Memoirs of Rev. George Whitefield

Front matter

MEMOIRS * DEC 22 1911 »

REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD:

BY JOHN GILLIES, D. D.

Introduction

For most men, the worth and influence of a book, other things being equal, is greatly modified by their estimation of its author. The circumstance of a personal acquaintance with, or knowledge of a man, especially when it combines itself with our most venerable and holy remembrances, imparts a lifelike freshness and reality to his recorded doings and sayings, the efiect of which, when contrasted with the same things done and said by a person alien and unknown to us, may be fairly illustrated by the comparative power of oral and written discourse. No individual, in these latter days, has so identified himself with the growth and spread of practical religion, in England and America, as Whitefield. Divines and theologians there have been, and still are, not a few of far greater depth, acuteness and comprehension. They are burning and shining lights, and revolve with no rival or secondary glory in their appointed spheres. They have done well, and to them be awarded all due honor and praise. Whitefield cannot and would not measure strength with them here. It was appointed to him to preach ; and before a crowd of drowsy worldlings, be to him the honor of having no equal or rival in the service of his Master. To compare Whitefield with Edwards is impossible and absurd. It is like comparing Sir Isaac Newton with Milton, as intellectual giants, or the air with the earth, as the conditions of animal existence. Like his Master, " who had a mountain for his pulpit, and the heavens for his sounding-board ; and who when his gospel was refused by the Jews, sent his servants into the high-ways and hedges ;" he imprisoned not his voice within the bounds of ecclesiastical limitation, but going forth into a temple not made with hands, he bore the glad tidings of the gospel as far as the air would reverberate them, to as many of those speaking his vernacular tongue as the measure of his health, strength, and years would allow. Probably no one since Luther and Calvin has been such a chosen vessel for bearing the errands of mercy to the multitude ; no one has been so gifted with an almost inherent aptitude for converting his very adversities and afflictions into instruments, without which the very end which they were intended to frustrate would have been far less successfully accomplished. In this country especially, his name will be affectionately and reverently reverted to, as having struck an almost miraculous

IV INTRODUCTION.

life into a lethargic church, and as having put to shame the contemptuous indifference of unbelievers. Under God, he changed our steril religious wastes into verdant, heavenly pastures, and sowed on good ground those seeds of practical piety, whose fruits yet bless and ennoble us in the institutions and habits that have been handed down to as from the religion of the last generation. More than any other he is sacredly embalmed in the religious remembrances of this people. No apology, it is presumed, is needed, now that his life and writings are out of the market, and out of print, for publishing the present volume. The religious wants of our people demand it. And few books are so inwoven with those endearing affections and interests that lead to an earnest and profitable perusal.

The volume consists of a Memoir, and some of his published productions. So far as is known, no edition of his Memoirs has been published since the year 1812, when two editions appeared simultaneously ; one, the original, unaltered narrative of Dr. Gillies, in New Haven ; the other, the .same narrative revised and considerably amplified by Mr. SejTnour, in Philadelphia. The original work of Dr. Gillies is, for the most part, a mere compilation. It consists of bare details of incidents, so disposed as seldom to point us to those individual peculiarities in which they had their origin, or bear along with themselves the distinct features and lineaments of Whitefield's character. The style too, is dry and careless. It contains, however, the facts which must be the basis of all other Memoirs of this wonderful man. Mr. Seymour essentially unproved it, by remodelling, to a great extent, the phraseology ; by incorporating many newly discovered facts, anecdotes, and accounts of several active contemporary characters, tending to variegate the narrative, and throw light upon Whitefield's course ; and finally, by many of his own reflections and suggestions, giving method to the whole work, and prominence and distinctness to the noticeable traits in Whitefield. In this latter respect, however, it remained too deficient and feeble : and in this view — the only end for which biography is desirable, it is believed that the present edition considerably surpasses all that have preceded it. The chapters at the beginning and close of the Memoirs will be found to be in the main new, and to elucidate his character beyond any former editions. In order to enhance the value of the book, and not his own reputation, the Editor has not scrupled to appropriate and imbody in the narrative, whatever came to his knowledge within the brief time allotted to him for the revisal, calculated to illustrate the character of its subject. He has frequently incorporated matter from other books, sometimes slightly modified, and .sometimes altogether unchanged, as seemed most conducive to his purpo.se. To Souihey's Life of Wesley, this volume is especially indebted. This general acknowledgment, he trusts, is sufficient, and

