Chapter L: Tyerman (14)

"As for inveighing against the clergy, without a cause, I deny
the charge. What I say, I am ready to make good whenever your
lordship pleases. Let those, who bring reports to your lordship
about my preaching, be brought face to face, and I am ready to
give them an answer. St. Paul exhorts Timothy not to receive
an accusation against an elder under two or three witnesses.
And even Nicodemus could say, the law suffered no man to be
condemned unheard. I shall only add, that I hope your lordship
will inspect the lives of your other clergy, and censure them
for being _over-remiss_, as much as you censure me for being
_over-righteous_. It is their falling from their Articles, and
not preaching the truth as it is in Jesus, that has excited
the present zeal of those, whom they, in derision, call _the
Methodist preachers_.

"Dr. Stebbing's sermon[231] (for which I thank your lordship)
confirms me more and more in my opinion, that I ought to be
instant in season and out of season; for, to me, he seems to
know no more of the true nature of regeneration than Nicodemus
did when he came to Jesus by night. Your lordship may observe
that he does not speak a word of original sin, or the dreadful
consequences of our fall in Adam, upon which the doctrine of the
new birth is entirely founded. No; like other polite preachers,
he seems to think that St. Paul's description of the wickedness
of the heathen is only to be referred to those of past ages:
whereas I affirm, we are all included as much under the guilt
and consequences of sin as they were.

[231] Dr. Stebbing's sermon will be noticed hereafter.

"Again, my lord, the doctor entirely mistakes us when we talk
of the _sensible_ operations of the Holy Ghost. I know not that
we use the word _sensible_; but, if we do, we do not mean that
God's Spirit manifests itself to our _senses_, but that it may
be perceived by the soul, as really as any sensible impression
made upon the body. Although the operations of the Spirit of God
can no more be accounted for than how the wind cometh and goeth,
yet may they be as easily felt by the soul as the wind may be
felt by the body. My lord, indeed, we speak what we know.

"But, says the doctor, 'These men have no proof to offer for
their _inward_ manifestations.' What proof, my lord, does the
doctor require? Would he have us raise dead bodies? Have we not
done greater things than these? I speak with all humility. Has
not God, by our ministry, raised many dead souls to a spiritual
life? Verily, if men will not believe the evidence God has given
that He sent us, neither would they believe though one rose from
the dead.

"Besides, my lord, the doctor charges us with things we are
entire strangers to,--such as denying men the use of God's
creatures; and encouraging abstinence and prayer to the neglect
of the duties of our station. Lord, lay not this sin to his
charge!

"But, the doctor, and the rest of my reverend brethren, are
welcome to judge me as they please. Yet a little while, and
we shall all appear before the great Shepherd of our souls.
There, there, my lord, shall it be determined who are His true
ministers, and who are only wolves in sheep's clothing. Our
Lord, I believe, will not be ashamed to _confess us publicly
in that day_. I pray God, we all may approve ourselves such
faithful ministers of the New Testament, that we may be able to
lift up our heads with boldness!

"As for declining the work in which I am engaged, my blood runs
chill at the very thought of it. I am as much convinced it is
my duty to act as I do, as I am that the sun shines at noonday.
I can foresee the consequences very well. They have already,
in one sense, thrust us out of the synagogues. By-and-by, they
will think it is doing God service to kill us. But, my lord,
if you and the rest of the bishops cast us out, our great and
common Master will take us up. However you may censure us as
evil-doers and disturbers of the peace, yet, if we suffer for
our present way of acting, your lordship, at the great day, will
find that we suffer only for _righteousness' sake_. In patience,
therefore, do I possess my soul. I will willingly tarry the
Lord's leisure. In the meanwhile, I shall continually bear your
lordship's favours upon my heart, and endeavour to behave, so as
to subscribe myself,

"My lord, your lordship's obedient son and obliged servant,

"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."

This was a bold letter to the venerable prelate, who had always been Whitefield's friend, and who, only six months before, had admitted him to the orders of a priest. But to return, let us follow the young evangelist in his wanderings. He writes:--

"Saturday, July 14. Preached" (at Thornbury) "at eight this
morning, to an attentive congregation. Breakfasted at a
Quaker's, and reached Gloucester, with my honoured friend, Mr.
John Wesley, and some others, in the afternoon. Went to the
cathedral prayers, and afterwards preached to a congregation a
third part larger than I have had in this place before.

Whitefield merely mentions the Quaker at Thornbury--Wesley gives a more detailed account, and takes the opportunity of lashing the pretended teachers of the people. He writes as follows:--

"July 14. We breakfasted" (at Thornbury) "with a Quaker, who
had been brought up in the Church of England; but, being under
strong convictions of inward sin, and applying to several
persons for advice, they all judged him to be under a disorder
of body, and gave advice accordingly. Some Quakers, with whom
he met about the same time, told him it was the hand of God
upon his soul; and advised him to seek another sort of relief
than those miserable comforters had recommended. 'Woe unto
you, ye blind leaders of the blind!' How long will ye pervert
the right ways of the Lord? Ye, who tell the mourners in Zion,
'Much religion hath made you mad!' Ye, who send them, whom God
hath wounded, to the devil for cure; to company, idle books, or
diversions! Thus shall they perish in their iniquity; but their
blood shall God require at your hands."

Next morning the two friends parted, not to meet again until the year 1741, when, unfortunately, there was a rupture between them, which, hereafter, will demand attention. Leaving Wesley to preach to assembled thousands in Gloucester, Whitefield set out for London. He writes:--

"Sunday, July 15. Left my honoured friend, Mr. Wesley, to preach
to about seven thousand souls in Gloucester. Preached twice in
Randwick Church, and assisted in administering the sacrament to
two hundred and seventy communicants. In the evening, at Hampton
Common, I was enabled to preach to about twenty thousand.

