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The Christian leaders of the last century; or, England a hundred years
ago. By the Rev. J. C. Ryle ...
Ryle, J. C. (John Charles), 1816-1900.
London, T. Nelson and sons, 1869.
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/yale.39002085612811
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T L B R A R Y
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T A N L A D R S O F
TU R Y .
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L A D R S
U N D R E DY E A R S A G O .
L , B .A . ,
f o rd ' ,
" X P O S I TO R Y T H O U G H T , "& c.
ee, o f theformera . ge, andpreparethyself to thesearchof
vni. 8.
DS O N S ,PA T R N O S T R R O W;
; A N D N E W Y O R K .
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nthereader'shandsre uiresafew
planation. I shouldbe
sta easto itsnatureand
seriesofbiographicalpapers,contributedto
aluablemonthlyperiodicalduringthe
Myob ectindrawingupthesepapers
blicinacomprehensiveformthe
oftheleadingministersbywhose
oreviveC hristianityinE nglanda
adlongfeltthatthesegreat menwere
andtheirmeritinconse uencenotsuffi
thoughtthattheC hurchandthew orld
ngmorethantheyseemtok nowabout
esley , R omaine, R ow lands, Grim-
Toplady , Hervey , Wal er, andF letcher.
a itedan iously forsomeworthyaccount
eroes. A t lastI becamew earyof
a ethepeninmyownhand, anddo
sof aperiodical.Thesepapers,in
soffriends,arenow broughttogether
sbeensuccessful, I mustnow leave
y .
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terarymeritsthevolumecanlay no
writtenfrommonthto monthinthe
ngagements,underapressurewhich
hosewhowrite forperiodicals.To
beamodeloffinishedcomposition
layclaimtoa tolerabledegreeof
facts. I havebeencarefultoma e
couldnotfindsomeauthority.
erthat I amanenthusiastic
epicturesI haves etchedinthis
nestly . I amathoroughenthusiast
rmly that, e ceptingLutherandhis
ariesandourownmartyredR eformers,
hmensincethedays oftheapostles.
nnonewhohavepreachedso much
whohavelived suchlives,none
ageinC hrist'sservice,nonewho
he truth,nonewhohavedoneso
cannamebettermen, hek now smore
umewithan earnestprayerthatGod
use itforhis ownglory,andraise
ethosewhoareheredescribed. Sure ly ,
ateofE ngland, w emaywellsay , " Where
fieldandofR owlands,ofGrimshaw
, r ev i ve t h y wo r " J . C . R Y L .
e , A ugustio , 1868.
ghttosay thatthechie f substanceof the
d,"inthisvolume,wasoriginallyde
donin1852. I tnow appears
Theothertenbiographieswerepre
F amilyTreasury.
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nilf ttora lonbitionofnglanti
N I N G O F TH E E I GH T E N T H C E N TU R Y .
oryof theEighteenthC entury Po litica landF inancialPosit ion
teofR e ligionbothinC hurchesandC hapels Testimonies
ectsofB ishopsandC lergy Povertyof thePrintedTheo logy
dit ionof theC ountryastoE ducation, Mora ls, andPopularLitera
T imes" amereMyth 11
i c l f r i fl t ic w f t g te a s ft f bf l it b i n n gl a nb
O F T H E E I G H T E N TH C E N T U R Y .
andsincemiddleofEighteenthC enturyanundeniableF act
hangeafewisolatedandhumbleC lergymen Preaching
heyemployed TheMannerof theirP reaching TheSub
21
na I j t a J W t m a tr g .
eandParentage E ducatedatGloucesterGrammarS chool-
l e ge , O x f o rd S e a s o n of S p i ri t ua l C o n f li c t B o o s w h ic h
O rda inedbyB ishopB enson F irstSermon Preaches
Dummer, H ants GoestoA merica R eturnsinayear-
I se cludedf rommostLondonPulpits E x tentofhis
ars DiesatNew buryPort, A merica , in1770 I nterest
ath 3
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. Pa ge
hite f ie lddid TestimoniestohisdirectU sefulness I ndirect
uliarcharacterofhisPreaching Witnessesto hisrealpower
ysiso fhisseventy -f ivepublishedS ermons S implicity , Direct
,E arnestness,Pathos,A ction,V oice,andF luency,his
I nnerLife , Humility , LovetoC hrist, Laboriousness, Se lf -
,Cheerfulness,C atholicity S pecimenofhisPreaching..44
t s p t t ms t rp .
asonwhybetterk now nthanmanyofhisC ontemporaries B irth
isF atherandMother E ducatedatC harter-HouseandOx ford
istory Orda ined, 1725 LivesatOx forde ightY ears J o ins
a ilsforGeorgia, 1736 R eturnstoE ngland, 1738 C om
g C ontinuesWor ingforf ifty - threeYears Diesin1791
igence, andV ersatil ityo fMind A rminianism 64
.
P refacetoPublishedV olumeofS ermons E x tractsfromSer
U niversityofOx ford R ulesfortheGuidanceofhis
ohisP reachers LettertotheB ishopofLinco ln Genera l
Merits 88
t o of f a t oo r tf , a nb i t s i &t m ts t vs .
EducatedatC hrist 'sC o llege, C ambridge Orda ined, 1731
ndTodmorden DeathofhisWife Ministero f H a, w orth,
aw orth S ty leofhisMinistry His MannerofLife, Dil i
f Peace, Humility His MinisterialS uccess 106
rinY or shire, Lancashire , andC heshire TheNatureof this
dDefended PersecutionatC o lne TheA rchbishopofYor 's
isLovetotheA rticlesandHomilies HisLastI l lness, Dy ing
nera l I 20
I .
venantandSummaryofB e lie f LettertoC hrist iansinLondon
it ions I nf luence inhisParish H aw orthR acesStopped
seProfessors PeculiaritiesinhisC onductofDivine
ofR omaine, V eun, andNew ton 133
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ii
a nb I j i s J J U n t a t rp .
Pa ge
714 E ducatedatHoughton-le - pringandC hristC hurch,
erforLearningatOx ford Orda ined, 1736 C urateofLew -
LecturesatSt. B oto lph's1748, andSt. Dunstan's
Dunstan's MorningPreacheratSt. George 's, H anover
eshisP reachership, 1755 GreshamProfessorofA stronomy-
lave, Southw ar , andS t. B artho lomew theGreat
versityofOx ford GivesgreatOf fence 1 49
.
s, B lac f ria rs, 1764 Dif f icult iesinthew ayofhisA ppo intment
on U sefulnessatB lac f ria rs Peculiarit iesofA ddress
stI l lnessandDy ingS ay ing Death, 1795 PublicF uneral
3
b$ teplmistrp.
E ducatedatHereford, andneverataUniversity Orda ined,
geitho A nA lteredManin1738 Ex traordinaryE f fecto fhis
parochia landOut-doorPreaching LicenseWithdrawnby the
ntinuestoPreachinaC hapelatLlangeitho Died1790
180
.
g MuchofC hrist R ichnessofThought F e licityo fLan
ofPracticalandE x perimentalTeaching Manner,De
hristmasEvans'DescriptionofhisP reaching Testimonyof
SpecimensofR ow lands'S ermons I nnerLifeandPrivate
ty , P rayerfulness, Dil igence, Se lf -Denia l, C ourage, F ervour
dote 195
e an b f f a J f tt tn fs tr n.
tts, 1716 E ducatedatNottingham F a ilsto learntheB usiness
oC lareH all, C ambridge, 1734 ElectedF e llow ofC lare ,
aple ford, 1749 V icaro fEverton, 1755 B eginstoPreachthe
pen-airP reaching I t inerantandEx tra -parochia lMinistra
ica lEf fectonsomeHearers O pposit ionandPersecution
taph 2/ 6
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. Pa go
ccentricity N oQ uaintnessinhisOutlinesofSermons H is
ended S pecimenofhisQuaintThoughts His Humility ,
ss, Se lf -Denia l, Shrew dness, C ourage HisS ympathi ing
t r i t s J U l t i u ' st r p.
ey , 1724 HisA ncestors C uriousA necdotesofhisB oyhood
sSt. J ohn's, C ambridge, 1742 F e llow ofQueen's, 1749 C urate
0 C urateofC lapham, 1754 C hangeinhisR e ligiousV iew s
ntedw ithWhite fie ldandLadyHuntingdon Married, 1757
, 1759 254
.
uddersf ie ld E f fectofhisMinistry F ruitsfoundin1824 E x tra -
riendlyR elationw ithWhite fie ld H ealthF a ils WifeDies
forY e ll ing, 1771 DescriptionofY e ll ing S econdMarriage
tYe ll ing Dies, 1797 268
I .
ed HisLiteraryR emainsE x amined Ex traordinaryPow erasa
dnessof J udgmentaboutDoctrine WisdomandGoodS ense
ManagementofhisC hildren U nw orldlinessandC heer
hdK indlinessofSpirit TestimonyofC ow per, S imeon, and
2 8 5
anof ia f l intstrg.
4 E ducatedatE x eterC o llege, Ox ford O rda ined, 1737 C urateof
stveryignorantoftheGospel Mr.C onon'sI nfluence E ffect
osit ion S e lf -denia landH olyLife R emar ableEf fecton
ityMeetings Died, 1761 LiteraryR emains Preaching. . . 306
f fl r st o n j F a i ul , a nt i I j f e J K K n t st r s.
on, 1713 E ducatedatLincolnC o llege, Ox ford I ntimacyw ith
a ined, 1736 C urateofDummer, 1738; ofB idefbrd, 1740; and
3 E arlyR e ligiousH istory C orrespondencew ithWhite-
tatW estonF avell LiteraryR emainsA naly ed C orre
P rivateLife C harity S e lf -denial Died, 1758 Testi
nn, C ow per, C ecil, B ic ersteth, andDanie lWilson 328
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lmtstrp.
40 O rda ined, 1762 V icaro fB roadH embury , Devonshire , 1768
, 1775 Dit: s, 1778 C onversion, 1756 H isP reaching H is
ersia list H isH ymns 358
at al 2 , an b I j t 'a P li nf at ra .
