Chapter L: Tyerman (9)

Further, one of the earliest fruits of Whitefield's ministry among the nobility in the metropolis was Lady Anne Frankland, daughter of the Earl of Scarborough, and second wife of Frederick Frankland, Esq., M.P. for Thirsk. For many years, Lady Anne held the situation of Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess Anne, and to the Princesses Amelia and Caroline. By the influence of Lady Frankland, her sisters, the Lady Barbara Leigh and the Lady Henrietta Lumley, were induced to attend Whitefield's preaching, from which they received much spiritual good. This so exasperated Mr. Frankland, that he treated his wife with the utmost cruelty, declared she was the object of his aversion, and threatened to murder her. The result was, a separation followed, and, not long afterwards, Lady Frankland died.[158]

[158] Ibid. p. 20.

The Earl of Huntingdon and his illustrious wife constantly attended wherever Whitefield preached. Among others whom, at this early period, the Countess of Huntingdon interested in Whitefield's remarkable career, was Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, famed for her beauty, dignity, sprightliness, wit, petulance, pride, and vanity, and of whom it has been said that, by her influence in the Cabinet, she swayed the destinies of Europe with as great effect as did her husband, by his talents, in the field. The great duchess wrote as follows:--

"My dear Lady Huntingdon is always so very good to me, that I
must accept your very obliging invitation to accompany you to
hear Mr. Whitefield. I do hope that I shall be all the better
for all your excellent advice. God knows we all need mending,
and none more than myself. I have lived to see great changes
in the world, have acted a conspicuous part myself, and now
hope, in my old days,[159] to obtain mercy from God, as I never
expect any at the hands of my fellow-creatures. The Duchess
of Ancaster, Lady Townshend, and Lady Cobham were exceedingly
pleased with many observations in Mr. Whitefield's sermon at St.
Sepulchre's Church, which has made me lament ever since that I
did not hear it, as it might have been the means of doing me
some good; _for good, alas! I do want_, but where among the
corrupt sons and daughters of Adam am I to find it?"[160]

[159] She died five years afterwards, in 1744.

[160] "Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon," vol. i., p. 25.

Another aristocratic lady, who, in these early days of Methodism, attended the preaching of Whitefield and the Wesleys, was the proud Duchess of Buckingham, a natural daughter of King James the Second, whose first husband was the Earl of Anglesey (from whom she was divorced), and her second, John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, in whose house (now Buckingham Palace) she died, in 1742. This quasi-royal duchess heard the Methodists, but disliked their doctrines. Writing to the Countess of Huntingdon, she said:--

"I thank your ladyship for the information concerning the
Methodist preachers. Their doctrines are most repulsive, and
strongly tinctured with impertinence and disrespect towards
their superiors, in perpetually endeavouring to level all ranks,
and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to be told
that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that
crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting;
and I cannot but wonder that your ladyship should relish any
sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding.
However, I shall be most happy to accept your kind offer of
accompanying me to hear your favourite preacher, and shall
wait your arrival. The Duchess of Queensbury insists on my
patronising her on this occasion; consequently, she will be an
_addition_ to our party."[161]

[161] "Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon," vol. i., p. 27.

The Duchess of Queensbury, to whom allusion has just been made, was the second daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, and was celebrated for extraordinary beauty, humour, and vivacity, by Pope, Swift, and other poets, particularly by Prior, in one of his well-known ballads. For a time, she constantly attended the ministry of Whitefield and his brother Methodists, and was specially partial to the preaching of Charles Wesley and Benjamin Ingham.[162]

[162] Ibid. p. 28.

Other distinguished hearers might be mentioned. Lady Lisburne, for example, was a frequent attendant on the preaching of the first Methodists, and was roused, by their powerful ministry, to a lively concern for eternal things. Also, Lady Hinchinbroke, grand-daughter of the Duke of Montague, and mother of the celebrated John George Montague, fourth Earl of Sandwich. This noble lady was deeply affected by the sermons of Whitefield and Wesley, and wrote as follows to the Countess of Huntingdon:--

"I am extremely sensible of the honour your ladyship has done
me by the book which you have sent. Indeed, I stand in need of
all your sympathy and all your unwearied exertions; for I feel
myself utterly helpless, miserable, and guilty in the sight of
heaven; and, were it not for the ray of hope which I have in
the atoning sacrifice of Christ, would be driven to despair and
ruin. Have you heard where Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley are to
preach this week?"[163]

[163] Ibid. p. 31.

