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[Illustration: titlepage]
[Illustration: George Whitefield. (handwritten signature)]
GEORGE WHITEFIELD:
A BIOGRAPHY,
WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LABORS
IN AMERICA.
COMPILED
BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,
AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF REV. DR. CAREY, MISSIONARY TO INDIA,
ETC., ETC.
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY
PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--WHITEFIELD,
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
1714-1736.
Low state of religion in Great Britain and its dependencies
when Whitefield appeared--His birth in Gloucester--Hooper--
Raikes--Whitefield's early life--His entrance at the
university of Oxford--Becomes connected with the Wesleys
and other Methodists--Illness and mental trials--Relief--
Preparation for the ministry--Return to Gloucester--
Ordination--First sermon 13
CHAPTER II.
WHITEFIELD'S SUCCESS AS A PREACHER IN ENGLAND--FIRST
VISIT TO AMERICA.
1736-1738.
Whitefield's return to Oxford--Usefulness there--Visits
London--Great popularity--Georgia--His anxiety as to duty--
Invited to Georgia by the Wesleys--Preparation and
departure--Preaching and excitement at Deal--Labors and
success on board--Arrival and labors at Gibraltar--
Interesting incidents on the voyage--Sickness and recovery--
His reception at Savannah--Visit to an Indian king--Origin
of the Orphan asylum--Visit to Frederica--Return to
Savannah--Visit to Charleston--Treatment by Garden--
Embarkation for Europe--Stormy voyage--Arrival in Limerick--
Journey to London--Meeting with the trustees of Georgia--
Ordination as priest--Return to London--First extempore
prayer--First idea of open-air preaching 40
CHAPTER III.
OPEN-AIR PREACHING IN ENGLAND AND WALES--ERECTION
OF THE TABERNACLE IN LONDON.
1738, 1739.
Whitefield's visit to Bristol--New opposition--Interviews
with the chancellor of the diocese--Preaching at Kingswood--
Large congregations--Preaching at Bristol--Labors in Wales
with Howel Harris--Gloucester--Old Mr. Cole--Return to
London--Conflict with Bishop Warburton and others--
Moorfields--Kennington Common--Blackheath--Anecdotes--
Erection of the Tabernacle--New Tabernacle--Certificate--
Visit to Norwich--Conversion of Robert Robinson--Preaching
at the West End of London--Liberality of Whitefield's
congregations--Attendance of the nobility on Whitefield's
ministry--Architecture of Tabernacle and Tottenham Court
road chapel 71
CHAPTER IV.
WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
1739, 1740.
Joseph Periam's release by Whitefield from Bedlam--
Whitefield's arrival at Philadelphia--Preaches to vast
crowds in the open air--Testimony of Dr. Franklin and
others--Account of the Log College--William Tennent, Sen.--
Whitefield's own account of his preaching at Philadelphia--
Subsequent discovery of the conversion of Dr. Rodgers--
Whitefield's first visit to New York--Description of him by
one of his hearers--Sermons in New Jersey--Old Tennent
church--Places of preaching at New York--Address to sailors--
Letter to Pemberton--Interview with Gilbert Tennent--Some of
Whitefield's sermons printed--Departure from Philadelphia--
Sermons on his journey to Savannah--Arrival and reception at
Charleston--Departure for Savannah--Dangers of the way--State
of things in Georgia--Whitefield revisits Charleston--
Controversy with Commissary Garden--Lays the foundation-stone
of the Orphan house--Sermon by Smith on the character of
Whitefield 97
CHAPTER V.
CONTINUATION OF HIS SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.
1740.
Feebleness of Whitefield's health--Again visits Charleston,
Philadelphia, etc.--Extent of his former success--Extracts
from Seward's journal--Extracts from newspapers--Whitefield's
letter to England--His correspondence on marriage--Birth and
death of his son--His funeral sermon for his wife--Franklin
and others on Whitefield's eloquence--Anecdote--Extract from
the New England Weekly Journal--Return to Savannah--Manner of
his reception--Activity at Savannah--Again visits Charleston--
Cited into the Commissary's court--Various examinations--
Whitefield's appeal to the Court of Chancery--Interview with
the Commissary--Usefulness at Charleston--Sails for New
England 129
CHAPTER VI.
WHITEFIELD'S FIRST VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1740.
State of religion in New England--Testimony of Prince--Dr.
I. Mather--Dr. Jonathan Edwards' success--Prevalence of
prayer--Whitefield's arrival and labors at Newport--Interview
with Clap--Honeyman--Letter from Barber--Journey to Boston--
Interview with the Commissary and the clergy--Preaches at
Brattle-street, Old South church, New North, Common, Roxbury,
Old North, Cambridge, First church--Interview with Governor
Belcher--Roxbury--Hollis-street--Old South church--
Brattle-street--Marblehead--Salem--Ipswich--Newbury--Hampton--
Portsmouth--York--Return to Boston--Frequent preaching--
Invitation to children--Interesting conversation with a
child--Anecdote of juvenile usefulness--Remarks on an
unconverted ministry--Whitefield's character of Boston--
Preaches at Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Worcester,
Leicester, Brookfield, Cold Spring, Hadley, Northampton--
Revival there--Whitefield's opinion of Mr. Edwards and
family--Important interview--Preaching at East Windsor,
Westfield, Springfield, Suffield--Opinion of Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards, Sen.--Relinquishment of appointments to preach--
Visit to New Haven--Interview with Principal Clap--Departure
from New England--Whitefield's character of it--Conversion
of Mr. Emerson--Prince's account of Whitefield's visit--Dr.
Baron Stow on its results--Anecdote, 148
CHAPTER VII.
LABORS IN NEW YORK AND THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN
STATES.
1740, 1741.
Whitefield's arrival and labors at New York, Staten Island,
and Newark--Mr. Burr--Meeting with Gilbert Tennent--Visit to
Baskinridge--Tennent's preaching in Cross' barn--Whitefield
preaches in the new house at Philadelphia--Franklin's advice
to Gilbert Tennent--Remarkable instances of conversion--
Success in Philadelphia--Apostrophe in a sermon--Visit to
Gloucester, Greenwich, Cohansey, Salem, Newcastle, Fagg's
Manor, Bohemia--Sails from Reedy island to Charleston--
Arrival at Bethesda--Remarkable escape from death--
Prosecution at Charleston--Preaching--Letters from Boston--
Departure for England--Separation from Messrs. Wesley--
Difficulties in London--Triumph--Howel Harris 196
CHAPTER VIII.
FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO SCOTLAND--LABORS
IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
1741-1744.
