years, had been neglected, should be vigorously improved, so as to make
permanent provision for the maintenance of indigent orphans, and to
convert the Orphan House itself into a suitable academy for opulent
students. He proposes to send from England proper masters to “prepare
for academical honours the many youths, in Georgia and the adjacent
provinces, waiting for admission.” He expresses his willingness to
settle the whole estate upon trustees, with the proviso, that no
opportunity should be neglected “of making fresh application for a
college charter, upon a _broad bottom_, whenever those in power might
think it for the glory of God, and the interest of their king and
country, to grant the same.” And he concludes by hoping, that, in this
way, his “beloved Bethesda will not only be continued as a house of
mercy for poor orphans, but will be confirmed as a seat and nursery of
sound learning and religious education, to the latest posterity.”
On Whitefield’s return to London, in the month of June, 1767, he
continued his correspondence with Rowland Hill. The latter had left
Cambridge, for the long vacation, and had returned to Hawkstone, the
residence of his father. Here he was warmly welcomed by Richard, his
elder brother, who, like himself, had lately become a village preacher,
and a visitor of prisons; but his parents were profoundly grieved at
his religious irregularities; and his walks, amid the beautiful scenery
of his father’s grounds, were often sorrowful. To cheer him and his
brother, Whitefield wrote as follows:――
“LONDON, _July 14, 1767_.
“Blessed be God, for what he has done for your dear brother!
A preaching, prison-preaching, field-preaching esquire strikes
more than all black gowns and lawn sleeves in the world. If I am
not mistaken, God will let the world, and His own children too,
know that He will not be prescribed to, in respect to men, or
garbs, or places, much less will He be confined to any order,
or set of men under heaven. I wish you both much, very much,
prosperity. You will have it. This is the way: walk in it.
Both the Tabernacle and the chapel pulpits shall be open to a
captain or an esquire sent of God. The good news from Oxford is
encouraging.[577] Say what they will, preaching should be one
part of the education of a student in divinity. _Usus promptos
facit._ Write often and let me know how you go on. What says
your friend Mr. Powys. God bless him, and help him to go
forwards!”[578]
A week later, Whitefield wrote again:――
“London, July 21, 1767. I hope, ere this comes to hand, you
will have taken your second degree. A good degree indeed! To
be a preacher,――a young preacher,――a mobbed, perhaps, a stoned
preacher,――O what an honour! How many prayers will you get, when
I read your letter at the Tabernacle! And the prayers of so many
dear children of God will do you no hurt. When we are fighting
with Amalek below, it is good to have a Joshua praying for us
above. Jesus is our Joshua――Jesus is our intercessor. He liveth,
He ever liveth to make intercession, especially for His young
soldiers. Yonder, yonder He sits! Whilst praying, He reaches
out a crown. At this distance, you may see written in capital
letters, ‘_Vincenti dabo_.’ All a gift――a free gift, though
purchased by His precious blood. Tell churchmen, tell meetingers,
tell the wounded, tell all of this. Tell them when you are
young; you may not live to be old. Tell them whilst you are
an undergraduate; you may be dead, buried, glorified, before
you take a college degree. Tell those who would have you spare
yourself, that time is short, that eternity is endless, that the
Judge is before the door. God bless you! God bless you! Yours in
Jesus,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
Before proceeding with Whitefield’s history, extracts from three other
letters, to Rowland Hill, may be welcome:――
“London, August 6, 1767. The enclosed made me pity, smile, and
rejoice: pity the writer’s ignorance, smile at his worn-out
sarcasms, and rejoice that you are called to be a living martyr
for our common Lord. Fear not; only go forward. You know Jesus,
and, by preaching, will know more. If you write, let him know
that Jesus has revealed Himself not only _to_ you by His word,
but _in_ you by His spirit; that you look upon those whom he is
pleased to term _fanatics_, as the excellent of the earth; and
that you choose rather to suffer reproach with them, than to
enjoy all the pleasures of sense, and all the preferments in the
world.”
“London, August 8, 1767. God be praised, if another of your
brothers is gained! What grace is this! Four or five out of one
family! It is scarcely to be paralleled. Who knows but the root,
as well as the branches, may be taken by and by. Steadiness and
perseverance, in the children, will be one of the best means,
under God, of convincing the parents. Their present opposition,
I think, cannot last very long. If it does, to obey God rather
than man, when forbidden to do what is undoubted duty, is the
invariable rule. Our dear Penty[579] is under the cross at
Cambridge; but _crescit sub pondere_. I should be glad if any
one’s exhibition was taken from him for visiting the sick,
etc.[580] It would vastly tend to the furtherance of the Gospel;
but Satan sees too far, I imagine, to play such a game now.