But, leaving his aristocratic hearers, it is time to return to Whitefield himself. On the day after his ordination at Oxford, he came back to London, where he spent the next three weeks. An immense amount of work was thrust into this brief interval. He gave Charles Wesley "so promising an account of Oxford," that Charles felt "strongly inclined" to settle there, as he had been urged to do at the recently held conference of Oxford Methodists.[164] He transacted business with the Trustees of Georgia, who presented him to the living of Savannah, and granted him five hundred acres of land for his projected Orphan House. He was frequent in his attendance at the Moravian meetings in Fetter Lane, "where," says he, "we sometimes spent whole nights in prayer, and where I have often seen the people overwhelmed with the Divine Presence, and crying out, 'Will God indeed dwell with men upon earth?'" He spent an "afternoon _in visiting some Dissenting brethren, who were Christians indeed_,"--an act of courtesy which his friend Wesley carefully avoided. He went even to Stoke Newington, to have an interview with the arch-Dissenter of the day--the celebrated Dr. Watts--who, though in great debility and suffering, was actively employed in publishing a pamphlet on one of the most debateable of topics, "Civil Power in Things Sacred."[165] During his three weeks' stay in London, Whitefield preached more than twenty times, and expounded almost fifty. He began to make collections for his Orphan House in Georgia. He had a long conference with an opposing clergyman, who objected to private Societies and extempore prayer, grounding his objection on the authority of the Canons and the Act of Uniformity. Whitefield replied that the Canons and the Act of Uniformity referred to _public worship only_, whereas that of the Societies was _not public worship_, but only "an imitation of the primitive Christians, who continued daily with one accord in the _temple_, and yet exhorted one another _from house to house_." He had another conference, which lasted till after midnight, with two Church of England clergymen, who were "strong opposers of the doctrine of the new birth." Whitefield says, "God enabled me, with great simplicity, to declare what He had done for my soul, which made them look upon me as a madman." Besides his work in London, Whitefield went to Bexley, where he preached, and spent two delightful evenings with the Delamottes. He also went to Gravesend, where he preached in the churches twice, and in private houses expounded thrice; his journey there and back being performed by boat on the river Thames--a six hours' sail in the depth of winter, begun from London at three o'clock in the morning, and from Gravesend at eleven o'clock at night. The churches in London that he was allowed to occupy were: St. Helen's in Bishopsgate Street, where his friend Broughton was minister; Christ Church, in Spitalfields; St. Catherine's; Islington; Wapping; St. George's-in-the-East; and St. Margaret's, Westminster.

[164] C. Wesley's Journal, vol. i., p. 140.

[165] Milner's Life of Watts, p. 610.

"I sleep but little, very little," said he, in a letter dated
January 27, 1739. "Had I a thousand hands, I could employ
them all. I scare know what it is to have an idle moment. I
thank you for blessing God on my behalf. I want a thousand
tongues to praise Him. He still works by me more and more.
Subscriptions for erecting an orphan house come in apace. On
Monday seven-night, God willing, I set out for Bristol, with Mr.
Seward. Mr. Howel Harris and I are correspondents, blessed be
God! May I follow him as he does Jesus Christ! How he outstrips
me!"

As Messrs. Seward and Harris will occupy a somewhat prominent position in the ensuing pages, a brief account of them may be acceptable.

William Seward, together with his brothers, Thomas, Benjamin, and Henry, were natives of Badsey, a hamlet about two and a half miles from Evesham, and were men of independent property. Thomas was a clergyman of the Church of England, and will be mentioned hereafter. Little is known respecting Benjamin, excepting that he spent some years at Cambridge, was unimpeachable in his morals, was converted in the spring of 1739,[166] and occasionally employed himself in composing hymns. The following was appended to an 8vo. pamphlet, published in the year of his conversion, and entitled "The Conduct and Doctrine of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield vindicated." Though lacking poetic merit, it is not without interest as exhibiting the spirit of one of Whitefield's great admirers:--

"Come, blessed Jesus, quickly come,
And mark the bright celestial way;
Within my breast erect Thy throne,
Nor let me faint through long delay.

I'm weary of these earthly toys,
The world, and all its flattering charms;
My heart pants after purer joys,
And Christ alone my bosom warms.

With coldness and contempt, I view
These vain, these transitory scenes;
Since faith hath form'd my soul anew,
And wak'd me from Egyptian dreams.

Methinks a ray of heavenly light
Already darts upon my soul;
Methinks the promis'd land's in sight;
My heart's the needle, Christ the pole.

What though, for pageantry and state,
Others to earthly treasures trust,
And, aiming falsely to be great,
Like the vile serpents lick the dust:

My hope, my treasure, and my rest--
My all-sufficiency's above;
The kingdoms of the world possess'd
Are vain without my Saviour's love."

[166] Whitefield's Journal, Edit. 1756, p. 116.

Henry Seward, the eldest of the brothers, was married to a Baptist wife, and was, as will be seen, a violent opposer of the Methodists.

William was drawn to seek after God and serve Him as early as the year 1728. He laboured hard and successfully in reviving the charity schools in London, particularly those in Langbourn Ward, Castle Baynard Ward, Billingsgate Ward, Vintry Ward, in the parish of St. George the Martyr, and in Hackney. For the school at the last-mentioned place, he raised, by subscriptions and public collections, an income of £150 per annum, and that notwithstanding the "opposition of the minister, the churchwardens, and the vestrymen of the parish."[167]

[167] Journal of a Voyage from Savannah to England. By William
Seward, Gent. 1740.

In the year 1738, he became acquainted with Charles Wesley and the Methodists, and, in the month of November, found peace with God through faith in Christ. Oddly enough, he was allowed to be present at the Conference of Oxford Methodists, already mentioned, on January 5, 1739.[168] A few weeks afterwards, he became Whitefield's travelling companion; and went with him to America in August, 1739.

[168] C. Wesley's Journal, vol. i., pp. 135 and 136.

William Seward returned to England, not to stay in it, but, 1. To induce Mr. Hutchins, the Oxford Methodist, to take the management of Whitefield's Orphan House in Georgia. 2. To convince the Trustees of Georgia that three things were necessary to establish the Colony, viz.: "an allowance of negroes, a free title to the lands, and an independent magistracy." 3. To collect subscriptions for a negro school in Pennsylvania. And, 4. To bring the money, lodged in the hands of the trustees, for building the church at Savannah.

