
his man, when he quoted canons and Scripture to stop White- 
field from preaching the gospel. He told him at once, that the 
former were mere " bruta fulmina," which ought to be set at 
defiance, like the withs of the Philistines, whenever they stood 
in the way of " preaching against sin, the pope, and the devil." 
That, he declared he would do, at all hazards of pains and pe- 
nalties. And as to the apostolical canon against trenching on 

2 g 2 



452 



whitefield's life and times. 



another man's line of things, Whitefield reminded him of the 
welcome Philip Henry had from the vicar at Broad Oaks, to 
" throw a handful of seed/' now and then, into his field ; " there 
is work enough for us both :" " this I humbly conceive is the 
case, not only of your Lordship, but of every minister's parish 
in London, and every bishop's diocess in England." 

This faithful appeal to principle and conscience, did not pre- 
vent Whitefield from clearing up to his Lordship the legal 
claims of the chapel to protection. It had been regularly li- 
censed in the Commons for a dissenting minister, Barnard ; and 
the certificate was in the hands of Culverwell. To these men 
he referred the bishop. The " unhallowed noises " went on, 
however, and lives were endangered by the stones thrown in at 
the windows ; one of which nearly struck Whitefield himself. 
He now felt that private letters were merely child? s play , when 
public liberty and safety were thus outraged ; and therefore he 
apprized the bishop, that he would throw the whole affair before 
the world. His Lordship thought, that this implied the pub - 
lication of his letters ; and claimed his privilege as a peer, to 
prevent it. He had no occasion. Whitefield was a gentleman, 
as well as a christian. He therefore made a final appeal to the 
bishop for protection, and told him he would trouble him no 
more. ' N 

The outrages went on, and became so flagrant, that prosecu- 
tion seemed inevitable, and was contemplated. When the 
rioters heard of this, they threatened his life. One man went 
up to him in the Tabernacle pulpit ; and others sent him 
menacing letters, " denouncing a certain, sudden, unavoidable 
stroke, unless he desisted from preaching, and from pursuing 
the offenders by law." One of these letters he sent to the 
government ; who at once offered a reward and his Majesty's 
pardon to any one who would discover the writer. This pleased 
him of course ; but it also embarrassed him. " My greatest 
distress is," he said to Lady Huntingdon, " to act so as to avoid 
rashness on the one hand, and timidity on the other." For his 
own sake, he would not have stirred in it ; but viewing it as 
" the cause of civil and religious liberty," he wisely let the law 
take its course, at the hazard of his own life by assassination. 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



453 



The preparations for bringing the matter into the King's Bench 
seem, however, to have stopped the evil. 

The annoyances at Long Acre led him to plan Tottenham 
Court chapel. The sabbath after he had taken the ground, he 
obtained nearly £600 towards the building. He intended to 
put it under the protection of Lady Huntingdon ; but found, on 
consulting Doctors' Commons, that " no nobleman could license 
a chapel" for himself, if the public were to be admitted to it. 
It was begun in May, and opened in November, 1756, and 
licensed " as the other houses " of prayer. 

Having laid the foundation of Tottenham Court, and shown 
himself again at Long Acre to the enemy, Whitefield went to 
Bristol ; but not to rest, although the cares and labours of the 
winter and spring had nearly worn out both his strength and 
spirits. Still he preached as usual in that quarter, and then 
returned to London "to keep Pentecost at Long Acre ;" that no 
one might suspect him of having been "frightened away." 
After visiting Kent, he set out again for Scotland, preaching by 
the way to still greater audiences than ever. At Leeds and 
York, he found " many trophies of redeeming love," which had 
been won at former visits. Such was the effect of two sermons 
he now preached at Burstall, that " several hundreds rode eight 
miles" with him in the evening, "singing and praising God." 
Lett. 1146. 

At Edinburgh, Whitefield received more than his usual wel- 
come. Politicians now thronged to hear him, and the news- 
papers lauded him, for his spirit-stirring exposures of " popish 
tyranny and arbitrary power." He preached twice every day 
in the Orphan Hospital Park, and blended with almost every 
sermon rousing appeals to the protestantism, courage, and loy- 
alty of the Scotch. He also pleaded the cause of the poor 
Highlanders at the close of one sermon, and collected £60 for 
them. 

