Chapter L: Tyerman (17)

_Legality of the Religious Societies._--"If you fear God, and
truly honour the king, and are of the number of those who
are quiet in the land, no reason can be urged against your
Societies. In this respect, a private prelate has no more
authority than a private presbyter. If it be lawful for more
than five to meet in a private vestry, it is equally lawful for
more than five to meet in a private house; as is the practice
of some of the Societies, who are under the government of those
called the Twelve Stewards. If it be enquired of you, 'By what
authority you sometimes pray without a premeditated form of
words?' you may enquire, 'By what authority any one reads the
Church Forms, who is not commissioned so to do, and that in any
place but in the church, where only they are appointed to be
read, and only by one so commissioned?' If they reply, 'You have
Dr. Woodward's Form;' you may answer them with this question,
'What difference is there, in respect to others, between a
person's reading a form, which few who hear it know beforehand,
and a person's praying extempore, as the Holy Spirit gives him
utterance?' If they laugh at the mention of 'praying by the
Spirit,' I hope you know better. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free; and be not afraid
to make innovations in the Church, which does not confine its
members to forms, except within the walls of the church, nor
even there altogether."

_Admission of new members._--"You ought to be _very cautious_
whom you admit into fellowship with you. Examine them again
and again, not barely whether they receive the sacrament, and
go to church, but whether they be in the faith. Set them upon
proving their own selves; and by no means receive them into
your brotherhood, unless they can produce sufficient evidences
of their having tasted the good word of life, and felt the
powers of the world to come. Some may object that this is not
a very good way to increase and multiply you as to number;
but it is the best, the only way, to establish and increase a
communion of true saints. Such a Society, consisting of a few
solid Christians, is far preferable to one that is filled with
a multitude of such as do not bring forth fruit unto holiness,
but have only the fig-leaves of an outward profession. Formal
hypocrites will do any Society more harm than good."

_Object of their meetings._--"The end of your meeting is not
that you may think yourselves more holy than your neighbours,
much less to form a sect or party, or to promote a schism or
sedition in the Church or State. No: such thoughts, I trust,
are far from you; for they are earthly, sensual, devilish.
The only end which I hope you all propose by your assembling
yourselves together, is the renewing of your depraved natures,
and promoting the hidden life of Jesus Christ in your souls."

_Doctrine._--"I think it my bounden duty to exhort you to
contend earnestly for the doctrine of _justification by faith
only_, because so many blind guides are lately gone out into
the world. It is much to be feared that many of our present
preachers are no better than doctrinal papists. One of the most
reputed orthodox prelates in the kingdom, in a late pastoral
letter, advises his clergy, 'so to explain the doctrine of
justification in the sight of God by faith only, as to make
good works a necessary condition.' Such advice from a Roman
cardinal would be no more than we might expect; but, coming
from a bishop of the Church of England, is surprising, and much
to be lamented. God forbid that you should so learn Christ!
No, my brethren, in the great mystery of man's redemption by
Jesus Christ, boasting is entirely excluded. We must not expect
to be saved, or in any way to recommend ourselves to God, by
any or all the works of righteousness which we have done, or
shall, or can do. The Lord Christ is our righteousness, our
whole righteousness--imputed to us, instead of our own. 'We
are accounted righteous before God, only for the merits of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by faith,' saith the eleventh article of our
Church. Observe, my brethren, justified _by_ or _through_ faith,
and not _for_ faith; for faith is only a means or instrument
whereby the whole righteousness of Jesus Christ is applied to
the sinner's soul. Whosoever thus believes may be assured that
his pardon is sealed in heaven, notwithstanding he has lived in
an open breach of God's commandments all his lifetime before.
This faith, however, will not be dead, idle, or inactive;
for it is not a faith of the head, or a bare assent to things
credible as credible; the devils thus believe and tremble; but
it is a faith of the heart, a living principle of new life,
infused into the soul by the Spirit of God, applying that
inwardly, which was wrought for him outwardly by the obedience
and death of Jesus Christ, and continually exciting the
possessor of it to shew it forth by his works; not as necessary
conditions, but as proofs of his justification in the sight of
God; and as so many tokens of his gratitude and love for what
God has done for his soul."

_Christian fellowship._--"Content not yourselves with reading,
singing, and praying together; but set some time apart to
confess your faults, and to communicate your experience one to
another. For want of this, (which I take to be one chief design
of private meetings), most of the old Societies in London, I
fear, are sunk into a dead formality, and have only a name to
live. They meet on a Sabbath evening, read a chapter, and sing
a psalm; but seldom, if ever, acquaint each other with the
operations of God's Spirit upon their souls; notwithstanding
this was the great end of those who first began these Societies.
Hence it is, that, they have only the form of godliness left
amongst them, and continue utter strangers to the state of one
another's hearts. My brethren, let not your coming together
be thus altogether in vain, but plainly and freely tell one
another what God has done for your souls. To this end, you
would do well, as others have done, to form yourselves into
little companies of four or five each, and meet once a week to
tell each other what is in your hearts; that you may then also
pray for, and comfort each other, as need shall require. None
but those who have experienced it, can tell the unspeakable
advantages of such a union and communion of souls. I know not
a better means in the world to keep hypocrisy out from amongst
you. Pharisees and unbelievers will pray, read, and sing psalms;
but none, save an Israelite indeed, will endure to have his
heart searched out."