, 1729 E ducatedatGenevaandLeut burg WishestobeaS o l
orinEngland, 1750 PrivateTutorinMr. Hil l 'sF amily,
ua intedw ithMethodists I nw ardC onf lict O rda ined, 1757
C orrespondencew ithC harlesWesleyandLadyHunt
.
eley S uperintendentofTreveccaC ollege,1768 R esigns
sidebyillhealth,1776 Goesto C lifton,N ewington,and
urnstoMadeley , 1781 Marries Dies, 1785 H iiP reaching
aracter TestimonyofWesleyandV enn 405
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U N D R E DY E A R S A G O .
a n b | f t o ra l C o n b it i or t o f ( i c n g la n b
N I N G O F TH E E I GH T E N T H C E N TU R Y .
storyof theE ighteenthC entury Po litica landF inancialPosit ionof
eofR e ligionbothinC hurchesandC hapels Testimoniesonthe
ishopsandC lergy Povertyof thePrintedTheo logy Wretched
tryastoEducation, Morals, andpopularLiterature The
ereMyth.
proposetohandle inthisvo lumeispartly
phical.I fanyreader
fictitioustale,orsomething
gination,I fearhewillbedisappointed.
yprov ince, andI haveno leisureforit
facts, andthesternrea lit iesof life ,
canspareforthepress.
wthmostreadersthesub ectI have
noapology.Themanwhofeelsno
biographyofhisowncountryis
worsephilosopher.
led.Truepatriotismwillma e
verythingthatconcernsE ngland.A
now somethingabouteveryonewho
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A N DF I N A N C I A L
nglishcharacter, f romtheV enerable
tow ell, f romA lf redtheGreatdow nto
aggedS chools.
is not.W hatisphilosophybut
mples1Tok now thestepsbyw hich
rpresentpositionis es-sentialtoaright
nationalprivilegesandour national
enwhomGodraisedup todohis
w illguideusinloo ingaboutfor
wndaysanddaysto come.
atthere isnoperiodofE nglishhistory
uctiveto aC hristianasthemiddle
periodofw hichwearefee lingthe
tisthe periodwithwhichour
andfatherswereimmediatelycon
otleast,fromwhichwemaydraw
own times.
escribetheactualcondition of
sago.A fewsimplefactswillsuffice
thatI amnotgoingtospea of
mighteasilytellhimthat,in thedays
e, theDu eofN ew castle , andthee lder
andwasverydifferentfromwhatitis
oratorstherewereamongus,no
mongthenationsof theearthwas
, andlow . Ourvo iceamongthe
farlessweightthanit hassince
ofourI ndianE mpirehadhardly
anpossessionswereapartof theworld
utnotcoloni ed. A t hometherew asa
whichstilllongedforthe restoration
45thePretenderandaHighlandarmy
dto invadeEngland, andgotasfaras
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E N G LA N D . 13
bbing,andmismanagementinhigh
purity thee ception. C iv iland
ounded.Thetestandcorporation
d.Tobe aDissenterwastobe
eebetterthan beingseditiousanda
ourished.B riberyamongallclasses
dprofuse.S uchwasE nglandpoliti
furthermore,thatI amnotgoing
nina financialandeconomicalpointof
,andlinenmanufactureshadhardly
ormousminera ltreasuresofcoaland
.W ehadnosteam-boats,noloco
ys,nogas,noelectrictelegraph,no
rming,nomacadami edroads,no
angements,andnopolicedeserving
shmanimagine,ifhecan,hiscountry
thatI have j ustmentioned, andhe
theeconomicalandfinancialcon
redyearsago.
hingstothepolit icaleconomistsandhis
terestingastheyare,nodoubt,they
ectthatI w anttodwellupon. I w ish
aministero fC hrist 'sgospe l. I t isthe
onofE nglandahundredyearsago
emyattention. Here isthepo intto
hereader'seye.
nareligiousand moralpointof
enturywassopainfullyunsatisfac
onveyanyade uate ideaof it . E ng
daywhohaveneverbeenledto
ct, canhavenoconceptionof thedar
mtheyear1700till abouttheeraof
n, Englandseemedbarrenofa llthatis
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F R E L G O N .
tateof thingscanhavearisenin a
rofessingProtestantismisalmostpast
ityseemedto lieasonedead,inso
said "sheisdead."Morality,how
pits,wasthoroughlytrampledunder
w asdar nessinhighplacesand
dar nessinthecourt, thecamp, the
dar nessincountry , anddar nessin
ngrichanddar nessamongpoor a
ndmora ldar ness adar nessthat
hechurchesweredoinga hundred
soongiven. TheC hurchofEng
s,withher admirablearticles,her
rparochialsystem,herS undayser
dclergy.The N onconformistbody
w onlibertyanditsf reepulpit. B ut
ybegivenofboth parties.They
ardlybe saidtohavelived.Theydid
asleep.Thecurse oftheU niformity
theC hurchofE ngland.Theblightof
rsecutionseemedtorestupon the
logy,withoutasingledistinctivedoc
dmorality,orbarrenorthodo y,formed
churchandchapel.S ermonsevery
nmiserablemoralessays,utterly
y toaw a en, convert, orsavesouls.
astagreedon onepoint,andthatwas
dtodo nothingforheartsandsouls.
ruthsforw hichHooperandLatimer
andB a terandscoresofPuritans
emedcleanforgottenandlaidon the
stateof thingsinchurchesandchapels,
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O P S E C K E R ' C H A R G . 15
arnthat thelandwasdelugedwith
heprinceofthis worldmadegood
isagentswereactiveandz ealousin
dofstrangeandblasphemousopinion.
ncedC hristianityaspriestcraft.
miraclesoftheB ibletobegrand
claredthemto beallegories.A rian
ereopenly taughtbyC lar andPriestly ,
mongtheintellectualpartofthe com
pacityofthe pulpittostemthepro
l,onesinglefact willgiveussome'
er,B lac stone,hadthecuriosity,'-
ge I I I . , togof romchurchtochurch:
ofnotein London.H esaysthathe
ursewhichhadmoreC hristianityin
cero,andthatitwouldhave beenim
r,fromwhat heheard,whetherthe
fC onfucius,ofMahomet,orofC hrist
nfulsub ectis, unhappily , only too
otso muchtodiscoverwitnesses,
stheperiodatwhich A rchbishop
fhischarges, " I nthisw ecannotbe
nd professeddisregardofreligion
tyofunhappycauses,the distin
ge.S ucharethedissolutenessand
higherpartoftheworld,and the
,andfearlessnessofcommittingcrimes
,ifthetorrentofi mpietystopnot,
hristianityisridiculedandrailed at
ndtheteachersofit withoutanyat
enB ishopB utler,inhisprefaceto
efo llow ingremar ablew ords: " I thas
rantedthatC hristianity isno longera
utthatit isnow atlengthdiscoveredtobe
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F B I S H O P
lyitis treatedasif,in thepresentage,
mongall personsofdiscernment,
tosetitupasaprincipa lsub ectfor
weresuchcomplaintsasthese con
Watts declaresthatinhis day"there
l religionintheheartsand livesof
eralmatterofmournfulobservation
e ofGodtoheart."Dr. Guyse,
onconformist,says,"Thereligion
darlingtopicofourage; andthere li
only forthesa eof that, andonlyso
ofnature,andisa bareimprove
ht. A llthatisdistinctive lyC hrist ian,
ist,everythingconcerninghimthathas
ninnaturallight, orthatgoesbeyond
dbanishedand despised."Testi
si lybemultipliedtenfo ld. B utI spare
bablyhasbeenadducedtoprovethat
mora landre ligiouscondit ionofEngland
hteenthcenturyaspainfullyunsatis
he languageofe aggeration.
o f thosedays? S omeof themw ere
rfulintellectandlearning,andofun
esto f them, li eS ee er, andB utler,
dH orn,seemedunabletodomore
nceofev ilswhichtheysaw butk new
ers, l i eLav ingtonandWarburton,
againstenthusiasmandfanaticism,
nglandbecomingtooreligious The
tosay thetruth,weremeremenof the
heirposition.The prevailing
dymaybeestimatedbythefact, that
sgaveballsandroutsat LambethPalace
terferedby letterandre uestedhimto
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I A L C L R G . 17-
that whentheoccupantsofthe
oubledbytherapid spreadofW hite-
velysuggestedinhigh q uartersthat
f luencew astoma ehimabishop.
clergyofthose days% Thevast
sun inw orldliness, andneitherk new
heirprofession.Theyneitherdid
edanyoneelseto doitforthem.They
med,theyswore,theydran ,they
eterminedtok noweverythinge cept
crucif ied. Whentheyassembleditw as
rchandK ing,"andtobuildone another
pre udice,ignorance,andformality.
rown homes,itwastodoas littleand
ble.A ndwhentheydidpreach,
pea ablyandindescribablybad,that
heyweregenerallypreachedtoempty
ologicalliteraturewasa hundredyearsago
epoorestandw ea estintheEnglish
whichweowesuchdivinityas
ofMan,"andthesermonsof Tillotson
nthisoccasionissocurious, thatI give it initsentirety , asI f ind
hill-arrangedboo ,"TheLifeandTimesof LadyH unting
ntlywritteninconse uenceofaninterviewwhichLady
ek ing. A crit ica lreaderw illrememberthatthek ingw aspro
eGermanthanthe E nglishlanguage.
I couldnotdelaygivingyouthe notificationofthegrief
breast wasaffectedatreceivingauthenticinformationthat
intoyour palace.A tthesametime,1 mustsignifytoyoumy
ect,whichholdtheselevitiesand vaindissipationsasutterlyine
passin aresidenceformanycenturiesdevotedtodivine studies,
thee tensivee erciseofcharityandbenevo lence; I add, ina
urpredecessorshaveled theirlivesinsuch sanctityashas
religiontheyprofessedandadorned.F romthedissatisfaction
veI beholdtheseimproprieties,nottospea inharsherterms,
nciples,I trustyouwillsuppressthemimmediately;so thatI
howany furthermar sofmydispleasure,orto interposeina
dta eyourgrace intohisa lm ightyprotection remain, my
sfriend,G.R .'
