caused him to roar with anguish, and the pangs of the new birth in him were such
that he lay pale and without sense, like one dead." Again he says, in the west of
Scotland, in 1625, during a great revival, "it was a frequent thing for many to be
so extraordinarily seized with terror in the hearing of the Word, that they fell down
and were carried out of the church, who afterwards proved most solid and lively
Christians." And "of many in France that were so wonderfully affected with
the preaching of the gospel, that for a time they could not follow their secular
business." Also " of many in Ireland, that were so filled with divine comforts,
that they made but little use of either meat, drink or sleep, and professed that they
did not feel the need thereof." See " the fulfilling of the Scripture," 5th. Ed., pp.
103-185. The same author says of Mrs. Catharine Bretbergh, of England, "that
after great distress which very much affected her body, God did so break in upon
her mind with light and discoveries of Himself, that she was forced to burst out,
crying, ' O, the joys, the joys, the joys, that I feel in my soul ! O, they be won-'
derful, they be wonderful ! The place where I now am is sweet and pleasant !
How comfortable is the sweetness I feel, that delights my soul ! The taste is
precious; do you not feel- it! Oh, so sweet as it is ! O, my sweet Saviour, shall
I be one with Thee, as Thou art one with the Father? My soul hath been com- .
passed with the terrors of death, the sorrows of hell were upon me, and a wilder-
ness of woe was in me ; but blessed, blessed, blessed be the Lord my God,
He hath brought me to a place of rest, even to the sweet running waters of
life. O, the joy, the joy, the delights of joy that I now feel.' "



WHITEFIELD IN NEW ENGLAND. 177

I have found in' Christ. Sometimes, when traveling on the
road while I beheld the canopy of heaven, my heart has been
suddenly ravished with love to God as my Father, so that I
could not forbear crying out, in the pleasing transports of a
childlike affection, Father ! Father ! with a full and sweet
assurance that He was my Father and my God."

President Edwards says, " Once as I rode out into the woods
for my health, the person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent
with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thoughts
and conceptions ; which continued about an hour, and kept
me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, weeping
aloud." — Tracy 214..

WHITEFIELD IN NEW HAVEN.

After preaching to many thousands at Hartford and
Weatherfield, and recalling several appointments in the direc-
tion of Plymouth, R. I., he struck directly for New York.
Hurrying on, he preached the next day at Middletown and
Wallingford, and reached New Haven, Friday, October 24,
and was most affectionately received by Mr. Pierpont, brother-
in-law to Mr. Edwards. Here he was much refreshed with
the sight of his dear friend Mr. Noble, who brought him letters
from Georgia. He preached twice on Saturday, " with a sweet
melting both times." The Legislature being in session, the
Governor and the members of both houses attended. In one
sermon, he spoke very closely to the students and showed
the dreadful ill consequence of an unconverted ministry, and
prayed " Oh, that God may quicken ministers ! Oh, that the
Lord Jesus may make us all a flame of holy fire." His strong
opposition against unconverted ministers created considerable
excitement among the clergy, and seemed to have set Mr.
Clapp somewhat against him. Yet the celebrated Rev. Dr.



I78 LIFE OF WH1TEFIELD.

Samuel Hopkins, then a student there, was so deeply impressed
with his solemn warnings that they had much to do in his
conversion.

Refreshed by several ministerial visits, after preaching twice
the next Sabbath to increased congregations, with much
power, he called on Governor Tallcott, who said, " I am
glad, sir, to see you, and heartily glad to hear you." The
Governor was so overcome, " the tears trickled down his aged
cheeks like drops of rain. He thanked God for such refresh-
ings on our way to heaven."

Leaving New Haven that evening about eight, they reached
a house by the way, he says, " where they told me the mother
and three daughters were converted persons. While there we
enjoyed such a Bethel that my friends said they were never in
such a house before." He prayed, exhorted, and gave the
fourth daughter a word of advice which resulted in her conver-
sion. Reader, don't be ashamed or afraid to speak a word for
Jesus. After preaching at Milford, Stratford, Fairfield, New-
ark, and Stamford, he bid farewell to New England, and passed
over into New York. At Stamford he preached with such
great power, that " all the hearers were ready to cry out." At
dinner he spoke with such vigor against sending unconverted
persons into the ministry, that two ministers, weeping publicly,
confessed that they had lain hands on young men without so
much as asking whether they had been born again or not?
An aged minister, after hearing him pray, was so deeply con-
victed that he came weeping, scarcely able to speak, requesting
his prayers, saying, " I have been a scholar, and have preached
the doctrines of grace for a long time, but I believe I have
never felt the power of them in my own soul."

