George Whitefield: A Biography, with special reference to his labors in America

October 28th, 1767, Whitefield preached at the London Tabernacle before the society for promoting religious knowledge among the poor, usually called, The Book Society. This society had been organized seventeen years before this period, and included in it such men as Watts, Doddridge, and Gifford. He gave way to all the zeal of his heart while he discussed the petition, "Thy kingdom come." Luke 11:2. The congregation was immense, many had to go away unable to obtain admittance. It was believed that a larger number of dissenting ministers were present than ever before heard a sermon from an Episcopal minister, and the collection reached more than five hundred dollars, or above four times the usual amount, besides eighty new annual subscribers. After the service, he dined with a very large party, including the ministers, where harmony reigned, and much respect was shown him.

It may be readily supposed, that with advancing years and increasing experience, some changes might have taken place both in the style and manner of Whitefield's preaching. The Rev. Cornelius Winter, who had become somewhat closely associated with him, says, "He dealt more in the explanatory and doctrinal mode on the Sabbath morning than at any other time, and sometimes made a little, but by no means an improper show of learning. His afternoon sermon was more general and exhortatory. In the evening, he drew his bow at a venture; vindicated the doctrines of grace, fenced them with articles and homilies, referred to the martyr's seal, and exemplified the power of divine grace by quotations from the venerable Foxe. Sinners were then closely plied, numbers of whom, from curiosity, coming to hear for a minute or two, were often compelled to hear the whole sermon. How many in the judgment-day will rise to prove that they heard to the salvation of the soul. Upon the members of society, the practice of Christianity was then usually inculcated, not without some pertinent anecdote of a character worthy to be held up for an example, and in whose conduct the hints recommended were exemplified. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, he preached at six in the morning; and never, perhaps, did he preach greater sermons than at this hour." This, with the frequent administration of the Lord's supper to hundreds of communicants, was his usual plan for several years; but now he became more colloquial in his style, with but little action; he gave pertinent expositions of the Scriptures, with striking remarks, all comprehended within an hour. Winter adds, "The peculiar talents he possessed, subservient to great usefulness, can be but faintly conceived from his sermons in print; though, as formerly, God has made the reading of them useful, and I have no doubt that in future they will have their use."

But even yet our evangelist had to engage in war. The opposition of the universities in Oxford and Cambridge to the principles and practices introduced by Whitefield, Wesley, and their companions, grew and strengthened, till an event occurred at Oxford singularly remarkable in its history for opposition to evangelical religion, which for many years continued to excite very extraordinary interest. The London "St. James' Chronicle," of Thursday, March 17, 1763, contained the following "extract of a letter from Oxford: " "On Friday last, six students, belonging to Edmund Hall, were expelled the university, after a hearing of several hours before Mr. Vice-Chancellor and some of the heads of houses, for holding methodistical tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read, and expound the Scriptures, and singing hymns in a private house. The – of the – [The Principal of the Edmund Hall, Rev. Dr. Dixon] defended their doctrines from the Thirty-nine Articles of the established church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety and exemplariness of their lives; but his motion was overruled, and sentence pronounced against them. Dr. – , [Dixon,] one of the heads of houses present, observed, that as these six gentlemen were expelled for having too much religion, it would be very proper to inquire into the conduct of some who had too little; and Mr. – [Dr. Nowell] was heard to tell their chief accuser, that the university was much obliged to him for his good work."

To detail the events which followed this extraordinary act, and to describe the excitement thus created, form no part of the design of our volume. We have referred to the fact because Mr. Whitefield and his friend Sir Richard Hill took part in the controversy. Referring to Dr. Nowell's assertion to Mr. Higson, their "chief accuser," and who was also their tutor, that the university was obliged to him, Whitefield says to the Vice-Chancellor, "What thanks, reverend sir, he may meet with from the whole university I know not; but one thing I know, namely, that he will receive no thanks for that day's work from the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly of the first-born which are written in heaven, or from God the Judge of all, in that day when Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant shall come in his own glory, in the glory of the Father and his holy angels, and gather his elect from all the four corners of the world.

