and liberty continually. I thank you, dear sir, for praying for
me, and thank our common Lord for putting it into your heart so
to do. I have been upon my knees praying for you and yours. O
that nothing but love, lowliness, and simplicity may be among
us! The work is still increasing in Scotland. Dear friend, my
soul is on fire. O let us not fall out in the way! Let us bear
with one another in love. God be praised! for giving you such a
mind. My kind love to all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity.
In much haste, and with great thanks for your last letter,
I subscribe myself, reverend and very dear sir, your most
affectionate, though younger, brother in the gospel of our
glorious Emmanuel,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
Before leaving Scotland, Whitefield made three collections for his
Orphan House. In the park, at Edinburgh, on October 6, his congregation
gave him the noble sum of £128 10s. 7d.;[28] and, on another occasion,
they contributed £44. At Glasgow, also, the public collection and
private donations amounted to the same sum as the first collection
in Edinburgh, making £300 in all. Even the liberality of his friends
excited the anger of his enemies. The _Scots’ Magazine_ sneeringly
remarked (pp. 459, 464):――
“By his affecting comments on the widow’s throwing her two mites
into the treasury, many, who live on charity, have literally
given him the whole of their living, and been obliged to beg
their next meal. At his diets for collecting, when he has raised
the passions of his audience by a suitable sermon, his next
care is to ply them while in a right frame. For this purpose,
he makes his last prayer very short; thereafter pronounces the
blessing without singing psalms; and then immediately falls a
collecting, in which he shews great dexterity.”
_IN ENGLAND AND WALES._
NOVEMBER 1742 TO AUGUST 1744.
WHITEFIELD left Scotland on November 1st, 1742; and arrived in
London five days afterwards. He now resumed his ministry in his
wooden Tabernacle, where, for some time past, Howell Harris had been
officiating as his substitute. One of his first letters, in London, was
addressed to his friend Habersham.
“LONDON, _November 12, 1742_.
“MY DEAREST FRIEND AND BROTHER IN A CRUCIFIED JESUS,――How do
I long to come over to see you, and the rest of my dear family!
The cloud seems now to be moving towards America. I trust I
shall be with you in a few months.
“The Lord did wonderful things for me and His people in Scotland.
The concern expressed at my departure was unspeakable. I rode
post from Edinburgh, and came here, in rather less than five
days, on Saturday last.
“There seems to be a new awakening in London. We have been
obliged to enlarge the Tabernacle. Dear Brother Harris has been
sent with a sweet, searching commission. Brother Cennick is much
blessed in Wiltshire. The word runs and is glorified in Wales.
God is raising some fresh witnesses of the power of His dear
Son’s blood in Gloucestershire. Blessed are the eyes which see
the things that we see.
“The collections in Scotland were large. In Edinburgh, I
collected £128 at one time, and £44 at another; and in Glasgow,
about £128, with private donations. Blessed be God! I owe
nothing now in England on the Orphan-house account; what is due
is abroad. I think, since I have been in England, we have got
near £1500. The Lord will provide what we want further. Glory be
to His name!
“My wife lies now very weak. She was tossed for ten days in her
voyage from Scotland. The ship was in imminent danger, but the
Lord gave her much of His presence. I trust she will be ready
shortly for another voyage.”
Whitefield spent nearly four months in London. His congregations, of
course, were very large, and, in another respect, were remarkable. His
friend Wesley was pre-eminently and almost exclusively the poor man’s
preacher. It was otherwise with Whitefield. During the winter of 1742,
the Earl and Countess of Huntingdon were constant in their attendance
upon his ministry, and were often accompanied by his lordship’s sisters,
the Ladies Hastings. Occasionally, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough,
and Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, two of the most celebrated and
remarkable women of their day, were among his hearers; so also was
Lord Lonsdale, who had been one of the lords of the bedchamber, and
constable of the tower. Charles, third Duke of Bolton; Lord Hervey, who
had distinguished himself as an orator in both houses of Parliament,
and who had held the offices of vice-chamberlain, and keeper of the
privy-seal; and Lord Sidney Beauclerk, fifth son of the Duke of St.
Albans, were likewise numbered among the young preacher’s auditors.