Scheme of comprehension--Account of Rev. John Cennick--
Voyage to Scotland--Letter to Rodgers--Visit to Erskine--
Preaching in Edinburgh--Labors at Glasgow--His sermons
printed--Return to England--Letter from McCulloch--Renewed
glance at Edinburgh--Public attention deeply riveted--
Execution of a convict--Improvement of the event in a
sermon--Conversion of a mimic--A drunken sergeant--Miss
Hunter--Marquis of Lothian--Conduct of Rev. Mr. Ogilvie--
Second visit to Scotland--Cambuslang--Kilmarnock--Glance
at subsequent visits--Orphan-house park, Edinburgh--
Glasgow--Increasing reputation--Extracts from letters--
Anecdotes--Visit to Wales--Letters from America--Visit to
Gloucester, Strand, Tewkesbury--Encouraging news from
America--Success in London--Awakening at the Tabernacle--
Visit to Gloucester and its neighborhood--South Wales--
Return to London--Bristol--Exeter--Mr. Saunders--Conversion
of Thomas Olivers--Birmingham--Kidderminster--Health--
Assizes at Gloucester--Plymouth--Deliverance from
assassination--Conversion of Mr. Tanner--Visits to the
poor--Anecdote--Embarkation for America 222
CHAPTER IX.
WHITEFIELD'S SECOND VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND.
1744, 1745.
Incidents of the voyage from England--Prayer heard--General
alarm--Whitefield's illness--Arrival at York--Threatening
sickness--Rev. Mr. Moody--Preaching at York and Portsmouth--
Apparent danger of death--Departure for Boston--Constant
preaching there--Chelsea--Malden--Prince's account of his
preaching and conduct--Objections made to his administration
of the Lord's supper--Changes in New England--Opposition to
Whitefield in Connecticut, New Haven, Massachusetts, Harvard
College--Large meeting in his favor at Boston--Number of
signatures to the testimony--Progress of revival--
Proceedings of Harvard College--Whitefield's defence--
Subsequent act of the College--Expositions at Boston,
Ipswich, Portland, Exeter--Expedition against Cape Breton--
Sherburne's request--Sermon to the soldiers--Refusal of
chaplaincy--Conversion of a colored trumpeter--Of a noted
scoffer--Anecdote of Whitefield and Dr. Hopkins 254
CHAPTER X.
LABORS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN STATES--THE
BERMUDAS.
1745-1748.
Whitefield's preaching in New York, New Jersey,
Philadelphia--Liberal offer declined--Usefulness of his
printed sermons in Virginia--Preaches at Hanover--Isaac
Oliver--Visit to Bethesda--His account of the Orphan-house--
His character as given by the New York Post-boy--Public
testimony as to Whitefield's integrity--Preaching tour in
Maryland--Visit to Charleston--Success of his preaching in
Maryland--Visits New York, Newport, Portsmouth, Boston--
Return to Philadelphia--Bohemia--Journey to North Carolina--
Embarkation for the Bermudas--His progress and labors--
Honored by the governor and others--Usefulness among the
negroes--Summary of his proceedings in the Bermudas--
Kindness of the people there--Voyage to England--His labors
on the voyage--Arrival at Deal 277
CHAPTER XI.
LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND--CHAPLAIN
TO LADY HUNTINGDON.
1748, 1749.
Triumphs and trials in London--Becomes chaplain to the
Countess of Huntingdon--Complimented by the great--
Bolingbroke and Rev. Mr. Church--Rev. James Hervey--Honors
conferred on Whitefield--Falsehoods of Horace Walpole--
Charged with vulgarism--Defence--Third visit to Scotland--
Return to London--Visit to the west of England--Conversions
in Gloucestershire--Tour in Cornwall--Brilliant assemblies
in London--Excursion to Exeter and Plymouth--Rev. Andrew
Kinsman--Return to London--Decline of health and visit to
Portsmouth and Wales--Arrival of Mrs. Whitefield from the
Bermudas--Visit to the north of England--Popularity there--
Intensely interesting services--Rev. W. Grimshawe--Solemn
instances of mortality--Return to London for the winter--
Usefulness 301
CHAPTER XII.
LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--FOURTH VISIT TO AMERICA--NEW
TABERNACLE IN LONDON, AND TABERNACLE
AT BRISTOL.
1750-1754.
Efforts made by Whitefield for Bethesda--His ardent love for
America--Love to his mother--His mourning for sin--Dr.
Doddridge--London ministers--Interview with Doddridge and
Hervey--Earthquake in London--Bishop Horne's sermon--
Universal consternation--Preaching of Whitefield at midnight
in Hyde park--Whitefield and his friends at Court--Journey to
Bristol--Taunton--Rev. R. Darracott--Preaching at Rotherham,
Bolton, Ulverston--Conversion of Mr. Thorpe--Edinburgh and
other places in Scotland--Testimony of Hume--Second visit to
Ireland--Opposition on Oxmantown Green--Usefulness in
Ireland--Rev. John Edwards--Fourth voyage to America--
Interview with Lady Huntingdon--Moravians--Lady Huntingdon's
testimony--Letter to Dr. Franklin--Itinerant labors--
Revision of manuscripts--Erection of the new Tabernacle--
Again itinerates--Dedication of the Tabernacle at Bristol--
Somersetshire--Condolence on Mr. Wesley's sickness--Visit of
Messrs. Davies and Tennent to England--Whitefield's fifth
voyage to America 323
CHAPTER XIII.
FIFTH VISIT TO AMERICA--RENEWED LABORS IN
GREAT BRITAIN--TOTTENHAM COURT-ROAD CHAPEL.
1754-1763.
Whitefield's arrival and proceedings in Lisbon--Lands at
Beaufort, S. C.--Voyage to New York--New Jersey--Interview
with William Tennent--Accompanies President Burr to New
England--Popularity at Boston--Correspondence with
Habersham--Portsmouth--Rhode Island--Franklin's narrative of
a drummer and Whitefield--Powerful address in Virginia--
Pleasant interview at Charleston--Embarks for England--
Arrival at New Haven--His feelings on arriving in England--
Labors at the Tabernacle--Love for America--Journey to
Bristol, Gloucestershire, Norwich--Returns to London--
Reproof from Grimshawe--Serious illness--Earthquake at
Lisbon--Tottenham Court-road Chapel--Conversion of Mr.
Crane--Publication of "A short Address"--Personal character
of Whitefield's preaching--His servant--Shuter--Violent
persecution--Interference of government--Journey to
Bristol--Lines on a chair--Journey to Kent, north of England,
Scotland--Meeting at Leeds--Interview with the new governor
of Georgia--Prosperity of Tottenham Court--Journey to
Scotland--Ireland--Returns to London--Ill health--Anecdote--
Another visit to Scotland--Death of friends--Debts of
Bethesda paid--Renewed visit to Scotland--Visit to
Brighton--Foote's mimicry--Activity--Sails on his sixth
voyage to America 350
CHAPTER XIV.
