"The many happy hours I spent with you at Oxon, and the benefit
I have received from your instructions and example, are yet
fresh upon my memory. I long to have my dear friend come forth
and preach the truth as it is in Jesus. Not a righteousness
or inward holiness of our own, whereby we may make ourselves
meet, but the righteousness of another, even the Lord our
righteousness; upon the imputation and apprehending of which
by faith, we shall be made meet, by His Holy Spirit, to live
with, and to enjoy God. Let me advise dear Mr. Hervey to lay
aside all prejudice, and to read and pray over St. Paul's
Epistles to the Romans and Galatians; and then let him tell me
what he thinks of this doctrine. Most of your old friends are
now happily enlightened. God sets His seal to such preaching
in an extraordinary manner, and, I am persuaded, the gates of
hell shall never be able to prevail against it. O that dear Mr.
Hervey would also join with us! O that the Lord would open his
eyes to behold aright this part of the mystery of godliness! How
would it rejoice my heart! how would it comfort his own soul! I
have written to dear Mr. Orchard,[274] as well as to you, out of
the simplicity of my heart."
[274] Paul Orchard, Esq., of Stoke Abbey, Devonshire, one of
Hervey's kindest friends. The extract immediately preceding this is
from the letter to Mr. Orchard.
The following refers to the painful mental exercises through which
Whitefield passed during his voyage to America:--
"The Searcher of all hearts alone knows what agonies of soul
I have undergone since my retirement from the world. The
remembrance of my past sins has overwhelmed me, and caused
tears to be my meat day and night. Indeed, I have mourned as
one mourneth for a firstborn; but I looked to Him whom I have
pierced. I was enabled to see the freeness and riches of His
grace, the infiniteness and eternity of His love; and my soul
received comfort. O the excellency of the doctrine of election,
and of the saints' final perseverance, to those who are sealed
by the Spirit of promise! I am persuaded, till a man comes to
believe and feel these important truths, he cannot come out
of himself; but, when convinced of these, and assured of the
application of them to his own heart, he then walks by faith
indeed, not in himself, but in the Son of God, who died and gave
Himself for him."
The next extract is from a letter to the father of Joseph Periam,
whose incarceration in a madhouse has been already mentioned:--
"Though unknown to you in person, yet, as you were pleased to
think me worthy of the care of your dear son, I think it my
duty to acquaint you of his welfare. I bless God that he came
with me. He is diligent and pious, and, I trust, will be a
comfort to you in your declining years. His mind seems settled
and composed; and, by reading and following the Bible, he is a
partaker of that peace which the world cannot give. His dear and
honoured father is much upon his heart. How would it rejoice him
to hear that you also were become a Christian indeed! Be not
offended, dear sir, at my expressing myself thus. Christianity
is more than a name and a bare outward profession. Morality of
itself will never carry us to heaven. No, Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life. There is no being happy without
a lively faith in Him, wrought in the heart by the blessed
Spirit of God. This faith transforms the whole man, delivers him
from the tyranny of his passions, and makes him entirely a new
creature. This is the reason why it is foolishness to the world.
Your son's case, in this respect, was not singular. As soon as
ever we commence Christians, we commence fools for Christ's
sake. Every truly religious man must be deemed a madman."[275]
[275] It may be added here, that, in a foot-note in the edition of
his Journals published in 1756, Whitefield states: "Joseph Periam
married one of the Orphan-house mistresses. After a few years, both
died; and I have now two of their sons in the Orphan House, who are
very promising boys."
In the month of June, 1739, in a letter to a friend, Wesley made use
of the memorable declaration, which has been quoted times without
number, "I look upon all the world as my parish." In the following
extract, Whitefield employs the same expression, thus shewing
that it was not peculiar to Wesley, but common among the Oxford
Methodists:--
"The whole world is now my parish. Wheresoever my Master calls
me, I am ready to go and preach His everlasting gospel. My only
grief is that I cannot do more for Christ. I ought to love and
do much, having had so much forgiven. Oh pray, dear sir, that I
may never be weary in well-doing."
In the following paragraph Whitefield shews his intention in
reference to the parish of Savannah:--
"I intend resigning the parsonage of Savannah. The Orphan
House I can take care of, supposing I should be kept at a
distance. Besides, when I have resigned the parish, I shall be
more at liberty to make a tour round America, if God should
ever call me to such a work. However, I determine nothing; I
wait on the Lord. I am persuaded He will shew me what is His
will. How earnestly do I desire to be dissolved, that I may
be with Christ! Sometimes, my weak body gives me hopes that I
shall not be long in the flesh; but then, the strength that is
communicated to me, and the consideration that I have but just
begun my testimony, fill me with fears, lest I should live to be
grey-headed. But I endeavour to resign myself wholly to God. If
He preserves me from falling into sin, and from dishonouring His
holy name, let Him do what seemeth Him good with me."