Yea, even royalty itself, in the persons of William Augustus, Duke
of Cumberland, youngest son of George II., and his brother Frederick,
Prince of Wales, helped to swell some of Whitefield’s congregations.[29]
This is a remarkable fact, and, perhaps, may be partly accounted for
by the favour with which Whitefield had been honoured by some of the
aristocracy of Scotland. Between him and them a warm friendship had
been created; and there can hardly be a doubt that this helped to
secure him the attention of not a few of the nobility of England. As
shewing his Christian intimacy with persons of distinguished rank in
Scotland, the following letters, written within a fortnight after his
arrival in London, will be useful. The first was addressed to Lady
Frances Gardiner, the wife of the celebrated colonel.
“LONDON, _November 13, 1742_.
“HONOURED MADAM,――Mindful of my promise, which I made before I
left Edinburgh, I now steal a few moments to send your ladyship
a letter of thanks. I trust it will find you sitting under the
Redeemer’s shadow with great delight. It rejoiced me when I
heard that God had blessed my unworthy ministry, to recover your
ladyship from a state of darkness and spiritual desertion. Glory,
glory be to rich, free, and sovereign grace! I trust you will
now be kept in the love of God, and that no idol will interpose
between you and the Redeemer. I hope the dear Colonel is now in
his proper place, and that you can think of him without anxiety
or distracting care. This is that freedom wherewith Jesus Christ
makes us free: to love all things in Him, and for Him, and to
love Him above all. Thus we have peace and joy. Whenever we
deviate from it, we fall into darkness and distress of soul.
“We have blessed seasons in London. O who can express the
loving-kindness of the Lord, or shew forth all His praise? We
beg your prayers; and wishing you and your honoured Colonel all
manner of prosperity, I am, etc.,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
The following also was addressed to a titled lady in Edinburgh:――
“LONDON, _November 13, 1742_.
“I hope this will find you a very poor sinner, sitting at the
feet of Jesus. If I mistake not, your soul is athirst for God,
yea, to be filled with all the fulness of God. Go on, dear madam.
God will satisfy all your desires. He has promised, and He will
perform. There is no end of His goodness.
“I believe your ladyship will hear shortly from Mr. Harris.
He is a dear soul, and left London on Thursday last, full of
simplicity and love. The work goes on bravely in Wales, and
elsewhere. Surely it is the midnight cry. Surely the Bridegroom
is coming. Methinks I hear your ladyship say, ‘Then I will make
ready to go forth to meet Him.’ That you may be always ready to
obey the most sudden call, is the hearty prayer of, etc.,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
The next was written to one of the Scottish nobles:――
“LONDON, _November 15, 1742_.
“MY LORD,――My departure from Edinburgh was very sudden, and
it was but a few days before I left, that I heard of your
lordship’s illness. I have not been unmindful of you, and I
trust, that, in answer to prayer, our Lord has rebuked your
fever, and that this will find you risen and ministering unto
Him. How apt are we, when in health, to follow Jesus afar off,
and to fall into a Laodicæan spirit. May this sickness be a
means of drawing you nearer to God!
“I am now in my winter quarters, preparing for a fresh campaign.
Happy they who fight under the Redeemer’s banner!”
Whitefield’s “fresh campaign” included more than preaching. He lived in
troublous times, and needed both “the sword and trowel.” Affairs in New
England made him anxious. Hence the following to the Rev. Dr. Colman,
of Boston:――
“LONDON, _November 18, 1742_.
“REV. AND DEAR SIR,――The confusion in New England has given me
concern; but our Lord will over-rule all for good. When I shall
come to Boston, the Lord Jesus only knows. I believe it will
not be long. I find I shall come in perilous times; but the
all-gracious Saviour, who has helped me hitherto, will guide me
by His counsel, and give me a true scriptural zeal. How hard it
is to keep in the true narrow path, when speaking for the Lord
Jesus! God preserve me, and all His ministers, from defending
His truths and cause in our own, or under the influence of a
false spirit! It destroys the cause we would defend. In Scotland,
there have been, as yet, but few of the disorders complained
of amongst you; but, as the work increases, I suppose, the
stratagems of the enemy will increase also. This is my
comfort――Jesus reigns.”
The Rev. John Meriton was encountering bitter opposition in the Isle of
Man, and wished for Whitefield’s advice respecting his going to Georgia.
Whitefield’s answer was as follows:――
“LONDON, _November 19, 1742_.
“REV. AND DEAR SIR,――If the Lord has given you more zeal, I
wonder not that you meet with more opposition. However, I would
not have you rash or over-hasty in leaving the Isle of Man.