Let him do his work――he is only a mastiff chained. Continue to
inform me how he barks, and how far he is permitted to go in
your parts; and God’s people shall be more and more stirred up
to pray for you all, by yours, in our all-conquering Emmanuel,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[581]
“London, August 26, 1767. Go to Jesus. Learn to pray of the
threatened apostles. (Acts iv. 23–30.) I am afraid they will
only threaten. If an expulsion should be permitted, it will
take place, I believe, only for a little time, and will soon
be repented of. Thousands of prayers were put up for you last
Monday, at the Tabernacle letter-day. The verses sung were
these:――
‘Give him thy strength, O God of pow’r!
Then, let men rage and devils roar,
Thy faithful witness he shall be:
’Tis fixed, he can do all through Thee.’”
While Whitefield was acquiring new friends, he was faithful to his
old. The friendship between him and Wesley was never tenderer than
now. During the month of August, Wesley held his annual Conference,
in London, and wrote:――
“1767, August 18. Tuesday. I met in Conference with our
assistants and a select number of preachers. To these were added,
on Thursday and Friday, Mr. Whitefield, Howell Harris, and many
stewards and local preachers. Love and harmony reigned from the
beginning to the end.”[582]
Such a re-union of old friends, fellow-labourers, and fellow-sufferers,
must have been delightful. A trio, like Wesley, Whitefield, and Howell
Harris, was a sight worth seeing,――three great reformers, because three
great revivers of pure and undefiled religion.
In reference to this Conference, Thomas Olivers remarks:――
“Mr. Whitefield not only attended the Conference, but also
invited the preachers to the Tabernacle, ordered them to be
placed round the front of his galleries, and preached a good
sermon, to encourage them in their holy calling. When he had
done, he took them to his house, by ten or twenty at a time,
and entertained them in the most genteel, the most hospitable,
and the most friendly manner.”
Olivers, who was one of the preachers thus entertained, continues:――
“While Mr. Whitefield lived, he was glad to confirm his love
to the members of Mr. Wesley’s Societies, by preaching in their
chapels, by sitting at their tables, by lying in their beds, and
by conversing with them, late and early, in the most friendly
and Christian manner. When he preached in Mr. Wesley’s pulpits,
in the north of England, he several times did me the honour
of making my house his home. On all such occasions, multitudes
can tell what expressions of the highest esteem he frequently
made use of, in exhorting Mr. Wesley’s Societies; in keeping
lovefeasts, and watch-nights with them; in his table talk; and
as he travelled with them by the way. Nay, strange as it may
seem, he has been known to say, that he found _more Christian
freedom_ among Mr. Wesley’s people than he did among his own in
London. As to the preachers in connexion with Mr. Wesley, these
have frequently received very great marks of Mr. Whitefield’s
esteem. In private, he conversed with them, as with _brethren_
and _fellow-labourers_. In public, he frequently said far
greater things in their favour than Mr. Wesley thought it
prudent to say. He never seemed happier than when he had a
number of them about him. When he had opportunity, he gladly
attended our Conferences; sometimes _listening_ to our debates,
and at others _joining_ in them. On these occasions, he more
than once favoured us with a suitable sermon; and often said
such things in our behalf, as decency forbids me to mention.”[583]
A testimony like this from a man of great acuteness, and inflexible
veracity, is more than ordinarily valuable. Immediately after Wesley’s
Conference, Whitefield was anxious to make another of his gospel tours.
Writing to his old assistant, Thomas Adams, on August 14, he says:――
“I have been sick; but, blessed be God! I am better. Who knows
but I may be strengthened to take a trip to Scotland. This itch
after itinerating, I hope, will never be cured till we come
to heaven. Though laymen occupy the pulpits, both at Tottenham
Court chapel and the Tabernacle, the congregations increase.
‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord
of hosts.’ No weapon, formed against Sion, shall or can prosper.
Our Thursday morning six o’clock lecture at the Tabernacle is
crowded.”