SIXTH VISIT AND LABORS IN AMERICA--RENEWED
LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
1763-1767.
Improvement of Whitefield's health--Friends in Virginia--
Proceedings in Philadelphia--New Jersey--A collegiate
hearer--New York--Letter from Boston Gazette--Opposition of
Seabury--Arrival and preaching at Boston--Public thanks to
him--Leaves Boston--New Haven--New York--New Jersey
College--Philadelphia--Virginia--South Carolina--Bethesda--
Proceedings of the government--Prosperity of the Orphan-
house--Thoughts of returning to England--Still detained in
America--Sails for England--Arrival there--Dedicates a
church at Bath--Returns to London--Sickness--Interest in
American affairs--Rev. Samson Occum--Labors with Mr.
Whitaker in England--Success--Whitefield's journey to
Bristol--Success in London--Mr. Joss becomes his colleague--
Rev. Rowland Hill--Whitefield again visits Bath and
Bristol--Mr. Fletcher's sermons in London--Preface to
Bunyan's works--Whitefield in Wales and Gloucestershire--
North of England--Disappointed in obtaining a charter
for Bethesda 375
CHAPTER XV.
HIS LAST LABORS IN GREAT BRITAIN--COLLEGE
AT TREVECCA--EARL OF BUCHAN--TUNBRIDGE
WELLS.
1767-1769.
Letter to Keen--Whitefield preaches before the Book
Society--Change in his style and manner of preaching--
Expulsion of six students from Oxford--Whitefield's letter
to the Vice-chancellor--Usefulness of the expelled young
men--Letter to a gentleman at Wisbeach--To Captain Scott--
To Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley--Death and funeral services
of the Earl of Buchan--Whitefield's last visit to
Edinburgh--Death of Mrs. Whitefield--Whitefield's own
sickness--Dedication of the college at Trevecca--Improvement
of his health--Letter to Mr. Shirley--Letter of Dr. Franklin
to Whitefield--Whitefield's remarks on it--Dedication of
church at Tunbridge Wells--Contemplated voyage to America--
His last sermon--Account of Rev. George Burder--Messrs.
Wilson--Embarkation of Whitefield--Detained in the Downs--
Ordination and preaching at Deal--Anecdote of Dr. Gibbons--
Clears the Channel--Arrival at Charleston 400
CHAPTER XVI.
SEVENTH VISIT AND LAST LABORS IN AMERICA--DEATH.
1769, 1770.
Arrival at Bethesda--Its prosperity--Honors paid him by the
legislature--Letter at Charleston--Plan of the proposed
college--Visits Philadelphia--Preaches at Burlington, New
York, Albany--Attends an execution--Visit to Sharon--
Conversion of Mr. Randall--Visit to Boston--Letters to
Messrs. Wright and Keen--Letter in Pennsylvania Journal--
Arrival at Exeter--Anecdote--Vast congregation--Delivers his
last sermon--Account of it--His solemnly interesting
appearance--Rodgers' Journal--Journey of Whitefield to
Newburyport--Alarming illness--Death--His remarks to Dr.
Finley--Arrangements for the funeral--Its solemn services--
Cenotaph 423
CHAPTER XVII.
TESTIMONIES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF WHITEFIELD'S
CHARACTER.
Funeral sermon by Dr. Cooper--Respect shown to his memory in
Georgia--Whitefield county--Sermon by Rev. Mr. Ellington--
Arrival of the news in London--Sermon by Rev. J. Wesley--
Rev. John Newton--Anecdote--Reply of Bacon the sculptor--
Visits to his tomb--Old man in Ipswich--Whitefield's
indifference to his reputation and ease--Institution at
Georgia--Laborious life--Extraordinary voice--Use of common
facts--Anecdotes--His solemnity of manner--Testimony of an
American preacher--Of Winter--Anecdotes--Sermons in storms--
Appearance in the pulpit--Character of his printed sermons--
His devotional spirit--Visiting the sick--Intercourse with
society--Neatness 445
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHARACTER OF WHITEFIELD AS A PREACHER--CENTENNIAL
COMMEMORATIONS.
Prominence given by him to the truths of salvation--His
ardent glow of feeling--His direct address--His habitual
dependence on the Spirit of God--Dealt with men as immortal
beings--Dr. Hamilton's estimate of Whitefield--Comparison of
Whitefield and Wesley--Centennial commemorations--Hymns by
Mr. Conder--Usefulness--Bristol Tabernacle--Mr. James'
sermon--Character of Whitefield's ministry, by Mr. Glanville 479
PREFACE.
The excellent Matthew Henry has very truly said, "There are remains
of great and good men, which, like Elijah's mantle, ought to be
gathered up and preserved by the survivors--their sayings, their
writings, their examples; that as their works follow them in the
reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit of them."
Influenced by this and kindred sentiments, the compiler of this
volume has devoted no small labor to gather from every source to
which he could gain access, whatever appeared to him important to be
known respecting the most distinguished uninspired preacher perhaps
of any age or country. Whatever may be the faults of the work,
to use the language of the Rev. Dr. Campbell, one of the present
pastors of Whitefield's churches in London, in reference to a short
sketch he had himself prepared of our great evangelist, "It will
serve to bring him and his apostolic labors before the minds of
vast multitudes of the rising generation, to whom both are all but
unknown; and this is far from unimportant. Whatever tends to fix
the minds of men afresh upon the character of WHITEFIELD is, and
it always will be, something gained to the cause of true religion.
The contemplation of that character is one of the most healthful
exercises that can occupy a Christian heart, or a Christian
understanding. It is an admirable theme for ministerial meditation.
It tends equally to humble, to instruct, and to encourage; to excite
love to Christ, zeal for his glory, and compassion for the souls of
men. What Alexander and Cæsar, Charles XII. of Sweden and Napoleon
the first, are to those of the sons of men who have not yet ceased
to 'learn war,' that Whitefield and Wesley are to those who aspire
to eminent usefulness as ministers and missionaries of the cross."
In the preparation of this memoir, the compiler has sought to
collect together incidents which might interest and instruct,
especially in connection with Whitefield's labors in America; to
present him as much as possible in his own dress; and to use the
facts of his life to excite and cherish his own spirit, so far as
he had the spirit of Christ. Facts reflecting on the reputation and
feelings of others have been used only as the interests of truth
seemed to demand.
It would have been easy to place on almost every page an array of
authorities, and to give here a long list of friends to whom the
writer has been indebted for aid; but the sole object of the volume
is the honor of Christ in the salvation of men, and that this may be
accomplished, we pray that the blessing of Heaven may rest upon it.
