The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield, Volume 2 (of 2)Tyerman, L. (Luke)
History
The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield, Volume 2 (of 2)
Tyerman, L. (Luke)
Whitefield, George, 1714-1770
From Manchester, Whitefield set out on a tour through what was called
“Ingham’s Circuit,” a large mountainous tract of country where Ingham
had preached with great success, and had founded Societies. The
following, addressed to the Countess of Huntingdon, will give the
reader an idea of Whitefield’s labours:――
“NEWBY-COTE, _June 16, 1750_.
“HONOURED MADAM,――Blessed be God! I have still good news to send
your ladyship. All was quiet at Manchester; and, I humbly hope,
the Redeemer will gather to Himself a people there.[281] Kind
Captain Galatin and his lady will acquaint you with particulars.
I hope he will prove a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We had
sweet seasons at places adjacent to Manchester. Only, at Bolton,
a drunkard stood up to preach behind me; and a woman attempted
twice to stab the person who was putting up a stand, for me
to preach on, in her husband’s field. Since that, we have had
very large and powerful meetings, where formerly were the most
violent outrages.[282] Perhaps, within these three weeks, sixty
thousand souls have heard the gospel. I am now in Mr. Ingham’s
circuit, and purpose being at Kendal next Thursday.”
To this Whitefield appends the following postscript:――
“June 17th, seven in the morning. Last night Satan shewed his
teeth. Some persons got into the barn and stable, and cut my
chaise, and one of the horse’s tails. What would men do, if they
could?”
Whitefield arrived at Kendal four days after this, where he wrote the
following to his friend Hervey:――
“KENDAL, _June 21, 1750_.
“REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR,――I arrived at Kendal this morning,
where I shall preach this evening. An entrance is now made into
Westmoreland. Pen cannot well describe the glorious scenes that
have opened in Yorkshire, etc. Perhaps, since I saw you, seventy
or eighty thousand have attended the word preached, in divers
places. At Haworth, on Whit-Sunday, the church was almost thrice
filled with communicants; and, at Kirby-Stephen, the people
behaved exceedingly well.
“In my way, I have read Mr. Law’s second part of ‘The Spirit of
Prayer.’ His scheme about the fall is quite chimerical; but he
says many noble things. The sun has its spots, and so have the
best of men. I want to see my own faults more, and those of
others less. It will be so, when I am more humble. If mercies
would make a creature humble, I should be a mirror of humility.
But I am far from the mind that was in Jesus. You must pray,
while I go on fighting. Next week, I hope to reach Edinburgh.
You shall have notice of my return. Glad shall I be to meet such
a friend upon the road.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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