Chapter L: Tyerman (10)

_W._ "There is a canon forbidding all clergymen to frequent
taverns, and play at cards. Why is not that put in execution?"

_C._ "Why does not somebody lodge complaints? In such a case it
would."

Referring to his printed sermons for his principles, Whitefield
asked, "Why am I singled out?"

_C._ "You preach false doctrine."

_W._ "I cannot but speak the things that I know, and am resolved
to proceed as usual."

_C._ "Mr. Registrar, observe his answer." Then turning to
Whitefield, "I am resolved, sir, if you preach or expound
anywhere in this diocese, till you have a license, I will first
suspend, and then excommunicate you."

Upon this, Whitefield says, "I took my leave. He waited upon me very civilly to the door, and told me, 'What I do is in the name of the clergy and laity of the city of Bristol;' and so we parted."

With this ended Whitefield's ministry in Bristol churches. Meanwhile, however, he had written both to the Bishop of Bristol, and the Bishop of Bath and Wells. From the former, the celebrated Dr. Butler, author of the well-known "Analogy of Religion," etc., he received an answer on February 24, with which he again waited on the chancellor; but without success. Bishop Butler's letter is not preserved; but Whitefield's reply was as follows:--

"BRISTOL, _February 24, 1739_.

"MY LORD,--I humbly thank your lordship for the favour of your
lordship's letter. It gave abundant satisfaction to me, and many
others, who have not failed to pray in a particular manner for
your lordship's temporal and eternal welfare. To-day, I shewed
your lordship's letter to the chancellor, who (notwithstanding
he promised not to prohibit my preaching for the Orphan House
if your lordship was only neutral in the affair) has influenced
most of the clergy to deny me their pulpits, either on that
or any other occasion. Last week, he was pleased to charge me
with false doctrine. To-day, he has forgotten that he said so.
He also threatened to excommunicate me for preaching in your
lordship's diocese. I offered to take a license, but was denied.

"If your lordship should ask, What evil have I done? I answer,
None, save that I visit the Religious Societies, preach to the
prisoners in Newgate, and to the poor colliers in Kingswood,
who, I am told, are little better than heathens. I am charged
with being a Dissenter; though many are brought to the Church by
my preaching, not one taken from it. The chancellor is pleased
to tell me my conduct is contrary to the canons; but I told him
that the canons, which he produced, were not intended against
such meetings as mine are, where His Majesty is constantly
prayed for, and every one is free to see what is done.

"I am sorry to give your lordship this trouble; but I thought it
proper to mention these particulars, that I might know wherein
my conduct is exceptionable.

"I heartily thank your lordship for your intended benefaction.
I think the design is truly good, and will meet with success,
because so much opposed.

"God knows my heart. I desire only to promote His glory. If I
am spoken evil of, for His sake, I rejoice in it. My Master
was long since spoken evil of before me. But I intrude on your
lordship's patience.

"I am, with all possible thanks, my lord, your lordship's
dutiful son and servant,

"GEORGE WHITEFIELD."

So the matter ended. Curiosity would like to know what a man so eminent as Bishop Butler thought of the young Methodist, and what he said to him; but, unfortunately, the bishop's sentiments are not producible.

What was Whitefield to do next? He might at once have gone back to Georgia; but he wanted money to erect his Orphan House, and was not content to return without it. Besides, he seemed to consider the prohibition to preach in churches a kind of call to preach elsewhere. Preach he must. God had called him to the work. By the Bishop of Gloucester, he had been ordained to it. If churches were inaccessible, his only alternative was to make use of private houses, public rooms, and open fields.

The Religious Societies gladly accepted his services. He speaks of the Room of the Baldwin Street Society, together with the stairs and the court below, being crowded with people, profoundly attentive and powerfully affected. Here his expositions, more than once, were of two hours' duration; and, at one of the meetings, upwards of £5 was collected for his Orphan House. At his farewell service, the crowd about the place was such, that he had to climb a ladder, and go over the roof of an adjoining house, in order to get into the Room. The meeting-place of the Nicholas Street Society was quite as thronged as that of Baldwin Street; and here, by his recommendation, a charity school was opened, for which, he says, "I collected at the door myself, and few passed by without throwing in their mites." The Room of the Society without Lawford's Gate seems to have been connected with the parish poorhouse, and was sometimes so crowded, that Whitefield had to preach from the steps leading to the door, and sometimes to stand at the window, and there preach to those outside and those within. On one occasion, at the poorhouse, he made a collection for his contemplated orphanage; "and the poor people," says he, "so loaded my hat, that I wanted some one to hold up my hands. The cheerfulness with which they gave was inexpressible; and the many prayers they joined with their alms will, I hope, lay a good foundation for the house intended to be built."

When Newgate was closed against him, he wrote:--

"1739, March 14. Being forbid preaching in the prison, and,
withal, being resolved not to give place to my adversaries,
no, not for an hour, I preached at Baptist Mills, a place very
near to the city, to three or four thousand people. Blessed be
God! all things happen for the furtherance of the Gospel. I now
preach to ten times more people than I should if I had been
confined to the churches. Surely the devil is blind, and so
are his emissaries, or otherwise they would not thus confound
themselves. Every day I am invited to fresh places. I will go to
as many as I can; the rest I must leave unvisited till it shall
please God to bring me back from Georgia."

