reluctantly), stood up and mimicked Whitefield, and said, ' I
speak the truth in Christ ; I lie not ; unless you repent you will
all be damned.' This unexpected speech (quoted from one of
Mr. Whitefield's sermons), broke up the club, which has never
met since."
While laboring so successfully in Philadelphia, Mr. White-
field neglected not the surrounding towns and villages. On the
morning of the 17th he preached at Abington to some 4,000,
and in the evening at Philadelphia to upwards of 10,000,
hundreds of whom were powerfully melted down and many
hopefully converted. The next day, after spending two hours
with the convicted in the morning, he rode twelve miles and
preached at Whitemarsh to over 2,000, and on his return at
Germantown to near 4,000 attentive hearers, and got back to
Philadelphia by seven in the evening, much refreshed both in
soul and body.
Encouraged now with the fruits of his former labors and
I50 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.
the present bright prospects, he exclaimed, " Blessed be God,
there is a most glorious work begun in this province. The
word of God mightily prevails every day, and Satan is losing
ground."
On April 19 he preached twice in Philadelphia to congre-
gations of seven or eight thousand, and on the following Sab-
bath the number increased to 10,000, when he took up a collec-
tion of ;£iio for his orphans.
After sermon he went to hear the Commissary. He
preached on Justification by Works, from James ii. 18; and in
the evening Whitefield preached on the same text, to a congre-
gation of some 15,000, exposing the errors of the Commissary,
and closed with a collection of £%0 more for the orphans.
Whitefield, like Paul, liked to preach where no one else
preached, and having ranged the suburbs of Philadelphia, he
gave them a touching farewell sermon in the city Tuesday
evening, April 22, to about 10,000 hearers, with a very deep
effect. " A great number were dissolved , into tears and wept
sorely." And seeing so " many negroes were so much affected,"
he then bought 5,000 acres of land in the forks of the Dela-
ware for a school for their instruction. Here he purposed to
make an English settlement. He called the place Nazareth.
On his return from New York he stopped again at Philadel-
phia, May 8, with renewed health and enlivened spirits. And
says Dr. Philip, " the whole city was moved at his coming ;"
and having heard " that Antinomianism had been charged
against the tendency of his doctrines," with a heart burning
with indignation against error and false charges, he fully cleared
himself from the aspersion in his first sermon. Rising in the
majesty of his strength, he boldly said, "I abhor the thought of
it, and whosoever entertains the doctrines of free grace in an
honest heart, will find them cause him to be fruitful in every
HIS SECOND TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. I 5 I
good word and work." He preached again in the evening to
upwards of 8,000, and the next day at Pennypack, and engaged
a man to build his negro school-house at Nazareth. After
giving them another impressive sermon in Philadelphia in the
evening,, he organized a society of young men with very en-
couraging prospects. With the tide of devotion rising, he
preached twice in the city the next day to increased congrega-
tions, and went in the evening to organize a society of young
women, and upon entering the room he was so deeply im-
pressed with their melting singing, he desired to pray before
speaking to them, " but he was so carried out in prayer that he
had no time to speak at all. There was such a wonderful
power of God's presence felt in the room, that they all with one
accord began to cry out, and wept most bitterly for half an
hour. Their agonies were so severe, that five of them fell into
convulsive fits." Whitefield believed these 'fits are from the
devil.
With the interest still increasing, he preached again to a melt-
ing congregation of about 1 5,000 the following Sabbath morning,
and gave them his farewell sermon in the evening to near 20,000
very deeply affected hearers, sorrowing most of all that perhaps
they might see his face no more. The impression was very
deep. And says he, " I never saw a more general awaken-
ing anywhere. Religion is all the talk!' Conversions were
numerous, and he was so thronged with inquirers that he
scarcely had time to eat. After bidding them a weeping fare-
well, he says, " Many came to my lodgings, among whom, I
believe, were fifty negroes, to tell me what God had done for
their souls. Oh, how heartily did these poor creatures throw
in their mites for my poor orphans !" Even many Quakers
were powerfully convicted and wrought upon.
