Chapter IX (2)

“I am, my most excellent friend, with the truest respect and
most affectionate regard, your companion in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ,

“S. HUNTINGDON.”

Before Mr. Whitefield left Ashby, Lady Huntingdon wrote to Mr. Hervey, requesting him to pay her a visit as soon as convenient. Mr. Hervey obeyed the summons, and arrived at Ashby a few days before Mr. Whitefield set out on his tour. Mr. Baddelley had been some weeks in London, and during his absence Mr. Graves and Mr. Simpson alternately supplied his place as domestic chaplain to the Countess and the Ladies Hastings. Mr. Baddelley had been usefully and actively engaged during his stay in the metropolis, preaching wherever he could obtain a pulpit:--

“I am glad (says Mr. Whitefield) you have sounded the silver
trumpet in London; _crescit eundo_ must be your motto and
mine. There is nothing like keeping the wheels oiled by action.
The more we do, the more we may do; every act strengthens the
habit: and the best preparation for preaching on Sundays, is to
preach every day in the week. I am glad you have peace at Ashby.
What a fool is Satan, always to overshoot his mark! I hope that
Mr. Graves, as well as Mr. Simpson, will hold on. They will be
glorious monuments of free grace indeed. I am like-minded with
you in respect to the Doctor’s comment; he is indeed a glorious
writer! May the Lord Jesus strengthen him to finish the work! My
dear Mr. Baddelley, what blessed opportunities do you enjoy for
meditation, study, and prayer! Now is your time to get rich in
grace, to search into the depths of divine love, and the mystery
of iniquity hid in your own heart. _Such an example, and such
advantages, no one in England is favoured with but yourself._
I do not envy you; but I pray the Redeemer, from my inmost soul,
to sanctify your situation, and give you to increase with all
the increase of God.”

In the month of June, Dr. Doddridge arrived at Ashby, but his stay was of short duration, the duties of his congregation obliging him to return to Northampton, having but lately returned from London, Norwich, and other places, where he had been preaching with great acceptance and success. He remained one Lord’s-day at her Ladyship’s, on which day Mr. Baddelley read the service of the Church of England, and the Doctor preached to a numerous congregation. In the evening Dr. Doddridge exchanged places with her Ladyship’s chaplain, reading the Liturgy, and Mr. Baddelley preaching. Speaking of this circumstance, Lady Huntingdon remarks:--

“His is a true Catholic spirit, that wishes well to the cause of
Christ in every denomination. I would that all the Dissenting
ministers I hear of were like-minded; less attached to all
the punctilios of order, system, regularity, &c., and more
determined to publish the glorious Gospel of the ever-blessed
Immanuel, in season and out of season, wherever men were
assembled to hear, whether in a church, a meeting-house, a
field, or a barn;--less desirous to convince men of the errors
in the discipline of those churches who hold the great doctrines
of the Reformation, and more anxiously solicitous to gather
souls to Christ, the true Shiloh. This should be the one great
object of those who are called to the high and honourable office
of ambassadors of Christ--all others are unimportant when
compared with this.”

Of this visit to Ashby, the providential escape of his MSS. from destruction, and some singular circumstances which preceded it, the Doctor has preserved the following very interesting account, contained, in a letter to his pupil, the Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, of Kidderminster:--

“Northampton, June 26, 1750.

“Lady Huntingdon, for whom I desired your prayers, is
wonderfully recovered. She walked with me in the garden and
park, and almost wearied me; such is her recruit of strength:
but the strength of her soul is amazing. I think I never saw so
much of the image of God in woman upon earth. Were I to write
what I know of her, it would fill your heart with wonder, joy,
and praise. She desired me to educate a lad for the Dissenting
ministry, at her expense, till he be fit to come into my academy
on an exhibition; and this is but one of a multitude of good
works she is continually performing. I must tell you, however,
one observation of hers, which struck me much: ‘None (said she)
know how to prize Christ but those who are zealous in good
works. Men know not till they try what imperfect things our best
works are, and how deficient we are in them; and the experience
of that sweetness which attends their performance makes me
more sensible of those obligations to Him whose grace is the
principle of them in our hearts.’ She has God dwelling in her,
and she is ever bearing her testimony to the present salvation
he has given us, and to the fountain of living waters, which she
feels springing up in her soul; so that she knows the divine
original of the promises before the performance of them to her,
as she knows God to be her Creator by the life he has given her.

