written. From this venerable sanctuary sprang separate congregations in
Shepherd’s Market, Kentish Town, Paddington, Tonbridge chapel, Robert
Street, Crown Street, and Craven chapel.[397] Much also might be said
of the distinguished preachers who, in olden days, occupied its pulpit:
Dr. Peckwell, De Courcy, Berridge, Walter Shirley, Piercy, chaplain
to General Washington, Rowland Hill, Torial Joss, West, Kinsman,
Beck, Medley, Edward Parsons, Matthew Wilks, Joel Knight, John Hyatt,
and many others; but want of space prevents the insertion of further
details. Whitefield’s Tabernacle in Moorfields has been demolished, and
a Gothic church erected on its site.[398] Whitefield’s Tottenham Court
Road chapel is now his only erection in the great metropolis; and long
may it stand as a grand old monument, in memory of the man who founded
it! Thousands have been converted within its walls, and never was it
more greatly needed than at the present day.
No sooner had Whitefield raised £600 towards the erection of his
intended chapel, than away he went to the west of England, where he
spent about a month. He preached at Bristol, Bath, Westbury, Gloucester,
Bradford, Frome, Warminster, Portsmouth, and other places. One letter,
written during this preaching tour, must be inserted.
The Rev. Thomas Haweis, D.D., was now a student at Christ Church
College, Oxford. He had been educated at the Grammar School, Truro,
and had been converted under the preaching of the Rev. Samuel Walker,
whose ministry, in that town, during the last few years, had been the
means of turning a large number of people “from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan unto God.” Young Haweis had formed a Society
at Oxford,[399] analogous to the “Holy Club” of the Wesleys and their
friends, more than a quarter of a century previous to this. He and
a few of his fellow-collegians, all animated by the same views and
feelings, met together, in his room, at stated times, for the purpose
of reading the Greek Testament, and of conversing on religious subjects.
Mr. Walker, the Methodist clergyman of Truro, in a letter, dated “April,
1757,” wrote, “Tom Haweis is at Christ Church, and doing service among
a few of the young gentlemen there. He tells me, he is remarked as
a dangerous fellow; and adds, that Romaine has been again in the
university pulpit, where he preached imputed righteousness, but, it is
said, will be allowed to preach no more there.”[400] In another letter,
written a few months afterwards, Walker remarked, “Tom Haweis has good
speed at Oxford. There are pretty many already coming to him in private,
and he hopes very well of a few of them.”[401] Haweis, in fact, had
founded a second Society of “Oxford Methodists,” a Society which grew
into such importance, and became so obnoxious to the heads of houses,
as to lead, in 1768, to the expulsion of six students, belonging to
Edmund Hall, “for holding Methodistical tenets, and taking upon them to
pray, read, and expound the Scriptures in private houses.”[402]
As yet, Whitefield had never met with Haweis, but he had heard of him,
and, while at Bristol, he addressed to him the following letter:――
“BRISTOL, _May 20, 1756_.
“MY VERY DEAR SIR,――For so I must address you, having had you
in a peculiar manner upon my heart, ever since I read a letter
that came from you some months ago. It bespoke the language of
a heart devoted to Jesus. Glory be to God! that there are some
young champions coming forth. Methinks, I could now sing my
_nunc dimittis_ with triumphant joy. Though I decrease, may you
increase! O that you may be kept from conferring with flesh and
blood! O that you may be owned and blessed of God! I believe
you will, and never more so than when you are reviled and
despised by man. It is a fatal mistake to think we must keep
our characters in order to do good. This is called _prudence_;
in most, I fear, it is _trimming_. Honesty I find always to be
the best policy. Them who honour Jesus, He will honour. Even
in this world, if we confess Him, His truth, and His people, we
shall receive a hundredfold. But whither am I going? Excuse the
overflowings of a heart that loves you dearly for the glorious
Redeemer’s sake. I am here preaching His cross. Next week, I
have thoughts of being at Bath and Westbury. I lead a pilgrim
life. Ere long, I hope my heavenly Father will take me home. I
am ambitious; I want to sit upon a throne. Jesus has purchased a
throne and heaven for me. That you may have an exalted place at
His right hand, is the prayer of, etc.,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
On his return to London, Whitefield took advice respecting the trust
deed to be drawn up for his new chapel, and wrote to the Countess of
Huntingdon as follows:――
“LONDON, _June 4, 1756_.
