"Monday, May 28. Preached, after earnest and frequent
invitation, at Hackney, in a field belonging to Mr. Rudge,
to about ten thousand hearers. I insisted much upon the
reasonableness of the doctrine of the new birth, and the
necessity of our receiving the Holy Ghost, in His sanctifying
gifts and graces, as well now as formerly; and I could not help
exposing the impiety of those letter-learned teachers, who say,
we are not now to receive the Holy Ghost, and who count the
doctrine of the new birth, enthusiasm. Out of your own mouths
will I condemn you, you wicked 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 crime of Ananias
and Sapphira over again. You lied, not unto man, but, unto God."
Thus did Whitefield openly attack the clergy of his own Church; for
the Journal containing this was immediately published, and, before
the end of the year 1739, passed through three editions. No wonder
that there were clerical replies of an angry sort. It was unwise,
for so young a man, to make such assaults; and, in many instances,
the castigations he received were not unmerited. His business was
not to annoy and irritate the clergy; but to preach forgotten
truths, and to convert sinners.
"Tuesday, May 29. Went to public service at Westminster Abbey.
Afterwards despatched business for my orphans, and preached, at
Kennington, to a most devout auditory, with much sweetness and
power.
"Wednesday, May 30. Waited upon the Bishop of Bristol,[221]
(who treated me with the utmost civility,) and received his
lordship's benefaction for Georgia. At the request of many, I
preached, in the evening, at Newington Common, to about fifteen
thousand people. The word came with power; and, seeing a great
multitude, I thought proper to collect for the Orphan House; and
£16 9s. 4d. were gathered on that occasion.
[221] Bishop Butler, the celebrated author of "The Analogy of
Religion, natural and revealed, to the Constitution and Course
of Nature." The bishop's "benefaction for Georgia" was five
guineas.
"Thursday, May 31. I preached at Kennington, to my usual
congregation; and three of my brethren in the ministry were
pleased to accompany me, which filled the people with exceeding
great joy.
"Friday, June 1. Dined at Old Ford, and gave a short exhortation
to a few people in a field. In the evening, preached at a
place called Mayfair, near Hyde Park Corner. The congregation,
I believe, consisted of near eighty thousand people. It was,
by far, the largest I ever preached to yet. In the time of my
prayer, there was a little noise; but they kept a deep silence
during my whole discourse. A high and very commodious scaffold
was erected for me to stand upon; and God strengthened me to
speak so loud, that most could hear, and so powerfully, that
most, I believe, could feel. All love, all glory be to God
through Christ!
"Saturday, June 2. Sent another Quaker to be baptized by Mr.
Stonehouse. Collected, by private contributions, nearly £50
for the orphans. In the evening, preached at Hackney to about
ten thousand; and £20 12s. 4d. were gathered for the same
objects.
"Sunday, June 3. Preached at Moorfields to a larger congregation
than ever, and collected £29 17s. 9d. for the Orphan House.
Went twice to public worship, and received the sacrament.
Preached in the evening at Kennington Common, to the most
numerous audience I ever yet saw in that place, and collected
£34 5s."[222]
[222] Charles Wesley, who seems to have been present, designates the
congregation "an innumerable multitude." _The Craftsman_, of June 9,
says, On Sunday night, Mr. Whitefield preached his farewell sermon
at Kennington Common, and collected £34 5s. for the Orphan House in
Georgia. The total sum collected by him for several charities is as
follows:--For the Orphan House, £966; for the poor in general, £150;
for erecting a church for the Saltzburghers, £77; total, £1193.
This, for the present, was Whitefield's farewell sermon on
Kennington Common. During the last five weeks, he had preached
twenty-one times in this open-air cathedral; the crowds who had
flocked to hear him were marvellous; upon the whole there had
been no disturbances worth mentioning; God had abundantly blessed
the young preachers' labours; and the services throughout had
astonished, not only Whitefield, but likewise Whitefield's friends
and enemies. The scene, when, on June 3, he took his leave of this
memorable spot, was profoundly affecting. He writes:--
"When I mentioned my departure from them, the people were melted
into tears. Thousands of ejaculations and fervent prayers were
poured out to God on my behalf, which gave me abundant reason to
be thankful to my dear Master. O what marvellous great kindness
has God shewn me in this great city! Indeed, I have seen the
kingdom of God come with power."
At this point, Whitefield concluded his "Journal from his Arrival at
London to his Departure from thence on his way to Georgia." This,
as already stated, was immediately published. All the important
facts in it have been narrated. Many juvenile reflections on passing
occurrences, and imprudent remarks respecting himself, have been
omitted. They were perfectly artless, and in an _unpublished_
journal would have been innocent. It is difficult to determine
whether Whitefield did right or wrong by giving his Journals to the
public. No doubt, they were read with the utmost avidity by his
friends; and it can hardly be questioned that they were, in many
instances, the means of arousing slumbering piety. They are also of
essential service to Whitefield's biographers, and no adequate life
of the great preacher can be written without a liberal use of them.