These were the public reasons why Mr. Seward returned to England; but there were also private reasons. Mr. Seward had bought five thousand acres of land on the forks of Delaware, for which he had paid £2,200 sterling; and he hoped to beg this amount of money in England, and then to give the land for the erection of a negro school, and also a location for a number of "English friends, where," to use Seward's words, "they might worship God in their own way, without being thought _Enthusiasts_ for so doing." He also intended to buy a ship in England for the purpose of conveying the refugees to their foreign home. The place was to be a sort of "Hernhuth" in America. Besides this, William Seward seems to have been a widower with an only daughter, who was being educated by a private governess. He was now desirous to remove his daughter to Georgia, and to complete her education in Whitefield's Orphan House. With reference to this, he wished to buy of the Trustees of Georgia five hundred acres of land adjoining the Orphan House estate, provided he could have a perfect title to leave it to the Orphan House, if he thought desirable.

From this concise statement it will be seen that Mr. Seward had abundance of business to transact in England; but besides all this, there was a family quarrel exceedingly unpleasant. The elder brother, Henry Seward, was wroth at his brothers becoming Methodists. Three months before William's return to England, Benjamin Seward was seriously ill. "His fever was called madness." His letters were intercepted, and his servants set over him as spies. Charles Wesley went to see him, but was not admitted to his presence, and wrote:--"Henry Seward fell upon me without preface or ceremony. I was the downfall of his brother, had picked his pocket, ruined his family, come now to get more money, was a scoundrel, rascal, and so forth, and deserved to have my gown stripped over my ears. He concluded with threatening how he would beat me, if he could but catch me on Bengeworth Common." On the day after this angry interview, Charles Wesley attempted to preach. Henry Seward came and said, "Four constables are ordered to apprehend you if you come near my brother's wall," the place appointed for preaching; "so come at your peril." Charles writes:--

"I walked towards the place. Mr. Henry met me with threats and
revilings. I began singing--

'Shall I, for fear of feeble man,
Thy Spirit's course in me restrain?'

He ran about raving like a madman, and quickly got some men
for his purpose, who laid hold on me. Henry cried, 'Take him
away, and duck him.' I broke out into singing with T. Maxfield,
and let them carry me whither they would. At the bridge in the
lane, they left me. There I stood out of the liberty of the
corporation, and gave out--

'Angel of God, whate'er betide,
Thy summons I obey!'"

Charles then proceeded to preach to a congregation of some hundreds, from the words, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

Eight days after this, Charles Wesley and Henry Seward had another altercation. The country squire again lost his manners, and after calling the poor Methodist preacher, "rogue, rascal, villain, and pickpocket," actually wrung his nose. Charles departed, rejoicing that he was counted worthy to suffer shame in the cause of Christ.[169]

[169] C. Wesley's Journal.

Three months after this disreputable scene, William Seward arrived in England, and most likely visited his brothers at Badsey. Be that as it may, when William and Charles Wesley met at Bristol, in the month of September following, William was evidently prejudiced against his friend. Charles writes:--

"1740, September 23. Mr. W. Seward came, and was very cordial.
We prayed, rejoiced, and gave thanks. If I did not love him the
better for his opinion, I am sure it made me more industrious to
confirm my old love towards him. I carried him to our colliers.
He spoke a few words to them, which did not convince me of his
call to preach. In our return, he told me Mrs. Grevil and others
had urged him to claim the Room in the Horse-fair,[170] but
he abhorred their baseness. Next day, he told me he was in a
mist, the Baptists last night having laboured hard to make him
oppose me publicly. Before we parted, all was set right again;
but a few hours after, he came from the Baptists, and utterly
renounced both me and my brother, in bitter words of hatred,
which they had put into his mouth."[171]

[170] The first meeting-house Wesley built.

[171] C. Wesley's Journal.

William Seward's work was nearly ended. Immediately after this painful interview in Bristol, he proceeded to Wales, where he joined Howell Harris, and met with most brutal treatment. At Caerleon, where he preached, he was "pelted with dung and dirt, eggs and plumbstones." Some hard substance hit him on the eye, the result of the blow being a total loss of sight. But even this was not the worst. At Hay, a man struck him so severely on the head, that, a few days afterwards, on October 22, 1740,[172] his life was ended at the early age of thirty-eight. On hearing of his death, Wesley wrote:--

"1740, October 27. The surprising news of poor Mr. Seward's
death was confirmed. Surely God will maintain His own cause.
Righteous art Thou, O Lord!"

[172] In "The Life and Times of Wesley," William Seward is said to
have died in 1741. This is a mistake; the proper date is 1740.

On the same occasion, Charles Wesley wrote:--

"1740, October 28. I was exceedingly shocked with the news of
Mr. Seward's death; but he is taken from the evil; rescued out
of the hands of wicked men."

This is a long account of Seward and his brothers; but their names have always been so prominent in the early career of Whitefield and the Wesleys, that the writer hopes to be forgiven for collecting the hitherto scattered scraps of information concerning them, and presenting that information in a connected form.

After William Seward's death, his brothers are never mentioned in Methodistic annals.

The account of Howell Harris shall be shorter. It is taken from a document written by himself. This memorable Welshman was born at Trevecka, on January 23, 1714, and was, therefore, a few months older than his friend Whitefield. In 1732, when his father died, Harris took charge of a country school. In 1735, he found peace with God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Converted himself, he had an intense desire to convert others. He writes:--

"Swearing, lying, reviling, drunkenness, fighting, and gaming
overspread the country. Ministers were not in earnest, and
their instructions, delivered in an unfeeling and indifferent
manner, seemed to have no effect upon their hearers. I could
not help making it my business to speak to all I came near of
their danger. Death and judgment, and the necessity of praying
and receiving the sacrament, were the principal subjects of my
conversation. I set up family worship in my mother's house, and
on Sunday mornings some of the neighbours would come to hear me
read the lessons and psalms, etc."

