Earthquake in London--Mr. Romaine, his popularity--Lord
Northampton--The King’s Coachman--Lady Huntingdon appoints
Mr. Romaine her Chaplain--Ashby-place--Dr. Stonhouse--Dr.
Akenside--New Jersey College--Governor Belcher--President
Burr--Dissenting Ministers--Dr. Doddridge--Education of
Ministers--Mrs. Hester Gibbon--Mr. Law--Mr. Whitefield--Success
of his Ministry at Rotherham--Dr. Doddridge dedicates his Sermon
to Lady Huntingdon--Lord Lyttleton--Mr. Hervey--Dr. Doddridge
visits Ashby--Singular Accident--Lady Stonhouse--Colonel and Mr.
Galatin--Dr. Cotton--Miss Hotham.
Events of a most disastrous and terrifying nature had at this time
spread a general alarm, and awakened the most stolid in the metropolis
to a sense of danger. The earthquake by which Lisbon was destroyed,
the shocks felt in London, and the false alarm excited by pretended
prophecies of still greater devastation, had filled many with terror,
whom they could not bring to repentance. These signal judgments of
Jehovah were preceded by great profligacy of manners, and its fruitful
parent, licentiousness of principle. Iniquity stalked with brazen front
through the streets; and error, in ten thousand forms, vented its
unsoftened blasphemies against God and his Messiah.
“As to faith (says one who preached on that occasion), is not
the doctrine of the Trinity and that of the Divinity of our
Lord and Saviour--without which our redemption is absolutely
void, and we are yet in our sins, lying under the intolerable
burden of the wrath of God--blasphemed and ridiculed openly in
conversation and in print? And as to righteousness of life,
are not the people of this land dead in trespasses and sins?
Idleness, drunkenness, luxury, extravagance, and debauchery--for
these things cometh the wrath of God, and disordered nature
proclaims the impending distress and perplexity of nations. And
O may we of this nation never read a handwriting upon the wall
of heaven, in illuminated capitals of the Almighty--MENE,
MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN: God hath numbered the kingdom, and
finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances of heaven, and
found wanting the merits of a rejected Redeemer, and therefore
the kingdom is divided and given away.”[66]
The shocks felt in London at this time were considerably more violent
than any remembered for a great number of years: the earth moved
westward, then east, then westward again, through all London and
Westminster. It was a strong and jarring motion, attended with a
rumbling noise like that of thunder. Many houses were much shaken, and
some chimneys thrown down, but without any further hurt. Multitudes of
every description fled from the city with astonishing precipitation,
and others repaired to the fields and open places in the city.
Tower-hill, Moorfields, and, above all, Hyde Park, were crowded with
men, women, and children, who remained there a whole night under
direful apprehensions. Places of worship were thronged with frightened
sinners, especially the chapels of the Methodists, where multitudes
came all night knocking at the doors and begging admittance for God’s
sake. The convulsions of nature are always regarded by enthusiasts and
fanatics as the sure harbingers of its final dissolution. A soldier
“had a revelation” that a great part of London and Westminster would
be destroyed by an earthquake on a certain night, between the hours of
twelve and one o’clock. In consequence of his assertion thousands fled
from the city for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed, and repaired to
the fields, where they continued all night, in momentary expectation
of beholding the prophecy fulfilled: whilst thousands ran about the
streets in the most wild and frantic state of consternation, quite
certain that the day of judgment was about to commence: the scene was
truly awful. Fear filled the chapels of the Methodists with persons of
every description. Mr. Charles Wesley, who was then in London, preached
incessantly, and very many were awakened to a sense of their awful
condition before God, and led to rest their hopes of eternal salvation
on the Rock of Ages. Mr. Whitefield, animated with that burning charity
which shone so conspicuously in him, ventured out at midnight to Hyde
Park, where he proclaimed to the affrighted and astonished multitudes
the most essential and important intelligence that ever assailed the
ear of mortals--that there is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. The darkness
of the night, and the awful horrors of an approaching earthquake, added
much to the solemnity of the scene. The sermon was truly sublime, and
to the ungodly sinner, the self-righteous pharisee, and the artful
hypocrite, strikingly terrific. With a pathos that bespoke the fervour
of his soul, and with a grand majestic voice that commanded attention,
he took occasion from the circumstances of their assembling to call
the attention of the surrounding thousands to that most important
event, in which every soul will be essentially and particularly
concerned--namely, the grand final consummation of all things, the
universal wreck of nature, the dissolution of this lower world, and
the confirming and fixing the eternal and unalterable state of every
son and daughter of Adam. The awful manner in which he addressed the
careless, Christless sinner, the sublimity of the discourse, and the
appearance of the place, added to the gloom of the night, combined to
impress the mind with seriousness, and to render the event solemn and
memorable in the highest degree. Among those who failed not to improve
these awful providences was Mr. Romaine, who then published his “Alarm
to a Careless World,” and “The Duty of Watchfulness Enforced”--subjects
treated so nobly, and with such awful views of our state and danger,
that the two discourses remain, not merely the temporary warnings of
the day, but equally applicable at the present time to the inhabitants
of the great metropolis, where the sins that bring down God’s judgment,
and the number of those who commit them, seem to have gone on in an
increasing ratio, and the same punishment for which can be delayed or
averted only by the piety and prayers of such men as Mr. Whitefield and
Mr. Romaine.
We must brave abuse when speaking the truth, and fear not to lay open
the nakedness of the land, because of the enmity which the fidelity
of our narrative may excite. It may be a bold, but it is nevertheless
a faithful assertion, that Mr. Romaine was, at the time of which we
speak, almost, if not altogether, singular in the testimony he bore for
Christ in the Church of England in this metropolis. The Methodists
had indeed awakened great attention; they had at their commencement
attracted immense auditories by their occasional discourses in the
different churches to which they were invited; but as no one of them
had any church settlement in the metropolis which could be considered
as legally his own, the doors of the Church were soon closed against
them, and they were driven into the fields, or into the chapels of
their own erection, whither they whom their ministry had awakened fled
for refuge, resolved to hear _the Gospel_ wheresoever it should
be preached, rather than be confined to mere morals and the husks of
formality. They who have once tasted that the Lord is gracious must
have the bread of life, and they will seek it even in Egypt.
Mr. Romaine, who had descended from the stilts of self-taught
excellence, and the enticing words of man’s wisdom, to the plainness
and simplicity of the doctrine of the cross, determined henceforth
to know nothing else but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and God
immediately began to bless his testimony with the signs of conversion.
He had been elected to St. Dunstan’s somewhat before his appointment to
St. George’s, Hanover-square, and at both places the word of the Lord,
preached in the light of love, was glorified. Mr. Romaine’s now eminent
position drew attention--to his voice, his manner, and more especially
to the subjects he treated, to the dissimilarity of all around him
to what was observed in other churches. Although he still adhered to
the written sermon, he delivered it with energy and pathos, and great
and small bore testimony to the power with which he spake. The Gospel
from his mouth appeared to them another Gospel from that which they
had heard before. His fame spread--multitudes thronged around him; the
church was crowded, the parishioners incommoded;[67] the merely formal
among the clergy were tacitly reproved by his example, so opposite to
theirs; a conspiracy was formed to remove him, and the rector, wrought
upon by his enemies, was induced to dismiss him, on no other ground
than that he had ceased not to preach and to teach the Gospel of Christ
Jesus. Among the members of the congregation who continued stedfast to
Mr. Romaine was Mr. John Sanderson, many years state coachman to George
III. He exemplified in himself _the life_, _the walk_, and
_the triumph of faith_ so excellently described by the honoured
instrument of his conversion. Of this individual, now occupying a
place before Him who is no respecter of persons, a few recollections
may be acceptable. He was brought up a coachman, and although, in his
day, post-chaises were in little use, yet his _road-work_, such
as driving the nobility down to Bath, &c., had already pointed him out
for good conduct and recommended him to favour, when, being at Exeter,
while Mr. Cennick was preaching in the streets, a new motive for the
exercise of Christian energy was afforded him; the preacher, who had
already been ill-treated by the mob, was expatiating on the blood of
Christ, when a ruffian butcher, exclaiming “If you like blood, you
shall soon have enough of it,” rushed from his shop with a pail nearly
full of blood, which he would have cast on Mr. Cennick, had not Mr.
Sanderson calmly met him, and, suddenly catching the pail, poured its
contents over the man’s own head. This drew the attention of the mob
from the preacher to Mr. Sanderson, who escaped with difficulty, and
was obliged to leave the city early in the morning. From that moment to
his death, which occurred on the 13th of August, 1799, in the 89th year
of his age, he adorned the doctrine he professed by a conversation such
as becometh godliness.
