March 6, when, besides the clergymen already mentioned, there was
another present, who afterwards attained a distinguished eminence――John
Fletcher, the immortal Vicar of Madeley. First of all, the sacrament
was administered by Whitefield. Among the communicants were the Earl
and Countess of Dartmouth, the Countess of Chesterfield, Lady Gertrude
Hotham, Sir Charles Hotham, Mrs. Carteret, Mrs. Cavendish, Sir Sidney
Halford Smythe, Mr. Thornton (of Clapham), the Rev. Messrs. Venn,
Jones, Maxfield, Downing, Fletcher, and others. Whitefield addressed
the communicants; “and all were touched to the heart,” said Lady
Huntingdon, “and dissolved in tears.” Whitefield, Romaine, and Madan
prayed. The sacramental service being ended, the Earls of Chesterfield
and Holderness, and several others of distinction, were admitted.
Whitefield preached, with his accustomed eloquence and energy, from
“Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” The word,
remarked Lady Huntingdon, “drew sighs from every heart, and tears
from every eye. Mr. Fletcher concluded with a prayer, every syllable
of which appeared to be uttered under the immediate teaching of the
Spirit; and, he has told me since, that, he never had more intimate
communion with God, or enjoyed so much of His immediate presence, as
on that occasion.”[458]
Glorious men, and glorious meetings! No wonder God was present! Who
can estimate the results of these godly gatherings? Fresh from such
meetings, the Countess of Huntingdon went to Brighton, longing, panting,
and praying for the salvation of sinners. She carried to the mansions
of the nobility the influence of the services held in her London
residence. She took to the houses of the poor the glad tidings of
salvation. A soldier’s wife, at Brighton, manifested such anxiety,
that the Countess was induced to repeat her visit. The apartment was
contiguous to a public bakehouse, and the people, who came to the
oven, listened, through a crack in the partition, to her ladyship’s
conversations, readings, expositions, and prayers. In a little while,
she had, in this humble home, a regular congregation. At first, none
but females were admitted; but a blacksmith, named Joseph Wall, a man
notorious for his profligacy, by some means, gained admission, was
converted, and, for a period of twenty-nine years, adorned the doctrine
of God his Saviour. The Countess had become a _preacheress_, and a
successful one! In the midst of her Brighton meetings she sent for
Whitefield. Whitefield went. His first sermon was preached under a tree,
in a field behind the White Lion Inn. Among his hearers was a youth,
eighteen years of age, Thomas ♦Tupper, ready to stone the preacher,
but who was so affected by Whitefield’s cry of “Turn ye! turn ye!”
that he was converted, and became the predecessor of the well-known
William Jay of Bath. Another convert, gained on the spot, was Edward
Gadsby, who, for more than a quarter of a century afterwards, “walked
in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” After this,
conversions were multiplied; and the Countess built a small, but neat
meeting-house, on the site of the present one in North Street, the
expense of which she, either wholly, or in part, defrayed by the sale
of her jewels. In 1761, the chapel was opened by Martin Madan; and,
in succession, Romaine, Berridge, Venn, and Fletcher, severally took
charge of the congregation.[459]
As usual, Whitefield was greatly encouraged by the prosperity of the
work of God in London. In a letter to his housekeeper at Bethesda,
dated “March 26, 1759,” he wrote, “We live in a changing world, but
Bethesda’s God liveth for ever and ever. His word runs and is glorified
daily, especially at Tottenham Court. Strange! that nobody will relieve
me, that I may once more flee to America. But, heavenly Father, our
times are in Thine hands: do with us as seemeth good in Thy sight!”
Before leaving London for his “spring campaign,” Whitefield issued
a small publication with the following title: “A Sermon on Christ
Crucified. Preached at Paul’s Cross, the Friday before Easter. By John
Foxe, the Martyrologist. With a recommendatory preface by the Rev. Mr.
Whitefield. London, 1759.”
Nothing need be said of John Foxe’s sermon, but Whitefield’s preface is
too good to be omitted.
“To all who attend on the word, preached at the Tabernacle, near
Moorfields, and at Tottenham Court chapel.
