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

The other instance was that of the captain of a ship, "as great a reprobate," says Whitefield, "as ever I heard of." This man used to go on board the transport ships, and offer a guinea for a new oath, that he might have the honor of making it. "To the honor of God's grace," says our evangelist, "let it be said, he is now, I believe, a Christian; not only reformed, but renewed. The effectual stroke, he told me, was given when I preached last spring at Pennepack. Ever since he has been zealous for the truth; stood like a lamb when he was beaten, and in danger of being murdered by some of my opposers, and, in short, shows his faith by his works."

The stay of Mr. Whitefield in Philadelphia at this time was about a week, during which he preached in the new house twice every day to large and deeply interested congregations. He says, "It would be almost endless to recount all the particular instances of God's grace which I have seen this week past. Many that before were only convicted, now plainly proved that they were converted, and had a clear evidence of it within themselves. My chief business was now to build up and to exhort them to continue in the grace of God. Notwithstanding, many were convicted almost every day, and came to me under the greatest distress and anguish of soul. Several societies are now in the town, not only of men and women, but of little boys and little girls. Being so engaged, I could not visit them as I would, but I hope the Lord will raise up some fellow-laborers, and that elders will be ordained in every place."

Perhaps no man was ever more free from sectarianism than George Whitefield. It is true, that he was ordained a clergyman of the church of England, and never manifested any degree of reluctance to officiate within its walls; but it is equally true, that the vast majority of his sermons were delivered in connection with other bodies of Christians. When he was once preaching from the balcony of the court-house, Market-street, Philadelphia, he delivered an impressive apostrophe: "Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? any Episcopalians?" "No." "Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Baptists?" "No." "Have you any Methodists, Seceders, or Independents 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." "Oh, is that the case? then God help me, God help us all, to forget party names, and to become Christians, in deed and in truth." It might be well for the different bodies of Christians to think of the propriety of following this example of the holy man. The peculiarities of each Christian denomination may have their importance, but they ought not to keep good men in a state of separation, much less of alienation from each other.

On Monday, November 17, Whitefield left Philadelphia. He says, "Was much melted at parting from my dear friends. Had it much impressed upon my mind, that I should go to England, and undergo trials for the truth's sake. These words, 'The Jews sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?' with our Lord's answer, have been for some time lying upon me; and while my friends were weeping round me, St. Paul's words darted into my soul, 'What mean you to weep and break my heart? I am willing not only to be bound, but to die for the Lord Jesus.' After fervent prayer, I took my leave of some, but being to preach at Gloucester in the West Jerseys, others accompanied me in boats over the river. We sung as we sailed, but my heart was low. I preached at Gloucester, but found myself weighed down, and was not able to deliver my sermon with my usual vigor. However, there was an affecting melting, and several, as I heard afterwards, who had been in bondage before, at that time received joy in the Holy Ghost. I rode on in company with several to Greenwich, and preached to a few, with scarce any power. In the evening we travelled on a few miles, but my body was more and more out of order, and I thought God was preparing me for future blessings. It is good to be humbled. I am never better than when I am brought to lie at the foot of the cross. It is a certain sign God intends that soul a greater crown. Lord, let me always feel myself a poor sinner." On Tuesday he preached at Pilesgrove to about two thousand people, but saw only a few affected. "At night," he says, "God was pleased so abundantly to refresh my soul as to make me forget the weakness of my body; I prayed and exhorted with great power in the family where I lodged." On Wednesday, at Cohansey, where Gilbert Tennent had prepared the way for him, he says, "Preached to some thousands both morning and afternoon. The word gradually struck the hearers, till the whole congregation was greatly moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their souls after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely able to stand. My soul was replenished as with new wine, and life and power flew all around me." At Salem, on the 20th, he preached in the morning at the court-house, and in the afternoon in the open air before the prison, to about two thousand persons. "Both times God was with us." On Friday, November 21, he got with some difficulty to Newcastle, where he preached in the court-house, and "observed some few affected, and some few scoffing." Here he was joined by Mr. Charles Tennent, who had lately married a young lady awakened under Whitefield's ministry. They went on to White Clay creek, "and God," says he, "was pleased to appear for me in an extraordinary manner. There were many thousands waiting to hear the word. I have not seen a more lovely sight. I sang the twenty-third psalm, and these words gave my soul unspeakable comfort:

"'In presence of my spiteful foes,

He does my table spread.'