But the greatest good often results from the sufferings and
persecutions of God’s people; as the blood of the martyrs has been
always the seed of the Church. Lord Northampton, who had married Lady
Huntingdon’s relative, the Baroness Ferrars, of Chartley, granddaughter
and heir of Robert, first Earl Ferrars,[68] had mentioned Mr. Romaine
with high commendation. He spoke of his doctrine with respect, and of
his abilities with admiration. He was now turned out of St. George’s,
Hanover-square, but, reluctant to part with many who were dear to him,
and who wished still to profit by his labours, he met them at the house
of a Mr. Butcher; for which pretended irregularity, being threatened
with a prosecution in the most apostolic spiritual court, the excellent
Lady Huntingdon, supposing she had a right to protect him from this
fresh opposition, invited him to her house in Park-street, gave him her
scarf, and, as her chaplain, he continued long to preach to the poor
in her kitchen unmolested; as he did afterwards in her drawing-room,
to numbers of the nobility who were invited by her Ladyship to hear
the Gospel, and where, by his aid, with that of Mr. Whitefield, the
seraphic Mr. Jones of St. Saviour’s, Mr. Wesley, and others, a weekly
lecture was delivered to a very polite circle. The utility of these
labours shortly after induced the Countess to erect or open a variety
of chapels at Brighton, Oathall, Bath, and Bretby, in all which Mr.
Romaine zealously laboured for her with singular benediction. But the
relation of these faithful services, and the great success attending
them, must be reserved for a fitter period of our history, with the
observation, that God never fails to bring still greater good out of
man’s enmity and opposition to his Gospel. “The wrath of man shall
praise him.”
To return to the earthquake. During that awful visitation Lady
Huntingdon continued at Ashby-place, much indisposed. In a letter to
her Ladyship, Mr. Whitefield says:--
“God has been terribly shaking the metropolis. I hope it is an
earnest of his giving a shock to secure sinners, and making
them to cry out, _What shall we do to be saved?_ I trust,
honoured Madam, you have been brought to believe on the Lord
Jesus, and have experienced the beginning of a real salvation
in your heart. What a mercy is this! To be plucked as a brand
out of the burning--to be one of those few _mighty_ and
_noble_ that are called effectually by the grace of God;
what consolation must this administer to your Ladyship under all
afflictions! What can shake a soul whose hopes of happiness, in
time and in eternity, are built upon the Rock of Ages? Winds may
blow, rains may and will descend even upon persons of the most
exalted stations; but they that trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
never shall, never can, be totally confounded.”
In a letter to the Countess Delitz, sister to the excellent Lady
Chesterfield, he likewise notices the awful occurrences in the
metropolis:--
“The earthquake hath been an alarming providence. Happy they
that have an interest in Christ, and are always ready! On him
alone is my strength and safety founded. Did not this support
and comfort your Ladyship under the awful alarm? Go on, then,
honoured Madam, and, by a constant looking to Jesus, make
continual advance in the divine life, which I believe hath
been communicated to you from above. The more you see of His
excellences, the more will all created things sicken and die in
your view and taste. Wherever I am, your Ladyship and honoured
sister, with the other honourable ladies, are continually
remembered by me at the throne of grace. I hope all are
determined with full purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord.”
Lady Huntingdon’s indisposition still continuing, Mr. Whitefield left
London for Ashby, and on his way thither had an interview with Drs.
Stonhouse and Doddridge, and Messrs. Hervey and Hartley.
“On the Tuesday (says Mr. Whitefield), I preached in the morning
to Dr. Doddridge’s family, and in the afternoon to above two
thousand in the field. Dr. Stonhouse, Mr. Hervey, &c., attended
me, and walked with me afterwards along the street; so that I
hope the physician will now turn his back on the world, and be
content to follow a despised crucified Redeemer without reserve.
I expounded at his house in the evening, and am hereafter to
come to it as my own.”
Of this interview Mr. Hervey has preserved the following account:--
“I have seen lately that most excellent minister of the
ever-blessed Jesus, Mr. Whitefield. I dined, supped, and spent
the evening with him at Northampton, in company with Dr.
Doddridge and two pious, ingenious clergymen of the Church of
England,[69] both of them known to the learned world by their
valuable writings. And, surely, I never spent a more delightful
evening, or saw one that seemed to make nearer approaches to
the felicity of heaven. A gentleman of great worth and rank in
the town invited us to his house, and gave us an elegant treat;
but how mean was his provision, how coarse his delicacies,
compared with the fruit of my friend’s lips!--they dropped as
the honey-comb, and were a well of life. Surely people do not
know that amiable and exemplary man, or else, I cannot but
think, instead of depreciating, they would applaud and love him.
For my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our Lord, such a
living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight in God, such
enlarged benevolence to man, such a steady faith in the Divine
promises, and such a fervent zeal for the Divine glory; and all
this without the least moroseness of humour or extravagances
of behaviour, sweetened with the most engaging cheerfulness of
temper, and regulated by all the sobriety of reason and wisdom
of Scripture; insomuch, that I cannot forbear applying the wise
man’s encomium of an illustrious woman to this eminent minister
of the everlasting Gospel: ‘Many sons have done virtuously, but
thou excellest them all.’”
On Mr. Whitefield’s arrival at Ashby, he found the Countess very weak,
but better than he expected. On this, as on a former visit to Ashby,
some of the baser sort were stirred up to riot before her Ladyship’s
door while Mr. Whitefield was preaching, and some persons in their way
home narrowly escaped being murdered. A magistrate residing in the
neighbourhood sent a message to Lady Huntingdon, in order to bring
the offenders before him. In a letter to Mrs. Colonel Galatin, Mr.
Whitefield says:--
“Good Lady Huntingdon hath been ill, but is recovering. There
hath been an awakening at Ashby; but opposition begins to show
itself in these parts by the instrumentality of a Dissenting
minister.”
To another of his correspondents he writes thus:--
“For a few days I have been at good Lady Huntingdon’s, who,
though weak in body, is always abounding in the work of the
Lord. I preach daily at her Ladyship’s, and this week, God
willing, I shall preach in two or three churches.”
After Mr. Whitefield left Ashby, in a letter to her Ladyship, he says:--
“I shall be glad to hear what becomes of the rioters. O that
your Ladyship may live to see many of those Ashby stones become
children to Abraham!” And again:--“Ungrateful Ashby! O that
thou knewest the day of thy visitation! Surely your Ladyship
may shake off the dust of your feet against them. This was the
command which the meek and lowly Jesus gave to his apostles
where the Gospel was not received; and he himself departed
when the Gadarenes desired him to go from their coasts. This
justifies your Ladyship in removing Mr. Baddelley. What avails
throwing pearls before swine, who only turn again and rend you?”
In a subsequent letter he writes:--
“Ever-honoured Madam--The Lord, as yet, hath but begun to bless
you; _you shall, you shall, you will be made a great blessing
indeed_. If dear Mr. Hervey gets Ashby, that will be making
you a blessing. I am glad that both he and Mr. Doddridge have
been with your Ladyship. I would have all good ministers come
and visit you; there are numbers would go scores of miles
willingly for that purpose. Your Ladyship hath acted like
yourself in forgiving the offenders; such offences come that
Christ’s followers may give evidence of his blessed temper being
wrought in their hearts. Your letter revived my heart, and gave
me some fresh hopes for ungrateful Ashby.”
To his friend and correspondent, Lady Gertrude Hotham, Mr. Whitefield
says:--
“Good Lady Huntingdon I left some time ago, weak in body,
but strong in the grace which is in Jesus Christ. Thousands
and thousands flocked to hear the word twice every day, and
the power of God has attended it in a glorious manner. But
the good people of Ashby were so kind as to mob round her
Ladyship’s door whilst the Gospel was preaching. Alas! how
great and irreconcilable is the enmity of the serpent! This is
my comfort--the Seed of the woman shall at length be more than
Conqueror over all. Her Ladyship will yet live, I trust, to
declare the works of the Lord. Ashby is not worthy of so rich a
pearl. The Countess and Lady Fanny were constantly remembered at
Ashby at the holy table.”[70]
About the period that Dr. Stonhouse[71] and Dr. Akenside, author
of the “Pleasures of Imagination,” came to reside at Northampton,
the Rev. James Hervey had also removed to that part of the country,
and his preaching began to be attended with signal success. Mr.