On his way back to London, he had at Leeds what he calls 
" the Welch night ;" a meeting peculiarly solemn and refresh- 
ing. After it, he braced his nerves by a tour of mown la in- 
preaching, in company with his friend Grimshaw. But it was 
now late in October, and as he found "these cold countries 



454 



whitefield's life and times. 



bringing on his last year's disorder," and being (he says signi- 
ficantly) " grown very prudent/' he came to London to open 
Tottenham Court chapel. He had, however, another errand to 
London. The new governor of Georgia had sent for him from 
the north, to consult with him before sailing. He met him, 
and was so much delighted, that he wrote off to Bethesda to 
prepare them for a state visit. " Waited upon his Excellency, 
and gave him, and all whom he pleases to bring, an invitation 
to Bethesda. Dear Mrs. C. will make proper provision." This 
was not all. He wanted to have military honours paid to the 
governor. " Have you persons enough to exercise before him? 
Can they receive him under arms ? " Whitefield was thinking 
of his intended college, whilst thus ingratiating himself with 
the governor. 

At this time Cudworth, (no antinomian, as Moore ignorantly 
calls him in his " Life of Wesley,") having embroiled Hervey 
with Wesley, wrote a pamphlet against what he calls, " Some 
Fundamental Mistakes in Whitefield's Sermons and as Her- 
vey had allowed him "to put out and put in" whatever he 
pleased in his letters to Wesley, he seems to have sought his 
sanction to this attack on Whitefield also. Mason charged 
him with saying, that Hervey offered to 'preface the pamphlet. 
" This," Whitefield wrote to Hervey, " I as much believe, as 
that I am at Rome." Perhaps he was wrong ! The pamphlet 
sustained Hervey's own theory of appropriating faith, and set 
Marshall against Whitefield ; and so far Hervey may have 
countenanced Cudworth, who was now the champion of " Theron 
and Aspasio." Hervey's posthumous letters do not clear up this 
fact. Indeed, Cudworth had too much to do with their publi- 
cation to leave any light on the subject ! It is, however, 
curious, that from this time there is no letter of Whitefield to 
Hervey, that I can find ; nor any notice in others, of Hervey's 
death. But the series of Whitefield's letters, about this time, 
is very incomplete. He was now -preaching Jifteen times a week 
in London, and daily occupied with the converts caught in his 
" Soul Trap," as some Doctor designated the new chapel* He 
welcomed the nickname, and prayed that " Whitefield's Soul 
Trap" might catch many wanderers. It nearly caught poor 



WHITEFIELD S LIFE AND TIMES. 



455 



Shuter, the player. He always attended at this time, and brought 
many with him. Some of the nobility also became stated hearers, 
and took seats in the chapel. 

In 1757, Whitefield planned his visit to Scotland to fall at the 
time of the General Assembly. But before leaving London, he 
placed the scheme of his college in the hands of Lord Halifax. 
He seems, on his arrival, to have attended the sittings of the 
Assembly ; and Gillies says, " Perhaps a hundred ministers at a 
time attended his sermons." Thirty of the ministers honoured 
him with a public entertainment, and Lord Cathcart, his Majes- 
ty's commissioner, invited him to his own table. This was 
wormwood and gall to the high churchmen. Some of them had 
the insolence to remonstrate with Cathcart, on the impropriety 
of inviting Whitefield to meet the clergy ! " It would give of- 
fence " to the church, they said ! His Lordship spurned their 
paltry " overture with indignation." Gillies. Whitefield preach- 
ed, he says, " just fifty times," on this visit : that was about as 
much in a month, as some of these clergymen did in a year ! 
Such a contrast could hardly endear his company to half-day- 
labourers. 

At Glasgow, Whitefield preached in the High Church yard 
with equal success, and collected money for the poor. He then 
went to Ireland, and was stoned (as we have seen) on Oxman- 
town Green ; not, he says, " for speaking against the papists in 
particular, but for exciting all ranks to be faithful to King 
Jesus, and to our dread sovereign King George and because 
he prayed for the King of Prussia. In the other parts of Ire- 
land he found hunting for souls to be " delightful sport when 
the heart is in it." The well-known Edwards of Leeds was 
converted under the sermon at Oxmantown Green. The Irish 
Liberty Boys used to call him " their swaddling John." 

On his return to London, he found that the governor of 
Georgia had visited Bethesda, and promised to communicate his 
sentiments to Lord Halifax, " concerning its being enlarged in- 
to a college :" but the pressure of public affairs deterred him 
from applying to the government. There were bad news from 
America " about the fleet," and therefore he kept a fast day at 
his chapels. 



456 



whitefield's life and times. 