In this way, Whitefield became an itinerant outdoor preacher. At four different times, he went to Bath. Here he met the Rev. Griffith Jones, a devoted clergyman, who, two years before, had instituted his locomotive schools for educating the children of the poor in Wales, and who gave to Whitefield "an account of the many obstructions" he had encountered in his ministry, and convinced his visitor that he "was but a young soldier just entering the field." Here also he was introduced to the Rev. George Thompson, Vicar of St. Gennys, Cornwall, from the first a hearty friend of the Oxford Methodists.[182] He read prayers at the hospital; and, in the midst of a storm of snow, preached on the "Town Common." On another occasion, he preached out of doors to a congregation of four or five thousand, "of high and low, rich and poor." He writes: "As I went along, I observed many scoffers; and, when I got upon the table to preach, many laughed; but, before I had finished my prayer, all were hushed and silent; and, ere I had concluded my discourse, God, by His word, seemed to impress a great awe upon their minds; for all were deeply attentive, and appeared much affected with what had been spoken."

[182] Paul Orchard, Esq., of Stoke Abbey, was also now at
Bath, to whom James Hervey, his most intimate friend, wrote
as follows:--"1739, March 15. You have by this time seen Mr.
Whitefield, and are able to judge whether fame has flattered in the
account of him; or whether he be not indeed that amiable, excellent,
and heavenly young man which he was always represented to be."
(Letters Elegant, Interesting, and Entertaining, illustrative of the
author's amiable character. Never before published. By James Hervey.
London: 1811. 8vo. 348 pp.)

Whitefield went to Brislington, "a village," says he, "about two miles from Bristol, where was such a vast congregation, that, after I had read prayers in the church, I thought proper to preach in the churchyard,[183] that none might be sent empty away. The people were exceedingly attentive, and God gave me great utterance; and, what was best of all, by the leave of the minister who invited me thither, we had a sacrament, and I hope it was a communion of saints indeed."

[183] It must be remembered that all these outdoor services were
held in the depth of winter.

He writes again:--

"1739, Friday, March 16. Being much entreated by the people,
and horses being sent for me, I went and preached at Elberton,
a village about nine miles from Bristol. The clergyman denied
me the pulpit; so I preached on a little ascent on which the
May-pole was fixed. The weather being cold, and the adjacent
villages having but little notice, I had not above two hundred
hearers.[184] After dinner, I hastened to Thornbury, and
preached to a great part of my morning congregation, and many
hundreds besides. Mr. Willis, the incumbent, lent me the church,
and used me with great civility, as did two other clergymen who
were there present."

[184] The entire population of Elberton, in 1801, was only 179.

Whitefield also preached at Keynsham, where "great numbers of horsemen from Bristol" met him, "besides several thousands from the neighbouring villages." "The church being refused, he preached on a mount."

He likewise went to Publow, "a village about five miles from Bristol. The church was offered; but, not being sufficient to contain a third part of the audience," he preached in the open air.

At Coal-pit Heath, seven miles from Bristol, his congregation numbered above two thousand. The yard of the Glass-house, Bristol, was another of his preaching places. Here his "congregation consisted of many thousands." While he was preaching, "a gentleman (being drunk)" called him a dog, and said he "ought to be whipped at the cart's tail, and offered money to any that would pelt" him; but "the boys and people," instead of pelting the preacher, "began to cast stones and dirt" at the inebriated gentleman.

In Bristol, also, a large bowling-green was lent to Whitefield, where he preached twice in the last week in the month of March. On the first occasion, he says, he had a congregation of "about five thousand people, and made a collection for his poor orphans, till his hands were quite weary." On the second, he writes, "I believe seven or eight thousand people were present. The sun shone bright, and the windows and balconies of the adjoining houses were filled with hearers. I again collected for the Orphan House, and it was near an hour and a half before the people could go out. Many were very faint because of the throng, which was so exceeding great that they trod one upon another."

Strangely enough, at Winterbourne, and at Frenchay, he had, in private, friendly meetings with the Quakers; but, he says, he was not at all convinced by their arguments against paying tithes, an outward call to the ministry, and baptism, and the Lord's supper, though he admits that "their notions about walking and being led by the Spirit were right and good."

On the 6th of March, he and William Seward went off to Wales; the Rev. Richard Hutchins, afterwards Rector of Lincoln College, taking his place at Bristol. This, in its ultimate results, was an important visit; and, though only of four days' duration, was full of incident.

Here, however, an extract from a letter written by William Seward may be interjected.

"NEW PASSAGE, BRISTOL-SIDE, _March 6, 1739_.

"REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,--Our dear brother Whitefield goes
on from conquering to conquer. Thousands and ten thousands
flock to hear the word. He has been in but three churches,
and that was at his first coming. The chancellor threatened
excommunication, but soon dropt it. However, the glory of God
was to be promoted another way; for, being thrust out of the
synagogues, our brother has settled a lecture or exposition at
Newgate every morning; the place being more convenient than
Oxford Castle Chapel. He generally expounds to one, two, or
three Societies every night; and has preached seven or eight
times on a mount, about two miles from Bristol, where have been
from fifteen hundred to fifteen thousand hearers. Last Sunday
evening, we sung the hundredth psalm, and all could hear. It
is much like singing at a scaffold or stake with multitudes
around. At another place, the church not being big enough, he
preached from the cross. He preaches once a week on the steps
of a workhouse, with a hall behind, and a courtyard almost full
before. He has preached in two other parts of Kingswood, among
the colliers; and thousands come--horsemen, coaches, chaises,
etc. Thus the gospel spreads round the country, for divers
come from far--_some_ twenty miles. You may be sure we are set
up for being stark mad. We are now going to meet our brother
Howell Harris at Cardiff, the minister of which place being
here will not even go over in the passage-boat with us. He says
our brother shall not have the church; so I hope the fields
will be white at Cardiff, as well as at Bristol. There is also
a Society there who long for our coming. Our brother Hutchins
is at Bristol, and stays till brother Kinchin comes to supply
his place. Our dear brother Whitefield would have none of you
('the Oxford Methodists') hidden, but wishes that you would all
come out, and be itinerant. The harvest is great, and great
encouragement there is to spend and be spent for the good of
souls. I hear brother J. Wesley is at Oxford; and that forty
gownsmen were lately to hear brother Kinchin expound. O praise
the Lord for these His great mercies!