INTRODUCTION. V

is inserted here on account of a reluctance to break the contiguity of the narration by particular quotations and references. Some slight emendations of phraseology are also peculiar to this edition. On the whole, it is believed that the Memoirs have received some important improvements.

The collection of Sermons and other writings which fill the latter half of the volume, have for the most part not been extensively circulated in this country. The only volume of his Works, with which the public at large is acquainted, is a small volume of extempore Sermons, taken in short-hand by Mr. Gurney. To say nothing of the circumstances that these were improperly transcribed, as Mr. Whitefield often complains, extemporary effusions excited by a transient impulse from the present feelings and passions of an assembly, lose all their point and force with the disappearance of the man and the occasion. It is often difficult to discover the greatness of speeches on paper, whose viva voce delivery held an audience fast bound, as it were, in a supernatural spell. Many find it hard to comprehend the excellence of Demosthenes' Orations, and the recorded speeches of the giants of the British Parliament, leave but faint traces of the mastery which moved at will a grave and obstinate assembly of legislators. The reason is, that the business of the orator is to kindle emotions from his own breast to the hearts of his auditors ; and he knows little of the practical, or what philosophers call the " active and moral powers" in man, who has not leg-rned that not mere logic or demonstration reaches the inmost springs of action, though it may be, and most often is the fittest medium or duct for conveying the vital warmth from soul to soul. The conviction of earnestness and seriousness in the speaker is the most indispensable element of powerful oratory. A pointed anecdote, or vivacious illustration, while it keeps alive attention by its variety and novelty, will oftentimes involve, and lead imschooled men to recognise and admit a truth, when a logical and profound analysis would be tame, dry, and far aloof from their apprehensions, and especially, their practical feelings. All who have had any successful experience in addressing public bodies, know this ; and they soon learn that a scholar-like exhaustion of a topic, and the winning of an audience to the desired views in regard to it, are very different things. Hence the sense of disappointment felt by most speakers on their first appearance in public, at seeing their finely elaborated performances go off as dull and uninteresting, when the free and careless, yet hearty appeals of others stir and enchant the multitude. Hence too, a self-possessed man varies his mode of presenting a subject, from the form in which it lay in his mind after first analyzing it, as circumstances and his immediate aim demand. This variation is always in the way of simplifying and breaking up all those logical comiections, which would have given it eclat before a society of scholars. Thus, a man may write and extemporize on the

VI INTRODUCTION.

same text, and his two performances will be likely to be very different, so that while his spoken discourse is superior for present effect, his written one is no less so for the judgment of after critics. From the transcripts of Whitefield's extempore sermons taken by Mr. Gurney, his sermons have been judged to be of so low an order as not to justify his great celebrity. They are a motley compound of anecdotes and fragmentary bursts of passion, and no way indicate depth, comprehensiveness, or sustained energy and brilliancy. But it should be remembered, that Whitefield habitually had all ranks for hearers ; and that his lively and playful trivialities even, might have been entertaining and exhilarating to a mob, which would have retired from the massive sermons of Howe or Edwards. He was engaged mainly in calling siimers to repentance ; and a very different manner may be suited to the business of first urging on men attention to religion, from what is fitted to instruct them in its duties and doctrines when they have become attentive. Discourses will be likely to suffer in the judgment of after times, greatly in proportion as they have been so diluted and adapted as to lay hold of and interest an tmthinking crowd. Whoever will look through Mr. Gurney's volume, while he sees no great and far-reaching thoughts will see no contemptible degree of intellect in the preacher's avoidance of them, and his exquisite skill and tact in shaping his matter to the purpose before him. Some sermons have been inserted from it, in order to exhibit .Whitefield's incomparable power of commanding circumstances, and interesting whatever was before him.