PHILADELPHIA, 1857.
GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
CHAPTER I.
MORAL STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY--WHITEFIELD FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS FIRST SERMON.
That we may have a clear and comprehensive view of the labors and
success of George Whitefield, it is important that we consider
the moral condition of Great Britain and its dependencies when
the Head of the church brought him on the field of action. The
latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth
centuries presented in that country a scene of moral darkness, the
more remarkable as it so soon succeeded the triumph of evangelical
truth which distinguished the seventeenth century, and which is
perpetuated in a religious literature that will bless the world.
Causes had long been at work which produced such insensibility and
decline as to all that is good, and such a bold and open activity in
evil, as it is hoped the grace of God may avert from his churches
in all future time. The doctrine of the divine right of kings to
implicit obedience on the part of their subjects; the principle
of priestly control of the minds of men in religious matters; and
clerical influence, sustained by kingly authority, in favor of
sports on the Lord's day, together with the evil examples of men
high in rank and power, had produced their natural results on the
masses of the people, and make it painful, even at this distant
period, to survey the scene.
Nor were these all the evils of that day. The expulsion from their
pulpits, by the "Act of Uniformity," of two thousand of the most
able and useful of the clergy in England, had led to great ignorance
and neglect of religion; and though men like Leighton and Owen,
Flavel and Baxter, with Bunyan and a host of others, had continued,
in spite of opposing laws, to preach when they were not shut up in
prison, and to write their immortal practical works, by the time of
which we are speaking they had been called to their eternal reward,
leaving very few men of like spirit behind them. Thus infidelity,
profligacy, and formalism almost universally prevailed.
The low state of religion in the established church at that time
may be learned from the Rev. Augustus M. Toplady, himself one of
its ministers, who died in 1778. In a sermon yet extant he says,
"I believe no denomination of professing Christians, the church
of Rome excepted, were so generally void of the light and life of
godliness, so generally destitute of the doctrine and of the grace
of the gospel, as was the church of England, considered as a body,
about fifty years ago. At that period a _converted_ minister in the
establishment was as great a wonder as a comet; but now, blessed
be God, since that precious, that great apostle of the English
empire, the late dear Mr. Whitefield, was raised up in the spirit
and power of Elias, the word of God has run and been glorified;
many have believed and been added to the Lord all over the three
kingdoms; and blessed be his name, the great Shepherd and Bishop of
souls continues still to issue his word, and great is the company of
preachers, greater and greater every year."
If it be said that Toplady, as he belonged to a different school of
theology from that which then generally prevailed, could scarcely
be expected to be impartial, we ask leave to transcribe a few lines
from Bishop Butler, who within six months of Whitefield's ordination
wrote thus: "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted
by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of
inquiry; but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious.
And accordingly they treat it as if in the present age this were an
agreed point among all people of discernment; and nothing remained
but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as
it were by way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted
the pleasures of the world." Bishop Warburton, who commenced his
ministry a few years before Whitefield, and who cannot be charged
with enthusiasm, says, "I have lived to see that fatal crisis, when
religion hath lost its hold on the minds of the people."
Many other witnesses might be brought to testify that error and
worldly mindedness had made mournful havoc among the clergy,
and that spiritual religion had been almost buried in forms and
ceremonies. A recent writer has well described the state of religion
in the established church at that time, as only to be compared to a
frozen or palsied carcass. "There," says this Episcopal clergyman,
"were the time-honored formularies which the wisdom of the reformers
had provided. There were the services and lessons from Scripture,
just in the same order as we have them now. But as to preaching
the gospel, in the established church there was almost none. The
distinguishing doctrines of Christianity--the atonement, the work
and office of Christ and the Spirit--were comparatively lost sight
of. The vast majority of sermons were miserable moral essays,
utterly devoid of any thing calculated to awaken, convert, save, or
sanctify souls." Southey, a biographer of Wesley, who assuredly will
not be accused of too strong a tendency to evangelical truth, is
compelled to say, "A laxity of opinions as well as morals obtained,
and infidelity, a plague which had lately found its way into the
country, was becoming so prevalent, that the vice-chancellor of
the university at Oxford, in a _programma_, exhorted the tutors to
discharge their duties by double diligence, and had forbidden the
under-graduates to read such books as might tend to the weakening of
their faith."
There were undoubtedly some learned and conscientious bishops
at this era. Such men were Secker and Gibson, Lowth and Horne,
Butler, and others. But even the best of them seem sadly to have
misunderstood the requirements of the day they lived in. They spent
their strength in writing apologies for Christianity, and contending
against infidels. They could not see that without the direct
preaching of the essential doctrines of the gospel, their labors
must be sadly defective. The man who dared to preach the doctrines
of the Bible, and in harmony with the Articles and Homilies of his
church, was set down as an enthusiast or fanatic.
Among those who had dissented from the established hierarchy, and
who were untrammelled by the impositions of secular authority, the
state of vital godliness was also unhappily very low. The noble
spirits of early non-conformity had passed from earth, or crossed
the Atlantic to the frozen shores of New England, and a race of men
had sprung up, some of whom retained the tenets of orthodoxy, but
had lost its power; while others reposed on comfortable endowments,
and lulled themselves, or were drawn by favorable breezes, into the
cold elements of Arianism and Socinianism. As persons in the frozen
regions are said to sleep longer and more soundly than others, so
did they; and a more terrific blast of the trumpet of the gospel
was required to rouse and awake them from their spiritual slumbers.
Happily indeed for the world, and for the church in it, there were
some exceptions. Watts and Guyse and Doddridge, and their pious
associates in different parts of the land, were laborers together in
"God's husbandry," and ceased not to cultivate it with affectionate
faithfulness and care; and wherever their labors extended, the
plants of grace grew and flourished. Darracott, "the star of the
west," threw his mild rays over the vales of Somerset; and in the
north also a few faithful men were found.
Nor have we even now said all that should be written as to the
character of those times. The highest personages in the land then
openly lived in ways contrary to the law of God, and no man rebuked
them. Profligacy and irreligion were reputable and respectable.
Judging from the description we have of men and manners in those
days, a gentleman might have been defined as a creature who got
drunk, gambled, swore, fought duels, and violated the seventh
commandment, and for all this very few thought the worse of him.
Those too were the days when the men whom even kings delighted
to honor were such as Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, Walpole, and
Newcastle. To be an infidel, to obtain power by intrigue, and
to retain it by the grossest and most notorious bribery, were
considered no disqualifications even for the highest offices. Such
men indeed were not only tolerated, but praised. In those days
too, Hume, an avowed infidel, put forth his History, and obtained
a pension. Sterne and Swift then wrote their talented, but obscene
books; both of them were clergymen, but the public saw little
inconsistency in their conduct. Fielding and Smollett were the
popular authors, and the literary taste of high and low was suited
by Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.