Wait; continue instant in prayer; and you shall see the salvation
of God. I have not heard from my family abroad for some time,
and cannot give you any determinate answer about your going to
Georgia, because I know not how their affairs stand. God will
yet shew you what He would have you to do. Even so, Lord Jesus.
Amen and amen!”
From New England and the Isle of Man, the reader must follow Whitefield
to the principality of Wales. One of the Methodist Exhorters there
had been indicted for holding a conventicle. Whitefield’s services
were solicited on behalf of this luckless brother. He, at once, opened
a correspondence with the Bishop of Bangor, on the subject; and the
following is one of the letters that passed between them:――
“LONDON, _November 19, 1742_.
“MY LORD,――I received your lordship’s letter this evening. It
confirmed me in the character given me of your lordship’s spirit.
I verily believe you abhor everything that has a tendency to
persecution; and yet, in my humble opinion, if Mr. C―――― is not
somewhat redressed, he is persecuted.
“My Lord, the whole of the matter seems to be this: In Wales,
they have fellowship meetings, where some well-meaning people
meet together, simply to tell what God has done for their souls.
In some of these meetings, I believe, Mr. C―――― used to tell
his experience, and to invite his companions to come and be
happy in Jesus Christ. He is, therefore, indicted as holding
a conventicle; and I find this is the case of one, if not two,
more.
“Now, my Lord, as far as I can judge, these persons, thus
indicted, are loyal subjects of his Majesty, and true friends of
the Church of England service, and attendants upon it. You will
see, by the enclosed letters, how unwilling they are to leave
the Church; and yet, if the Acts, made against persons meeting
together to plot against Church and State, be put in execution
against them, what must they do? They must be obliged to declare
themselves Dissenters. I assure your lordship, it is a critical
time in Wales. Hundreds, if not thousands, will go in a body
from the Church, if such proceedings are countenanced. I lately
wrote them a letter, dissuading them from separating from
the Church; and I write thus to your lordship, because of the
excellent spirit of moderation discernible in your lordship, and
because I would not have (to use your lordship’s own expression)
‘such a fire kindled in or from your diocese.’”
Whitefield found it necessary to appeal to another bishop of the
English Church. John Cennick was one of Whitefield’s preachers in as
full a sense as Thomas Maxfield was one of Wesley’s, and had as great
a claim upon Whitefield’s sympathy and support, as the itinerants of
Wesley had upon him. John Cennick was now in trouble. Though he had
occasionally preached in London, Bristol, Kingswood, and elsewhere,
his labours had been principally devoted to the county of Wilts. His
first sermon, in the county, was preached in the street of Castlecombe,
on July 16, 1740; and, before long, he formed himself a preaching
circuit, consisting of Lyneham, Chippenham, Avon, Langley, Hullavington,
Malmsbury, Littleton-Drew, Foxham, Brinkworth, Stratton, Somerford,
Tytherton, Swindon, and other places. He had many adventures, and some
of them serious ones. In the month of June, 1741, accompanied by Howell
Harris and twenty-four other friends, all on horseback, he went to
Swindon, and began to sing and pray; but, before he could begin to
preach, the mob, he writes, “fired guns over our heads, holding the
muzzles so near our faces, that Howell Harris and myself were both made
as black as tinkers with the powder. We were not affrighted, but opened
our breasts, telling them we were ready to lay down our lives for our
doctrine. They then got dust out of the highway, and covered us all
over; and then played an engine upon us, which they filled out of the
stinking ditches. While they played upon brother Harris, I preached;
and, when they turned the engine upon me, he preached. This continued
till they spoiled the engine; and then they threw whole buckets of
water and mud over us. Mr. Goddard, a leading gentleman of the town,
lent the mob his guns, halberd, and engine, and bade them use us as
badly as they could, only not to kill us; and he himself sat on
horseback the whole time, laughing to see us thus treated. After we
left the town, they dressed up two images, and called one Cennick,
and the other Harris, and then burnt them. The next day, they gathered
about the house of Mr. Lawrence, who had received us, and broke all his
windows with stones, cut and wounded four of his family, and knocked
down one of his daughters.”