The collection, however, will be chiefly from sermons written and published by himself. It is believed that they will verify the preceding hints, and set forth their author in a far more advantageous light, than that in which those of his works most extensively known to the public have placed him. Their merit is not in their theological depth and s-ibtlety, but in that higher demonstration of the Spirit, the unction, the life, the fervency, which marked the man in word and deed. It is believed, that if read with the true end of sermonizing in view, they will bear a favorable comparison with any sermons of this age, especially if we consider the demands of his hearers. A polemical tract is also inserted, in order to show his temper and power in this field.

The publication of this book was imperiously called for, both on account of its scarcity in the market, and the rich imction, which its circulation will be likely to breathe through the religious community. That it may awaken sinners and quicken saints, is the prayer of its Editor ; who, with thanks to his friends for their kind suggestions, presents the book to the public as a worthy, and he hopes, an acceptable offering; not doubting, that it may avail to the stirring up of the pure minds of some, by way of remembrance.

Contents

MEMOIRS OF WHITEFIELD.

Chap. I. — Comprehending the period from his birth to his becoming a

member of the University of Oxford, 9

Chap. II.— From the time of his admission to the University of Oxford

to his embarking for Georgia, A. D. 1737, ... - . 12

Chap. III. — From the time of his embarking for Georgia, to his re-embarking for England, 1738, , .-....-15

Chap. IV. — From his embarking at Charleston for London, to his preaching first at Moorfields, 1739, 33

Chap. V. — From his preaching in Moorfields, &c. to his laying the foundation of the Orphan-house in Georgia, 1740, . - - - 41

Chap. VI. — From his laying the foundation of his Orphan-house in

Georgia, to his arrival in England, 1741, ..... 46

Chap. VII. — His separation from Wesley, and the circumstances attending it, about the period of his return to London, 1741, . - 55

Chap. VIII. — From the establishment of the church in Moorfields under Mr. Cennick, and his visit through Scotland, till his departure from Edinburgh, with some letters showing his reception in that country, 1741, - 68

Chap. IX.— From his leaving Edinburgh, 1741, to his return to that city,

in the year 1742, 83

Chap. X. — From his arrival in Scotland, 1742, to his return to London

the same year, 86

Chap. XI. — From his arrival in London, in the year 1742, to his embarking for America, 1744, --94

Chap. XII. — From his embarking for America, 1744, to his going to the

Chap. XIII. — From his arrival at Bermudas, to his return to London,

Chap. XIV.— From his arrival in London, 1748, to his going to Ireland,

1751, - -* 117

Chap. XV. — From his first visit to Ireland, to his opening a new Tabernacle in London, 1753, 137

Chap. XVI. — From his opening the new Tabernacle in Moorfields, to his

preaching at the chapel in Tottenham-court road, 1756, - - 144

Chap. XVII. — From his opening the chapel in Tottenham-court road, to

his arrival in Edinburgh, 1759, 167

Chap. XVIII. — From his arrival in Edinburgh, 1759, tahis opening the

Countess of Huntingdon's chapel at Bath, 1765, - - - - 173

Vlll CONTENTS.

Chap. XIX.— From his opening Lady Huntingdon's chapel at Bath, to

his embarking for America, 17G9, 183

Chap. XX. — From his last embarking for America, to his death, September 30, 1770, 193

Chap. XXI. — Extracts from some of the funeral sermons preached on

the occasion of his death, - 221

Chap. XXII. — An examination of Mr. Whitefield's character as an

Orator, Preacher, and Christian, - 257

SERMONS.