Before entering New York, he now set up his Ebenezer " to
give God thanks for sending him to New England." " It cer-



WHITEFIELD IN NEW ENGLAND. 1 79

tainly on many accounts," he says, " excels all other provinces
in America, and for the establishment of religion, perhaps all
other parts of the world. Every five miles you have a meet-
ing-house and a pastor. But many, nay, most that preach, I
fear, do not experimentally know Christ; yet I cannot see
much worldly advantage to tempt them to take upon them the
sacred office. But I think the ministers' preaching almost
universally by notes is a certain mark they have, in a great
measure, lost the old spirit of preaching." "It is a sad symp-
tom of the decay of vital religion, when reading sermons be-
came fashionable." "As for the Universities, I believe it may
be said, their light is become darkness, darkness that may be
felt and is complained of by the most godly ministers.

" Family worship, I believe, is generally kept up. The
negroes, I think, are better used, both in soul and body, than
in any other province I have yet seen. In short, I like New
England very well."

Touching the results of Mr. Whitefield's labors in New
England, Rev. Dr. Baron Stowe says, "there was a pow-
erful revival, such as it had never before witnessed." There
were at this time, not less than twenty ministers in the neigh-
borhood of Boston who regarded Whitefield as their spiritual
father. Mr. Hobby, one of these, went to church to pick a hole
in Whitefield's coat, but he picked a hole in Mr. Hobby's
heart. Another distinguished convert was the Rev. Daniel
Emerson, who, says Mr. Belcher, " was truly a son of thunder
and a flaming light." He preached fifty years with very great
success at Hollis, New Hampshire. An eminent Boston min-
ister after speaking of Whitefield's command of the hearts and
affections of his hearers, says, " He has been received here as
an angel of God." Another says, "He appears to be full of
the love of God, and fired with an extraordinary zeal for the



l8o LIFE OF WHITEFIELD

cause of Christ. His head, his heart, his hands seem to be
full of his Master's business." When he speaks, " every eye is
fixed upon him, and every ear chained to his lips."

The eminent Dr. Thomas Prince, of Boston, says, ''He spoke
with a mighty sense of God, eternity, the immortality and
preciousness of the souls of his hearers, of their original cor-
ruption, of the nature and absolute necessity of Regeneration
by the Holy Ghost," and of justification by faith in Christ.
" In short, he was a most importunate wooer of souls, and dis-
tinctly applied his exhortations to every class in a most win-
ning way." "The very face of the town seemed to be strangely
altered." "Even the negroes and boys in the streets surpris-
ingly left their usual rudeness and were formed into religious
societies." " To one church were added sixty, and to another
one hundred and sixty communicants. One minister had 600
and another 1,000 anxious inquirers who came to them in three
months anxiously inquiring what to do to be saved." And says
Dr. A. Stevens, " the effects of Edwards's labors were repro-
duced and rendered general by Whitefield's. One hundred
and twenty Congregational Churches were founded in less
than twenty years, and it has been estimated that between
thirty and forty thousand souls were converted."

"Multitudes were greatly affected, and many awakened by
his lively ministry." Religion was the general theme of con-
versation. " On his leaving us, the effect was so deep," says
one, " we had never seen anything like it before." New Eng-
land had won his heart, and it was a cross for him to leave it
so soon. For results in Boston, see revised journal, p, 445.



CHAPTER XVII.




HIS TOUR FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA.

fl^^ AVING shot across New England like a meteor,
flashing light as he went, he now strikes for
" his beloved Georgia." After preaching at
Rye and King's Bridge, he reached New York
October 30, 1740, and preached in Mr. Pember-
ton's church the next evening with unusual
power. Says he, "I never saw the Word of
God fall with such weight in New York before.
Two or three cried out. Mr. Noble could scarce refrain him-
self. And look where I would, many seemed deeply wounded.
At night the Word was attended with still greater power."
Although he had prayed earnestly for New York, yet feeling
" somewhat dejected " as he approached it, " he expected but
little movings there." But encouraged by his present prospects
and past success there, he went forth and preached with such
great power the next day that he felt " that a set time to favor
New York was come."