“As I was setting out for my blessed journey to her, for such
indeed it was, yesterday was seven-night, a terrible accident
happened in my study, which might have been attended with fatal
consequences: I had been sealing a letter with a little roll
of wax, and I thought I had blown it out, when, fanned by the
motion of the air, as I arose in haste, it was re-kindled. It
burnt about a quarter of an hour, while we were at prayer, and
would have gone on to consume, perhaps, the closet and the
house, had not my opposite neighbour seen the flame, and given
an alarm. When I came up, I found my desk, which was covered
with papers, burning like an altar; many letters, papers of
memoranda, and schemes for sermons, were consumed. My book of
accounts was on fire, and the names at the top almost burnt
through, a volume of the ‘Family Expositor,’ the original MSS.
from Corinthians to Ephesians, surrounded with flames, and
drenched in melted wax; the fire had kindled up around it, and
burnt off some leaves and the corners of the other books, so
that there is not one leaf entire: and yet so did God moderate
the rage of this element, and determine in his Providence
the time of our entrance, that not one account is rendered
uncertain by what it suffered, nor is one line which had not
been transcribed destroyed in the MS. I have to add that all
my vouchers for Miss Ekins’[85] money, all my sermons and MSS.
intended for the press, and, among the rest, the remainder of
the ‘Family Expositor,’ were all in such danger, that the fire,
in another quarter of an hour, had probably consumed them.
Observe, my dear friend, the hand of God, and magnify the Lord
with me.”

We find in the memoranda of remarkable incidents in the life of Dr. Doddridge--a narrative of what he considered the special dealings of Providence with regard to himself and some persons of his acquaintance--these allusions to our subject:--

“The mercies of my journey (says he) I would solemnly
acknowledge; the wonderful preservation of my study from fire,
and the great goodness of God in sparing the dear and excellent
Lady Huntingdon, my interview with her, and the preservation and
growing friendship of her Ladyship.”

Leaving Rotherham, Mr. Whitefield proceeded to Sheffield and Leeds, where he was attended by vast multitudes; and from thence to Aberford, on a visit to Mr. and Lady Margaret Ingham. At Sheffield the people received the word gladly, and a great alteration was discernible in their looks and behaviour since he had been there before. Mr. Grimshaw and Mr. Ingham joined Mr. Whitefield at Leeds, and the crowds that assembled from every side exceeded anything they had ever seen before in that part of Yorkshire. “Last night (says he), I preached to many, many thousands, and this morning also at five o’clock. Methinks I am now got into another climate. It must be a warm one, where there are so many of God’s people. Our Pentecost is to be kept at Mr. Grimshaw’s: I have seen him and Mr. Ingham.” For these occasional itinerant visits Mr. Whitefield’s talents were admirably adapted. His manner, his voice, his action, and, above all, his solemnity and fervour, commanded and riveted the attention beyond anything that modern times have exhibited. When he was at Haworth, the Lord’s Supper was frequently administered, not only to the stated communicants, but to hundreds from other quarters, who resorted thither on those solemn occasions, esteeming them, in a peculiar sense, as “days of the Son of Man;” such, in many respects, as had never been witnessed since the first promulgation of Christianity, when the Spirit was, in so eminent a degree, “poured out from on high.” “Pen (says Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to Mr. Hervey) cannot well describe what glorious scenes have opened in Yorkshire. Perhaps, since I saw you at Ashby, seventy or eighty thousand have attended the word preached in divers places. At Haworth, on Whit-Sunday, the church was thrice filled with communicants. It was a precious season.”

Accompanied by Mr. Grimshaw and Mr. Ingham, Mr. Whitefield visited Manchester, where they found Colonel and Mrs. Galatin, who received them with the greatest cordiality. “All was quiet (he writes to Lady Huntingdon) at Manchester, and I humbly hope the Redeemer will gather to himself a people there. Kind Colonel Galatin and his lady will acquaint your Ladyship with particulars. I hope he will prove a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I advised him to send your Ladyship word of their coming to Ashby, that they might be directed the best road from Derby.” Through different parts of Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, Mr. Whitefield was accompanied by Mr. Ingham and Mr. Milner; Mr. Grimshaw having returned to Haworth. Everywhere he preached in Mr. Ingham’s chapels, and, as usual, was attended by large and attentive congregations. At Kendal, and Ulverston, and Whitehaven, where Lady Huntingdon afterwards had chapels, he was followed by immense multitudes, who thronged around him, eager to hear all the words of this life. From Kendal we find him writing thus to Mr. Hervey:--“I guess this will find you returned from good Lady Huntingdon, with whom, undoubtedly, you have taken sweet counsel, and been mightily refreshed in talking about the things which belong to the kingdom of God. This leaves me at Kendal, where I arrived this morning, and where, God willing, I shall preach the everlasting Gospel this evening.” Soon after his arrival he was joined by Mr. Batty, a very popular preacher in Mr. Ingham’s connexion. Mr. Whitefield preached on the brow of a hill, which overlooks the town, to many thousands of hearers. That night, some evil-disposed persons got into the barn and stable where his travelling carriage and horses were locked up: the leathers were all destroyed, and the carriage otherwise much abused; they also cut off the long tails of a pair of black horses that he had had a long time, and greatly esteemed. Nevertheless, he rejoiced at the success attending his labours. “Still (he observes, in a letter to Lady Huntingdon), the Lord of all lords vouchsafes to prosper the Gospel plough. Such an entrance hath been made into Kendal as could not have been expected. I preached twice to several thousands last week, and the people were so importunate that I was prevailed on to return hither again last night; the congregation was greatly increased, and the power of the Lord was displayed in the midst of them.”