Counsels like these are always in season. Whitefield never instituted class-meetings, in the same sense as his friend Wesley did; but he strenuously urged the use of that Christian fellowship, which was the chief object of such meetings when they were first commenced. The reader will do well, in this age of ritualistic formality, to ponder some of the points in Whitefield's "Letter to the Religious Societies of England, in 1739."

Enough has been written to shew the views and feelings with which Whitefield returned to America, in 1739. He, William Seward, and another friend, landed at Lewis Town, about a hundred and fifty miles from Philadelphia, on October 30. He writes:--

"God is the great householder of the whole world, and I look
upon all persons as so many parts of His great family. As there
is here the same sun, so there is here the same God--in America
as in England. I would have all places alike to me, so I am
where God would have me to be; but I hope I shall never account
myself at home till I arrive at my heavenly Father's house
above. I trust my heart is there already. Oh, when shall I shake
off this earthly tabernacle! It sadly confines my soul. Lord,
help me patiently to tarry till my blessed change comes!"

Next day the young evangelist, by request, preached "to a serious and attentive congregation;" and, at five in the afternoon, he and his two friends set out for Philadelphia, the place to which the ship, they had left, was bound. After a ride of twenty-seven miles through the woods, they came, at ten o'clock at night, to what was called a tavern. The host and hostess made them a cake of unleavened bread, and set before them a few eggs and a little cider, and they went to bed rejoicing.

The day following, they rode fifty miles, and "came to a more convenient inn." Whitefield says, "Our Lord comforted us as we came on our way; and our hearts burned within us whilst we talked to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."

On the third day, they reached Philadelphia, where the _Elizabeth_, with what Whitefield calls his "family," had arrived in safety.

Pennsylvania, of which Philadelphia was the capital, was an English settlement about two hundred and fifty miles in length, and nearly the same in breadth.[277] As is well known, this large extent of territory had been granted to William Penn, the Quaker, about sixty years previous to Whitefield's visit. In 1682, Penn began to found his important colony. The soil, in general, was extremely fertile. Game of all kinds was amazingly plentiful. Deer, hares, turkeys, pheasants, partridges, wild ducks, wild geese, swans, and pigeons, were innumerable. In the immense forests, were bears, panthers, wild cats, and wolves; while, in the low grounds, were found minks, musk rats, and opossums. The woods consisted of the oak, the ash, the beech, the chestnut, the cedar, the walnut, the cypress, the hickory, the sassafras, and the pine,--all of which, in many instances, were gracefully festooned with vines. Fruits, including apples, cherries, pears, peaches, plums, and melons, grew in rich abundance. Penn's colony originally consisted chiefly of English Quakers, who, in consequence of their refusing to pay tithes and church dues, had frequently found themselves the inmates of English prisons. These, together with a few Dutch and Swedish settlers already on the ground, began to transform this glorious wilderness into a cultivated land. The Indians--the original proprietors--were treated with justice and kindness. Religious and civil freedom was made the basis of government. All persons professing to believe in one God were freely tolerated; and all who professed to believe in Jesus Christ, of whatever denomination, were eligible for government posts and offices. The result was, emigrants and refugees, of all persuasions, flocked to Pennsylvania, to put themselves under the protection of its founder's laws; lands were cultivated; towns were built; and when Penn died, about twenty years before Whitefield's first visit, the colony was, in every sense, free and flourishing.

[277] "European Settlements in America." Sixth edition, 1777.

In 1739, the population of Pennsylvania was probably not more than from fifty to a hundred thousand,[278] and consisted of Quakers, Episcopalians, Calvinists, Lutherans, Independents, Baptists, Presbyterians, and "Dumplers, a sort of German sect, who wore long beards and a habit resembling that of Friars." As might be expected, governmental power was chiefly in the hands of Quakers, and, with rare exceptions, it was humanely exercised.

[278] Twenty-two years afterwards, it was about 250,000, half of
whom were Germans, Swedes, or Dutch. ("European Settlements." Sixth
edition. 1777.)

Philadelphia, the chief town of the colony, stood upon a neck of land, immediately at the confluence of the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill. It was planned in an oblong form, and designed to extend two miles, from river to river There were to be eight parallel streets, all two miles in length, to be intersected by sixteen others, each in length a mile, and all of them broad, spacious, and even; with proper spaces left for the public buildings, churches, and market places. In the centre was a square of ten acres. The two principal streets were each one hundred feet wide; and most of the houses had a small garden and orchard attached to them. When William Penn began his work in 1682, Philadelphia consisted of three or four insignificant cottages. "Conies were yet undisturbed in their hereditary burrows; the deer fearlessly bounded past blazed trees, unconscious of foreboded streets; and the stranger that wandered from the river bank was lost in the thickets of an interminable forest. Two years afterwards, the place contained about six hundred houses, and the schoolmaster and the printing-press had begun their work."[279] In 1761, the population of Philadelphia was about 13,000.[280]

[279] Bancroft's "History of the United States."

[280] "European Settlements."