"July 16. Preached, at noon, at Tedbury, to about four thousand
people. Many, of divers denominations, came to meet me, with
whom I took sweet counsel. Visited, in the afternoon, Mr. O----,
a Baptist teacher. At seven, in the evening, preached to about
three thousand people at Malmesbury. Much opposition had been
made, by the Pharisees, against my coming; and the minister, in
particular, had written to the churchwarden to stop me.

"July 17. Preached to about two thousand, at eight in the
morning; and reached Cirencester at six in the evening. Here
also men breathed out threatenings against me. Numbers came from
neighbouring towns. My congregation was as large again as when I
preached here last.

"July 18. Preached at seven in the morning. I stood in the
valley, and the people on an ascent, that formed a most
beautiful amphitheatre. I reached Abingdon about seven in the
evening, and preached to several thousands. Much opposition
had been made against my coming. The landlord, whose house we
offered to put up at, genteelly told us he had not room for us.

"July 19. At the request of several well-disposed people,
preached again this morning, though not to so great a number as
before. Reached Basingstoke about seven at night. Being languid
and weary, I lay down soon after our coming to the inn; but
was shortly told the landlord would not let us stay under his
roof. Upon this, I immediately went to another inn. The people
made a mock of both me and my friends, as we passed along, and
fire-rockets were thrown around the door. About an hour after,
I received the following letter, by the hands of the constable,
from the mayor:--

"'BASINGSTOKE, _July 19, 1739_.

"'SIR,--Being a civil magistrate in this town, I thought it my
duty, for the preservation of the peace, to forbid you, or, at
least, dissuade you, from preaching here. If you persist in
it, in all probability it may occasion a disturbance, which,
I think, it is your duty, as a clergyman, as well as mine, to
prevent. If any mischief should ensue, (whatever pretence you
may afterwards make in your own behalf,) I am satisfied it will
fall on your own head, being timely cautioned by me, who am,
sir, your most humble servant,

"'JOHN ABBOT.

"'P.S.--The Legislature has wisely made laws for the
preservation of the peace; therefore, I hope no clergyman lives
in defiance of them.'"

Thus wrote Mr. Abbot, mayor of Basingstoke--a butcher by business, but a stickler for peace. Whitefield immediately answered Mr. Abbot's letter, with a high-sounding courtesy, more due to Mr. Abbot's mayoralty than to his business:--

"HONOURED SIR,--I thank you for your kind letter, and I humbly
hope a sense of duty, and not a fear of man, caused you to write
it.

"If so, give me leave to remind you, honoured sir, that you
ought to be, not only a terror of evil-doers, but a praise to
them that do well. I know of no law against such meetings as
mine. If any such law exists, I believe you will think it your
duty, honoured sir, to apprise me of it, that I may not offend
against it. If no law can be produced, I think it my duty to
inform you that you ought to protect an assembly of people
meeting together purely to worship God.

"To-morrow, honoured sir, I hear there is to be an assembly of
another nature. Be pleased to be as careful to have the public
peace preserved at that; and to prevent profane cursing and
swearing, and persons bruising each other's bodies by cudgelling
and wrestling. If you do not this, I shall rise up against you
at the great day, and be a swift witness against your partiality.

"I am, honoured sir, your very humble servant,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."

Next morning, Whitefield waited upon the magisterial butcher, to enquire about the law against his preaching. The mayor was unable to answer the preacher's enquiry, but said, "Sir, you ought to preach in a church." "So I would," replied Whitefield, "if your minister would give me leave." "Sir," said Mr. Abbot, "I believe you have some sinister ends in view. Why do you go about making a disturbance?" "I make no disturbance," answered Whitefield. "It was hard I could not come into your town without being insulted. It was your business, sir, to wait, and, if there was any riot in my meetings, then, and not till then, to interpose." "Sir," continued the zealous mayor, "you wrote to me about the revel to-day." "Yes," rejoined Whitefield, "you ought to go, and read the riot act, and put a stop to it."

Here the mayor and the preacher parted; but the contention was not ended. On the same day, the angry official, with a fair amount of scholarship for a man who handled the cleaver, as well as mace, sent to Whitefield a polished epistle, as follows:--

"BASINGSTOKE, _July 20, 1739_.

"REV. SIR,--I received your extraordinary letter, and could
expect no other from so uncommon a genius.

"I apprehend your meetings to be unlawful, having no toleration
to protect you in it. My apprehension of religion always was,
and I hope always will be, that God is to be worshipped in
places consecrated and set apart for His service; and not
in brothels, and places where all manner of debauchery may
have been committed; but how far this is consistent with your
actions, I leave you to judge.

"As for the other assembly you are pleased to mention, 'tis
contrary to my will, having never given my consent to it, nor
approved of it, but discouraged it before your reverendship
came to this town; and, if these cudgellers persist in it, I
shall set them upon the same level with you, and think you all
breakers of the public peace. You very well know there are penal
laws against cursing and swearing, and I could wish there were
the same against deceit and hypocrisy.

"Your appearing against me as a swift witness, at the day of
judgment, I must own, is a most terrible thing, and may serve as
a bugbear for children, or people of weak minds; but, believe
me, reverend sir, those disguises will have but little weight
amongst men of common understanding.

"Yours,
"JOHN ABBOT."

To this Whitefield returned the following reply:--

"BASINGSTOKE, _July 20, 1739_.