These extracts are "odds and ends;" but they are useful, as
unfolding Whitefield's character and principles, his opinions and
intentions, the state of his mind and heart, after his wondrous
services in England, and during his voyage to America. Another
letter, or rather pastoral epistle, written at this period, demands
a more lengthened notice. It was published soon afterwards, with
the following title: "A Letter from the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield,
to the Religious Societies lately set on foot in several parts
of England and Wales. Wrote on board the _Elizabeth_, Captain
Stevenson, during the voyage to Philadelphia, 1739. Edinburgh:
printed for James Beugo, Bookseller, in Dumferling, 1740."[276] (26
pp.) Whitefield had been closely associated with these Societies
in London, Bristol, and elsewhere; he highly approved of them; and
it was natural to expect that he would take a profound interest in
their continued existence and prosperity. The reader must be content
with short extracts from this long epistle.
[276] The same letter, in the same year, was printed in London, "by
W. Strahan, and sold at Mr. James Hutton's," (8vo. 28 pp.,) with
the additional statement on the title-page, that it was "published
for the benefit of the school lately erected among the colliers
in Kingswood, near Bristol." This edition had also the following
characteristic motto prefixed, taken from the works of St. Hilary:--
"One thing I forewarn you of--beware of Antichrist; for it is evil
to be taken, as you are, with the love of stone walls; it is evil
to have a veneration for the church of God, as you have, in houses
and edifices; it is evil to cry, as you do, Peace, peace, under
these: for is there any doubt to be made, whether Antichrist will
fix his seat in these? To me, mountains, and forests, and fens, and
prisons, and pits, are the safer places; for in these it was that
the prophets--either waiting for, or being actually overwhelmed
with, the Spirit of God--prophesied, or spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost."
_Legality of the Religious Societies._--"If you fear God, and
truly honour the king, and are of the number of those who
are quiet in the land, no reason can be urged against your
Societies. In this respect, a private prelate has no more
authority than a private presbyter. If it be lawful for more
than five to meet in a private vestry, it is equally lawful for
more than five to meet in a private house; as is the practice
of some of the Societies, who are under the government of those
called the Twelve Stewards. If it be enquired of you, 'By what
authority you sometimes pray without a premeditated form of
words?' you may enquire, 'By what authority any one reads the
Church Forms, who is not commissioned so to do, and that in any
place but in the church, where only they are appointed to be
read, and only by one so commissioned?' If they reply, 'You have
Dr. Woodward's Form;' you may answer them with this question,
'What difference is there, in respect to others, between a
person's reading a form, which few who hear it know beforehand,
and a person's praying extempore, as the Holy Spirit gives him
utterance?' If they laugh at the mention of 'praying by the
Spirit,' I hope you know better. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free; and be not afraid
to make innovations in the Church, which does not confine its
members to forms, except within the walls of the church, nor
even there altogether."
_Admission of new members._--"You ought to be _very cautious_
whom you admit into fellowship with you. Examine them again
and again, not barely whether they receive the sacrament, and
go to church, but whether they be in the faith. Set them upon
proving their own selves; and by no means receive them into
your brotherhood, unless they can produce sufficient evidences
of their having tasted the good word of life, and felt the
powers of the world to come. Some may object that this is not
a very good way to increase and multiply you as to number;
but it is the best, the only way, to establish and increase a
communion of true saints. Such a Society, consisting of a few
solid Christians, is far preferable to one that is filled with
a multitude of such as do not bring forth fruit unto holiness,
but have only the fig-leaves of an outward profession. Formal
hypocrites will do any Society more harm than good."
_Object of their meetings._--"The end of your meeting is not
that you may think yourselves more holy than your neighbours,
much less to form a sect or party, or to promote a schism or
sedition in the Church or State. No: such thoughts, I trust,
are far from you; for they are earthly, sensual, devilish.
The only end which I hope you all propose by your assembling
yourselves together, is the renewing of your depraved natures,
and promoting the hidden life of Jesus Christ in your souls."