“EVER-HONOURED MADAM,――At Bristol, the Redeemer caused us to
triumph, and likewise in Gloucestershire, and at Bradford, Frome,
Warminster, and Portsmouth, where I have been the last three
weeks. I am now come to London, for about ten days, to keep
Pentecost. I trust it will be a Pentecost to many souls at Long
Acre.
“Blessed be God! a new building is now in progress at Tottenham
Court Road. We have consulted the Commons about putting it under
your ladyship’s protection. This is the answer: ‘No nobleman
can license a chapel; a chapel cannot be built and used as such,
without the consent of the parson of the parish; and, when it
is done with his consent, no minister can preach therein without
license of the Bishop of the diocese.’ There seems then to be
but one way,――to license it as our other houses are: and thanks
be to Jesus for that liberty, which we have.”
From this it is evident that Whitefield wished his new erection to be a
chapel in connection with the Established Church; and, that, because of
the difficulties mentioned, he was driven to avail himself of the Act
of Toleration, and license it as a Dissenting meeting-house.
Whitefield had another trouble of a different kind. William Law, one
of the oracles of the Oxford Methodists, had become a Behmenite; and
Wesley had recently published a large pamphlet, with the title, “A
Letter to the Rev. Mr. Law, occasioned by some of his late writings.”
(8vo. 102 pp.) This production has never been entirely reprinted, an
extract only being given in Wesley’s collected works. Its language
in some places was unusually, perhaps undeservedly, severe. At all
events, Law was deeply offended; and, what was more amusing, Whitefield
was implicated, by its being rumoured that he was a party to the
publication of Wesley’s letter. The following, to Lady Huntingdon,
refers to this:――
“LONDON, _June 10, 1756_.
“EVER-HONOURED MADAM,――I have just come from bed, where I have
been sweating for a cold and colic. From your ladyship’s kind
and condescending letter, I see your ladyship is touched in
a very tender point. Generous minds are always thus affected,
when a friend is abused. I find more and more, that our own
mother’s children will be permitted to be angry with us. The
contradiction of saints is more trying than that of sinners.
I do not deny, that I might say, ‘Some of Mr. Law’s principles,
in my opinion, are wrong;’ but that I ever put Mr. Wesley upon
writing, or had any active hand in his pamphlet, is utterly
false. I think it is a most ungentlemanlike, injudicious,
unchristian piece. However, Mr. Law knows too much of the Divine
life, not to see some call even in this cross; and I hope your
ladyship will not suffer it to burden your mind any longer.
“My present work in London seems to be over, and, on Monday
or Tuesday next, I hope to set out for Bristol, and then come,
through Leicestershire, on my way to Scotland. This, I hope,
will be a three months’ circuit. The prospect in London is very
promising. Every day we hear of fresh conquests.”
Whitefield did not set out to Bristol until June 22; and, instead of
proceeding thence to Scotland, he returned to London on July 9. The
following letters belong to this period.
Whitefield had a large family in America; but, because of the war, he
could not visit it. He wrote to his housekeeper there as follows:――
“LONDON, _June 21, 1756_.
“Nothing in your last letter concerns me, except your having the
least suspicion that I was not pleased with your conduct, or was
not satisfied with your being at Bethesda. I know of no person
in the world that I would prefer to you. I think myself happy
in having such a mother for the poor children, and am persuaded
God will bless you more and more. I care not how much the family
is lessened. As it is a time of war, this may be done with great
propriety; and the plantation will have time to grow. Never
fear; Jesus will stand by a disinterested cause. I have aimed
at nothing, in founding Bethesda, but His glory and the good
of my country. Let Lots choose the plain; God will be Abraham’s
shield and exceeding great reward. All is well that ends well.
To-morrow, I set out upon a long range.”
The next letter is curious and full of interest. Benjamin Franklin,
who, in later years, through unhappy embroilments, became an enemy
of England, and took an active part in bringing about the American
revolution, was, at present, one of the most loyal subjects of King
George the Second. Only a year before, when the expedition of General
Braddock, to dispossess the French of some of their encroachments, was
in preparation, a difficulty arose for want of waggons, and Franklin,
at the risk of ruining his own fortunes, supplied not fewer than a
hundred and fifty. After this, he was instrumental in passing a militia
bill, and was appointed colonel of the Philadelphia regiment of twelve
hundred men, which command he held until the troops were disbanded
by order of the English government. In the midst of these exciting
occurrences, Franklin wrote to Whitefield, as follows:――
“NEW YORK, _July 2, 1756_.