"It is true, indeed, one article of impeachment was, that 'some of them were of trades before they entered into the university.' But what evil or crime worthy of expulsion can there be in that? To be called from any, though the meanest mechanical employment, to the study of the liberal arts, where a natural genius hath been given, was never yet looked upon as a reproach to, or diminution of any great and public character whatsoever. Profane history affords us a variety of examples of the greatest heroes, who have been fetched even from the plough to command armies, and who performed the greatest exploits for their country's good. And if we examine sacred history, we shall find that even David, after he was anointed king, looked back with sweet complacency to the rock from whence he was hewn, and is not ashamed to leave it upon record, that God took him away from the sheepfolds, as he was following the ewes great with young; and, as though he loved to repeat it, he took him, he says, 'that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.'

"But why speak I of David, when Jesus of Nazareth, David's Lord and David's King, had for his reputed father a carpenter? and in all probability, as it was a common proverb among the Jews, that 'he who did not teach his son a trade, taught him to be a thief,' he worked at the trade of a carpenter himself. For this, indeed, he was reproached and maligned: 'Is not this,' said they, 'the carpenter's son?' Nay, 'Is not this the carpenter?' But who were these maligners? The greatest enemies to the power of godliness which the world ever saw, the scribes and Pharisees, that 'generation of vipers,' as John the Baptist calls them, who, upon every occasion, were spitting out their venom, and shooting their arrows, even bitter words, against that Son of man, even that Son of God who, to display his sovereignty, and confound the wisdom of the worldly wise, chose poor fishermen to be his apostles; and whose chief of the apostles, though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, both before and after his call to the apostleship, labored with his own hands, and worked at the trade of a tent-maker."

It is pleasant to know that the young men thus expelled became useful in the church of Christ. One of them, indeed, Erasmus Middleton, who had been sustained at Oxford by Mr. Fuller, a dissenter and banker in London, was ordained in Ireland by the bishop of Down, and having married a lady of the ducal family of Gordon, in Scotland, was curate successively to the Rev. Messrs. Romaine and Cadogan in London, and finally rector of Turvey, in Bedfordshire, where he was the immediate predecessor of the sainted Legh Richmond.

Many delightful evidences yet exist that as Whitefield drew nearer the end of his career on earth, his holy zeal increased, rather than lessened. We have lying before us three of his letters, not included either in the collection of his printed correspondence, or in the lives which have been published. The first was addressed to a gentleman at Wisbeach, and appears to have been written from London. It is dated Sept. 25, 1766.

"Dear Sir – As your letter breathes the spirit of a sincere follower of the Lamb of God, I am sorry that it hath lain by so long unanswered; but bodily weakness, and a multiplicity of correspondents, both from abroad and at home, must be pleaded as excuses. 'Blessed be God, our salvation is nearer than when we believed.' It should seem that you have now served three apprenticeships in Christ's school, and yet I suppose the language of your heart is, 'I love my Master, and will not go from him;' and Oh, what a mercy, that whom Jesus loves, he loves to the end! Do you not begin to long to see him more than ever? Do you not groan in this tabernacle, being burdened? Courage, courage; he that cometh will come, and will not tarry. Oh that patience may have its perfect work! Many in this metropolis seem to be on the wing for God; the shout of a king is yet heard in the Methodist camp. Had I wings, I would gladly fly from pole to pole; but they are clipped by thirty years' feeble labors. Twice or thrice a week I am permitted to ascend my gospel throne. The love of Christ, I am persuaded, will constrain you to pray that the last glimmering of an expiring taper may be blessed to the guiding of many wandering souls to the Lamb of God."

The second letter was written from the same city, February 12, in the following year, and was addressed to Captain Scott, a military officer then "quartered at Leicester." This gentleman, in early life, had been much devoted to the gayeties of fashionable society; long after he had entered the army, he was converted to God, under the ministry of the Rev. W. Romaine; and a few weeks before Mr. Whitefield addressed to him this letter, he had begun to preach the grand message of reconciliation. He afterwards left the army, was ordained as a Congregational minister, and labored for many years in almost innumerable places in city and country, with abundant success.

"What, not answer so modest a request, namely, to snatch a few moments to send dear Captain Scott a few lines? God forbid. I must again welcome him into the field of battle. I must again entreat him to keep his rank as captain, and not suffer any persuasions to influence him to descend to the low degree of a common soldier. If God will choose a red-coat preacher, who shall say unto him, 'What doest thou?'

"Prevent thy foes, nor wait their charge;
But call the lingering battle on;
But strongly grasp thy seven-fold targe,
And bear the world and Satan down.

"Strong in the Lord's almighty power,
And armed in panoply divine,
Firm mayest thou stand in danger's hour,
And prove the strength of Jesus thine.