Whitefield soon after paid a visit to Northampton, and was invited
by Dr. Doddridge to preach in his pulpit. This gave violent offence,
and exposed the Doctor to the censure and expostulations of many of
his brethren in the ministry: but the Christian simplicity and gentle
firmness with which Dr. Doddridge defended himself and two of his
pupils, Mr. Darracott and Mr. Fawcett, from the unmerited and bigoted
reproaches with which his moderate conduct towards the Methodists had
been assailed, reflects the highest credit on his character. The wrath
manifested towards him was unreasonable: for Mr. Whitefield’s visit at
Northampton was rather to his old friend and brother Churchman, the
ingenious author of the “Meditations.”
Dr. Johnson, in his “Lives of the Poets,” speaking of Akenside,
observes--“Being now to live by his profession, he first commenced
physician at Northampton, where Dr. Stonhouse then practised with such
reputation and success, that a stranger was not likely to gain ground
upon him.” Dr. Akenside was patronized by the Huntingdon family, and
an Ode was addressed by him to the young Lord Hastings, afterwards
Earl of Huntingdon. Encouraged by such patronage, he tried the contest
with Dr. Stonhouse for a time; but his unnecessary zeal for what he
called and thought liberty disgusted Lord Huntingdon: “A zeal (says
Dr. Johnson) which sometimes disguises from the world, and not rarely
from the mind which it possesses, an anxious desire of plundering
wealth or degrading greatness, and of which the immediate tendency is
innovation and anarchy--an impetuous eagerness to subvert and confound,
with very little care what shall be established.” Though the son of a
Presbyterian, and educated for the office of a Dissenting minister, yet
he was entirely unsupported by the Dissenters at Northampton. He might
have had the support and countenance of Dr. Doddridge, to whom he was
known, but the intimacy which had subsisted for some time between him
and Dr. Stonhouse, and the obligation which the town and country owed
to the latter, as the founder of the infirmary, induced him to deny
his support to Dr. Akenside, who, after losing the patronage of Lord
Huntingdon, and deafening the place with clamours for liberty, removed
to Hampstead, where he resided a short time, and then fixed himself in
London, the proper place for a man of accomplishments like his.
Of Mr. Hervey, Mr. Whitefield says:--
“Your sentiments concerning Mr. Hervey’s book are very just.
It has gone through six editions; the author of it is my old
friend, a most heavenly-minded creature, one of the first of the
Methodists, who is contented with a small cure, and gives all
that he has to the poor. He is very weak, and waits daily for
his dissolution. A neighbouring clergyman[72] near him preaches
the Gospel; and a physician,[73] formerly a noted Deist, has
lately espoused the interest of Jesus of Nazareth. We correspond
with, though we cannot see one another: we shall, ere long, meet
in heaven--
‘There pain, and sin, and sorrow cease,
And all is calm, and joy, and peace.’”
Soon after Dr. Stonhouse, the converted infidel, had become the
apostolic minister, we find Mr. Whitefield writing thus to Mr. Hervey:--
“For Christ’s sake, my dear Mr. Hervey, exhort Dr. Stonhouse,
now he hath taken the gown, to play the man, and let the world
see that, not worldly motives, but God’s glory and a love for
souls, have sent him into the ministry. Though when I conversed
with him he was exceedingly weak, yet, as I trust there is
sincerity at the bottom, I hope he will turn out a flamer at
last.”
The prevailing weakness of this good man was a dread of being
considered a Methodist. Worldly hopes and worldly fears were a
perpetual stumbling-block in his way. He had not yet learned to endure
the cross, despising the shame.
“I earnestly wish (says the Countess) to see you more actively
engaged in the cause of Christ, and in shedding abroad the
savour of his most precious name. Go forth boldly--fear not
the reproach of man--and preach the inestimable gift of God to
impotent sinners. My poor intercessions are ever offered in your
behalf, that you may be led forth to testify the righteousness
of our Immanuel, freely imputed to guilty, hell-deserving man,
for his complete justification and acceptance with the Judge of
all; and I shall cease not to beseech the Father of mercies and
Fountain of light that you may be anointed with the Holy Ghost
and with power.”[74]
Mr. Whitefield’s interview with Dr. Stonhouse, on his way to Ashby,
excited in his warm and generous heart the liveliest sensations of
gratitude for the signal conversion which God had wrought. On his
arrival at Lady Huntingdon’s he communicated what he had witnessed to
her Ladyship, who rejoiced with him that the Doctor had been called
without the camp to bear that reproach which all who will live godly
in Christ Jesus, but especially those who preach him to a proud,
self-righteous, gainsaying world, must ever expect to meet for their
fidelity. Knowing some of the peculiarities of his character, Mr.
Whitefield lost not a moment in communicating that advice which he
conceived most needed for the confirming of the new convert.[75] A few
days after his arrival at Lady Huntingdon’s he addressed the following
letter to Dr. Stonhouse:--
“Ashby, May 11, 1750.
“My dear Doctor--I have thought of and prayed for you much
since we parted at Northampton. Now, I believe, is the time in
which the axe is to be laid at the very root of the tree. How
wonderfully doth the Lord Jesus watch over you! How sweetly
does he lead you out of temptation! O! follow his leadings, my
dear friend, and let every, even the most beloved Isaac, be
immediately sacrificed for God. Kindness is cruelty here. Had
Abraham consulted either Sarah or his affections he never would
have taken the knife to slay his son. God’s law is our rule,
and God will have all the heart or none. Agags will plead, but
they must be hewn in pieces. May the Lord strengthen, stablish,
and settle you! Good Lady Huntingdon was much rejoiced to hear
that you had been without the camp. May you quit yourself like a
man, and in every respect behave like a good soldier of Jesus
Christ! Her Ladyship is very weak, _but I hope will yet be
spared to do much good on earth_. O, the happiness of giving
up all for Christ, who hath given himself for us. The Lord be
with you. I am yours to command,
“G. W.”
Lady Huntingdon was much interested at this time about an institution
which seemed to promise much benefit to the cause of God, and the
extension of his kingdom on the continent of America. From time to
time her Ladyship had received letters from his Excellency Governor
Belcher, relative to the Presbyterian College in the New Jerseys. The
importance and extensive usefulness in this seminary to the spread of
the Gospel in the New World had been often mentioned by Mr. Whitefield,
who had been on the spot, and had conversed with many connected with
it. Principally by the exertions of Governor Belcher, the College was
now on a different footing from what it had hitherto been; and in the
early part of this year two gentlemen, Mr. Allen and Colonel Williams,
friends of the Governor, arrived in England, to negotiate all matters
concerning the institution, and collect funds which would enable the
president and trustees to enlarge the sphere of its operations. These
gentlemen brought letters to Lady Huntingdon, from Governor Belcher
and President Burr, which Mr. Whitefield presented to her on her
arrival at Ashby. A statement of the intended plan and enlargement of
the College was drawn up, and several of the Dissenting ministers in
London promised their assistance. By the advice of Lady Huntingdon this
statement was printed, together with a recommendation of the plan,
subscribed by her Ladyship, Dr. Doddridge, Mr. Whitefield, and others.
Being desirous of serving the interests of this rising institution,
which had many worthy presidents, some of whose names are well known in
the learned world, such as President Burr, Dr. Jonathan Edwards, Dr.
Samuel Davies, Dr. Samuel Finley, Dr. Witherspoon, &c., her Ladyship
was very active in collecting considerable sums amongst her friends
and acquaintances, and corresponded with many persons of eminence in
England and Scotland, to whom she communicated the mission of Mr. Allen
and Colonel Williams. Mr. Whitefield, likewise, lost no opportunity of
recommending the institution to the attention of those who, he thought,
could effectually further the objects it had in view. He preached
several sermons in its behalf; and in the course of a few months
considerable sums were collected, which were immediately transmitted to
America.
Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to the Rev. Mr. McCulloch, of Cambuslang,
dated about a week after his arrival at Lady Huntingdon’s, says, “I
have desired to write you a long letter for a considerable time,
but was so hurried when at London that I could not be so explicit
as the affair I wanted to write about necessarily required. It is
concerning the Presbyterian College in the New Jerseys, the importance
and extensive usefulness of which I suppose you have long since been
apprized of. Mr. Allen, a friend of Governor Belcher’s, is come over
with a commission to negotiate this matter: he hath brought with him
a copy of a letter, which Mr. Pemberton sent to you some months past.
This letter hath been shown to Dr. Doddridge and several of the London
ministers, who all approve of the thing, and promise their assistance.
Last week I preached at Northampton, and conversed with Dr. Doddridge
concerning it. The scheme that was then judged most practicable
was this:--‘That Mr. Pemberton’s letter should be printed, and a
recommendation of the affair, subscribed by Dr. Doddridge and others,
be annexed;--that a subscription and collections should be then set on
foot in England, and afterwards that Mr. Allen should go to Scotland.’
