nobility. Among his converts we find "the Marquis of Lothian,
Leven and Rae." Also "honorable women not a few." Also
Lady Glenarchy, Lord and Lady Southerland, Lady Gertrude
Hotham, the countess of Delitz, and Sir Charles Hotham and
many others.

Brought up in poverty, with a deep sympathy for the poor,
Whitefield had no special predilection for the rich and great ;
yet he delighted to do them good. John Wesley did not like
the rich. He says, " I do not desire any intercourse with any
persons of quality in England. They do me no good, and I
fear I can do none to them. But I love the poor ; in many of
them I find pure, genuine grace, unmixed with paint,, folly and
affectation. How unspeakable is the advantage in point of
common sense, which middling people have over the rich!"
(Southey's Life of Wesley, p. 294.)

But, captivated by Whitefield's eloquence and genius, the
rich and great flocked to hear him. And by dealing plainly
and honestly with them, he did them much good. In one of
his first letters to the Marquis of Lothian, he said, "You do
well, my lord, to fear lest your convictions should wear off.
Come then, and lay yourself at the feet of Jesus. As for



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 259

praying in your family, I entreat you, my lord, not to neglect
it. You are bound to do it. Apply to Christ for strength to
overcome your present fears. They are the effects of pride,
or infidelity, or both." — A very plain, pointed letter to a lord.

LADY HUNTINGDON.

The Right Hon. Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, with
her high rank, heroic zeal, deep piety, great wealth and influ-
ence, now rendered Mr. Whitefield very important assistance,
both among the rich and the poor. Blest with good sense,
sound judgment, a fine intellect, and a noble heart, she was
one of the most remarkable women of the age. Living for
Christ, like Him she went about doing good, conversing and
praying with the poor and afflicted. When the Prince of
Wales asked Lady Charlotte E. where Lady Huntingdon
was, she replied contemptuously, "I suppose she is praying
with her beggars." The Prince shook his head, and said,
" When I am dying, I think I shall be happy to seize the skirt
of Lady Huntingdon's mantle." Possessed of good execu-
tive powers, she appointed her chaplains and ministers, had
many churches organized, held her annual conferences, and
founded a new sect, called after her own name. She did much
in healing the unhappy breach between Whitefield and Wesley.
After preaching in her house one day, Whitefield said, " Good
Lady Huntingdon is indeed a mother in Israel." " She is all
in a flame for Jesus." Crucified to the world, and conse-
crated to God, she gave during the last forty years of her life
over $500,000 for the cause of Christ. Pressed for funds,
she sold all her jewelry to erect a chapel for the poor. To
her Whitefield committed the care of his .societies. (Her
Life, p. 116, v. 1.) She died with "a soul filled with joy un-
speakable." He said she was "a rich pearl" — p. 353.



260



LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.



WHITEFIELD IN SCOTLAND.



Having gathered up and revived his scattered flocks in
London, early in September, 1748, Whitefield made a third
visit to Scotland. While going there, in writing to a discour-
aged brother, he said, "Fear not temporal support. Though I
went without scrip or shoe, I have lacked nothing. In Jesus I
have possessed all things."

He was received very kindly at Glasgow, and vast multitudes
flocked to hear him. Although some ministers were a little
shy, the congregations seemed larger than ever. Many, both
at Edinburgh and Glasgow, came to inform him of their con-
version at his former visits. Encouraged with his prospects, he
now exclaimed, " Glory be to God, I have hitherto found that
the cross of Christ has been lined with love. This has made
it easy — this now makes it exceeding light. I fear prosperity
more than affliction." The spirit of opposition, aroused when
Whitefield was here about six years ago, he now found still
existing in some. "Two synods and a Presbytery," he says,
"brought me on the carpet." An effort was made to prohibit
him from preaching in any of the seceding churches, but failed.
" And all," he says, " has worked for good. The more I was
blackened, the more the Redeemer comforted me." His old
friends became more friendly. His congregations were as large
as ever, and his services were more acceptable to God's people.
The Seceders disliked him because he did not preach the
"Scotch Covenant:" "but blessed be God," he said, "I preach
the covenant of grace, and I trust many souls are taught to
profit." Dr. Belcher says the churches of Edinburgh Presby-
tery were shut against him, but the city always furnished him a
church to preach in whenever he visited them.