The next Sabbath morning, November 2, " he preached
with freedom and some power, but was much dejected before
the evening sermon." " For near half an hour before I left Mr.
Noble's house, I could only lie before the Lord, and say I was
a poor sinner, and wondered that Christ would be gracious to
such a wretch. As I went to meeting, I grew weaker and
weaker, and when I came into the pulpit I could have chosen

to be silent rather than speak. But after I had begun, the

(181)



1 82 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

Spirit of the Lord gave me freedom till at length it came down
like a mighty, rushing wind, and carried all before it. Imme-
diately the whole congregation was alarmed. Shrieking, cry-
ing, weeping and wailing were to be heard in every corner ;
men's heart's failing them for fear, and many falling into the
arms of their friends. My own soul was carried out till I
could scarce speak any more. A sense of God's goodness
overwhelmed me."

In the midst of these mighty outpourings of God's Spirit,
Mr. Whitefield attended the marriage of Mr. Barber and lady,
" who were going as assistants to Georgia." He says, " Never
did I see a more solemn wedding. Jesus Christ was called,
and He was present in a remarkable manner. After Mr. Pem-
berton had married them, I prayed. But my soul, how was it
enabled to wrestle with and lay hold on God ! I was in a very
great agony, and the Holy Spirit was so remarkably present,
that most, I believe, could say, surely God is in this place!
After this, divine manifestations flowed in so fast, that my frail
tabernacle was scarce able to sustain them. My dear friends
sat round me on the bed sides. I prayed for each of them
alternately with strong cries, and pierced by the eye of faith
even within the veil, I continued in this condition for about half
an hour, astonished at my own vileness and the excellency of
Christ, then rose, full of peace, and love, and joy."

"O, how am I obliged to my enemies ! God has remark-
ably revealed Himself to my soul, ever since I have seen the
pamphlet published by the Presbyterians against me."

He preached twice the next day to increased congregations
with a great and gracious melting both times among the peo-
ple, but no crying out. With £\\0 collected for the orphans,
after many had bid him an affectionate farewell, he went to
Staten Island and preached the next day. "One young man,



HIS TOUR FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA. I S3

who seemed as though his very heart-strings would break,
came, beseeching me to pray that he might be converted.
Many wept." He went on, and after preaching, exhorted at
Newark, with great power. "O how did the Word fall like a
hammer and like a fire !"

A "BOY " CUT TO THE HEART."

When Mr. Whitefield preached in New York with " cry-
ing, weeping, and wailing" all over the congregation, a little boy
sitting on the pulpit stairs was so deeply affected, " that he
could scarce stand." He cried out. When one asked him
why he cried, he said, " Who can help it ? The Word cut me
to the hearty When he preached in Baskinridge he says, " I
had not discoursed long till in every part of the congregation
somebody began to cry out, and almost all were melted to
tears. This abated for a few moments, till a little boy about
seven or eight years old, cried out very piteously, and wept as
though his little heart would break. Mr. Cross, having com-
passion on him, took him up into the wagon, which so affected
me that I broke from my discourse, and told the people that
the little boy should preach to them; and, that God, since old
professors would not cry after Christ, had displayed His sover-
eignty, and out of an infant's mouth was perfecting praise.
God so blessed this, that an universal concern fell on the con-
gregation again. Fresh persons dropped down here and there,
and the cry increased more and more." Behold what great
things a little boy can do !

After hearing Mr. Gilbert Tennent preach a powerful ser-
mon at night in Mr. Cross's barn, Whitefield gave a word of
exhortation with a most melting effect. "One that received
Christ cried out, ' He is come ! He is come!' and could scarce
sustain the discovery that Jesus Christ made to his soul. The



184 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

poor creature was wrapped up in Jesus." " Others were so
earnest for the discovery of the Lord Jesus to their souls, that
their eager crying obliged me to stop, and I prayed over them
as I saw their agonies and distress increase. At length my
own soul was so full, that I retired, and was in a strong agony
for some time. I wept under a deep sense .of my own vileness,
and the sovereignty and greatness of God's everlasting love."