"I am, etc.,
"WILLIAM SEWARD."

At the _New Passage_, where Whitefield and Seward had a twelve hours' detention, the Cardiff clergyman, who refused to go in the "passage-boat" because Whitefield was going, employed his enforced leisure in "shaking his elbows over a gaming table." Whitefield's Journal, published about four months afterwards, contained this incident, and also Whitefield's reflections on it. The clergyman became very wroth, and wrote a letter, dated "Cardiff, July 17, 1739," and signed "Nath. Well," which filled nearly two folio pages of the _Weekly Miscellany_. Mr. Well calls Whitefield's Journals "rhapsodies, and repetitions of spiritual pride, vanity, and nonsense." He says Whitefield's statement respecting his refusal to go in the passage-boat is not correct, for he actually went in it. Mr. Well's assertion is both true and false. At first he refused to go, as Whitefield says he did; but, during the long detention at the New Passage, Mr. Well changed his mind and went.[185] Mr. Well further states that Whitefield and William Seward "sang hymns the best part of the passage, till the pilot, hindered by their noise from hearing the man appointed to look out, obliged them to give over." He also adds, that Whitefield had advised Howell Harris not to offer himself for holy orders, alleging the "fanatical argument, 'that the success with which the Holy Spirit had blessed his labours was a sufficient evidence and proof of his _divine_ commission, and he _needed_ no other.' And yet his _boasted_ success is this: he has alienated the _affections_ of _ignorant_ people from their _parish ministers_, and sent most of them to _dissenting_ meeting-houses."

[185] Supplement to Rev. Mr. Whitefield's Answer to the Bishop of
London's Pastoral Letter, 1739, p. 6.

Whitefield's account of his trip to Wales shall be given in his own language. After relating the incident respecting Mr. Well at the New Passage, he writes as follows:--

"1739, Wednesday, March 8. Arose before twelve at night, sung
psalms, and prayed; and, the wind being fair, we had a speedy
passage over to the Welsh shore. Our business being in haste,
and one being sent to guide us, we rode all night, and reached
Cardiff about eleven in the morning.

"Whilst I was giving a word of exhortation to some poor people
at the inn, Mr. Seward went to ask for the pulpit; but, being
denied, we pitched on the Town Hall, which Mr. Seward got by
his interest; and, at four in the afternoon, I preached from
the judge's seat to about four hundred hearers. Most were very
attentive; but some mocked.

"After I came from the seat, I was much refreshed with the sight
of my dear brother, Howell Harris.[186] A burning and shining
light has he been in those parts; a barrier against profaneness
and immorality, and an indefatigable promoter of the true gospel
of Jesus Christ. About three or four years God has inclined
him to go about doing good. He is now above twenty-five years
of age. Twice he has applied (being every way qualified) for
holy orders; but he was refused, under a false pretence that
he was not of age, though he was then twenty-two years and six
months. About a month ago he offered himself again, but was put
off. Upon this, he was, and is still, resolved to go on in his
work. For these three years, he has discoursed almost twice
every day for three or four hours together, not authoritatively
as a minister, but as a private person exhorting his Christian
brethren. He has been in seven counties, and has made it his
business to go to wakes, etc., to turn people from such lying
vanities. Many alehouse people, fiddlers, and harpers sadly cry
out against him for spoiling their business. He has been made
the subject of numbers of sermons; has been threatened with
public prosecutions; and had constables sent to apprehend him.
But God has blessed him with inflexible courage; and he still
continues to go on from conquering to conquer. He is of a most
catholic spirit, and loves all who love our Lord Jesus Christ;
and therefore he is styled by bigots a Dissenter. Many call him
their spiritual father, and, I believe, would lay down their
lives for his sake. He discourses generally in a field; but at
other times in a house, from a wall, a table, or anything else.
He has established near thirty Societies, and still his sphere
of action is enlarged daily. He is full of faith and the Holy
Ghost.

[186] Harris says, "The first question Mr. Whitefield asked
me was this, 'Do you know that your sins are forgiven?' The
question rather surprised me, having never heard it asked
before." ("Life and Times of Howell Harris," by Rev. E. Morgan,
p. 43.)

"When I first saw him, my heart was knit closely to him. I
wanted to catch some of his fire, and gave him the right hand of
fellowship with my whole heart. We spent the evening in telling
one another what God had done for our souls, and took an account
of the several Societies, and agreed on such measures as seemed
most conducive to promote the common interest of our Lord. I
doubt not but Satan envied our happiness; but I hope by the help
of God we shall make his kingdom shake. God loves to do great
things by weak instruments, that the power may be of God, and
not of man. The partition wall of bigotry and party zeal is
broken down in Wales, and ministers and teachers of different
communions join with one heart and one mind to carry on the
kingdom of Jesus Christ. The Lord make all the Christian world
thus minded! For till this is done, I fear, we must despair of
any great reformation in the Church of God.

