their children as boarders; but I have not yet determined. If
there should be peace, it is certain that such a school would
be exceedingly useful, not only for these northern parts of
the colony, but also for the more southern parts of Carolina,
and for Parisburgh and Frederica, where are many fine youths.
I have been prevailed on to take one from Frederica, and another
from Purisburg, and it may be shall admit more. For the present,
considering the situation of affairs,[135] I think it most
prudent to go on in making what improvements I can on the
plantation, and to bring a tutor with me, from the north, in
the fall, to teach a few youths the languages, and enlarge the
family when affairs are more settled. The house is a noble,
commodious building, and everything is sweetly adapted for
bringing up youth. Here is land to employ them and exercise
their bodies, and keep them from idleness out of school hours.
Here are none of the temptations, to debauch their tender minds,
which are common to more populous countries, or in places where
children must necessarily be brought up with negroes.
“What God intends to do with the colony is not for me to enquire;
but it has hitherto been wonderfully preserved; and the Orphan
House, like the burning bush, has flourished unconsumed. No
doubt the government has its welfare much at heart; and I intend
to carry on my design till I see the colony sink or swim. The
money that has been expended on the Orphan House, and Orphan
House family, has been of vast service to this part of the
country.
“I have had a very comfortable winter. The people of Savannah,
having no minister till lately, gladly accepted my labours; and,
at Frederica, the gentlemen and soldiers of General Oglethorpe’s
regiment, as well as the inhabitants of the town, received me
very gladly. Major Horton[136] seems to behave well. He has a
fine growing plantation. I saw barley in the ear on the 1st of
March. Georgia is very healthy. Only a little child has died out
of our family since it removed to Bethesda. If the inhabitants
were sufficiently numerous, I think the colony is capable of as
much improvement as any on the continent.”
Such then were the bold and benevolent schemes of the indigent young
clergyman, who, for the last eight years, had been abused and lampooned
by thousands of professing Christians, of all descriptions. While they
reviled, Whitefield worked.
In England, Howell Harris faithfully did his utmost, as Whitefield’s
_locum tenens_. He writes:――
“LONDON, _February 18, 1746_.
“Since I came here, the Lord has been very kind to us. He is
returning apace to the despised Tabernacle. All disputing has
quite ceased, and we go on harmoniously together. We are now
settling the Society in classes; and re-settling all the
scattered bands. I have been through every class. Many propose
to join the bands and Society. We have had a letter from Mrs.
Whitefield, giving an account of the progress of the gospel in
America. The Indians and negroes are baptized, twelve or
fourteen in a day; and many of them are filled with the grace of
the Holy Spirit.”[137]
Harris was full of hope; but his hope was not realized. Whitefield’s
presence among the Calvinistic Methodists was sorely needed. Cennick’s
secession had been a peril and a disaster. Both people and preachers
suffered loss. James Hutton, with more sourness than sanctity, observed:
“Of all the crowds of the Tabernacle people that offered to come
amongst us” (the Moravians), “we have found scarce two or three that
are good for anything.”[138]
When Cennick seceded in 1745, the Association at the Tabernacle “gave
up” to him and the Moravians the Societies in Wiltshire; but some
of the Societies objected to this arrangement, and, since then, had
requested Whitefield’s preachers to revisit them. At the Association
held in Bristol, March 7, 1746, the matter was discussed; and Howell
Harris wrote a letter “to the Brethren at Fetter Lane,” endeavouring
to promote a common understanding with respect to the fields of labour
to be occupied by the two Societies, and with respect to transferring
members from one Society to the other. James Hutton’s answer to the
Association, written on behalf of “the Brethren in Fetter Lane,” was
as arrogant and scolding as Harris’s letter was meek and loving. The
imperious printer and publisher wrote:――
“We cannot at all consent to any one going into Wiltshire that
belongs to your Association. Your business would chiefly be to
confound poor souls, by preaching strange doctrine, and
spreading scandalous lies. Should any of you go thither, after
receiving this, you will act contrary to all honesty. It is for
the sake of Mr. Howell Harris that we answer you at all. For
him we have regard; but with the rest of you we cannot have any