_Doctrine._--"I think it my bounden duty to exhort you to
contend earnestly for the doctrine of _justification by faith
only_, because so many blind guides are lately gone out into
the world. It is much to be feared that many of our present
preachers are no better than doctrinal papists. One of the most
reputed orthodox prelates in the kingdom, in a late pastoral
letter, advises his clergy, 'so to explain the doctrine of
justification in the sight of God by faith only, as to make
good works a necessary condition.' Such advice from a Roman
cardinal would be no more than we might expect; but, coming
from a bishop of the Church of England, is surprising, and much
to be lamented. God forbid that you should so learn Christ!
No, my brethren, in the great mystery of man's redemption by
Jesus Christ, boasting is entirely excluded. We must not expect
to be saved, or in any way to recommend ourselves to God, by
any or all the works of righteousness which we have done, or
shall, or can do. The Lord Christ is our righteousness, our
whole righteousness--imputed to us, instead of our own. 'We
are accounted righteous before God, only for the merits of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by faith,' saith the eleventh article of our
Church. Observe, my brethren, justified _by_ or _through_ faith,
and not _for_ faith; for faith is only a means or instrument
whereby the whole righteousness of Jesus Christ is applied to
the sinner's soul. Whosoever thus believes may be assured that
his pardon is sealed in heaven, notwithstanding he has lived in
an open breach of God's commandments all his lifetime before.
This faith, however, will not be dead, idle, or inactive;
for it is not a faith of the head, or a bare assent to things
credible as credible; the devils thus believe and tremble; but
it is a faith of the heart, a living principle of new life,
infused into the soul by the Spirit of God, applying that
inwardly, which was wrought for him outwardly by the obedience
and death of Jesus Christ, and continually exciting the
possessor of it to shew it forth by his works; not as necessary
conditions, but as proofs of his justification in the sight of
God; and as so many tokens of his gratitude and love for what
God has done for his soul."
_Christian fellowship._--"Content not yourselves with reading,
singing, and praying together; but set some time apart to
confess your faults, and to communicate your experience one to
another. For want of this, (which I take to be one chief design
of private meetings), most of the old Societies in London, I
fear, are sunk into a dead formality, and have only a name to
live. They meet on a Sabbath evening, read a chapter, and sing
a psalm; but seldom, if ever, acquaint each other with the
operations of God's Spirit upon their souls; notwithstanding
this was the great end of those who first began these Societies.
Hence it is, that, they have only the form of godliness left
amongst them, and continue utter strangers to the state of one
another's hearts. My brethren, let not your coming together
be thus altogether in vain, but plainly and freely tell one
another what God has done for your souls. To this end, you
would do well, as others have done, to form yourselves into
little companies of four or five each, and meet once a week to
tell each other what is in your hearts; that you may then also
pray for, and comfort each other, as need shall require. None
but those who have experienced it, can tell the unspeakable
advantages of such a union and communion of souls. I know not
a better means in the world to keep hypocrisy out from amongst
you. Pharisees and unbelievers will pray, read, and sing psalms;
but none, save an Israelite indeed, will endure to have his
heart searched out."
Counsels like these are always in season. Whitefield never
instituted class-meetings, in the same sense as his friend Wesley
did; but he strenuously urged the use of that Christian fellowship,
which was the chief object of such meetings when they were first
commenced. The reader will do well, in this age of ritualistic
formality, to ponder some of the points in Whitefield's "Letter to
the Religious Societies of England, in 1739."
Enough has been written to shew the views and feelings with which
Whitefield returned to America, in 1739. He, William Seward, and
another friend, landed at Lewis Town, about a hundred and fifty
miles from Philadelphia, on October 30. He writes:--
"God is the great householder of the whole world, and I look
upon all persons as so many parts of His great family. As there
is here the same sun, so there is here the same God--in America
as in England. I would have all places alike to me, so I am
where God would have me to be; but I hope I shall never account
myself at home till I arrive at my heavenly Father's house
above. I trust my heart is there already. Oh, when shall I shake
off this earthly tabernacle! It sadly confines my soul. Lord,
help me patiently to tarry till my blessed change comes!"
Next day the young evangelist, by request, preached "to a serious
and attentive congregation;" and, at five in the afternoon, he and
his two friends set out for Philadelphia, the place to which the
ship, they had left, was bound. After a ride of twenty-seven miles
through the woods, they came, at ten o'clock at night, to what was
called a tavern. The host and hostess made them a cake of unleavened
bread, and set before them a few eggs and a little cider, and they
went to bed rejoicing.
The day following, they rode fifty miles, and "came to a more
convenient inn." Whitefield says, "Our Lord comforted us as we came
on our way; and our hearts burned within us whilst we talked to one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."
On the third day, they reached Philadelphia, where the _Elizabeth_,
with what Whitefield calls his "family," had arrived in safety.