"Thursday, March 9. Spent the beginning of the morning in prayer
and private discourse with the members of the Religious Society.
About ten, I went to the Town Hall, and preached for about an
hour and a half to a large assembly of people. My dear brother,
Howell Harris, sat close by me. I did not observe any scoffers
within; but without some were pleased to honour me so far as to
trail a dead fox, and hunt it round about the hall. After I had
concluded, I went with many of my hearers, amongst whom were
two worthy dissenting ministers and my brother Howell Harris,
to public worship. In the Second Lesson were these remarkable
words, 'And the high priest, and the scribes, and the chief
of the people sought to destroy Him; but they could not find
what they might do to Him: for all the people were attentive to
hear Him.' In the afternoon, I preached again to the people,
without any scoffing or disturbance; and, at six in the evening,
I talked for above an hour and a half, and prayed with the
Religious Society, whose room was quite thronged.

"Friday, March 10. Left Cardiff about six in the morning, and
reached Newport about ten, where many came from Pontypool and
other parts to hear me. The minister having readily granted us
the pulpit, I preached to about a thousand people. Wales is
excellently well prepared for the Gospel of Christ. They have
many burning and shining lights both among the Dissenting and
Church ministers, amongst whom Mr. Griffith Jones shines in
particular.[187] No less than fifty charity schools have been
erected by his means, without any settled visible fund, and
fresh ones are setting up every day. People make nothing of
coming twenty miles to hear a sermon, and great numbers there
are who have not only been hearers, but doers also of the word.

[187] The Rev. Griffith Jones was a memorable man. Born in
the parish of Kilredin, and educated in the Grammar-school
at Camarthen, he was ordained a deacon in 1708, and a priest
in 1709, by the learned Bishop Bull. He was preferred to the
Rectory of Llandowror by Sir John Philips of Picton Castle. At
the request of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, he consented to go as a missionary among the
Indians; but, for some unknown reason, this arrangement was set
aside. Divinity was the grand study of Mr. Jones's life. He was
well versed in the writings of the most eminent English and
foreign divines. His sermons were solid, lively, striking, and
judicious. His voice was musical, his delivery agreeable, his
action proper. As a preacher, he soon became famous, and great
multitudes flocked to hear him wherever he went. Invitations to
preach in other churches besides his own were frequent; and,
in many instances, the crowds were such that he was obliged
to preach in the churchyards. On some of these occasions,
his sermons occupied three hours in delivery. He instituted,
and for twenty-four years maintained by subscriptions, the
circulating Welsh Free Schools, the object of which was to
teach the poor to read their native language, and to instruct
them in the principles of the Christian religion. At the time
of his decease, the number of his schools was more than 3,000,
and of their scholars 158,000, some of them sixty years old.
Principally by his efforts, the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge was induced to print two editions of the Welsh Bible,
of 15,000 copies each, which were sold as cheap as possible, for
the benefit of the poor in Wales. He was also himself the author
of at least a dozen different publications. He died on the 8th
of April, 1761, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and
was interred at his own parish church of Llandowror.--_Gospel
Magazine_, 1777.

"Saturday, March 11. Got safe to Bristol, with my dear
fellow-travellers, about eleven at night."

These extracts from Whitefield's Journal are important, as shewing the work which had been begun, and which was prospering in Wales before Whitefield and the Wesleys commenced their great itinerant mission. The reader also has here the beginning of the warm-hearted friendship between Whitefield and Howell Harris, and of their evangelical co-operation, which issued in the founding of the Societies of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, and in other results which cannot now be noticed. What the "measures" were which Whitefield and Harris agreed upon for further promoting the work of God in Wales, it is impossible to determine; but henceforth the two were fellow-workers, and lived in the happiest amity.

Whitefield's labours during the seven weeks he spent at Bristol and in its neighbourhood were marvellous; but the most picturesque were those among the Kingswood colliers. It would be superfluous, it would be wearisome, to describe Kingswood and its ignorant and rude inhabitants, at the period now in question. This has been done so often, that Methodist readers already know all that Methodist writers have to tell on such a subject. Still, Whitefield's first services in this benighted neighbourhood cannot be omitted; for, in reality, Kingswood was the rough cradle in which Methodism was first rocked and nursed.

Here it was, on February 17, that Whitefield, for the first time, dared to be so irregular as to preach in the open air, his congregation consisting of upwards of two hundred persons. Altogether he preached about twenty sermons, from February 17 to April 2, in different parts of Kingswood, including Hannam Mount, Rose Green, and the Fish Ponds. Most of these were scenes of solemn grandeur. On February 23, when he estimated his congregation at from four to five thousand, he writes: "The sun shone very bright, and the people, standing in such an awful manner round the mount, in the profoundest silence, filled me with holy admiration." Two days later, he says: "At a moderate computation, there were above ten thousand people present. The trees and hedges were full. All was hush when I began, and God enabled me to preach for an hour, with great power, and so loud that all (I was told) could hear me. Blessed be God! Mr. B----n spoke right when he said, 'The fire is kindled in the country, and all the devils in hell shall not be able to quench it.'" On March 18,[188] at Rose Green, he calculated his congregation at not less than twenty thousand, and remarks, "To behold such crowds stand about us in such awful silence, and to hear the echo of their singing, is very solemn and surprising. My discourse continued for near an hour and a half." At the same place, on April 1, "There were twenty-four coaches and an exceeding great number of other people, besides the colliers, both on foot and horseback." Such was his success among the begrimed Kingswood colliers, that, before he left, they gave him £20 in money, and promised £40 in subscriptions, towards the erection of a Charity School, which he wished to build for the instruction of their children. He writes:--