These authors were ingenious heathen philosophers, assuming the name
of Christians, and forcibly paganizing Christianity for the sake of
pleasing the world.
Turning to _Scotland_, we find that the bold proclamation of the
discriminating truths of the gospel which characterize the preaching
of Knox, Welsh, and others, was being rapidly laid aside, and
cold formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinianism were
becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchinson, minister of Kilellan, in
Renfrewshire, who saw but the beginning of this sad change, used to
say to Wodrow the historian, "When I compare the times before the
restoration with those since the revolution, I must own that the
young ministers preach accurately, and methodically; but there was
far more of the power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace
of God went along with sermons in those days than now. For my own
part--all the glory be to God--I seldom set my foot in a pulpit in
those days, but I had notice of the blessed effects of the word." It
is true, that even then there were a few faithful witnesses for God
in Scotland, such as the brothers Erskine, in the Secession church;
but for the most part, coldness, barrenness, and death prevailed.
The people knew not God, and were strangers to the life-giving
influence and power of the gospel.
The Arianism of England had been carried to the north of _Ireland_,
and finding a state of feeling suitable to its reception, it took
root and grew up, so as to characterize a distinct section of the
Presbyterian church, then and still distinguished by the name of the
Remonstrant Synod. The south and west of Ireland were subjected to
a blight not less withering, though of a different kind, and which
continued much longer--continued, to a great extent, throughout
the whole of the last century. The clergy were usually sons of the
gentry, and accustomed to their sporting, drinking, and riotous
habits. They had no preparation for ministerial duties but a college
degree; and no education, either literary or moral, which had not
been obtained among wild young men at the university. According
to the interest which they happened to have, they passed at once
from college to ministerial charges, and again mixed in all the
dissipations of the districts where these lay. Ignorant of the
truth, they and their congregations were satisfied with some short
moral discourse. Many of the people were almost as ignorant of the
Scriptures and scripture truth as the inhabitants of Hindostan.
The Catholic priests meanwhile were at work among the people, and
they had many to help them. The sick and the dying were watched;
their fears were wrought upon; they were told of the power which
the priests had, of the influence possessed by the Virgin, and much
about the _old church_; and as soon as any seemed to give way, on
whatever point, the priest was sent for, who plied them anew, and
seldom failed in succeeding with the poor ignorant people. They were
now ready to receive absolution; but he had farther conditions to
propose. The whole family must submit to be rebaptized, or at least
promise to attend mass--and this also was not unfrequently gained;
the Protestant clergyman being all the while at a distance, neither
knowing nor much caring what was going on. In this way great numbers
of the lower and middle classes of the Protestants went over to the
church of Rome. Throughout whole districts the Protestant churches
were almost emptied, and many of those in rural districts were
allowed to fall into ruins.
Of _Wales_ it is not important at present to say much. From the
middle ages downwards, great darkness and superstition had prevailed
among its mountains. It is true that in the days of James I.,
a clergyman named Wroth, whose conversion to the truth had been
remarkable, had labored with eminent zeal and success, but at the
period of which we are now writing declension had succeeded. Within
the establishment all was cold and dead; nearly every minister
was ignorant of the Welsh language, a fact which also applied to
several successive bishops, while the state of morals, among even
the leaders of the hierarchy, was truly deplorable. An old Methodist
simply but truly described the country at this period, and of his
correct narrative we will here give a free translation.
The land, he tells us, was dark indeed. Scarcely any of the lower
ranks could read at all. The morals of the country were very
corrupt; and in this respect there was no difference between
high and low, layman and clergyman. Gluttony, drunkenness, and
licentiousness prevailed through the whole country. Nor were the
operations of the church at all adapted to repress these evils. From
the pulpit the name of the Redeemer was scarcely heard; nor was much
mention made of the natural sinfulness of man, or of the influence
of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday mornings, the poor were more constant
in their attendance at church than the gentry; but the Sunday
evenings were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath there
was practised a kind of sport, called in Welsh _Achwaren-gamp_,
in which all the young men of the neighborhood had a trial of
strength, and the people assembled from the surrounding country
to witness their feats. On a Saturday night, particularly in the
summer, the young men and women held what they called _Nosweithian
cann_, or singing eves; that is, they met together and amused
themselves by singing in turns to the harp, till the dawn of the
Sabbath. These things, with the performance of rustic dramas, would
occupy sometimes the whole of the sacred day itself; while a set of
vagabonds, called the _Bobl gerdded_, or walking people, used to
traverse the villages, begging with impunity, to the disgrace alike
of the law and the country. With all this social sprightliness, the
Welsh were then a superstitious, and even a gloomy people. They
still retained many habits apparently derived from paganism, and
not a few of the practices of popery. Their funerals, like those of
the Irish, were scenes of riot and drunkenness, followed by prayers
for the release of the deceased from the pains of purgatory. Such
was the superstition of the people, that when Methodism was first
introduced among them, many of the peasantry expressed their horror
of the new opinions by the truly Popish gesture of crossing the
forehead; and when Wesley first visited them, he pronounced them
"as little versed in the principles of Christianity as a Creek or
Cherokee Indian." To this declaration he added the striking remark,
that, "notwithstanding their superstition and ignorance, the people
'were ripe for the gospel,' and most enthusiastically anxious to
avail themselves of every opportunity of instruction."
As an illustration of the truth of the remark we have just
introduced from the discerning Wesley, we may mention an incident
which occurred in 1736. At this period dissent itself was reduced so
low in the country, that there were only six dissenting houses of
worship in all North Wales. One Sunday, Mr. Lewis Rees, a dissenting
minister from South Wales, and the father of Dr. Rees, the author of
the celebrated Cyclopedia which bears his name, visited Pwllheli, a
town on the promontory of Slëyn, in Caernarvonshire, and one of the
few places in which the Independents still had a chapel. After the
service, the congregation, collecting around him, complained very
sorely that their numbers were rapidly diminishing, that the few
who yet remained were for the most part poor, and that every thing
connected with their cause looked gloomy. To which the minister
replied, "The dawn of religion is again breaking out in South
Wales," referring them to the fact, that already a distinguished
man--Howel Harris--had risen up, going about instructing the people
in the truths of the gospel. Such was the character of the times
when God was raising up agents to revive and extend his cause. We
shall before long return to Wales with lively interest.
"Such," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "was the situation of things
when Whitefield and Wesley made their appearance, who, whatever
failings the severest criticism can discover in their character,
will be hailed by posterity as the second reformers of England.
