"1740, October 28. I was exceedingly shocked with the news of
Mr. Seward's death; but he is taken from the evil; rescued out
of the hands of wicked men."
This is a long account of Seward and his brothers; but their names
have always been so prominent in the early career of Whitefield and
the Wesleys, that the writer hopes to be forgiven for collecting
the hitherto scattered scraps of information concerning them, and
presenting that information in a connected form.
After William Seward's death, his brothers are never mentioned in
Methodistic annals.
The account of Howell Harris shall be shorter. It is taken from a
document written by himself. This memorable Welshman was born at
Trevecka, on January 23, 1714, and was, therefore, a few months
older than his friend Whitefield. In 1732, when his father died,
Harris took charge of a country school. In 1735, he found peace with
God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Converted himself, he had an
intense desire to convert others. He writes:--
"Swearing, lying, reviling, drunkenness, fighting, and gaming
overspread the country. Ministers were not in earnest, and
their instructions, delivered in an unfeeling and indifferent
manner, seemed to have no effect upon their hearers. I could
not help making it my business to speak to all I came near of
their danger. Death and judgment, and the necessity of praying
and receiving the sacrament, were the principal subjects of my
conversation. I set up family worship in my mother's house, and
on Sunday mornings some of the neighbours would come to hear me
read the lessons and psalms, etc."
He proceeds to relate how he also commenced meetings on Sunday
evenings, and exhorted the poor people who flocked to hear him.
"Thus," he says, "I spent that summer, 1735."
In November following, he relinquished his school, and entered
himself at St. Mary's Hall, Oxford; but the "irregularities and
immoralities which surrounded" him were such, that he kept only a
single term, and returned to Wales. He again set up a school at
Trevecka. He visited from house to house, until he had visited the
greatest part of his native parish. His congregation increased,
and the houses in which they met could not contain them. Many of
his hearers became penitent, and cried to God for the pardon of
their sins. Family worship in numerous instances was begun. The
churches were soon crowded, and likewise the Lord's table. Then
persecution arose. The magistrates threatened him with fines for
holding meetings in private houses. The clergy did their utmost to
discourage him, and, at the end of the year 1737, expelled him from
his school.
Up to the present, in the day-time he had taught his scholars, and
at night had held meetings. Now he had both days and nights at his
disposal, and preached to crowded congregations thirty or forty
times every week. The magistrates threatened him more furiously
than ever; and the clergy preached against him, and branded him as
a deceiver; but, in several counties, a general reformation was
witnessed. Public diversions became unfashionable, and religion
became the common talk. Places of worship were everywhere thronged,
and, in many places, Societies were set up. The Rev. Griffith Jones
began his charity schools. The Rev. Daniel Rowlands and some other
young clergymen began to preach in the same extemporary manner as
Harris did. The work grew, and so also did the persecution. In
Montgomeryshire, "a knight, a clergyman, two justices, a constable,
and a mob," came while Harris was preaching, and charged him with
a breach of the Conventicle Act. The preacher told the magistrates
that he was a Conformist, and therefore not subject to the penalties
of the Act in question. At Machynlleth he was surrounded by a mob,
"threatening, swearing, and flinging stones," the leaders of the
gang being a clergyman and a lawyer. He writes:--
"By the trials through which I often passed, I was at length
so accustomed to them that I was daily in expectation of them.
I became more acquainted with the world and myself, and could
attest the truth of that expression which at first seems harsh,
'Man is a mixture of beast and devil.'"
It is a remarkable fact, that, up to this date, Howell Harris had
never seen either Whitefield or the Wesleys. Whitefield, on his
return from Georgia, heard that the young evangelist, without
episcopal ordination or any sort of ecclesiastical authority
whatever, was preaching in the towns and villages of Wales thirty or
forty times every week; and, notwithstanding the opposition and the
violence of clergymen, magistrates, and mobs, had already been the
means of accomplishing a marvellous reformation. The results were
quite sufficient to constrain Whitefield to recognize the Welsh
itinerant as a fellow-labourer in the same great work. Hence, only
a few days after his arrival in England, Whitefield wrote to Howell
Harris as follows:--
"LONDON, _December 20, 1738_.
"MY DEAR BROTHER,--Though I am unknown to you in person, 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 hand.
Go on, my dear brother, go on. Be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of His might. There have been, and will be, many
adversaries; but be not afraid. He who 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, for the
Divine strength has often been magnified in my weakness. I have
tasted that the Lord is gracious; I have felt His power; and,
from experience, can say that, in doing or suffering the will of
Jesus Christ, there is great reward.
"Blessed be His holy name! There seems to be a great pouring out
of the Spirit in London, and we walk in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost, and are edified.
"You see, my dear Brother, the freedom I have taken in writing
to you. If you would favour me with a line or two, by way of
answer, you would greatly rejoice both me and many others. Why
should we not tell one another what God has done for our souls?
"My dear Brother, I love you in the bowels of Jesus Christ, and
wish you may be the spiritual father of thousands, and shine, as
the sun in the firmament, in the kingdom of your heavenly Father.
"Your affectionate, though unworthy brother in Christ,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."[173]
[173] "Brief Account of the Life of Harris." Trevecka, 1791, p. 110.