"March 29. Were I to continue here, I would endeavour to settle
schools all over the Wood, and also in other places, as Mr.
Griffith Jones has done in Wales. I have but just time to set
it on foot. I hope God will bless the ministry of my honoured
friend, Mr. John Wesley, and enable him to bring it to good
effect. It is a pity so many little ones as there are in
Kingswood should perish for lack of knowledge."

[188] The following is taken from the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for
1739, p. 162: "Mr. Whitefield, who set out from London on February
7, in order to preach and collect money for an Orphan House, has
been wonderfully laborious and successful, especially among the
poor prisoners in Newgate, Bristol, and among the rude colliers of
Kingswood. On Saturday, the 18th inst., he preached at Hannam Mount
to five or six thousand persons, and in the evening removed to the
Common, about half a mile farther, where three mounts and the plains
around were crowded with so great a multitude of coaches, foot and
horsemen, that they covered three acres, and were computed at twenty
thousand people; and, at both places, he collected £14 10s. for the
Orphan House of Georgia."

Whitefield had requested Wesley to visit Bristol. The latter writes:--

"March, 1739. During my stay in London, I was fully employed,
between our own Society in Fetter Lane, and many others, where I
was continually desired to expound; so that I had no thought of
leaving London when I received, after several others, a letter
from Mr. Whitefield, and another from Mr. Seward, entreating me
in the most pressing manner to come to Bristol without delay.
This I was not at all forward to do, and perhaps the less
inclined to it (though I trust I do not count my life dear unto
myself, so I may finish my course with joy), because of the
remarkable scriptures which offered as often as we enquired,
touching the consequence of this removal--probably permitted for
the trial of our faith: Deut. xxxii. 49, 50; Deut. xxxiv. 8;
Acts ix. 16, and Acts viii. 2.

"March 28. My journey was proposed to our Society in Fetter
Lane, but my brother Charles would scarce bear the mention of
it; till, appealing to the oracles of God, he received those
words as spoken to himself, and answered not again: 'Son of man,
behold,' etc. (Ezek. xxiv. 16). Our other brethren, however,
continuing the dispute, without any probability of their coming
to a conclusion, we at length all agreed to decide it by
lot. And by this it was determined that I should go. Several
afterwards desiring we might open the Bible, concerning the
issue of this, we did so on the several portions of Scripture,
which I shall set down without any reflection on them. They were
2 Sam. iii. 1; 2 Sam. iv. 11; and 2 Chron. xxviii. 27."

This narrative, of combined bibliomancy and sortilege, is a curious one, but let it pass. Fortunately, by the kindness of Mr. G. Stampe, of Grimsby, I am able to furnish the reader with Whitefield's letter, never before published. It was as follows:--

"BRISTOL, _March 22, 1739_.

"REVEREND SIR,--I rejoice at the success which God has given you
at Oxford and elsewhere. I immediately kneeled down and prayed
that you may go on from conquering to conquer.

"I thank you most heartily for your kind rebuke. I can only
say it was too tender. I beseech you, whenever you see me do
wrong, rebuke me sharply. I have still a word or two to offer in
defence of my behaviour, but shall defer it till I come to town.
If I have offended, I humbly ask pardon, and desire the brethren
to pray that I may be such as God would have me be.

"If the brethren, after prayer for direction, think proper, I
wish you would be here the latter end of next week. Brother
Hutchins sets out to-morrow for Dummer. Mr. Chapman brings a
horse to London, which you may ride. I go away, God willing,
next Monday sennight. If you were here, before my departure, it
might be best. Many are ripe for bands. I leave that entirely to
you. I am but a novice; you are acquainted with the great things
of God. Come, I beseech you; come quickly. I have promised not
to leave this people till you or somebody come to supply my
place. I am resigned to Brother Hutton's coming hither. The good
Lord direct him!

"Desire the brethren's advice in the following case. Joseph is
arrived. Because he would not submit to a lot, whether he should
go with me to England or not, I said he never should return if
he went. On board, he behaved well, exceeding well. What shall I
do? Shall I keep to my vow that he should not return? or shall
I break it? I am indifferent. I will do as the brethren shall
direct.

"Great comfort and joy in the Holy Ghost does God, of His free
grace, give me. I find myself strengthened in the inner man day
by day. I feel an intenseness of love, and long that all should
be partakers of it. I hope I grow in grace. To free grace be all
the glory!

"God will fight for our dear brother Charles. I thank him for
his letter. Blessed be God that both of you are not so brief as
usual. God will bring light out of darkness. All these things
are not against, but for us.

"Be pleased to bring the Account of my Temptations with you;
and, though unworthy, permit me to subscribe myself, Reverend
Sir,

"Your dutiful son and servant,
"GEORGE WHITEFIELD.

"P.S. March 23. I beseech you come next week; it is advertised
in this day's journal. I pray for a blessing on your journey,
and in our meetings. The people expect you much. Though you
come _after_, I heartily wish you may be preferred _before_ me.
Even so, Lord Jesus. Amen. Our brethren are here together. They
advise you should go through Basingstoke, and call at Dummer,
and there take the horse Brother Hutchins rides thither.
Whosoever you may appoint shall ride Brother Chapman's. The Lord
direct us all in all things!