"The Lord Jesus assisted me in preaching. 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 to be seen wringing their hands and weeping bitterly. The stir was ten times greater than when I was here last." At Fagg's Manor, on Saturday afternoon, he preached "to many thousands, and God was pleased mightily to own his word. There was a wondrous powerful moving, but it did not rise to such a degree as when I preached here last spring. I was taken ill after preaching." After still farther labors, he retired to rest, and he says, "The Lord gave me sweet sleep, and in the morning I arose with my natural strength much renewed." This was the Sabbath, and he preached at Nottingham "to a large congregation, who seemed in no wise to regard the rain, so they might be watered with the dew of God's blessing."

On the following afternoon, at Bohemia, in Maryland, he says, "Preached to about two thousand, and have not seen a more solid melting, I think, since my arrival. Some scoffers stood on the outside, but the Holy Spirit enabled me to lay the terrors of the Lord before them, and they grew more serious. My soul much rejoiced in the Lord to see salvation brought to Maryland." On Tuesday, November 25, "came to Reedy Island, and had the wonderful presence of God in the assembly in the afternoon. Several of my dear Philadelphia friends came to take their last farewell." On Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, he preached again. "The Lord was with us every time. I was greatly delighted to see the captains of the ships, and their respective crews, come constantly to hear the word of God on shore, and join with us in religious exercises on board."

On December 1, when they sailed from Reedy Island to Charleston, he wrote in his journal, "But before I go on, stop, O my soul, and look back a little on the great things the Lord hath done for thee during this excursion. I think it is now the seventy-fifth day since I arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then weak, but the Lord has much renewed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think, one hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exhorting very frequently in private. I have travelled upwards of eight hundred miles, and gotten upwards of £700 sterling in goods, provisions, and money for my poor orphans. Never did God vouchsafe me such great assistances. Never did I perform my journeys with so little fatigue, or see such a continuance of the divine presence in the congregations to whom I have preached. All things concur to convince me that America is to be my chief scene for action."

In about eight days, he arrived at Charleston, where he found there had recently been a large fire, and to improve the sad event he preached a sermon, and passed on to his own home, where he found all well, and where he made arrangements for his voyage to England, leaving on the 29th of December. On that day he narrowly escaped death. A laborer was walking behind him with a gun under his arm, which went off unawares; happily its muzzle was towards the ground, "otherwise," says Whitefield, "I and one of my friends, in all probability, should have been killed; for we were directly before, and not above a yard or two distant from it. How ought we to live in such a state as we would not fear to die in; for in the midst of life we are in death!" In the evening he preached his farewell sermon as pastor of Savannah.

On Mr. Whitefield's arrival at Charleston, in company with two gentlemen named Bryan, who had been called to suffer persecution for Christ's sake, he had the happiness of meeting his brother, the captain of a vessel from England, who gave him much interesting intelligence of the Christians in that country. Commencing with the Sabbath, he preached twice every day, in addition to expounding the Scriptures almost every evening, and expresses his gratitude for divine assistance. But though he had much to rejoice in, he had also more than one source of sorrow. Some professors of religion, of whom he had hoped well, had fallen away, and not a few of his enemies were even more enraged than formerly. Hugh Bryan had written a letter, in which, among other matters, "it was hinted that the clergy break their canons." At the request of Jonathan Bryan, Whitefield had corrected it for the press, and it was published while he was now in the city. Hugh Bryan was apprehended, and on his examination, being asked, frankly confessed that Whitefield had corrected and made some alterations in it. Writing on January 10, he says, "This evening a constable came to me with the following warrant:

"'South Carolina SS. By B – W – , etc. Whereas I have received information upon oath that George Whitefield, Clerk, hath made and composed a false, malicious, scandalous, and infamous Libel against the Clergy of this Province, in contempt of His Majesty and His Laws, and against the King's Peace: These are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to charge and command you and each of you forthwith to apprehend the said George Whitefield, and to bring him before Me to answer the premises. Hereof fail not, at your peril. And for your so doing this shall be your and each of your sufficient Warrant. Given under my hand and seal this tenth day of January, in the fourteenth year of His Majesty's Reign, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and forty [one.]