Pennsylvania, of which Philadelphia was the capital, was an English
settlement about two hundred and fifty miles in length, and nearly
the same in breadth.[277] As is well known, this large extent of
territory had been granted to William Penn, the Quaker, about sixty
years previous to Whitefield's visit. In 1682, Penn began to found
his important colony. The soil, in general, was extremely fertile.
Game of all kinds was amazingly plentiful. Deer, hares, turkeys,
pheasants, partridges, wild ducks, wild geese, swans, and pigeons,
were innumerable. In the immense forests, were bears, panthers,
wild cats, and wolves; while, in the low grounds, were found minks,
musk rats, and opossums. The woods consisted of the oak, the ash,
the beech, the chestnut, the cedar, the walnut, the cypress, the
hickory, the sassafras, and the pine,--all of which, in many
instances, were gracefully festooned with vines. Fruits, including
apples, cherries, pears, peaches, plums, and melons, grew in rich
abundance. Penn's colony originally consisted chiefly of English
Quakers, who, in consequence of their refusing to pay tithes and
church dues, had frequently found themselves the inmates of English
prisons. These, together with a few Dutch and Swedish settlers
already on the ground, began to transform this glorious wilderness
into a cultivated land. The Indians--the original proprietors--were
treated with justice and kindness. Religious and civil freedom was
made the basis of government. All persons professing to believe in
one God were freely tolerated; and all who professed to believe in
Jesus Christ, of whatever denomination, were eligible for government
posts and offices. The result was, emigrants and refugees, of all
persuasions, flocked to Pennsylvania, to put themselves under the
protection of its founder's laws; lands were cultivated; towns were
built; and when Penn died, about twenty years before Whitefield's
first visit, the colony was, in every sense, free and flourishing.
[277] "European Settlements in America." Sixth edition, 1777.
In 1739, the population of Pennsylvania was probably not more than
from fifty to a hundred thousand,[278] and consisted of Quakers,
Episcopalians, Calvinists, Lutherans, Independents, Baptists,
Presbyterians, and "Dumplers, a sort of German sect, who wore long
beards and a habit resembling that of Friars." As might be expected,
governmental power was chiefly in the hands of Quakers, and, with
rare exceptions, it was humanely exercised.
[278] Twenty-two years afterwards, it was about 250,000, half of
whom were Germans, Swedes, or Dutch. ("European Settlements." Sixth
edition. 1777.)
Philadelphia, the chief town of the colony, stood upon a neck of
land, immediately at the confluence of the rivers Delaware and
Schuylkill. It was planned in an oblong form, and designed to extend
two miles, from river to river There were to be eight parallel
streets, all two miles in length, to be intersected by sixteen
others, each in length a mile, and all of them broad, spacious, and
even; with proper spaces left for the public buildings, churches,
and market places. In the centre was a square of ten acres. The two
principal streets were each one hundred feet wide; and most of the
houses had a small garden and orchard attached to them. When William
Penn began his work in 1682, Philadelphia consisted of three or
four insignificant cottages. "Conies were yet undisturbed in their
hereditary burrows; the deer fearlessly bounded past blazed trees,
unconscious of foreboded streets; and the stranger that wandered
from the river bank was lost in the thickets of an interminable
forest. Two years afterwards, the place contained about six hundred
houses, and the schoolmaster and the printing-press had begun their
work."[279] In 1761, the population of Philadelphia was about
13,000.[280]
[279] Bancroft's "History of the United States."
[280] "European Settlements."
The state of religion, in Pennsylvania, was lamentable. The
Rev. Samuel Blair, a Presbyterian minister, living at the time,
observes:--
"There were some sincerely religious people, and a considerable
number pretty exact in the observance of the external forms of
religion; but with this, the most part seemed to rest contented,
and to satisfy their consciences with a dead formality. A
lamentable ignorance of the main essentials of true practical
religion, and the doctrines relating thereto, generally
prevailed. The nature and necessity of the new birth were but
little known or thought of. The necessity of a conviction of
sin and misery, in order to a saving closure with Christ, was
hardly known at all. It was thought that, if there was any need
of a heart-distressing sight of the soul's danger, it was only
needful for the grosser sort of sinners; and for any others to
be thus deeply exercised, was generally looked upon to be a
great evil and temptation. There was scarcely any suspicion of
the danger of depending upon self-righteousness, and not upon
the righteousness of Christ alone, for salvation. The necessity
of being first in Christ by a vital union, and in a justified
state, before our religious services can be well-pleasing and
acceptable to God, was very little understood. The common
notion seemed to be, that, if people were aiming to be in the
way of duty as well as they could, there was no reason to be
much afraid. According to these principles, people generally
were careless at heart, and stupidly indifferent about the
great concerns of eternity. It was sad to see with what a
careless behaviour the public ordinances were attended, and how
people were given to worldly discourse on the Lord's-day. In
public companies, a vain and frothy lightness was apparent in
the deportment of many professors. Religion, as it were, lay
a-dying, and ready to expire its last breath of life in this
part of the visible church."[281]
[281] Gillies' "Historical Collections," vol. ii., p. 150.