I think it is an affair that requires despatch. Governor Belcher[76] is
old, but a most hearty man for promoting God’s glory and the good of
mankind. He looks upon the College as his own daughter, and will do all
he can to endow her with proper privileges. The present President, Mr.
Burr,[77] and most of the trustees, I am well acquainted with. They are
friends to vital piety, and I trust this work of the Lord will prosper
in their hands. The spreading of the Gospel in Maryland and Virginia in
a great measure depends upon it, and therefore I wish them much success
in the name of the Lord.”
Unhappily for the scheme of the New Jersey College, Mr. Allen, who came
over on purpose to negotiate it, was smitten by the fatal infection
which, during the summer of this year, was so prevalent at the Old
Bailey,[78] and died about two months after his arrival in England.
Colonel Williams returned to America, and Dr. Doddridge wrote largely
to Mr. Pemberton, urging him to visit England the ensuing summer, and
to bring over with him some of the converted Indians--a scheme which
had been suggested by Lady Huntingdon, from an idea that it would be
a convincing proof to the public of the good that had already been
effected, and was likely to result more largely from the extended
operations of the College. Thus matters remained till the visit of
Messrs. Tennant and Davies to England in 1753.
It was about the same period that several meetings were held in London
for the purpose of establishing an academy for the education of young
men for the ministry amongst the Dissenters. In many congregations the
life and power of religion was almost extinct, and others were wholly
destitute of pastors; so much so, that when Mr. Whitefield was applied
to for a minister to take charge of a church in America, he returned
for answer:--
“I wish I could send you good news about your minister. But,
alas! I despair of procuring one. I waited upon Dr. Gifford
immediately after my arrival; he gave no hopes. The person that
was fixed upon declined it. Several of the large congregations
in London, besides many more in the country, are without
pastors: they are obliged to make use of our preachers. O that
the Lord of the harvest may thrust out more labourers into his
harvest!”
Dr. Doddridge felt extremely anxious for the establishment of an
institution that would furnish a succession of true Christian
evangelical ministers to the churches. He circulated the printed
prospectus which had been sent him by the Committee in London, and
was very active in procuring funds, and recommending it to the
Dissenting churches in his neighbourhood. From Lady Huntingdon, to
whom he mentioned the scheme when at Ashby, he received a most liberal
contribution, accompanied by her prayers and good wishes for its
success. When her Ladyship’s donation was remitted to the Committee
in London, the Rev. John Barker, an eminent Dissenting minister in
the metropolis, says, “Lady Huntingdon’s generosity is noble and
catholic.”[79]
Mr. Barker was morning preacher at Salter’s Hall, long esteemed one
of the most celebrated places of worship among the Dissenters. For
many years the congregation was large and respectable, and it was
considerably increased during Mr. Barker’s ministration, by the
attendance of great numbers of the awakened people in the metropolis,
who were eager to profit by his preaching. Lady Huntingdon, Lady
Chesterfield, Lord Dartmouth, and some others of the nobility,
occasionally formed part of his auditory.
In the correspondence of Lady Huntingdon, Dr. Doddridge, and Mr.
Barker, frequent allusion is made to the decline of vital godliness in
many of the Dissenting churches. “In my opinion (says the Countess),
coldness and indifference have much to do with the desertion so often
and so justly complained of. Were the Gospel of our adorable Saviour
preached in purity and with zeal, the places would be filled with
hearers, and God would bless his own word to the conversion of souls.
Witness the effects produced by those whom he hath sent forth of late
to proclaim his salvation. What numbers have been converted to God, and
what multitudes attend to hear the word wherever it is proclaimed in
the light and the love of it.”
In his “Free Thoughts on the most probable means of serving the
Dissenting Interest,” and in his letter to his numerous correspondents,
Dr. Doddridge expresses his firm persuasion that the preaching of
evangelical doctrines in a plain, spiritual, experimental, and
affectionate way, is the only thing which can preserve a congregation
from decay, and revive it when it is decayed. So much did the existence
of Dissenters, in his view, depend on this one thing, that he expresses
his sentiments in the following terms:--
“I cannot but believe, if the Established clergy and the
Dissenting ministers in general were mutually to exchange their
strain of preaching and their manner of living but for one year,
it would be the ruin of our cause, even though there should be
no alteration in the constitution and discipline of the Church
of England. However you might fare at London, or in some very
singular cases elsewhere, I can hardly imagine that there would
be Dissenters enough left in some considerable counties to fill
one of our largest meeting-places.”
On the character of its ministers the prosperity of the Church will at
all times greatly depend. That they should first be men of talents and
piety is devoutly to be desired. Education succeeds to prepare them
for this peculiar service. Could a greater blessing be wished for the
human race, than that it might be regarded as an universal maxim, “that
no man should receive an education for the pastoral office who had not
first been made a partaker of a divine nature, and know the grace of
God in truth?” Could a man write Latin with the elegance of a Cicero,
or Greek with the sublimity of a Plato--could he compose poetry like
Virgil, and vie as a mathematician with Euclid or Sir Isaac Newton,
how little would they all conduce to make him a good minister of Jesus
Christ; for they all lie at the remotest distance from the knowledge of
a Saviour, and the doctrine which is according to godliness. The most
illiterate man that ever entered a pulpit, if he understands the method
of salvation, is versed in the Scriptures, and can tell one unvarnished
tale of Him who died upon the cross to save the chief of sinners,
though he cannot utter a single sentence without a breach of the rules
of grammar, is infinitely better qualified for the pastoral office, and
will do unspeakably more service in promoting the salvation of immortal
souls.
The awful departure from the “faith once delivered to the saints”
in many of the old Dissenting congregations, and the great want of
evangelical ministers and students to supply the place of those who
were daily dropping into another world, became the objects of Lady
Huntingdon’s particular solicitude. She had contributed nobly to the
evangelical seminary to be established by the Dissenting ministers in
London, and now turned her attention to the academy at Northampton,
under the management of Dr. Doddridge, whom she and some of her friends
enabled to increase his establishment by the addition of two tutors,
and six boys to be instructed in grammatical learning:--
“The want of ministers and students is so seen and felt (says
the Doctor), and the necessity of the scheme for educating lads
not yet ripe for academical studies is grown so apparent, that
between three and four score pounds per annum have been, by
well-disposed persons, without any pressing solicitations from
me, subscribed for that purpose. And I have now in that view
the six following--Mr. Bennett, a serious lad, lately arrived,
and who is subsisted by an exhibition of ten guineas yearly
from Lady Huntingdon; Messrs. Howe, Brooks, Robotham, Cole,
and Smith, three of whom come from a distance: and I hope they
will many of them prove a seed to serve the Lord, who shall be
accounted to him for a generation. The number of pupils and lads
altogether is now thirty-six.”[80]
Mr. Whitefield appears to have continued at Ashby about a fortnight,
actively engaged in preaching whenever he could obtain a pulpit:--
“Your kind letter (says he to Dr. Doddridge) found me happy
at our good Lady Huntingdon’s, whose path shines brighter and
brighter unto the perfect day. Gladly shall I call upon you
again at Northampton, if the Lord spares my life; and in the
meanwhile shall not fail to pray that the work of our common
Lord may more and more prosper in your hands. I thank you a
thousand times for your kindness to the chief of sinners, and
assure you, reverend Sir, that the affection is reciprocal. Good
Lady Huntingdon greatly esteems you. I go with regret from her
Ladyship, who intends writing to you this evening: do come and
see her soon. I shall not be unmindful of your sick student.[81]
May the Lord Jesus sanctify all pain, and through his sufferings
make him perfect.”
Leaving Ashby, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Nottingham, and on his way
thither preached at Milburn and Radcliff. At the latter place, where
he was attended by great crowds, he preached on these words: “But one
thing is needful.” After sermon he conversed with Mrs. Hester Gibbon,
Mrs. Hutcheson, and a sister of the celebrated mystic, Mr. Law. The
divine power accompanied the word, “and many (says Mr. Whitefield) were
deeply impressed. Mr. Law’s sister seems to be under awakenings.”
About ten years previous to this period, Mrs. Hester Gibbon, aunt to
the eloquent but infidel historian of the “Decline and Fall,” and Mrs.