"The helmet of salvation take,
The Lord the Spirit's conquering sword;
Speak from the word, in lightning speak;
Cry out, and thunder from the Lord.

"Through friends and foes pursue thy way,
Be mindful of a dying God;
Finish thy course, and win the day,
Though called to seal the truth with blood.

"Gladly would I come, and in my poor way endeavor to strengthen your hands; but alas, I am fit for nothing, but, as an invalid, to be put into some garrison, and now and then put my hand to some old gun. Blessed be the Captain of our salvation for drafting out some young champions to reconnoitre and attack the enemy. You will beat the march in every letter, and bid the common soldiers not halt, but go forwards. Good Lady Huntingdon wishes you much prosperity. Pray write to her at Brighthelmstone, [now Brighton,] Sussex. She will most gladly answer you; and I assure you, her Ladyship's letters are always weighty. Hoping one day or another to see your face in the flesh, and more than hoping to see you crowned with glory in the kingdom of heaven, I must hasten to subscribe myself, my dear captain, yours in our all-glorious Captain-general,

    "G. WHITEFIELD."

The last letter we shall introduce in this connection was addressed by Whitefield to the Honorable and Rev. Walter Shirley, of Ireland, a near relative of the Countess of Huntingdon, who breathed, as a minister of Christ, much of the spirit of his great Master. It was dated, Bath, Dec. 8, 1767:

"Rev. and very dear Sir – How glad was I to hear by the London Shunamite, [Mrs. Herritage,] that you and your lady were well; that God had given you a son; that you reflected on your preaching at Tottenham Court chapel with pleasure; that you had gotten a curate; and, to complete all, that you intended to visit England next spring. This news rejoiced me before I left town, and was most grateful to our good Lady Huntingdon, whom I have the honor of waiting upon at this time in Bath. She hath been sick, nigh unto death, but through mercy is now somewhat recovered, though as yet unable to write much. This her ladyship much regrets on your account; and therefore enjoins me to inform you, that your letter did not reach her hands till many weeks after the proper time; that ever since she has been visited with lingering sickness, but begs you will not linger in coming over to our Macedonia to help us. The thought of it seems to refresh her heaven-born soul. Blessed be God, her ladyship still takes the lead.

"She is now doing honor to the remains of the Earl of Buchan, who sweetly slept in Jesus last week. All hath been awful, and more than awful. On 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 of Buchan on his right hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine next to their mother, with Miss O – , Miss W – , Miss G – ; on one side all the domestics, with a few friends on the other. The word of exhortation 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 truth they may be spent:
Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;
Thy will be done, thy name adored.

"'Give them thy strength, O God of power,
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 ended, and a blessed sacrament it was, the noble mourners returned to the good Countess of Huntingdon's house, which was lent them for the day. At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved relatives sat in order within, and the domestics round the outside of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded. Near three hundred tickets, signed by the present earl, were given out to the nobility and gentry, to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper hymns were sung, and I preached on the words, 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' Attention sat on every countenance, and deep and almost universal impressions were made. The like scene, and if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the evening, and I was enabled to preach a second time, and a like power attended the word as in the morning. Ever since, there hath been public service and preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till Friday morning, then all is to be removed to Bristol, in order to be shipped off to Scotland. The inscription on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was honorable – his death blessed – he sought earnestly peace with God – he found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the merits of Jesus Christ, witnessed by the Holy Spirit to his soul – he yet speaketh. Go and do likewise.'

"I have often wished for you here. Congregations are very large, attentive, and deeply impressed. Great numbers of all ranks crowd to see and hear; and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death of this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of many. He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when by faith, leaning upon his staff, he blessed his children. The earl added, 'Yea, and they shall be blessed.' He laid his hands on, and blessed his children, assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He had great foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of body,' cried he, 'I would not be ashamed, before men and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus hath done for my soul. Come, Holy Ghost – come, Holy Ghost; happy, happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus. All surviving relatives still feel the influence. They sit round the corpse, attended by their domestics and supporters, twice a day. Good Lady S – gets fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence, to determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He hath behaved in the most delicate manner to the Countess, and other noble survivors."

The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series of changes. For the last time he now visited Edinburgh, where he found his congregations as large, and his Christian friends as affectionate as ever. Soon after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was seized with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already seen, on the 9th of August. His own health too was more than declining. He writes, "I have been in hopes of my own departure. Through hard writing, and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The flux is in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness are strictly enjoined."