Accompanied by many Christian friends, he reached New-
brunswick the next day, and put up with his dear friend Mr.
G. Tennent. Here he was most rejoiced to learn through let-
ters from Savannah of the prosperity of the orphans, and that a
minister was coming over to relieve him of his charge at Savan-
nah. After preaching in Mr. Tennent's church, and consulting
with the brethren, it was agreed that Mr. Gilbert Tennent
should go to Boston " to blow up the divine fire," and carry on
the good work begun there. He went, and under his bold,
" terrible and searching preaching, the people appeared to be
much more awakened about their souls than before." " Such
a time we never knew," says Prince, " and thus successfully did
the divine work go on for above a year and a half after Mr.
Whitefield left us."

Here, at Newbrunswick, Mr. Whitefield found a warm
friend in Rev. Aaron Burr, first President of New Jersey Col-
lege, who obtained for him the degree of "A. B." in 1754.
Not expecting to meet again soon, they had a farewell prayer-
meeting. " Many were greatly affected." They parted in
tears, fully assured that great things would soon be accom-
plished. When about leaving he asked a woman (standing by)
" whether she knew Christ ?" "Yes," she said. " How long?"
" Three years the third Sunday in next March." Passing on,
he oreached at Trenton, and having twice narrowly escaped
drowning from high waters, he reached Philadelphia November



HIS TOUR FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA. 1 85

8th, and met with a very warm reception. He preached the
next day to several thousands in the new church, one hundred
by seventy feet,- his friends were building for him. " God's
glory filled the house both times, and the joy of most of the
hearers was unspeakable." He was now so very happy that
he said, " I seem to have a new body, and the Lord greatly en-
riches my soul. Surely our Lord intends to set America in
a flame." Here he remained over a week, conversing with the
awakened, preaching twice a day, and he found that " many
that before were only convicted, now plainly proved that they
were converted." In laboring to encourage them to stand fast,
"many more were powerfully convicted almost every day."

A CONVERTED INFIDEL WEEPS.

Among the bright trophies of Whitefield's labors, we often
find converted skeptics.

Mr. Brookden, a distinguished deist and an eminent lawyer,
who had begun almost to doubt the very existence of God,
persuaded by a friend, through curiosity went to hear White-
field. He preached on Regeneration, and, says he, " I had not
spoken much, before God struck his heart." For said he, " I
saw your doctrine tended to make people good." " His family
knew nothing that he had been to hear me. After he came
home, his wife, who had been at church, came in also, and
wished heartily that he had heard me. He said nothing.
After this, others of his family came in repeating the same
wish, till at last being unable to refrain any longer, with tears
in his eyes he said, ' Why, I have been hearing him ;' and then
expressed his approbation. Ever since he has followed on to
know the Lord. Though upwards of three-score years old, he
is but a little child, and often (as he told me) receives such
communications from God, when he retires into the woods,



1 36 LIFE OF WHITEF1ELD.

that he thinks he could die a martyr for the truth." He
speaks of another, a noted, swearing sea-captain, " as great a
reprobate as he ever heard of," who was converted under a
sermon he preached at Pennepack. " He shows his faith by
his works."

In speaking of Mrs. D., one of his former converts, now
very sick, whom he was called to visit, he says, " never before
did I see a soul so exult in God, and talk so feelingly of the
love of Jesus. Sometimes she was so full of comfort that she
could not speak. She said, ' My soul is wrapt up in the right-
eousness of Christ.' " He preached twice with much weeping
the following Sabbath, collected ^"105 for the orphans, and
publicly baptized five women.

Large-hearted and liberal in his views, Whitefield was very
free from sectarianism. Once, when he was preaching in Phila-
delphia, he burst forth in a lofty strain of apostrophe, and ex-
claimed, " Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? Any
Episcopalians?" "No." 'Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any
Baptists ?" " No." " Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or In-
dependents there?" " No, no." " Why, who have you there?"
" We don't know those names here. All who are here are
Christians, believers in Christ — men who have overcome by
the blood of the Lamb, and the Word of His testimony."

" Much affected at parting with his dear friends in Philadel-
phia," although weak and "weighed down," on the 17th he
sailed over the Delaware, singing by the way, and preached
with an "affecting melting" at Gloucester. After a weeping
farewell with his Philadelphia friends, he rode on, and preached
at Greenwich to a few people, with scarce any power. " My
animal spirits were almost gone, and assistance suspended."