Whitefield was not able to extend his “trip” as far as Scotland;
but he travelled what he called his “northern circuit,” reaching, at
least, from Sheffield to Newcastle. He started about the beginning of
September, and, on his way, preached at Northampton and Sheffield. He
arrived at Leeds on Thursday, September 10,[584] accompanied by the
Countess of Huntingdon. Here, they were joined by Captain Scott, who
preached to amazing crowds.[585]
From Leeds, Whitefield proceeded further north. He preached at York;
and, among many other curious entries in the old book of the Methodist
Society in that city, is the following: “1767. September 16. By
expenses on account of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, 14s. 9d.”
On reaching Newcastle, he wrote, as follows, to Mr. Keen:――
“NEWCASTLE, _September 20, 1767_.
“MY DEAR, VERY DEAR FRIEND,――Preaching and travelling prevent
writing. Through unmerited mercy, I am well; but, for several
reasons, I decline going to Scotland this fall. I have a blessed
Methodist field, street-preaching plan before me. This afternoon,
in the Castle Garth. To-morrow, Sunderland. Next day, at
Mr. Romaine’s mother’s door (at Hartlepool.)[586] Then to
Yarm, etc. You may venture to direct for me at Mr. William
Shent’s, peruke-maker, at Leeds; but send me no bad news, unless
absolutely necessary. Let me enjoy myself in my delightful
itinerancy. It is good, both for my body and soul. I have been
enabled to preach in the street at several places; and hope
to go to Guisborough, Whitby, Scarborough, Malton, York, Leeds,
Liverpool, Chester, Manchester, etc., etc. You shall know
particulars as we go on. Tender love to all friends. Golden
seasons! Golden seasons! Grace! Grace!”
Immediately after Whitefield’s departure from London, Bartholomew
Carrol and three other burglars broke into his house, stole a large
quantity of linen and other articles, were arrested, and committed
for trial at the Old Bailey.[587] In the following letter to Mr. Keen,
Whitefield refers to this unpleasantness:――
“Thirsk, September 28, 1767. Never was I so long a stranger to
London affairs before. What part of the paragraph is true, about
the commitment of several persons for a certain robbery? I hope
that death will not be the consequence to any of the criminals.
Father, convict, and convert them for Thy infinite mercy’s sake!
I should be glad to ramble till their trial is over. I trust
there will be no necessity of my appearing in person. To-morrow,
God willing, I go to Dr. Conyers.[588] He earnestly desires to
see me. Where the next remove will be, I know not. Be pleased to
direct to Leeds. Every stage, more and more, convinces me, that
old Methodism is the thing. Hallelujah!”
Two days after the date of this letter, Whitefield was at Leeds, and
wrote: “I have been enabled to go forth into the highways and hedges,
into the streets and lanes of the towns and cities. Good old work! Good
old seasons! Help, help to praise Him, whose mercy endureth for ever!”
Whitefield’s labours were still of sufficient importance to attract
the attention of the public press. _Lloyd’s Evening Post_ of October 2
had the following announcement: “For about a fortnight past, the Rev.
Mr. Whitefield has been travelling, and preaching, at York, Thirsk,
Yarm, Hartlepool, Stokesley, Sunderland, and Newcastle, where his
congregations have been very numerous.”
Whitefield was requested to visit Fletcher at Madeley, but the distance,
and the season of the year, deterred his going. He, however, spent two
or three days at Huddersfield,[589] with Venn, who had recently lost
his wife by death. While in Venn’s home of sorrow, he wrote:――
“Huddersfield, October 6, 1767. How is death scattering his
arrows all around us? The call to us is loud, very loud. Its
language is quite articulate. ‘Watch and pray, for ye know not
at what day or hour the Son of Man cometh.’ What is this world?
Nothing, less than nothing. What is the other world? An eternity
of endless misery or endless bliss. We have no time to trifle,
to be light, foolish, or worldly-minded.”