On the other hand, however, they created enormous prejudices against
the Methodists in general, and, as will soon be seen, brought upon
Whitefield in particular an amount of personal abuse almost without
parallel.
Before leaving the subject, it must be added that Whitefield's
two Journals of his "Voyage from London to Savannah in Georgia,"
extending from December 28, 1737, to May 7, 1738, were printed by
his injudicious friends, without his knowledge, in 1738. During the
year 1739, three other Journals were published by himself. 1. The
"Journal from his Arrival at Savannah to his Return to London."
(8vo. 38 pp.) 2. His "Journal from his Arrival at London to his
Departure from thence on his Way to Georgia." (8vo. 115 pp.) In both
instances the printer was James Hutton, the Moravian. The title of
the last mentioned, however, is not correct, for (through no fault
of his) Whitefield did not embark for Georgia until ten weeks after
he preached his farewell sermon on Kennington Common. Hence, 3.
During the same year, appeared the following: "A Continuation of the
Reverend Mr. Whitefield's Journal during the Time he was detained in
England by the Embargo." (8vo. 40 pp.) This extended from June 4 to
August 3, 1739; and from it and from other sources of information
the following facts are gleaned.
It has been already stated that Dr. Trapp's "fourth and last Sermon
against Mr. Whitefield and the Methodists," was preached on Sunday,
May 20. Soon after this, Whitefield published the following: "A
Preservative against unsettled Notions, and want of Principles, in
regard to Righteousness and Christian Perfection. An explanatory
Sermon on that mistaken text, 'Be not righteous over-much, neither
make thyself over-wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?' Being
a more particular Answer to Dr. Trapp's four Sermons upon the same
text than have yet been published. By George Whitefield, A.B., of
Pembroke College, Oxford. London: printed for G. Whitefield, in the
year 1739." (12mo. 33 pp.)
In all respects, this was an unwise publication. Prefixed to it is
a somewhat egotistic and ostentatious address, "To all the true
members of Christ's holy Church," in which Whitefield says:--
"As the whole of this great nation seems now more than ever
in danger of being hurried into one or other of these equally
pernicious extremes--irreligion or fanaticism--I thought myself
more than ordinarily obliged to rouse your, perhaps, drowsy
vigilance, by warning you of the nearness of your peril. Take
the friendly caution I give you in good part, and endeavour to
profit by it. Be mindless of me, and attend wholly to the saving
truths I here deliver to you from the mouth of God Himself. Of
this only be persuaded, that they are uttered by one who has
your eternal salvation as much at heart as his own."
The chief faults, however, of this sermonic pamphlet are its pious,
but personal abuse of Dr. Trapp. The minister of the four churches
of St. Leonard's, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Christ Church, and
Harlington, merited rebuke; but Whitefield's epithets and strictures
were of greater service to Dr. Trapp than to the man who wrote them.
With all his faults, Dr. Trapp was a distinguished man. At different
periods of his life, he had been Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford;
in the same college he had been appointed to the first Birkhead
professorship of poetry; he had filled the office of chaplain to Sir
Constantine Phipps, Lord Chancellor of Ireland; and he had published
several poetical and other works, of one of which the University of
Oxford had marked their approval, by conferring upon him the degree
of D.D. Further, he was now in his sixtieth year, and therefore
much more than twice the age of Whitefield. His attack on young
Whitefield had been fierce, almost savage; Whitefield's retaliatory
attack was what? The reader must judge for himself. Whitefield
writes:--
"This earthly-minded minister of a new gospel has taken a
text which seems to favour his naughty purpose of weaning the
well-disposed little ones of Christ from that perfect purity
of heart and spirit which is necessary to all such as mean to
live in our Lord Jesus. O Lord, what shall become of the flock
when their shepherds betray them into the hands of the ravenous
wolf! when a minister of Thy word perverts it to overthrow Thy
kingdom, and to destroy Scripture with Scripture! Solomon, in
the person of a desponding, ignorant, indolent liver, says to
the man of righteousness: 'Be not righteous over-much, neither
make thyself over-wise. Why shouldest thou destroy thyself?'
But must my poor, angry, over-sighted brother Trapp, therefore,
personate a character so unbecoming his function, merely to
overthrow the express injunction of the Lord to us, which
obliges us never to give over pursuing and thirsting after the
perfect righteousness of Christ till we rest in Him? Father,
forgive him, for he knows not what he says! Oh, what advantage
might not Satan gain over the elect, if the false construction
put upon this text by that unseeing teacher should prevail!