About this time Whitefield had another interview with
Ralph Erskine. "It was short, but affecting." On parting,



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 26 1

Erskine embraced Whitefield, and said, " We have seen strange
things." True, they had. Whitefield had been traduced by
ministers of a kirk, and Erskine had been expelled from his
own Presbytery, of which his own son was a member. The
old man said, " It was a sword piercing my heart to see Johnny
sitting with them." "Such is life." While in Scotland at this
time, Whitefield did a good turn for the college of New Jersey.
By cooperating with others, he succeeded in securing an ap-
pointment, by the General Assembly, for a public collection for
that important institution. This shows his strong missionary
spirit.

On returning to London, he says, " Good Lady Huntingdon
is come to town, and I am to preach at her ladyship's house
twice a week to the rich and noble." About thirty had desired
to come, and many more were expected. From thirty to sixty
attended. There were a few converts among them.

Feeling the importance of having a literary institution at
Bethesda, with his health much improved, early in December,
1748, he wrote the Georgia Trustees, asking permission to
connect an academy with the Orphan House. As ^5000 had
been expended on it, he begged them to relieve it from all
rent and taxes, and allow him the use of colored labor on the
farm. "White hands," he said, "had left his land unculti-
vated."

After a short excursion to Gloucester and Bristol, he re-
turned to winter quarters, and spent most of the winter in
London, without anything remarkable occurring. He still
preached twice a week to the nobility at Lady Huntingdon's,
with very encouraging prospects. Early in February, 1 749,
we find him in the midst of "a great stirring among the dry
bones at Bristol and Kingswood." "The power of the Lord
attended the Word as in days of old." Many were hopefully



262 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

converted. "A lawyer came once, and was so affected that
when he got home he invited others to come, which so
alarmed his wife that she is afraid he will go mad."

" Longing for the fields," Mr. Whitefield now made an
excursion to the West. When he reached Kingsgate at 8
o'clock, p. m., he found IOOO people waiting to hear him. He
preached in the street by moonlight, with much power, and
was pleased to find that many souls had been awakened here
under his preaching about five years ago. Espying one up in
a tree to hear and mock, he exclaimed to him, " Come down,
Zaccheus, come down, and receive the Lord Jesus." The
Word was backed with power. " He heard, came down, be-
lieved, and now adorns the Gospel."

At Plymouth "he was received with great joy." Many
went ten miles out of town to meet him. Here, where he
formerly had so many enemies, he was now welcomed to
preach in the new Tabernacle. With many new converts, he
says, " Plymouth seems like a new place." Whitefield's un-
equaled power in darting the 'gospel into the sinner's heart, is
seen in the following fact :

Fixing his eye on Shuter, the tragedian, {i. e., Rambler),
one morning at Tottenham Court, while inviting sinners of
all classes to come to Jesus, Whitefield said with great em-
phasis, "And thou, poor Rambler, who hast long rambled
from Him, come thou also. Oh, end thy rambling, and come
to Jesus." Shuter was exceedingly struck, and coming to
Whitefield, said, " I thought I should have fainted ; how could
you serve me so ?"

Coming over into Devonshire, he met with much opposi-
tion, and " was rudely treated." " While I was praying at
Tavistock, some of the baser sort brought a bull and dogs



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 263

and disturbed us much." But "he managed, however," says
Dr. Philip, " to preach down the uproar."

BREAKING HEADS AND HEARTS.

At Exeter, also, a man came prepared to knock him on the
head with a stone, whenever the sermon should furnish an
offensive expression. He stood with the stone in his hand.
He could find no fault. The sermon soon interested him so
that the stone dropped from his hand. Then his heart melted.
After the service he went to Whitefield, and said with tears,
" Sir, I came to break your head ; but God has given me a
broken heart." After a circuit of six hundred miles, he
returned to London with fear and trembling lest his health
would fail and render him unable to speak to the noble so as
to win them to the Saviour. But throwing himself blindfold
into his Master's hands, his fear soon left him.