The state of religion, in Pennsylvania, was lamentable. The Rev. Samuel Blair, a Presbyterian minister, living at the time, observes:--

"There were some sincerely religious people, and a considerable
number pretty exact in the observance of the external forms of
religion; but with this, the most part seemed to rest contented,
and to satisfy their consciences with a dead formality. A
lamentable ignorance of the main essentials of true practical
religion, and the doctrines relating thereto, generally
prevailed. The nature and necessity of the new birth were but
little known or thought of. The necessity of a conviction of
sin and misery, in order to a saving closure with Christ, was
hardly known at all. It was thought that, if there was any need
of a heart-distressing sight of the soul's danger, it was only
needful for the grosser sort of sinners; and for any others to
be thus deeply exercised, was generally looked upon to be a
great evil and temptation. There was scarcely any suspicion of
the danger of depending upon self-righteousness, and not upon
the righteousness of Christ alone, for salvation. The necessity
of being first in Christ by a vital union, and in a justified
state, before our religious services can be well-pleasing and
acceptable to God, was very little understood. The common
notion seemed to be, that, if people were aiming to be in the
way of duty as well as they could, there was no reason to be
much afraid. According to these principles, people generally
were careless at heart, and stupidly indifferent about the
great concerns of eternity. It was sad to see with what a
careless behaviour the public ordinances were attended, and how
people were given to worldly discourse on the Lord's-day. In
public companies, a vain and frothy lightness was apparent in
the deportment of many professors. Religion, as it were, lay
a-dying, and ready to expire its last breath of life in this
part of the visible church."[281]

[281] Gillies' "Historical Collections," vol. ii., p. 150.

It is hoped that this brief account of Pennsylvania will not be thought irrelevant. It was here that Whitefield began his itinerant career in England's transatlantic colonies. During the four months he had spent in Georgia, in 1738, his ministry had been earnest, but regular. Now, in Pennsylvania, he became what he had been, for seven months in England, not a fixed star, but a flaming comet, his course eccentric, and calculated to alarm episcopal, presbyterian, and other kinds of precisians in the English settlements, quite as much as the same sort of methodical religionists had been alarmed in England. In both countries his action was unpremeditated. On his return to England, at the end of 1738, he had not the least idea of becoming an open-air and itinerant evangelist. He came to be ordained a priest, and to collect subscriptions for his contemplated Orphan House. In like manner, when he returned to America in 1739, he had no conception that the next fourteen months would be occupied as they were. He was intentionally returning to Savannah, there, for about a year, to fulfil the duties of his office as a regular appointed minister of the Church of England, and also, in such a capacity, to provide a home for the orphans of his parish. Instead of this, however, most of his time, as will soon be seen, was spent, not in Georgia, but in itinerating in the other English settlements. This was exceedingly irregular; but, looking at results, who will say that it was wrong? When he arrived at Philadelphia, he did not intend it; but, unquestionably, his Master did. The churches in the English colonies needed a religious impulse quite as much as the churches of the mother-country. Under God, the young evangelist and his fellows had moved and agitated England; and now he was employed, by a Providence which cannot err, and greatly to his own surprise, in moving and agitating America. Let us follow him.

After riding, during the day, sixty miles, through woods and forests and partially cultivated lands, he arrived at Philadelphia, at eleven o'clock at night, on Friday, November 2, 1739. Where he slept, we are not informed; perhaps, nowhere; for most likely, at such an hour, the sober-minded Philadelphians had all retired to rest. Next morning, he "went on board the _Elizabeth_ to see his family;" he visited the officials of the town; he held Christian communion "with some gracious souls;" and he "hired a house at a very cheap rate, and was quite settled in it before night."

Sunday, Nov. 4. He "read prayers and assisted at the communion
in the morning; dined with one of the churchwardens, and
preached to a large congregation in the afternoon; went in the
evening to a Quakers' meeting, and heartily wished they would
talk of an outward as well as inward Christ."

Monday, Nov. 5. He "read prayers and preached to a large
auditory; dined with the other churchwarden; was visited in
the afternoon by the Presbyterian minister; went afterwards to
see the Baptist minister; and spent part of the evening most
agreeably with two loving Quakers."

Tuesday, Nov. 6. He "read prayers and preached; went to the
funeral of a Quaker's child, and, as none of the Quakers spoke,
he gave a word of exhortation; was visited in the evening by the
Presbyterian and Baptist ministers; and admitted some women to
prayers with his family."

Wednesday, Nov. 7. He "read prayers and preached in the church;
and gave a word of exhortation to more than a room full of
people at his own hired house."

Thursday, Nov. 8. He "read prayers and preached to a more
numerous congregation than he had seen yet; dined with an
honest, open-hearted, true Israelitish Quaker; and preached, in
the evening, from the Court-house stairs, to about six thousand
people."

Friday, Nov. 9. He "read prayers and preached as usual in the
morning; was visited in a kind manner by the minister of the
parish; and preached again at six in the evening, from the
Court-house stairs, to, he believed, nearly eight thousand
hearers. Even in London, he never observed a more profound
silence. The night was clear, but not cold; and lights were in
most of the windows round about."

Saturday, Nov. 10. "About eleven, he read prayers and preached
in the church; then dined with the minister of the parish;
at his return home, was much comforted by the coming of Mr.
Tennent, an old grey-headed disciple and soldier of Jesus
Christ; about three, went to the prison, and preached on the
trembling jailor; returned home with the Swedish minister
and Mr. Tennent; conversed with them of the things of God;
and, in the evening, preached, to as large a congregation as
there was the night before, from the Court-house stairs." He
adds: "I continued my discourse above an hour, and, when I had
finished, the people seemed so unwilling to go, that I began
to pray afresh, and I hope the Lord sent them home not without
a blessing. After preaching, my house was filled with people
who came to join in psalms and family prayer. Many wept most
bitterly whilst I was praying. Their hearts seemed to be loaded
with a sense of sin, the only preparative for the visitation of
Jesus Christ. Blessed be the Lord for sending me hither! Lord,
give me humility, and make me truly thankful! Amen, Lord Jesus!"