Hutcheson, widow of Archibald Hutcheson, Esq., of the Middle Temple,
having formed the plan of retiring from the world to the exercise of
charitable and religious duties, took the well-known author of “The
Serious Call to a Devout Life” as their chaplain, instructor, and
almoner, and came to reside at King’s Cliffe, in Northamptonshire,
having previously lived for a short time at Thrapston, in the same
county. With these singular and benevolent characters Lady Huntingdon
soon became acquainted, and occasionally corresponded with Mrs. Gibbon
and Mr. Law. They were frequently visited by Mr. Hartley, who was an
extravagant admirer of the mystic writers, and in the latter years of
his life an enthusiastic follower of the Baron Swedenborg. The severe
indisposition under which Lady Huntingdon so long and resignedly
laboured appears to have excited considerable alarm in the minds of
Mrs. Gibbon and her amiable associates, and Mr. Hartley was deputed
bearer of the following letter to her Ladyship:--
“King’s Cliffe, May 29, 1750.
“My dear Madam--Your excellent physician, and our worthy and
respected friend, Dr. Stonhouse, about a month since, was
so kind as to inform us of your Ladyship’s illness, and the
alarming state of debility to which you were reduced. At our
particular wish, Mr. Law requested good Mr. Hartley to visit
Ashby, and report to us the result of his observations; but the
duties of his parish prevented his leaving home at that time,
and we were not able to learn any tidings of your Ladyship till
the other day, when we were delighted with the sight of your
valuable chaplain, Mr. Whitefield. O, my dear Madam, how have
we prayed and wrestled with the great Author of life and light
for the preservation of your invaluable existence! Precious
above estimation is the prolongation of such a life as yours.
We mourned, we wept, we prayed, and each returning day your
case was presented on our family altar. Thanks, eternal thanks
to Him, with whom are the issues of life and death, for your
restoration and subsequent amendment. My dear Mrs. Hutcheson has
not been quite well for some time, and good Mr. Law’s advanced
stage of life precludes our leaving our beloved retreat,
or we should do ourselves the gratification of personally
congratulating you on your recovery. Present our united thanks
and good wishes to Lady Anne Hastings for her kind remembrance
of us. We hope, now that your Ladyship is so much better, she
will pay us her long-promised visit. Best compliments to Lady
Frances and all your amiable circle, in which good Mr. Law most
cordially unites.
“I remain, my dear Madam, very sincerely, and with Christian
affection, your faithful friend,
“HESTER GIBBON.”[82]
At Nottingham, Mr. Whitefield was attended by great multitudes, who
thronged every avenue to the place appointed for his preaching.
“Several came to me (says he) enquiring what they should do to be
saved? I preached four times. One evening Lord Essex and several
gentlemen were present, and behaved with great decency.” After leaving
Nottingham, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Mansfield, Rotherham, and
Sheffield, in which places he preached several times with great and
remarkable success.
“After leaving Mansfield (writes Mr. Whitefield), I went to
Rotherham, where Satan rallied his forces again. However, I
preached twice on the Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The crier was employed to give notice of a bear-baiting: your
Ladyship may guess who was the _bear_. About seven in the
morning the drum was heard, and several watermen attended it
with great staves. The constable was struck, and two of the
mobbers were apprehended, but rescued afterwards. But all this
does not come up to the kind usage of the people of Ashby. I
preached on these words: ‘Fear not, little flock.’ They were
both fed and feasted; and after a short stay I left Rotherham,
when I knew it was to become more pacific.”
With this species of brutal opposition, the propagation of malicious
falsehoods was encouraged, with a design to counteract the good effects
of his labours. Mr. Thorpe, afterwards pastor of the Independent Church
at Masborough, near Rotherham, ranged under the standard of his most
virulent opposers; and not content with personal insult, added private
ridicule to public interruption. Public houses became theatres where
the fate of religious opinions was to be determined.[83] But a mighty
change awaited Mr. Thorpe, the heart of the scoffer became changed,
and the people whom, in the days of his blindness and thraldom to
Satan, he so frequently reviled, became the object of his delight.
He sought their company with avidity, and soon after became a member
of Mr. Ingham’s connexion, which at this period had spread over a
great part of Yorkshire and some of the neighbouring counties. His
habitual seriousness and uniform morality soon endeared him to his new
connexions, and the specimen he gave of his talents, in his occasional
exercises in private, flattered their hopes that he would soon be
called forth to public notice. In these expectations they were not
disappointed, for he was quickly sent forth by Mr. Ingham to “preach
the faith which he once laboured to destroy.” He afterwards preached
for a short time in Mr. Wesley’s connexion; but his ideas becoming
more enlarged in the doctrines of grace, he was eventually chosen
pastor of the Independent Church at Masborough, where he exercised the
ministerial function thirteen years. On the 8th of November, 1776,
and the 46th year of his age, he gently resigned his breath without a
struggle, and doubtless went triumphantly to the perfect worship and
happiness of heaven! He left a son, the Rev. William Thorpe, for many
years one of the stated supplies at the Tabernacle and Tottenham-court
Chapel, London, and minister of Castle-green meeting, in Bristol.
It was about this time that Dr. Doddridge, who had long known and
highly estimated the talents and virtues of Lady Huntingdon, preached
at a meeting of ministers at Creaton, in Northamptonshire, and
afterwards published a sermon, the title of which is, “Christian
Candour and Unanimity stated, illustrated, and urged.” This is an
admirable discourse, and exhibits a fine transcript of the author’s
own mind, which was fully attuned to the virtue he recommended. It was
addressed to Lady Huntingdon,[84] and strongly displays his admiration
of her excellent character.
Not long after the publication of this sermon, Lady Huntingdon wrote
to Dr. Doddridge. Her letter speaks of his friendship and candour, and
towards the close mentions Mr., afterwards the well known and excellent
Lord Lyttleton, with whom her Ladyship became acquainted about this
time. The letter is dated Ashby-place, June 6, 1750:--
“My most excellent Friend--I know no one who, without intending
it, seems more calculated to betray me into a spirit of
partiality than yourself: for as your friendship and great
kindness to me bind me by obligation, so your piety and
abilities obtain both my love and highest estimation; and were I
to judge by you of all that think with you, I should have more
to say for my partiality than has fallen to the share of any
particular denomination; and yet, by looking a little farther,
I find to distinguish is my best privilege, as it ever will be
one of yours to be the most eminently distinguished; and thus my
preference honours and admires in you only what it would rejoice
to see in _all_; but this is reserved for heaven, and a few
pledges of it are given us to show how worthy it will be to all
eternity of our friendship.
“Your candour is such a blessedness about you, that I fear it
will make you too soon fit for heaven, and leave no mourning
followers of your example. It is what my whole soul aspires
after--it is my reigning object, as well as subject of delight;
yet how do the fetters of prejudice, weakness, and ignorance,
contend with me; and still hope assures me, that feeling these
so strong will but occasion my bolder springs for liberty; and
while my chains thus oppress me, my longing heart pants for the
deliverance, and sighs after the happy prospect of breathing
love upon the whole creation. I live satisfied _for this_
to be despised, mistaken, and reproached; rejected by all, yet
rejecting none; from the unwearied labours of my life and love
hoping all things, and, in conformity to heaven’s best gift to
man, the Son of God, ready to yield up those prison garments
of flesh and blood a humble offering to testify it. For such
a paradise _in man_ it was that Jesus Christ paid the
penalty--for this blessed reality he died. O, this high price!
Happy am I, though but a redeemed slave, and following my mighty
Conqueror in the bonds of guilt, fear, and shame; the multitude
does not make him forget me, though so far behind them all; and
on his pardon, the captive’s liberty has reached my rebellious
heart, he will yet delight to listen.
“Thus does divine compassion show me the extremes of love in
him, and by it best discovers the depths of misery in myself,
and that nothing but a sad insensibility to the one can
exclude me from the other. That watchful care follows every
unguarded thought, and with those eyes which are as flames of
fire pursues all our enemies and drives them out before us, so
will he prepare the habitation of his creatures for himself,
till, from the charity of their souls, he can rejoice in them;
it is through this transparency alone we can behold him, for
‘blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;’ and,
indeed, when we reflect upon the price of our ransom, we can
join in the reasonableness of the Apostle’s argument, and expect
unboundedly from such liberality--‘He who spared not his own
Son, but delivered _him_ up for us all, _how shall he
not with him freely give us all things_?’ and yet by man a
guilty heart is thought too much to offer him! Oh! had he not
the love of God, even earth could not bear us, heaven could not
receive us, and then our miserable but just portion in eternal
banishment would be to enjoy only our own horrid natures--all
we could have left, and hell enough. I can say, for _one_,
mine would be so were I left to it, and that, my worthy
friend, I find myself a miserable being, existing in time out
of eternity; but that only in order to become, by an infinite
redemption from evil, a glorious, happy, and immortal creature,
by an acquaintance and resemblance of nature with the God and
Lord of all heaven and earth; and I do _now_, in part, by
_actual_ possession, rejoice in the hope of that glory with
God for evermore. These truths want no metaphors: that well of
living water is ever springing up, and will eternally abound
with further displays of these infallible truths; and thus a
Christian can never have cause to despair, or ask any one if
the promises in the Bible belong to him;--he has got them, they
are wrote with the Spirit of the _living_ God within him,
and each hour serves but to make the characters more legible.