“MY DEAR HEARERS,――The ensuing discourse was lately put into my
hands. The title-page informs you when, where, and by whom it
was delivered――namely, near two hundred years ago, in the open
air, from a pulpit made in the shape of a cross in Cheapside,
commonly called Paul’s Cross, and by that venerable man of God,
Mr. John Foxe, Prebend of St. Paul’s, whose Book of Martyrs was,
by order of the government in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, fixed
in all churches, and remains in many to this day. Though some
of the expressions in this sermon may seem to be obsolete, and
others want a little explication, I choose to publish it in its
native dress, not only on account of its being designed for the
instruction and comfort of heavy-laden souls, who are too deeply
impressed to mind the elegancy and correctness of the words and
phrases, but also chiefly that you might have a specimen of that
foolishness of preaching, which, in the days of our forefathers,
was so mighty through God to the pulling down of the outward
strongholds of popery in these kingdoms; and what was infinitely
more (though less discernible by the natural man), the mightier
inward strongholds of sin and corruption, in the hearts of both
Papists and Protestants.
“And would to God, that not only all the ministers of our
Established Church, but of all the Protestant Reformed Churches,
were not only almost, but altogether, such preachers! How would
their hearers’ hearts then burn within them, whilst they were
opening to them, from the Scriptures, man’s original apostacy
from God,――the only means of reconciliation through faith in
the blood of Christ,――a universal morality, as the sole fruit
and proof of such a faith,――an establishment and growth in grace
here,――and, as the blessed and certain consequences of all these,
a perfect consummation of bliss, both of body and soul, in the
full and eternal enjoyment of a Triune God in the kingdom of
heaven hereafter. These are the grand truths delivered in the
following sermon.
“My chief reason for dedicating it to you is to let you see
that the doctrines you daily hear are no new doctrines, but the
very same which were preached two hundred years ago, and that in
the streets too, by the excellent compilers of the Liturgy and
Articles, and who had the honour of being banished and burned,
in the bloody reign of Queen Mary, for adhering to the same.
And, if it should ever happen in our times, that any of their
true-born faithful sons and successors should be excluded pulpits,
denied licenses, or put into spiritual courts for preaching in
the same manner, let them remember, that we live under a reign,
when, though pulpits are shut, the highways and hedges lie open.
Paul’s Cross, as I am informed, was burnt down at the Fire of
London; but Christ crucified, whom Paul preached, may yet be
exalted in the streets and lanes of the city. Our Lord has given
us a universal commission: ‘Go ye, and preach the gospel to
every creature.’ When thrust out of the synagogues, a mountain,
a ship were his pulpit, and the heavens were his sounding-board.
Thus Latimer, Cranmer, Ridley, and Mr. John Foxe, the famous
martyrologist, preached. And who needs be ashamed of copying
after such unexceptionable examples? But I am detaining you too
long. Haste, and read; and if, in reading, you feel what I did,
you will be glad of this sermon.
“I am, my dear hearers, your affectionate friend and ready
servant, in our common Lord,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
“London, May 4, 1759.”
A few days after the date of this Protestant preface, Whitefield left
London on another of his gospel tours. Hence the following:――
“BRISTOL, _May 25, 1759_.
“This day se’nnight, I came hither. The next day, the spring
campaign was opened. On the Lord’s-day, we took the field.
Thousands and thousands attended: full as many as in London. The
power of the Lord was present at the three meetings, as well as
at the holy sacrament. Ever since, I have been enabled to preach
twice, and sometimes thrice a day. Never did I see the Bristol
people more attentive or impressed. My body feels the heat, but
no matter. If souls are benefited, all is well.”
Leaving Bristol, Whitefield made his way to Scotland, arriving at
Edinburgh on Saturday, the 30th of June.[460] Three days afterwards,
he wrote as follows:――
“Edinburgh, July 3, 1759. There has been a long interval between
my last and this. My quick motions and frequent preaching have
been the causes. O what am I that I should be employed for
Jesus! In Gloucestershire, the cup of many of His people ran
over. In Yorkshire, I preached for a week twice a day. Great
congregations! great power! Blessed be the name of the Great God
for ever and ever! Here, also, people, high and low, rich and
poor, flock as usual, morning and evening. I am growing fat; but,
as I take it to be a disease, I hope I shall go home the sooner.
Happy they who are safe in harbour.”
Whitefield spent nearly seven weeks in Scotland, a fortnight in Glasgow,
and the remainder of the time in Edinburgh. Of course, his cathedral
in the latter city was the Orphan Hospital Park, as usual, where he
preached every morning and evening without exception. He did the same
in Glasgow, only on the two Sundays that he was there, he preached ten
times! He set out for London on Tuesday, August 14;[461] but, before
following him, further extracts from his letters must be given. To the
Rev. John Gillies, he wrote:――
“Edinburgh, July 7, 1759. I purpose to see Glasgow; but cannot
as yet fix the day. I preach, and people flock as usual; but
Scotland is not London. The Redeemer is doing wonders there.