A little boy who held the lantern for Mr. Whitefield when
152 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.
he was preaching from the Court House steps in Philadelphia,
was so deeply impressed with the sermon, that he let the lan-
tern falL and it was broken to pieces. Fourteen years after,
Mr. Whitefield, while visiting St. George's, Delaware, rode out
with the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, who asked Whitefield if he
remembered the little boy who was so affected with his sermon
as to let his lantern fall. " O yes," said Mr. Whitefield, " I
recollect it very well, and I would give almost anything in my
power to know who that boy was, and what has become of
him." Mr. Rodgers replied, smiling, " I am that little boy."
With tears of joy Mr. Whitefield rushed to him and embraced"
him very tenderly.
Among the results of this revival, the people here proposed
to build him a very large church; but he refused it, preferring
to preach in the fields. Yet in 1743, encouraged by the large
number of converts, they organized themselves into a church,
the Second- Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, with about
140 members, and soon called Rev. Gilbert Tennent to be their
pastor. He soon built them a fine large church, and preached
for them twenty years. " Besides these," says Rev. Dr. Charles
Hodge, " Many others, regarded as Whitefield's / converts,
united with other churches."
On this point Dr. Franklin says: "The multitudes of all sects
and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous,
and it was a matter of speculation with me to observe the in-
fluence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they ad-
mired and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse
of them, by assuring them that they were naturally half beasts
and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon
made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thought-
less and indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world
was growing religious ; so that one could not walk through
HIS SECOND TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. I 53
the town in an evening, without hearing psalms sung in differ-
ent families in every street."* And when we look at the " most
deplorable state of deadness and formality " the church was in
(Dr. A. Alexander) before the revival, its effects appear much
greater. .
But to return to our tour. On the morning of April 23,
he set out for New York, and reached Neshaminy about 3 p.
M., and preached to upwards of 5,000 people in old Mr. Ten-
nent's meeting-house yard. Here he " was so weak he was
ready to drop down in the first prayer." " But strengthened
from above," he preached with great power and " great num-
bers were melted down." With about fifty under deep con-
viction, with weeping eyes and anxious hearts they came,
crying what to do to be saved.
After preaching a melting sermon at Amwell, he came on to
New Brunswick, where he preached morning and evening to
7,000 or '8,000, with such wonderful power that they came near
drowning his voice with their cries and groans. " One woman
was struck down, and a general cry went through the congre-
gation." Another was so deeply convicted that she cried out,
" I can see nothing but hell before me." Whitefield replied,
" Oh, that all were in as good a way to heaven ! "
Encouraged with his success, he now wrote to a friend in
England — "All things go on well in America : better than I
dare ask, or could think. Our Lord's kingdom comes with
power. It is amazing to see how God is present in our assem-
blies. My animal spirits are exhausted, but I am filled within.
* Watson in his "Annals of Philadelphia," says, " Whitefield preached to 15,000
on Society Hill," and adds, "that the dancing-school was discontinued, and the
ball and the concert rooms were shut up, as inconsistent with the gospel." And
the Gazette of the day says, " The change to religion here is altogether surprising,
through Whitefield's influence. No books sell but religious, and such is the gen-
eral conversation."
154 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.
Nature would sometimes cry out 'Spare thyself ;' but when I
am offering Jesus to poor sinners, I cannot forbear exerting all
my powers. Oh that I had a thousand lives ! My dear Lord
Jesus should have them all."
NEW YORK.
Wearied and worn, Mr. Whitefield reached New York, April
29, very weak and out of health ; yet true to his motto, "No
nestling this side heaven" he preached with great boldness
the same evening in the common to about 6,000 attentive hear-
ers, without any scoffing as when he was there before. Re-
freshed by an interview with Rev. Wm. Tennent, he preached
again the next morning to a less congregation, but with a much
deeper effect. The people, he says, " were melted down ex-
ceedingly." Though weak in body, and troubled in mind, he
preached again in the evening to a congregation of 6,000 or
7,000, and went over to Flat-Bush, on Long Island, the next
day, where God had begun a precious revival under the labors
of two Presbyterian ministers. Here he preached with exceed-
ing great clearness and power; and with his soul deeply stirred,
addressing himself to several ministers present, he exclaimed,
" Oh that we were all aflame of fire!'