Such was Whitefield's warm-hearted salutation to the young
lay-preacher in the principality of Wales. Harris's reply was
equally cordial. The following is an extract from it:--
"GLAMORGAN, _January 8, 1739_.
"DEAR BROTHER,--I was most agreeably surprised last night
by a letter from you. Though this is the first time of our
correspondence, I am no stranger to you. When I first heard of
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 uncommon influence of the Divine Presence shining
on my soul almost continually, but I little thought our good
Lord and Master intended I should ever see your handwriting.
Oh how ravishing it is to hear of such demonstrations of
the Divine love and favour to London! And, to make your joy
greater still, I have some good news to send you from Wales.
There is a great revival in Cardiganshire, through Mr. D.
Rowlands, a Church minister, who has been much owned and blessed
in Carmarthenshire also. We have also a sweet prospect in
Breckonshire and part of Monmouthshire. And the revival prospers
in this county where I am now. There is also here a very useful
young dissenting minister, who is a man of great charity. There
is another of the same character in Montgomeryshire. There
are two or three young curates in Glamorganshire, who are
well-wishers to the cause of God; and we have an exceedingly
valuable clergyman in Breckonshire. But enemies are many and
powerful. Oh that I had more love in my soul, more humble zeal,
and spiritual boldness!"[174]
After this long but not useless digression, it is time to return to
Whitefield.
He was detained in England much longer than he expected, but he
was not unmindful of his flock in Georgia. In a letter "to the
inhabitants of Savannah," dated January 19, 1739, he says:--
"You are upon my heart, so that I am ready to live and die with
you. As soon as my affairs are finished in England, I shall
return to you. The trustees have now appointed me minister
of Savannah, and granted all I desired of them, so that I
have nothing to do but to watch over your souls, that I may
present you blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Be steadfast, therefore, my brethren, be unmoveable. Carefully
attend to the words spoken by your present pastor. Let love
be without dissimulation. Let not slander so much as be named
amongst you, as becometh saints. Be not slothful in business,
yet take heed that you are fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord. Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; and
assure yourselves you are continually remembered by your most
affectionate pastor,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."[174]
[174] Morgan's "Life and Times of Howell Harris," p. 30.
Before leaving for the West of England, Whitefield's last Sunday in
London was a memorable one. He shall relate his own story.
"1739. Sunday, February 4. Preached in the morning at St.
George's in the East; collected £18 for the Orphan House; and
had, I believe, six hundred communicants, which highly offended
the officiating curate. Preached again at Christ Church,
Spitalfields; and gave thanks and sang psalms at a private
house. Went thence to St. Margaret's Westminster; but, something
breaking belonging to the coach, could not get thither till the
middle of the prayers. Went through the people to the minister's
pew, but, finding it locked, I returned to the vestry till
the sexton could be found. Being there informed that another
minister intended to preach, I desired several times that I
might go home. My friends would by no means consent, telling me
I was appointed by the trustees to preach; and that, if I did
not, the people would go out of the church. At my request, some
went to the trustees, churchwardens, and minister; and, whilst
I was waiting for an answer, and the last psalm was being sung,
a man came, with a wand in his hand, whom I took for the proper
church officer, and told me I was to preach. I, not doubting but
the minister was satisfied, followed him to the pulpit, and God
enabled me to preach with greater power than I had done all the
day before.
"After this, I prayed with and gave an exhortation to a company
that waited for me. Then I went to Fetter Lane, where I spent
the whole night in watching unto prayer, and discussing several
important points with many truly Christian friends. About four
in the morning, we went all together, and broke bread at a poor
sick sister's room; and so we parted, I hope, in a spirit not
unlike that of the primitive Christians."
This is soon related, but the service at St. Margaret's must have
further notice. It engendered a rancorous controversy, which cannot,
in fairness, be omitted.
In a long leading article in the _Weekly Miscellany_ of February 10,
1739, the following account was published:--
"On Sunday last, our new _Methodists_ discovered a more violent
temper than is consistent with their great pretensions to
_meekness_ and _sanctity_. The story is as follows, and it was
related to me by the gentleman that read the prayers:--
"At St. Margaret's, Westminster, there is a _Society_ Evening
Lecture; and when the Reader came, he found in the _churchyard_,
at the _west door_, a number of people singing psalms. When he
got into the _church_, he was affronted by some unknown persons
as he passed through a great crowd to the vestry. As soon as the
clergyman appointed to _preach_ came, he was _solicited_ (if an
_overbearing importunity_ may be so called) to resign the pulpit
to Mr. Whitefield, who (as is supposed by his not appearing at
the _prayers_) was waiting at some neighbouring house to know
the issue of their application. But the _preacher_ continuing
as determined to do his duty as Mr. Whitefield was to do it for
him, they at last effected that by _force_ which they could
not gain by _treaty_. So the _preacher_ was safely confined
in his _pew_, which was locked (the sexton being appointed by
the _Society_, and in Mr. Whitefield's interest), and guarded
by several lusty fellows; while another party conveyed the
_unlicensed intruder_ triumphantly up into the pulpit, and kept
sentry on the stairs for fear he should be taken down in as
forcible a manner as he got up."