Of this divine knowledge my soul _now_ breathes with the
force and ardour of anticipated glory in hallelujahs with those
blessed spirits who are permitted to rejoice for us, though
not with us; they are strangers to the joys of redemption; and
oh! they must long to have come from Abraham’s loins, since
the humility of Jesus took upon him his nature; and who, being
thus lowly, makes them the blessed beings they are. Alas! what
a lesson of humility have they come from; rather, how must they
see their glory in this respect to be nothing, by reason of that
which so far excelled in the Son of God: they gaze and admire,
but these depths exceed the capacities of their natures. But
how or where am I looking myself? Even in a mystery the angels
are not worthy to look into. Forgive the eager adoration and
high sensibility of the love of Jesus Christ which carries my
transported heart to forget what I am, from the view of what
his love is resolved to make me, and from my great poverty: do
not wonder that this exaltation seems too much for me; it is
literally taking the beggar out of the dust and seating him for
a moment with the princes of his people.
“But I must now beg you to return my kindest respects to Mr.
Lyttleton. I honour his sentiments of universal love to all good
men; may the choicest of all blessings rest upon him! I own I
should be glad to hear he was out of those trammels his vast
parts and knowledge may make him liable to continue in long;
his heart none ever doubted of being truly upright; but under
such his great temporal advantages, these humble condescensions
of becoming simple and quite unknown before God as a little
child, perhaps his whole life has been calculated to destroy;
books, men, friends, earthly pursuits, with the wise man’s
ambitious heart, all serve but to hold that humility cheap which
is to exalt God above all _these_; and till _He is_
depended upon _for all_, as the ignorance and helplessness
of a little child makes his parent the object of _all_ its
hopes and fears, there is no help for man that can yield him a
rational joy or a secure hour upon earth. I suspect you have
spoken of me to him with that partiality of the friend I have
felt you to be: this is owing to your knowing me little, as well
as the goodness of your heart, that it makes you hope all things.
“Assure Mrs. Doddridge it is I must sustain the disappointment,
by not having the pleasure of seeing her. How am I bound to your
prayers! It is these have again lifted me from the gates of
death. Do thank and bless _for me_ the kindness of those
charitable souls who so entreated for me; may heaven, with every
pure joy upon earth, be their reward.
“I am, my most excellent friend, with the truest respect and
most affectionate regard, your companion in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ,
“S. HUNTINGDON.”
Before Mr. Whitefield left Ashby, Lady Huntingdon wrote to Mr.
Hervey, requesting him to pay her a visit as soon as convenient. Mr.
Hervey obeyed the summons, and arrived at Ashby a few days before Mr.
Whitefield set out on his tour. Mr. Baddelley had been some weeks in
London, and during his absence Mr. Graves and Mr. Simpson alternately
supplied his place as domestic chaplain to the Countess and the Ladies
Hastings. Mr. Baddelley had been usefully and actively engaged during
his stay in the metropolis, preaching wherever he could obtain a
pulpit:--
“I am glad (says Mr. Whitefield) you have sounded the silver
trumpet in London; _crescit eundo_ must be your motto and
mine. There is nothing like keeping the wheels oiled by action.
The more we do, the more we may do; every act strengthens the
habit: and the best preparation for preaching on Sundays, is to
preach every day in the week. I am glad you have peace at Ashby.
What a fool is Satan, always to overshoot his mark! I hope that
Mr. Graves, as well as Mr. Simpson, will hold on. They will be
glorious monuments of free grace indeed. I am like-minded with
you in respect to the Doctor’s comment; he is indeed a glorious
writer! May the Lord Jesus strengthen him to finish the work! My
dear Mr. Baddelley, what blessed opportunities do you enjoy for
meditation, study, and prayer! Now is your time to get rich in
grace, to search into the depths of divine love, and the mystery
of iniquity hid in your own heart. _Such an example, and such
advantages, no one in England is favoured with but yourself._
I do not envy you; but I pray the Redeemer, from my inmost soul,
to sanctify your situation, and give you to increase with all
the increase of God.”
In the month of June, Dr. Doddridge arrived at Ashby, but his stay
was of short duration, the duties of his congregation obliging him to
return to Northampton, having but lately returned from London, Norwich,
and other places, where he had been preaching with great acceptance and
success. He remained one Lord’s-day at her Ladyship’s, on which day Mr.
Baddelley read the service of the Church of England, and the Doctor
preached to a numerous congregation. In the evening Dr. Doddridge
exchanged places with her Ladyship’s chaplain, reading the Liturgy, and
Mr. Baddelley preaching. Speaking of this circumstance, Lady Huntingdon
remarks:--
“His is a true Catholic spirit, that wishes well to the cause of
Christ in every denomination. I would that all the Dissenting
ministers I hear of were like-minded; less attached to all
the punctilios of order, system, regularity, &c., and more
determined to publish the glorious Gospel of the ever-blessed
Immanuel, in season and out of season, wherever men were
assembled to hear, whether in a church, a meeting-house, a
field, or a barn;--less desirous to convince men of the errors
in the discipline of those churches who hold the great doctrines
of the Reformation, and more anxiously solicitous to gather
souls to Christ, the true Shiloh. This should be the one great
object of those who are called to the high and honourable office
of ambassadors of Christ--all others are unimportant when
compared with this.”
Of this visit to Ashby, the providential escape of his MSS. from
destruction, and some singular circumstances which preceded it, the
Doctor has preserved the following very interesting account, contained,
in a letter to his pupil, the Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, of Kidderminster:--
“Northampton, June 26, 1750.
“Lady Huntingdon, for whom I desired your prayers, is
wonderfully recovered. She walked with me in the garden and
park, and almost wearied me; such is her recruit of strength:
but the strength of her soul is amazing. I think I never saw so
much of the image of God in woman upon earth. Were I to write
what I know of her, it would fill your heart with wonder, joy,
and praise. She desired me to educate a lad for the Dissenting
ministry, at her expense, till he be fit to come into my academy
on an exhibition; and this is but one of a multitude of good
works she is continually performing. I must tell you, however,
one observation of hers, which struck me much: ‘None (said she)
know how to prize Christ but those who are zealous in good
works. Men know not till they try what imperfect things our best
works are, and how deficient we are in them; and the experience
of that sweetness which attends their performance makes me
more sensible of those obligations to Him whose grace is the
principle of them in our hearts.’ She has God dwelling in her,
and she is ever bearing her testimony to the present salvation
he has given us, and to the fountain of living waters, which she
feels springing up in her soul; so that she knows the divine
original of the promises before the performance of them to her,
as she knows God to be her Creator by the life he has given her.
“As I was setting out for my blessed journey to her, for such
indeed it was, yesterday was seven-night, a terrible accident
happened in my study, which might have been attended with fatal
consequences: I had been sealing a letter with a little roll
of wax, and I thought I had blown it out, when, fanned by the
motion of the air, as I arose in haste, it was re-kindled. It
burnt about a quarter of an hour, while we were at prayer, and
would have gone on to consume, perhaps, the closet and the
house, had not my opposite neighbour seen the flame, and given
an alarm. When I came up, I found my desk, which was covered
with papers, burning like an altar; many letters, papers of
memoranda, and schemes for sermons, were consumed. My book of
accounts was on fire, and the names at the top almost burnt
through, a volume of the ‘Family Expositor,’ the original MSS.
from Corinthians to Ephesians, surrounded with flames, and
drenched in melted wax; the fire had kindled up around it, and
burnt off some leaves and the corners of the other books, so
that there is not one leaf entire: and yet so did God moderate
the rage of this element, and determine in his Providence
the time of our entrance, that not one account is rendered
uncertain by what it suffered, nor is one line which had not
been transcribed destroyed in the MS. I have to add that all
my vouchers for Miss Ekins’[85] money, all my sermons and MSS.
intended for the press, and, among the rest, the remainder of
the ‘Family Expositor,’ were all in such danger, that the fire,
in another quarter of an hour, had probably consumed them.
Observe, my dear friend, the hand of God, and magnify the Lord
with me.”