Naturally buoyant, Whitefield was generally in what we call
a revived state, and went soaring along at the feet of Jesus ;
yet sometimes he became quite cast down. Returning from
Flat-Bush in depressed spirits, he sat down and mourned, he
says, "like a sparrow sitting alone upon the house top." Yet
he preached again in the evening at New York.* "But my
* The next day he took a sorrowful leave of his two friends (his spirit-
ual children), Captain Gladmen and his dear brother Mr. Seward, who had long
been his fellow traveler, and both his spiritual and pecuniary helper. Mr. Sew-
ard died soon after, and Mr. Whitefield saw him no more.
HIS SECOND TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. 1 5 5
spirits being exhausted, and God being pleased to suspend His
wonted assistance, I preached as I thought, but heavily!' "But
we are too apt to build on frames, and think we do no good,
because we don't please ourselves."
After preaching three times the next day, and once the fol-
lowing Sabbath morning at 7 o'clock in the church, he gave
them his farewell sermon in the evening in the fields, to a con-
gregation of about 8,000, and bade them an affectionate farewell.
At the close, many came thanking him for what they had
heard, bringing large contributions for his orphans. Here he
received in all over ^300 for them. Here too he labored so
hard, that "sometimes," says Dr. Gillies, "he was almost dead
with heat and fatigue. Thrice a day he was lifted upon his
horse, being unable to mount otherwise; then rode and
preached and came home, and laid himself down upon two or
three chairs."
Leaving New York, he now struck for Georgia, and soon
found that his two good friends, Messrs. G. and Wm. Tennent,
had come twenty miles to meet him, on the way to Amboy.
After a sweet ride of twenty miles through the woods, relating
their religious experience, they reached Freehold (Wm. Ten-
nent's home), about midnight, and retired about two in the
morning. Though weak to-day, his soul was much com-
forted, and he said, " I think I sleep .with double satisfaction
when lying in a good man's house."
Although the visible effects of his labors here were not so
great as at some other places, yet says Rev. Dr. Pemberton,
"he left New York under a deep and universal concern ; many
were greatly affected." Besides, their society there had now
increased from seventy to one hundred and seventy members.
Except when in the fields, he usually preached in Mr. Pember-
I56 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.
ton's Presbyterian church on Wall street; frequently in the
Old City Exchange ; and sometimes, latterly, in the Brick
church. " Here the word ran."
Touching his preaching here, a hearer says, "I thought I
saw a visible presence of God with Mr. Whitefield. I never in
my life saw so attentive an audience. All he said was demon-
stration, life '„ and power. The people's eyes and ears hung on
his lips. They greedily devoured every word. I came home
astonished. I never saw nor heard the like. Surely God is
with this man, of a truth."
NOTTINGHAM REVIVAL.
But these vast congregations and mighty outpourings at
Philadelphia, were only a prelude to still greater times of re-
freshing. • Leaving Philadelphia May 12, accompanied by a
host of friends (as many as could cross in two ferry-boats in
six hours), after preaching with great liberty and power at
Derby, Chester, Wilmington and White Clay Creek, he reached
Nottingham about midnight. Here a good work had been
going on some time through the labors of Messrs Blair, Ten-
nents and others, and upon a short notice Whitefield preached
twice on the 14th to congregations of near 1,200, with most
wonderful effect. "I had not spoken long," he says, "till I saw
numbers melting. As I proceeded, the influence increased, till
at last, both in the morning and afternoon, thousands cried out,
so that they almost drowned my voice. Never before did I
see a more glorious sight. Oh, what strong crying and tears
were shed, and poured forth after the dear Lord Jesus ! Some
fainted ; and when they had got a little strength, they would
hear and faint again. Others cried out as though somebody
was murdering them. Never was my soul filled with greater
power. Oh what thoughts and words did God put into my
HIS SECOND TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. 1 57
heart! I was so struck with God's love, that some thought, I
believe, that I was about to give up the ghost. Oh, how
sweetly did I lie at the feet of my blessed Saviour ! After the
second sermon I was so overpowered with a sense of God's
love, that it almost took away my life."
How wonderful this scene ! This looks like another Pente-
cost. Although there was no " sound from heaven as of a
mighty rushing wind ;" although they did no! " speak with
other tongues, nor with cloven tongues of fire," yet powerfully
moved with the Holy Ghost, " thousands cried out" for salvation.