After preaching some weeks in Scotland, Mr. Whitefield returned to London, where, besides his usual labours at the Tabernacle, he frequently assisted Mr. Wesley at West-street Chapel. “Mr. Wesley (says he) breakfasted and prayed with me this morning; and Mr. Hervey was so kind as to come up and be with me in my house. He is a dear man, and I trust will yet be spared to write much for the Redeemer’s glory. I have prevailed on him to sit for his picture, and it will be published in a short time.” Mr. Hervey’s health was so delicate, that Dr. Stonhouse advised change of air, and Mr. Whitefield invited him to the Tabernacle-house, in London. On his way thither he paid a visit to Dr. Cotton, an eminent physician and poet, who resided at St. Alban’s, where he kept an asylum for lunatics, in the treatment of whom he was remarkably skilful. By means of Dr. Stonhouse he was introduced to the notice of Lady Huntingdon, who had a great esteem for him, and occasionally corresponded with him. When the Doctor published his “Visions,” he sent a copy to her Ladyship, who, in her letter acknowledging the receipt of the present, made some strong animadversions on the defects of the poem:--

“I am glad (says her Ladyship) that my good friend was not
offended at my late well-meant admonition and reproof. We must
be faithful to each other, or else how can we expect to meet
with joy at the great tribunal? I trust he will yet be enabled
to see by faith the Lord’s Christ. Blessed be God, in him
all fulness dwells, of merit and righteousness, of grace and
salvation, and this for the vilest of the vile, for whoever
will. O, then, my friend,

“If haply still thy mental shade
Dark as the midnight gloom be made,
On the sure faithful arm Divine,
Firm let thy fast’ning trust recline.
The gentlest sire, the best of friends,
To thee nor loss nor harm intends;
Though toss’d on a tempestuous main,
No wreck thy vessel shall sustain.
Should there remain of rescuing grace
No glimpse, no footsteps left to trace,
Hear the Lord’s voice; ’tis Jesus’ will--
‘Believe (thou poor dark pilgrim) still.’

“Thus much (continues the Countess) I have written to my worthy
friend at St. Alban’s, and I trust God will bless my poor
unworthy services to his eternal good. I long to see his fine
genius consecrated to the best of causes--the glory of our
incarnate God, and the salvation of souls redeemed by his most
precious blood.”

To his pious and ingenious friend, the author of “Meditations,” Dr. Cotton also sent a copy of his “Visions.” In a letter to Dr. Stonhouse, also a poet and a critic, Mr. Hervey makes some excellent observations on the merits and defects of the Doctor’s work:--

“Please (says he) to make my best thanks to Dr. Cotton for his
very delicate ‘Visions.’ I think they may do good, and promote
virtue; then, I am persuaded, they will answer the benevolent
intention of the author. I wish, at the same, that he would be
a little explicit and courageous for Jesus Christ. He deserves
it at our hands, who, for our sake, endured the cross and
despised the shame: he will recompense it unto our bosom, by
owning us before his Father and the holy angels. Nor can I ever
think that the spread of our performances will be obstructed by
pleasing Him who has all hearts and all events in his sovereign
hand. A vision upon death, without a display of Christ, seems
to me like a body without a heart, or a heart without animal
spirits. I am sure, when I was lately (as myself and every one
apprehended) on the brink of eternity, I found no consolation
but in Christ. Then I felt, what I had so often read, that there
is no other name given under heaven whereby man may obtain life
and salvation, but only the name, the precious and inestimable
name of Jesus Christ. O, that its savour may be to us, both
living and dying, _as ointment poured out_. Shall I beg
you to tell Dr. Cotton, that his beautiful ‘Visions’ were, by
Dodsley, the bookseller, put into the hands of a very pious and
ingenious friend of mine (Mr. Moses Browne), who proposes an
alteration in a line, where he would read _Jesus_, instead
of _virtue_.