"HONOURED SIR--Does Mr. Mayor do well to be angry? Alas! what
evil have I done? I honour you as a magistrate; but, as a
minister, I am obliged to have no respect of persons. Your
_apprehending_ my meetings to be unlawful, does not make them
so. There is no need of a toleration to protect me, when I do
not act unconformable to any law, civil or ecclesiastical. Be
pleased to prove that my meetings are schismatical, seditious,
or riotous, and then I will submit.

"But you say they are upon unconsecrated ground. Honoured sir,
give me leave to inform you, that God is not now confined to
places. Where two or three are gathered together in Christ's
name, there will Christ be in the midst of them. The Church, by
our ministers in their prayer before their sermons, is defined
to be, not the church walls, but a congregation of Christian
people. Such is mine.

"As for judging me, to my own Master I stand or fall. At His
dreadful tribunal I will meet you; and then you shall see what
is in the heart of, honoured sir, your very humble servant,

"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."

Notwithstanding the mayor's fulminated wrath, Whitefield went into a field, and began to preach. He suffered no interruption worth mentioning. Returning to the inn, he "prayed and sung psalms with a few disciples, and then took his leave." Passing along, however, he saw the "stage built for the cudgellers and wrestlers, and met divers coming to the revel." He was already a mile from Basingstoke; but, "seeing so many souls, for whom Christ died, ready to perish, and no minister or magistrate to interpose," he at once returned, mounted the stage, and began to shew the wrestlers, and cudgellers, and their friends "the error of their ways." The boys huzzaed. One of the "cudgellers" struck him with a cudgel. The crowd thronged and pushed him. To obtain a hearing was impossible; and, hence, the intrepid evangelist again set out for London. Perhaps it was well he did; hence the following from a letter written to him by a Quaker:--

"BASINGSTOKE, _July 21, 1739_.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,--When I yesterday went up to thy inn, and
found thee just gone, I was sorry that I missed an opportunity
of taking my leave of thee, and of expressing the sense I had
of the presence and power of God with thee, especially in the
latter part of thy sermon, and in thy prayer after it. However,
I am truly glad that thou wert preserved out of the hands of
cruel men. Thou heardest of the threatenings of many; but the
malice of some went further. There were ten or twelve men
lying in wait to do thee a private mischief. I know this, by
the testimony of one of these very men, who boasted to me, 'We
would have given him a secret blow, and prevented his making
disturbances.'

"O thy noble testimony against the profaneness and vanity of the
age! It rejoiced me not a little. But when thou earnest to the
necessity, the nature, and the rewards of the new birth, thou
wert carried beyond thyself. The fountain of life was opened,
and flowed around amongst the living. I, for one, am a monument
of free grace and mercy. O God, how boundless is Thy love!

"My dear friend, may we finally be received up into the mansions
of glory, there to live with all the righteous generations, and
to sing with them, hallelujahs, glory, and praise, for ever and
ever. May the Ancient of Days keep thee in His arms, direct thee
by His Spirit, support, comfort, and watch over thee, is the
fervent prayer of thine in great sincerity,

"J. PORTSMOUTH."

Whitefield arrived in London on Saturday, July 21, and, in the evening of the same day, "preached to upwards of ten thousand at Kennington Common." During his absence, Moorfields and Kennington Common had been supplied by Charles Wesley, and Whitefield writes: "Blessed be God for what has been done here, since I left London, by my honoured friend and fellow-labourer, Mr. Charles Wesley. All love, all glory be to God for giving so great an increase!"

"Sunday, July 22. Received a letter from Mr. Ralph Erskine, of
Scotland. Some may be offended at my corresponding with him,
but I dare not but confess my Lord's disciples. Preached, at
seven in the morning, to about twenty thousand in Moorfields,
and collected £24 17s. for the school-house at Kingswood. Ye
scoffers, ye blind Pharisees, come and see, and then call
these tumultuous, seditious assemblies, if you can. Would to
God, they behaved so decently in any church in London! Went to
St. Paul's, and received the blessed sacrament. Preached in
the evening, at Kennington Common, to about thirty thousand
hearers, and collected £15 15s. 6d. for the colliers. God gave
me great power, and I never opened my mouth so freely against
the letter-learned clergymen of the Church of England. Every day
do I see the necessity of speaking out more and more. God knows
my heart, I do not speak out of resentment. I heartily wish the
Church of England was the joy of the whole earth; but I cannot
see her sinking into papistical ignorance, and refined Deism,
and not open my mouth against those who, by their sensual,
lukewarm lives, and unscriptural, superficial doctrines, thus
cause her to err."

Every day Whitefield was becoming more and more a Dissenter. The Rev. Ralph Erskine was the head of a sect of Dissenters who had recently seceded from the Church of Scotland. He and Whitefield were already friendly correspondents. Erskine's letter to Whitefield (mentioned in the above extract) is lost, but Whitefield's answer is preserved. The following is a part of it:--

"LONDON, _July 23, 1739_.

"REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--Yesterday, with great pleasure, I
received your kind letter. I was afraid lest I should have
offended you. If this should be the case at any time, reprove
me sharply, and I shall thank you with my whole heart. I bless
God that my sermons are approved of by you. I am but a novice in
the school of Christ; but my Master enlightens me more and more
every day to know the exceeding great riches and freedom of His
grace to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

"By this time, I hope you have seen my journal, and have given
thanks for what great things God has done for my soul. An
appendix will be printed shortly. The success of the gospel
increases daily. Opposition, also, increases daily; but as
opposition abounds, so does my inward consolation. A sermon
of mine is now being printed, which will disturb the pleasure
of preferment-loving clergy, more than ever. Mr. Wesley has
not yet received your letter. He will readily correspond with
you. He fights the Lord's battles, as doth his brother, most
courageously. A noble reformation is begun among Kingswood
colliers, near Bristol. I am now collecting money for building
them a school-house. My tenderest affections await all the
Associate Presbytery.[232] I am opposed for owning you; but to
deny our Lord's disciples, in my opinion, is denying Christ
Himself. Providence detains me here. Pray write, by next post,
to, rev. and dear sir, yours most affectionately in the bowels
of Christ,

"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."[233]

[232] The Presbytery of the new Dissenting sect.

[233] "Life and Diary of Rev. Ralph Erskine."

Mr. Erskine's reply was of enormous length, filling ten printed octavo pages. Brief extracts from it must suffice here.

"DUNFERMLINE, _August_ 21, 1739.

"REVEREND AND VERY DEAR SIR,--I have now read your journals and
sermons, and I can assure you, with reference to the whole work
in general, and the main scope of it, my soul has been made to
magnify the Lord for the very great things He has done for you
and by you. If I speak of any things wherein we differ, it shall
only be to shew the greatness of my love to you, and also to
prevent after mistakes."

Erskine then proceeds to express a hope that there will be "a happy union in the Lord" between the Oxford Methodists and the Associate Presbytery, "not only in a private and personal, but even in a more public and general way." He affirms, truly enough, that "England's reformation from Popery, and its superstitious and ceremonial services, however great and glorious, was far from being so full as that of Scotland;" and he trusts, that "when a new and general reformation shall be set on foot, more of the rags of the Romish Church will be dropped, such as many useless rites and customs relating to worship, which have no scriptural foundation."

Erskine next criticises Whitefield's Journal. In reference to his fellowship with Quakers, the Scotch Reformer says: "Whatever duties of love you perform towards these men, I will never believe you mean or intend to justify their principles and delusive notions."

On the subject of secession, Erskine writes:--

"You say that so long as the Articles of the Church of England
are agreeable to Scripture, you resolve to preach them up,
without either bigotry or party zeal. This is the case with
us. We preach up and defend, doctrinally and judicially,
those Articles of the Church of Scotland, agreeable to the
Scriptures, which the judicatories are letting go. Hence, I
conclude, you are just of our mind, as to separation from an
established Church. We never declared a secession from the
Church of Scotland, but only a secession from the judicatories,
in their course of defection from the primitive and covenanted
constitution, to which we stood bound by our ordination
engagements."

Whitefield's sermons are next examined, and objectionable sentiments and sentences pointed out. Erskine concludes his long letter thus:--

"I see much of the glory and majesty of God, and many of the
stately steps and goings of our mighty king Jesus, in your
sermons and journals; and have, with tears of joy, adored His
name for what He is doing for you and by you. When I consider
how you and your brethren are stirred up of God to such a
remarkable way of witnessing for Him in England, against the
corruptions and defections of that Church; and when we of the
Associate Presbytery have been called forth in a judicial way
to witness against the corruptions and defections of the Church
of Scotland; and both at a juncture, when Popish powers are
combining together against us, and desolating judgments are
justly threatened from heaven, there is, perhaps, more in the
womb of Providence relating to our several situations, and
successes therein, than we are aware of. What He doth we know
not now, but we may know hereafter.

"We have lately been attending several sacramental solemnities
in our brethren's congregations, where vast multitudes of people
were assembled at the tents without doors, as well as in the
church; and I never found more of the presence of God than
on some of these occasions. The Spirit of God was sometimes
remarkably poured out. Enemies gnash with their teeth, but
the Lord carries on His work. My brethren salute you most
affectionately. They love and respect you in the Lord. I salute
the worthy Sewards and Wesleys in the Lord.

"I am, rev. and dear sir, yours most affectionately in our
blessed Immanuel,

"RALPH ERSKINE."[234]

[234] "Life and Diary of Rev. Ralph Erskine."

To return to Whitefield's Journal. He writes:--

"Monday, July 23. Preached this evening at Hackney Marsh, to
about two thousand people. I prayed and discoursed for above two
hours, and with greater demonstration of the Spirit than ever.
Every day have I more and more reason to rejoice in what God has
done for my own and others' souls. Thousands at the great day
will have reason to bless God for field-preaching.

"Tuesday, July 24. Despatched my private affairs, and preached
in the evening at Kennington Common, to about fifteen thousand.

"Wednesday, July 25. Preached this evening at Edmonton. The
congregation was large and attentive, and I rejoiced in having
an opportunity of offering salvation freely to the rich.

"Thursday, July 26. Preached to upwards of ten thousand at
Hackney Marsh, in a field where was to be a horse-race. I had
the opportunity of bearing my testimony against such unchristian
entertainments. Very few left the sermon to see the race, and
some of those soon returned. By the help of God, I will still go
on to attack the devil in his strongest holds. The common people
go to these diversions for want of knowing better.

"Friday, July 27. Preached at Kennington Common, to my usual
number of hearers. Went to Lewisham.

"Saturday, July 28. Visited the family of Justice Delamotte
at Blendon, where we exhorted and built up each other in the
knowledge and fear of God. Preached at Blackheath in the
evening, and came home rejoicing.

"Sunday, July 29. Preached this morning in Moorfields, to a much
larger congregation than we had last Sunday,[235] and collected
£24 9s.[236] for the school at Kingswood. Received the sacrament
at St. Paul's, and preached at Kennington Common in the evening,
where £20 was collected. God sent us a little rain, but that
only washed away the curious hearers. Nearly thirty thousand
stood their ground.