Sermon I. — The Lord our Righteousness, ...--- 297

Sermon II.— The Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent, - 312

Sermon III. — Persecution every Christian's Lot, ----- 327

Sermon IV. — Abraham's offering up his son Isaac, ... - 339

Sermon V. — Saul's Conversion, ..- 351

Sermon VI. — Christ the Believer's wisdom, righteousness, sanctMcation,

and redemption, ...-..---. 365 Sermon VII. — The Pharisee and Publican, ---.-. 378 Sermon VIII. — The Holy Spirit convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, --. 389

Sermon IX. — The conversion of Zaccheus, ------ 402

Sermon X. — The power of Christ's Resurrection, ----- 414

Sermon XI. — The indwelling of the Spirit the common privilege of all

Believers, --. 423

Sermon XII. — The eternity of Hell Torments, ----- 434

Sermon XIII. — The great duty of Family Religion, - - - - 443

Sermon XIV.— The Method of Grace, 454

Sermon XV. — The wise and foolish Virgins, . . - . - 468

Sermon XVI. — Christ the Believer's Refuge.— A fimeral sermon, - 484

Sermon XVII.— Soul Prosperity, 496

Sermon XVIII.— Soul Dejection, 506

Sermon XIX. — The gospel, a dying saint's Triumph. — A fimeral sermon, 516

Sermon XX. — Jacob's Ladder. — A farewell sermon, - . - - 529

Sermon XXI. — God a Believer's Glory, ------ 541

Sermon XXII.— The Burning Bush, 552

Sermon XXIII.— The Lord our Light, 561

Sermon XXIV.— Self-inquiry concerning the work of Grod, - - 571

Sermon XXV.— Neglect of Christ the killing sin, ... - 582

Sermon XXVI. — The Good Shepherd.— A farewell sermon, - - 594 Sermon XXVIL— A faithful minister's parting blessing. — A farewell

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Short Address to persons of all Denominations, &c. - - - 618

Letter to the Rev. John Wesley, 626

An inquiry into the lirst and chief reason why the generality of christians fall so far short of the holiness and devotion of Christianity, 642

MEMOIRS

REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD.

Chapter I

Comprehending the period from his birth to his becoming a member of the University of Oxford.

That eminent and singularly gifted man of God, whose life, services and character are now to be delineated, has left few memorials important to be recorded in a chapter confined to the above mentioned period of his life. Whitefield's gifts — especially those which he did not possess in common with other men — were, in an extraordinary degree, the peculiar endowments of the Preacher and of the Preacher merely. Of course, whatever was characteristic in him, or excited an interest not felt concerning ordinary men, did not appear with great power or distinctness in any other sphere or relation. Of Whitefield, the scholar, the philosopher, the theologian, little can be said, which might not as fitly be said of a common clergyman. That portion of his life, therefore, which was not passed in the ministry, or in preparation for it, contains nothing entitled to more than a brief notice. Nor does much lie open to us respecting his genealogy or family relations, that is worthy to swell the chapter.

George Whitefield was born at Bell Inn, in the city of Gloucester, on the 16th day of December, O. S. 1714. His great grandfather was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, and was Rector of North Ledyard in Wiltshire. Of his seven children two were sons ; Samuel, who succeeded his father in the cure of Rockhampton, whither he had removed fi-om North Ledyard : and Andrew, who retired upon his estate, as a private gentleman. He had fourteen children, of whom Thomas, the eldest, was the father of the subject of these memoirs. He was first bred to the employment of a wine merchant in Bristol, but afterwards kept an inn in the city of Gloucester. In Bristol he married ]\Irs. Elizabeth Edwards, by whom he had six sons and one daughter. Of these George was the youngest. Being bereft of his father at the helpless age of two years, he was resrarded by his mother with peculiar tenderness, and educated with more than ordinary care.

