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
“His Excellency General Oglethorpe has informed my friend Mr.
Habersham, that, if I desired it, he thought you would grant
me a greater tract of land, which I should be obliged to give
away in a certain term of years; and that we might have our own
magistrates, as the people of Ebenezer have. I know not whether
I shall desire such a favour; but, if I should, I desire to know
what you, honoured gentlemen, would say to it. Many have applied
to me respecting their settling in Georgia; but, hitherto, I
could give them no encouragement. I wish I may be enabled to
give them a great deal in the future.
“Honoured gentlemen, I do not desire to find fault. I doubt not
but you have been prejudiced both against me and my friends.
The event will shew what friends we are to Georgia. The Orphan
House will certainly be of great utility to the colony; and the
children educated therein will, I trust, be the glory of the
society to which they belong. They are bred up to industry, as
well as to other things; and are taught to fear God and honour
the king. I heartily pray God to bless all who are concerned in
the management of Georgian affairs.
“I hope to be in London in about two months. In the meanwhile,
I would beg the favour of a line by your secretary, and I also
entreat you, honoured gentlemen, to write to the magistrates of
Savannah, to let the Orphan House managers alone. If I, or my
friends, should happen to say or do anything amiss, I assure you,
you shall have all possible satisfaction given you by them, and
also by, honoured gentlemen, your very humble servant,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”
Such was Whitefield’s letter to the Trustees of Georgia, written in the
midst of the great revival at Cambuslang.
On the same day, he wrote a long letter to his good friend, the Rev.
Mr. Willison, of Dundee, who seems to have been far more anxious about
Whitefield’s reputation than Whitefield was himself. The letter is
historical, and extracts from it must be given.
“CAMBUSLANG, _August 17, 1742_.
“REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR,――I heartily thank you for your concern
about unworthy _me_. Though I am not very solicitous respecting
what the world says of me, yet I would not refuse to give to
any one, much less a minister of Jesus Christ, all reasonable
satisfaction about my doctrine or conduct.
“I am sorry that ‘The Associate Presbytery’ have done me much
wrong. As to what they say about the _supremacy_, my sentiments
agree with what is said in the Westminster Confession of Faith
(chapter xxiii.). I do own the Lord Jesus to be the blessed Head
and King of His Church. I never abjured the Solemn League and
Covenant; neither was it ever proposed to me to be abjured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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