"'B – W – .'"

Whitefield gave security to appear by his attorney at the next quarter sessions, under penalty of one hundred pounds proclamation money. "Blessed be God," he says in his journal, "for this further honor. My soul rejoices in it. I think this may be called persecution. I think it is for righteousness' sake." The next morning he preached on Herod sending the wise men to find out Christ, professing a desire to worship him, but intending to kill him; persecution under pretence of religion, being his theme. The afternoon sermon was on the murder of Naboth, from which he discoursed on the abuse of power by men in authority. He says, "My hearers, as well as myself, made the application. It was pretty close." No doubt it was. In the evening he expounded the narrative of Orpah and Ruth, and exhorted his hearers to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, though his cause be never so much persecuted and spoken against.

On the following Thursday, he received several highly gratifying letters from his friends at Boston. Mr. Secretary Willard said to him, "Divers young men in this town, who are candidates for the ministry, have been brought under deep convictions by your preaching, and are carried off from the foundation of their false hopes to rest only upon Christ for salvation."

The Rev. Mr. Cooper wrote, "I can inform you that there are many abiding proofs that you did not run in vain, and labor in vain among us in this place. I can only say now in general, some have been awakened who were before quite secure, and I hope a good work begun in them. Others, who had been under religious impressions, are now more earnestly pressing into the kingdom of heaven, and many of the children of God are stirred up to give diligence for the full assurance of faith. There is a greater flocking to all the lectures in the town, and the people show such a disposition to the new Tuesday evening lecture, that our large capacious house cannot receive all that come. I am sure your visit to us has made a large addition to the prayers that are going up for you in one place and another, and I hope also unto the jewels that are to make up your crown in the day of the Lord."

In addition to these statements, Mr. Welch, a pious merchant, wrote, "I fear I am tedious, but I cannot break off till I just mention, to the glory of the grace of God, and for your comfort and encouragement, the success your ministry of late has had among us. Impressions made seem to be abiding on the minds of many. The doctrines of grace seem to be more the topic of conversation than ever I knew them. Nay, religious conversation seems to be almost fashionable, and almost every one seems disposed to hear or speak of the things of God. Multitudes flock to the evening lecture, though it has sometimes been the worst of weather. Ministers seem to preach with more life, and the great auditories seem to hear with solemn attention, and I hope our Lord Jesus is getting to himself the victory over the hearts of many sinners."

These, and other letters of a similar character, filled the heart of Whitefield with grateful pleasure; and he went on preaching and enjoying the society of his friends till Friday, January 16. He says, "I never received such generous tokens of love, I think, from any people before, as from some in Charleston. They so loaded me with sea-stores, that I sent many of them to Savannah." He now went on board, and was fully engaged in preparations for the voyage, which however was not entered on till the 24th. On that day the Minerva sailed over Charleston bar, and after a generally pleasant voyage, they landed at Falmouth, March 11. "This," says he, "was a profitable voyage to my soul, because of my having had many sweet opportunities for reading, meditation, and prayer."