kind of fellowship at all. You are vainly puffed up,――the enemies
of Christ, and of His blood and atonement, which some of you
blaspheme. To say that we believed _you_ to be _fellow-labourers_
in the vineyard of Christ, would be dissimulation in us. We look
upon you as the destroyers of that vineyard; and we are much
grieved to see Mr. Whitefield’s labours and blessings so spoiled
and ruined by such evil-labourers. We are, however, sincerely,
your well-wishers,
“THE BRETHREN IN FETTER LANE.”[139]
Was there _any_ reason for the use of this strong and offensive
language? It is to be feared there was. Howell Harris, in his
autobiography, written in 1749, remarks:――
“About the year 1746, I saw a spirit creeping into the work
different from that which had been before; namely, the spirit
of levity, pride, foolish jesting, unwatchfulness, and carnal
rejoicing. This took place immediately after extensive frames
and transports, which many seemed to enjoy at the hearing of the
word, and singing, etc.; but the real and serious spirit that
began the work was at length almost extinguished. The spirit of
awakening sinners in the ministry was also, in a great measure,
lost; together with its real and solid fruits in the hearts of
men. I beheld a tendency in the ministry to please men, and to
appear wise and popular in the world; and the spirits of many of
my nearest friends grew great and proud, and would not take the
word of reproof or exhortation.”[140]
The work, however, was still prosecuted. At an Association, held
in London, June 18, 1746, it was determined to retain the “room”
at Lambeth; and an offer of “the playhouse, in the Haymarket,
Westminster,” was prayerfully considered. It was also resolved that,
“henceforth, the tickets should be delivered to every band and class
by their visitors; who, after consulting the minister, should take care
of the money” collected. The preachers, likewise, were stationed; some
to Deptford and Lambeth; some to Essex, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire;
one to Portsmouth, and another to Bristol; and others to Chinnor,
Tewkesbury, Hereford, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, and Wales.
At another Association, held in Bristol, January 22, 1747, Wesley and
four of his assistants were present. It was enquired: “1. How we may
remove any hindrances of brotherly love which have occurred? 2. How
we may prevent any arising hereafter?” It was agreed that Wesley’s and
Whitefield’s preachers should “endeavour to strengthen each other’s
hands, and prevent separations in the several Societies.” Harris,
also, was requested to go to Plymouth and the west, “to heal the breach
there made, and to insist on a spirit of love and its fruits among the
people.”
On July 1, 1747, at the Association, held in London, the Rev. Mr.
Bateman, rector of St. Bartholomew, was present. Preaching arrangements
were made for London, Portsmouth, Olney, Chatham, Bristol, Birmingham,
Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Staffordshire, Salop, Essex, and Wales. It
was also determined that Syms, Whitefield’s agent, at Hoxton, should
give up “his office of keeping the books and accounts into the hands of
Harris.”[141]
In public labours, Harris was indefatigable, and generally joyous. On
October 13, 1746, he writes:――
“Since I came home, I have discoursed in three counties; and the
spirit of praise and thanksgiving has been so poured down upon
us, in several places, that we could not cease praising,
rejoicing, and crying, ‘Hallelujah!’”[142]
Again, on October 16, 1747:――
“Things in Wales have a lovely aspect. Fresh doors are opening;
many are awakened and added to us; and a spirit of love,
discipline, and subordination runs through the whole. We have
settled Friday, November 6, as a day of prayer and humiliation,
for our own, the churches’, and the nation’s sins; and if the
Society in London joins us, we shall be glad. In two days, I
begin a round through North Wales, where, if my work be done, I
expect to be sent home, or, at least, imprisoned. For ten days,
my life will be in continual danger.”[143]
Again, February 4, 1748:――
“This day, our Welsh Association broke up. Scores have been
added since our last Association. Fresh doors have been opened,
and several new Societies settled. At Builth, last Sunday, the
new house we have built there was crowded, and a great number
stood without. I am now going on my rounds to Pembrokeshire,
Carmarthenshire, Glamorganshire, and Monmouthshire; and have
to-night begun collecting for the Orphan House; but, as we
have built a house in Builth, and are building two houses in
Carmarthenshire, and as last year we raised £40 towards the law
suit, I cannot expect such encouragement as I should otherwise
have had.”