Thus did Whitefield begin his memorable ministry in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Tennent has just been mentioned, and, as he and his family will hereafter be often introduced to the reader's notice, a brief account of him and them seems requisite.

The Rev. William Tennent, senior, was from Ireland, and was an ordained minister of the Established Church of that country. He was chaplain to an Irish nobleman; but, being conscientiously scrupulous about conforming to the terms imposed on the clergy, he was deprived of his living; and, in 1718, migrated to Pennsylvania, with his wife, four sons, and a daughter.[282] He applied to be received as a member of the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia. That body required him to state in writing the reasons of his dissent from the Episcopal communion. One of the most prominent of his reasons was, that the Church of Ireland connived "at Arminian doctrines." His case was considered; his credentials were satisfactory; he was admitted a member of the Synod, and settled at Neshaminy, twenty miles north of Philadelphia.[283] There, about the year 1720, he erected a school, long known as the "Log College," where some of the most distinguished ministers of that period received their education. Among these were his four sons, and Messrs. Rowland, Campbell, Lawrence, Beatty, Robinson, and Samuel Blair. He died in 1743. He is described as "a man of great integrity, simplicity, industry, and piety;" and to him the American churches were much indebted.

[282] _Evangelical Magazine_, 1807, p. 249.

[283] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."

Charles Tennent, one of the four sons, was minister of the Presbyterian Church at Whiteclay Creek.[284]

[284] _Evangelical Magazine_, 1807, p. 249.

John was licensed by the Newcastle Presbytery, and was settled at Freehold, New Jersey, where his labours were greatly blessed. His chapel was usually crowded; religion became the general subject of discourse; the terror of God fell on the inhabitants of the place; and many were converted. John Tennent's ministry was of short duration. He was called to the Freehold congregation in 1730, and died in 1732.[285]

[285] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."

He was succeeded by his brother William, in 1733. The religious excitement, commenced under the ministry of John, continued, less or more, for about a dozen years. Mr. William Tennent writes: "Those who were brought to the Saviour were all prepared for it by a sharp law-work of conviction, discovering to them their sinfulness both by nature and practice, as well as their liableness to damnation for their original and actual transgressions. They all confessed the justice of God in their eternal perdition; and thus were shut up to the blessed necessity of seeking relief by faith in Christ alone."[286] For forty-four years, Mr. Tennent officiated as pastor of the church at Freehold. He died on the 8th of March, 1777.[287] The old house at Freehold, in which John and William Tennent used to preach, is still standing in its primitive simplicity. The building is forty feet by sixty, and, beneath its middle aisle, are deposited the remains of William Tennent. In one of the walls is a handsome monumental tablet, recording the chief dates of his earthly pilgrimage.[288]

[286] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."

[287] _Evangelical Magazine_, 1807, p. 292.

[288] Belcher's "Biography of Whitefield," p. 117.

Gilbert Tennent became a licentiate of the Newcastle Presbytery in 1725, and, in 1726, was ordained minister of New Brunswick, in New Jersey. "For eighteen months after his settlement at New Brunswick, Mr. Tennent saw no evidence that any one had been savingly benefited by his labours. He then commenced a serious examination of the members of his church, as to the grounds of their hope, which he found, in many cases, to be but sand. Such he solemnly warned, and urged to seek converting grace. He preached much, at this time, upon original sin, repentance, the nature and necessity of conversion, and endeavoured to alarm the secure by the terrors of the Lord. These efforts were followed by the conviction and conversion of a considerable number of persons."[289] Gilbert Tennent became prominent in his endeavours to reform abuses in the Presbyterian churches, and not infrequently was in conflict with his brethren. As early as 1735, he succeeded in persuading the synod to pass a resolution that due care should be taken to examine candidates both for the ministry and for the Lord's supper, respecting the evidences of the grace of God in them, as well as their other necessary qualifications. In 1740, he read a paper to the New Brunswick Synod, complaining that the preaching of a number of its members was "powerless and unsavoury," "too general," "soft and flattering," and, therefore, "unsuccessful." He also, in the same year, preached and published his famous sermon on the danger of an unconverted ministry, which led to a Presbyterian schism. He described the generality of the ministers of that generation as "letter-learned Pharisees, plastered hypocrites, having the form of godliness, but destitute of its power." He told the people that the reason why they had seen so few cases of conviction or conversion among them was because "the bulk of their spiritual guides were stone blind and stone dead."[290]

[289] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."

[290] Hodge's "History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States."

In 1740, Whitefield persuaded him to act as his successor in Boston, and in the Province of New England generally. Tennent consented, and away he went to his new sphere of labour, with almost rustic simplicity; wearing his hair undressed, and a large great-coat girt with a leathern girdle. His ministry in New Jersey had been greatly blessed; and now, in New England, it was hardly less successful than Whitefield's had been. He seemed "to shake the country, as with an earthquake. Wherever he came, hypocrisy and Pharisaism either fell before him, or gnashed their teeth against him. Cold orthodoxy also started from her downy cushion to imitate or to denounce him; for, like Elijah on Carmel, he made neutrality impossible." In 1743, he established a new church in Philadelphia, consisting of Whitefield's followers, and closed his laborious and eminently successful ministry in the year 1765.[291] For more than forty years, he had enjoyed an unshaken assurance of his interest in redeeming love. As a preacher, he had but few equals. His publications were more than a score in number. At his death, he was succeeded in the congregation at Philadelphia by the Rev. James Sproat, who had been converted by his ministry.