Having answered the Bishop of Exeter's "virulent pamphlet"
entitled " The enthusiasm of the Methodists and Papists com-
pared," which created considerable stir; and having thanked
his enemies for telling him of his mistakes, and being tired of
so much public applause, he again renounces any idea of form-
ing a new denomination. He says, " I do not want to make a
sect, or set myself at the head of a party. No, let the name of
Whitefield die, so that the cause of Christ may live. I have
seen enough of popularity to be sick of it, and did not the
interests of my blessed Master require my appearing in public,
the world should hear but little of me henceforward." Again
he says, " I have no party to be at the head of, and through
God's grace, I will have none." With his Christ-like unself-
ishness, he says, " I think it my highest privilege to be an
assistant to all, but the head of none." For " I find a love of
power sometimes intoxicates even God's own dear children,



264 , LIFE OF WHITEF1ELD.

and makes them to mistake passion and zeal, and an overbear-
ing spirit for an authority given them from above. For my
own part, I find it much easier to obey than govern, and that
it is much safer to be trodden under foot than to have it in
one's power to serve others so. Lord Jesus, when thou seest
me in* danger of nestling, in pity, tenderest pity, put a thorn in
my nest to prevent me from it."

Resuming " ranging" again, we find him early in May, 1749,
preaching to many thousands in Portsmouth. Most listened
very attentively. Some mocked ; but he preached with such
great power " that the chief opposer was conquered, and
received him into his house with tears of shame and joy." The
effect was so deep that he reported to Lady Huntingdon, "that
Portsmouth is taken!'' With many open fields of usefulness
before him now, he says, " I am in a strait, and continually
praying, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? I would be as
clay in His hands, ready to go whither He is pleased to call
me."

WHITEFIELD IN WALES.

Mr. Whitefield now made another tour into Wales. Put-
ting up at his wife's house at Abergavenny, he spent two days
in sweet retirement. " It has been so sweet, that I should be
glad never to be heard of again." " But this must not .be. A
necessity is laid upon me, and woe is me if I do not preach the
Gospel." Firing up for his Welsh tour, and dwelling much on
God's mercies, he said, " I am lost in wonder, and want a thou-
sand lives to spend in the Redeemer's service." His anxiety for
his friends' salvation made him sick. Warmed with the Welsh
fire, he now preached with such great power and to such vast
congregations, that he soon had the pleasure of seeing " Jesus
riding on in the chariot of the everlasting gospel." (Philip.)



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 265

The field was so great, and the harvest so white, and his
ascendency so complete in Wales, that " not a dog stirred his
tongue" during his circuit of eight hundred miles. Sometimes
his congregations numbered near 20,000. He visited eight
counties, and preached to over 100,000 people. The tour was
so laborious that it brought him almost to the grave.

After returning to London to welcome his wife from Ber-
mudas, he made another tour in the west of England, and
preached with great power to vast congregations. Having
heard that his character had been aspersed by a Bermuda min-
ister, he replied, "I am content to wait till the day of judgment
for the clearing up of my character ; and after I am dead, I
desire no other epitaph than this, ' Here lies George White-
field — what sort of a man he was, the great day will discover.' "
Disappointed in not seeing two friends at Gloucester, he
charged the disappointment to Providence, and said, " This
comforts me, What is, is best /'' Before reaching Exeter,
Whitefield saw the Bishop's second pamphlet. But it was so
virulent and unchristian that he refused to answer it, and
said, " O what a happy thing it is to be despised for the sake
of Jesus ! When John Huss was burnt, the Bishop of Con-
stance painted devils upon paper, and put them round his head ;
how soon were they exchanged for a crown of glory !" While
preaching one evening in Exeter, the bishop and several of the
1 clergy stood near him and saw 10,000 hearers struck with awe
by his touching appeals. The impression was veiy deep ; but
during the service he says, " a drunken man threw three big
stones at me. One of them cut my head deeply, and was like
to knock me off the table; but blessed be God, I was not dis-
composed at all. One stone struck a poor man and knocked
him down. Everywhere the work is on the spread ; and since
I have been here, we have had some of the most awful, solemn