Whitefield’s other assistants were labouring with equal bravery
and success. Thomas Adams tells of preaching in a barn at Gosport;
and of a soldier gathering a society at a place seven miles from
Portsmouth.[144] Another preacher writes: “We cannot get a peaceable
meeting at Gosport. The rude men of the King’s Dock, Portsmouth, come
into the barn, and make great disturbances, sometimes pelting us with
eggs, and, at other times, with dirt and stones.”[145]
James Relly writes: “June, 1747. I examine the whole Society in
Bristol once a week, the brethren on Sunday evening, and the sisters
on Wednesday evening; and our Saviour has blessed it to the quickening
of many. There seems also to be a good prospect at Bath.”[146]
Again, “December 21, 1747. I formed twenty or more into a Society at
Birmingham; and, on examining them, was quite satisfied of the spirit
of grace working in all their hearts. Yesterday, many assembled to hear
the word at Tewkesbury, but we were assaulted by such a furious mob,
that all was turned into confusion. They flapped the tables, stamped on
the floor, pushed the people, swore, cursed, laughed, pricked with pins,
threw handfuls of snuff, and brickbats, and dirt. I discoursed about an
hour; but the noise still increasing, I left off.”[147]
Herbert Jenkins relates, “August 9, 1747,” that he had been, “almost
a month at Edinburgh, continually exercised in preaching, and visiting
Societies with vast pleasure and delight.”[148]
John Edwards says: “July 21, 1747. Yesterday, I met the young children
at Shrewsbury; and discoursed, sung, and prayed with them about two
hours. The Saviour of little children was there: the Lamb smiling upon
His lambs.”[149]
These extracts might easily be multiplied; but one more must suffice.
It refers to a disgraceful scene at the Tabernacle in Plymouth, on
Sunday, November 29, 1747.
“At five o’clock in the evening, when we were met together to
worship the Lord God of our fathers, being in number about a
thousand, after I had sung and prayed, and gone over the first
head of my discourse, a strong party of sailors, belonging to
the _Windsor_ man of war, came in amongst us. They entered, and
continued, with their hats on. Four of them came up and stood
just under the pulpit, and betrayed, by their looks and sneers,
that they had a mind to put me out of countenance; but I went
on preaching the word of truth with boldness. In about fifteen
minutes, those near the door began to stamp, and to swear
most bitterly. Some of our friends very mildly entreated them,
either to be still, or else to go out peaceably; but, so far
from taking their advice, they laid the weight of their heavy
bludgeons, with unspeakable fury, upon the poor people’s heads.
The cries and groans of the poor women and children were fearful.
There was but one door, and that was guarded by a company of
resolute persons, who swore that the first who attempted to
escape should have his brains blown out by a pistol. The sailors
then beat down the candlesticks, and blew out the candles, to
darken the place; but one of our friends had presence of mind
to push up one of the chandeliers, suspended by a pully, so that
we had a little light preserved. The fury of our foes increased.
Many of the people were knocked down, and had their heads broken.
The windows were dashed to pieces; and the benches taken up as
weapons of warfare. I entreated our friends to march from every
corner of the place, and arrest some of the rioters. This was
done, and three of them being secured, the rest fled as fast as
they could. We concluded the Sabbath with prayers and
thanksgivings.”[150]
In these jottings, the reader has glimpses of the sunshine and shadows
of the Calvinistic Methodists in England and Wales, during Whitefield’s
absence in America. It is now time to turn again to their youthful
moderator across the Atlantic.
For five months, from March to August in 1746, hardly anything is known
of Whitefield’s wanderings. He seems, however, to have visited New York,
and to have found favour among the people. The following is an extract
from the _New York Post-Boy_, of April, 1746:――
“Mr. Whitefield’s excellent parts, fine elocution, and masterly
address; his admirable talent of opening the Scriptures, and
enforcing the most weighty subjects upon the conscience; his
polite and serious behaviour; his unaffected and superior
piety; his prudence, humility, and catholic spirit, are things
which must silence and disarm prejudice itself. By these
qualifications of the orator, the divine, and the Christian,
he has not only fixed himself deeper in the affections of his
former friends, but greatly increased the number wherever he has
preached; and has made his way into the hearts of several, who,
till this visit, had said all the severe things against him that
enmity itself seemed capable of.”[151]
Soon after this, on his way to Philadelphia, Whitefield wrote to Howell
Harris, as follows:――
“_May 2, 1746._
“MY VERY DEAR, DEAR BROTHER HARRIS,――I am glad to hear the Welsh
Brethren continue steady; and that, amongst our English friends,
Antinomianism seems only to be speculative. This is a great evil,
but not so great as when it affects the practice, and leads the
people of God unwarily into licentiousness. The late outward
troubles, I hope, will do good, and put a stop to the many
disputes, and various sects, which always spring up when the
Lord suffers false principles to abound. I expect to hear that
Jesus has made thee immoveable like a wall of brass, as bold as
a lion, but as meek as a lamb. Blessed be His name! He continues
to be very kind to us. The Orphan House is in a promising way.