Every post brings fresh good news. God’s Spirit blows when and
where it listeth. O for a gale before the storm! I expect one is
at hand. The refuge is as near. Jesus is our hiding-place. O for
a hiding-place in heaven! When will my turn come? Some say, not
yet; for I am growing fat. So did Mr. ♦Darracott a little before
he died.”
Whitefield’s obesity was one of his troubles. He disliked it; for it
was cumbersome, and made his work more difficult. It was not the result
of less labour, or of more physical indulgence. Disease had already
seized the strong, active man, and, as Whitefield judged, this was one
of its early symptoms. It helped, however, to cure him of a fault. “My
friend Mr. Whitefield,” says Romaine, “one day told me, that there was
a time in his life when he thought he had never well closed a sermon
without a lash at the _fat_, downy doctors of the Establishment.
‘At that period,’ said he, ‘I was not lean myself, though much
slenderer than since. I went on, however, and seldom failed to touch
pretty smartly upon the objects of my dissatisfaction, till one day,
on entering the pulpit at Tottenham Court Road, I found the door
apparently narrowed, and moved in obliquely. The idea then struck me,
that I was becoming, at least in appearance, a downy doctor myself;
and, from that time, I never more made the downy doctors a subject of
castigation.’”[462]
“Edinburgh, July 12, 1759. It is well that there is a heaven to
make amends for our disappointments on earth. It is a dead time
in Scotland. There is little or no stirring among the dry bones.
It is not so in London, and several other parts of England. On
Monday, God willing, I go to blow the gospel trumpet at Glasgow.
Lord, what am I, that I should be one of Thy run-abouts! If this
be to be vile, Lord, make me more vile.”
“Glasgow, July 18, 1759. I see the disease, but know not how to
come at a cure. I dread a corpulent body; but it breaks in upon
me like an armed man. O that my heart may not wax gross at the
same time! Congregations in Scotland are very large.”
During his present visit to Scotland, Whitefield preached nearly
a hundred times, to ever-increasing congregations. His collections,
for the Orphan Hospital, amounted to £215. In most of his sermons,
he stirred up the zeal of the people for God, for King George II.,
and for their country. His last service, on Sunday evening, August 12,
was a thanksgiving sermon for the victory of Prince Ferdinand of
Brunswick over the French, at Minden, on July 31. Another fact also
must be mentioned. Miss Henderson, a young lady of considerable
fortune, offered him a gift of £700, which he courteously refused.
She then proposed to give it to his Orphan House; but, for some reason,
this offer also was declined.[463] This was the mercenary man, who,
according to his enemies, was always endeavouring to amass a fortune
for himself!
At the end of August, Whitefield was once more in London, and, a
fortnight afterwards, wrote the following concerning his Orphan
House:――
“London, September 13, 1759. Your letter, dated May 25, which
I received yesterday, gave me unspeakable satisfaction. God
be praised for your success in silk-worms! God be praised that
Bethesda is out of debt! God be praised for all His tender
mercies to me and mine! Praise the Lord, O our souls! I wish
some of the children could be bred up for the ministry. What a
pity that I cannot have a grammar school! I shall think and pray,
and then write to you on this head. It is a most discouraging
thing, that good places cannot be found for the boys when fit to
go out. By this means, they are kept in the house beyond their
time, both to their own hurt, and to the further expense of
the institution. Could you let me know what stock of cattle you
have, and what hogs you kill? The more particular you are about
everything, the better. I long for the account. I am glad you
received the books. More are to be sent from Scotland. I do not
much care for R――――’s being at Bethesda, unless he is a true
penitent. How does my nephew go on?”
It is a remarkable fact, that hardly anything is known of Whitefield’s
public ministry for the next five months. During this interval, however,
he is not entirely shrouded from the public eye.