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N , MO R A L , A N D
atanyo ldboo se ller'sshop, andyouw ill
ounsaleableasthesermonspublished
rpart oflastcentury.
dthe lowerordersahundredyears
parto fparishes, andespecia lly inrura l
ationat all.N earlyallourrural
ince1800. S oe tremew asthe ignor
acherin S omersetshirewascharged
hswearing,becauseinpreachinghe
thatbe liewethnotsha llbedamned "
omersetshire , Yor shire furnisheda
harlesW esleybeforethemagistratesas
r,becausein publicprayerheas ed
hisbanishedones " Tocapa ll, the
ordactua llye pe lledsi studentsf rom
theyheldMethodistictenets,andtoo
de poundScripture inprivatehouses. "
wasremar edbysome,broughtan
otrouble ; buttopraye temporew asan
fahundredyearsago I tmaysuf
dultery,fornication,gambling,swear
ganddrun ennessw erehardly regardedas
fashionablepracticesofpeoplein
ety,andno onewasthoughttheworse
hebestevidenceofthispoint is
spictures.
teratureofahundredyearsago? I
o lingbro e, andGibbon, andH ume
plydyedwithscepticism.I spea
wasmostinvogue.Turnto
mollett, Sw if t, andSterne, andyouhave
softhesewritersis undeniable;
of theirwritingsisso glaringand
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O F TH E P R I O D. 19
-a-dayswouldli etoallowtheir
rdrawing-roomtable.
erydar andgloomyone. I w ish
owalittle morelightintoit.B ut
ndspeciallyfacts aboutliterature.
ndredyearsagoisto befoundinthe
on, J ohnson, andStee le . B utthe
thegeneralpublic,itmaybe feared,
nfact, I be lievethatJ ohnson
ore influenceonthereligionand
nthebroom oftherenownedMrs.
esof theA tlanticOcean.
ispartof mysub ecttoaconclu
storememberthatthegoodw or sw ith
miliardid note istonehundred
adnotyetattac edtheslavetrade.
rmedprisons. R a i eshadnotestab
ehadnoB ibleSocieties, noragged
opastoralaid societies,nomissions
f slumberwasovertheland.I n
ofview,E nglandwassoundasleep.
ng, asI draw thischaptertoaconclu
morethan fulforthetimesinw hich
rtooaptto loo attheev ilsw esee
w muchworsethingswereahundred
ath, formypart, andI bo ldlyavow it,
ofw hichsomedelighttospea . I
bleandamyth.I believethatour
mesthatEnglandhaseverseen. I do
k now w ehavemany thingstode
aw emightbeworse. I dosay thatw e
dyearsago.The generalstandard
undoubtedlyfarhigher.A tall
w a e. Weseeandfee levilstow hich,
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L DT M S " A M T H .
wereinsensible.W estruggletobe
desiretoamend.Thisis avastim
manyfaultswearenot soundasleep.
ir,activity,movement,progress,and
eare,we confessourbadness;wea
dgeourfailings;feebleasour efforts
itt leasw edoforC hrist, w edotry
an Godforthis Thingsmight
rowndayswiththemiddleof last
othan Godandta ecourage. E ng
nit wasahundredyearsago.
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i l C l r is ii am h t ea s nf ai bc b
O F T H E E I G H T E N TH C E N T U R Y .
andsincemiddleofEighteenthC enturyanundeniableF act A gents
afewisolatedandhumbleC lergymen Preachingthechief
yed TheMannerof theirP reaching TheSubstanceof the ir
eatchangeforthebetterhascomeoverE ng
earsisa factw hichI sup
sonwouldeverattemptto
ttemptto denythattherewasa
nthedaysofLuther,a LongParlia
mw ell, o raF renchrepublicattheend
as beenavastchangefor the
d moralitythecountryhasgone
ution. Peoplene itherthin , norta l ,
0. I t isagreatfact, w hichthechil
deny,howevertheymayattemptto
well trytopersuadeusthat high-water
ridgeareoneandthe samething.
sthisgreatchangeef fected? To
theimmenseimprovementinreligion
btedlyhascomeovertheland Who,
mentsthatGodemployedinbringing
eformationoftheeighteenthcentury
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N T O F E N G LA N D
wishtoe aminegenerallyinthe
esandbiographiesoftheprincipal
orfuturechapters.
ntrycanlaynoclaim tothecredit
notbecalled intobeingbypenal
Peoplewereneveryetmadereligious
t any rate, theParliamentsandad
ydidas littleforreligionandmoral
stedinEngland.
comef romtheC hurchofEngland,
thatvenerablecommunionwere
imes. Lef ttoherself , theC hurchof
havediedofdignity , andsun ather
changecomefromtheDissenters.C ontent
mphs,thatworthybodyofmen
roars. I ntheplenaryen oymentof
heyforgotthe greatvitalprinciples
eirownduties andresponsibilities.
rmersofthelast century? Towhom
d,forthe changewhichtoo place?
veranceforus,a hundredyears
s,mostofthemclergymenof the
hoseheartsGodtouchedaboutthesame
ecountry.Theywerenotwealthy
hadneithermoneyto buyad
cetocommandattentionandrespect.
byany C hurch,party,society,or
plymenwhomGodstirredup and
,withoutpreviousconcert,scheme,
intheo ldaposto licw ay , by
oftheirday.Theytaughtone setof
nthe sameway,withfire,reality,
convincedofwhattheytaught.They
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B L F A C T. 23
irit, alwaysloving,compassionate,
ping,butalwaysbold,unflinching,and
n.A ndtheytaughtthemonthe
ntheaggressive; notwaitingfor
ut goingafter,andsee ingsinners;
offeredtorepent,butassaultingthe
i emenstormingabreach,and
ongastheystuc tothe irsins.
llantevangelistsshoo E ngland
tfirstpeoplein highplaces
Themenofletters sneeredatthem
o es, andinventedsmartnamesfor
erdoorson them;theDissenters
them;theignorantmobpersecuted
tofthesefewevangelistswenton,and
t oftheland.Manywerearoused
aboutre ligion; manyw ereshamedout
estrainedandfrightenedattheirown
atheredtogetherandinducedtopro
on; manywereconverted;many
hemovementw eresecretlyprovo ed
ingbecamea strongtree;the
roadstream;thelittle spar became
candlewaslighted,ofwhichwe are
it.Thefeelingofall classesintheland
ygraduallyassumedatotallydifferent
is, underGod, w asef fectedbyafew
dventurers WhenGodta esaw or
t.W henGodisfor us,nonecan
chthespiritualreformersofthe
r operationswasofthesimplest
ermorenorless thantheoldapostolic
swordwhichS t.Paulwieldedwith
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U M N T E M PL 0Y E D.
eassaultedthestrongholdsof hea
dyearsago,wasthesameswordby
ies.Tosay,as somehavedone,
tionandschools,is totallyincorrect.
congregations,theycaredforthechil
edone,that theyneglectedthe
e.Thosewhoma ethatassertion
gnoranceofthe religioushistoryof
rsago. I tw ouldbeeasy tonamemen
ersofthelast centurywhosecom
onedbyhundreds,andwhohonoured
thanforty-nineoutoffiftyclergymen
doubtpreachingwastheirfavourite
tbac tofirstprinciples,andtoo
ld,withS t.Paul,thataminister's
cthegospel. "
re.I fthepulpitof aparishchurch
dlyavailedthemselvesofit. I fit
yweree uallyreadytopreachin a
isstothem. I nthef ie ldorby the
reenorina mar et-place,inlanesor
rrets,ona tuborona table,ona
,whereverhearerscouldbegathered,
elast centurywerereadytospea
hey wereinstantinseasonand
fisherman'swor ,andcompassedsea
dtheir F ather'sbusiness.N ow,all
nwewonderthatit producedagreat
eyrightlyconcludedthatthevery
medatin asermonisto beunder
atthousandsofable andwell-com
useless,becausetheyareabovethe
stroveto comedowntothelevel
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G TO T H E H E A R T . 25
whatthepoorcouldunderstand.
ashamedtocrucifytheirstyle,and
for learning.Toattainthisthey
dotesinabundance,and,li etheir
ssonsfromeveryob ectinnature.
imofA ugustine, "A woodenk eyis
enone,butifit canopenthedoor
ot,it isfarmoreuseful."Theyre
n whichLutherandLatimerused
ful.I nshort,theysawthetruth of
ormermeantwhenhesaid," N oone
thepeoplewhois notwillingto
eemschildishandvulgartosome."
uitenew ahundredyearsago.
nddirectly.Theycastasidethat
odeofdelivery,whichhadlong made
rdulness.Theyproclaimedthe
d thestoryoflifewith life.They
, li emenw howerethoroughlypersuaded
e, andthatitwasof theutmost
a linteresttohearit. Theyspo eli e
agefromGodtoyou,andmustdeliver
ntionwhile theydeliveredit.They
eling intotheirsermons,andsent
ced,atanyrate,that thepreacher
emwell.Theybelievedthatyou
artif youw ishtospea totheheart,
mista ablefaithandconviction
tobe faithandconvictionamong
epeat, w asathingthathadbecome
yearsago.C anwewonderthatit
dproducedan immenseeffect?
anceandsub ect-mattero f thepreach
onderfuleffecta hundredyearsago?
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A N C E A N D S U B J E C T -MA T T R
ers'commonsensebyonlysayingthat
vent,real,genial,brave,life-li e,"
aveitunderstoodthatit waseminently
tical,anddistinct.Thestrongholds
wouldneverhavebeencastdownby
ativeteaching.Thetrumpetswhich
erichoweretrumpetswhichgaveno
glishevangelistsoflastcenturywere
reed.B utwhatwasitthat they
e informationonthispo intmaynotbe
piritual reformersofthelastcentury
ciencyandsupremacyofH olyS cripture.
mutilated,wastheirsolerule offaith
edallits statementswithoutq ues
w nothingofanyparto fScripture
verallowedthatmanhasany
im,by whichS cripturestatements
ed,orreceived.Theyneverflinched
anbe noerrorinthe Word ofGod;
nderstandor reconcilesomepartof
nthe interpreterandnotinthete t.
eywereeminentlymenofoneboo .
contenttopintheir faith,andbyitto
grandcharacteristicoftheir
d,theyloved,theyreverencedtheB ible.
mersofthelastcenturytaughtcon
ofhumannature.Theyk newnothing
hristisin everyman,andthatall
within,whichtheyhaveonlytostir up
ed.Theyneverflatteredmenand
ytoldthemplainly thattheywere
iveagain ;thattheywereguilty,
s,andinimminentdangerof eternal
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C H I N G .2 7
o ica lasitmayseemtosome, their
gmengoodwasto showthemthat
theirprimaryargumentinpersuad
fortheirsoulswasto convincethem
at all.