It ought to be kept in mind, that, in all the towns mentioned in
the foregoing extracts, Wesley and his preachers had already formed
Societies, and that Whitefield went among them, not as Wesley’s
rival, but as his helper. For many years, in his country excursions,
Whitefield, without ostentatiously professing it, acted in this
capacity,――an important fact, which Whitefield’s biographers, for
some reason, have not noticed. Whitefield and Wesley were never firmer
friends than now. Writing to Mrs. Moon, of Yarm, a few weeks after
Whitefield’s return to London, Wesley says:――
“In every place where Mr. Whitefield has been, he has laboured
in the same friendly, Christian manner. God has indeed
effectually broken down the wall of partition which was between
us. Thirty years ago we were one; then the sower of tares
rent us asunder; but now a stronger than he has made us one
again.”[590]
On reaching London, Whitefield, in a jubilant strain, wrote to his old
helper, Thomas Adams:――
“LONDON, _October 12, 1767_.
“MY VERY DEAR TOMMY,――Good-morrow! This comes to enquire how you
and yours do. I am just returned from my northern circuit. It
has been pleasant, and, I trust, profitable. Praise the Lord,
O our souls! Everywhere the fields have been white, ready unto
harvest. I am become a downright street and field preacher. I
wish the city, and want of riding, may not hurt me. No nestling,
no nestling on this side Jordan. Heaven is the believer’s only
resting place. Mr. Joss has been much blessed here.”
If possible, Whitefield was more popular than ever, as the following
extract from _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, of October 30, will tend to
show:――
“Wednesday morning, October 28, was preached, by the Rev. Mr.
Whitefield, at his Tabernacle near Moorfields, a sermon, for the
benefit of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge among
the Poor, by distributing Bibles and other good books, before
a very polite audience of upwards of six thousand people, and
above forty ministers of different persuasions. Near £200 was
collected.”[591]
In reference to this remarkable service, on a busy week-day morning,
Whitefield simply says: “I would reflect upon Wednesday with humility
and gratitude. Lord, what am I? ‘Less than the least of all,’ must be
my motto still.”
Whitefield’s text on this occasion was “Thy kingdom come.” The
collection was four times larger than usual, and eighty persons became
new subscribers. After his sermon, Whitefield dined with the ministers
present at Draper’s Hall, and was treated with great respect.[592]
The troubles of Rowland Hill and his associates, at Cambridge,
have been repeatedly mentioned, and are alluded to in the following
letter, addressed “To the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Rector of Madeley, near
Bridgenorth, Shropshire”:――
“London, October 22, 1767. What more offences! Surely, my dear
friend, you must have done Satan some late harm; otherwise, I
think, he would not be so angry. I hope he has lost some ground
in the north. Street and field-preaching were made very pleasant
to me, and, I trust, they were equally profitable. Our truly
noble Lady Sussex sends good news from Bath. She recovers
strength apace. There is hot work at Cambridge. One dear youth
is likely to be expelled. Mr. Lee is suspended without private
admonition, or having a moment’s warning. What would become of
us, if a hook were not put into the leviathan’s jaws? Adieu! In
great haste, but greater love, I hasten to subscribe myself, my
dear sir, yours in our all-conquering Emmanuel,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[593]
The storm, which, in one of the universities, burst a few months
afterwards, was already brewing. The Methodist students, both at
Cambridge and Oxford, were in trouble; and Whitefield did his best
to comfort and encourage them. Hence the following extracts from his
letters, written at this period:――
“London, October 23, 1767. By your brother’s letter, it appears
the hour of expulsion is not yet come. Surely they will not be
so imprudent, or act so contrary to the laws of English liberty.
I long to know what statutes they say you have broken, and what
concessions have been made. Your diocesan will make a strict
enquiry. I wish you could recollect all circumstances; the
rise and progress of the present contest; with all the various
pleadings, threats, conferences, _pro_ and _con_. If confined
to college, this will be a good exercise for you. You may lodge
it in court, as a proof whether you understand to write plain
English, or sound, practical, experimental divinity. This can
do you no harm; it may do good. Do, therefore, set about it. Who
knows? Sauls may yet become Pauls.”
“London, October 24, 1767. Supposing you made this addition to
the motto of your coat of arms,――‘_Nemo me impune lacessit_?’ He
who toucheth God’s people, toucheth the apple of His eye. That
is a very tender part. I am glad your diocesan is expected soon.
I have no expectation of his beating a retreat. ‘To arms! to
arms!’ must be the watchword now. The company of the Son of Man
is never so sweet as when He walks with us in the fiery furnace.
Nothing can stand before an honest, truly Israelitish heart.
Those who endeavour to entangle Christ’s followers in their talk,
will, in the end, be entangled themselves.”