He proceeds to relate how he also commenced meetings on Sunday evenings, and exhorted the poor people who flocked to hear him. "Thus," he says, "I spent that summer, 1735."

In November following, he relinquished his school, and entered himself at St. Mary's Hall, Oxford; but the "irregularities and immoralities which surrounded" him were such, that he kept only a single term, and returned to Wales. He again set up a school at Trevecka. He visited from house to house, until he had visited the greatest part of his native parish. His congregation increased, and the houses in which they met could not contain them. Many of his hearers became penitent, and cried to God for the pardon of their sins. Family worship in numerous instances was begun. The churches were soon crowded, and likewise the Lord's table. Then persecution arose. The magistrates threatened him with fines for holding meetings in private houses. The clergy did their utmost to discourage him, and, at the end of the year 1737, expelled him from his school.

Up to the present, in the day-time he had taught his scholars, and at night had held meetings. Now he had both days and nights at his disposal, and preached to crowded congregations thirty or forty times every week. The magistrates threatened him more furiously than ever; and the clergy preached against him, and branded him as a deceiver; but, in several counties, a general reformation was witnessed. Public diversions became unfashionable, and religion became the common talk. Places of worship were everywhere thronged, and, in many places, Societies were set up. The Rev. Griffith Jones began his charity schools. The Rev. Daniel Rowlands and some other young clergymen began to preach in the same extemporary manner as Harris did. The work grew, and so also did the persecution. In Montgomeryshire, "a knight, a clergyman, two justices, a constable, and a mob," came while Harris was preaching, and charged him with a breach of the Conventicle Act. The preacher told the magistrates that he was a Conformist, and therefore not subject to the penalties of the Act in question. At Machynlleth he was surrounded by a mob, "threatening, swearing, and flinging stones," the leaders of the gang being a clergyman and a lawyer. He writes:--

"By the trials through which I often passed, I was at length
so accustomed to them that I was daily in expectation of them.
I became more acquainted with the world and myself, and could
attest the truth of that expression which at first seems harsh,
'Man is a mixture of beast and devil.'"

It is a remarkable fact, that, up to this date, Howell Harris had never seen either Whitefield or the Wesleys. Whitefield, on his return from Georgia, heard that the young evangelist, without episcopal ordination or any sort of ecclesiastical authority whatever, was preaching in the towns and villages of Wales thirty or forty times every week; and, notwithstanding the opposition and the violence of clergymen, magistrates, and mobs, had already been the means of accomplishing a marvellous reformation. The results were quite sufficient to constrain Whitefield to recognize the Welsh itinerant as a fellow-labourer in the same great work. Hence, only a few days after his arrival in England, Whitefield wrote to Howell Harris as follows:--

"LONDON, _December 20, 1738_.

"MY DEAR BROTHER,--Though I am unknown to you in person, I have
long been united to you in spirit, and have been rejoiced to
hear how the good pleasure of the Lord prospered in your hand.
Go on, my dear brother, go on. Be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of His might. There have been, and will be, many
adversaries; but be not afraid. He who sent you will assist,
comfort, and protect you, and make you more than conqueror
through His great love. I am a living monument of this, for the
Divine strength has often been magnified in my weakness. I have
tasted that the Lord is gracious; I have felt His power; and,
from experience, can say that, in doing or suffering the will of
Jesus Christ, there is great reward.

"Blessed be His holy name! There seems to be a great pouring out
of the Spirit in London, and we walk in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost, and are edified.

"You see, my dear Brother, the freedom I have taken in writing
to you. If you would favour me with a line or two, by way of
answer, you would greatly rejoice both me and many others. Why
should we not tell one another what God has done for our souls?

"My dear Brother, I love you in the bowels of Jesus Christ, and
wish you may be the spiritual father of thousands, and shine, as
the sun in the firmament, in the kingdom of your heavenly Father.

"Your affectionate, though unworthy brother in Christ,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."[173]

[173] "Brief Account of the Life of Harris." Trevecka, 1791, p. 110.

Such was Whitefield's warm-hearted salutation to the young lay-preacher in the principality of Wales. Harris's reply was equally cordial. The following is an extract from it:--

"GLAMORGAN, _January 8, 1739_.

"DEAR BROTHER,--I was most agreeably surprised last night
by a letter from you. Though this is the first time of our
correspondence, I am no stranger to you. When I first heard of
your labours and success, my soul was united to you, and engaged
to send addresses to heaven on your behalf. When I read your
Diary, I had uncommon influence of the Divine Presence shining
on my soul almost continually, but I little thought our good
Lord and Master intended I should ever see your handwriting.

Oh how ravishing it is to hear of such demonstrations of
the Divine love and favour to London! And, to make your joy
greater still, I have some good news to send you from Wales.
There is a great revival in Cardiganshire, through Mr. D.
Rowlands, a Church minister, who has been much owned and blessed
in Carmarthenshire also. We have also a sweet prospect in
Breckonshire and part of Monmouthshire. And the revival prospers
in this county where I am now. There is also here a very useful
young dissenting minister, who is a man of great charity. There
is another of the same character in Montgomeryshire. There
are two or three young curates in Glamorganshire, who are
well-wishers to the cause of God; and we have an exceedingly
valuable clergyman in Breckonshire. But enemies are many and
powerful. Oh that I had more love in my soul, more humble zeal,
and spiritual boldness!"[174]

After this long but not useless digression, it is time to return to Whitefield.