mersofthelastcenturytaughtcon
thuponthecross wastheonlysatisfaction
enC hristdied,hediedas oursub
rtheun ust. " This, infact, w asthecardi
rsermons.Theynevertaughtthe
rist 'sdeathw asonlyagreate ample
nit somethingfarhigher,greater,
in itthepaymentofman'smighty
hrist 'sperson; they re o icedin
yurgedmentowal a f terC hrist 's
sub ect, abovea llo thers, concerning
tedtodwellon, wastheatoningblood
onthecross.
mersofthelastcenturytaughtcon
fj ustificationbyfaith.Theytold
thingneedfulinorderto obtainan
forthe irsouls; thatbeforewebelieve,
interestinC hrist;andthat the
elive,andhavea plenarytitletoall
ficationbyvirtueofchurchmember
thoutbelievingortrusting werenotions
tenance.E verything,ifyouwill
oubelieve;nothing,if youdonot
marrowoftheirpreaching.
mersofthelastcenturytaughtcon
ssityofheartconversionanda new
pirit.Theyproclaimedeverywhereto
ressed,"Y emustbeborn again."
sm sonshiptoGodw hilew edothe
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A N C E A N D S U B J E C T -MA T T R
onshiptheyneveradmitted.The
reachedwasnodormant,torpid,
somethingthatcouldbe seen,dis
seffects.
mersofthelastcenturytaughtcon
nnectionbetweentruefaithandpersonal
edforamomentthatanychurch
rofessionwastheleastproofof aman
helivedanungodly lif e . A trueC hris
stalwaysbek nownbyhisfruits; and
manifestand unmista ableinall
fruits,nograce,"wasthe unvarying
thelast centurytaughtconstantly,
ytrue,God'seternalhatredagainstsin,
ners.Theyk newnothingofa" love
venwhereholy andunholyareall
n.Both aboutheavenandhellthey
ofspeech.Theynevershrun from
s,thecertaintyof God'sj udgment
enpersistedinimpenitenceand
erceasedtomagnifythe richesof
passion,andtoentreatallsinners to
foreitwastoolate.
thsw hichtheEnglishevangelistso f
lypreaching.Theseweretheprinci
erealwaysproclaiming,whetherin
rin churchorinthe openair,
ongpoor.Thesewerethe doctrines
glandupsidedown,madeploughmen
dirtyfaceswereseamedwithtears,
eersandphilosophers,stormedthe
puc edthousandsli ebrandsf romthe
aracterofthe age.C allthemsimple
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C H I N G .2 9
fyouwill.S ay,ifyouplease,that
ing,new,peculiaraboutthislist of
deniable,thatGodblessedthese
fE nglandahundredyearsago
illbecomesmantodespise.
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i 6 el b an b { n s gt im si rg .
eandParentage E ducatedatGloucesterGrammarS choo l E nters
ford S easonofS piritua lC onf lict B oo sw hichw eremade
nedbyB ishopB enson F irstSermon PreachesinLondon
nts GoestoA merica R eturnsinaY ear Preachesinthe
dedf rommostLondonPulpits E x tentofhisLaboursforthirty -one
uryPort, A merica , in1770 I nterestingcircumstancesofhisDeath.
enthatrev ivedre ligioninEnglanda
hat weretheirnames,thatwe
herew eretheyborn1How
hatarethe leadingfactsinthe irl ives?
departmentof labour? Totheseq uestions
swersin thepresentandfuturechapters.
esno interestinsuchin uiries. The
oystodohis wor intheworld
.Themanwhodid notcaretoloo
ewdownJ ericho,thehammerand
elampsandtrumpetsofGideon,the
ght fairlybesetdownas acold
trustthatallwhoread thisvolume
mthingabouttheE nglishevangelistso f the
mI willnameisthe well- nown
hnot thefirstin order,ifweloo
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D' B I R T H -PLA C E . 31
placehimf irst intheorderofmerit,
fallthespiritual heroesofahundred
n asW hitefieldwhatthetimes
esoforwardinthegreat wor of
houldthin I committedanactof
nynamebeforehis.
oucesterinthe year1714.That
whichwashisbirth-place,isconnected
whichought tobedearto every
yndal,oneofthe firstandablest
hB ible,wasaGloucestershireman.
estandbest ofourE nglishreformers,
er, andw asburnedatthesta efor
wofhis owncathedral,inQ ueen
tcenturyMilesSmith, B ishopof
first toprotestagainsttheR omani
howasthen DeanofGloucester.
rotestantfeelingsofarthat,whenLaud
bleinthecathedraltotheeast end,
me"altar-wise,"in1616,B ishop
dedthathe refusedtoenterthewalls
day til lh isdeath. P lacesli e
oubt,havearich entailedinheritance
whereH ooperpreachedand
ealousMilesS mithprotested,wasthe
reacherofthe gospelE nglandhas
smen, White f ie ldwasofhumble
obleconnectionstohelphim for
otherk epttheB ellI nnatGlouces
veprosperedinbusiness;at any
avebeen abletodoanythingfor
tinlife. Theinnitselfis stillstand
hebirth-place,notonlyof ourgreatest
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T TH E G R A MMA R S C H O O L .
lsoofaw ell- now nEnglishpre late .
pofE x eter.
cordingtohisown account,was
ugh,li emanyboys,hehadocca
enceandspasmodicfitsof devout
eneraltastesare theonlytruetest of
s.H econfessesthathewas" addicted
andfoo lishj esting, " andthathew as
atheatre-goer, acard-player, anda
s,hesays,wentontill hewasfifteen
nceatGloucesterprocuredhimthe
ationatthe F reeGrammarS choolof
day-scholaruntilhewasfifteen.
sprogressthere . He canhardly , how
e,orelse hewouldnothavebeen
rsityafterwardsattheageofeighteen.
owanac uaintancewithLatin,inthe
tations, w hichisse ldomac uired, ifnot
eonlyk now nfactabouthisschool
ateventhenhewasremar ablefor
mory,andwasselectedto recite
rporationofGloucesterattheirannual
chool.
itefieldappears tohaveleftschool,
nandGree foraseason. I na ll
raitenedcircumstancesmadeitabso
do somethingtoassistherin busi
ng.H ebegan,therefore,tohelp
f theB ellI nn. " A tlength, " he
apron,washedcups,cleanedrooms,
aprofessedcommondrawerfor nigh
er,didnot lastlong.H ismother's
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N C E A T O X F O R D. 33
otflourish,and shefinallyretiredfrom
ol-fellowrevivedinhis mindthe
rd, andhew entbac totheGrammar
studies.F riendswereraisedupwho
Pembro eC ollege, Ox ford, wherethe
ucesterhe ldtw oe hibit ions. A ndat
dentialcircumstanceshadsmoothed
fordasaservitoratPembro eattheage
O x fordwasthegreatturning-point
reeyearsbeforehew enttotheU ni
sthat hehadnotbeenwithoutreligious
etimeofhisenteringPembro eC ollege
nedintodecidedC hristianity.H e
nsofgracewithinhis reach.H e
sitingthecityprison,readingto the
good.Pie becameac uaintedwith
eyandhisbrotherC harles, anda little
ungmen, includingthew ell- now nauthor
, " J amesHervey . Thesew erethede
ame" Methodists"wasfirstapplied,
method"ofliving.A tonetimehe
vouredsuchboo sas"Thomasa
nu a 'sSpiritua lC ombat, " andtohavebeen
emi-papist,anascetic,oramystic,
religioninself-denial.H esaysin
schosethew orstsorto f food. I f asted
e lw asmean. I thoughtitunbecom
hairpowdered.I worewoollengloves,
shoes; andthoughI wasconvinced
t O x f o r d i n J u n e 1 8 65 , I w e nt t o P em b ro e C o l l e ge , a nd a s e d
theroomsw hichWhite f ie ldoccupiedw henhew asatOx ford.
atnothingwhateverwask nownaboutthem.Theroomswhich
occupiedatPembro earestil lpointedout. J ohnsonle f tOx ford
w entup.
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D B Y B I S H O P B E N S O N .
odidnotconsistinmeatanddrin , yet
nthesevoluntaryactsofself-denial,
greatpromotionofthe spirituallife."
sshew asgraduallyde livered, partlyby
periencedC hrist ians, andpartlyby
cougal's" LifeofGodintheHearto f
aU , " B a ter's" C a llto theU nconverted, "
nconvertedSinners, " andMatthew
ry. " " A bovea ll, " hesays, " mymind
andenlarged, I begantoreadtheHoly
nees, lay ingasidea llo therboo s, and
verylineandword.This proved
ndeedtomysoul. I da ily rece ived
rf romabove. I gotmoretruek now
oo o fGodinonemonththanI could
mallthewrit ingsofmen. " Oncetaught
ibertyof C hrist'sgospel,W hitefield
ticism,legalism,mysticism,orstrange
ction.Thee periencereceivedbybitter
tohim.The doctrinesoffreegrace,
too deeprootinhis heart,and
fhis boneandfleshofhis flesh.O f
fordmethodists,noneseemtohavegot
wsofC hrist'sgospelashedid, and
nglytothe end.
nty-twoWhitefieldwasadmittedto
ensonofGloucester, onTrinitySunday ,
asnotofhisownsee ing. Thebishop
L adyS elwynandothers,sentfor
stobuy boo s,andofferedtoordain
woyearsold,wheneverhewished.
metohimwhenhe wasfullofscruples
theministry . I tcutthek notand
fdecision. " I begantothin . "
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S E R M O N .35
outlongerI shouldf ightaga inst
ermonwaspreachedintheverytownwhere
hofS t.Mary-le-Crypt, Gloucester.
isthebestaccountthat canbegiven:
eaf ternoon, I preachedmyf irstsermon
y- le -C rypt, where I w asbapti ed, and
mentof theLord'sS upper.C uriosity,
rewa largecongregationtogether
htat firstalittleawedme. B ut
eartfeltsenseof thedivinepresence,
ableadvantageofhavingbeen
ingwhenaboyat school,andof
andpoorpeopleat theirprivatehouses
y thesemeansI w ask eptf rombeing
proceededI perceivedthefirek indled,
gandamidstacrowd ofthosewho
hdays, I trustI w asenabledtospea
pelauthority . Somefew moc ed, but
sentstruc ; andI havesinceheard
to thebishopthatI drovefifteen
Theworthyprelatewishedthatthe
rgottenbeforene tS unday. "
erhisordination,W hitefieldwentto
sdegreeasB acheloro fA rts. H ethen
nisteriallifebyunderta ingtempo
hapel,London,fortwomonths.W hile
dcontinuallyinmanyLondonchurches;
arish churchesofI slington,B ishops-
Margaret's, Westminster, andB ow ,
eryfirsthe obtainedadegreeofpopu
,beforeorsince,hasprobablyever
e -daysorS undays, w hereverhe
erecrowded,andanimmensesensa-
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T TO A M R I C A .
intruth is,thatareallyelo uent,
eachingthepuregospelwithmostun
manner,wasat thattimeanentire
gregationswereta enbysurprise
dfortwomonthsto Dummer,a
pshire , nearB asingsto e. Thisw asa
n,andhe seemedli eamanburied
people.B uthewassoonreconciled
dsthathe reapedmuchprofitby
romDummerheacceptedan
muchpressedonhim bytheW esleys,
rgia inN orthA merica , andassist in
ousew hichhadbeensetupnear
nofcolonists.A fterpreachingfora
hire,andespeciallyatB ristoland
forA merica inthe latterparto f1737,
ayear.The affairsofthisO rphan
ed, occupiedmuchofhisattention
tillhedied. Thoughwell-meant,it
gn ofveryq uestionablewisdom,and
tefieldaworldofan ietyandresponsi
s.