"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such things were impossible as long as he could move or speak. His fire must burn till its whole material was expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor till his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution could appall him, no sickness could long keep him from his beloved engagements. He would preach till he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in vain in the Lord."

Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could ever be the advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many of the men engaged under his direction, and preaching in what was already called "Lady Huntingdon's connection," needed, as they well knew, a better education than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained a lease of an old structure, supposed to have been part of an ancient castle erected in the reign of Henry the Second. The date over the entrance, now almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca House, was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in South Wales, and was for some time the residence of Howel Harris. This building was opened as a college for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel, Aug. 24, 1768, the anniversary of the Bartholomew act, and of the birth of her ladyship. Mr. Whitefield preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee and bless thee;" and on the following Sabbath he addressed a congregation of some thousands, who assembled in the court before the college. His text on that occasion was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the dedication of the college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What we have seen and felt at the college is unspeakable."

After her ladyship's death the institution was removed to Cheshunt, about thirteen miles north of London, where it still flourishes under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. W. H. Stowell.

In the early part of 1769, Mr. Whitefield was for some weeks seriously ill, but towards the close of March, he was able to write, "Through infinite mercy I have been able to preach four days successively." During his illness he received many offers of assistance from his brethren in the ministry, but from none more cordially than from the Honorable and Rev. Mr. Shirley. Writing to him, April 1, Whitefield says:

"How much am I obliged to you for your two kind letters, and more especially for the repeated offers of your ministerial assistance. They will be most gratefully accepted, and, I humbly hope, be remarkably succeeded by Him who hath promised to be with us always, even unto the end of the world. Blessed be His name, we have been favored with most delightful passover feasts. The shout of the King of kings is still heard in the midst of our Methodist camps; and the shout of, Grace, grace! resounds from many quarters. Our almighty Jesus knows how to build his temple in troublous times. His work prospers in the hands of the elect countess, who is gone to Bath, much recovered from her late indisposition. Worthy Lady Fanny Shirley proposes soon to follow, in order to reside there. Some more coronets, I hear, are likely to be laid at the Redeemer's feet. They glitter gloriously when set in and surrounded by a crown of thorns.

"'Subjects of the Lord, be bold;
Jesus will his kingdom hold;
Wheels encircling wheels must run,
Each in course to bring it on.'"

That the friendship of Dr. Franklin towards Mr. Whitefield was sincere, cannot be doubted; there is, however, somewhat painful in the thought, that even in this connection Franklin could not conceal his scepticism. In 1769 both these eminent men were in London, and every one knows that the state of our country was very trying. Franklin thus wrote to Whitefield: "I am under continued apprehensions that we may have bad news from America. The sending soldiers to Boston always appeared to me a dangerous step; they could do no good, they might occasion mischief. When I consider the warm resentment of a people who think themselves injured and oppressed, and the common insolence of the soldiery, who are taught to consider that people as in rebellion, I cannot but fear the consequences of bringing them together. It seems like setting up a smith's forge in a magazine of gunpowder. I see with you that our affairs are not well managed by our rulers here below; I wish I could believe with you, that they are well attended to by those above: I rather suspect, from certain circumstances, that though the general government of the universe is well administered, our particular little affairs are perhaps below notice, and left to take the chance of human prudence or imprudence, as either may happen to be uppermost. It is, however, an uncomfortable thought, and I leave it."

It would have been strange indeed if Whitefield had allowed a letter closing in this manner to pass without a remark; hence we are prepared to find that, in his own handwriting, at the foot of the autograph letter, he wrote, "Uncomfortable indeed! and, blessed be God, unscriptural; for we are fully assured that 'the Lord reigneth,' and are directed to cast all our own care on him, because he careth for us." Could Dr. Franklin have seen the splendid results of that management which he thought indicated the absence of a particular providence – could he have beheld the vast Republic, the abode of liberty, commerce, literature, and religion, which in less than a century has grown out of the insurgent colonies – he would surely have exclaimed, in the language of the prophet, "Verily there is a God in the earth!"