[235] Whitefield estimated his _last Sunday's_ congregation
at "about twenty thousand." It is only fair to say, that
Whitefield's estimates might be too high. In the _Gentleman's
Magazine_ for August, 1739, there appeared a letter, signed
"Thoninonca," stating that the writer was present when
Whitefield preached in Moorfields on July 29, and that, before
the audience was dismissed, he "made several marks where the
outermost of them stood; and, the next morning, he found the
distance of the farthest mark from the rostrum to be thirty-two
yards, and that of the nearest to it twenty-eight." He then
calculates "the space taken up by the standing congregation
to be 2827 yards;" and adds, "in a square yard, nine persons
may easily stand, and therefore 2827 square yards must contain
25,443 people." To this the editor appended a note: "Soldiers,
in close order, stand but four in a square yard, at which rule,
the circle will contain but 11,338."

[236] Let me here correct an error in the first and second
editions of "The Life and Times of Wesley." It is there stated
that Whitefield made only two collections for Kingswood School,
namely, one at Bristol on July 13th, and the other at Moorfields
on July 29th. To these, however, must be added the following.
Collections, on July 22, at Moorfields, £24 17s., and at
Kennington Common, £15 15s. 6d. And besides the one already
mentioned as being made at Moorfields on July 29, another, on
the same day at Kennington Common, amounting to £20, and another
of nearly £15, at Blackheath, on August 12.

"Monday, July 30. Was busied all the morning in directing those
to believe in Jesus Christ, who came asking me what they should
do to be saved? Preached at Plaistow. An uncommon power was in
the congregation.

"Tuesday, July 31. Preached at Newington, near Hackney, to about
twenty thousand people.

"Wednesday, August 1. Preached this evening at Marylebone
Fields, to near thirty thousand, and went afterwards to take my
leave of Fetter Lane Society. We parted in love.

"Thursday, August 2. Preached at Newington, to upwards of twenty
thousand people, and came home rejoicing to see what a great
work God has done in this city.

"Friday, August 3. Spent the day in completing my affairs and
taking leave of my dear friends. Preached in the evening, to
near twenty thousand, at Kennington Common. I chose to discourse
on St. Paul's parting speech to the elders at Ephesus, and
concluded with a suitable hymn; but could scarce get to the
coach, for the people's thronging me, to take me by the hand,
and give me a parting blessing.

"Saturday, August 4. Went in the morning to Deptford; prayed,
sung psalms, and gave a word of exhortation at two or three
houses. Preached at Blackheath, to about ten thousand, and went
to Blendon.

"Sunday, August 5. Expounded, prayed, and sung psalms at Mr.
Delamotte's door, with many who came last night from London.
Read prayers and assisted in administering the sacrament to
several hundred communicants in Bexley Church. Preached in the
afternoon, to about fifteen hundred, in Justice Delamotte's
yard; and again in the evening, to about twenty thousand, at
Blackheath.

"Monday, August 6. Preached in the evening at Chatham, to near
ten thousand people.

"Tuesday, August 7. Preached in the evening at Blackheath.
It rained very much the whole day; but there were about two
thousand present. I discoursed on the conversion of Zaccheus the
publican.

"Wednesday, August 8. At Deptford, went on board the ship; which
we now hallowed by the word of God, and prayer. Preached at
Blackheath, to near twenty thousand people, on the Pharisee and
the Publican.

"Thursday, August 9. Preached at Blackheath, to a very large
congregation, and went and lay on board the ship, in order to be
ready to finish my affairs in the morning.

"Friday, August 10. Finished my ship business, and preached in
the evening at Blackheath, to a yet greater congregation than
ever.

"Saturday, August 11. Began in the spirit of meekness to answer
the Bishop of London's Pastoral Letter. Preached in the evening
at Blackheath.

"Sunday, August 12. Preached, early in the morning, to some
hundreds, in Justice Delamotte's yard, most of whom came thither
last night, singing and praising God. Read prayers, heard a
truly Christian sermon from Mr. Piers, and assisted him in
administering the blessed sacrament, in his own church, to near
six hundred communicants. Preached at three in the afternoon,
to near three thousand, in Mr. Delamotte's yard, and to about
twenty thousand at Blackheath. At each place, the people were
exceedingly affected; and, at Blackheath, when I said, 'Finally,
brethren, farewell!' thousands immediately burst into strong
crying and tears. I continued my discourse till it was nearly
dark, and collected nearly £15 for Kingswood School.

"Monday, August 13. Finished, and sent to the press, my answer
to his lordship's Pastoral Letter. Rode with many of my dear
weeping friends to Erith; took my final and sorrowful farewell,
and went from thence in a boat, with my dear fellow-travellers
to Gravesend, where our ship was fallen down. Blessed be God for
detaining me in England by the embargo. Many others, as well as
myself, I hope, have reason to rejoice thereat.

"Tuesday, August 14. About eight last night, got on board the
_Elizabeth_, Captain Stevenson commander, bound from England to
Philadelphia. After much entreaty, went to Gravesend, and read
prayers, and preached in Mitton Church, near the town. Returned
to the ship by eight in the evening, and was much rejoiced at
retiring from the world."