Georgiaatthelatterpart ofthe
priest's orders,whichwereconferred
ishopB enson, andpartlyonbusiness
anH ouse. H esoon, how ever, dis
asno longerwhatitwasbeforehe
oftheclergywerenolonger
ardedhimwithsuspicionas an
heywereespeciallyscandali edby
of regenerationorthenewbirth,as
edpersonsgreatlyneeded The
he hadaccessrapidlydiminished.
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E A C H I N G .37
dnoeyesfordrun ennessandimpurity.
gnationaboutwhattheycalled
hopswhocouldtolerateA rianism,
,werefilledwithindignationata man
onementofC hristandthew or o f the
todenouncehimopenly . I nshort,
Whitefield's fieldofusefulnesswithin
dnarrowedrapidlyoneveryside.
uncturegaveaturnto thewhole
inistrywashisadoptionofthesystem
eeingthatthousandseverywherewould
spenttheir S undaysinidlenessor
chedbysermonswithinwalls,he
olyaggression,togooutafterthem
dges,"onhisMaster'sprinciple, and
H isfirstattempttodo thiswas
gsw oodnearB ristol, inF ebruary1739.
nedayw enttoHannamMount, and
topreachtoabouta hundredcolliers
gsoon becamek nown.The
ncreased,tillthe congregation
nds.H isownaccountofthe be
colliers,whohadneverbeen ina
plyaffecting: "H aving,"hewrites
nessoftheirowntorenounce,they
esusw how asaf riendtopublicans, and
ousbutsinnersto repentance.The
gaffectedwas thesightofthe white
s,whichplentifullyfell downtheir
cameoutof theircoa l-pits. Hundredsof
nderdeepconviction,which,asthe
edinasoundand thoroughconver
eto all,thoughnumberschosetc
rthan thefingerofGod.A sthe
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TO P R E A C H .
ftenoccasionedmanyinwardconflicts.
tythousandpeoplewerebeforeme,I had
na wordtosayeitherto Godor
rtota llydeserted, andf re uently ( forto
a instGod w assoassistedthatI k new
hatourLordmeantbysaying, 'Outof
flivingwater.'Theopenfirmament
thead acentfields,withthesightof
es,someonhorsebac ,andsomein
affectedandintears,was almosttoo
rcameme."
hitefieldbeganthepracticeofopen-
A pril27,1739.Thecircumstances
dwerecurious.H ehadgoneto
thev icar, hisf riendMr. Stonehouse.
erthechurchwardenscametohimand
reachingin thedioceseofLondon.
dnotgotthis licenseanymorethan
lyofficiatinginthediocese hasat
ematterwas,thatbeingforbidden
reachin thepulpit,hewentoutside
ice,andpreachedinthechurchyard.
aspleased sotoassistmein preaching,
ctthehearers,that I believewecould
oprison.Let nottheadversaries
lfouto f the irsynagogues. No; they
ebecamea constantfieldTpreacher,
eseasonoftheyearmadeit possible.
unday,A pril29,herecords: "
ne ceedinggreatmultitude.B eing
g'spreaching,I refreshedmyselfin
eep,andatfivewentand preached
on,abouttwomilesfromLondon,when
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F I E L D-PR E A C H E R . 39
ndpeopleweresupposedtobepre
evertherewerelargeopenspaces
herewerelargebandsofidle, god
gpeoplegatheredtogether, inHac ney
ie lds, MayF a ir, S mithfie ld, B lac heath,
tonC ommon,therewentWhitefield
hrist. Thegospelsoprocla imed
yreceivedby hundredswhonever
ceofworship.Thecauseofpure
dsoulswerepluc edfromthehand
romtheburning. B utitw asgo ingmuch
fthosedays.Theclergy,with afew
refusedentirelytocountenancethis
truespirit ofthedogin themanger,
fterthe semi-heathenmassesofpopu
edanyoneelsetodothewor for
was,thattheministrationsofW hite-
hurchofE nglandf romthistime
elovedtheC hurchinwhichhe had
n herA rticles;he usedherPrayer-
uttheC hurchdidnotlovehim, andso
.Theplaintruth is,thattheC hurch
wasnotready foramanli eWhite f ie ld.
hasleepto understandhim,andwas
uldnotk eepstil landletthedev ila lone.
historyfromthisperiodtothe day
ntire lyofonecomple ion. Oneyear
; andtoattemptto fo llow himwouldbe
rthesameground.F rom1739tothe
periodofthirty-oneyears,hislife was
.He waseminentlyamanofonething.
berthatall thishappenedahundredyearsago,whenLondonwas
ce.Mostoftheopen placeswhereW hitefieldpreachedarenow
enningtonOvalandB lac heathaloneremainopenatthisday
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H I S LA B O U R S .
er'sbusiness.F romS undaymorn
, f romtheisto f J anuary tothe31sto f
henlaidasidebyillness, hewasalmost
hrist,andgoingabouttheworld en
come toC hristandbesaved.
rabletownin E ngland,S cotland,or
sitasanevangelist.W henchurches
dly preachedinchurches:when
ned,hecheerfullypreachedin
andchapelsa li ew ereclosed, or
s hearers,hewasreadyandwilling
orthirty-oneyearshelabouredin
ngthesamegloriousgospel,and
yecanj udge, w ithimmenseeffect. I n
ee ,afterpreachinginMoorfields,he
tersfrompeopleunderspiritualcon
ord's tablethreehundredandfifty
ouryearsofhisministry it isrec oned
ighteenthousandtimes.
prodigious,whentheroadsandcon
nsidered.H ewasfamiliarwith
ndperilsinthe seas,"ifeverman
evisitedS cotlandfourteentimes,and
ableorusefulthanhe wasinthat
ecrossedtheA tlanticseventimes,
nmiserableslowsailingships,and
housandsinB oston, New Y or , and
erto I re landtw ice, andonone
eredbyanignorantPopishmob in
andWales, hetraversedeverycounty
fWighttoB erw ic -on-Tw eed, andf rom
orthF ore land.
or inLondonforthew interseason,
necessarilysuspended,wassomething
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41
engagementsattheTabernaclein
d,whichwasbuiltforhim whenthe
dC hurchwereclosed,comprisedthe
verySundaymorningheadministeredthe
hundredcommunicantsathalf-past
dprayers, andpreachedbothmorning
eachedagaininthe eveningat
edbyaddressingalarge societyof
oungmenandspinsters,allsitting
e Tabernacle,withe hortationssuit
tions.O nMonday,Tuesday,Wed
rnings,hepreachedregularlyatsi .
ednesday,Thursday,andS aturday
tures.This,itwillbe observed,
w ee A nda llthist imehew ascar
ndencewithpeopleinalmostevery
ldsolong endurethelaboursthat
doesindeedseemwonderful.That
yviolence,towhich hewasfre uently
derful. B uthew asimmorta lt i l lh is
edatlastverysuddenlyatN ew bury
c, onSunday , Septemberthe29th, 1770,
yageof f if ty-si . H ew asonce
ames,ofA bergavenny,whodied
udgef romthelittlementionmade
emarriagedoesnot seemtohave
ppiness.H eleftnochildren,but
hanthatofsonsand daughters.N ever
f whomitcouldbeso trulysaidthat
C hristthanGeorgeW hitefield.
rticularsofthis greatevangelist's
sing, thatI sha llma enoe cusefor
sanendinstri ingharmonyw iththe
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N G C I R C U M T A N C E S
dlived formorethanthirtyyears,
heverylast.H eliterallyalmostdied
ath,"hehadoftensaid," issudden
ot, I cannothe lpw ishingthatI may
r.Tomeitwouldbe worsethan
andtoseefriends weepingabout
ofhisheartgranted. Hew ascut
spasmodicfitof asthma,almost
thathewasill.
urday the29thofS eptember, theday
dsetoutonhorsebac fromPorts
hire,inordertofulfilan engagementto
tonSunday . Onthew ay , unfortunate ly,
edtopreachat aplacecalledE x eter,
he hadnottheheartto refuse.A
hepreachedthathe loo edmoreuneasy
m, " Sir, youaremorefittogotobed
hitefieldreplied :"True,sir ;"
clasped hishandstogether,and
J esus, I amw eary inthyw or , but
havenotyetf inishedmycourse, letme
ncemorein thefields,sealthytruth,
ethenwentandpreachedto a
hef ie ldsf romthete t2C or. x ii i . 5,
ohours.I twashislast sermon,and
wholecareer.
enthefo llow ingstri ingaccountof
e f ie ld'slif e : " H erosef romhisseat,
earancealonewasapowerfulsermon.
the palenessofhiscountenance,the
eavenlyspar inadecayedbodyfor
nteresting;thespirit waswilling,
nthissituationheremainedseveral
. H ethensa id: ' I w il lw aitforthe
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T H .43
,forhe will,I amcertain,assistme
isname. 'H ethendeliveredperhaps
Thelatterpartcontainedthefollow
gotoarestprepared: mysunhasgiven
sabouttoset no, torisetothe
.I haveoutlivedmanyonearth,but
eaven.Manyshall outlivemeon
odyisnomore,butthere oh,thought
e inaw orldw heretime, age, sic ness, and
ybody fails, butmyspirite pands.
iveforevertopreachC hrist. B utI
ief comparativelybrief hasbeen
st labourswhichI seebeforeme
utif I leavenow , w hilesofew care
eGodofpeacewill surelyvisityou."
er,W hitefielddinedwithafriend,
wburyPort,thoughgreatlyfatigued.
ed early,andretiredtobed.Tradi
up-stairs,withalightedcandlein his
heinclinationtoturnround atthe
a tothefriendswhowereassembled
ethef irek indledw ithinhim, and
hecandlewhich heheldinhis hand
tothesoc et. Heretiredtohis
morealive.A violentfitofspasmodic
af terhegotintobed, andbeforesi
ningthegreatpreacherw asdead. I fever
ge,W hitefieldwasthatman.W hen
hingtodobutto die.Where he
avaultbeneaththepulpitof the
gedto preach.H issepulchreis
ndnothingma esthe little tow n
s thefactthatit containsthebones
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I T F I E L D' M S S I O N .
atsinthe lifeo f theprinceofE nglish
earsago.H ispersonalcharacter,
fulness,andsomeaccount ofhisstyleof
sw hichI mustreserveforanotherchapter.