In July, Whitefield was called by Lady Huntingdon to visit Tunbridge Wells, a popular watering place in Kent, some twenty or thirty miles from London, to dedicate a new and beautiful house to the service of God. The congregation was far too large to be accommodated within the walls; he therefore preached out of doors from a mount in the court before the house. His text was, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Gen. 28:17. This sermon is said to have been one of his most eloquent and thrilling efforts; the lofty energy of his tones, the utter forgetfulness of himself in the all-absorbing interest of his subject, the very impersonation of the truths which he uttered as he stretched forth his hand, "Look yonder; what is that I see? It is my agonizing Lord! Hark, hark! do you not hear? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!" thrilled the vast congregation, riveting the eye, piercing the conscience, and holding strong men breathless before the resistless might of his inspired eloquence. After the service he delivered an exhortation, and on the next day again preached and administered the Lord's supper.

He now began to prepare for his seventh, and as it proved, his last voyage to America, especially to visit his beloved orphans and friends in Georgia. The only thing which seems to have grieved him, was the pain of parting for a time from his London friends. This was nothing new, but his feelings were even less reconciled to the event than formerly. "Oh," he says, "these partings! without a divine support they would be intolerable. Talk not of taking personal leave; you know my make. Paul could stand a whipping, but not a weeping farewell."

The text of his last sermon was John 10:27, 28: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." The sermon was printed, and that very incorrectly; but a few sentences will show that it was strikingly characteristic: "These words, it will be recollected, were uttered by Christ at the feast of dedication. This festival was of bare human invention, and yet I do not find that our Lord preached against it. And I believe that when we see things as we ought, we shall not entertain our auditories about rites and ceremonies, but about the grand thing. It is the glory of Methodists, that while they have been preaching forty years, there has not been, that I know of, one single pamphlet published by them about the non-essentials of religion… The Lord divides the world into sheep and goats. O sinners, you are come to hear a poor creature take his last farewell; but I want you to forget the creature and his preaching. I want to lead you further than the Tabernacle – even to mount Calvary, to see with what expense of blood Jesus Christ purchased 'his own.' Now, before I go any further, will you be so good, before the world gets into your hearts, to inquire whether you belong to Christ or not. Surely the world did not get into your hearts before you rose from your beds. Many of you were up sooner than usual. [The sermon was preached at seven o'clock in the morning.] I hope the world does not get into your hearts before nine. Man, woman, sinner, put thy hand upon thy heart, and say, Didst thou ever hear Christ's voice so as to follow him?.. I once heard Dr. Marryatt, who was not ashamed of 'market language,' say at Pinner's Hall, 'God has a great dog to fetch his sheep back when they wander.' He sends the devil after them, to bark at them; but instead of barking them further off, he barks them back to the fold… 'None shall pluck them out of my hand.' This implies that there is always somebody plucking at Christ's sheep. The lust of the flesh is plucking; the pride of life is plucking; and the devil is continually plucking at them; 'but nothing shall pluck them out of my hand;' I have bought them, and am gone to heaven to 'prepare a place for them.'"

Of this sermon, as taken in shorthand and printed, Whitefield received a copy while at Deal, and was much dissatisfied with it. He says, "This morning I received a surreptitious copy of my Tabernacle farewell sermon, taken, as the shorthand writer professes, verbatim as I spoke it. But surely he is mistaken. The whole is so injudiciously paragraphed, and so wretchedly unconnected, that I owe no thanks to the misguided, though it may be well-meant zeal of the writer and publisher, be they who they will." Had Whitefield known that the lad of seventeen who had thus taken down his sermon, would hereafter become a devoted and useful minister of Christ, the secretary of the London Missionary Society, the originator of the London Religious Tract Society, and for many years the editor of the London Evangelical Magazine, and the author of "Village Sermons," which have circulated by hundreds of thousands of volumes in both hemispheres, how would his heart have warmed towards him. Let us copy from the journal of George Burder, as given in his life by his son, the Rev. Dr. H. F. Burder, a short passage:

"August, 1769. About this time I heard Mr. Whitefield preach several sermons, particularly his two last in London; that at Tottenham Court chapel on Sabbath morning, and that at the Tabernacle on Wednesday morning at seven o'clock. I remember a thought which passed my mind, I think, as I was going to hear his last sermon – 'Which would I rather be, Garrick or Whitefield?' I thought each, in point of oratory, admirable in his way. I doubt not conscience told me which was best. I wrote Mr. Whitefield's sermons in shorthand, though standing in a crowd. The latter I copied out, and by the request of a friend it was printed in about a week. I remember sitting up part of a night to write it out, and at the same time I observed the comet which then appeared. The sermon was very incorrect, and Mr. Whitefield being detained at Deal before he left England, saw it, and complained of it."