And well he might. Eight months had elapsed since his return from America to England. Strange had been his history. Unquestionably, it is without a parallel. Much has been related; but much remains untold. In the above condensed extracts from his journal, the reader has seen how Whitefield spent his last few weeks in England. He was full of joy, thankfulness, and hope; though all the while most bitterly attacked both by the pulpit and the press. In his letters he writes:--

"Matters go on most bravely in London. I think people are ten
times more affected than ever.[237] A great work of God is
doing here. The Lord Jesus gets Himself the victory everyday.
Free grace compels poor sinners to come in. As for my own soul,
God often gives me such foretastes of His love, that I am
almost continually wishing to be dissolved, that I may be with
Christ.[238] Had I a hundred hands, I could employ them all. The
harvest is very great. I am ashamed I can do no more for Him who
hath done so much for me. Every day affords fresh instances of
the power of His word. I am now about to attack Satan in one of
his strongholds, if I perish. To-night I preach, God willing,
where a horse-race is to be. I find my Master strengthens me for
the work.[239] Methinks, I could now sing my _Nunc Dimittis_
with pleasure, if my eyes could see my dear brother's salvation.
I hope you have conversed with Mr. Wesley. It will require
some degree of boldness to own either of us before men. God
vouchsafes to honour us: no wonder our names are cast out as
evil.[240] I rejoice there is a revival of true religion in
Scotland. The Spirit of God is moving thousands of souls in
England. God will work, and all oppositions must forward, but
not hinder it. I am no friend to sinless perfection. I believe
the being (though not the dominion) of sin remains in the hearts
of the greatest believers. At the call of Christ, I am now
going abroad, and expect to suffer many things before I return
home."[241]

[237] Date, July 23.

[238] " July 24.

[239] " July 25.

[240] Date, July 31.

[241] " August 3.

It is a remarkable fact, that, in Whitefield's sermons, the first time he prominently refers to his doctrine of election, is in the sermon he preached at Stoke Newington, on July 31, from Genesis iii. 15.[242] In the same sermon, he also alludes to what, in the extract just given, he designates "sinless perfection." These were the principal points on which he and his friend Wesley afterwards differed. Perhaps it is difficult to determine, with certainty, the cause of his adopting these Calvinistic tenets; but it is a curious coincidence, that he had recently entered into a hearty correspondence with the Rev. Ralph Erskine, and that, within the last two months, he had read Erskine's sermons.[243] In the "Life of Sir Richard Hill," it is stated that Whitefield was not a Calvinist until he went to America, in 1739. It was there, "he caught the tone and imbibed the opinions of the great, the searching, but too gloomy Jonathan Edwards. His 'Treatise on the Will' was too deep a book for Whitefield, and the probability is, that the author himself was somewhat out of his own depth when he wrote it.[244] No wonder that when Whitefield first came into contact with Edwards, he 'winced a little under his metaphysical probe;' but, at last, he adopted his Calvinistic views, though it may be fairly doubted if he ever fully understood them."[245] This is partly, but not perfectly correct. There can be no doubt that, in America, Whitefield "caught the tone and imbibed the opinions of Edwards;" but Whitefield was inclined to Calvinistic doctrines before he met with Edwards, and it is almost certain that he "imbibed" these from the sermons of his friends in Scotland, Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine. Whitefield's Calvinism was suddenly born in England, about the month of June, 1739; but it was cradled and greatly strengthened in America, during the year 1740. From first to last, it was a confused sort of thing. Even the Calvinistic author of the "Life of Sir Richard Hill" justly acknowledges that "it may be fairly doubted" whether Whitefield ever fully understood the Calvinism which he preached. To the end of life, his theological erudition was comparatively small. His forte was, not to discuss and defend "the five points," but, with a full heart, to warn the wicked of their sin and danger, and to lead and bring them to the all-sufficient Saviour. His throne was the pulpit, not the professor's chair. He missed his way when he became the defender of the philosophical niceties of the Calvinian creed. Like Jonathan Edwards, he "was somewhat out of his own depth." I must be excused for saying, once for all, he was led into error. I totally disbelieve his Calvinian doctrines. But, having said as much as this, and whilst sorrowing that his embracing those doctrines should have occasioned a temporary breach of the friendship existing between him and Wesley, it is an unquestionable fact that this opened to Whitefield a wide field of usefulness, which, without it, neither he nor Wesley could have occupied. Without this, Whitefield could not have had the sympathy and co-operation of the Presbyterians and Independents of America. It was this that prepared the way for his popularity in Scotland. But for this, he would have lacked the important patronage of the Countess of Huntingdon. This was one of the prime sources of the immense influence he exercised over Hervey, Berridge, Romaine, Venn, and many other contemporaneous clergymen of the Church of England; and it also, to an untold extent, enabled him to move and quicken the Dissenting ministers and congregations of the land.

[242] Whitefield's Journal.

[243] A note of explanation, however, is necessary here. The first
edition of Whitefield's sermon on Genesis iii. 15, is widely
different from his sermon on the same text, published in his
collected works in 1772. In the former, the doctrines of election
and of sinless perfection are not mentioned. In fact, there is
scarcely any allusion to these doctrines in any of the sermons
preached by Whitefield prior to his second visit to America.

[244] Whitefield's Journal, June 9, 1739.

[245] "Life of Sir Richard Hill," p. 171.

In the foregoing extracts from Whitefield's Journals, some of the sermons he preached are specified. Most of these were published; and a few brief selections from them will, perhaps, best convey an idea of the peculiarities of Whitefield's ministry at this important period of his life.

On July 31, at Stoke Newington, his text was Genesis iii. 15, and the following are two extracts from the sermon:--

"We must take care of healing before we see sinners wounded.
Sinners must hear the thunderings of Mount Sinai, before we
bring them to Mount Zion. They who never preach the law, it
is to be feared, are unskilful in delivering the glad tidings
of the gospel. Every minister should be a Boanerges, a son of
thunder, as well as a Barnabas, a son of consolation. There was
an earthquake and a whirlwind before the still small voice came
to Elijah. We must first shew people they are condemned, and
then shew them how they must be saved."