It is hoped that this brief account of Pennsylvania will not be
thought irrelevant. It was here that Whitefield began his itinerant
career in England's transatlantic colonies. During the four months
he had spent in Georgia, in 1738, his ministry had been earnest,
but regular. Now, in Pennsylvania, he became what he had been, for
seven months in England, not a fixed star, but a flaming comet, his
course eccentric, and calculated to alarm episcopal, presbyterian,
and other kinds of precisians in the English settlements, quite as
much as the same sort of methodical religionists had been alarmed
in England. In both countries his action was unpremeditated. On his
return to England, at the end of 1738, he had not the least idea
of becoming an open-air and itinerant evangelist. He came to be
ordained a priest, and to collect subscriptions for his contemplated
Orphan House. In like manner, when he returned to America in 1739,
he had no conception that the next fourteen months would be occupied
as they were. He was intentionally returning to Savannah, there,
for about a year, to fulfil the duties of his office as a regular
appointed minister of the Church of England, and also, in such a
capacity, to provide a home for the orphans of his parish. Instead
of this, however, most of his time, as will soon be seen, was spent,
not in Georgia, but in itinerating in the other English settlements.
This was exceedingly irregular; but, looking at results, who will
say that it was wrong? When he arrived at Philadelphia, he did not
intend it; but, unquestionably, his Master did. The churches in the
English colonies needed a religious impulse quite as much as the
churches of the mother-country. Under God, the young evangelist and
his fellows had moved and agitated England; and now he was employed,
by a Providence which cannot err, and greatly to his own surprise,
in moving and agitating America. Let us follow him.
After riding, during the day, sixty miles, through woods and forests
and partially cultivated lands, he arrived at Philadelphia, at
eleven o'clock at night, on Friday, November 2, 1739. Where he
slept, we are not informed; perhaps, nowhere; for most likely, at
such an hour, the sober-minded Philadelphians had all retired to
rest. Next morning, he "went on board the _Elizabeth_ to see his
family;" he visited the officials of the town; he held Christian
communion "with some gracious souls;" and he "hired a house at a
very cheap rate, and was quite settled in it before night."
Sunday, Nov. 4. He "read prayers and assisted at the communion
in the morning; dined with one of the churchwardens, and
preached to a large congregation in the afternoon; went in the
evening to a Quakers' meeting, and heartily wished they would
talk of an outward as well as inward Christ."
Monday, Nov. 5. He "read prayers and preached to a large
auditory; dined with the other churchwarden; was visited in
the afternoon by the Presbyterian minister; went afterwards to
see the Baptist minister; and spent part of the evening most
agreeably with two loving Quakers."
Tuesday, Nov. 6. He "read prayers and preached; went to the
funeral of a Quaker's child, and, as none of the Quakers spoke,
he gave a word of exhortation; was visited in the evening by the
Presbyterian and Baptist ministers; and admitted some women to
prayers with his family."
Wednesday, Nov. 7. He "read prayers and preached in the church;
and gave a word of exhortation to more than a room full of
people at his own hired house."
Thursday, Nov. 8. He "read prayers and preached to a more
numerous congregation than he had seen yet; dined with an
honest, open-hearted, true Israelitish Quaker; and preached, in
the evening, from the Court-house stairs, to about six thousand
people."
Friday, Nov. 9. He "read prayers and preached as usual in the
morning; was visited in a kind manner by the minister of the
parish; and preached again at six in the evening, from the
Court-house stairs, to, he believed, nearly eight thousand
hearers. Even in London, he never observed a more profound
silence. The night was clear, but not cold; and lights were in
most of the windows round about."
Saturday, Nov. 10. "About eleven, he read prayers and preached
in the church; then dined with the minister of the parish;
at his return home, was much comforted by the coming of Mr.