In a character so unparalleled for the intensity of its reli- OTous fervor, enersfv and decision, it would be a satisfaction to know how far its earlier instincts and feehngs corresponded witli, or guided it towards its after career. Of "\Miitefield, little has reached the light in regard to this matter, save from his own subsequent confessions. Judged by the terrible scrutiny of his own severe standard of self-examination in after life, he was pre-eminently debased, and proved his native depravity of disposition by a series of most wantonly wicked actions ; yet, his conscience was, at this time, tender enough to excite remorse and penitence for his youthful freaks, and to render him easy to be affected by rehgious truth. He describes himself as froward from his mothers womb : so brutish as to hate instruction : steahng from his mother's pocket, and frequently appropriating to his own use the money that he took in the house. '• KI trace myself," he says, " from my cradle to my manhood, I can see notliing in me but a fitness to be damned : and if the Almighty had not prevented me by his grace, I had now either been sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, or condenmed, as the due reward of my crimes, to be forever lifting up ray eyes in torments."' Yet "VVhitefield could trace early movings of his heart, which satisfied him in after life, that " God loved him with an everlasting love, and had separated him even from his mother's womb, for the work to which He afterwards was pleased to call hhn."' He had a devout disposition and a tender heart, so far as these terms can fitly characterize unregenerate men. When he was about ten years old, his mother made a second marriasfe : it proved an unhappy one. Durino; the affliction to which this led, his brother used to read aloud Bishop Ken's Manuel for' "Winchester scholars. This book affected George Wliitefield greatly : and when the corporation, at their annual visitation of St. Mary de Crypt's school, where he was educated, gave him, according to custom, money for the speeches which he was chosen to deliver, he purchased the book, and found it, he says, a gi-eat benefit to his soul.

Between the years of twelve and fifteen, he made good progress in the Latin classics, at this public school ; and his native powers of eloquence began to be developed, even at that early period, in the speeches which he delivered at the annual visitations. The applause awarded to him on these occasions proably contributed to his fondness for theatrical amusements. Hence some have affected to believe, or, at least, insinuated, that he derived his oratory from the stage. This imputation is utterly untrue. It would be more proper to say, that his talents for elocution, which enabled him afterwards to become so great a performer in the pulpit, were at this time in some danger of receiving a theatrical direction. The boys at the grammar school were fond of acting plays : the master, "seeing how their vein ran," encouraged it, and composed a dramatic piece himself, which they represented before the corporation, and in which Whitefield acted a woman's part, and appeared in girl's clothes. The remembrance of this, he says, had often covered him with confusion of face, and he hoped it would do so even to the end of his life ! Oratory, particularly that department of it which consists in graceful and energetic delivery, was so native to him, that he might more justly be said to communicate it to the stage than the stage to him. No sensible person who was acquainted with him, could fail to see, that his eloquence was the natural, spontaneous action of that pecuhar assemblage of powers with which God had endowed him.

Nevertheless, he seems to have been unconscious of his endowment, or without the means of developing it. and entering into a profession requiring it. Before he was fifteen, he persuaded his mother to take him from school, saying, that she could not place him at the university, and more learning would spoil him for a tradesman. Her own circumstances, indeed, were by this time so much on the decline, that his menial services were required : he began occasionally to assist her in the public house, till at length he " put on his blue apron, washed mops, cleaned rooms, and became a professed and common drawer," In the little leisure which such employments allowed, he composed two or three sermons ; and the romances, wliich had been his heart's delight, gave place awliile to Thomas a Kempis. One of these sermons was dedicated to his eldest brother.

When he had been about a year in this servile occupation, the inn was made over to a married brother, and George, being accustomed to the house, continued there as an assistant. His mother, though her means were scanty, permitted him to have a bed upon the ground in her house, and live with her, till Providence should point out a place for him. The way was soon indicated. A servitor of Pembroke College called upon his mother, and m the course of the conversation told her, that after all his college expenses were discharged Yqi that quarter, he had received a penny. She immediately cried out, this will do for my son ; and turning to him said, Will you go to Oxford, George? Happening to have the same friends as this young man. she waited on them without delay : they promised their interest to obtain a servitor's place in the same college, and in reliance upon this, George returned to the gammar school. Here he applied closely to his books, and shaldng off, by the strong effort of a religious mind, all evil and idle courses, produced, by the influence of his talents and example, some reformation among his school-fellows. The unpressions of religion now began to deepen upon liim : and at the age of seventeen he received sacrament of the Lord's supper. He now became more and more watchful, both over his heart and conversation. He attended public service constantly, received the sacrament monthly, fasted often, and prayed frequently more than twice a day in private. Thus, at the time of completing his preparation for Oxlbrd, we find liim mainly absorbed in the great business of religion.