Nothing was farther from the views of these excellent men than to
innovate on the established religion of their country; their sole
aim was to recall the people to the good old way, and to imprint the
doctrines of the Articles and Homilies on the spirits of men. But
this doctrine had been so long a dead letter, and so completely
obliterated from the mind by contrary instructions, that the attempt
to revive it met with all the opposition that innovation is sure to
encounter, in addition to what naturally results from the nature
of the doctrine itself, which has to contend with the whole force
of human corruption. The revival of the _old_, appeared like the
introduction of a _new_ religion; and the hostility it excited
was less sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which
signalized the first publication of Christianity. The gospel of
Christ, or that system of truth which was laid at the foundation of
the Reformation, has since made rapid advances, and in every step of
its progress has sustained the most furious assaults."
It ought here to be stated, as illustrating the providence of God in
preparing the British empire for the reception of the gospel, that
the revolution of 1688 introduced the spirit of toleration, and in
1714, the very year of Whitefield's birth, Anne, the last English
sovereign of a persecuting spirit, died, and the throne was assumed
by George I., the first prince of the house of Hanover. The way of
the Lord was thus prepared for bright illustrations of his mercy.
* * * * *
Rising from the beautiful valley of the Severn, and on the borders
of that noble stream, reposes in antique glory the affluent city of
GLOUCESTER, with its regular streets, and its majestic cathedral
and other relics of bygone days. In that city the traveller may
examine three spots which will long be interesting to the student of
ecclesiastical curiosities. The first of these is the ancient church
of Mary de Crypt, where reposes the dust of Robert Raikes, the
founder of Sunday-schools; the second, is the little stone which,
in a pensive-looking inclosure, marks the site on which the truly
noble-minded and Protestant Bishop Hooper was burnt, an early martyr
of bloody Mary's reign. There wicked men stood around to light up
the flames, and to mock his sorrows; but as we stand and look, we
exult in the subsequent triumphs of truth.
The third spot, and the one to us at the present moment the most
interesting, is the Bell inn or hotel, yet standing, though
enlarged and beautified since the period of which we write. There
WHITEFIELD--the saint, the seraph, the "angel flying in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell
on the earth"--first breathed the vital air. Venerable city, we
will rejoice that though within thy walls one glorious luminary of
salvation was extinguished, another "burning and shining light" was
raised up to diffuse joy and happiness over the two most influential
quarters of the globe, and a third has since been given to suggest
the simple plan by which millions of the young have already acquired
the knowledge of salvation.
GEORGE WHITEFIELD, the sixth son of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield,
was born December 16, 1714, old style. Concerning his father and
mother he writes, "The former died when I was two years old; the
latter died in December, 1751, in the seventy-first year of her age,
and has often told me how she endured fourteen weeks' sickness after
she brought me into the world; but was used to say, even when I
was an infant, that she expected more comfort from me than from any
other of her children. This, with the circumstance of my being born
in an inn, has often been of service to me, in exciting my endeavors
to make good my mother's expectations, and so follow the example of
my dear Saviour, who was laid in a manger belonging to an inn."
In one of his journals, which he commenced at a very early part
of his ministry, Whitefield details with great simplicity many
incidents of his childhood and youth; from which it appears, that
though at times he had many serious thoughts and impressions,
the general course of his life, till the age of sixteen, was
irreligious. He tells us that in early youth he was "so brutish as
to hate instruction, and used purposely to shun all opportunities
of receiving it," and that he spent much money, improperly obtained
from his mother, in cards, plays, and romances, "which," says he,
"were my heart's delight. Often have I joined with others in playing
roguish tricks; but was generally, if not always, happily detected:
for this I have often since, and do now bless and praise God." His
full confessions of this character are very affecting, and should be
a caution to young persons to repel all such temptations.
When George was about ten years of age, his mother married a second
time, thus forming a connection which led to much unhappiness.
He was, however, continued at school; and when twelve years old,
was transferred to the grammar-school of St. Mary de Crypt, where
he remained about three years. Having a graceful elocution and a
good memory, he gained much credit for delivering speeches before
the city corporation at the annual visitation of the school, and
received pecuniary rewards for his performances on those occasions.
How deeply he afterwards deplored these celebrations, especially
the performance of plays in connection with his school-fellows,
may be learned from his own words: "I cannot but observe here,
with much concern of mind, how this way of training up youth has
a natural tendency to debauch the mind, to raise ill passions,
and to stuff the memory with things as contrary to the gospel of
Christ, as darkness to light, hell to heaven." This sad tendency
was but too clearly evinced in the case of Whitefield himself. "I
got acquainted," he says, "with such a set of debauched, abandoned,
atheistical youths, that if God, by his free, unmerited, and special
grace, had not delivered me out of their hands, I should have sat
in the scorner's chair, and made a mock at sin. By keeping company
with them, my thoughts of religion grew more and more like theirs.
I went to public service only to make sport, and walk about. I took
pleasure in their lewd conversation. I began to reason as they did,
and to ask why God had given me passions, and not permitted me to
gratify them. In short, I soon made great proficiency in the school
of the devil. I affected to look rakish, and was in a fair way of
being as infamous as the worst of them." These were the things, and
not oratory, as has sometimes been said, which Whitefield learned
from plays and acting.
In the midst of all this, his conscience often made him unhappy; and
he wished, if possible, to combine religion with his pleasures. He
purchased and carefully read "Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars,"
a book which commended itself as having comforted his mother in her
afflictions, and which he afterwards considered to have been "of
great benefit to his soul."
At the age of fifteen, he thought he had acquired learning enough
for any ordinary occupation in life, and as his mother's business
was declining, he persuaded her to allow him to leave school and
assist in labor. "I began," says he, "to assist her occasionally
in the public-house, till at length I put on my blue apron and
my snuffers, washed mops, cleaned rooms, and in one word, became
professed and common _drawer_ for nearly a year and a half." In the
midst of the activity called for in such a situation, it pleased God
to renew his religious impressions, which induced him, at least at
intervals, to attend with much earnestness to the concerns of his
soul.
From his childhood, Whitefield tells us, he "was always fond of
being a clergyman, and used frequently to imitate the ministers'
reading prayers." Nor did this tendency towards clerical engagements
cease as he became older. "Notwithstanding," he says, "I was thus
employed in a large inn, and had sometimes the care of the whole
house upon my hands, yet I composed two or three sermons, and
dedicated one of them to my elder brother. One day, I remember, I
was very much pressed to self-examination, and found myself very
unwilling to look into my heart. Frequently I read the Bible when
sitting up at night. And a dear youth, now with God, would often
entreat me, when serving at the bar, to go to Oxford. My general
answer was, 'I wish I could.'"