His health now failed sadly. He was brought to live on the 
" short allowance of preaching but once a day, and thrice on the 
Sunday :" very short allowance for him ! Once, however, he 
broke through the restraint, and preached three times on the 
success of the King of Prussia ; which, he says, " somewhat re- 
covered" him, after he had been for a week at the gates of the 
grave ! He was not able to attempt great things this winter. 
Tottenham Court was, however, his Bethel, as he calls it ; and 
as it was then surrounded by a " beautiful piece of ground," he 
formed the plan of an almshouse for twelve " godly widows ; " 
as " a standing monument that the methodists were not against 
good works." This charity he soon carried into effect. His 
thoughts, however, were not confined to home. Although 
broken down in health and spirits by weakness and want of 
rest, he watched the affairs of Prussia with intense interest, and 
assured the German protestants, through Professor Franck, that 
" we looked on their distresses as our own." 

In the spring of 1758, he went into the west of England, and 
visited Wales ; but he was so feeble, that he could not bear to 
drive nor ride in a one-horse chaise. He was obliged to give 
it up. The roads shook it, and it shook him nearly to pieces. 
" Every thing," he says, " wearies this shattered bark now ! " 
A friend interfered, and purchased a " close chaise " for him, 
advancing the money until he could conveniently repay it. He 
felt this kindness deeply, because by no other means could he 
have itinerated. " I would not," he says, " lay out a single 
farthing but for my blessed Master : but it is inconceivable 
what I have undergone these three weeks. / never was so be- 
fore ! Oh for a hearse to carry my weary carcass to the wished- 
for grave ! " During all this tour, he was unable to sit up in 
company even once ; yet he often preached to ten or fifteen 
thousand people, and made their " tears flow like water from the 
rock." His views of himself at this time were more than 
usually humble ; and that is saying a great deal, to those who 
have read his letters before this time. He said to Lady Hun- 
tingdon, " Oh I am sick — I am sick — sick in body ; but infi- 
nitely more so in mind, to see so much dross in my soul. Bless- 
ed be God, there is One who will sit as a refiner's fire, to purify 



whitefield's life and times. 



457 



the sons of Levi. I write out of the burning bush. Christ is 
there ! Christ is there ! " 

In the summer, he went north again ; but was often ready 
to turn back, through extreme weakness, even before he reach- 
ed Northampton. There, however, he "took the field" again. 
Preaching in " Bishop Buny an' 's" pulpit at Bedford, had ral- 
lied his spirits. My eye rests at this moment upon a fragment 
of that hallowed pulpit ; and I hardly know whether it is most 
associated in my mind with Bunyan in his strength, or with 
Whitefield in his weakness. This I know — I often see them 
both leaning over it, and reproving me ! 

This year, Whitefield lost by death some of his earliest and 
dearest friends ; Hervey, President Burr, Governor Belcher, 
and Jonathan Edwards. Their death, and his own dying life, 
made him long " to depart." When he reached Edinburgh, he 
expected death after " every sermon." Yet he preached twice 
a day in general, and that to immense auditories. On one oc- 
casion he collected upwards of £200 for the orphan hospital. 
He also preached thanksgiving sermons for the victories at 
Crevelt, Cape Breton, and on the defeat of the Russians. He 
allowed nothing to escape him unimproved. The races came on 
at Edinburgh, and he consented to preach to the people, to " run 
the race set before" them. 

Well might he say, " This preaching is a strange restorative." 
Still, it did restore him. He was unable to visit private friends, 
and was adjourning to see them until they met in heaven : 
" but," he says, " it will not do ! " His health was, in fact, im- 
proving by hard labour. He therefore went to Glasgow, and 
laboured harder than ever. " I am put out to sea again," he 
said ; " and if to take some more prizes, I shall rejoice." There 
is good reason to believe that he took many in Scotland on this 
occasion. One thing which gave him additional influence 
amongst the poor in Glasgow, was the zeal with which he plead- 
ed the cause of the Highland families, whose fathers were serving 
the king in America. 

Whitefield never, perhaps, was more overcome than now in 
parting from his friends. He called the day of his farewell to 
Scotland, the " execution day ; " not, however, that he despaired 



458 



whitefield's life and times 



of seeing it again ; but that his friends were like Paul's at 
Miletus. In fact, he was almost himself again, for a little, 
when he got into Yorkshire. Then, the idea of winter- 
quarters was as painful as ever. He resolved, that nothing 
but "change of weather should drive" him into them. He 
could not help feeling, however, that he must soon retire 
from the fields ; and, therefore, he prayed, " Lord, prepare 
me for winter trials : they are preparatives for an eternal 
summer." 