[291] Philip's "Life and Times of Whitefield" and Hodge's "History
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States."

These are very imperfect notices of the Tennents; but they will help the reader to understand ensuing extracts from Whitefield's Journals and correspondence.

On Monday, Nov. 12, Whitefield left Philadelphia for the purpose of visiting New York. Four horses were lent to him and to his friends. He writes:--

"About one, we got safe to Burlington, in the Jerseys, twenty
miles from Philadelphia. Immediately after dinner, I read
prayers and preached in the church, to a mixed but thronged and
attentive congregation. About eight in the evening, we reached
Trent, another town in the Jerseys, and went to rest in peace
and joy.

"Tuesday, Nov. 13. Left Trent at six in the morning, and reached
Brunswick, thirty miles distant, at one. Here we were much
refreshed with the company of Mr. Gilbert Tennent, an eminent
Dissenting minister, about forty years of age, son of that good
old man who came to see me on Saturday at Philadelphia. God, I
find, has been pleased greatly to own his labours. He and his
associates are now the burning and shining lights of this part
of America. Several pious souls came to see me at his house,
with whom I took sweet counsel. At their request, I read the
Church Liturgy and preached in Mr. Tennent's meeting-house; for
there is no place set apart for the worship of the Church of
England. I was above an hour in my sermon, and I trust I shall
hear it was not preached in vain.

"Wednesday, Nov. 14. Set out from Brunswick, in company with
Mr. Tennent and my other fellow-travellers; and, as we passed
along, we spent our time most agreeably in telling one another
what God had done for our souls. About four, we reached New
York, where we were most affectionately received by the family
of Mr. Noble.[292] I waited upon Mr. V----y, the commissary,
but he was not at home. Then I went to the meeting-house to
hear Mr. Gilbert Tennent preach, and never before heard such
a searching sermon. He convinced me more and more that we can
preach the gospel of Christ no further than we have experienced
the power of it in our own hearts. Being deeply convicted of
sin, by God's Holy Spirit, at his first conversion, Mr. Tennent
has learned experimentally to dissect the heart of the natural
man. Hypocrites must either soon be converted or enraged at his
preaching. He is a son of thunder, and does not fear the faces
of men. After sermon, we spent the evening together at Mr.
Noble's house. My soul was humbled and melted down with a sense
of God's mercies, and I found more and more what a babe and
novice I was in the things of God.

[292] It was in compliance with Mr. Noble's request that
Whitefield visited New York.

"Thursday, Nov. 15. Waited upon Mr. V----; but he seemed to be
full of anger and resentment, and, before I asked him for the
use of his pulpit, denied it. He said, they did not want my
assistance. I replied, if they preached the gospel, I wished
them good luck in the name of the Lord; but, as he had denied
me the church without my asking the use of it, I would preach
in the fields, for all places were alike to me. I, therefore,
preached in the fields, to upwards of two thousand, at three in
the afternoon; and expounded, at six in the evening, to a very
thronged and attentive audience, in the reverend and worthy Mr.
Pemberton's[293] meeting-house. In the field, a few mocked, but,
after speaking to them, they grew more serious. At night, the
people seemed exceedingly attentive, and I have not felt greater
freedom in preaching, and more power in prayer, for a long while.

[293] The Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, who, in 1727, became minister
of the Presbyterian Church in New York. In 1754, he was
installed minister of the New Brick Church, in Boston. To the
end of life, he was one of Whitefield's faithful friends. He
died in 1777, aged 72.

"Saturday, Nov. 17. Preached, in the afternoon, at the
meeting-house, to a full congregation; and again at night, to a
great multitude standing round the doors.

"Sunday, Nov. 18. Preached, this morning at eight o'clock, to
a very attentive auditory. Went to the English Church, both
morning and evening. At night, a great multitude flocked to hear
the word. Some petitioned to have the use of the Town Hall, but
it was denied. I thought of expounding out of a window, and to
let the people stand in the street; but, at last, with much
difficulty, I got into the meeting-house, and, the people being
prevailed on to open the windows, numbers could hear, who stood
outside. About ten o'clock, I took boat, with my friends, and
had a pleasant passage to a place about half-way to Elizabeth
Town, where we lay down with joy, and thankfulness for the great
goodness the Lord had shewn us."

One who was present at these services in New York, wrote as follows, in Prince's "Christian History":--

"I never saw, in my life, such attentive audiences as Mr.
Whitefield's in New York. All he said was demonstration, life,
and power. The people's eyes and ears hung upon his lips. They
greedily devoured every word. He preached, during four days,
twice every day. He is a man of middle stature, of a slender
body, of a fair complexion, and of a comely appearance. He is
of a sprightly, cheerful temper, and acts and moves with great
agility and life. The endowments of his mind are uncommon; his
wit is quick and piercing; his imagination lively and florid;
and, as far as I can discern, both are under the direction of a
solid judgment. He has a most ready memory, and, I think, speaks
entirely without notes. He has a clear and musical voice, and a
wonderful command of it. He uses much gesture, but with great
propriety. Every accent of his voice, every motion of his body
_speaks_; and both are natural and unaffected. If his delivery
be the product of art, it is certainly the perfection of it,
for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery of words,
but studies much plainness of speech. He spends not his zeal in
trifles. He breathes a most catholic spirit; and professes that
his whole design is to bring men to Christ; and that, if he can
obtain this end, his converts may go to what church, and worship
God in what form, they like best."

