"My father was with me last night, when I shewed him your
letter. I told him, I utterly renounced the business, of an
attorney. He then asked me what profession I chose; which I
submitted to him, on condition it might prove agreeable to the
will of God. He was pleased to say, he thought me not mad, but
very well in my senses, and would take me out, if Doctor Monro
and the committee were of his opinion. Then he varied again, and
thought it convenient for me to stay the summer, and to take
physic twice a week, fearing a relapse. I told him, as a father,
he should be obeyed; but when, at parting, he mentioned my
leaving religion, I was somewhat stirred in my spirit, and told
him nothing should prevail upon me to leave Jesus Christ.
"This is the substance of what passed between us. Upon the whole
matter, sir, God gives me perfect resignation, and, I trust,
when He shall see fit, will discharge me. I find His love daily
more and more shed abroad in my heart. All things will work
together for my good. If opportunity will let you, I should be
glad to see you before you set out for America. May Almighty
God, in His infinite goodness, prosper, guide, and protect
you through this transitory life, and hereafter receive you
triumphantly into the heavenly Jerusalem, there to converse
with, and see the ever-blessed Jesus!"
Your loving and sincere friend,
"JOSEPH PERIAM."
"Upon reading this," says Whitefield, "I was sensibly touched
with a fellow-feeling of his misery; and, at my request, Mr.
Seward and two more friends waited upon the committee. But,
alas! they esteemed my friends as much mad as the young man,
and frankly told them, both I and my followers were insane.
My friend Seward urged the examples of the young persons, who
called the prophet, that was sent to anoint Jehu king, a mad
fellow; of our Lord, whom His own relations, and the scribes and
Pharisees, took to be mad; and of Festus's opinion of St. Paul.
He further urged, that, when young people were under their first
awakenings, they were usually tempted by the devil to run into
some extremes. In the midst of the conference, the committee
mentioned Periam's going to Georgia, and said, if I would take
him with me, they would engage that his father should give leave
to have him released. A day or two after, Mr. Seward waited
upon his father, who gave his son an excellent character, and
consented to his going abroad. After this, he waited upon the
doctor, who pronounced him well; and, on May 19th, he waited
again upon the committee, who behaved very civilly, and gave the
young man a discharge. He is now with me, and I hope he will be
an instrument of doing good. The hardships he has endured at
Bethlehem will, I hope, prepare him for what he must undergo
abroad."
Thus was Joseph Periam put into an execrable madhouse; and thus was
he taken out. It is not necessary to trace his subsequent career;
and this apparently long digression will be pardoned, when it is
remembered that, at the time, Periam's case caused great excitement,
and that it occupied a prominent position in a hostile pamphlet,
of ninety-six pages, entitled "The Life of the Rev. Mr. George
Whitefield, by an Impartial Hand."
It is time to return to Whitefield in London. In the midst of his
unequalled popularity, he wrote to his friend Harris, of Gloucester,
as follows:--
"LONDON, _May 10, 1739_.
"DEAR MR. HARRIS,--The hour for my imprisonment is not yet come.
I am not fit as yet to be so highly honoured. God only knows the
treachery of my heart; but, amidst all my late success, I have
scarce felt one self-complacent thought. I speak this to the
honour of God's free grace.
"In about three weeks, God willing, we embark for Pennsylvania.
The trustees have granted to me land, and everything upon my own
terms. The officers and general are exceeding kind to my friend
Habersham, upon my account, so that all things succeed beyond my
expectations.
"Ever, ever yours,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."