“London, November 14, 1767. All know my mind. Go forward, I
think, is the royal word of command. We may then indeed have a
Red Sea to pass through; but the threatening waves shall become
a wall on the right hand and on the left. I am ashamed to find
so many silenced by mere _bruta fulmina_.”
“London, December 1, 1767. You meet like apostles now; but, when
they met between the time of our Lord’s death and resurrection,
what trouble did they endure, for fear of the Jews? But be
not discouraged. Continue instant in prayer. A risen, an
ascended Jesus, will yet appear in the midst of you, renew your
commission, and endue you with power from on high. O think of
this, ye little college of cast-outs! Do not deny Him in any
wise.”
On the day the last extract was written, the Earl of Buchan died at
Bath. For some time, his lordship had been in declining health. In Bath,
as long as his health permitted, he was a most regular attendant at the
chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon, and was in the constant habit of
hearing Whitefield, Wesley, Romaine, Shirley, Venn, Townsend, Fletcher,
and other Methodist clergymen, who supplied the pulpit there. His death
was most triumphant. A few days before its occurrence, Lady Huntingdon
went to see him, at his particular request. As soon as he could speak,
he said: “I have no foundation of hope whatever, but in the sacrifice
of the Son of God. I have nowhere else to look,――nothing else to depend
upon for eternal life; but my confidence in Him is as firm as a rock.”
Among his last sayings, were the words, “Happy! happy! happy!” Thus,――
――“on his dying lips,
The sound of glory quiver’d.”
“His lordship’s departure,” wrote Lady Huntingdon, “was not only happy,
but triumphant and glorious.”
The event, to these grand old Methodists, was too important to pass
unimproved. Whitefield was summoned from London; and, for five days,
in the chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon, a series of services were
held, which, probably, have no parallel. “The corpse of the late Earl
of Buchan,” says _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, of December 16, “lay in state,
at the Countess of Huntingdon’s chapel, from Sunday to Thursday night.
Two sermons on the occasion were preached each day by the Rev. Mr.
Whitefield and others.”
The story, however, will be best told in the words of Whitefield
himself. To the Reverend Walter Shirley, Whitefield wrote:――
“Bath, Tuesday, December 8, 1767. The Earl of Buchan sweetly
slept in Jesus last week. His corpse lies deposited in the
chapel of good Lady Huntingdon, and is not to be removed
till next Friday morning. There have been public prayers and
preaching twice every day. The noble relatives constantly attend,
and all is more than solemn. Great numbers, of all ranks, crowd
to see and hear. The Earl died like the patriarch Jacob; he
laid his hands on, and blessed his children; assured them of his
personal interest in Jesus; called most gloriously on the Holy
Ghost; cried, ‘Happy! happy!’ as long as he could speak; and
then――you know what followed.”
In another letter, Whitefield wrote:――
“Bath, Wednesday, December 9, 1767. All has been awful, and more
than awful. Last Saturday evening, before the corpse was taken
from Buchan House, a word of exhortation was given, and a hymn
sung, in the room where the corpse lay. The young Earl stood
with his hands on the head of the coffin; the Countess Dowager
on his right hand; Lady Ann and Lady Isabella on his left;
and their brother Thomas[594] next to their mother, with Miss
Orton, Miss Wheeler, and Miss Goddle on one side. All the
domestics, with a few friends, were on the other. The word of
exhortation[595] was received with great solemnity, and most
wept under the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed
to good Lady Huntingdon’s chapel, where it was deposited (within
a place railed in for that purpose), covered with black baize and
the usual funeral concomitants, except escutcheons.
“On Sunday morning all attended, in mourning, at early sacrament.
They were seated by themselves, at the feet of the corpse;
and, with their head servants, received first, and a particular
address was made to them. Immediately after receiving, these
verses were sung for them:――
‘Our lives, our blood, we here present,
If for Thy truths they may be spent;
Fulfil Thy sovereign counsel, Lord,――
Thy will be done, Thy name ador’d!
Give them Thy strength, O God of pow’r!
Then let men rave or devils roar,
Thy faithful witnesses they’ll be;
’Tis fixed――they can do all through Thee.’
Then they received this blessing: ‘The Lord bless you and keep
you! The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you! The
Lord cause His face to shine upon you, and give you peace!’ and
so returned to their places. Sacrament being ended, the noble
mourners returned to good Lady Huntingdon’s house, which was
lent them for the day.