The next quotation is a good specimen of Whitefield's fiery denunciation:--

"Are there any enemies of God here? The promise of the text
encourages me to bid you defiance. What signifies all your
malice? You are only raging waves of the sea, foaming out
your own shame. For you, without repentance, is reserved the
blackness of darkness for ever. The Lord Jesus sits in heaven,
ruling over all, and causing all things to work for His
children's good. He laughs you to scorn. He hath you in the
utmost derision, and therefore, so will I. Who are you that
persecute the children of the ever-blessed God? Though a poor
stripling, the Lord Jesus, the seed of the woman, will enable me
to bruise your heads."

In the sermon, at Blackheath, on August 7, respecting the conversion of Zaccheus, the following passages occur:--

"I should think it no scandal to hear it affirmed, that none
but the poor attended my ministry. Their souls are as precious
to our Lord Jesus Christ as the souls of the greatest men. They
were the poor that attended Him in the days of His flesh; these
are they whom He hath chosen to be rich in faith, and to be the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Were the rich in this world's
goods generally to speak well of me, woe be unto me! I should
think it a dreadful sign that I was only a wolf in sheep's
clothing; that I spoke peace, peace, when there was no peace;
and prophesied smoother things than the gospel would allow. Hear
ye this, O ye rich! Let who will dare to do it, God forbid that
I should despise the poor! In doing so, I should reproach my
Maker. The poor are dear to my soul."

The next paragraph is an ample reply to the accusation that Whitefield's preaching led to licentiousness:--

"What has been said of Zaccheus may serve as a rule whereby to
judge whether you have faith or not. You say you have faith; but
how do you prove it? Are you influenced by the faith, you say
you have, to stand up and confess the Lord Jesus before men?
Were you ever made willing to own, and humble yourselves for,
your past offences? Does your faith work by love, so that you
conscientiously lay up, according as God hath prospered you,
for the support of the poor? Do you give alms of all things
that you possess? And have you made due restitution to those
you have wronged? If you are not thus minded, do not deceive
yourselves. Though you may talk of justification, like angels,
it will do you no good; it will only increase your damnation.
You hold the truth, but it is in unrighteousness. Your faith,
being without works, is dead. You have the devil, not Abraham,
for your father. Unless you get a faith of the heart, a faith
working by love, with devils and damned spirits shall you dwell
for evermore."

On August 8, at Blackheath, Whitefield preached on the Pharisee and Publican. Three extracts must suffice. The first contains Whitefield's views on the use of forms of prayer, and praying extemporary. Speaking of the Pharisee, he says:--

"He did not pray by form. His was an extempore prayer; for there
are many Pharisees who pray, and preach too, extempore. I do not
see why these may not be acquired, as well as other arts and
sciences. A man with a good elocution, ready turn of thought,
and good memory, may repeat his own and other men's sermons, and
may pray seemingly excellently well, and yet not have the least
grain of true grace in his heart. I speak this, not to cry down
extempore prayer, or to discourage those who really pray by the
Spirit. I would only hereby give a word of reproof to those who
are so bigoted to extempore prayer, that they condemn all who
use forms, as though not so holy and heavenly, as others who
pray without them. Alas! this is wrong. Not every one that prays
extempore is a spiritual, nor every one that prays with a form,
a formal man. Let us not judge one another. Let not him who uses
a form judge him who prays extempore, on that account; and let
not him who prays extempore despise him who uses a form."

The next quotation is on the prayer of the Publican, and is a good example of the pith and point of Whitefield's preaching:--

"Methinks, I see him standing afar off, pensive, oppressed, and
even overwhelmed with sorrow. He smites upon his breast, his
treacherous, ungrateful, desperately wicked breast--a breast
now ready to burst; and at length, out of the abundance of his
heart, and with many tears, cries out, 'God be merciful to me a
sinner!' Not, God be merciful to yonder proud Pharisee! Not, God
be merciful to me a saint! for he knew 'all his righteousnesses
were as filthy rags.' Not, God be merciful to such or such an
one; God be merciful to me, even to me a sinner,--a sinner by
birth,--a sinner by thought, word, and deed,--a sinner as to my
person,--a sinner as to all my performances,--a sinner in whom
is no health, in whom dwelleth no good thing,--a sinner, poor,
miserable, blind, and naked,--a self-accused, self-condemned
sinner. What think you? Would this publican have been offended,
if any minister had told him he deserved to be damned? Would he
have been angry, if any one had told him, that, by nature, he
was half a devil and half a beast? No; he would have confessed a
thousand hells to have been his due; and that he was an earthly,
devilish sinner."

The next extract is one of Whitefield's terrible declamations;--

"Hear this, all ye self-justiciaries, tremble, and behold your
doom! a dreadful doom, more dreadful than words can express, or
thoughts conceive! If you refuse to humble yourselves, after
hearing this parable, I call heaven and earth to witness against
you this day, that God shall visit you with all His storms, and
pour all the vials of His wrath upon your rebellious heads. You
exalted yourselves here, and God shall abase you hereafter.
You are as proud as the devil, and with devils shall you dwell
to all eternity. Notwithstanding you come up to the temple to
pray, your prayers are turned into sin, and you go down to your
houses unjustified. And, if you are unjustified, the wrath of
God abideth upon you. You are in your blood. All the curses of
the law belong to you. Cursed are you when you go out; cursed
are you when you come in; cursed are your thoughts; cursed are
your words; cursed are your deeds. Everything you do, say, or
think, from morning to night, is only one continued series of
sin. However highly you may be honoured in the Church militant,
you will have no place in the Church triumphant. 'Humble
yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.' Pull down
every self-righteous thought, and every proud imagination, that
now exalteth itself against the perfect, personal, imputed
righteousness of the dear Lord Jesus. 'For he,' and he alone,
'that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.'"