“DEAR SIR,――I received your favour of the 24th of February with
great pleasure, as it informed me of your welfare, and expressed
your continued regard for me. I thank you for the pamphlet
you enclosed to me.[403] As we had just observed a provincial
fast on the same occasion, I thought it very seasonable to
be published in Pennsylvania; and accordingly reprinted it
immediately.
“You mention your frequent wish that you were a chaplain to
the American army. I sometimes wish that you and I were jointly
employed by the Crown to settle a colony on the Ohio. I imagine
that we could do it effectually, and without putting the nation
to much expense; but, I fear, we shall never be called upon
for such a service. What a glorious thing it would be to settle
in that fine country a large, strong body of religious and
industrious people! What a security to the other colonies,
and advantage to Britain, by increasing her people, territory,
strength, and commerce! Might it not greatly facilitate the
introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could,
by such a colony, shew them a better sample of Christians than
they commonly see in our Indian traders?――the most vicious and
abandoned wretches of our nation! Life, like a dramatic piece,
should not only be conducted with regularity, but, methinks, it
should finish handsomely. Being now in the last act, I begin to
cast about for something fit to end with. Or, if mine be more
properly compared to an epigram, as some of its lines are but
barely tolerable, I am very desirous of concluding with a bright
point. In such an enterprise, I could spend the remainder of
life with pleasure: and I firmly believe God would bless us with
success, if we undertook it with a sincere regard to His honour,
the service of our gracious king, and (which is the same thing)
the public good.
“I thank you cordially for your generous benefactions to the
German schools. They go on pretty well; and will do better,
when Mr. Smith, who has at present the principal charge of them,
shall learn to mind party-writing and party-politics less, and
his proper business more; which, I hope, time will bring about.
“I thank you for your good wishes and prayers; and am, with
the greatest esteem and affection, dear sir, your most obedient
humble servant,
“BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
“My best respects to Mrs. Whitefield.”[404]
As is well known, this remarkable man wound up the drama of his
eventful life, not by founding a new English colony on the Ohio, but by
assisting to wrest the colonies which England already had, from English
government, and by becoming the plenipotentiary of the rebellious
provinces to the court of France!
After his return from Bristol, on July 9, Whitefield, with the
exception of a run to Kent, employed nearly the next three weeks in
London. Hence the following letters, the first to the Countess of
Huntingdon, the second to his housekeeper at Bethesda:――
“LONDON, _July 17, 1756_.
“EVER-HONOURED MADAM,――Your kind letter found me just returned
from Bristol, and just setting out for Maidstone and Chatham,
where I have been to preach the gospel, and to visit a poor
murderer.[405] I hope my labours were not altogether vain in
the Lord. I am now preparing for my northern expedition. My
motions must be very quick, because I would hasten to Scotland
as fast as possible, to have more time at my return. Eternity!
Eternity! O how I do long for thee! But, alas, how often must
we be like pelicans in the wilderness, before we arrive there!
Solitariness prepares for the social life, and the social life
for solitariness again. Jesus alone is the centre of peace and
comfort in either situation. Springs fail; the Fountain never
can, nor will.”
“ISLINGTON, _July 27, 1756_.
“Pray lessen the family as much as possible. I wish I had none
in the house but proper _orphans_. The plantation would then
suffice for its support, and debts be paid; but we must buy
our experience. Troubles seem to beset us here; but we are
all secure in God. His gospel flourishes in London. I am just
returned from preaching it at Sheerness, Chatham, and in the
camp. This afternoon or to-morrow I set off for Scotland.”
Whitefield arrived at Leeds on Sunday evening, August 1. The account
of his labours during the next fortnight is contained in the following
letter:――
“SUNDERLAND, _August 14, 1756_.
“It is now a fortnight since I came to Leeds. On the Sunday
evening, a few hours after my arrival, many thousands were
gathered in the fields, to whom Jesus enabled me to speak with
some degree of power. The following week, I preached, in and
about Leeds, thrice almost every day, to thronged and affected
auditories. On Sunday last, at seven in the morning, the
congregation consisted of about ten thousand; at noon and in the
evening, at Birstal, of near double the number. Though hoarse,
the Redeemer helped me to speak, so that all heard. It was
a high day. In the evening, several hundred of us rode about
eight miles, singing and praising God. The next morning, I
took a sorrowful leave of Leeds, preached at Tadcaster[406] at
noon, and at York in the evening. God was with us. On Tuesday,
I preached twice at York. Delightful seasons. On Wednesday, at
Warstall, about fifty miles off; on Thursday, twice at Yarm; and
last night and this morning here. After spending my Sabbath here,
and visiting Shields,[407] Newcastle, and some adjacent places,
I purpose to go on to Scotland.”