Yet though he blushes not to assist Satan to bruise our heel,
I shall endeavour to bruise the heads of both, by shewing the
genuine sense of the text in question."
Having given what he conceives to be "the genuine sense," Whitefield
proceeds:--
"This is the true, genuine sense of the text, and every other
sense put upon it is _false_ and _groundless_, and wrested
rather to pervert than to explain the truth. O Christian
simplicity, whither art thou fled? Why will not the clergy
speak the truth? And why must this false prophet suffer thy
people to believe a lie, because they have held the truth in
unrighteousness? Raise up, I beseech Thee, O Lord, some true
pastors, who may acquaint them with the nature and necessity of
perfect righteousness, and lead them to that love of Christian
perfection which the angry-minded, pleasure-taking Dr. Trapp
labours to divert them from, by teaching that 'all Christians
must have to do with some vanities.' Lord, open his eyes, and
touch his heart, and convert him, and all those erring ministers
who 'have seen vain and foolish things for Thy people, and have
not discovered their iniquity to turn away their captivity.'
For 'they have erred through wine, and through strong drink are
out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through
strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the
way through strong drink, they err in vision, they stumble in
judgment.'"
"It is not surprising to see a man of this cast of mind making a
vain ostentation of his little superficial acquaintance with the
ancient Greeks and Romans. What is this but acting conformably
to his principle, that _all Christians must have to do with
some vanities_? And shall we wonder to hear such an one prefer
their writings, to those of an apostle; or be astonished to
see him wound the apostle with raillery for wishing to 'know
nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified'? No; with him it
is consistency to laugh and reprove you out of the _perfection
of righteousness_, which, however he may play with terms, is
with him the same as being _righteous over-much_. What will not
men advance who are drunk with passion, and intoxicated with
self-love! To such lengths does the love of the world hurry
these self-fond, merry-making worldlings. What wonder is it
that lovers and strugglers after the _perfect righteousness_ of
Christ should be charged with _enthusiasm_, with _folly_, with
_fanaticism_ and _madness_? Can you be amazed at it, in an age
'when all manner of vice abounds to a degree almost unheard
of'? when 'the land is full of adulterers,' and when, 'because
of swearing, the land mourneth'? Oh, how is the faithful city
become a harlot! Oh, how 'my heart within me is broken!' Because
of the clergy, 'all my bones shake! I am like a drunken man, and
like a man whom wine hath overcome; because of the Lord, and
because of the words of His holiness,' perverted by this deluded
clergyman. When the clergy become teachers of worldly maxims,
what can be expected from the laity?"
"Such is the language which the indolent, earthly-minded,
pleasure-taking clergy of the Church of England use to
strengthen the hands of evil-doers. Such is the doctrine of the
letter-learned divine, who has dipped his pen in gall to decry
_perfect righteousness_. But suffer not yourselves to be deluded
by him. As I have already shewn you, he is grossly (Lord, grant
he was not maliciously!) mistaken in his manner of explaining
this text. He acts the character of a vain libertine, full of
self-love and earthly desires. May I not--yea, must I not--warn
you, that this man is an enemy to _perfect righteousness_ in
men through Christ Jesus, and therefore _no friend_ to Christ?
Oh that my head were an ocean, and my eyes fountains of tears,
to weep night and day for this poor creature, this hoodwinked
member of the clergy!"
This is quite enough. It is a painful task to adduce such extracts;
but it would not be honest to withhold them. Whitefield's impetuous
character, and the immense number and extreme violence of the
publications against him and against the Methodists in general,
cannot be understood without them. Whitefield's "Answer to Dr.
Trapp's Four Sermons" was unworthy of him. It was an outburst of
petulant irritation, all the more offensive because arrayed in the
garb of piety. It did no good either to Whitefield or the cause of
Christ. It, and similar attacks, to be noticed shortly, brought
upon him and his fellow-Methodists an enormous amount of personal
abuse. No doubt, many of the clergy of the Church of England were
"indolent, earthly-minded, and pleasure-taking;" but this was not
the way to mend them. Whitefield's mission was not to rail against
the clergy, but to convert sinners. The only excuses that can be
made for him are, that he was young; that he was naturally impetuous
and imprudent; that he had been greatly irritated; and that,
perhaps, he was somewhat thrown off his balance by the unequalled
popularity to which he had attained.
Having taken a formal leave of his congregations on Kennington
Common, Whitefield, on June 4, proceeded to Blackheath. He writes:
There was nearly as large a congregation as there was at Kennington
yesterday. My discourse was nearly two hours long, and the people
were so melted down, and wept so loud, that they almost drowned my
voice. I could not but cry out, 'Come, ye Pharisees, come and see
the Lord Jesus getting Himself the victory.'"