.
hite f ie lddid TestimoniestohisdirectU sefulness I ndirectgood
aracterofhisPreaching Witnesses tohisrealpoweras a
fhisseventy-fivepublishedS ermons S implicity,Directness,
rnestness,Pathos,A ction,V oice,andF luency,hisleading
nerLife , Humility , LovetoC hrist, Laboriousness, S e lf -denia l, Disin
ss,C atholicity S pecimenofhisPreaching.
j udgment,wassoentirelychief
lishR eformersofthelastcenturv,that
ogy foro f feringsomefurtherinformationabout
odhe did,thepeculiarcharacter
echaracterof theman,areallpoints
n.Theyarepoints,I mayadd,about
untofmisconception.
psisunavoidable,andoughtnot
sfor formingacorrectopinion
efieldare necessarilyveryscanty.
themill ion, ofw orld-w idefame, li e
ress."H eheadednocrusadeagainst
thanationathisbac , andprinceson
her. H efoundednore ligiousdeno
faithonhis writingsandcarefully
ndw ords, l i e J ohnWesley . There
yansinthepresentday,butthere are
Thegreatevangelistoflastcentury
n,wholivedfor onethingonly,and
st. I fhedidthat, hecaredfornothing
amanarelargeand fullinheaven,
uttheyarefew andscantyuponearth.
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T US E F U L N E S S .45
dethis,thatthe manyineveryage
eWhite f ie ldbutfanaticismandenthu
hingli e" z ea l" inre ligion. They
rnsthe worldupsidedown,andde
ays,andwill notletthedevilalone.
wouldtellus thattheministryof
dtemporarye citement,thathispreach
nt,andthathis characterhadnothing
mired.I tmaybefearedthat
gotheywouldhavesaidmuch the
ooddidW hitefielddo? "isonewhich
asthesitation.I believethatthedirect
ortalsoulswasenormous.I will
eitisincalculable.C rediblewitnesses
andA merica , haveplacedonrecordthe ir
meansof convertingthousandsof
epreached,werenotmerelypleased,
utpositivelyturnedfromsin,and made
"N umberingthepeople,"I donot
ectionablepractice.Godalone
n thewheatfromthetares.Many,
ouse citement,aresetdownascon
etedata ll. B utI w ishmyreadersto
stimateofW hitefield'susefulnessis
n. I as themtomar w ellw hat
sthoughtof thevalueofhislabours.
now nA mericanphilosopher, wasaco ld
aQ ua erbyprofession,andnot
anestimateofanyminister'sw or .
at"it waswonderfultoseethechange
gin themannersoftheinhabitants
ingthoughtlessorindifferentabout
theworldweregrowingreligious."
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E S T O H I S W O R T H .
ayberemar ed, w asthe leadingprinter
adelphia;andhisreadinessto print
dj ournalsshow shisj udgmentof the
mericanmind.
Macculloch,wereS cotchministers
nownnorthoftheTweed,andthe two
yran highastheologicalwriters.
ytestifiedthatW hitefieldwasmadean
nsegoodinS cotland.Willison in
onouredhim withsurprisingsuccess
sandpersuasions."
uddersf ieldandYell ing, w asaman
ell asofgreatgrace.H isopinion
ss,e tent,success,anddisinterested
ngivehimdistinctionamongthe
earewarrantedto affirmthatscarce
r. White f ield. " A ga inhesays: " He
linhisvastlabours.The sealsofhis
ampersuaded,weremorethan
numberbefi ed.Thisiscertain,
wasonlyfromhis usefulness;forheno
sa preacher,thanGodcommanded
nguponhisword."
hrew dman, asw ellasaneminent
istestimonyis: "Thatwhichfinished
rasashininglight, andisnowhis
thesingularsuccesswhichthe Lordwas
ningsouls.I tseemedasifhe never
thereis hardlyaplaceinall the
slabourswheresomemaynot yet
yac now ledgehimasthe irspiritual
idnotagreewith Whitefieldon severaltheo
mportance.B utwhenhepreached
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C T U S E F U LN E S S . 47
: "H avewereadorheardof any
thousands,somanymyriadsof
bovea ll, havewereadorheardof
blessedinstrumentofbringingso
nesstolight,andfrom thepowerof
oniesundoubtedlyare,thereisone
llyuntouched.Thatpointis the
thatW hitefielddid.Greatasthe
were,I believefirmlythatthein
eater.H isministrywasmade
oneverperhapseither sawor
ntheeighteenthcenturywhore
uths whichproducedtheProtestant
tantassertionofthedoctrinestaught
peatedreferencetotheA rticlesand
yofthe bestE nglishtheologians,
ndrousedthemtoe aminethe irown
truthwask now n, I be lieve itw ould
ogressoftheE vangelicalbodyinthe
eivedamightyimpulsefromGeorge
ottheonly indirectgoodthatWhite f ie lddidin
hefirst toshowtherightwayto
delsandscepticsonC hrist ianity . He
owerfulweaponagainstsuch men
asoninganddry criticaldis uisition,
spel livingthewholegospel and
el.I twasnotthe writingsofLeland,
oc , andWaterland, andLeslie , that
nfidelityonehalf somuchasthe
ndhiscompanions.Theywerethe
mpionsof C hristianity.I nfidelsare
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R O F H I S PR E A C H I N G .
abstractreasoning.Thesurest argu
speltruthand gospellife.
ery f irstE nglishmanw hoseemsto
odwhatDr.C halmersaptlycalled
ewasthefirst toseethatC hrist's
offishermen.Theymustnotwait
,butmustgoaftersouls,and "compel
dnotsittamelybyhisf ireside, l i e
ningoverthew ic ednessof the land.
hedev il inhishighplaces. He
ednessfaceto face, andgave- themno
sand cornersaftersinners.H e
vicewherevertheycould befound.
tasystemofactionw hich, uptohis
velyun nowninthiscountry,buta
enced,hasneverceasedtobeem
tday.C itymissions,townmissions,
pen-airpreachings,homemissions,
reachings,areallevidencesthatthe
stem" isnowthoroughlyrecogni ed
understandbetterhow togotow or
dyearsago.B utletus neverforget
menceoperationsofthisk indwas
etusgivehim thecredithedeserves.
hitefield'spreachingisthe sub ect
meconsideration.Mennaturallywish
cretofhis unparalleledsuccess.The
dwith considerabledifficulty,anditis
correctj udgmentaboutit.The
ple,thathewasa merecommon
mar ablefornothingbutgreat
ndaloudvoice,will notbeara
Dr.J ohnsonwasfoolishenoughto
ndmade animpression,butnever
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F H I S P R E A C H I N G .49
a mounteban does;andthathe
oing betterthanothers,butby
utJ ohnsonw asanythingbutin
l aboutministersandreligion.
o ldw ater. I t iscontradictory toun
cherinE nglandhaseversucceeded
f suchcrowdsasW hitefieldcon
London.N opreacherhaseverbeen
erycountrythat hevisited,inE ng
merica . Nopreacherhaseverretainedhis
relyashedidfor thirty-fouryears.
ned. I tw asasgreatattheendofhis
ing.W hereverhepreached,men
hopsandemploymentstogatherround
whoheardforeternity.This ofitself
ndtheearof" themasses"fora
to bepreachingincessantlythewhole
commonpower.
hitefield'spreachingproduceda
inevery ran o f l if e . Hew onthe
s low,ofrichaswell aspoor,of
d.I fhispreachinghadbeen
neducatedand thepoor,wemight
atthere waslittleinit butdeclama
rfromthis beingthecase,heseems
numbersof thenobilityandgentry.
heE arlofLeven,theE arlofB uchan,
uth, LordJ amesA . Gordon, mightbe
stadmirers,besideLadyH untingdon
tcrit icsandliterarymen, li eLord
dC hesterfie ld, weref re uentlyhisde
ecoldartificialC hesterfieldwas
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S H E D S E R MO N S .
hite f ie ld'se lo uence. B o lingbro e
traordinarymaninourtimes. Hehas
uenceI everheardinanyperson."
perspo e innomeasuredtermsofhis
ethehistoriandeclaredthatit was
ohearhim.
canneverbee pla inedaw ay . They
rythatW hitefield'spreachingwas
n. B o lingbro e, C hesterf ield, Hume,
tmentobeeasilydece ived. Theywere
uence. Theyw ereprobablyamongthe
eir day.Theirunboughtandun
meto supplyunanswerableproof
somethingverye traordinaryabout
utstill,afterall, theq uestionremains
asthesecretof Whitefield'sunrivalled
ss? A ndI f ran lyadmitthat, w ith
ssessforformingour j udgment,the
onetoansw er.
seventy-fivesermonspublished
willprobablybemuchdisappointed.
mmandingintellectorgraspof mind.
eepphilosophy, andnoverystri ing
however,tosay,thatbyfarthe greater
eta endowninshorthandby
ithoutcorrection.Theseworthy
heirwor veryindifferently,and
eofstoppingandparagraphing,of
econse uenceis,thatmanypas
esermonsarewhatB ishopLatimer
gle-mangle,"andwhatweshouldcall
ess."N owonderthatpoorW hite-
tletters,datedS eptember26,1769,
sedagainstthepublicationof mylast
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E C H A R A C T R I S T C S .51
atimasI de liveredit. I tsomeplaces
lseconcord, andevennonsense. I n
ectionare destroyedbyin udicious,
andthewholeisentirelyunfitfor the
ayboldlythat,withall theirfaults,
monswillwellrepayacandid perusal.