"The Rev. Mr. John Wesley, at Mr. John Bray's, a Brazier, in
Little Britain, in Aldersgate Street, London."

There are many points in this deeply interesting letter which deserve attention; such as the fact, that, notwithstanding Whitefield's taunt on Wesley, within two years afterwards, respecting the practice of sortilege, he himself now believed in it, and was in favour of its being used. Want of space, however, prevents enlargement.

Eight days after the date of Whitefield's letter, Wesley arrived in Bristol, to prosecute the wondrous work which his young friend had been honoured to begin; and, on April 2nd, Whitefield took his leave; and, with the exception of one day's visit in the month of July following, for the next two years the Bristol and Kingswood congregations were entrusted solely to the care of the Wesley brothers and of the lay evangelists who became their fellow-labourers. Whitefield shall give his own account of his departure from Methodism's cradle:--

"1739. Monday, April 2. Spent a good part of the morning in
talking with those who came to take their leave; and tongue
cannot express what a sorrowful parting we had. My heart was
so melted, that I prayed for them with strong cryings and many
tears. About one, I was obliged to force myself away. Crowds
were waiting at the door to give me a last farewell, and near
twenty friends accompanied me on horseback. Blessed be God for
the marvellous great kindness He hath shewn me in Bristol! Many
sinners, I believe, have been effectually converted; numbers
have come to me under convictions; and all the children of God
have been exceedingly comforted. Several thousands of little
books have been dispersed among the people. About £200 have been
collected for the Orphan House, and many poor families have
been relieved by the bounty of my friend Mr. Seward. What gives
me the greater comfort is the consideration that my dear and
honoured friend, Mr. Wesley, is left behind to confirm those
that are awakened, so that, when I return from Georgia, I hope
to see many bold soldiers of Jesus Christ.[189]

[189] In its number, dated April 19, 1739, _Common Sense_,
after describing a Methodist preacher as a gentleman of "meagre
countenance, lank hair, puritanical behaviour, and with a stock
of pride that domineers in every look," proceeds to say, "If
one man like Mr. Whitefield should have it in his power, by his
preaching, to detain five or six thousand of the vulgar from
their labour, what a loss in a little time may this bring to
the public! For my part, I shall expect to hear of a prodigious
rise in the price of coals about the city of Bristol, if this
gentleman proceeds with his charitable lectures to the colliers
of Kingswood."

"Having taken my leave, and passed through the people of
Bristol, I came about two to Kingswood, where the colliers,
unknown to me, had prepared an hospitable entertainment, and
were very forward for me to lay the first stone of their school.
A man giving me a piece of ground (in case Mr. C---- should
refuse to grant them any), I laid a stone, and then kneeled
down on it, and prayed that the gates of hell might not prevail
against our design. The colliers said a hearty _Amen_, and,
after I had given them a word of exhortation suitable to the
occasion, I took my leave, promising that I would come amongst
them again, if ever God should bring me back to England. I
hope a reformation will be carried on amongst them. For my
own part, I had rather preach the gospel to the unprejudiced
ignorant colliers, than to the bigotted, self-righteous, formal
Christians. The colliers will enter into the kingdom of God
before them."

Thus, by kneeling on a loose stone, deposited in a piece of ground, provisionally promised as a site for the erection, was begun the memorable Kingswood School. This is not the place to relate the details of the ministry of Wesley and his brother, nor to dwell upon the history of Kingswood School. Suffice it to say, that, on the 12th of May next ensuing, Wesley, in Bristol, laid the foundation-stone of his first Methodist meeting-house; and that, in the month of June, he began to build the School in Kingswood. The following extract, also, from Wesley's Journal, is full of interest, and perfectly appropriate. It was written eight months after Wesley became Whitefield's successor in Bristol and its neighbourhood:--

"Few persons have lived long in the west of England, who have
not heard of the colliers of Kingswood; a people famous, from
the beginning hitherto, for neither fearing God nor regarding
man; so ignorant of the things of God, that they seemed but one
remove from the beasts that perish; and, therefore, utterly
without desire of instruction, as well as without the means of
it.

"Many, last winter, used tauntingly to say of Mr. Whitefield,
'If he will convert heathens, why does he not go to the colliers
of Kingswood?' In spring, he did so; and as there were thousands
who resorted to no place of public worship, he went after them
into their own wilderness, 'to seek and save that which was
lost.' When he was called away, others went into 'the highways
and hedges, to compel them to come in.' And, by the grace
of God, their labour was not in vain. The scene is already
changed. Kingswood does not now, as a year ago, resound with
cursing and blasphemy. It is no more filled with drunkenness
and uncleanness, and the idle diversions that naturally lead
thereto. It is no longer full of wars and fightings, of clamour
and bitterness, of wrath and envyings. Peace and love are
there. Great numbers of the people are mild, gentle, and easy to
be entreated. They 'do not cry, neither strive;' and hardly is
their 'voice heard in the streets,' or indeed in their own wood,
unless when they are at their usual evening diversion,--singing
praise unto God their Saviour."