Tennent, an old grey-headed disciple and soldier of Jesus
Christ; about three, went to the prison, and preached on the
trembling jailor; returned home with the Swedish minister
and Mr. Tennent; conversed with them of the things of God;
and, in the evening, preached, to as large a congregation as
there was the night before, from the Court-house stairs." He
adds: "I continued my discourse above an hour, and, when I had
finished, the people seemed so unwilling to go, that I began
to pray afresh, and I hope the Lord sent them home not without
a blessing. After preaching, my house was filled with people
who came to join in psalms and family prayer. Many wept most
bitterly whilst I was praying. Their hearts seemed to be loaded
with a sense of sin, the only preparative for the visitation of
Jesus Christ. Blessed be the Lord for sending me hither! Lord,
give me humility, and make me truly thankful! Amen, Lord Jesus!"
Thus did Whitefield begin his memorable ministry in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Tennent has just been mentioned, and, as he and his family
will hereafter be often introduced to the reader's notice, a brief
account of him and them seems requisite.
The Rev. William Tennent, senior, was from Ireland, and was an
ordained minister of the Established Church of that country. He was
chaplain to an Irish nobleman; but, being conscientiously scrupulous
about conforming to the terms imposed on the clergy, he was deprived
of his living; and, in 1718, migrated to Pennsylvania, with his
wife, four sons, and a daughter.[282] He applied to be received
as a member of the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia. That body
required him to state in writing the reasons of his dissent from
the Episcopal communion. One of the most prominent of his reasons
was, that the Church of Ireland connived "at Arminian doctrines."
His case was considered; his credentials were satisfactory; he was
admitted a member of the Synod, and settled at Neshaminy, twenty
miles north of Philadelphia.[283] There, about the year 1720, he
erected a school, long known as the "Log College," where some of
the most distinguished ministers of that period received their
education. Among these were his four sons, and Messrs. Rowland,
Campbell, Lawrence, Beatty, Robinson, and Samuel Blair. He died in
1743. He is described as "a man of great integrity, simplicity,
industry, and piety;" and to him the American churches were much
indebted.
[282] _Evangelical Magazine_, 1807, p. 249.
[283] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."
Charles Tennent, one of the four sons, was minister of the
Presbyterian Church at Whiteclay Creek.[284]
[284] _Evangelical Magazine_, 1807, p. 249.
John was licensed by the Newcastle Presbytery, and was settled at
Freehold, New Jersey, where his labours were greatly blessed. His
chapel was usually crowded; religion became the general subject of
discourse; the terror of God fell on the inhabitants of the place;
and many were converted. John Tennent's ministry was of short
duration. He was called to the Freehold congregation in 1730, and
died in 1732.[285]
[285] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."
He was succeeded by his brother William, in 1733. The religious
excitement, commenced under the ministry of John, continued, less or
more, for about a dozen years. Mr. William Tennent writes: "Those
who were brought to the Saviour were all prepared for it by a sharp
law-work of conviction, discovering to them their sinfulness both
by nature and practice, as well as their liableness to damnation
for their original and actual transgressions. They all confessed
the justice of God in their eternal perdition; and thus were shut
up to the blessed necessity of seeking relief by faith in Christ
alone."[286] For forty-four years, Mr. Tennent officiated as pastor
of the church at Freehold. He died on the 8th of March, 1777.[287]
The old house at Freehold, in which John and William Tennent used
to preach, is still standing in its primitive simplicity. The
building is forty feet by sixty, and, beneath its middle aisle, are
deposited the remains of William Tennent. In one of the walls is a
handsome monumental tablet, recording the chief dates of his earthly
pilgrimage.[288]
[286] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."
[287] _Evangelical Magazine_, 1807, p. 292.
[288] Belcher's "Biography of Whitefield," p. 117.
Gilbert Tennent became a licentiate of the Newcastle Presbytery in
1725, and, in 1726, was ordained minister of New Brunswick, in New
Jersey. "For eighteen months after his settlement at New Brunswick,
Mr. Tennent saw no evidence that any one had been savingly benefited
by his labours. He then commenced a serious examination of the
members of his church, as to the grounds of their hope, which he
found, in many cases, to be but sand. Such he solemnly warned, and
urged to seek converting grace. He preached much, at this time, upon
original sin, repentance, the nature and necessity of conversion,
and endeavoured to alarm the secure by the terrors of the Lord.
These efforts were followed by the conviction and conversion of
a considerable number of persons."[289] Gilbert Tennent became
prominent in his endeavours to reform abuses in the Presbyterian
churches, and not infrequently was in conflict with his brethren.