In 1759, Whiter! eld had the satisfaction to clear off all his 
debts for the orphan-house. "Bethesda's God," he said, "lives 
for ever, and is faithful and all-sufficient." He, therefore, 
wished much to visit America ; but he could not find supplies 
to relieve him from his chapels in London. This pained him. 
" Strange ! " he says, " that nobody will relieve me, that I may 
once more flee to America." No one did, and he returned to 
Scotland. He became fat by the way, and his friends congra- 
tulated him on the prospect of a new lease of life ; but he did 
not flatter himself on becoming corpulent : " so did Darracott 
a little before he died," he said. It is much to be regretted, 
that paintings of Whitefield multiplied at this time. It cannot 
be wondered at, because his friends could not but feel that his 
life was precarious. Still, these portraits convey no idea of the 
man who awed the multitude in Moorfields, and electrified the 
nobility at Lady Huntingdon's. Some of them, especially Na- 
thaniel Hone's, are faithful likenesses of Whitefield, when dis- 
ease made him corpulent ; and thus they are the Whitefield 
our grandfathers knew : but not the Whitefield of their fathers. 
I defy any one to associate the emotions of the old or of the new 
world with the pursy parson of these figures ; — all of them 
" born out of due season ! " W hitefield was " slender in per- 
son," until he began to sink in strength. Indeed, were there not 
reason to suppose that the first portrait of him was transmuted 
by the trade into a Hervey, when " Theron and Aspasio " became 
popular, I should have made it the frontispiece to this volume. 
It, and the one I have adopted as the medium between the first 
and last, are the portraits which Whitefield himself presented 
to his friends. In regard to the others he said, he should hate 



whitefield's life and times. 



459 



himself, if he were " the sour-looking creature" they represent- 
ed him to he. Jay's Life of Winter. 

I mention this here, because on his visit to Edinburgh this 
year, (I think,) the governors of the orphan hospital had his 
likeness taken, and hung up in ■ the hall, as a mark of their 
respect and gratitude to him, for the collections he made for 
the charity. On this occasion, he collected £215 for the orphan 
hospital. 

What was thought of his political influence, at this time, 
may be best told, perhaps, in the language of the newspapers. 
One of them says, " The Rev. Mr. Whitefield has been preach- 
ing here and at Glasgow. He has preached nearly a hundred 
times ; and yet his congregations were always increasing. 
Whatever this be owing to — every body must judge for them- 
selves : but it is certain that he continually exerted all his rhe- 
toric in stirring up zeal for his God, his king, and his country, 
in this time of danger ; and he seemed particularly pleased, as 
were thousands more, that he had an opportunity of preaching 
a thanksgiving sermon to a most thronged auditory, on account 
of the glorious victory lately vouchsafed to Prince Ferdinand 
over the French." Edin. Aug. 1759. 

During this visit to the north, he had an opportunity of de- 
monstrating his disinterestedness. A Miss Hunter, " a young 
lady of considerable fortune, made a full offer of her estate, 
both money and lands, amounting to about £7000." This gift 
he promptly refused. Even when it was offered, not for his 
own use, but for his orphan-house, he " absolutely refused " it. 
Gillies says, he himself had the facts "from undoubted au- 
thority." There is a similar anecdote of Wesley, and it is 
equally authentic. Indeed, they resembled -each other very 
much in their disinterestedness ; and left all their enemies as 
silent on this subject, as Wesley did the Cumberland guide, 
who asked him, what he made a year by so many preachings ? 

Whitefield was not much pleased with the state of religion in 
Scotland, on this visit. " It is a dead time indeed," here, he 
says ; " little or no stirring among the dry bones. I preach — 
and people flock — as usual : but Scotland is not London. The 
Redeemer is doing wonders there. Every post brings fresh 



400 



whitefield's life and times. 



good news." He solved this difference to himself by saying, 
" God's Spirit blows when and where it listeth forgetting 
that his own spirit was a little too political, at the time. He 
did not suspect this ; but he felt that the " languor " of the 
north was infectious, and hastened back to London, lest it should 
" take hold " on his own " already too languid heart." 

Much of this languor arose from sudden corpulency. That 
broke in upon him, he says, " like an armed man." Labour 
could not keep it down, nor abstinence check it. This both 
pained and alarmed him. " I dread