He was detained in England much longer than he expected, but he was not unmindful of his flock in Georgia. In a letter "to the inhabitants of Savannah," dated January 19, 1739, he says:--

"You are upon my heart, so that I am ready to live and die with
you. As soon as my affairs are finished in England, I shall
return to you. The trustees have now appointed me minister
of Savannah, and granted all I desired of them, so that I
have nothing to do but to watch over your souls, that I may
present you blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Be steadfast, therefore, my brethren, be unmoveable. Carefully
attend to the words spoken by your present pastor. Let love
be without dissimulation. Let not slander so much as be named
amongst you, as becometh saints. Be not slothful in business,
yet take heed that you are fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord. Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; and
assure yourselves you are continually remembered by your most
affectionate pastor,

"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."[174]

[174] Morgan's "Life and Times of Howell Harris," p. 30.

Before leaving for the West of England, Whitefield's last Sunday in London was a memorable one. He shall relate his own story.

"1739. Sunday, February 4. Preached in the morning at St.
George's in the East; collected £18 for the Orphan House; and
had, I believe, six hundred communicants, which highly offended
the officiating curate. Preached again at Christ Church,
Spitalfields; and gave thanks and sang psalms at a private
house. Went thence to St. Margaret's Westminster; but, something
breaking belonging to the coach, could not get thither till the
middle of the prayers. Went through the people to the minister's
pew, but, finding it locked, I returned to the vestry till
the sexton could be found. Being there informed that another
minister intended to preach, I desired several times that I
might go home. My friends would by no means consent, telling me
I was appointed by the trustees to preach; and that, if I did
not, the people would go out of the church. At my request, some
went to the trustees, churchwardens, and minister; and, whilst
I was waiting for an answer, and the last psalm was being sung,
a man came, with a wand in his hand, whom I took for the proper
church officer, and told me I was to preach. I, not doubting but
the minister was satisfied, followed him to the pulpit, and God
enabled me to preach with greater power than I had done all the
day before.

"After this, I prayed with and gave an exhortation to a company
that waited for me. Then I went to Fetter Lane, where I spent
the whole night in watching unto prayer, and discussing several
important points with many truly Christian friends. About four
in the morning, we went all together, and broke bread at a poor
sick sister's room; and so we parted, I hope, in a spirit not
unlike that of the primitive Christians."

This is soon related, but the service at St. Margaret's must have further notice. It engendered a rancorous controversy, which cannot, in fairness, be omitted.

In a long leading article in the _Weekly Miscellany_ of February 10, 1739, the following account was published:--

"On Sunday last, our new _Methodists_ discovered a more violent
temper than is consistent with their great pretensions to
_meekness_ and _sanctity_. The story is as follows, and it was
related to me by the gentleman that read the prayers:--

"At St. Margaret's, Westminster, there is a _Society_ Evening
Lecture; and when the Reader came, he found in the _churchyard_,
at the _west door_, a number of people singing psalms. When he
got into the _church_, he was affronted by some unknown persons
as he passed through a great crowd to the vestry. As soon as the
clergyman appointed to _preach_ came, he was _solicited_ (if an
_overbearing importunity_ may be so called) to resign the pulpit
to Mr. Whitefield, who (as is supposed by his not appearing at
the _prayers_) was waiting at some neighbouring house to know
the issue of their application. But the _preacher_ continuing
as determined to do his duty as Mr. Whitefield was to do it for
him, they at last effected that by _force_ which they could
not gain by _treaty_. So the _preacher_ was safely confined
in his _pew_, which was locked (the sexton being appointed by
the _Society_, and in Mr. Whitefield's interest), and guarded
by several lusty fellows; while another party conveyed the
_unlicensed intruder_ triumphantly up into the pulpit, and kept
sentry on the stairs for fear he should be taken down in as
forcible a manner as he got up."

Mr. Venn, the writer of this account, then adds:--

"There are many instances of these _unauthorised_ teachers
using _fraudulent_ and _unfair_ means of getting into pulpits
against the inclination of the _proper minister_ or _appointed
preacher_. Sometimes they ask the pulpit for a _friend_, and
then send Mr. Whitefield or some other _Methodist_. Another
method has been by slipping up into the pulpit as soon as the
prayers are over, without asking any leave at all. And all these
_disorders_, _irregularities_, and _artifices_ are practised by
persons who have no _warrant_, but _their pretended call from
heaven_, to preach in _any_ church in the diocese."

The reader has thus before him the two conflicting statements. A fortnight afterwards, in the same newspaper, Mr. Bennett, one of the stewards of the Society, whose evening lecture at St. Margaret's had caused so much uproar, declared that the simple facts were these:--

"On Sunday, February 4, Mr. Whitefield, at the desire of
the Friendly Society, came from Spitalfields Church to St.
Margaret's, of Westminster. He would have gone into the
minister's seat, but could not, there being no one to unlock
the door. He then went into the vestry, and stayed there during
prayers. The usual preacher before the Society[175] was out of
town, otherwise they would have acquainted him with their desire
of Mr. Whitefield preaching, which they doubt not but he would
have complied with. That he had desired another to preach, they
knew not, when they asked Mr. Whitefield to do it; but when he
was come, in compliance with their frequently repeated desire,
they did insist upon his preaching."

[175] In another letter, it is stated that "the usual preacher
before the Society" was the Rev. Mr. Morgan. Query: Was this Charles
Morgan the Oxford Methodist?

Mr. Bennett adds, that all the rest of Mr. Venn's letter, relating to the affront offered to the Reader of Prayers, the Rev. Mr. Durant; the "_overbearing importunity_" brought to bear upon the Rev. J. Majendie, the gentleman who had promised to preach for the absent lecturer; the assumed waiting of Whitefield in a neighbouring house; the employment of the sexton in Whitefield's interest; the taking of the pulpit by "force;" and the sentry of lusty fellows on the pulpit stairs, were not facts, but fiction, created by the writer's "own ingenuity, purely to heighten and embellish his story."