Next morning, Whitefield preached on Bexley Common, "to about three
hundred people; and, in the evening, near Woolwich, to several
thousands;" and spent the night with Mr. Delamotte, of Blendon.
On June 6, he did what he had not been allowed to do for some time
past,--read prayers, and preached in two churches; in the morning,
at Bexley, by invitation of the vicar, the Rev. Henry Piers; and in
the evening, in a church adjoining Gravesend. "I have no objection,"
he writes, "against the excellent Liturgy of our Church, but highly
approve of it, if ministers would lend me their churches to use it
in. If not, let them blame themselves, that I pray and preach in the
fields."
During these three days spent at Blackheath, Blendon, Bexley, and
Gravesend, Whitefield was accompanied by Charles Wesley, who says:--
"Monday, June 4. I stood by G. Whitefield while he preached on
the mount in Blackheath. The cries of the wounded were heard
on every side. What has Satan gained by turning him out of the
churches?
"Tuesday, June 5. I was with him at Blendon. Bowers and Bray"
(two prominent Moravians) "followed us thither, drunk with the
spirit of delusion. George honestly said, 'They were two grand
enthusiasts.'
"Wednesday, June 6. Above sixty of the poor people had passed
the night in Mr. Delamotte's barn, singing and rejoicing. I sang
and prayed with them before the door. George's exhortations left
them all in tears."
These were strange scenes, but want of space forbids comment.
Charles Wesley returned to London, and had a tussle with the
Moravians. Two men, John Shaw and William Fish, were insolently
zealous. "Shaw pleaded for his spirit of prophecy;" and accused
Charles "with love of preeminence," and "with making proselytes
twofold more children of the devil than before." Fish said Charles
was delivered over unto Satan; and both he and Shaw declared
themselves no longer members of the Church of England. Charles was
also greatly annoyed by a mad prophetess, who had sprung up among
the brethren. Whitefield heard of all this, and wrote as follows to
the London Moravians:--
"BLENDON, _June 12, 1739_.
"MY DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIST,--I am jealous over you with a godly
jealousy. I find more and more that Satan has desired to have
some of you in particular, that he may sift you as wheat, and,
if possible, divide and separate you all. I hear there is a
woman among you, who pretends to the spirit of prophecy; and,
what is more unaccountable, I hear that Brother B---- (Bray?)
seems to approve of her. You have great need, therefore, to try
the spirits, whether they be of God. The devil is beginning to
mimic God's work, and is now transforming himself into an angel
of light, in order more effectually to gain his point. I cannot
but think that Brother ---- is at present under a spirit of
delusion. He, as well as Brother ----, I believe, imagines there
will be a power given to work miracles, and that now Christ
is coming to reign a thousand years upon the earth. But what
need is there of miracles, such as healing sick bodies, when
we see greater miracles every day done by the power of God's
Word? Why should we tempt God in requiring further signs? As
for our Lord's coming at this time to reign upon the earth, I
answer, 'It is not for us to know the times and seasons, which
the Father hath put in His own power.' That a great work is
begun is evident; that it will be carried on, I doubt not; but
how it will end, I know not, neither do I desire to know. It is
sufficient for me to do the work of the day in its day, and to
rest satisfied in this, that all end in God's glory.
"My dear brethren, be not offended at this plainness of speech.
I would all the Lord's servants were prophets; but then, I would
not have people think themselves prophets of the Lord, when they
are only enthusiasts. If Mr. ---- is actuated by a good spirit,
why is he not patient of reproof? Why does he fly into a passion
when contradicted? Why does he pretend to be infallible, and
that God always speaks in him?
"Pure unfeigned love causes me to use this freedom. Many of you
God has worked upon by my ministry, and, therefore, I would not
have you ignorant of Satan's devices. O beware of him at this
time. Do not conceive prejudices against each other. Do not
dispute, but love. Purge out the old leaven from amongst you.
Build up each other in your most holy faith. My dear brethren, I
am your common servant in our dear Lord Jesus,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."
This is not the place to detail, at greater length, the wranglings
between the Moravians and the Methodists; but, after this, with
the exception of attending a Moravian love-feast on June 25, and a
Society meeting on August 1, Whitefield seems to have had no further
connection with the Brethren.
On June 7, Whitefield preached again in the church near Gravesend,
and in Mr. Piers's church at Bexley; and, on the two following days,
at Bexley, Charlton, and Dulwich. He was invited to Charlton by the
Earl and Countess of Egmont, who entertained him "with the utmost
civility."