The Sunday spent at Bradford and Birstal was a day never to be
forgotten; and the singing cavalcade, at the end of it, has hardly
ever been equalled. Among the thousands then assembled, was a boy,
sixteen years of age, upon whom Whitefield’s sermons had a powerful
and permanent effect. They led to his conversion; and the youth, then
an apprentice, became the well-known Rev. John Fawcett, D.D., for
fifty-four years, one of the most faithful preachers among the West
Yorkshire mountains. After hearing Whitefield at Bradford, early in the
morning, young Fawcett trudged ten or a dozen miles to Birstal, where
Whitefield stood on a platform, at the foot of a hill near the town,
and, on the slopes of the hill, had twenty thousand people grouped
before him, “thousands of whom, during the delivery of his two sermons,
vented their emotions by tears and groans. Fools who came to mock,
began to pray.”[408]
One of the places “about Leeds,” at which Whitefield preached, was
Haworth, where a scaffold was erected in the churchyard, and he took
for his text, “Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope” (Zech.
ix. 12). Here, again, there was a young Yorkshireman who never forgot
that memorable season. Samuel Whitaker wrote: “I got among the crowd
nearly under the scaffold, and it was the most affecting time I ever
experienced. Mr. Whitefield spoke as if he had been privy to all my
thoughts, words, and actions, from the tenth year of my age. The day
following, I heard him at Leeds; and the day after that, at Bradford.”
Twelve months subsequent to this, Samuel Whitaker became a member of
Wesley’s Society; for many years was a class-leader and local-preacher
at Keighley; and, exactly sixty years after first hearing Whitefield at
Haworth, tranquilly expired, in the eighty-second year of his age.[409]
Whitefield has left no account of his labours in Scotland; but the
following particulars, taken from the _Scots’ Magazine_ for 1756, will
partly fill up the gap.
He arrived at Edinburgh, on Friday, August 20, where he remained for
the next three weeks, and “preached every day, morning and evening, in
the Orphan Hospital Park, to very numerous audiences” (p. 414).
On Friday, September 10, he went to Glasgow, where he preached the same
evening, twice on Saturday, and four times on Sunday, September 12, to
large congregations.
Six days afterwards, he returned to Edinburgh; and, as the new governor
of Georgia desired to converse with him, before embarking for the
colony, Whitefield started for England, on Wednesday, September 22.[410]
The _Scots’ Magazine_ proceeds to say: “Before Mr. Whitefield set out
for Glasgow, the managers of the Orphan Hospital made him a present
of fifty guineas to defray his travelling charges; but he returned
ten guineas, saying that forty guineas were sufficient to defray the
charges, and likewise to pay upwards of £14, which he had laid out
here for coarse linen to be sent to his Orphan House in Georgia. For
accommodating the audience, when he preached, the managers had erected
seats in the park; and, though only a halfpenny each was asked from the
hearers for their seats, the money thence arising, and the collections
at the park gates, amounted to upwards of £188 sterling; so that the
hospital has about £120 clear gain, over and above the expense of the
seats, and the present made to Mr. Whitefield.”
The magazine relates further, that “scarcity at home” had induced
a greater number of Highlanders than usual to come to Edinburgh for
“harvest work.” The harvest, however, was not ready. They had nothing
to live upon. “Contributions were set on foot, to give them two meals
a day at the poorhouse; and, on the evening of September 21, after
a sermon suitable to the occasion by Mr. Whitefield, a collection
was made for them, in the Orphan Hospital Park, which amounted to £60
11s. 4d. sterling, of which half a guinea was given by Mr. Whitefield
himself” (p. 465).
To these items of intelligence may be added the following from the
_Edinburgh Courant_: “During his stay, Mr. Whitefield preached, morning
and evening, in the Orphan Hospital Park, not excepting the evening
of the day on which he arrived, or the morning of that on which he
departed. As he was frequently very explicit in opening the miseries
of popish tyranny and arbitrary power, and very warm in exhorting his
hearers to loyalty and courage at home, and in stirring them up to pray
for the success of his Majesty’s forces, we have reason to believe that
his visit, at this juncture, has been particularly useful.”