Much more was printed respecting the St. Margaret's fracas; but the case, in brief, was this: The Rev. Mr. Morgan, the Lecturer, having to be out of town, asked the Rev. J. Majendie to supply his place on February 4, at St. Margaret's, and Mr. Majendie readily consented to do so. Meanwhile, the officers of the Friendly Society, ascertaining that their "usual lecturer" would be from home, and very improperly taking it for granted that he had provided no one to occupy the pulpit for him, rashly went to Whitefield, and obtained from him a promise to preach in Mr. Morgan's stead. When Whitefield found that Mr. Majendie was present, as Mr. Morgan's properly engaged substitute, he wished to retire, and would have done so, if, to use Mr. Bennett's own expression, the officers of the Society had not "_insisted upon his preaching_."

This is all that can be said about this disreputable brawling in St. Margaret's. Mr. Morgan and Mr. Majendie were blameless. Mr. Bennett and his friends were highly culpable in setting aside the arrangement made by their absent Lecturer; and Whitefield, when he had ascertained that Mr. Majendie had come to preach, would have acted a more courteous and less ignoble part, if, instead of taking Mr. Morgan's pulpit, he had at once retired to the Moravian Meeting House in Fetter Lane.

Some will think that more space has been devoted to this unhappy affair than its importance merits; but those who have had the perseverance to make themselves acquainted with all the Methodist facts of the year 1739, will think otherwise, as there can be no doubt that this unfortunate _contretemps_ in Westminster was the real or pretended occasion of much of the clerical opposition which Whitefield soon encountered in Bristol, Bath, and other places; and it certainly was the beginning of the furious onslaughts upon Methodism and the Methodists, which, for so many months, disgraced the _Weekly Miscellany_ and Dr. Hooker, its trenchant editor. Several of these attacks will be noticed hereafter; but one must be introduced now, inasmuch as its date is nearly the same as that of the imbroglio at St. Margaret's. In his leading article of February 10, 1739, Mr. Hooker[176] wrote:--

"At first, we only looked upon the Methodists as well-meaning,
zealous people, whom the irreligious boldness of these wicked
times had driven somewhat too far into the contrary extreme of
infidelity. They were a sort of Protestant supererogators, that
would be righteous over-much; and there were hopes that, when
this devotional effervescence had boiled over, they would return
to that proper medium where true piety and Christian prudence
fix the centre. But, instead of that, they have proceeded so
far as to eject the _Liturgy_ and the _usual Expositors_ out of
their meetings, and have declared for _extemporary_ effusions
both in their _prayers_ and _expoundings_. The _laity_ are
allowed to be _teachers_, and even _women_, as I am informed,
begin to usurp public offices. They pretend to a sort of
_sinless perfection_, and boast of _inward joys_ above other
Christians. They distinguish themselves from others by having
_received the faith_, with which, and other cant phrases, they
are united together like a sect of _Religious Freemasons_.
In general, they seem to be practising over the lesson set
them by the _old Puritans_ before the beginning of the _grand
rebellion_."

[176] One of Whitefield's assailants in the _Weekly Miscellany_
of February 10, 1739, died a week after his attack was published.
(Whitefield's Journal, p. 33.)

Three days after he preached at St. Margaret's, Whitefield, accompanied by William Seward, set out for Bristol.

"I never was more opposed," says he, "and never met with so
great success. I hope I shall learn more and more every day,
that no place is amiss for preaching the Gospel. God forbid
that the word of God should be bound because some deny the use
of their churches! The more I am bid to hold my peace, the more
earnestly will I lift up my voice like a trumpet, and tell the
people what must be done in them before they can be finally
saved by Jesus Christ." [177]

[177] Whitefield's Journal.

Even while travelling, Whitefield could not refrain from preaching. At Windsor, he "expounded in the school-house to a great number of people with freedom and power." At Basingstoke, he preached for an hour in a large room thronged with people, while a mob outside shouted and threw stones at the windows. The next day, three large rooms were filled. Some began to interrupt: but "God," says he, "enabled me to speak with such power that they were quite struck dumb and confounded. Near twenty came to converse with me, and to hear the word of God. How thankful ought I to be to my dear Master for sending me hither! A vestry, I find, was called to stop my proceedings, and I hear I am to be presented to the Diocesan."

At Basingstoke, also, he wrote a letter to a friend, which contains a paragraph too valuable to be omitted.

"BASINGSTOKE, _February 8, 1739_.

"Just now God has brought us to Basingstoke, where I hope an
effectual door will be opened before we leave. Oh, my dear
friend, more and more do I see the benefit of confessing our
blessed Lord before men. He has begun, He will carry on, He will
finish the good work in our souls. We have nothing to do, but
to lay hold on Him by faith, and to depend on Him for wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Not but we must
be workers together with Him; for a true faith in Jesus Christ
will not suffer us to be idle. No: it is an active, lively,
restless principle; it fills the heart, so that it cannot be
easy till it is doing something for Jesus Christ."

At Dummer, the little parish where he once was curate, Whitefield met his old Oxford friends, Messrs. Kinchin and Hutchins, with whom he took sweet counsel, sung psalms, and prayed.

At Salisbury, he writes, "I paid a visit to an old disciple, my brother Wesley's mother," at that time visiting her son-in-law, Westley Hall.[178] Here also he sought an interview with the well-known sceptic, Thomas Chubb, resident in an adjoining village, respecting his "True Gospel of Jesus Christ asserted;" but the "free-thinker," (who, by the way, regularly attended the services of his parish church,) happened not to be at home.