As early as 1735, he succeeded in persuading the synod to pass a
resolution that due care should be taken to examine candidates both
for the ministry and for the Lord's supper, respecting the evidences
of the grace of God in them, as well as their other necessary
qualifications. In 1740, he read a paper to the New Brunswick Synod,
complaining that the preaching of a number of its members was
"powerless and unsavoury," "too general," "soft and flattering,"
and, therefore, "unsuccessful." He also, in the same year, preached
and published his famous sermon on the danger of an unconverted
ministry, which led to a Presbyterian schism. He described the
generality of the ministers of that generation as "letter-learned
Pharisees, plastered hypocrites, having the form of godliness, but
destitute of its power." He told the people that the reason why they
had seen so few cases of conviction or conversion among them was
because "the bulk of their spiritual guides were stone blind and
stone dead."[290]
[289] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."
[290] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."
In 1740, Whitefield persuaded him to act as his successor in Boston,
and in the Province of New England generally. Tennent consented,
and away he went to his new sphere of labour, with almost rustic
simplicity; wearing his hair undressed, and a large great-coat girt
with a leathern girdle. His ministry in New Jersey had been greatly
blessed; and now, in New England, it was hardly less successful than
Whitefield's had been. He seemed "to shake 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 impossible." In 1743, he
established a new church in Philadelphia, consisting of Whitefield's
followers, and closed his laborious and eminently successful
ministry in the year 1765.[291] For more than forty years, he had
enjoyed an unshaken assurance of his interest in redeeming love. As
a preacher, he had but few equals. His publications were more than a
score in number. At his death, he was succeeded in the congregation
at Philadelphia by the Rev. James Sproat, who had been converted by
his ministry.
[291] Philip's "Life and Times of Whitefield" and Hodge's "History
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States."
These are very imperfect notices of the Tennents; but they will help
the reader to understand ensuing extracts from Whitefield's Journals
and correspondence.
On Monday, Nov. 12, Whitefield left Philadelphia for the purpose of
visiting New York. Four horses were lent to him and to his friends.
He writes:--
"About one, we got safe to Burlington, in the Jerseys, twenty
miles from Philadelphia. Immediately after dinner, I read
prayers and preached in the church, to a mixed but thronged and
attentive congregation. About eight in the evening, we reached
Trent, another town in the Jerseys, and went to rest in peace
and joy.
"Tuesday, Nov. 13. Left Trent at six in the morning, and reached
Brunswick, thirty miles distant, at one. Here we were much
refreshed with the company of Mr. Gilbert Tennent, an eminent
Dissenting minister, about forty years of age, son of that good
old man who came to see me on Saturday at Philadelphia. God, I
find, has been pleased greatly to own his labours. He and his
associates are now the burning and shining lights of this part
of America. Several pious souls came to see me at his house,
with whom I took sweet counsel. At their request, I read the
Church Liturgy and preached in Mr. Tennent's meeting-house; for
there is no place set apart for the worship of the Church of
England. I was above an hour in my sermon, and I trust I shall
hear it was not preached in vain.
"Wednesday, Nov. 14. Set out from Brunswick, in company with
Mr. Tennent and my other fellow-travellers; and, as we passed
along, we spent our time most agreeably in telling one another
what God had done for our souls. About four, we reached New
York, where we were most affectionately received by the family
of Mr. Noble.[292] I waited upon Mr. V----y, the commissary,
but he was not at home. Then I went to the meeting-house to
hear Mr. Gilbert Tennent preach, and never before heard such
a searching sermon. 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 own hearts. Being deeply convicted of
sin, by God's Holy Spirit, at his first conversion, Mr. Tennent
has learned experimentally to dissect the heart of the natural
man. Hypocrites must either soon be converted or enraged at his
preaching. He is a son of thunder, and does not fear the faces
of men. After sermon, we spent the evening together at Mr.
Noble's house. My soul was humbled and melted down with a sense
of God's mercies, and I found more and more what a babe and
novice I was in the things of God.
[292] It was in compliance with Mr. Noble's request that
Whitefield visited New York.
"Thursday, Nov. 15. Waited upon Mr. V----; but he seemed to be
full of anger and resentment, and, before I asked him for the
use of his pulpit, denied it. He said, they did not want my
assistance. I replied, if they preached the gospel, I wished
them good luck in the name of the Lord; but, as he had denied
me the church without my asking the use of it, I would preach
in the fields, for all places were alike to me. I, therefore,
preached in the fields, to upwards of two thousand, at three in
the afternoon; and expounded, at six in the evening, to a very
thronged and attentive audience, in the reverend and worthy Mr.