His mother's difficulties increasing, it became necessary for her
to leave the inn; in which she was succeeded by one of her married
sons, with whom George for some time remained to continue his
assistance in the business. Some disagreement, however, arising
between them, he after a time took his departure from the inn, and
went to spend a month with his eldest brother at Bristol. Returning
from that city to Gloucester, he resided for a short season with his
mother. While thus living unemployed, without any definite object
before him, and waiting the openings of providence, his mother
was visited by an Oxford student, a servitor of Pembroke college
in that university. In the course of their conversation, he told
her, that after all his expenses at college for the quarter were
discharged, he had one penny remaining. She immediately exclaimed,
"This will do for my son!" and turning to him, said, "Will you go
to Oxford, George?" He replied, "With all my heart." Application
was immediately made to several friends who had influence at
the college, and they pledged themselves to serve her. In this
confidence, her favorite son returned to the grammar-school,
where he not only resumed his studies with greater diligence, but
endeavored, and not altogether in vain, to promote religion and
virtue among his associates.
Having fully secured his literary preparation for the university,
Whitefield removed to Oxford in his eighteenth year, and was
immediately admitted, as a servitor, into Pembroke college. He soon
found that the seat of learning was also a scene of danger. From
the period of 1662, when the two thousand Non-conformists had been
expelled from the church, the universities had been sinking into a
moral lethargy, preferring uniformity to vital religion. Our young
servitor was shocked with the impiety of the students in general,
and dreading their influence on himself, he as much as possible
abstained from their society, and shut himself up in his study.
Before he went to Oxford, Whitefield had heard of a class of
young men in the university who "lived by rule and method," and
were therefore called _Methodists_. They were much talked of, and
generally despised. Of this party, John Wesley, a Fellow of Lincoln
college, and already in holy orders, was the leader, his brother
Charles being also as warmly attached to it. They avowed that the
great object of their lives was to save their souls, and to live
wholly to the glory of God; and rarely have men subjected themselves
to greater self-denials and austerities. Drawn towards them by
kindred feelings, Whitefield strenuously defended them whenever he
heard them reviled, and when he saw them going, through a crowd
manifesting their ridicule, every Sunday to receive the sacrament
at St. Mary's or Christ church, he was strongly inclined to follow
their example.
For more than a year he intensely desired to be acquainted with
them, but a sense of his pecuniary inferiority to them prevented his
advances. At length, learning that a pauper had attempted suicide,
Whitefield sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley, that so he
might visit her, and administer religious instruction. He charged
the woman not to tell Mr. Wesley who sent her, but, contrary to
this injunction, she told his name; and Charles Wesley, who had
frequently seen Whitefield walking by himself, on the next morning
invited him to breakfast. An introduction to the little brotherhood
soon followed, and he also, like them, "began to live by rule, and
pick up the very fragments of his time, that not a moment might be
lost."
It is painful to read Whitefield's own account of the mortifications
of body to which he now submitted; and we are not surprised that, as
the result, his health was so reduced as to place even his life in
danger. All this time he had no clear view of the way of salvation,
and was "seeking to work out a righteousness of his own." In this
state he lay on his bed, his tongue parched with fever, and the
words of the dying Saviour, "I thirst," were impressed on his mind.
Remembering that this thirst occurred near the end of the Saviour's
sufferings, the thought arose in his mind, "Why may it not be so
with me? Why may I not now receive deliverance and comfort? Why
may I not now dare to trust and rejoice in the pardoning mercy of
God?" There was, as Tracy has said, no reason why he might not--why
he ought not. He saw nothing to forbid him. He prayed in hope,
borrowing language from the fact which suggested the train of
thought--"I thirst, I thirst for faith in pardoning love. Lord, I
believe; help thou mine unbelief." His prayer was heard. He dared
to trust in the mercy of God, as revealed in the death of Jesus
Christ for sinners. Conscience and his Bible bore witness that he
did right. The load that had so heavily oppressed him, the load of
guilt and terror and anxiety, that weighed down his spirit while he
sinfully and ungratefully hesitated to trust in divine mercy, was
gone. He saw the trustworthiness of the mercy of God in Christ, and
his heart rejoiced.
"Though," as Tracy has well said, "the English universities were
established mainly for the purpose of educating men for the
ministry, Whitefield was not likely to gain a good knowledge of
theology there. He took another, and a characteristic course. Some
time after his conversion, when he was at Gloucester, he says,
'I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my knees; laying aside
all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and
word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily
received fresh life, light, and power from above. I thus got more
true knowledge in reading the book of God in one month, than I could
ever have acquired from all the writings of men.'"
Every hour of Whitefield's time, especially after he had been
"filled with peace and joy in believing," was sacredly devoted to
preparation for the great work to which he had now solemnly devoted
himself. He visited the prisoners in the jail, and the poor in their
cottages, and gave as much time as he could to communion with God in
his closet. His friends now earnestly importuned him to apply for
ordination; but from this his deep sense of unworthiness made him
shrink. Besides, he intended to have a hundred and fifty sermons
carefully written before he began to preach. He had as yet but one,
and he lent that to a neighboring clergyman, to convince him that
he was not yet fit to be ordained. The clergyman kept it for two
weeks, divided it into two, preached it to his own people, and then
returned it to Whitefield, with a guinea for the use of it.
Still, however, the work of preparation for the ministry was rapidly
going on. The state of his health compelled him to retire for a
season from Oxford, and he returned home to increase the depth of
his piety, and to be led, little as he thought of it, at once to the
pulpit. He writes, "O what sweet communion had I daily vouchsafed
with God in prayer, after my coming to Gloucester. How often have
I been carried out beyond myself, when meditating in the fields.
How assuredly I felt that Christ dwelt in me, and I in him; and how
daily did I walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified
and refreshed in the multitude of peace. I always observed that
as my inward strength increased, so my outward sphere of action
increased proportionably."
Thus, happy in himself, and thankful to the gracious God who made
him so, the affectionate soul of George Whitefield ardently desired
that others might participate in his sacred joys. In order to
advance this object, he mixed in the society of young people, and
endeavored to awaken them to a just sense of the nature of true
religion. Some were convinced of the truth, and united with him in
religious exercises; and these were some of the first-fruits of his
pious labors. His discovery of the necessity of regeneration, like
Melancthon's great discovery of the truth, led him to imagine that
no one could resist the evidence which convinced his own mind. He
writes, "Upon this, like the woman of Samaria, when Christ revealed
himself to her at the well, I had no rest in my soul till I wrote
letters to my relations, telling them there was such a thing as the
_new birth_. I imagined they would have gladly received it; but,
alas, my words seemed to them as idle tales. They thought I was
going beside myself." He visited the jail every day, and read and
prayed with the prisoners; attended public worship very frequently,
and read twice or three times a week to some poor people in the
city. In addition to all this, he tells us, "During my stay here,
God enabled me to give a public testimony of my repentance as to
seeing and acting plays; for hearing the strollers had come to
town, and knowing what an egregious offender I had been, I was
stirred up to extract Mr. Law's excellent treatise, entitled, "The
absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage Entertainment." The printer,
at my request, put a little of it in the newspaper for six weeks
successively; and God was pleased to give it his blessing."