The impartiality of history requires us, however reluctantly, here to notice the separation which to some extent now took place between Whitefield, and his old friends Messrs. John and Charles Wesley. Their mutual attachment in early life we have already seen, as also Whitefield's anxiety in Georgia to defend Mr. John Wesley's conduct against those who opposed him. Impartial observers, however, after a while began to remark, that on some doctrinal points, especially on that of predestination, a difference was springing up. On his passage to England, February 1, 1741, Whitefield thus wrote to Mr. Charles Wesley: "My dear, dear brethren, why did you throw out the bone of contention? Why did you print that sermon against predestination? Why did you in particular, my dear brother Charles, affix your hymn, and join in putting out your late hymn-book? How can you say you will not dispute with me about election, and yet print such hymns? and your brother sent his sermon against election, to Mr. Garden and others in America. Do not you think, my dear brethren, I must be as much concerned for truth, or what I think truth, as you? God is my judge, I always was, and hope I always shall be desirous that you may be preferred before me. But I must preach the gospel of Christ, and that I cannot now do, without speaking of election." He then tells Mr. Charles Wesley, that in Christmas-week he had written an answer to his brother's sermon, "which," says he, "is now printing at Charleston; another copy I have sent to Boston, and another I now bring with me, to print in London. If it occasion a strangeness between us, it shall not be my fault. There is nothing in my answer exciting to it, that I know of. O, my dear brethren, my heart almost bleeds within me. Methinks I could be willing to tarry here on the waters for ever, rather than come to England to oppose you."

Dr. Whitehead, in his "Life of John Wesley," has very wisely said, "Controversy almost always injures the Christian temper, much more than it promotes the interests of speculative truth. On this question a separation took place between Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield, so far as to have different places of worship; and some warm and tart expressions dropped from each. But their good opinion of each other's integrity and usefulness, founded on long and intimate acquaintance, could not be injured by such a difference of sentiment; and their mutual affection was only obscured by a cloud for a season."

The friendship between Mr. Whitefield and the Messrs. Wesley was very much increased and perpetuated by the wife of Mr. Charles Wesley. This very extraordinary lady, whose original name was Gwinne, was equally distinguished for her beauty, talents, and piety. She had a very cordial regard for Mr. Whitefield, who as cordially reciprocated it. She was married when the controversy among these eminent men was at its height, and stipulated that she should always be allowed to hear the preaching of Whitefield and his friends. In her latter years especially, and she lived till ninety-six, she expressed her pleasure in the belief that she promoted the continuance of that endearing intercourse which subsisted between Whitefield and her husband. She softened all parties, and was on all occasions a blessed peacemaker.

One fact relating to this eminently excellent woman may be mentioned. She was nearly twenty years younger than her husband, and four years after her marriage, and at the age of twenty-six, she was seized with small-pox, of which at that time her eldest child died. She lay twenty-two days in imminent danger of death, and when she recovered she was so much altered in features that no one could recognize her; but never did woman before lose her beauty with so little regret. She used sportively to say, that the change in her appearance "afforded great satisfaction to her dear husband, who was glad to see her look so much older, and better suited to be his companion."

On Whitefield's arrival at Falmouth, he immediately set off in a post-chaise to London, in order to preach on the following Sabbath. But he now found occasion for all the patience he had acquired. He had, he says, "written two well-meant, though ill-judged letters against England's two great favorites, 'The Whole Duty of Man,' and Archbishop Tillotson, who, I said, knew no more about religion than Mohammed. The Moravians had made inroads on our societies;" besides which, the controversy with the Messrs. Wesley injured him. His congregations on the Sabbath were still large, but on week-days he had not more than two or three hundred hearers. He says, "Instead of having thousands to attend me, scarcely one of my spiritual children come to see me from morning to night. Once, on Kennington Common, I had not above a hundred to hear me."

Even this was not all. He says, "One that got some hundreds of pounds by my sermons, refused to print for me any more. And others wrote to me, that God would destroy me in a fortnight, and that my fall was as great as Peter's." Still other sorrows attended him. He writes, "I was much embarrassed in my outward circumstances. A thousand pounds I owed for the orphan-house. Two hundred and fifty pounds drawn on Mr. Seward, [who was now dead,] were returned upon me. I was also threatened to be arrested for two hundred pounds more." Besides all this, he had "a family of one hundred persons to be maintained, four thousand miles off, in the dearest part of his majesty's dominions." He now began to preach in Moorfields on week-days, under one of the trees; where he saw numbers of his spiritual children running by him without looking at him, and some of them putting their fingers in their ears, that they might not hear one word he said. "A like scene," he says, "opened at Bristol, where I was denied preaching in the house I had founded." It was the Kingswood school-house, built for the children of the colliers.