Yet with all this wonderful result, without the least exalta-
tion, he rode twenty miles the same night, and preached at
Fog's Manor, the next day, to about 12,000 more, with a still
greater effect. " Look where I would," he said, " most were
drowned in tears." " The Word was sharper than a two-edged
sword ; and their bitter yellings and groans put me much in
mind of the wailings of the damned in hell."
" Oh, what different visages were then to be seen ? Some
were struck pale as death, others were wringing their hands,
others lying on the ground, and most lifting up their eyes
towards heaven, and crying out to God for mercy. They
seemed like persons awakened by the last trump, and coming
out of their graves to judgment." Here the convicted crowded
around him so thick, that he could scarcely get on his horse
to start away. Hurrying on at eight miles an hour, he reached
New Castle and preached again the same day to about 4,000
anxious souls ; and he was so filled with a sense of God's love,
that "his heart was ready, to burst." And yet he retired to
rest ashamed that he could be no more affected with a sense of
the blessings received. Loaded down with gifts for his orphans,
he ca"me on and preached with such wonderful force at Lewis-
I58 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.
town, that he says, " I saw the Word strike the hearers like so
many pointed arrows. God grant that they may stick fast."
WHITEFIELD'S " TEARS OF BLOOD."
Distinguished for his strong convictions, deep hatred of
sin, deep piety, great earnestness, and for the boldness and
vehemence of his style, Whitefield abounded in strong, sweep-
ing expressions. Addicted to sin and crime when young, and
having felt such deep and powerful convictions of sin, and ^uch
awful agonies of soul in his conversion, together with his clear,
grasping views of God's love and the great things He had done
for him, it is no wonder, when he remembered and felt the sins
of his youth, that he wished "to lament them with tears of bloody
With the doctrines of the Cross deeply embedded in his soul
and engraved upon his heart, with his clear views of the tor-
ments of that hell to which his sins exposed him, well may he
desire to repent of them " with tears of blood." Whitefield's
sense of his sins was so deep, that, like Paul, he often felt and
confessed himself " the chief of sinners." And with these keen
conceptions of the greatness of his sins, and of the infinite
mercy of God in pardoning them, 'tis no wonder we find him
desiring "to lament them with tears of blood."
GREAT JOY IN SAVANNAH.
After spending about forty days in the North, and having
preached about sixty sermons, and collected over ^500 for his
orphans, he sailed for Georgia May 25th, and reached his lovely
Savannah June 5th, with great joy. And says he, "Oh, what
a sweet meeting had I with my dear friends. What God has
prepared for me I know not ; but surely I cannot well expect a
greater happiness till I embrace the saints in glory. When I
parted, my heart was ready to break with sorrow, but now it
HIS SECOND TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. I 59
almost bursts with joy.., Oh, how did each in turn hang upon
my neck, kiss and weep over me with tears of joy. And my
own soul was so full of a sense of God's love, when I embraced
one friend in particular (Mr. Bryan), that I thought' I should
have expired in the place ! Several of of my parishioners came
in to us with great joy, and after we had wept and prayed, and
given thanks for a considerable time, my soul was so full of a
sense of the Divine goodness, that I wanted words to express
myself j Why me, Lord? Why me?
"And when we came to public worship, young and old — all
— were dissolved in tears. After service several of my parish-
ioners, all of my family, and the little children, returned home
crying along the streets, and some could not avoid praying
very loud." Being very weak he laid down, but was soon
roused by their cries and prayers, and went to praying again.
After they had prayed over an hour he desired them to retire,
but they prayed on most earnestly. A storm arose, and the
loud peals of thunder and the lightning's vivid flash added so
much to the solemnity of the scene, that it reminded him of
the Day of Judgment. Several of the orphans were very
deeply impressed, and five hopefully converted. This was fol-
lowed by a general awakening.
Encouraged with the success of his northern excursion and
his happy reception at home, he now resumed his pastoral
labors in and around Savannah. The people being hungry
for the gospel, though very weak, he went about, preaching
once or twice a day at such places as Dorchester, Apple
Ferry, Ponpon, Jane's Island, Beaufort and Charleston, to large
and deeply impressed congregations. Being weak on his
return from Charleston, July 26, he says : " I could not bear
up under the joy and satisfaction which I felt in meeting my
dear family" in Savannah. " However, I kneeled down and
l6o LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.