In 1756, a considerable number of Wesley’s preachers and Societies were
strongly inclined to declare themselves Dissenters. Charles Wesley was
excessively annoyed; and, as soon as his brother’s annual conference
was ended, he set out to entreat the Methodists “to continue steadfast
in the communion of the Church of England.” Throughout life, Whitefield
was a peace-maker, and, on his return from Scotland, he rendered
service for which Charles Wesley was profoundly thankful. Under the
date of Friday, October 8, Charles wrote:――
“Returning to Leeds, I met my brother Whitefield, and was much
refreshed by the account of his abundant labours. I waited on
him in our Room, and gladly sat under his word.”
Again: “Sunday, October 10. At Birstal, my congregation was less
by a thousand or two, through George Whitefield preaching to-day
at Haworth.”
“Monday, October 11. Hearing Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Grimshaw
were returning to our watch-night, I waited for them at their
lodgings, with zealous, humble, loving Mr. Crook. It rained so
hard, that Mr. Whitefield was agreeably surprised, at eight,
to find our House as full as it could cram. They forced me to
preach first; which I did from Zech. xiii.: ‘The third part I
will bring through the fire.’ My brother George seconded me in
the words of our Lord: ‘I say unto all, Watch.’ The prayers and
hymns were all attended with a solemn power. Few, if any, went
unawakened away.”
“Manchester, Monday, October 25. Here I rejoiced to hear of the
great good Mr. Whitefield has done in our Societies. He preached
as universally as my brother. He warned them everywhere against
apostacy; and strongly insisted on the necessity of holiness
_after_ justification, illustrating it with this comparison:
‘What good will the king’s pardon do a poor malefactor dying
of a fever? So, notwithstanding you have received forgiveness,
unless the disease of your nature be healed by holiness, ye
can never be saved.’ He beat down the separating spirit, highly
commended the prayers and services of our Church, charged our
people to meet their bands and classes constantly, and never to
leave the Methodists, or God would leave them. In a word, he did
his utmost to strengthen our hands, and deserves the thanks of
all the churches, for his abundant labour of love.”[411]
The author of “The Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon” states,
that, in his itinerancy through Lancashire, Whitefield was accompanied
by the Revs. Messrs. Grimshaw, Ingham, and Milner, and that, among
other places, they visited Manchester, Stockport, and Chinley.[412]
From an old manuscript ‘History of Methodism in Leigh,’ it appears,
that Whitefield also visited Shackerley, where, at that time, a large
number of Unitarians were located, the disciples of Dr. Taylor, the
divinity tutor of the Unitarian Academy at Warrington. The writer
relates, that, Whitefield preached on Shackerley Common, and that a
man, a mile distant, leaning upon a gate, distinctly heard many of his
sentences, was convinced of sin, and soon converted.
Whitefield’s own account of his labours in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and
Cheshire, is extremely meagre. On his return to London, from what he
calls his “thousand miles’ northern circuit,”[413] he wrote to the
Countess of Huntingdon, as follows:――
“LONDON, _October 27, 1756_.
“I wrote you a few lines, not long ago, from Leeds. Since then,
I have been in honest Mr. Grimshaw’s and Mr. Ingham’s rounds,
preaching upon the mountains to many thousands. One, who was
awakened three years ago, is gone to heaven, and desired to be
buried in the spot where she was converted. The sacrament at
Mr. Grimshaw’s was awful; and the watch-night at Leeds exceeding
solemn. I would have continued my circuit, but I found that
preaching so frequently in those cold districts was bringing on
my last year’s disorder. Being, therefore, grown very prudent,
I am come to open our new chapel in Tottenham Court Road. Lord,
what am I, that Thou shouldest suffer me to put a pin in Thy
tabernacle! Never did I know the fields more ready unto harvest,
than I have seen them in the north.”
Builders, in former days, were more expeditious than at present.
Whitefield’s chapel was neither a small nor a flimsy structure, and yet,
only half a year after its commencement, it was ready for being opened!
Whitefield was now in his “winter quarters,” where he remained for the
next six months;――an unusually long period for him to spend in London.
The following extracts from his letters will, it is hoped, interest the
reader:――