But Whitefield could not long be kept down. His friends built a new house and opened a new school at Kingswood. Some "free-grace dissenters," as Gillies calls them, procured the loan of a building lot in London, on which, as we have already seen, they built the Tabernacle. Here his congregations immediately increased, and he addressed them with his usual power and success. Invitations soon poured in from the country, and even from places where he had never been. At a common near Braintree, in Essex, he had more than ten thousand hearers, and at many other places congregations were large and much affected. "Sweet," says he, "was the conversation which I had with several ministers of Christ." Soon again did he triumph, even in England.

Among the men who were now invited to aid, and who rendered important assistance to Whitefield in his houses of worship in London and Bristol, as well as in his itinerant labors, was Howel Harris, a native of Wales, a gentleman, and a magistrate, to whom we have already referred. His name in Wales is yet "a household word," and his labors form a part of the history of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism. As soon as he had embraced the gospel for himself, he became intensely solicitous respecting the condition of his neighbors. The scenes of profligacy and vice which everywhere presented themselves burdened his heart, and he became anxious to be actively employed in removing evil and doing good. He determined on taking orders in the church of England, and accordingly entered St. Mary's Hall, in Oxford university; but shocked at the dissolute habits of the collegians, and finding what were called his methodistical views were in the way of his ordination, he returned to Wales, and began to evangelize its towns and villages. Wherever there was an opening, there he went, and preached Christ to the people; and although defamed and persecuted, he manfully prosecuted his work, and thousands were by his agency brought to repentance. He and Mr. Whitefield were kindred spirits, moved by the same impulses, and pursuing the same course. Mr. Whitefield spoke of him as "'a burning and shining light,' a barrier against profaneness and immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. For these years he has preached almost twice a day, for three or four hours together. He has been in seven counties, and has made it his business to go to wakes and fairs to turn people from their lying vanities. He has been made the subject of numbers of sermons, has been threatened with public prosecutions, and had constables sent to apprehend him. But God has blessed him with inflexible courage; strength has been communicated to him from above, and he still goes on from conquering to conquer. God has greatly blessed his pious endeavors; many call, and own him as their spiritual father, and would, I believe, lay down their lives for his sake."

In the year 1759, when England was threatened with a French invasion, Mr. Harris became a captain in the Brecknockshire militia, and into whatever place in England the regiment was ordered, he uniformly began to preach, and was the means of introducing the gospel into many ignorant and depraved districts. Thus an unusual act and an undesirable office were overruled to doing much good. When the regiment was disbanded, he again regularly entered on his ministerial duties with all his former zeal and activity. In a word, he may justly be regarded the evangelist of Wales.

As an illustration of the spirit of the energetic ministers of Christ in those days, we quote a fact or two from the life of Rowland Hill; the more readily as Howel Harris is the principal subject. In 1774, four years after the death of Whitefield, Mr. Hill travelled through Wales, preaching three or four times every day; many conversions took place, which greatly sustained him under an attack of illness; and led to the remark in his "Journal," "My body quite weak, but my soul was refreshed." "A like example," says Sidney, one of the biographers of Hill, "had been previously before his eyes in the case of Howel Harris, one of Mr. Whitefield's energetic followers, who was a man of extraordinary powers of body and mind. Harris used to relate of himself, that being once on a journey through Wales, he was subjected to great temptation to desert his Master's cause, when he said, 'Satan, I'll match thee for this;' and 'so I did,' he used to add; 'for I had not ridden many miles before I came to a revel, where there was a show of mountebanks, which I entered, and just as they were commencing, I jumped into the midst of them and cried out, 'Let us pray,' which so thunderstruck them that they listened to me quietly, while I preached to them a most tremendous sermon, that frightened many of them home.' Mr. Hill greatly delighted in this anecdote, and often said that amidst somewhat similar scenes, he had been enabled successfully to attack the kingdom of Satan."