Whitefield's expectation of sailing so soon was not realized. On
May 21, he left London, and reached Hertford, between eight and
nine o'clock at night. His fame had gone before him, and, late as
was the hour, he preached, on a common near the town, to four or
five thousand hearers. Next morning, he preached in the same place,
to nearly as large a congregation; then he breakfasted with a
Dissenting minister; and then proceeded to Olney, where he arrived
about ten p.m. Being denied the use of the church pulpit, he, on the
day following, "preached in a field, near the town, to about two
thousand people." At five in the evening, he reached Northampton,
and "was most courteously received by Doctor Doddrige," the famous
Dissenting minister; and, "at seven, according to appointment,
preached, on a common, to about three thousand hearers." On
Thursday, May 24, he "preached again in the same place, at about
eight in the morning, but to a much larger audience." He then
hastened back to Olney, and, in the midst of an incessant rain,
preached "upon an eminence in the street." At seven in the evening,
he got to Bedford, and says, "I found the town fully alarmed. About
eight, I preached from the stairs of a windmill (the pulpit of my
dear brother and fellow-labourer, Mr. Rogers),[220] to about three
thousand people. Friday, May 25, preached at seven in the morning to
rather a larger congregation than before. Reached Hitchin about one
o'clock; and, at two, got upon a table in the market-place, near the
church; but some were pleased to ring the bells in order to disturb
us. Upon this, we removed into the fields; but, the sun beating
intensely on my head, I became exceedingly sick, and was obliged,
in a short time, to break off. I lay down for about two hours, and
then came and preached near the same place, and God was with us.
It was surprising to see how the hearts of the people were knit to
me. I could have continued longer with them; but, being under an
engagement to go to St. Albans, I hastened thither, but could not
preach on account of my coming in so late. Great numbers had been
there expecting me; and it grieved me to think how little I could
do for Christ." The people of St. Albans, however, were not wholly
disappointed; for, at seven next morning, he preached, in a field,
to about fifteen hundred people; and then "got safe to London by two
in the afternoon." In the evening of the same day, his congregation
on Kennington Common numbered "about fifteen thousand."
[220] The Rev. Jacob Rogers had been curate of St. Paul's, Bedford.
Whitefield says, "he has lately been thrust out of the synagogues
for speaking of justification by faith, and the new birth, and has
commenced a field-preacher. Once he was shut in prison for a short
time; but thousands flock to hear him, and God blesses him more and
more. I believe we are the first professed ministers of the Church
of England, who, without cause, are excluded from every pulpit."
A year afterwards, Mr. Rogers joined Ingham, in Yorkshire; and,
finally, became a Moravian. (See "The Oxford Methodists," pp. 115,
116, and 122.)
Thus did Whitefield spend the six days between Sunday, May 20,
and Sunday, May 27. The toil of travelling was not a trifle; but,
besides this, a dozen sermons were delivered, and all in the open
air. Whitefield writes:--
"Blessed be God! this has been a week of fat things: many
sinners convicted; and many saints much comforted, and
established in their most holy faith. I find there are some
thousands of secret ones yet living amongst us, who have not
bowed the knee to Baal; and this public way of acting brings
them out. It much comforts me, wherever I go, to see so many of
God's children, of all communions, come and wish me good luck in
the name of the Lord. I perceive the people would be everywhere
willing to hear, if the ministers were ready to teach them the
truth as it is in Jesus. Lord, do Thou spirit up more of my dear
friends and fellow-labourers to go out into the highways and
hedges, to compel poor sinners to come in! Amen!"
The _Weekly Miscellany_--the recognized newspaper of the Church
of England--could not allow even this brief country excursion to
pass unnoticed. On June 2, it had a short article to the following
effect:--
"On Tuesday last week, Mr. Whitefield called at Hitchin, on
his way to Bedford, and, at the desire of several Dissenters,
was prevailed on to return there on Friday last, at which time
several hundred Dissenters of that parish, and the neighbouring
Dissenters, attended him; but, being denied the use of the
church, he mounted a table in the market-place, on which the
bells were set a-ringing. He afterwards returned to the place of
execution, and, according to his usual method, sung a psalm, and
began to harangue his auditors from, 'We would see Jesus;' but,
being overcharged----, he was obliged to break off abruptly."
There can be no doubt, that, not only at Hitchin, but throughout the
whole of this week's tour, the Dissenters were Whitefield's chief
auditors; but the sneer at the end of the extract just given, was
a foul and filthy falsehood, altogether unworthy of the Church of
England's chief newspaper.
Being returned to London, Whitefield resumed his field-preaching
with as much zest as ever. On Sunday morning, May 27, he preached,
for nearly two hours, "to about twenty thousand at Moorfields."
During the day, he "went twice to public worship, and received
the blessed sacrament." In the evening, at Kennington Common, he
addressed a congregation of thirty thousand.