hatthey werenotcarefullyprepared
ermonsofMelv il leorB radley, but
graphed,andstopped,andhemust
eforehis mind.Moreover,hemust
ompositionforspea ingtohearers,
nforprivatereading, arealmostli e
othatsermonswhich"preach "well
say,rememberthesetwothings,
, andI ammuchmista enifhedoesnot
nyofW hitefield'ssermons.F ormy
ysay thatI thin theyaregreatlyunder
t whatappeartohavebeenthedistinc
hitefield'spreaching.
eldpreachedasingularlypuregospel.
rgavetheirhearerssomuch wheatand
tgetuptota l abouthisparty, his
ffice.H ewasperpetuallytellingyou
at, J esusC hrist, theHolyGhost, the
ce,faith,andholiness,inthe waythat
emightysub ects. " Oh, therighteous
" hew ouldof tensay ; " I mustbee cused
ll mysermons."Preachingofthis
atGoddelightstohonour. I tmustbe
ationoftruth.
tefield'spreachingwassingularlylucid
sw hatevertheymightthin o fhis
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O F D S C R I PT O N .
understandwhathe meant.H is
sy,plain,andconversational.H eseemed
dsentences. Hea lw ayssaw hismar ,
eseldomtroubledhishearerswith
ricatereasoning.S impleB iblestate
dpertinentanecdotes,werethemore
used.Theconse uencewasthathis
dhim.H enevershotabovetheir
grand elementofapreacher'ssuc
a llmeanstobeunderstood. I tw as
hopUsher, " Toma eeasy thingsseem
; buttoma ehardthingseasy isthe
er. "
tefieldwasasingularlyboldand direct
thatindefinitee pression"we,"
nglishpulpitoratory,andwhich
din astateofmistyconfusion.H e
eonew hohadamessagef romGod
heretospea toyouaboutyoursoul. "
f hishearersusedoftento thin that
meantforthemselves.H ewasnot
ingonameagretail-pieceof appli
discourse.O nthecontrary,acon
nthrough allhissermons."This is
."H ishearerswereneverletalone.
tre inWhite f ield'spreachingw ashis
on.TheA rabianshaveaproverb
st oratorwhocanturnmen'sears
emstohavehadapeculiar facultyof
edhissub ectsothoroughly thatit
beforeyoureyes. Heusedtodraw
hingshewashandling,thathis
actuallysawandheard them."O n
his biographers,"LordC hesterfield
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S T N E S S . 53
egreatpreacher,in describingthe
nconvertedsinner,illustratedthe
blindbeggar. Thenightw asdar , and
oormendicantwasdesertedbyhis
cipice,andhadnothingto aidhimin
aff.Whitefield sowarmedwithhis
with suchgraphicpower,thatthewhole
athlesssilence,asif itsawthemove
n;andatl ength,whenthebeggar
talstep whichwouldhavehurledhim
in destruction,LordC hesterfield
rdto savehim,e claimingaloud,
ne 'Thenoble lordhadbeenso
epreacher,thathe forgotthewhole
eristicofW hitefield'spreachingwas
ss.O nepooruneducatedmansaidof
ea lion. " Hesucceededinshowing
ievedallhewassaying,andthat his
andstrength,werebent onma ing
sermonsw erenotli e themorning
outh,ak indofformaldischarge,
rse,thatdisturbsnobody.Theywere
nogettingawayfromthem.S leep
oumustlistenw hetheryouli edit
olenceabouthimwhichfirmly
storm. Y ouw erefairly carriedof fyour
ou hadtimetoconsiderwhatyou
sure, wasonesecretofhis success.
hatwearein earnestourselves,ifwe
fferencebetweenonepreacher
muchinthethingssaid, asinthe
aid.
fhisbiographersthatanA merican
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S A N D F E E L N G.
earhim,for thefirsttime,inconse
heardofhispreachingpowers.The
ationcomparativelythin,andthe
therheavy.O urA mericanfriend
Thismanisno greatwonderafter
andsaw thecongregationaslitt le
neoldman,infront ofthepulpit,had
nceWhite f ie ldstoppedshort. His
ndthenhesuddenlybro eforthin
hadcometospea toyouinmyow n
yourelbowson yourk nees,andyour
dsleep; andonce inaw hile loo up,
bblerta l ingof B utI havenot
ame. No I havecometoyouin
osts" ( herehebroughtdownhis
ethatmadethebuildingring , " and
d."Thecongregationstarted.The
ce. " A y , ay " criedWhite f ield, f i ing
ve w a e d y ou u p , ha v e I ? I m e an t t o
retopreachtostoc sandstones: I
ameoftheLord GodofH osts,and
naudience."Thehearerswerestripped
verywordofthesermonafterthis
tion,andtheA mericangentleman
hitefield'spreachingdeservesspecial
menseamountofpathosandfeeling
twasnouncommonthingwith
e pulpit.C orneliusWinter, who
hislatter j ourneys,wentsofarasto
newhimgetthrougha sermonwithout
ohavebeennothingof affectation
orthe soulsbeforehim,andhis
ears. O falltheingredientsof his
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D'A S A N O R A T O R . 55
,I suspect,weresopowerfulasthis.
nsandtouchedsecretspringsinmen,
inganddemonstrationcouldhave
ownthepre udicesw hichmanyhad
eycouldnothatethe manwho
uls. "I cametohearyou,"said
etfullo f stones, intendingtobrea
ongotthebettero fme, andbro e
esatisfiedthatamanloves you,and
ythinghehastosay.
adertoaddtothisana lysiso fWhite-
nbynaturehe possessedseveralof
mantobe anorator.H isactionwas
atevenGarric , thefamousactor, gave it
vo icew asasw onderfulashisaction
a ethirtythousandpeoplehear
usicalandwelltonedthat somesaid
pronunciationoftheword" Meso
thepulpitwasso curiouslygraceful
said thatnoonecouldhear himfor
ttingthathes uinted.H isfluency
atelanguagewereofthehighest
ystousethe rightwordandtoput
, I repeat, thesegif tstothethings
enconsiderwhetherthereis-hot
ccountforhispowerand popularity
avenohesitationinsay ingthatI be lieve
everpossessedsucha combinationof
sasWhite f ie ld. S ome, nodoubt, have
s gifts;others,perhaps,have
utfora well-balancedcombination
thatapreachercan possess,united
anner,delivery,action,andcom-
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T C H A R A C T R .
ld,I repeatmyopinion,standsalone.
e lieve, deadora live, hasevere ua lledhim.
a llalw aysf indthat, j ustinproportionas
edthatcuriouscombinationofrare
ssessed,j ustinthatvery proportion
larendondefinestrueelo uenceto
fma ingthemselvesbelieved."
character ofthisgreatspiritual
reabranchofmysub ectonw hichI
th.I nfact,thereis nonecessityfor
ngularlytransparentman.There
uiringapo logyore planation. His
swerebothclearandplain asnoon-day.
tmyselfwithsimplypointingout the
haracter,sofar astheycanbe
ndthe accountsofhiscontempo
s etchofhimtoaconclusion.
ndunfe ignedhumility . Noonecan
lettersofhis, publishedbyDr.
his.A gainandagain,inthe very
w ef indhimspea ingofhimselfand
tterms. " Godbemercifultomea
ptembern,1753,"andgiveme,for
, anhumble , than ful, andresigned
hanthev ilest, andstandama edat
tchasI am. " " Letnoneofmy
mber27,1753,"cryto sucha
profitableworm,Spare thyself.R ather
w ithanA w a e, thousleeper, and
hy God."Languageli ethis,no
andaffectationtotheworld; butthe
derwillseein ittheheartfelte perience
tisthe languageofmenli e
rd, andM'C heyne. I t isthesamemind
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C E A N DS E L -D N I A L .57
postlePaul.Thosethathavemost
sthehumblestmen.
glovetoourLordJ esusC hrist.
veeveryname"standsoutinces
dence.Li efragrantointment,it
mmunications.Pieseemsnever
gaboutJ esus."MyMaster,"as
everlong outofhismind.Plis love,
sblood,hisrighteousness,hisreadi
patienceandtenderdealingwith
ppeareverfreshbeforehis eyes.I n
s acuriousli enessbetweenhim
hdiv ine, SamuelR utherford.
rieddiligenceandlaboriousnessabout
twouldbedifficult,perhaps,toname
heC hurchesw howor edsohardfor
yspenthimselfin hisservice.H enry
onforhim, preachedatB ath, borethe
W hatasignand wonderwasthisman
hislabours O necannotbutstand
ame could,forthespaceofnear thirty
n,sustaintheweightofthem; for
anframe,inyouthespecially,aslong-
dv io lentstra iningof the lungs? Who
urew ouldthin itpossiblethataperson
nhoodcouldspea inasinglewee ,
generalfortyhours,andinverymany
thattothousands; andafterthislabour,
t,couldbe offeringupprayersand
andspiritualsongs,ashis manner
chhe wasinvited? Thetruthis,
e traordinaryservantofGoddidas
mostof thosew hoe ertthemselvesare
year."