My temporal affairs begin to be settled; and I am blessed to
many souls. Jesus causes many of my professed and embittered
enemies to be at peace with me. I know you will help me to
praise Him, and beg Him to continue to stand by a poor unworthy
creature, who simply desires to spend and be spent for the good
of precious and immortal souls. You will remember me to your
dear wife, and all our Welsh brethren, in the most endearing
manner. We frequently pray for them, and do not despair of
seeing them once more. My dear wife loves them exceedingly, and
often warms her heart by reflecting on past times.
“Ever, ever thine in Jesus,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[152]
After this, nothing more is known of Whitefield until the month of
August next ensuing. On the 16th of April, at the battle of Culloden,
the Jacobites were utterly defeated, and the cause of the Pretender
entirely ruined. When the news reached Pennsylvania, Whitefield’s
loyalty gushed forth in a sermon, which was immediately printed, with
the title, “Britain’s Mercies, and Britain’s Duty. Represented in
a Sermon preached at Philadelphia, on Sunday, August 24, 1746; and
occasioned by the Suppression of the late unnatural Rebellion. By
George Whitefield, A.B., late of Pembroke College, Oxon. Printed at
Philadelphia, 1746.”[153] The sermon was almost altogether political,
and need not be further noticed. It was a sufficient answer, however,
to those who doubted Whitefield’s loyalty.
Two days after preaching his thanksgiving sermon, Whitefield wrote to
his mother, as follows:――
“God is exceeding good to me and mine. We have all things
pertaining to life and godliness. Many offers are made me; but
the Lord Jesus keeps me from catching at the golden bait. Favour
is given to me in the sight of the rich and great, and the door
for my usefulness opens wider and wider. I love to range in
the American woods, and sometimes think I shall never return to
England. I was never better in health. My dear wife would send
you a few lines, but she is weak by reason of a miscarriage four
days ago.”
Immediately after this, Whitefield went to Maryland, where he spent, at
least, a month in preaching to large congregations, in seven different
counties. Excepting its slavery, Maryland had great attractions. Its
soil was rich, and its hospitality unique. The young traveller, who
visited Whitefield’s Orphan House in 1743, writes concerning the
province:――
“Mush,[154] milk, and molasses, homine,[155] wild fowl, and fish,
are the principal diet of the meaner inhabitants, whilst the
water presented to you, by one of the barefooted family, in a
copious calabash,[156] with an innocent strain of good breeding
and heartiness,――the cake baking upon the hearth, and the
cleanliness of everything around you,――put you in mind of the
golden age, the times of ancient frugality and purity. All over
the colony, there are full tables and open doors; and the kind
salute, and generous detention remind one of the roast-beef ages
of our forefathers. Their breakfast-tables have generally the
cold remains of the former day, hashed or fricasseed, together
with coffee, tea, chocolate, venison, pastry, punch, rum, and
cider. The dinner consists of good beef, veal, mutton, venison,
turkeys and geese, wild and tame, fowls boiled and roasted,
pies, and puddings. Suppers are the same as dinners, with small
additions, and a good hearty cup to precede a bed of down. This
is the constant life the planters lead, and to this fare every
comer is welcome.”
More than one half of the population of Maryland were slaves, and to
these oppressed and cruelly treated fellow-creatures the planters owed
their riches and their luxuries. Details of Whitefield’s labours in
the colony do not exist. He simply states: “Everywhere almost, the door
is opened for preaching; great numbers flock to hear; and the power
of an ascended Saviour attends the word. I have preached with abundant
success.”[157]
And, again, in a letter to Wesley, dated, “Queen Ann’s County, Maryland,
October 14, 1746,” full of buoyancy, he writes:――
“If you ask, how it is with me? I answer, ‘Happy in Jesus, the
Lord my righteousness.’ If you ask, what I am doing? I answer,
‘Ranging and hunting in the American woods after poor sinners.’
If you ask, with what success? I would answer, ‘My labours were
never more acceptable; and the door, for fifteen hundred miles
together, is quite open for preaching the everlasting gospel.’