“‘At that important hour of need,
Jesus shall prove a friend indeed.’

“But I am not of his opinion, unless an uniform vein of
evangelical doctrine had run through the whole. This, I must
confess, I could have been glad to have seen in so elegant a
poem where Spenser’s fancy and Prior’s ease are united. And I
hope, if the Doctor should ever write any more poetry, he will
take this important hint into his consideration. Indeed, he
ought; for even in his ‘Vision on Death’ he has not paid the
least regard to Christ the Redeemer, the Conqueror of death.”

During Mr. Hervey’s residence in London, Dr. Cotton visited the metropolis, and it was Lady Huntingdon’s wish that that good man should avail himself of the Doctor’s medical skill, and at the same time drop such hints as might, by the blessing of God, be made useful to him. “If I am tolerably well (says Mr. Hervey), I will wait upon Dr. Cotton on Tuesday morning. He has a delicate genius, and I dare say he is an excellent physician. O that his fine parts may be grafted into the true olive-tree, and bring forth fruit unto God. If Providence permits us to meet, I hope to have some evangelical discourse with him.”

Some time after, Lady Huntingdon sent Dr. Cotton a present of Marshall’s “Gospel Mystery of Sanctification,” a work that has long had the seal of high approbation from many judicious ministers and Christians. It had been recommended to her Ladyship’s notice by Mr. Cudworth, a preacher in Mr. Whitefield’s connexion, who sometimes visited Mr. Hervey, and occasionally preached at Ashby and other places in the neighbourhood. But Dr. Cotton thought the doctrine contained in Marshall’s[86] book inconsistent with Scripture and repugnant to reason. This produced a little controversy, in which Mr. Hervey ably defended his favourite author. On this subject he uses a little pleasantry with his friend Dr. Stonhouse, who became the medium of communication in this affair:--

“Tell our ingenious friend at St. Alban’s, if I did not give
a direct answer to his question, it was because he stated it
improperly. His manner was like making a raw apothecary’s
apprentice the proper judge of a doctor’s bill. If such a
chap should take upon himself to say, ‘Doctor, your language
is unintelligible, your recipes are injudicious,’ what answer
would you make? Some such answer must be made to Dr. Cotton,
if he maintain, or would intimate, that the ‘Mystery of
Sanctification,’ as delineated by Marshall, is unintelligible
and injudicious, merely because _he_ does not immediately
discern its propriety.

“‘This (says Dr. Cotton) is my firm faith--that if we do well,
we shall be accepted through the merits of Christ.’ I might
ask the Doctor whether he does well? Dare he avow this, even
before me, his fellow-worm and fellow-sinner? How, then, will
he maintain the pretension before that infinitely pure God, in
whose sight the very heavens are unclean? But I choose to ask
him (what may seem less offensive), has he never read of ‘the
righteousness of faith?’ of being ‘made righteous by one man’s
obedience?’ of ‘righteousness imputed without works?’ Now I
should be glad to learn what the Holy Spirit means by these
expressions? And if our worthy friend pleases to show how his
faith can be made conformable to any one of these texts, I will
undertake to demonstrate the conformity of my faith to them all.
Ah! why should we hug a despicable rag, and reject a suit of
beautiful apparel? May the Lord Jesus enable us all to discern
the things that are excellent.”

Prevailed on by the repeated importunity of Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Hervey came to London by easy stages, in order to try whether change of air might be of any service to his decayed constitution; his worthy physician, Dr. Stonhouse, having declared that nothing which he could prescribe was likely to administer relief. One of the winters he stayed in London he lodged at the house of his good friend, Mr. Whitefield, adjoining the Tabernacle, in Moorfields. “I took up my abode (says he), not at my brother’s after the flesh, but with the brother of my heart.” By means of Lady Huntingdon he soon became acquainted with many pious and excellent characters in London, particularly Lady Gertrude Hotham, Lady Chesterfield, the Countess Delitz, and Lady Fanny Shirley, at whose house he occasionally expounded to very polite and attentive auditories. With the latter he maintained a very intimate correspondence for several years, which was published after her death by her executors. It was to Lady Fanny that he dedicated his celebrated work, “Theron and Aspasio,” which she was the means of introducing to the notice of Royalty, “I should never have been known to such grand personages (says he), if you had not condescended to introduce me. My name had never been heard by a royal ear, if it had not received some credit by your Ladyship’s notice.” His “Observations on Lord Bolingbroke’s work ‘On the Use and Study of History,’” were likewise addressed to her Ladyship.