[178] In a letter to her son Samuel, dated March 8, 1739, Susannah
Wesley writes:--"Mr. Whitefield has been taking a progress through
these parts to make a collection for a house in Georgia for orphans
and such of the natives' children as they will part with to learn
our language and religion. He came hither to see me, and we talked
about your brothers. I told him, I did not like their way of living,
and wished them in some place of their own, wherein they might
regularly preach. He replied, 'I could not conceive the good they
did in London; that the greatest part of our clergy were asleep;
and that there never was a greater need of itinerant preachers
than now.' I then asked Mr. Whitefield if my sons were not making
some innovations in the Church, which I much feared. He assured me
they were so far from it, that they endeavoured all they could to
reconcile Dissenters to our communion. His stay was short, so I
could not talk with him so much as I desired. He seems to be a very
good man, and one who truly desires the salvation of mankind. God
grant that the wisdom of the serpent may be joined to the innocence
of the dove!" ("Memorials of the Wesley Family," by G. J. Stevenson,
p. 216.)

On February 14th, Whitefield arrived at Bath, and immediately waited upon Dr. C., desiring the use of the Abbey Church, to preach a sermon for the Orphan House, the Trustees of Georgia having obtained the consent of the bishop more than twelve months before. "But," he writes, "Dr. C. was pleased to give me an absolute refusal to preach either on that or on any other occasion, without a positive order from the king or bishop. I asked him his reasons. He said he was not obliged to give me any. Upon which, I took my leave and retired with my friends, and prayed for him most fervently." On the evening of the same day, Whitefield came to Bristol, where his old friends welcomed him with the utmost joy; but his chief pleasure, on his arrival, was, not the greetings of his friends, but the calumny of his enemies. He writes: "Who can express the joy with which I was received? To add to my comfort, many letters came to my hands from London friends. But the chiefest pleasure was, some one had thought me considerable enough to write a letter in the _Weekly Miscellany_ against me, and containing several untruths about my preaching at St. Margaret's, Westminster. Thou shalt answer for me, my Lord and my God! Yet a little while, and we shall all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ!"

Next morning, Whitefield first of all waited upon the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe, and asked the loan of his church, to preach a sermon on behalf of the contemplated Orphan House in Georgia. Mr. Gibbs refused, saying, "he could not lend his church without a special order from the chancellor." Nothing daunted, Whitefield went at once to the chancellor, who declined to issue an order for Mr. Gibbs, but stated that if any clergyman thought proper to lend his church to Whitefield, he (the chancellor) would not prohibit it; nevertheless, he advised Whitefield to go to some other town until the bishop had been consulted. Whitefield was far too ardent and impetuous to wait for the bishop's leave, and, hence, from the chancellor, he proceeded direct to the residence of the dean. Having shewn him his "Georgia Accounts," he asked, "Can there be any just objection against my preaching in churches for the Orphan House?" "I cannot tell," replied the dean, "but I will give you an answer some other time; now I am expecting company." "Will you be pleased to fix a time, sir?" "I will send to you," said the dean; and so ended Whitefield's interview, number three.

It cannot be denied, that, in all this, there was a display of more self-confidence than is commendable. Whitefield was a young man, not yet twenty-five; he had neither high rank, nor special scholarship to recommend him to the Church dignitaries of the day; his ecclesiastical standing was extremely insignificant--only incumbent of the distant and small settlement of Savannah. It is true, he had, a year and a half ago, moved both Bristol and the metropolis by his earnest, startling, godly eloquence; but, during the interval, his injudicious friends had published his Journals, written with the utmost artlessness, but containing much never meant for the public eye; and, within the last few days, by the rash proceedings of certain of his admirers, he had been placed in an equivocal position at St. Margaret's, Westminster. Remembering all this, it was doubtless a bold--some would call it a presumptuous--act to ask the loan of the Abbey Church, at Bath, and, next to the Cathedral, of the finest church in Bristol; and further, it is hardly surprising that his well-intentioned applications were refused.

Whitefield was baffled, but not discomfited. Churches, for the present, might be closed against him, but there was Bristol prison; there were the rooms of the Religious Societies; and there was Kingswood Hill.

In the afternoon of the very day, when his diplomacy with three of the principal ecclesiastics in Bristol was such a mortifying failure, he tried his skill with another functionary of a more humble order. At this period, the keeper of Bristol Prison was a Mr. Dagge, whom Dr. Johnson has immortalized in his Life of the poet Savage.[179] Mr. Dagge had been amongst the firstfruits of Whitefield's ministry in Bristol prison, in 1737,[180] and Whitefield's application to him was more successful than those he had made to the vicar, the chancellor, and the dean. He writes:--

"About three in the afternoon, God having given me great favour
in the gaoler's eyes, I preached a sermon on the Penitent
Thief, to the poor prisoners in Newgate, and collected fifteen
shillings for them."

[179] This remarkable man, after a life of strange vicissitudes,
was arrested for debt, on January 10, 1743, and put into Newgate
prison, Bristol, where he remained until his death on the 31st of
July next ensuing. Dr. Johnson writes: "He was treated by Mr. Dagge,
the keeper of the prison, with great humanity; was supported by him
at his own table without any certainty of recompence; had a room to
himself, to which he could at any time retire from all disturbance;
was allowed to stand at the door of the prison, and was sometimes
taken out into the fields; so that he suffered fewer hardships in
prison than he had been accustomed to undergo in the greatest part
of his life. During the whole time of his imprisonment, the keeper
continued to treat him with the utmost tenderness and civility.
Virtue is undoubtedly most laudable in that state which makes it
most difficult, and therefore the humanity of a gaoler certainly
deserves this public attestation; and the man whose heart has not
been hardened by such an employment may be justly proposed as a
pattern of benevolence. If an inscription was once engraved 'to
the honest toll-gatherer,' less honours ought not to be paid 'to
the tender gaoler.'" It ought to be added, to the honour of Dagge,
Whitefield's friend and admirer, that he defrayed the expense of
burying Savage in the churchyard of St. Peter's.