Nearly sixty years ago, had died the Rev. Samuel Clarke, M.A., one
of the noble brotherhood of Christian clergymen, ejected from their
pulpits by the Act of Uniformity in 1662. His father was one of the
best oriental scholars of the age; and father and son combined quitted
livings worth £600 a year. The son settled at High Wycombe,――“a
man of considerable learning; a good critic, especially in the
Scriptures; a great textuary; an excellent preacher; a great enemy
of superstition and bigotry; yet zealous for unaffected piety and
extensive charity.”[464] He was the author of several works, but his
principal publication was “Annotations on the Bible,”――a work designed
at the Oxford University, and the labour of his life. A new edition of
this valuable, but almost unknown, Commentary, was published in 1759;
and, for the new edition, Whitefield wrote a recommendatory preface,
which is dated “London, October 1, 1759.” No useful end would be
answered by the insertion of Whitefield’s preface. A brief extract
from it must suffice:――
“In my poor opinion, next to holy Mr. Matthew Henry’s
incomparable Comment upon the Bible, the Rev. Samuel Clarke’s
Annotations seem to be the best calculated for universal
edification. Though short, they contain, generally speaking,
a full and spiritual interpretation of the most difficult
words and phrases. A great many parallel scriptures are most
judiciously inserted. And an analysis of the contents of every
book and chapter is added. It may be, that, the curious and very
critical reader may meet with a few exceptionable expressions;
but, alas! if we forbear reading any book or comment, till we
meet with one that will suit every taste, and is liable to no
exception, I fear, we must never read at all. The best of men’s
books, as well as the best of men themselves, are but men and
the books of men, at the best. It is the peculiar property of
Thy life, and of Thy Book, O blessed Jesus! to be exempt from
all imperfections.”
News having arrived of Boscawen’s capture of the Toulon fleet off
Cape Lagos, in Portugal; and of the victory on the heights of Abraham,
and the surrender of Quebec, Whitefield, too impulsive to wait for
royal proclamations, preached three thanksgiving sermons, on Friday,
October 19. This, forsooth! gave great offence to the notorious
anti-Methodist, Dr. Free, who wrote:――
“From Mr. Whitefield’s great _booth_, we had a pompous article
in _St. James’s Evening Post_, of October 20, 1759, stating
that, the day before, ‘the Rev. Mr. Whitefield preached three
thanksgiving sermons, two in the morning at the Tabernacle,
and one at his chapel at Tottenham Court, to numerous audiences
of persons of distinction.’ By which, it appears, that,
being _without law_, he did not think it decency to wait
till his Majesty appointed the day of thanksgiving; but
pert,――forward,――an enthusiast,――he sounds his own trumpet,
sets up his own standard, and is attended in his irregularities
by numerous persons of distinction.”[465]
Dr. Free was not the only clergyman who pleased himself by attacking
Whitefield. The Rev. Mr. Downes, rector of St. Michael’s, Wood Street,
and lecturer of St. Mary-le-Bow, published his “Methodism Examined and
Exposed” (8vo. 106 pp.), in which Whitefield and Wesley were abused
with a vehemence unbefitting a Christian minister.[466]
Towards the end of the year, Whitefield stirred a nest of hornets. He
preached a sermon against attending theatres. This evoked a sixpenny
pamphlet, with the title, “A Discourse concerning Plays and Players.
Occasioned by a late and very extraordinary Sermon, in which some
sentiments relative to the above subjects were delivered in a very
copious and affecting manner, from the Pulpit of a certain popular
Preacher of the Society called Methodists.” The writer of the pamphlet
professed to be a Methodist himself. As such, he had long entertained
an “ignorant” zeal against theatres; but he had recently been cured of
his “blind prejudice,” by conversing with a comedian, and by seeing
Garrick act. In consequence of this conversion, he had been much
offended by the sermon in question, because it threatened attenders
at theatres with damnation. Whitefield’s sermon brought upon him other
attacks, besides this of a professed Methodist; but it must suffice at
present to insert an extract from the _Monthly Review_, for November,
1759, in which the “Discourse” of the theatre-going Methodist is
noticed:――
“We hope the pious orator, Mr. Whitefield, made some reserve in
favour of those who frequent the theatres in the neighbourhood
of Moorfields, Tottenham Court, Cow Cross, and Broad St. Giles.
But, after all, it were no wonder, that a Whitefield, or a
Wesley should be jealous of so powerful a rival as a Garrick;
or even a Woodward, a Shuter, or a Yates. However, it must
be allowed uncharitable in any performers, or managers, thus
to consign each other’s audiences to the devil. We hope our
good friends of Drury Lane and Covent Garden have never been
chargeable with such unfair and unchristian dealings. Emulation
is certainly commendable, while accompanied with honesty
and decency; and if we can improve and extend our traffic by
furnishing a better commodity than another can, why, it is all
fair; but neither decency nor honesty will allow us to break
the windows, or to abuse or frighten away the customers, of _our
rivals in trade_.”
These were the first mutterings of one of the most violent storms that
ever burst upon the head of Whitefield; but more of this anon.
Whitefield began the year 1760 by enlarging the Tottenham Court chapel,
opened only three years before. He wrote to a friend in America:――
“London, February 5, 1760. I am growing very corpulent, but, I
trust, not too corpulent for another voyage, when called to it.