Such was the commencement of Whitefield's ministry in New York. His own Church would not admit him; and, therefore, he began to preach in Dissenting chapels. This was not pre-designed. Whitefield was a child of Providence; and when that seemed to point out his path, he felt no hesitancy, but, utterly regardless of the frowns and flatteries of men, he did what he deemed to be his duty. There was no dogged obstinacy about him. Perhaps one of his failings was that he was too persuadable; but even such a failing (if such existed) always leaned to the side of virtue. Writing, whilst at New York, to the Rev. Benjamin Colman, D.D., of Boston, who had mentioned him in a letter to Mr. Pemberton, he says:--

"I love to be acquainted with old servants of Jesus Christ.
I delight to sit at their feet and receive instruction from
them. You said right, reverend sir, when you said 'I was but
a young divine.' Indeed, I am a novice in the things of God.
I can only say that I desire to know the whole will of God,
that I may communicate it to others. Reverend sir, into what a
lethargy is the Christian world fallen! Foolish and wise virgins
are all slumbering and sleeping. It is high time for all who
love the Lord Jesus to lift up their voices like trumpets, and
to give warning of the Bridegroom's coming. Many, I hope, are
already alarmed.[294] Philadelphia people receive the gospel
gladly. Here [at New York] there has been a little opposition,
and, therefore, I hope success will be given to the word. Oh,
reverend sir, entreat the Lord that I may be kept humble, and
dependent upon our dear Lord Jesus. Shortly I expect to suffer
for Him. May I not deny Him in that hour!"

[294] Dr. Colman, in a letter to Dr. Watts, dated "Boston, January
16, 1740," says, "Mr. Whitefield arrived some months ago at
Philadelphia, where, and through the Jerseys and at New York, he
preached daily to incredible multitudes with great eloquence and
zeal. America is like to do him much honour. He proposes to see
Boston, in his return to Europe, about June next; and our town and
country stand ready to receive him as an angel of God. Ministers and
people, all but his own Church, speak of him with great esteem and
love. He seems spirited from on high, in an extraordinary manner,
assisted and prospered." (Milner's "Life and Times of Dr. Isaac
Watts," p. 652.)

Writing to his mother, Whitefield says:--

"NEW YORK, _November 16, 1739_.

"HONOURED MOTHER,--New friends are raised up every day,
whithersoever we go. The people of Philadelphia have used me
most courteously, and many, I believe, have been pricked to
the heart.... Oh, my honoured mother, my soul is in distress
for you. Flee, flee, I beseech you, to Jesus Christ, by faith.
Lay hold on Him, and do not let Him go. God has given you
convictions. Arise, arise, and never rest till they end in sound
conversion. Dare to deny yourself. My honoured mother, I beseech
you, by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, dare to take up your
cross, and follow Christ."

These are beautiful exhibitions of humbleness, simplicity, earnestness, and love. Let us follow Whitefield in his return to Philadelphia.

"Monday, Nov. 19, Took boat about five in the morning, and
reached Elizabeth Town at seven. Dined with Mr. Dickinson,[295]
a worthy Dissenting minister, who had sent a letter of
invitation to New York, and offered me the use of his
meeting-house. About twelve, I preached in it, according to
appointment, to upwards of seven hundred people. God was pleased
to open my mouth against both ministers and people, among all
denominations, who imprison the truth in unrighteousness.

[295] The Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, for thirty-nine years
minister of the first Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth Town,
New Jersey, and also first president of New Jersey College. He
likewise was a practising physician of considerable reputation.
He was much celebrated as a preacher; and his publications were
creditable to his head and heart. He died, universally lamented,
in 1747, aged 59.

"Tuesday, Nov. 20. Reached New Brunswick about six last night;
and preached to-day, at noon, for near two hours, in Mr.
Tennent's meeting-house, to a large assembly gathered together
from all parts. About three in the afternoon, I preached again;
and, at seven, I baptized two children, and preached a third
time. Among others who came to hear the word, were several
ministers, whom the Lord has been pleased to honour, in making
them instruments of bringing many sons to glory.[296]

[296] One of these was the Rev. Theodore James Frelinghuysen,
minister of the Reformed Dutch Church at Raritan, New Jersey. He
was an able, evangelical, and eminently successful preacher. He
died in 1754.

"Wednesday, Nov. 21. Set out early, with about a score in
company, for Maidenhead, a little more than twenty miles from
New Brunswick, where, at Mr. Tennent's request, I had appointed
to preach to-day. At noon, I preached from a waggon to about
fifteen hundred persons. Here one Mr. Rowland,[297] another
faithful minister of Jesus Christ, gave us the meeting. He has
been a preacher about two years, has gone about doing good,
and has had many seals to his ministry. Much of the simplicity
of Christ was discernible in his behaviour. After sermon, in
company with above thirty horse, I went to Trent Town, ten
miles from Maidenhead, and preached, in the Court House, in the
evening.

