"Took a sorrowful leave of Captain Gladman, and my dear brother
and fellow-traveller, Mr. Seward, whom I have dispatched to
England to bring me over a fellow-labourer, and to transact
several affairs of importance. Hitherto, Captain Gladman has had
the command of our sloop; but I have now committed the care of
it to his mate, whom God was pleased to bring home to Himself
when I was last at Philadelphia."
In foot-notes to a subsequent edition of his Journal, Whitefield
adds concerning Seward:--
"This was the last time I saw my worthy friend; for, before
my return to England, he was entered into his rest;" and,
concerning the mate, he says, "This young man lived with me and
served the Orphan House cheerfully and gratis for several years.
Afterwards, he married one of the orphans, and is now [1756]
settled as a merchant in Philadelphia, where both continue to
adorn the gospel of our Lord."
On the day he parted with Mr. Seward, Whitefield proceeded to
Woodbridge, where he preached to about two thousand people, and
"dined at the Dissenting minister's house." Thence, he rode to
Elizabeth Town, and preached "in the meeting-house," to a like
congregation, which included two clergymen and ten Dissenting
ministers. The next day, he arrived at New York, and preached on
"the common, to five or six thousand." During the night, the people
erected him a scaffold, from which, on Wednesday, April 30, he
preached twice, his night congregation numbering upwards of seven
thousand.
At this period, Whitefield's health was feeble; but his Christian
ardour would not permit him to indulge in rest. On May 1, he went,
in the morning, to Long Island, where "God had lately begun a most
glorious work, by the ministry of two young Presbyterian ministers."
Here, the Dutch ministers gave him the use of their church; and,
though exceedingly unwell, he preached nearly an hour and a half.
He then hurried back to New York; and, in the evening, addressed "as
large a congregation as ever." On May 2, he "preached twice in the
field, and once in the meeting-house." On May 4, he writes:--
"Sunday. Preached, at seven in the morning, in the
meeting-house.[346] Went to the English church twice; and
preached in the evening to about eight thousand in the field.
After sermon, numbers came to me, giving God thanks for what
they had heard, and brought several large contributions for my
poor orphans. Blessed be God! by public collections and private
donations, I have received upwards of £300 since I came hither."
[346] No doubt, Dr. Pemberton's, in Wall Street, at that time the
only Presbyterian meeting-house in New York. (Stevens's "History of
Methodism," vol. i., p. 143.)
Next day, he left New York, and came to Freehold, William and
Gilbert Tennent meeting him on the way. On May 6, he preached
to about three thousand at Freehold; rode, in company with many
others, sixteen miles to Allen's Town, where he preached to the
same number; and then went twenty miles farther, to Burlington,
where he arrived at midnight. After a few hours' sleep, he crossed
the ferry into Pennsylvania, preached to four thousand at Bristol,
hurried to Philadelphia, was warmly welcomed by his "kind host, Mr.
Benezet,"[347] and concluded the day by hearing "Mr. Jones, the
Baptist minister, who preached the truth as it is in Jesus."
[347] Anthony Benezet was born in France in 1713. At the age
of eighteen, he came to Philadelphia, and was apprenticed to a
merchant. Two years after Whitfield's present visit, he abandoned
business, and became the master of the Quakers' English school of
Philadelphia; and this honourable, though not lucrative, office he
continued to fulfil, with little intermission, until his death,
in 1784. By his unwearied exertions, he was the means of first
attracting public attention to the enormities of slavery. Hundreds
of negroes followed him to his grave.