"wept out a short prayer, and expounded in the evening." On
August 3, when "struck almost with death," as he thought,
like the dying proto-martyr Stephen, he prayed: "Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit." While praying again, on the same
day, Mr. B — 11, a planter, was so deeply affected that he
"dropt down as though shot with a gun." He soon got up
again, and listened to the sermon. On August 9, he reached
Bethesda again, and they had another time of refreshing. It
was Communion Sabbath. "And with the King sitting at
his table, 'Many fed on Jesus.'" Their hearts so burned
within them, that while he was speaking "many burst into
floods of tears." His own soul overflowed with joy.
At Charleston, where he met with the greatest opposition,
he had the greatest success. Here he said: "God has begun
a great work." Here he frequently preached twice a* day, and
the word ran like lightning. Fired with resentment, Rev. Mr.
Gordon poured forth his anathemas and bitter words against
him, and refused him the sacrament as well as his church.
But it was all in vain. With God on his side, Whitefield
triumphantly carried the people with him. With, large,
deeply-impressed congregations, he thus preached on, though
often ready to die with excessive heat, till he gave them his
melting farewell sermon, August 24, to about 4,000 hearers,
and afterward administered the sacrament in a private house.
" Never did I see anything more solemn." Many wept pro-
fusely. Baptists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians — all com-
muned together. Sweating so prodigiously, he was obliged to
change his linen every sermon.
Among the results of his labors here he says: "A vast
alteration is discernible in the ladies' dresses. And some,
while I have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin
of wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes put their
HIS SECOND TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK. ID I
hands to their ears, and cover them with their fans." But the
reformation went deeper. Besides three rich planters and sev-
eral other hopeful conversions, " many came to him privately
under the deepest convictions. Many awakened planters, con-
victed of their sins, now resolved to teach their slaves the doc-
trines of Christianity."
While Whitefield was thus going on with his good work, he
was sued and suspended from the ministry by Mr. Gordon, of
Charleston, because he refused to read Episcopal prayers in
non- Episcopal churches. But being undisturbed about it, dur-
ing the pending of the trial he preached twice a day ; and
objecting to the court, asked for an arbitration, which being
refused, he appealed to the High Court of Chancery, London,
and bound himself under penalty of $50, to appear there within
twelve months. The appeal was never prosecuted.
When the commissary refused Mr. Whitefield the sacra-
ment, he says, "I immediately retired to my lodgings, rejoic-
ing that I was accounted worthy to suffer this further degree
of contempt for my dear Lord's sake."
Wrought up by these exhibitions of God's grace, White-
field rose very high. At times he seemed to walk between
the very cherubims of glory. Glorying in his blessed assur-
ance, with an humble boldness, amidst shouts of " Glory be to
God," he would exclaim, "my Lord and my God." Expecting
to die a martyr for Jesus, he said, "His love will sweeten every
cup, though ever so bitter. ' Twill be sweet to zvear a martyr's
crown." In meek submission, he says, " I often sit in silence,
offering my soul as so much clay, to be stamped as my
Heavenly Potter pleases ; and while I am musing, I am often
filled as it were with the fullness of God. The whole God-
head now fills my soul." " Oh, Jesus, was ever love like thine."
CHAPTER XVI.
WHITEFIELD IN NEW ENGLAND.
[RGED by the leading ministers of Boston to
visit New England, and being anxious to see
the descendants of the Puritans, Whitefield
sailed from Charleston for Boston, August 24,
and reached Newport, R. I., September 14,
1740. As there had been a great revival at
Northampton and some other places in New
England in 1735, and although much luke-
warmness now prevailed, yet the present condition of the
country was considered rathej- favorable for Whitefield's
success. His prestige and fame had gone before him. And,
encouraged by his great success at Philadelphia and other
places, his arrival was most anxiously looked for, and a revival
was expected to follow it. Armed with the "panoply of
Heaven, under these circumstances, the bold evangelist now
went forth to fight the battles of the Lord in the strongholds
of New England. He arrived on Sunday evening and was
most kindly received. Several gentlemen called to see him the
same evening, " among whom was the Rev. Mr. Clapp, an aged
Dissenting minister, but surely," said Whitefield, " the most
venerable man I ever saw. His countenance was very