[297] Mr. Rowland was a remarkable man. He was a Presbyterian
in doctrine and practice, but, on account of some irregularity
in his being called to the ministry, the Presbytery refused to
recognise him. He, accordingly, began to preach in barns and
other unconsecrated places. In the spring of 1739, numbers of
persons, in Lawrence, Hopewell, and Amwell, three contiguous
towns in New Jersey, were powerfully affected by his preaching,
and their convictions of sin were attended with great horror,
trembling, and weeping. John Rowland was an irregular
revivalist, exceedingly effective and useful. (Hodge's "History
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.")

"Thursday, Nov. 22. Set out for Neshaminy (twenty miles from
Trent Town), where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps an academy,
and where I was to preach to-day, according to appointment. We
came thither about twelve, and found above three thousand people
gathered together in the meeting-house yard, and Mr. William
Tennent preaching to them, because we were beyond the appointed
time. When I came up, he stopped, and sung a psalm, and then I
began to speak. At first, the people seemed unaffected, but, in
the midst of my discourse, the hearers began to be melted down,
and cried much. After I had finished, Mr. Gilbert Tennent gave
a word of exhortation. At the end of his discourse, we sung a
psalm, and then dismissed the people with a blessing. After our
exercises were over, we went to old Mr. Tennent, who entertained
us like one of the ancient patriarchs. His wife seemed to me
like Elizabeth, and he like Zacharias; both, as far as I can
find, walk in all the ordinances and commandments of the Lord
blameless. We had sweet communion with each other, and spent
the evening in concerting measures for promoting our Lord's
kingdom. It happens very providentially that Mr. Tennent and his
brethren are appointed to be a presbytery by the synod, so that
they intend breeding up gracious youths, and sending them out
into our Lord's vineyard. The place wherein the young men study
now is, in contempt, called _the College_. It is a log-house,
about twenty feet long, and nearly as many broad; and, to me,
it seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets. From this
despised place, seven or eight worthy ministers of Jesus have
lately been sent forth; more are almost ready to be sent; and
a foundation is now laying for the instruction of many others.
The devil will certainly rage against them; but the work, I
am persuaded, is of God, and will not come to nought. Carnal
ministers oppose them strongly; and, because people, when
awakened by Mr. Tennent or his brethren, see through them, and
therefore leave their ministry, the poor gentlemen are loaded
with contempt, and looked upon as persons who turn the world
upside-down.

"Friday, Nov. 23. Parted with dear Mr. Tennent and his
worthy fellow-labourers; but promised to remember each other
_publicly_ in our prayers. Rode to Abingdon, about ten miles
from Neshaminy, and preached to above two thousand people from
a porch-window belonging to the meeting-house. It is surprising
how such bodies of people, so scattered abroad, can be gathered
at so short a warning. At Neshaminy, I believe, there were
nearly a thousand horses. The people, however, did not sit upon
them to hear the sermon, as in England, but tied them to the
hedges; and thereby much disorder was prevented. Though it was
cold, the congregation stood very patiently in the open air,
and seemed in no hurry to return home after the discourses were
ended. As soon as I had finished at Abingdon, I hastened to
Philadelphia, where I found my family in good order, and all
things carried on according to my desire. Oh, how can I express
my thankfulness for this little excursion!"

This was a new kind of life to Whitefield. In England, he had preached, when he was permitted, in churches, and when not permitted, in Moorfields and places similar. Here he was preaching in Presbyterian, or, as he regarded them, Dissenting meeting-houses, or in open spaces surrounded by the grand old forests, through which he and his companions joyously pursued their sylvan journeys. Professedly, he was a Church of England clergyman, but practically a Dissenting minister. Of course, his action was ecclesiastically irregular, but it occasioned him no anxiety or uneasiness. He was preaching the gospel, and that to him was quite enough. When he got back to Philadelphia, he wrote quite a batch of letters, all bearing the same date, November 28; but extracts from two only must suffice.

To the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, he says, perhaps with more lowliness than was decorous:--

"I have been much concerned since I saw you, lest I behaved not
with that humility toward you, which is due from a babe to a
father in Christ; but you know, reverend sir, how difficult it
is to meet with success, and not be puffed up with it. If any
such thing was discernible in my conduct, oh pity me, and pray
to the Lord to heal my pride. Alas! who can hope to be justified
by his works? My preaching, praying, etc., are only _splendida
peccata_. The blood of Christ, applied to my soul by a living
faith, is the only thing that can render them acceptable."

He was not only in close communion with the Presbyterians of America, but he wrote as follows to the Rev. Ralph Erskine, the Presbyterian Reformer, in Scotland:--

"I bless the Lord, from my soul, for raising you and several
other burning and shining lights to appear for Him in this
midnight of the Church. My heart has been much warmed by
reading some of your sermons, especially that preached before
the Associate Presbytery. I long more and more to hear of the
rise and progress of your proceedings, and how far you would
willingly carry the reformation of the Church of Scotland. My
ignorance of the constitution of the Scotch Church is the cause
of my writing after this manner. I should be obliged to you, if
you would recommend to me some useful books, especially such
as open the holy sacrament. I like Boston's 'Fourfold State of
Man' exceedingly. Under God, it has been of much service to my
soul. I believe I agree with you and him in the essential truths
of Christianity. I bless God, His Spirit has convinced me of
our eternal election by the Father through the Son; of our free
justification through faith in His blood; of our sanctification
as the consequence of that; and of our final perseverance and
glorification as the result of all. These, I am persuaded, God
has joined together; these neither men nor devils shall ever be
able to put asunder. My only scruple at present is, 'whether
you approve of taking the sword in defence of your religious
rights?' One of our English bishops, when I was with him, called
you _Cameronians_. They, I think, took up arms, which I think
to be contrary to the Spirit of Jesus Christ and His apostles.
Some few passages in your sermon before the Presbytery, I
thought, were a little suspicious of favouring that principle.
I pray God your next may inform me that I am mistaken; for
when zeal carries us to such a length, I think it ceases to be
zeal according to knowledge. Dearest sir, be not angry at my
writing thus freely. I wish you good luck in all your pious
undertakings. I pray God to prosper the work of your hands, and
to make you a noble instrument in bringing many sons to glory."