Pemberton's[293] meeting-house. In the field, a few mocked, but,
after speaking to them, they grew more serious. At night, the
people seemed exceedingly attentive, and I have not felt greater
freedom in preaching, and more power in prayer, for a long while.
[293] The Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, who, in 1727, became minister
of the Presbyterian Church in New York. In 1754, he was
installed minister of the New Brick Church, in Boston. To the
end of life, he was one of Whitefield's faithful friends. He
died in 1777, aged 72.
"Saturday, Nov. 17. Preached, in the afternoon, at the
meeting-house, to a full congregation; and again at night, to a
great multitude standing round the doors.
"Sunday, Nov. 18. Preached, this morning at eight o'clock, to
a very attentive auditory. Went to the English Church, both
morning and evening. At night, a great multitude flocked to hear
the word. Some petitioned to have the use of the Town Hall, but
it was denied. I thought of expounding out of a window, and to
let the people stand in the street; but, at last, with much
difficulty, I got into the meeting-house, and, the people being
prevailed on to open the windows, numbers could hear, who stood
outside. About ten o'clock, I took boat, with my friends, and
had a pleasant passage to a place about half-way to Elizabeth
Town, where we lay down with joy, and thankfulness for the great
goodness the Lord had shewn us."
One who was present at these services in New York, wrote as follows,
in Prince's "Christian History":--
"I never saw, in my life, such attentive audiences as Mr.
Whitefield's in New York. All he said was demonstration, life,
and power. The people's eyes and ears hung upon his lips. They
greedily devoured every word. He preached, during four days,
twice every day. He is a man of middle stature, of a slender
body, of a fair complexion, and of a comely appearance. He is
of a sprightly, cheerful temper, and acts and moves with great
agility and life. The endowments of his mind are uncommon; his
wit is quick and piercing; his imagination lively and florid;
and, as far as I can discern, both are under the direction of a
solid judgment. He has a most ready memory, and, I think, speaks
entirely without notes. He has a clear and musical voice, and a
wonderful command of it. He uses much gesture, but with great
propriety. Every accent of his voice, every motion of his body
_speaks_; and both are natural and unaffected. If his delivery
be the product of art, it is certainly the perfection of it,
for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery of words,
but studies much plainness of speech. He spends not his zeal in
trifles. He breathes a most catholic spirit; and professes that
his whole design is to bring men to Christ; and that, if he can
obtain this end, his converts may go to what church, and worship
God in what form, they like best."
Such was the commencement of Whitefield's ministry in New York. His
own Church would not admit him; and, therefore, he began to preach
in Dissenting chapels. This was not pre-designed. Whitefield was a
child of Providence; and when that seemed to point out his path,
he felt no hesitancy, but, utterly regardless of the frowns and
flatteries of men, he did what he deemed to be his duty. There was
no dogged obstinacy about him. Perhaps one of his failings was that
he was too persuadable; but even such a failing (if such existed)
always leaned to the side of virtue. Writing, whilst at New York, to
the Rev. Benjamin Colman, D.D., of Boston, who had mentioned him in
a letter to Mr. Pemberton, he says:--
"I love to be acquainted with old servants of Jesus Christ.
I delight to sit at their feet and receive instruction from
them. You said right, reverend sir, when you said 'I was but
a young divine.' Indeed, I am a novice in the things of God.
I can only say that I desire to know the whole will of God,
that I may communicate it to others. Reverend sir, into what a
lethargy is the Christian world fallen! Foolish and wise virgins
are all slumbering and sleeping. It is high time for all who
love the Lord Jesus to lift up their voices like trumpets, and
to give warning of the Bridegroom's coming. Many, I hope, are
already alarmed.[294] Philadelphia people receive the gospel
gladly. Here [at New York] there has been a little opposition,
and, therefore, I hope success will be given to the word. Oh,
reverend sir, entreat the Lord that I may be kept humble, and
dependent upon our dear Lord Jesus. Shortly I expect to suffer
for Him. May I not deny Him in that hour!"
[294] Dr. Colman, in a letter to Dr. Watts, dated "Boston, January
16, 1740," says, "Mr. Whitefield arrived some months ago at
Philadelphia, where, and through the Jerseys and at New York, he
preached daily to incredible multitudes with great eloquence and
zeal. America is like to do him much honour. He proposes to see
Boston, in his return to Europe, about June next; and our town and
country stand ready to receive him as an angel of God. Ministers and
people, all but his own Church, speak of him with great esteem and
love. He seems spirited from on high, in an extraordinary manner,
assisted and prospered." (Milner's "Life and Times of Dr. Isaac
Watts," p. 652.)