Within three months after this, Cennick was again in peril. While
preaching at Stratton, the Swindon mob arrived, with “swords, staves,
and poles.” Cennick writes:――“Without respect to age or sex, they
knocked down all who stood in their way, so that some had blood
streaming down their faces, and others were taken up almost beaten and
trampled to death. Many of our dear friends were cut and bruised sadly;
and I got many severe blows myself.”
Notwithstanding, however, this brutal opposition, Cennick’s labours
were successful. He formed several Societies. At Brinkworth, in the
month of August, 1741, he began to build his first meeting-house. “On
Monday, October 25, 1742,” he writes, “I bought the house and land at
Tytherton, where now our chapel is built; and, on Sunday, November 14,
I preached the first time there, after we had taken down several lofts
at one end of the house, in order to make room.”[30]
Cennick continues, “Two days after this, we were sadly misused at
Langley-Burrell. The rude people, besides making a noise, cut the
clothes of the congregation, threw aquafortis on them, and pelted
them with cow-dung.”
In the midst of all this, Cennick wrote to Whitefield, as follows:――
“Last Tuesday, at Langley, several persons came, casting great
stones at the windows of the house where we worshipped, and
hallooed to each other to disturb us with their noise. They then
blamed each other for not dragging me out of the pulpit, and
pulling the house to pieces. At last, they laboured very hard
in gathering dirt and filth, which they continued to throw at us
till we finished. Not content with this, they laid wait for us
in the fields and lanes, and pelted us as we passed on our way.
They cut the clothes of some of the Society with scissors, and
pushed them into brooks and ditches.
“The persecutions in these villages seem to increase in
proportion as the work goes on. The ministers and parish
officers threaten to famish the poor ‘Cennickers.’ Their threats
have prevailed with some, while others tell them, ‘If you
starve us, we will go’ to the meetings; ‘and rather than we will
forbear, we will eat grass like the kine.’”[31]
Such was poor Cennick’s plight. First of all, Whitefield wrote to him
a letter of consolation:――
“LONDON, _November 20, 1742_.
“MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,――Your letter did not surprise me at all,
though it made me look up to the Lord for you. I believed you
would be down in the valley of humiliation soon; but, fear not;
it is only that you may be the more exalted. I trust this will
find you mounting on wings like an eagle; walking, yet not weary;
running, yet not faint. God does and will remarkably appear for
you. Doubtless you are His servant and minister. He, therefore,
that touches you, touches the apple of God’s eye. Poor Wiltshire
people! I pity them. If I knew their bishop, I would apply to
him. I wrote to the Bishop of Bangor for our brethren in Wales,
and have received a very favourable answer. The wrath of man
shall turn to God’s praise, and the remainder of it He will
restrain.”
Dr. Sherlock was the bishop in whose diocese Cennick’s “Wiltshire
circuit” was situated. Sherlock, as every one knows, was eminent for
his learning, and yet more eminent for his piety. The prelate had no
power to punish the mob for their riotous proceedings; but he had power
to rebuke his persecuting clergy; and, hence, Whitefield wrote to him
as follows:――
“LONDON, _November 30, 1742_.
“MY LORD,――I beg your lordship’s pardon for troubling you with
this. I believe you will not be offended when you know the cause.
“There is one Mr. Cennick, a true lover of Jesus Christ, who has
been much honoured in bringing many poor sinners in Wiltshire
to the knowledge of themselves and of God. He is a member of
the Church of England; but is sadly opposed by the clergy in
Wiltshire, as well as by many who will come to hear him preach.
“In a letter, dated November 16, from Foxham, he writes thus:
‘The ministers of Bremhill, Seagry, Langley, and many others,
have strictly forbidden the churchwardens and overseers to let
any of the _Cennickers_ have anything out of the parish; and
they obey them, and tell the poor, if they cannot stop them from
following me, they will famish them. Several of the poor, who
have great families, have already been denied any help. Some of
the people, out of fear, have denied they ever came; and others
have been made to promise they will come no more; whilst the
most part come at the loss of friends and all they have. When
the officers threatened some of them to take away their pay,
they answered, “If you starve us, we will go; and rather than
we will forbear, we will live upon grass like the kine.”’
“In another letter, I received from Mr. Cennick last night, he
writes thus: ‘I should be glad if you could mention the cruelty
of the ministers of Bremhill and Seagry to the Bishop of Sarum.
Indeed, their doings are inhuman. The cry of the people, because
of their oppression, is very great.’