[180] "Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon," vol. ii., p. 357.

This was the beginning. Next morning, he made an arrangement, that, while he remained in Bristol, he would read prayers and preach to the prisoners every day, an arrangement which was faithfully fulfilled, until the 12th of March, when the mayor and the sheriffs thought it their duty to interfere, and absolutely commanded Mr. Dagge not to allow Whitefield to preach in the prison-house again, alleging, as their reason, that he insisted upon the necessity of our being born again--a thing which those custodians, if not regenerators, of outcast men, were unable to understand.

Whitefield's preaching to the prisoners, however, was but a small part of his public labours in Bristol and in the neighbourhood. His present sojourn here lasted between six and seven weeks, during which he preached above sixty times, and expounded fifty.

Closing the churches against him was not the way to silence him. His "heart was hot within him;" while he mused "the fire burned;" and to speak with his tongue became almost a necessity of life. For the present, he had the use of the city prison; but fancy a man like Whitefield being satisfied with a cure of souls all under a single roof! The opportunity of preaching to Mr. Dagge's domestics was important, and doubtless useful; but it was not enough; and, hence, as Whitefield had no other place in which to preach, away he went, and, for the first time in England, in the bleak month of February, preached out of doors, to a congregation of colliers, on Kingswood Hill. He writes:--

"1739. February 17, Saturday. About one in the afternoon, I
went with my brother (William) Seward, and another friend to
Kingswood, and was most delightfully entertained by an old
disciple of the Lord. My bowels have long yearned toward the
poor colliers, who are very numerous, and as sheep having no
shepherd. After dinner, therefore, I went upon a mount, and
spake to as many people as came unto me. They were upwards of
two hundred. Blessed be God that I have now broken the ice! I
believe I was never more acceptable to my Master than when I
was standing to teach those hearers in the open fields. Some
may censure me; but if I thus pleased men, I should not be the
servant of Christ."[181]

[181] In a MS. left behind him, Whitefield remarks in reference
to this service: "I thought it might be doing service to my
Creator, 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 highways and hedges." It may also be
added here, as an interesting fact, that Whitefield's first sermon
at Kingswood was the means under God of the conversion of Thomas
Maxfield, generally, but incorrectly, said to have been the first
layman whom Wesley authorised to preach. (Vindication of Rev. Mr.
Maxfield's Conduct, 1767, p. 3.)

Thus began, apparently without intention, the marvellous outdoor services which distinguished the career of Whitefield and the Wesleys. This was only three days after Whitefield came to Bristol. He would have preferred the churches; but, even in the midst of winter, was thankful for the open fields. It is a remarkable fact, however, that, though when he arrived in Bristol, every church was closed against him, on the very day immediately succeeding that on which he set his pulpit on Kingswood Hill, the pulpits of three of the Bristol churches were freely offered him. Hear what he says:--

"1739. February 18, Sunday. Arose this morning about six, being
called up by near fifty young persons, whom I appointed to meet
at my sister's house, and with whom I spent above an hour in
prayer, psalm-singing, and a warm exhortation. Soon after this,
I read prayers and preached at Newgate, to a large and very
attentive congregation. At ten, I preached at St. Werburg's, to
a large audience. I thought yesterday I should not have the use
of any pulpit; but God, who has the hearts of all men in His
hands, disposed the Rev. Mr. Penrose to lend me his; and the
Rev. Mr. Gibbs sent to me and offered me the use both of St.
Thomas's and St. Mary Redcliffe. I accepted the latter of these,
and preached to such a congregation as my eyes never yet saw.
Many went away for want of room, and Mr. Gibbs and his lady were
exceeding civil both to me and Mr. Seward."

On the following day, Whitefield had the use of another church, the parish church of St. Philip and Jacob, where he preached, to a great multitude, in the afternoon, and collected £18 for the Orphan House in Georgia. "Thousands," says he, "went away, because there was no room for them within."

This was too much for the equanimity of the Chancellor of the Bristol Diocese. Only four days before, he had virtually prohibited Whitefield preaching in any of the Bristol churches, without the bishop's leave being first obtained; and yet already had the young preacher had the hardihood to occupy three of the city churches, and was not at all unlikely to preach in others. Official patience with the ordained upstart was exhausted, and the apparitor was sent to summons Whitefield to the court of the Rev. Mr. R----l, the ecclesiastical lawyer of the Bishop of Bristol, versed in civil and canon law, and solemnly appointed to direct the bishop in the criminal and civil causes of the Church.

The summons was served on Tuesday, February 20, and was immediately obeyed. On Whitefield's appearance, the chancellor informed him that he intended "to stop his proceedings;" and that the registrar of the court was present to take down his answers.

_Chancellor._ "By what authority do you preach in the diocese of
Bristol without a license?"

_Whitefield._ "I thought that custom was grown obsolete. Pray,
sir, why did you not ask the Irish clergyman this question, who
preached for you last Thursday?"

_C._ "That is nothing to you." Then, reading part of the
Ordination Office, and the canons forbidding ministers to preach
in private houses, he asked, "What do you say to these?"

_W._ "I apprehend these canons do not belong to professed
ministers of the Church of England."

_C._ "But they do."