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L N E S S O F H I S N A T U R E .
nofeminentse lf-denia l. Hissty leof
ew asremar abletoaproverbfor
drin ing. A llthroughlifehew asan
urforgettingupw asfouro 'cloc ,
;ande uallypunctualwashein
A manofprayerfulhabits,hefre
htsinreadingand devotion.C ornelius
the sameroom,saysthathewould
nightfor thispurpose.H ecared
tasahelptothecauseofC hrist, and
ponhimfor hisownuse,onceto the
massednofortune,andfoundedno
moneyheleftbehindhim athis
helegaciesof friends.ThePope's
r,"This Germanbeastdoesnotlove
uallyappliedtoW hitefield.
abledisinterestednessandsinglenessof
only fortw oob ects thegloryofGod
Of secondaryandcovertob ects
e ra isednopartyof fo llowersw ho
ablishednodenominationalsystem,of
uldbe cardinalelements.A favour
ostcharacteristicofthe man:"Let the
ldperish, so longasC hrist ise a lted. "
ularlyhappyandcheerfulspirit . No
r doubtthatheen oyedhisreligion.
aysthroughouthisministry slan
yothers,misrepresentedbyfalse
wherebytheignorantclergyofhis
controversy hiselasticitynever
entlyare o icingC hrist ian, w hose
endedhisMaster'sservice.A vene
, a f terhisdeath, w henspea ingof the
piritwonherheart toGod,usedthese
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T A N D C A TH O L C I T . 59
Mr. White fie ldw assocheerfulthatit
hristian."
samanofe traordinarycharity,
hisr eligion.H ek newnothingof
gwhichma essomemenfancythat
outsidetheirowncamps,and that
ompletemonopolyoftruthand
o lovedtheLordJ esusC hrist insin
ythemeasurewhich theangels
srepentancetowardsGod,faithtowards
, andholinessofconversation1" I f they
hren.H issoulwaswith suchmen,
erecalled.Minordifferenceswere
him. Themar sof theLord
r shecaredfor. Thiscatho licity is
henthespirito f thetimeshelivedinis
rs ines, inScotland, w antedhimto
minationbutthe irown v i . , the
as edthem, " Whyonly forthem "
nswerthat" theyweretheLord's
anW hitefieldcouldstand.H e
otherLord'speoplebut themselves;"
swerethedevil'speople,they cer
preachedto;"andhewoundup by
e Popehimselfwouldlendhimhis
claimtherighteousnessofC hristin
piritheadheredallhis days.I f
esentedhim,heforgavethem;andit
w ithhim, hestill lovedthem. Nothing
stimonyagainstnarrow-mindedness
shortlybeforehisdeath,that,whenhe
shouldbeas edtopreachhisfunera l
adlongceasedto agreeaboutC al
field,to theverylast,wasdetermined
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T F A U L T .
s,andtoregard Wesleyas C alvindid
ervantof J esusC hrist. " Onanother
essorofreligionas edhim"whether
J ohnWesley inheaven " " No,
swer; " I f earnot. P iew illbesonear
atsuchadistance,that weshall
y thatthesub ectof thischapterwas
eallGod'ssaints,he wasanimper
tmeserredinj udgment. Heof ten
utProvidence,andmistoo hisown
gs.H ewasfre uentlyhastyboth
n.H ehadnobusinessto saythat
newnomoreofthegospel thanMa
set downsomepeopleastheLord's
Lord's friendssoprecipitatelyand
sdid.H ewastoblamefor denounc
letter-learnedPharisees,"because
octrine ofthenewbirth.B utstill,
,therecanbe nodoubtthatinthe
holy,self-denying,andconsistent
aracter,"saysanA mericanwriter,
sun detectedw ithoutmuchdif f iculty
bserverw hota espa insto loo for
urposeslostinonegeneral andgenial
would itbeforthe C hurchesofour
emmoreministersli e thegreat
hundredyearsago
hatthosew how ishtok now more
owelltoperusethe sevenvolumesof
ations,whichDr. Gillieseditedin
a enif theyarenotagreeablysurprised
smatterof astonishmentthat,
fthe nineteenthcentury,nopub-
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R O M S E R M O N .6 1
completereprint ofthewor sof
mtheconclusionofasermonpreachedby
tonC ommon,maybeinterestingtosome
givethemsome faintideaofthe
tw asasermononthete t, " What
( M a tt . x x i i . 42 .
artisenlargedtow ardsyou. I trust
hiddenbut powerfulpresenceofC hrist,
toyou. I ndeedit issw eet it ise
lltheharmI wishyouwhowithout
thatyoufe ltthe li e . B e lieveme,
mysoulto returntoanaturalstate
glychangestateswithyoufor alittle
ow w hatit istohaveC hristdw elling
onotturnyourbac s. Donotlet
enotafraidof convictions.Do
octrinebecausepreachedwithoutthe
the daysofhisflesh,preachedon
eld; andI ampersuadedmanyhave
here . Indeed, w espea w hatwe
re ectthek ingdomofGodagainst
sto receiveourwitness.
letyougo. Staya litt le , andletus
erlightlyyoumayesteemyoursouls,
setanunspea ablevalueonthem. He
smostprecious blood.I beseech
s,beyereconciledto God.I hopeyou
n theB eloved.B ehold,hecalleth
s,andfollowsyouwithhis mercy,
rvantsintothehighwaysandhedges
atsuchanhour ofsuchaday,in
youwerealltold whatyououghtto
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O F H I S P R E A C H I N G.
usC hrist. I f younow perish, itwil lnotbe
ge. I amf reef romthebloodofyoua ll.
ebeenpreachingdamnationtoyou. Y ou
elega lpreachers, beenre uiringyou
tstraw. I havenotbiddenyoutoma e
cometoGod.I haveofferedyou
sas youcandesire.I haveoffered
m,C hrist'swholerighteousness,C hrist's
ternalredemption,ifyouwillbut
yyoucannotbelieve,you sayright;
otherblessing,isthegift ofGod.B ut
hok nowsbuthemayhavemercy
inmore lov ingthoughtsofC hrist?
havemercyonothersandnotonyou?
DidnotJ esusC hristcomeintothe
echiefo f sinners, I answerthatw illbe
tion.I ndeeditwillnot,if youlay
eadtheE vangelists, andseehow
disciples, whohadfledfromand
brethren sayshe. H edidnotsay,
'Go, tellmybrethrenandPeter.'
a id, 'Go, te llmybrethreningenera l,
a tI amrisen. Oh, comforthispoor
amreconciledtohim. B idhim
orthoughwithoathsandcurses
havediedforhissins: I haverisen
on: I f ree ly forgivehimall. " Thusslow
ndness,wasourall-mercifulH ighPriest.
ehaschangedhisnatureandforgetspoor
edtotherighthandofGod? N o; he
day,andforever;and sitteththere
onforus.
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F H I S PR E A C H I N G .63
;come,yepublicans; come,ye
comeandbelieveonJ esusC hrist.
spiseyouandcast youout,yethe
ouup. Ohama ing, ohinfinitelycon
youhewillnotbe ashamedtocallhis
scapeifyou neglectsuchaglorious
t wouldthedamnedspiritsnowin the
istw assof ree lyof feredtothem? A nd
ureyesintorments? Doesanyone
edaresayhedoesnot deservedamna
, andothersta enaw aybydeath? W hat
od'sfreegrace, andasignof his
etGod'sgoodnessleadustorepentance.
nheavenoversomeofyourepenting "
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nb b is U t t nr si r ) .
sonw hybetterk now nthanmanyofhisC ontemporaries B irth-place
erandMother E ducatedatC harter-HouseandOx ford E arly
rda ined, 1725 LivesatOx forde ightY ears J o instheMethodist
rgia , 1736 R eturnstoE ngland, 173 C ommencesF ie ld-preach
ingforf ifty - threeYears Diesin1791 S inglenessofEye, Dil i
ofMind A rminianism.
sto fEnglishR eformersof the last
proposetoconsider,is aman
thefamousJ ohnWesley .
angelistisperhapsbetterk nown
w-labourersahundredyearsago.
countedfor.H elivedtothe ripe
orsi ty-fiveyearshewascontinually
c, anddoinghisMaster'swor in
efoundedanewreligiousdenomina
eryday foritsnumbers,laboriousness,
yproudof itsgreatfounder. Hislif ehas
yhisfriendsand followers,hiswor s
receptsandma imsreverentially
ed, l i e J oseph'sbones. I nfact, if
beenpractically canonised,ithas
tw ouldbestrangeindeedifhisname
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Y ' B I R T H .65
cannotpretendtogivemorethana
spaceofafevvpages.The leading
spentlife,andtheleadingfeaturesof
all thatI canpossiblycompressinto
Thosewhowantmoremustloo
esleyw asbornonthe17thof J une1703, atE pw orth,
whichparishhis fatherwasrector.
milyofatleast thirteenchildren,com
daughters.O fthedaughters,those
rlyfoolishandunhappymarriages.
amuel, w asforsomeyearsusherof
ndanintimatefriendofthefamousB ishop
edhead-masterofTivertonS chool.
ounderoftheMethodistcommunion;
wasalmostthroughoutlifeJ ohn'scom
r.
wasamanof considerablelearningand
sawriter,he wasalwaysbringingout
rin verse,butnothing,unhappily
severacceptabletothe readingpublic,
present day.A sapolitician,he
roftheR evolutionwhichbroughtinto
range; anditw asonthisaccountthat
himtotheC row nliv ingofE pw orth.
msto havebeenadiligentpastorand
alschoolofA rchbishopTillotson.
rldlyaffairs,heappearstohavebeen
hrectorofaliving nowvaluedat
waysinpecuniarydifficulties,wasonce
esleybyMethodisthandsarethoseof Whitehead,Moore,
'sw ell- now nlifeofWesley isnotafa irboo , andtheunfavour
roughoutis painfullymanifest.Thebest,mostimpartial,and
esleyisonepublishedbyS eeleyin1856,byananonymous
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L Y ' PA R E N T .
llylefthiswidowandchildren almost
tothisthathew asnotongoodterms
poorashe was,insistedongoingup
endthe veryunprofitablemeetings
hsatatime,the readerwillprobably
toomany, hew asamanofmore
rnessthangoodsense.
esleywasevidentlyawomanofe tra
hewasthedaughterofDr. A nnes-
oreadersofPuritantheologyas oneof
MorningE x ercises, ande ectedf rom
, in1662. F romhimsheseemstohave
nseandstrongdecidedj udgment
aracter.Totheinfluenceof his
de ample, J ohnWesley , doubtless,
is peculiarhabitsofmindandq uali
ntofthe wayinwhichsheeducatedall her
terstohersonJ ohn, isenoughto
monwoman,andthat hersonswere
mmonmen. Shesays, " Noneof them
eyearso ld, e ceptKe iah, inw hose
andshewasmoreyears inlearningthan
months.Thewayofteachingwas
dbeganto learn,thehousewasset
appointedthem,andachargegiven
the roomfromninetotwelve,or
eour schoolhours.O nedaywas
olearn itsletters,andeachof them
llitsle tters, greatandsmall, e cept
ereadayandahalfbeforetheyk new
thenthoughtthemverydull; but
htthemsowasbecausethe restlearned
rS amuel,whowasthefirstchild I
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' M E T N G . 67
habetina fewhours.H ewasfive
ebruary ; thene tdayhebeganto
newtheletters,beganatthe first
astaughttospell thefirstverse,then
he couldreaditoff-handwithout
hesecond, &c, t il lhetoo tenverses
uic lydid. Easterfe ll low thatyear,
uldreadac hapterverywell,forhe
ucha prodigiousmemorythatI