“In compliance with my dear friend’s request, I presume to lay
the matter, as he represents it, before your lordship; being
persuaded that you will not favour persecuting practices, or
approve of such proceedings to keep people to the Church of
England. Should this young man leave the Church, hundreds would
leave it with him. But I know, that, at present, he has no such
design. If your lordship pleases to give me leave, I would wait
upon you, upon the least notice. Or, if your lordship is pleased
to send a line into Wiltshire, to know the truth of the matter,
and judge accordingly, it will satisfy your lordship’s most
obedient son and servant,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
The effect of Whitefield’s letter is not known; but, twelve days after
it was written, Cennick says, in his diary: “On Sunday, December 12th,
a servant of farmer Rogers, of Tytherton, daubed the gates and stiles
our people had to pass over with dung and tar; and, by this means, many
had their clothes entirely spoiled.”
At present, nothing need be added respecting Cennick’s circuit.
Whitefield visited it a few months afterwards, and met with some
memorable adventures.
Of course, wherever he was, the Orphan House in Georgia occupied
Whitefield’s attention and time. The clergyman at Savannah, on account
of whom the chaplain and the surgeon of the Orphan House had been
imprisoned, was now dead; and, further, a fatal disease was prevalant
among the colonists. Addressing the secretary of the Trustees of
Georgia, Whitefield writes:――
“LONDON, _November 20, 1742_.
“Another distress is come upon poor Georgia. A violent sickness
rages, and has taken off many. My letters say, the Orphan-house
surgeon had fifty patients under his care. This, I trust, will
more and more convince the Honourable Trustees, of what benefit
the Orphan House is, and will be, to the colony.
“I hear that Mr. O――――, the minister of Savannah, is dead. I
know one Mr. Meriton, a clergyman in the Isle of Man, who would
go and supply his place, if he were applied to. I believe, the
Bishop of Sodor and Man will give him a recommendation. You
may acquaint the Honourable Trustees with this, and let me know
their answer.[32]
“I hope, in about two months, to embark for Georgia. I find, God
has given my family a good crop; but the hands are sick, so they
cannot speedily carry it in.”
Of course, the greatest orphanage of the time was the one founded
by Augustus Hermann Francke, at Halle, in Germany, in which he made
provision for two thousand children. Besides providing for their
sustenance, he established, on their behalf, a large library, and a
museum of natural curiosities; and also commenced a printing office,
and furnished it with the means of printing books in numerous languages.
Fifteen years ago, Professor Francke had died, at the age of sixty-five,
regretted by all classes in Germany, and extolled for the noble
services which he had rendered to his country, and to the world. His
son was his successor, and to him Whitefield addressed the following
letter:――
“LONDON, _November 24, 1742_.
“REV. SIR,――I have long designed writing to you, but have always
been prevented. I can now defer no longer; for, though I never
saw you in the flesh, I highly esteem you, and wish you much
prosperity in the work of the Lord.
“Your honoured father’s memory is very precious to me. His
account of the Orphan House has been a great support and
encouragement to me in a like undertaking. The account, sent
with this, will inform you how it prospers. Hitherto, it has
answered its motto, and has been like the burning bush, on fire,
but not consumed. About January next, God willing, I intend to
embark. In the meanwhile, I should be glad to know how it is
with your Orphan House; and whether you have any commands for
Georgia.”
Whitefield’s work was multifarious in its character; but his great
employment was testifying the gospel of the grace of God. He had no
idle moments; but his highest ambition was to save the souls of his
fellow-men. Hence the following:――
“LONDON, _December 4, 1742_.
“Vile and unfaithful as I am, my Master lets me have my hands
full of work. From morning till midnight, I am employed;
and I am carried through the duties of each day with almost
uninterrupted tranquillity. Our Society[33] is large, but in
good order, and we make improvements daily.”
“LONDON, _December 9, 1742_.
“I am never so much in my element as when I preach free grace
to the chief of sinners. I am much blessed here. We have many
gracious souls. Ere long, I must leave them.”
“LONDON, _December 18, 1742_.
“The 16th of this month was my birthday. It made me blush
to think how much sin I have committed against God, and how
little good I have done for Him. I am now in my winter quarters,
preparing for a fresh campaign. Our Society goes on well. Though
I richly deserve it, our infinitely condescending Jesus will not
lay me aside, until He has performed all His good pleasure by me.”