After giving them an affecting sermon at Pilesgrove, " with
his soul abundantly refreshed," he preached with great power



HIS TOUR FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA. 1 87

at Cohansie, Salem, and New Castle. At Cohansie, "the
whole congregation was greatly moved. Life and power flew
all' around." " Two cried out in the bitterness of their souls,
after a crucified Saviour, and were scarce able to stand." With
the interest increasing, accompanied with Charles Tennent,
he went on to Whiteclay creek, where many thousands were
waiting to hear him. Here " the melting soon began, and the
power increased more and more, till the greatest part of the
congregation was exceedingly moved. Several cried out in
different parts, and others were wringing their hands and weep-
ing bitterly. The stir was ten times greater than when I was
here last." " At Fogg's Manor he preached to many thou-
sands, and there was a wondrous powerful moving." At night
he was "quite ill, but," he said, "inward comforts so refreshed
me that I could scarce stand under it."

On Sabbath he reached Nottingham in a heavy rain, and
preached in the afternoon to a large congregation, who listened
very attentively, regardless of the rain. Thence he went to
Bohemia, Maryland, where. he preached "to about 2000 peo-
ple, and had a very 'solid meeting.'" On November 25, he
reached Reedy Island, and " had a blessed meeting." Here he
preached daily with a deep effect to sea-captains, their crews,
etc., till December 1st, when he sailed for Charleston.

Besides renewing his health during this excursion of 75
days, he preached 175 times, traveled over 800 miles and
collected over ,£800 in stores and money for the Georgia
orphans. "Never did God vouchsafe me greater comforts.
Never did I perform my journey with so little fatigue, or
see such a continuance of the divine presence in the congrega-
tions to which I have preached." Having touched and
preached at Charleston, he reached Savannah December 14th,
preached in the morning and went out to Bethesda in the after-



1 88 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

noon. Finding his orphan family comfortably settled, and
rejoicing over a few conversions, he says, " My soul was so
affected with a sense of God's mercies, that when I came to
pray, with an old Christian in our infirmary, I was almost
overwhelmed."' " He enjoyed a very comfortable Christmas
at Bethesda." Having arranged the affairs of the Orphan
House, and appointed Mr. Barber to superintend its spiritual
and Mr. Habersham its temporal affairs, he preached his farewell
sermon on the 29th, bid them an affectionate farewell, and left
the next day to embark for England. Leaving Savannah
January I, 1741, he reached Charleston on the 3d, and had the
great pleasure of seeing his brother, who gave him much
interesting news from England. Here he expounded and
preached twice a day, for two weeks, to large, increased con-
gregations, with very encouraging results. He says " I never
received such generous tokens of love from any people before.
They so loaded me down with sea-stores, that I sent many of
them to Savannah." Here he found that while some had back-
slid, most all still continued steadfast. But his enemies were
ready to injure him. His friend, Mr. Hugh Bryan, had written
a letter in which " it was hinted that the clergy break their
canons." Whitefield revised and corrected this letter for the
press, and it was published while he was yet in the city.
Upon Mr. Bryan's testifying to this fact, Mr. Whitefield was
charged of having made and composed a false, malicious,
scandalous and infamous libel against the clergy of this pro-
vince, in contempt of his Majesty and his laws, and against
the King's peace. "And on being summoned to appear, he
went before the court, plead guilty of the charge, and gave
security to appear by his attorney at the next court, under the
penalty of £100 proclamation money." "Blessed be God," he
said, " for this further honor. My soul rejoices in it." He



HIS TOUR FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA. 1 89

thought this was persecution for righteousness' sake, and said,
"Oh ! how gently does the Lord deal with me !"

He preached the next day on Herod's strategem to kill
Christ, and " endeavored to show how dreadful it was to perse-
cute under a pretense of religion."

Having sojourned about sixteen months in America, after
giving them an affectionate farewell sermon in Charleston, he
sailed for London.




CHAPTER XVIII




HIS SEPARATION FROM WESLEY.

AVING established his Orphan House, revived
the American churches, and "the revivalists of
Northampton," the bold evangelist again bids
farewell to America, and sails for England.

Leaving Charleston January 16, 1741, on the
" Minerva," after a pleasant voyage, he reached
Falmouth, March nth; and knowing that
trouble was brewing, he hurried on to London
and preached on Kennington Common the following Sabbath.
But oh, what a trying seene rose before him ! Satan had made