266 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

and powerful meetings, that I ever saw at the Tabernacle."
Early in September, 1749, he returned to London again, and
made another " ranging" tour to Yorkshire, and preached at
Andle, Abberford, Haworth, Leeds and Newcastle. At Leeds,
with a congregation of 10,000, "they had a great day for the
Son of man." Here he preached in the Methodist churches.
At Newcastle he was so well pleased to be introduced into the
Methodist pulpit by his old friend, Charles Wesley, that he
preached four times for them. " Every day the people flocked
like doves to their windows to hear the gospel." Praying that
God would give him " a pilgrim heart for his pilgrim life," he
says, " Surely this is a work that brings with it its own reward.
It brings a heaven into the soul, and causes it, amidst all the
scoffs and tauntings of a benighted, ridiculing world, to rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Worn out with his herculean labors, and enfeebled by dis-
ease, he says, " I wonder my poor tabernacle is not dissolved
every day ; but we are immortal till our work is done. Christ's
laborers must live by miracle ; if not, I must not live at all ;
for God only knows what I daily endure. My continual vom-
itings almost kill me, and yet the pulpit is my cure, so that my
friends begin to pity me less, and to leave off that ungrateful
caution, 'Spare thyself'" Yet upon reviewing the labors of
another year, he says, " the thought of how little I have done
for Jesus sometimes almost breaks my heart. O that my
head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I
might bewail my barrenness and unfruitfulness in the Church
of God. O for a disinterested spirit ! O to be willing to be
poor, that others may be rich ! O to be nothing, that Jesus
may be all !"

Late in November he went into " winter quarters" at Lon-
don, and set up preaching regularly at six o'clock in the morn-



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 267

ing with large congregations. Although in winter quarters,
he ceased not to fight the battles of the Lord. Laboring with
great success, he says, "The glory of the Lord fills 'the Taber-
nacle, and the shout of a king is heard in our camp." Awak-
enings were numerous. Still longing for " his dear America,"
we now find him plea^ng again for an academy at Bethesda.
He says, " the house is large, and will hold one hundred. My
heart, I trust, is larger, and will hold one thousand." Having
enjoyed "a blessed Christmas and New-year," (1750,) to
encourage a tried brother he said, " The more successful you
are, the more hated you will be by Satan, and the more
despised by the world. But O, my dear sir, to me at first it
was death to be despised, and worse than death to be laughed
at by all. But when I began to consider Him who endured
the cross, I then longed to drink of the same cup ; and blessed
be God, contempt and I are pretty intimate, and have been for
twice seven years. God knows how to train us up for the
war. He often makes me bold as a lion ; but I believe there
is not a person living more timorous by nature. O let us fol-
low Jesus, though it be through a sea of blood. He is the
believer's hollow square ; and if we keep close in that, we are
impregnable.

When so busy that he " scarce had time to eat, with his field
of usefulness opening wider and wider," he says, " I want more
tongues, more bodies, more souls for the Lord Jesus. Had I
ten thousand, He should have them all." He had just enjoyed
a most precious season at Plymouth, where he preached
several days with great power. And while preaching at Bid-
deford, " the power of God so came down that one of the min-
isters could scarce stand under it." In writing to Governor
Belcher about this time, he says, " The harvest in England is



268 LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

exceedingly great." " We have had most delightful seasons
in London."

HIS EARTHQUAKE SERMON.

London, about this time, received a terrible shock by an
earthquake. With the whole city rocked to and fro, the alarm
was awful. Terrified with the awful forebodings, multitudes of
the inhabitants fled from the city. Others rushed to Tower
Hill, Moorfields and Hyde Park, where they remained all night
frantic with fear. Places of public worship were thronged with
frightened sinners, especially the Methodist chapels, where
thousands came all night, begging admission for God's sake ;
while thousands of others ran about the streets filled with con-
sternation, fully persuaded that the Day of Judgment had come.
Ministers preached almost incessantly with great success.
Under these appalling circumstances, Whitefield ventured out
at midnight to Hyde Park, and proclaimed to the affrighted
multitudes the way of life. " The darkness of the night and
the awful- terrors of an approaching earthquake added much to
the solemnity of the scene." With the earth rocking, the
rumbling noise roaring, and the people wailing, the scene was
terrible beyond description. Wrought up by the importance,
awfulness, grandeur and glory of the occasion, with his mighty
genius and vivid imagination, his sermon was truly grand and
sublime. Discoursing upon the terrible realities of the final
Judgment (as many believed it had come), "to the ungodly
sinner, the self-righteous Pharisee and the artful hypocrite, it
was terribly striking." To see Whitefield describe the sound-
ing of the last trumpet, the coming of Christ, the rising of the
dead, the setting of the Judgment, and the terrible finalities
of that awful day — to hear him pronounce the final sentence,
"Come, ye blessed," and "Depart, ye cursed," and then describe



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 269

the wicked going down to hell, and the righteous going home
to heaven, together with the final consummation of all things,
was enough to awaken the most careless.