Leaving Wesley at Bristol, Whitefield again went off to Wales, preaching in the open air at Thornbury and at the _Old Passage_ on his way. At Usk, on April 4th, he met Howell Harris; and, being refused the use of the pulpit in the church, a table was placed under a large tree, upon which he discoursed "to some hundreds" of attentive listeners. Attended by a cavalcade of nearly fifty persons, he proceeded to Pontypool, and preached first in the church, and then, to the overflowings of his congregations, out of doors. Thirty horsemen accompanied him to Abergavenny, where, at "the backside of a garden," he addressed "about two thousand people, and did not spare the polite scoffers in the least." About forty on horseback went with him to Comihoy, where the minister of the church was "a hearty friend," but the congregation was so large that the churchyard had to be used as Whitefield's preaching place. "I could spend some months very profitably in Wales," he writes; "the longer I am in it, the more I like it. The people are simple and artless. They have left bigotry more than the generality of our Englishmen; and, through the exhortations of Howell Harris, and the ministry of others, they are hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of Jesus Christ."

On April 6th, in company with about sixty equestrians, he reached Caerleon, "a town," says he, "famous for having thirty British kings buried in it, and for producing three noble Christian martyrs. I chose particularly to come hither, because when my brother Howell Harris was here last, some of the baser sort beat a drum, and huzzaed around him, for the purpose of disturbing him. But God suffered them not to move a tongue now, though I preached from the very same place, and prayed for him by name, as I have in every place where I have preached in Wales. God forbid I should be ashamed either of my Master or His servants! Many thousands were there from all parts, and God gave me such extraordinary assistance, that I was carried out beyond myself."

At Trelegg, Whitefield preached "upon the horse-block before the inn;" at Chepstow, in the church; and at Coleford, in the market-house. On April 9th, he arrived at Gloucester, in the neighbourhood of which he spent the next eight days. Howell Harris, as well as William Seward, was his travelling companion. The following is taken from the _Gloucester Journal_ of April 24, 1739:--

"On the 9th inst., the Rev. Mr. Whitefield came to this city
(the place of his nativity) from Wales; having preached in Usk
Street; in Pontypool Church and field; in Abergavenny, from a
place built on purpose, against a gentleman's wall; in Caerleon
field, from a pulpit built for the famous Mr. Howell Harris,
who came with him hither, and goes with him to London. He was
attended from Usk to Pontypool, and from thence to Abergavenny,
and to Caerleon, by sixty or seventy horse, so great was the
love of the people to his person, and to his doctrine of the new
birth," etc.

Whitefield's ministry in Gloucester and its vicinity was quite as irregular and as remarkable as it had been in Wales. On April 10, besides visiting three Religious Societies in the city, he also preached in St. Michael's Church; but, on the day following, at the conclusion of his sermon, the same church was closed against him, on the ground that "the greatness of his congregations" seriously interfered with public business. With the exception of another instance, to be mentioned shortly, these were the only services that Whitefield was allowed to hold in the Gloucester churches. The result was, he began to preach, to assembled thousands, in the Booth Hall, and in a field attached to the Bell Inn, and belonging to his brother. The newspaper just quoted says:--

"On Tuesday and Wednesday, he preached at the parish church of
St. Michael's; but that, as well as one other pulpit, being
afterwards denied, and having no prospect of better success
with the rest of his brethren, he, on Thursday, Friday, Sunday,
and Monday, preached to some thousands in a field belonging to
the Bell Inn; also on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday _nights_,
in the Booth Hall, to about three or four thousand each time.
Great power has attended his preaching; great numbers have been
strengthened in their Christian faith, and are exceedingly
sorrowful at his departure from them."

Whitefield's views and feelings will be best expressed in his own words. He writes:--

"1739, Thursday, April 12th. Preached to nearly three thousand
hearers in a field belonging to my brother. Cry out who will
against this my frowardness, I cannot see my dear countrymen and
fellow-Christians everywhere ready to perish, through ignorance
and unbelief, and not endeavour to convince them of both. I
call upon them who forbid me to speak to these poor baptized
heathens, to give a reason for their so doing--a reason which
may satisfy not man only, but God. I am, and profess myself, a
member of the Church of England. I have received no prohibition
from any of the bishops; and, having had no fault found by them
with my life or doctrine, have the same general license to
preach which the rectors are willing to think sufficient for
their curates; nor can any of them produce one instance of their
having refused the assistance of a stranger clergyman, because
he had not a written license. And have their lordships, the
bishops, insisted that no person shall ever preach occasionally
without such special license? Is not our producing our Letters
of Orders _always judged sufficient_? Have not some of us been
_allowed_ to preach in Georgia and other places, by no other
than our general commission? His lordship of London allowed of
my preaching in Georgia, even when I had only received Deacon's
Orders; and I have never been charged by his lordship with
teaching or living otherwise than as a true minister of the
Church of England. I keep close to her Articles and Homilies,
which, if my opposers did, we should not have so many dissenters
from her. But it is most notorious that for the iniquity of
the priests the land mourns. We have _preached_ and _lived_
many sincere persons out of our communion. I have now conversed
with several of the best of all denominations; and many of them
solemnly protest that they went from the church because they
could not find food for their souls. They stayed among us till
they were starved out. I know this declaration will expose
me to the ill-will, not of _all_ my brethren, but of all my
indolent, earthly-minded, pleasure-taking brethren. But were I
not to speak, the very stones would cry out against them. Speak,
therefore, I must, and will, and will not spare. God look to the
event!"