Congregations are large, and the work is going on, just as it
began and went on in England.
“Notwithstanding the declining state of Georgia, the Orphan
House is in a better situation than ever; and, in a year or
two, I trust, it will support itself. I am going there to
spend some part of the winter, and to begin a foundation for
literature.”[158]
Soon after this, Whitefield sent off his wife and a young lady through
“the woods,” to Georgia; and, on November 8, he himself started for
Virginia.
The first settlers in Virginia were almost all members of the Church
of England. Episcopacy was established by law.[159] A small number of
Presbyterians from Scotland, and a smaller number of Dissenters from
England, were scattered through the colony; but until about the time
of Whitefield’s first visit, in 1740, there was no ecclesiastical
organization different from the Established Church of the
mother-country. The state of religion in the province was deplorable.
The Rev. Samuel Davies,[160] so justly famed for his sermons and pulpit
oratory, wrote, in 1751:――
“Religion, in most parts of the colony of Virginia, has been,
and still is, in a very low state: a surprising negligence
in attending public worship, and an equally surprising
unconcernedness in those that attend; vices of various kinds
triumphant, and even a form of godliness not common.”
Such a state of things was the natural result of an unfaithful
ministry. Shortly before the year 1740, Samuel Morris began to read,
to his neighbours, Luther on the Galatians, and several pieces of
honest Bunyan, but the effects produced were not great. In 1743, a
young Scotchman brought to Virginia a volume of Whitefield’s sermons,
which Morris read to his cottage congregations on week-days, as well
as Sundays. He writes:――
“The concern of some of the people now was so passionate and
violent, that they could not avoid crying out and weeping
bitterly. My dwelling-house became too small to contain the
congregation, and we determined to build a meeting-house, merely
for reading; for having never been used to extempore prayer,
none of us durst attempt it. When the report was spread abroad,
I was invited to read the sermons at several distant places;
and, by this means, the concern was propagated. About this time,
our absenting ourselves from the Established Church, contrary
to the laws of the province, was taken notice of, and the
court called upon us to assign our reasons, and to declare to
what denomination we belonged. As we knew but little of any
denomination of Dissenters, except Quakers, we were at a loss
what name to assume. At length, recollecting that Luther was a
noted Reformer, and that his books had been of special service
to us, we called ourselves Lutherans.”[161]
The result of this movement was the introduction of Presbyterianism.
Morris and his converts were visited in succession by the Rev. Messrs.
Robinson, Blair, Roan, Tennent, Finley,[162] and other ministers,
until, in the year 1747, Mr. Davies became their settled pastor. These
were the people Whitefield visited in November, 1746; but, unlike
himself, he has left no record of what he saw and did. All that is
known is contained in the following sentence, written by Morris, the
lay-revivalist: “Mr. Whitefield came and preached four or five days,
which was the happy means of giving us further encouragement, and of
engaging others to the Lord, especially among the Church people, who
received the gospel more readily from him than from ministers of the
Presbyterian denomination.”[163]
From Virginia, Whitefield wended his way to Georgia, where, having
received an account of the backsliding and disturbances in London and
elsewhere, which have been already mentioned, he wrote as follows, to
Howell Harris:――
“HANOVER, VIRGINIA, _November 16, 1746_.
“About a week ago, I had the pleasure of receiving a long letter
from you. I was glad to find, that, the Tabernacle was given up
to your care. Whether its breaches are yet repaired, or whether
it be entirely fallen down, I know not. I suppose, when I come
to England, I shall have all to begin again.”[164]
In another letter, written at Bethesda, December 14th, he says:――
“The account you gave me made me mourn. You and all who
attended on my preaching, and had opportunities to converse with
me privately, know how many hints I gave of what has happened.
It might be foreseen; and, consequently, it did not so much
surprise me when I found it had come to pass. But I trust the
storm is now blown over, and that the little flock will enjoy
a calm. Oh that your eyes may be looking towards the blessed
Jesus! From Him alone can come your salvation. He will be better
to you than a thousand Whitefields. I am afraid you are too
desirous of having me with you. Indeed, I long to see you all;
but, for some time, America seems to be my place of action.
The harvest is great in many places, and the labourers are very
few.”[165]
In another letter to Howell Harris, dated “Bethesda, December, 1746,”
he writes:――