Every day the work increases. On Sunday last, a new enlargement
of the chapel was opened, and a great concourse of people
assembled.”
Immediately after this, Whitefield published a 12mo. pamphlet of
twenty-four pages, entitled “Russian Cruelty; being the substance
of several Letters from sundry Clergymen, in the New Marche of
Brandenburg.” The letters are full of horrible details respecting
the cruelties practised by the Russian army in Germany; and, in his
preface, Whitefield ardently asks for sympathy and help on behalf
of the distressed Protestants in that country. The preface is dated
“March 2, 1760.” Friday, March 14, was appointed to be observed by a
general fast; and, on the Sunday previous, says _Lloyd’s Evening Post_,
“the Rev. Mr. Whitefield preached at his Tabernacle, at Tottenham Court
Road, to a very numerous audience. In his discourse, he took occasion
to mention the cruelties exercised by the Russian Cossacks upon the
Protestant subjects of the Duchy of Mecklenburg, and earnestly to
recommend a collection for their relief on the day of the public fast.
The money is to be paid into the hands of the minister of the Lutheran
chapel in London, by him to be transmitted to Germany, and there to
be distributed in a proper manner to the objects worthy of relief.”
Remembering the worth of money a hundred years ago, Whitefield’s
collections were enormous. The following is taken from _Lloyd’s Evening
Post_, of March 17, 1760:――
“On the Fast-day, upwards of £400 were collected at Mr.
Whitefield’s chapel in Tottenham Court Road, and at the
Tabernacle, in Moorfields, for the relief of the distressed
Protestants in and about Custrin, in the New Marche of
Brandenburg; many of whom have been not only plundered and
stripped of all they had, but have likewise been cruelly
tortured and abused by the savage Cossacks and other irregular
troops of the Russian army.”[467]
It is a strange and disgraceful coincidence, that, on the very
Fast-day, when Whitefield was so nobly exerting himself to redress
the Russian cruelties in Germany, one of Whitefield’s friends, within a
dozen miles of London, was being treated with cruelty dishonourable to
the character of old England. Hence the following taken from _Lloyd’s
Evening Post_, of March 21, 1760:――
“Last Friday (the Fast-day) a terrible riot happened at Kingston,
in Surrey, occasioned by a Methodist preacher, who came there,
and assembled a great number of people together in a barn to
hear him. Whilst he was preaching, an impudent fellow threw some
dirt at him, which created a great disturbance; and the mob, at
last, dragged the preacher into the street, and rolled him in
a ditch; and, had it not been for the humanity and good-nature
of a gentleman near the spot, who took him into his house,
he, in all likelihood, would have been murdered. Some of the
Inniskilling dragoons being there among the mob, with their
swords, wounded and bruised several of the people, and put the
whole town into an uproar; but, by the prudent behaviour of
their commanding officer, all ill consequences were prevented.
He ordered the drums to beat, assembled the dragoons in the
yard of the Sun Inn, and kept them there for some time, and
then ordered them to their quarters.”
One of the notable events of 1760 was the trial and the execution of
the half mad and intensely wicked Earl Ferrers, for the brutal murder
of Mr. Johnson, his steward. The notorious Earl being nearly related
to the Countess of Huntingdon, she and all her Methodist friends felt
a profoundly painful interest in the case. The trial, which lasted
three days, commenced in Westminster Hall, on April 16. Charles Wesley
writes:――
“April 17, 1760. Yesterday morning, my heart was overwhelmed
with sorrow. Not in my own will did I enter the place of
judgment. George Whitefield and his wife sat next me. The lords
entered with the utmost state: first the barons, then the lords,
bishops, earls, dukes, and Lord High Steward. Most of the royal
family, the peeresses, and chief gentry of the kingdom, and the
foreign ambassadors were present, and made it one of the most
august assemblies in Europe; but the pomp was quite lost upon
me.”[468]
After his condemnation, the Earl was often visited, in the Tower of
London, by the Countess of Huntingdon, and twice by Whitefield, to whom
he behaved with great politeness. At her ladyship’s request, Whitefield
repeatedly offered up public prayer for the unhappy murderer. “That
impertinent fellow,” said Horace Walpole, “told his enthusiasts that
my lord’s heart was stone.” So it was. Earl Ferrers ended his ignoble
life, on the scaffold, May 5, 1760. “With all his madness,” sneered the
flippant writer just mentioned, “Lord Ferrers was not mad enough to be
struck with Lady Huntingdon’s sermons. The Methodists have nothing to
brag of his conversion, though Whitefield prayed for him, and preached
about him.”[469]