In this manner Whitefield employed himself during nine months; and
one effect of so doing was, that the partition wall of bigotry was
soon broken down in his heart. He says, "I loved all, of whatever
denomination, who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." This
statement in his diary is connected with an account of the benefit
he derived from studying the works of the Non-conformists. "Baxter's
Call," and "Alleine's Alarm," so accorded with his own ideas of
fidelity and unction, that wherever he recognized their spirit he
acknowledged "a brother beloved." On this portion of his history
we dwell with unspeakable delight; the only drawback is an undue
importance he appears to have attached to _dreams_; and even those,
considered as an _index_ to his waking hours, are interesting,
revealing as they do his deep solicitude on the behalf of souls.
Here then, before he had completed his twenty-first year, we see
Whitefield returned to Gloucester, and such was already the fame of
his piety and talents, that Dr. Benson, the bishop of the diocese,
offered to dispense, in his favor, with the rule which forbids the
ordination of deacons at so unripe an age. Thus graphically did he
afterwards describe his acceptance of this proposal.
"I never prayed against any corruption I had in my life so much as
I did against going into holy orders so soon as my friends were for
having me go. Bishop Benson was pleased to honor me with peculiar
friendship, so as to offer me preferment, or to do any thing for me.
My friends wanted me to mount the church betimes. They wanted me
to knock my head against the pulpit too young; but how some young
men stand up here and there and preach, I do not know. However it
be to them, God knows how deep a concern entering into the ministry
and preaching was to me. I prayed a thousand times, till the sweat
has dropped from my face like rain, that God of his infinite mercy
would not let me enter the church till he called me and thrust me
forth in his work. I remember once in Gloucester--I know the room; I
look up to the window when I am there and walk along the street--I
said, 'Lord, I cannot go; I shall be puffed up with pride, and fall
into the condemnation of the devil. Lord, do not let me go yet.' I
pleaded to be at Oxford two or three years more. I intended to make
one hundred and fifty sermons, and thought that I would set up with
a good stock in trade. I remember praying, wrestling, and striving
with God. I said, 'I am undone, I am unfit to preach in thy great
name. Send me not. Lord, send me not yet.' I wrote to all my friends
in town and country to pray against the bishop's solicitation; but
they insisted I should go into orders before I was twenty-two. After
all their solicitations these words came into my mind: 'Nothing
shall pluck you out of my hands;' they came warm to my heart. Then,
and not till then, I said, 'Lord, _I will go_; send me when thou
wilt.'"
Sunday, June 20, 1736, was the day appointed for his ordination
in the cathedral at Gloucester. On the preceding evening he spent
two hours in prayer for himself and the others who were to be set
apart to the sacred office with him; and on the day itself he rose
early, and passed the morning in prayer and meditation on the
qualifications and duties of the office he was about to undertake.
On a review of the solemn services of the day, he says, "I trust I
answered every question from the bottom of my heart, and heartily
prayed that God might say, Amen. And when the bishop laid his hands
upon my head, if my vile heart do not deceive me, I offered my whole
spirit, soul, and body to the service of God's sanctuary. Let come
what will, life or death, depth or height, I shall henceforward
live like one who this day, in the presence of men and angels, took
the holy sacrament, on the profession of being inwardly moved by
the Holy Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the church. I
call heaven and earth to witness, that when the bishop laid his
hands upon me, I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung
upon the cross for me. Known unto him are all future events and
contingencies; I have thrown myself blindfold, and I trust without
reserve, into his almighty hands. When I went up to the altar, I
could think of nothing but Samuel's standing before the Lord with a
linen ephod."
Having thus received ordination as a deacon of the church of
England, he delayed not to enter upon the work to which he was
appointed; and accordingly, on the next Sabbath he preached his
first sermon in his native city of Gloucester, selecting for his
subject, "The necessity and benefit of religious society." At the
appointed time he ascended the pulpit, in the church of St. Mary de
Crypt. We have his own record of the service: "Last Sunday, in the
afternoon, I preached my first sermon in the church where I first
received the Lord's supper. Curiosity drew a large congregation
together. The sight, at first, a little awed me; but I was comforted
with a heartfelt sense of the divine presence, and soon found the
advantage of having been accustomed to public speaking when a boy
at school, and of exhorting and teaching the prisoners and the
poor people at their private houses, while at the university. By
these means I was kept from being daunted overmuch. As I proceeded,
I perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and
amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my childish days, I trust
I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some
few mocked, but most, for the present, seemed struck; and I have
since heard that a complaint was made to the bishop, that I drove
fifteen people mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am
informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before the
next Sunday. Before then, I hope that my sermon upon, 'He that is in
Christ is a new creature,' will be completed. Blessed be God, I now
find freedom in writing. Glorious Jesus,
"'Unloose my stammering tongue to tell
Thy love immense, unsearchable.'"
It is remarkable, under all the circumstances of the case, that
Bishop Benson, a man never distinguished for his evangelical views,
always showed his friendship for Whitefield. Not only did he offer
him ordination when others might have refused, and defend him
against the persecutions to which he was exposed, but he more than
once gave him pecuniary help when it was much needed, though the
young clergyman had never complained.
Thus early apprized of the secret of his strength, his profound
aspirations for the growth of Christianity, the delight of
exercising his rare powers, and the popular admiration, operating
with combined and ceaseless force upon a mind impatient of repose,
urged him into exertions which, if not attested by irrefragable
proofs, might appear incredible. It was the statement of one who
knew him well, and who was incapable of wilful exaggeration, and it
is confirmed by his letters, journals, and a "cloud of witnesses,"
that "in the compass of a single week, and that for years, he
spoke in general forty hours, and in very many sixty, and that to
thousands: and after his labors, instead of taking any rest, he
was engaged in offering up prayers and intercessions, with hymns
and spiritual songs, as his manner was, in every house to which he
was invited." Never perhaps, since the apostolic age, has any man
given himself so entirely to preaching the gospel of Christ for
the salvation of souls, adopting as his motto the language of the
apostle Paul, "_This one thing I do_."