No doubt all this is true; but still, the clergy had a right to refuse the use of their churches to the young evangelist; and it must also be admitted that there is throughout Whitefield's statement a strain of egotism scarcely modest, and at the end of it a tone of censoriousness hardly in harmony with Christian courtesy. Unfortunately, this was not the only imprudent attack of Whitefield on the indolence, the earthly-mindedness, and pleasure-taking habits of his brethren in the ministry. There were ample grounds for it; but the attack was not politic. It resulted in no good, and not unreasonably exposed Whitefield to retaliatory critiques. But more of this anon.

Besides his preaching in the Booth Hall and in his brother's field, Whitefield preached out of doors at Painswick, Chalford, Stroud, Stonehouse, and Oxenhall. Strangely enough, his last service, for the present, was performed in the church he attended in the days of his boyhood. He writes:--

"1739, April 17, Tuesday. About eleven, by the bishop's
permission, I baptized, in the Church of St. Mary de Crypt,
Mr. Thomas W----d, a professed Quaker, about sixty years of
age, who was convinced of the necessity of being born again of
_water_ as well as of the _Spirit_. Many of Christ's faithful
servants attended on the prayers around him; and, I believe,
the Holy Ghost was with us of a truth. After the solemnity was
over, I gave a word of exhortation from the font; and, being the
place where I myself not long since had been baptized, it gave
me an opportunity of reflecting on the frequent breaches of my
baptismal vow, and of proving the necessity of the new birth
from the office of our Church.

"After this, and having dined, I prayed with and took leave of
my weeping friends. When I came to the city, I found the devil
had painted me in most horrible colours; for it was currently
reported that I was really mad, that I had said I was the
Holy Ghost, and that I had walked bare-headed through Bristol
streets, singing psalms. But God was pleased to shew the people
that the devil was a liar, and that the words I spoke were not
those of a madman, but the words of soberness and truth."

Having baptized the old Quaker, and unnecessarily repudiated the stupid charge of being mad, because he had sung with uncovered head in the streets of Bristol, he set out for Cheltenham, accompanied by about a dozen of his friends. Until recently, Cheltenham had been a poor, straggling hamlet of a few thatched cottages, sheltered by the Cotswold Hills. The first Spa was discovered in 1716, and since then, during a period of twenty years, the insignificant village had been full of bustle, for its site was in the process of being transformed into the squares, crescents, terraces, and promenades of the fashionable Cheltenham of the present day. As Whitefield and his friends passed along, the rustic inhabitants, at the doors of their humble cottages, stood and stared. Whitefield applied for the use of the parish church. His application was refused; and therefore he preached, he says, "to near two thousand people,"[190] on the Plough Inn bowling-green. He adds, "Many were convicted. One woman wept greatly, because she had said I was crazy; and some were so filled with the Holy Ghost, that they were almost unable to support themselves under it."

[190] This may seem incredible, after what has just been said
of Cheltenham; but it must be borne in mind that Whitefield was
now preaching according to a previous appointment, and that his
congregation consisted of many others than the inhabitants of the
prosperous village. The following is taken from the _Gloucester
Journal_: "1738, April 24. Last Tuesday (having first baptized an
aged Quaker), Mr. Whitefield set out _by appointment_ for Cheltenham
and Evesham."

From Cheltenham, Whitefield proceeded to Evesham, in the neighbourhood of which he spent three days among the relatives of his friend William Seward. He shall relate his own story.

"1739, April 18, Wednesday. Got safe to Evesham (where Mr.
Seward's relations live) about seven at night. Several persons
came to see me, amongst whom was Mr. Benjamin Seward, whom God
has been pleased to call by His free grace very lately. For
some years he had been at Cambridge. As touching the law, so
far as outward morality went, he was blameless; but he disliked
my proceedings, and once had a mind, he said, to write against
Mr. Law's enthusiastic notions in his 'Christian Perfection.'
Lately, however, he has had an eight days' sickness; in which
time he scarce ever ate, or drank, or slept, and underwent
great inward agonies and tortures. After this, God sent a poor
travelling woman, who came to sell straw toys, to instruct
him in the nature of the second birth; and now he is resolved
to prepare for Holy Orders. He is a gentleman of very large
fortune, which he has devoted to God. I write this to shew how
far a man may go, and yet know nothing of Jesus Christ. Here is
one who constantly attended on the means of grace, exact in his
morals, humane and courteous in his conversation, who gave much
in alms, was frequent in private duties; and yet, till about
six weeks ago, was as destitute of any saving, experimental
knowledge of Jesus Christ, as those on whom His name was never
called, and who still sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death. How often has my companion and honoured friend, Mr.
William Seward, been deemed a madman, even by this very brother,
for going to Georgia; but now God has made him an instrument of
converting his brother. This, more and more, convinces me that
we must be despised before we can be vessels fit for God's use.

"April 19, Thursday. Went to Badsey, about two miles from
Evesham, where Mr. Seward's eldest brother lives. We were most
kindly received. About four in the afternoon, the churches
at Evesham, Bengeworth, and Badsey being denied, I preached
from the cross, in the middle of Evesham street, to a great
congregation; and then went to Badsey, and preached in Mr.
Seward's brother's yard.

"April 20, Friday. Preached about nine in the morning at the
cross in Evesham, went to public worship, and received the
sacrament. Preached at Badsey at five in the evening, and
returned and expounded in the town hall, which was quite
thronged. The recorder himself procured the keys for us.

"April 21, Saturday. Preached in the morning at Badsey, to a
weeping audience, and set out for Oxford, which I reached at
about ten at night."