On returning from Portsmouth, " where the Word seemed
to strike like a pointed arrow," and finding Lady Huntingdon
sick, Whitefield started, May I, 1750, to Ashley, to see her.
On his way there he had a very pleasant interview with Dr.
Doddridge and Rev. Mr. Hervey at Northampton. On Tuesday
morning Whitefield preached to the doctor's family, and in the
afternoon to over 2000 in the fields. His principal object in
visiting Dr. Doddridge and Mr. Hervey, was to secure a public
subscription for New Jersey College. The doctor entered
heartily into the plan, and did much to advance the work.
Whitefield preached several sermons in its behalf, and large
collections were raised for it both in England and Scotland.

Mr. Hervey says of this interview, " I have seen, lately, that
most excellent minister of the ever-blessed Jesus, Mr. White-
field. I dined, supped, and spent the evening with him at
Northampton, in company with Dr. Doddridge and two pious,
ingenious clergymen of the Church of England, both of them
known to the learned world by their valuable writings. And
surely I never spent a more delightful eyening, or saw one
that seemed to make nearer approaches to the felicity of
heaven. A gentleman of great worth and rank in the town,
invited us to his house, and gave us an elegant treat ; but
how mean was his provision, how coarse his delicacies, com-
pared with the fruit of my friend's lips ; they dropped as the
honey-comb, and were a well of life. Surely, people do not
know that amiable and exemplary man, or else, I cannot but
think, instead of depreciating, they would applaud and love
him. For my part, I never beheld so fair a copy of our Lord,
such a living image of the Saviour, such exalted delight in



27O LIFE OF WHITEFIELD.

God, such enlarged benevolence to man, such a steady faith
in the divine promises, and such a fervent zeal for the divine
glory ; and all this without the least moroseness of humor, or
extravagances of behavior ; sweetened with the most engaging
cheerfulness of temper, and regulated by all the sobriety of
reason and wisdom of scripture ; in so much, that I cannot
forbear applying the wise man's encomium of an illustrious
woman, to this eminent minister of the everlasting gospel :
Many sons have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."

On reaching Ashley, Mr. Whitefield found Lady Hunting-
don better than he expected. He preached at her house
daily. A riot gathered before her door while he was preach-
ing. In going home some narrowly escaped being mur-
dered. After leaving Ashley he preached to many thou-
sands at Milburn with much power.

Mr. Whitefield now wrote very frequently to the nobility.
To the afflicted Countess D , he says, "Sanctified* afflic-
tions are signs of God's special love. Love holds the rod,
love strikes, love wounds, and love heals again." Again he
says, " I cannot travel far without sitting down to refresh my
soul by writing to Lady Huntingdon."

Winding his way to Scotland through the north of Eng-
land, he preached to very large congregations, with great
power and success at Mansfield, Nottingham, Rotherham,
Sheffield and Manchester. At Bolton he was disturbed by
a drunkard, but " the Lord got Himself the victory." " Since
that we have had very large and powerful meetings where
formerly were the most violent outrages." Here some one
got into the stable and cut his chaise and his horse's tail.
This he called "Satan showing his teeth." Passing over into
Kendal, he says, "Pen cannot well describe what glorious
scenes have opened in Yorkshire." With the church nearly



FURTHER LABORS IN ENGLAND "AND SCOTLAND. 27 1

thrice filled with communicants at Howarth, and with large
congregations thirsting for the gospel, he said "a most prom-
ising door is opened at Kindal."

After preaching at Ulverton, Whitehaven and Cocker-
mouth he struck for Scotland. Speaking generally twice a
day, he preached during his tour from London to Scotland
"about ninety times, and to about 140,000 people. He says,
" Preaching every day in the week, is the best preparation for
preaching on the Sabbath." " It is amazing to see how people
are prepared in places where I never was before."

Mr. Whitefield strongly opposed both unconverted and un-
educated men preaching the gospel. He said in 1750, "It
has long since been my judgment, that it would be best for
many of the present preachers to have a tutor, and retire a
while, till they were a little more improved." "To have
young men educated at the Orphan House, and then turned
out into the Church graceless and unconverted, would break
my heart."*

WHITEFIELD IN SCOTLAND.

Reaching Edinburgh July 6, he says, "I was received in