No wonder that fiery eloquence like this attracted notice; and no wonder that it brought upon the preacher the fierce censures of his enemies. The _Weekly Miscellany_ was more furious than ever. The following are specimens of its outpourings:--

On July 7, there was a long letter "to the Rev. Mr. Seagrave," in which Whitefield and his friends were accused of causing "all the miseries attending those poor, weak wretches and their families, who, by the woes and curses denounced on them in default of raising their imagination to the pitch of enthusiasm, had been driven into a belief of their certain damnation, and, consequently, into all the horrors of despair and distraction."

On July 21, the leading article, filling nearly two folio pages, says:--

"The novelist in religion passes with me either for a fool or
a knave. These things frequently begin in want of sense, but
always end in want of honesty. To keep attention and prevent
satiety, false religion is continually changing its dress, as in
masquerades, varying its voice, and accommodating its motions,
according to all the mazes of error and sportive turns of
madness and folly. It gives the rein to every licentious humour,
or practises amazing austerities; it distorts the limbs, and
screws the features; it laughs, it sings, it weeps, it screams,
it groans, it raves in streets, bawls on commons, preaches from
walls, and carts, and stools, and windows; expounds, prays,
exclaims. The enthusiast is now a quietist, and does nothing;
and, anon, in perpetual motion, and never at rest. Sometimes, he
is a meteor, which just flashes and disappears; and, sometimes,
a direful comet, seen for a long time, and carrying mischief and
destruction in the sweep of his tail."

The article proceeds to stigmatise Whitefield as follows:--

"Behold, on yonder eminence, the preacher, with admiring,
subscribing crowds about him. 'He is young.' Good! 'How innocent
he looks.' Better! 'He has no human learning.' Best of all! 'He
knows everything without labour, without study.' Prodigious!
See! he spreads his hands, and opens his lips as wide as
possible. Hark! Hark! he talks of a sensible new birth! Then,
belike, he is in labour, and the good women around him are
come to his assistance. He dilates himself,--cries out,--the
hill swells into a mountain,--and _parturiunt montes, nascetur
ridiculus mus_. Well: he is, at last, delivered; he has felt the
new birth; and damns all that have not."

The learned lampooner calls Whitefield "a modern prating youth," "a visionary _Anticle_, in a gown and cassock;" and proceeds to say:--

"It is quite impossible to be serious with buffoons in religion,
and mountebanks in theology; to dispute with a creature, who
disclaims sense, and is below argument. He holds forth from
the stairs of a wind-mill, and never was exceeded, but by the
Knight of de la Mancha flying on the sails of it. He has formed
a society of females, who are to confess their love affairs one
to another, and to take care there shall be a supply of new
Methodists for future generations. He has collected, without
letters, patents, license, or protection, larger sums than
usually appear upon any gaming table; and, yet, has incurred
no penalty by it. If this fund be employed for the purpose
given out, the Orphan House is like to exceed all the palaces
in Europe. Supposing this humour to go on, I know nothing the
growling clergy have to do, but to leave sense and honesty,
their little pulpits and less incomes; and to bawl profitable
exclamations, with great enlargement, on commons, and get
thousands by it. In short, we must put a stop to this sharping
trade of the Methodists; or we must all, man, woman, and child,
join in the plunder with them."

On August 4, nearly an entire page was used in defending Dr. Trapp, and abusing Whitefield. In reference to Whitefield's exclamation, "O that my head were waters," etc., the writer sneeringly remarks:--

"If his eyes were as full of tears as his heart could wish,
what a glorious man he would be to preach a funeral sermon!
And if his head were an ocean, he would certainly drown all
his congregation, even though he were to preach on Kennington
Common."

On August 11, the editor, Mr. Hooker, wrote nearly two pages, in defence of Dr. Stebbing and Dr. Hammond, on the new birth, and, of course, in denouncing Whitefield and his friends:--

"Some Methodists," says he, "have made their _boasts_ that
they are _become fools for Christ's sake_, in which there is
something of truth that they do not intend. But, if they think
it commendable to be _fools_ for Christ, I hope they will never
think it tolerable to be _knaves_ for Him too."

The _Weekly Miscellany_ continued, almost without interruption, these coarse attacks, to the end of 1739; but one added extract must suffice. On December 29, nearly two pages of the newspaper were filled with a violent philippic against Whitefield as a Dissenter. The writer says:--

"Whitefield has been attacked as an enthusiast, and often as
a teacher of false and pestilent doctrine; but not often as a
Dissenter."

Having adduced proofs that Whitefield was _ipso facto_ a Dissenter, the article proceeds:--

"He runs about the world, preaches, prays, exhorts, expounds,
and does what he lists, where he lists, and how he lists; sets
at nought his diocesan wherever he comes; and does all, not only
independently, but, in defiance of him. This is your _Church
of England_ minister! An independent churchman! A perfect
original! The first of the kind! He has thrown off the liturgy
of the Church of England, and gives the people nothing but
his _extempore_ effusions in its stead. He not only uses, but
magnifies and extols, at a great rate, _extempore_ prayer, to
beget in people a disesteem of all _forms_."

The writer then adverts to Whitefield's patronising the preaching of Howell Harris, the layman, and says:--