There can be no question that Whitefield's intercourse with the Presbyterians of America powerfully affected him.[298] This was not surprising; for, apart from the fact that the clergy of his own Church generally disdained him, these Presbyterian ministers were men of kindred spirits to his own, intensely earnest, and blessed with the highest enjoyments of religion. The following letter addressed to Whitefield will shew "what manner of men they were." As will be seen, it was written immediately after Whitefield's first visit to New York.

[298] It was not without reason, that, thirty-eight years after
this, Wesley said: "Mr. Whitefield, by conversing with the
Dissenters, chiefly the Presbyterians in New England, contracted
strong prejudices against the Established Church." (Wesley's Answer
to Rowland Hill's "Imposture Detected," p. 4.)

"NEW BRUNSWICK, _December 1, 1739_.

"VERY REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,--I think I never found such
a strong and passionate affection to any stranger as to you,
when I saw your courage and labour for God at New York. I found
a willingness in my heart to die with you, or to die for you.
The reason why I spoke so little, for the most part of the
time while I was with you, was a shameful sense I had of my
ignorance and barrenness, after such a multitude of waterings
and sealings as God had given me. Though I am as a brute
beast before God, one of the meanest and vilest worms that
ever crawled on the creation of God, yet I must say, to His
praise, and my own shame, that I have had, in time past, such
discoveries of my great Father's dear affection as have overcome
me. For months together, my soul has been so ravished with
divine objects, that my animal spirits have been wasted, and my
sleep much broken. I have been made to loathe my food, because
of the superior sweetness I have found in Christ. I could not
refrain my soul from a secret longing for reproach, poverty,
imprisonment, and death, for a glorious Christ, that, thereby,
I might testify a grateful regard to His unspeakably dear and
venerable majesty. I could not refrain wishing that every hair
of my head was a life, that I might lay it down freely for my
Lord Jesus. The fear of bringing any reproach on His religion
has many times brought bitter tears from my eyes and heart.
Sometimes, when travelling on the road, when I beheld the canopy
of heaven, my heart has been suddenly ravished with love to God
as my Father; so that I could not forbear crying out, in the
pleasing transports of a childlike affection, 'Father! Father!'
with a full and sweet assurance that He was my Father, and my
God. In the night season, when I awoke, my soul was still with
God. The passion of my soul for Christ was so vehement, that my
dreams were full of Him. Thus it was for a long tract of time,
But, alas! when the great God wisely withdrew His quickening
presence, and let Satan loose upon me, O what terrible havoc
did he make in my soul! and that, alas! too much with my will.
I thought myself a monster in iniquity, and that there was some
peculiar brutishness in my heart, that none had but myself. This
made me often wish for death to get clear of it. This has often
enraged my soul so against sin and myself for it, that I have
thought, if it were lawful, I could freely try to pluck my heart
out, and tear it in pieces.

"Since you were here, I have been among my people, dealing with
them plainly about their souls, in their houses; examining them
one by one as to their experiences; telling natural people the
danger of their state; exhorting them that were totally secure,
to seek convictions, and those that were convinced, to seek
Jesus; and reproving pious people for their faults. Blessed be
God! I have seen hopeful appearances of concern.

"I am, etc.,
"GILBERT TENNENT."[299]

[299] _Glasgow Weekly History_, No. 3.

To return to Whitefield. In New York, he was not allowed to preach in the Church of England; but his preaching in the Presbyterian meeting-house received the sanction of his Divine Master. A few days after his departure, the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton wrote to him as follows:--

"REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--You left New York under a deep and
universal concern. Many were greatly affected, and I hope
abiding impressions are left upon some. Some, who were before
very loose and profligate, look back with shame upon their
past lives and conversation, and seem resolved upon a thorough
reformation. I mention these things to strengthen you in the
blessed cause you are engaged in, and to support you in your
abundant labours. When I heard so many were concerned for their
eternal welfare, I appointed a lecture on Wednesday evening,
though it was not the usual season; and, though the warning was
short, we had a numerous and attentive audience. In short, I
cannot but hope that your coming among us has been the means of
awakening some to a serious sense of practical religion, and may
be the beginning of a good work in this sinful place. I pray
God to take you under His gracious protection, to sustain you
under your many trials, and make you gloriously successful in
converting sinners from the error of their ways. My wife joins
me in affectionate regards to you, Mr. Seward, and your other
friends, whom we love in sincerity.

"I am, your affectionate brother and very humble servant,
"E. PEMBERTON."

Whitefield returned to Philadelphia on Friday, November 23. On Saturday, November 24, he preached, morning and afternoon, to "a vast concourse of all denominations," in the English Episcopal Church. The next day, a scene occurred within the consecrated building. Whitefield writes:--