Mr. Hervey had also frequent interviews with Miss Hotham, and on one occasion administered the sacrament at Lady Gertrude’s before Mr. Whitefield’s return from Portsmouth. Of his last interview he has preserved a short notice in his letter to Lady Huntingdon:--

“I had the pleasure of perusing your Ladyship’s letter to
Mr. Whitefield, and return my grateful acknowledgments for
your condescension in enquiring after me. My kind patroness,
Lady Chesterfield, and many honourable persons whose names
I trust are written in the Book of Life, are very desirous
for your Ladyship’s return to the great city. I have lately
expounded, and administered the ordinance, at good Lady
Gertrude Hotham’s. Her daughter is ripening fast for glory. I
had but little conversation with her, for she is too weak to
endure much fatigue. When speaking of God’s stupendous love,
in giving his only Son for our salvation, and of our interest
in the all-sufficient propitiation of his death, I quoted
these portions of Scripture:--‘He came into the world to save
sinners--He poured out his soul for transgressors.’ ‘Yes (said
Miss Hotham, who had been listening with singular attention), He
died, the just for the unjust--he suffered death upon the cross,
that we might reign with him in glory.’ On a subsequent visit I
found her much altered for the worse, as respected her bodily
health. Mr. Whitefield had been to see her the preceding day,
and has since gone to erect the joyful standard at Portsmouth.
Blessed be God, she enjoyed much peace and tranquillity of
mind, and a firm persuasion that God was her reconciled Father,
and the blessed Redeemer her all-sufficient portion. I expect
to hear every day of her abundant entrance into the joy of
her Lord. Good Lady Gertrude, and all her noble relatives and
friends, are wonderfully supported in this trying affair. May
the inestimably precious Jesus refresh and uphold them with the
choicest cordials of his glorious Gospel! and may his name be
very precious to them!”

As often as his health permitted, he attended the ministry of Mr. Whitefield and his faithful associates, at the Tabernacle; he says of him:--

“On Sunday he preached with his usual fervour, and administered
the sacrament to a great number of very serious communicants.
He delights in the work of the ministry, and embraces every
opportunity of preaching the everlasting Gospel. He is, indeed,
in labours more abundant. What a pattern of zeal and ministerial
fidelity is our excellent friend! and God rewards him with joy
unspeakable. God also fulfils to him, in a remarkable manner,
his gracious promise, ‘Them that honour me, I will honour.’
This day he was most respectfully entertained at the houses
of two noblemen. What a most exalted satisfaction must he
enjoy in attending these great personages--not to cringe for
favour, but to lay upon them an everlasting obligation--not to
ask their interest at court, but to be the minister of their
reconciliation to the King of kings.”

Again:--

“Yesterday our indefatigable friend renewed his labour of love.
He preached to a crowded audience, and yet multitudes went away
for want of room. In the midst of this audience was a clergyman
in his canonical dress--a stranger; his name I could not learn.
He behaved with exemplary seriousness, and expressed much
satisfaction.”

While in the metropolis he was visited by Dr. Gill, Dr. Gifford, and other ministers of eminence, both in the Established Church and amongst the Dissenters, and declares it was his own fault if he reaped not much advantage by their conversation. With Mr. Cennick, Mr. Cudworth, and other devoted men who laboured at that period in the Tabernacle connexion, he formed a very intimate friendship. There, also, for the first time, he heard Mr. Romaine, to whom he was introduced at Lady Huntingdon’s particular request. To Lady Fanny Shirley he gives an account of Mr. Romaine’s style and manner of preaching, and wishes much success to him in explaining the Gospel to his thronged auditors. Mr. Romaine often visited him at the Tabernacle-house, and occasionally accompanied him to hear Mr. Whitefield. On one occasion Mr. Wesley and Mr. Romaine breakfasted with Mr. Whitefield. Besides Mr. Hervey, there were present Dr. Gifford, Dr. Gill, Mr. Cudworth, and Mr. Cennick. Mr. Romaine led the doctrinal part of the service, and Dr. Gill addressed a short exhortation to his brethren in the ministry. At other seasons these excellent men often met at the residence of the Countess Delitz, Lady Gertrude Hotham, and Lady Fanny Shirley, where they proclaimed the truth of the Gospel to polite and fashionable auditors, and were enriched with spoils--spoils won from the kingdoms of darkness, and consecrated to the Captain of our salvation.