We find in the memoranda of remarkable incidents in the life of Dr.
Doddridge--a narrative of what he considered the special dealings
of Providence with regard to himself and some persons of his
acquaintance--these allusions to our subject:--
“The mercies of my journey (says he) I would solemnly
acknowledge; the wonderful preservation of my study from fire,
and the great goodness of God in sparing the dear and excellent
Lady Huntingdon, my interview with her, and the preservation and
growing friendship of her Ladyship.”
Leaving Rotherham, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Sheffield and Leeds,
where he was attended by vast multitudes; and from thence to Aberford,
on a visit to Mr. and Lady Margaret Ingham. At Sheffield the people
received the word gladly, and a great alteration was discernible in
their looks and behaviour since he had been there before. Mr. Grimshaw
and Mr. Ingham joined Mr. Whitefield at Leeds, and the crowds that
assembled from every side exceeded anything they had ever seen before
in that part of Yorkshire. “Last night (says he), I preached to many,
many thousands, and this morning also at five o’clock. Methinks I am
now got into another climate. It must be a warm one, where there are so
many of God’s people. Our Pentecost is to be kept at Mr. Grimshaw’s: I
have seen him and Mr. Ingham.” For these occasional itinerant visits
Mr. Whitefield’s talents were admirably adapted. His manner, his voice,
his action, and, above all, his solemnity and fervour, commanded and
riveted the attention beyond anything that modern times have exhibited.
When he was at Haworth, the Lord’s Supper was frequently administered,
not only to the stated communicants, but to hundreds from other
quarters, who resorted thither on those solemn occasions, esteeming
them, in a peculiar sense, as “days of the Son of Man;” such, in many
respects, as had never been witnessed since the first promulgation of
Christianity, when the Spirit was, in so eminent a degree, “poured out
from on high.” “Pen (says Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Mr. Hervey)
cannot well describe what glorious scenes have opened in Yorkshire.
Perhaps, since I saw you at Ashby, seventy or eighty thousand
have attended the word preached in divers places. At Haworth, on
Whit-Sunday, the church was thrice filled with communicants. It was a
precious season.”
Accompanied by Mr. Grimshaw and Mr. Ingham, Mr. Whitefield visited
Manchester, where they found Colonel and Mrs. Galatin, who received
them with the greatest cordiality. “All was quiet (he writes to Lady
Huntingdon) at Manchester, and I humbly hope the Redeemer will gather
to himself a people there. Kind Colonel Galatin and his lady will
acquaint your Ladyship with particulars. I hope he will prove a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. I advised him to send your Ladyship word
of their coming to Ashby, that they might be directed the best road
from Derby.” Through different parts of Lancashire, Westmoreland,
and Cumberland, Mr. Whitefield was accompanied by Mr. Ingham and
Mr. Milner; Mr. Grimshaw having returned to Haworth. Everywhere he
preached in Mr. Ingham’s chapels, and, as usual, was attended by
large and attentive congregations. At Kendal, and Ulverston, and
Whitehaven, where Lady Huntingdon afterwards had chapels, he was
followed by immense multitudes, who thronged around him, eager to
hear all the words of this life. From Kendal we find him writing thus
to Mr. Hervey:--“I guess this will find you returned from good Lady
Huntingdon, with whom, undoubtedly, you have taken sweet counsel, and
been mightily refreshed in talking about the things which belong to the
kingdom of God. This leaves me at Kendal, where I arrived this morning,
and where, God willing, I shall preach the everlasting Gospel this
evening.” Soon after his arrival he was joined by Mr. Batty, a very
popular preacher in Mr. Ingham’s connexion. Mr. Whitefield preached
on the brow of a hill, which overlooks the town, to many thousands of
hearers. That night, some evil-disposed persons got into the barn and
stable where his travelling carriage and horses were locked up: the
leathers were all destroyed, and the carriage otherwise much abused;
they also cut off the long tails of a pair of black horses that he had
had a long time, and greatly esteemed. Nevertheless, he rejoiced at the
success attending his labours. “Still (he observes, in a letter to Lady
Huntingdon), the Lord of all lords vouchsafes to prosper the Gospel
plough. Such an entrance hath been made into Kendal as could not have
been expected. I preached twice to several thousands last week, and the
people were so importunate that I was prevailed on to return hither
again last night; the congregation was greatly increased, and the power
of the Lord was displayed in the midst of them.”
After preaching some weeks in Scotland, Mr. Whitefield returned
to London, where, besides his usual labours at the Tabernacle, he
frequently assisted Mr. Wesley at West-street Chapel. “Mr. Wesley
(says he) breakfasted and prayed with me this morning; and Mr. Hervey
was so kind as to come up and be with me in my house. He is a dear
man, and I trust will yet be spared to write much for the Redeemer’s
glory. I have prevailed on him to sit for his picture, and it will
be published in a short time.” Mr. Hervey’s health was so delicate,
that Dr. Stonhouse advised change of air, and Mr. Whitefield invited
him to the Tabernacle-house, in London. On his way thither he paid a
visit to Dr. Cotton, an eminent physician and poet, who resided at
St. Alban’s, where he kept an asylum for lunatics, in the treatment
of whom he was remarkably skilful. By means of Dr. Stonhouse he was
introduced to the notice of Lady Huntingdon, who had a great esteem
for him, and occasionally corresponded with him. When the Doctor
published his “Visions,” he sent a copy to her Ladyship, who, in her
letter acknowledging the receipt of the present, made some strong
animadversions on the defects of the poem:--
“I am glad (says her Ladyship) that my good friend was not
offended at my late well-meant admonition and reproof. We must
be faithful to each other, or else how can we expect to meet
with joy at the great tribunal? I trust he will yet be enabled
to see by faith the Lord’s Christ. Blessed be God, in him
all fulness dwells, of merit and righteousness, of grace and
salvation, and this for the vilest of the vile, for whoever
will. O, then, my friend,
“If haply still thy mental shade
Dark as the midnight gloom be made,
On the sure faithful arm Divine,
Firm let thy fast’ning trust recline.
The gentlest sire, the best of friends,
To thee nor loss nor harm intends;
Though toss’d on a tempestuous main,
No wreck thy vessel shall sustain.
Should there remain of rescuing grace
No glimpse, no footsteps left to trace,
Hear the Lord’s voice; ’tis Jesus’ will--
‘Believe (thou poor dark pilgrim) still.’
“Thus much (continues the Countess) I have written to my worthy
friend at St. Alban’s, and I trust God will bless my poor
unworthy services to his eternal good. I long to see his fine
genius consecrated to the best of causes--the glory of our
incarnate God, and the salvation of souls redeemed by his most
precious blood.”
To his pious and ingenious friend, the author of “Meditations,” Dr.
Cotton also sent a copy of his “Visions.” In a letter to Dr. Stonhouse,
also a poet and a critic, Mr. Hervey makes some excellent observations
on the merits and defects of the Doctor’s work:--
“Please (says he) to make my best thanks to Dr. Cotton for his
very delicate ‘Visions.’ I think they may do good, and promote
virtue; then, I am persuaded, they will answer the benevolent
intention of the author. I wish, at the same, that he would be
a little explicit and courageous for Jesus Christ. He deserves
it at our hands, who, for our sake, endured the cross and
despised the shame: he will recompense it unto our bosom, by
owning us before his Father and the holy angels. Nor can I ever
think that the spread of our performances will be obstructed by
pleasing Him who has all hearts and all events in his sovereign
hand. A vision upon death, without a display of Christ, seems
to me like a body without a heart, or a heart without animal
spirits. I am sure, when I was lately (as myself and every one
apprehended) on the brink of eternity, I found no consolation
but in Christ. Then I felt, what I had so often read, that there
is no other name given under heaven whereby man may obtain life
and salvation, but only the name, the precious and inestimable
name of Jesus Christ. O, that its savour may be to us, both
living and dying, _as ointment poured out_. Shall I beg
you to tell Dr. Cotton, that his beautiful ‘Visions’ were, by
Dodsley, the bookseller, put into the hands of a very pious and
ingenious friend of mine (Mr. Moses Browne), who proposes an
alteration in a line, where he would read _Jesus_, instead
of _virtue_.
“‘At that important hour of need,
Jesus shall prove a friend indeed.’
“But I am not of his opinion, unless an uniform vein of
evangelical doctrine had run through the whole. This, I must
confess, I could have been glad to have seen in so elegant a
poem where Spenser’s fancy and Prior’s ease are united. And I
hope, if the Doctor should ever write any more poetry, he will
take this important hint into his consideration. Indeed, he
ought; for even in his ‘Vision on Death’ he has not paid the
least regard to Christ the Redeemer, the Conqueror of death.”