Chapter II

From the time of his admission to the University of Oxford^ to his embarking for Georgia, 1737.

At the age of eighteen Mr. Whitefield was removed to Oxford; the reconmiendation of his friends was successful; another friend borrowed for him ten pounds to defi'ay the expense of entering ; and wath a good fortune beyond his hopes, he was admitted servitor immediately'-. He felt the advantage of having been trained up in a public house ; his skill and diligence in his occupation led many to seek his attendance ; and thus, aided by the mcorae of his services, and some few presents made him by a kind-hearted tutor, he v^^as enabled to hve without incurring debts to the amount of more than twenty-four pounds during three years.

At first he was harrassed and tempted by the society into which he was thrown ; he had several chamber fellows, who would fain have made him join their riotous mode of life. He however, showed his energy of resolution by sitting alone in his study till he was sometimes benumbed with cold, in order to escape their persecutions ; and when they discovered his singularity of character, and his strength and fortitude in carrying it out, they abandoned him to his own course, and suflered him to pursue it in peace.

It may well be conjectured that one thus mal-treated by the wicked, on account of the ri^^orous purity and strictness of his life, would have sympathy with a small band despised for their austere principles and scrupulous observances. Such a company Oxford then contained. Before Whitefleld went there, he had heard of some young men who " lived by rule anq method," and were therefore called Methodists. They wer^ now much talked of, and generally despised. Drawn toward them by kindred feelings, he defended them strenuously whenl ever he heard them reviled, and when he saw them go through the ridiculing crowd to receive the sacrament at St. Mary's was strongly inclined to follow their example. For more thanj a year he yearned to be acquainted with them : and a feeling of inferiority alone checked his advances. The object of his desires was finally thus accomplished. A pauper had attempted; suicide, and Whitefield sent a poor woman to inform Charles Wesley that he might visit her, and administer spiritual medi-1 cine: the messenger was charged not to tell who sent her :1 contrary to tliis injunction, she told his name, and Charles' Wesley, who had seen him frequently walking by himself, and heard something of his character, invited him to breakfast the next morning. An introduction to this little brotherhood soon followed, and he also, like them, " began to live by rule, and pick up the very fragments of his time, that not a moment might be lost."

They were now about fifteen in number. When they becran to meet they read divinity on Sunday evenings only, and pursiied their classical studies on other nights ; but rehgion soon became the sole business of their meetings ; they now regularly visited the prisoners and the sick, communicated once a week, and fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays, the stationary days of the Ancient Church, which was thus set apart, because on (hose days our Saviour had been betrayed and crucified. They also drew up a scheme of self-examination, to assist themselves by means of prayer and self-subjugation, in attaining the love and simplicity of God.

As Whitefield was one of the master-spirits who communicated to Methodism its first impulse and direction, a brief survey of the religious condition of that period, and the production of this sect from it, is highly pertinent to an account of his life. At that time, serious and practical Christianity in England was in a very low condition ; scriptural, experimental religion (which in the last century had been the subject of the sermons and writings of the clergy) had become quite unfashionable ; and the only thing insisted on was, a defense of the out-works of Christianity against the objections of infidels. What was the consequence ? The writings of infidels multiplied every day, and infidelity made a rapid progress among persons of every rank ; not because they were reasoned into it by the force of argument, but because they were kept strangers to Clirist and the power of the gospel. We have a most aflecting description of this, by Bishop Butler, whom none will suspect of exaggerating the fact : " It is come, 1 Imow not how, to be taken for granted, by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of inquiry ; but that it is, now at length, discovered to lie fictitions ; and accordingly they treat it as if in the present age this were an agreed point among all people of discernment ; and nothing remained but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule ; as it were by Avay of reprisals for its having so long interrupted the pleasures of the world."