During Mr. Hervey’s residence in London, Dr. Cotton visited the
metropolis, and it was Lady Huntingdon’s wish that that good man should
avail himself of the Doctor’s medical skill, and at the same time drop
such hints as might, by the blessing of God, be made useful to him.
“If I am tolerably well (says Mr. Hervey), I will wait upon Dr. Cotton
on Tuesday morning. He has a delicate genius, and I dare say he is an
excellent physician. O that his fine parts may be grafted into the true
olive-tree, and bring forth fruit unto God. If Providence permits us to
meet, I hope to have some evangelical discourse with him.”
Some time after, Lady Huntingdon sent Dr. Cotton a present of
Marshall’s “Gospel Mystery of Sanctification,” a work that has long
had the seal of high approbation from many judicious ministers and
Christians. It had been recommended to her Ladyship’s notice by Mr.
Cudworth, a preacher in Mr. Whitefield’s connexion, who sometimes
visited Mr. Hervey, and occasionally preached at Ashby and other places
in the neighbourhood. But Dr. Cotton thought the doctrine contained
in Marshall’s[86] book inconsistent with Scripture and repugnant to
reason. This produced a little controversy, in which Mr. Hervey ably
defended his favourite author. On this subject he uses a little
pleasantry with his friend Dr. Stonhouse, who became the medium of
communication in this affair:--
“Tell our ingenious friend at St. Alban’s, if I did not give
a direct answer to his question, it was because he stated it
improperly. His manner was like making a raw apothecary’s
apprentice the proper judge of a doctor’s bill. If such a
chap should take upon himself to say, ‘Doctor, your language
is unintelligible, your recipes are injudicious,’ what answer
would you make? Some such answer must be made to Dr. Cotton,
if he maintain, or would intimate, that the ‘Mystery of
Sanctification,’ as delineated by Marshall, is unintelligible
and injudicious, merely because _he_ does not immediately
discern its propriety.
“‘This (says Dr. Cotton) is my firm faith--that if we do well,
we shall be accepted through the merits of Christ.’ I might
ask the Doctor whether he does well? Dare he avow this, even
before me, his fellow-worm and fellow-sinner? How, then, will
he maintain the pretension before that infinitely pure God, in
whose sight the very heavens are unclean? But I choose to ask
him (what may seem less offensive), has he never read of ‘the
righteousness of faith?’ of being ‘made righteous by one man’s
obedience?’ of ‘righteousness imputed without works?’ Now I
should be glad to learn what the Holy Spirit means by these
expressions? And if our worthy friend pleases to show how his
faith can be made conformable to any one of these texts, I will
undertake to demonstrate the conformity of my faith to them all.
Ah! why should we hug a despicable rag, and reject a suit of
beautiful apparel? May the Lord Jesus enable us all to discern
the things that are excellent.”
Prevailed on by the repeated importunity of Lady Huntingdon and Mr.
Whitefield, Mr. Hervey came to London by easy stages, in order to
try whether change of air might be of any service to his decayed
constitution; his worthy physician, Dr. Stonhouse, having declared
that nothing which he could prescribe was likely to administer relief.
One of the winters he stayed in London he lodged at the house of his
good friend, Mr. Whitefield, adjoining the Tabernacle, in Moorfields.
“I took up my abode (says he), not at my brother’s after the flesh,
but with the brother of my heart.” By means of Lady Huntingdon he
soon became acquainted with many pious and excellent characters in
London, particularly Lady Gertrude Hotham, Lady Chesterfield, the
Countess Delitz, and Lady Fanny Shirley, at whose house he occasionally
expounded to very polite and attentive auditories. With the latter he
maintained a very intimate correspondence for several years, which was
published after her death by her executors. It was to Lady Fanny that
he dedicated his celebrated work, “Theron and Aspasio,” which she was
the means of introducing to the notice of Royalty, “I should never
have been known to such grand personages (says he), if you had not
condescended to introduce me. My name had never been heard by a royal
ear, if it had not received some credit by your Ladyship’s notice.”
His “Observations on Lord Bolingbroke’s work ‘On the Use and Study of
History,’” were likewise addressed to her Ladyship.
Mr. Hervey had also frequent interviews with Miss Hotham, and on one
occasion administered the sacrament at Lady Gertrude’s before Mr.
Whitefield’s return from Portsmouth. Of his last interview he has
preserved a short notice in his letter to Lady Huntingdon:--
“I had the pleasure of perusing your Ladyship’s letter to
Mr. Whitefield, and return my grateful acknowledgments for
your condescension in enquiring after me. My kind patroness,
Lady Chesterfield, and many honourable persons whose names
I trust are written in the Book of Life, are very desirous
for your Ladyship’s return to the great city. I have lately
expounded, and administered the ordinance, at good Lady
Gertrude Hotham’s. Her daughter is ripening fast for glory. I
had but little conversation with her, for she is too weak to
endure much fatigue. When speaking of God’s stupendous love,
in giving his only Son for our salvation, and of our interest
in the all-sufficient propitiation of his death, I quoted
these portions of Scripture:--‘He came into the world to save
sinners--He poured out his soul for transgressors.’ ‘Yes (said
Miss Hotham, who had been listening with singular attention), He
died, the just for the unjust--he suffered death upon the cross,
that we might reign with him in glory.’ On a subsequent visit I
found her much altered for the worse, as respected her bodily
health. Mr. Whitefield had been to see her the preceding day,
and has since gone to erect the joyful standard at Portsmouth.
Blessed be God, she enjoyed much peace and tranquillity of
mind, and a firm persuasion that God was her reconciled Father,
and the blessed Redeemer her all-sufficient portion. I expect
to hear every day of her abundant entrance into the joy of
her Lord. Good Lady Gertrude, and all her noble relatives and
friends, are wonderfully supported in this trying affair. May
the inestimably precious Jesus refresh and uphold them with the
choicest cordials of his glorious Gospel! and may his name be
very precious to them!”
As often as his health permitted, he attended the ministry of Mr.
Whitefield and his faithful associates, at the Tabernacle; he says of
him:--
“On Sunday he preached with his usual fervour, and administered
the sacrament to a great number of very serious communicants.
He delights in the work of the ministry, and embraces every
opportunity of preaching the everlasting Gospel. He is, indeed,
in labours more abundant. What a pattern of zeal and ministerial
fidelity is our excellent friend! and God rewards him with joy
unspeakable. God also fulfils to him, in a remarkable manner,
his gracious promise, ‘Them that honour me, I will honour.’
This day he was most respectfully entertained at the houses
of two noblemen. What a most exalted satisfaction must he
enjoy in attending these great personages--not to cringe for
favour, but to lay upon them an everlasting obligation--not to
ask their interest at court, but to be the minister of their
reconciliation to the King of kings.”
Again:--
“Yesterday our indefatigable friend renewed his labour of love.
He preached to a crowded audience, and yet multitudes went away
for want of room. In the midst of this audience was a clergyman
in his canonical dress--a stranger; his name I could not learn.
He behaved with exemplary seriousness, and expressed much
satisfaction.”
While in the metropolis he was visited by Dr. Gill, Dr. Gifford, and
other ministers of eminence, both in the Established Church and amongst
the Dissenters, and declares it was his own fault if he reaped not
much advantage by their conversation. With Mr. Cennick, Mr. Cudworth,
and other devoted men who laboured at that period in the Tabernacle
connexion, he formed a very intimate friendship. There, also, for the
first time, he heard Mr. Romaine, to whom he was introduced at Lady
Huntingdon’s particular request. To Lady Fanny Shirley he gives an
account of Mr. Romaine’s style and manner of preaching, and wishes much
success to him in explaining the Gospel to his thronged auditors. Mr.
Romaine often visited him at the Tabernacle-house, and occasionally
accompanied him to hear Mr. Whitefield. On one occasion Mr. Wesley and
Mr. Romaine breakfasted with Mr. Whitefield. Besides Mr. Hervey, there
were present Dr. Gifford, Dr. Gill, Mr. Cudworth, and Mr. Cennick. Mr.
Romaine led the doctrinal part of the service, and Dr. Gill addressed
a short exhortation to his brethren in the ministry. At other seasons
these excellent men often met at the residence of the Countess Delitz,
Lady Gertrude Hotham, and Lady Fanny Shirley, where they proclaimed
the truth of the Gospel to polite and fashionable auditors, and were
enriched with spoils--spoils won from the kingdoms of darkness, and
consecrated to the Captain of our salvation.