The next day Whitefield again preached twice; and on Tuesday appeared before the commissary, according to his citation. This is said to have been the first court of the kind ever attempted to be held in any of the colonies. It consisted of the reverend commissary A. Garden, and the Rev. Messrs. Guy, Mellichamp, Roe, and Orr, who, as well as Whitefield himself, and his able advocate, Mr. Andrew Rutledge, respectively showed their want of familiarity with such business, and, after a series of blunders on both sides, the court adjourned to nine o'clock the next morning, to afford Whitefield time to ascertain the extent of the jurisdiction of the bishop and his commissary. How little, however, he studied the subject may be inferred from the fact, that he preached twice during the remainder of the day. The next day, a Mr. Graham appeared as a prosecuting attorney, and Mr. Rutledge as counsel for the respondent. Whitefield made some mistakes, but hints from his quick-sighted advocate and his own adroitness saved him from their consequences; though he contrived to give the court a lecture on the meanness of catching at a word as soon as it was out of his lips, without allowing him time to correct it. He now filed his objection against being judged by the commissary, who, he alleged, was prejudiced against him. This gave rise to new questions: the court adjourned; and the evangelist went to James' island, read prayers, and preached. The next day he again appeared in court, and found that his exceptions were repelled, and that the arbitrators he had asked for would not be appointed. He now appealed to the high Court of Chancery in London, declaring all further proceedings in this court to be null and void. He then retired and read letters which refreshed his spirit, by informing him how "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed" at Philadelphia; and that Mr. Bolton, in Georgia, had nearly fifty negroes learning to read. On the 18th he preached twice, and on the 19th again appeared before the commissary, and bound himself, in a penalty of ten pounds, to prosecute his appeal in London within twelve months. The appeal was never tried, as the ecclesiastical authorities allowed it to die of neglect.
"The court being ended," says Whitefield, in his journal, "the commissary desired to speak with me. I asked him to my lodgings. He chose to walk on a green near the church. His spirit was somewhat calmer than usual; but after an hour's conversation, we were as far from agreeing as before." "All his discourse was so inconsistent and contrary to the gospel of our Lord, that I was obliged to tell him that I believed him to be an unconverted man, an enemy to God, and of a like spirit with the persecutor Saul. At this he smiled; and, after we had talked a long while, we parted, and God gave me great satisfaction that I had delivered my soul in my private conversation with the commissary."
The next day, July 20, was the Sabbath. The commissary preached in his usual style, and Whitefield preached his farewell sermon to the people of Charleston. By his recommendation two or three of the dissenting ministers had instituted a weekly lecture; and the evangelist "advised the people, as the gospel was not preached in church, to go and hear it in the meeting-house." On leaving the city, he summed up, in his journal, the results of his labors in this manner:
"What makes the change more remarkable in the Charleston people is, that they seemed to me, at my first coming, to be a people wholly devoted to pleasure. One well acquainted with their manners and circumstances, told me more had been spent on polite entertainments, than the poor's-rate came to; but now the jewellers and dancing-masters begin to cry out that their craft is in danger. A vast alteration is discernible in the ladies' dresses. And some, while I have been speaking, have been so convinced of the sin of wearing jewels, that I have seen them with blushes put their hands to their ears, and cover them with their fans. But I hope the reformation has gone farther than externals. Many moral, good sort of men, who before were settled on their lees, have been gloriously awakened to seek after Jesus Christ; and many a Lydia's heart hath been opened to receive the things that were spoken. Indeed, the word came like a hammer and a fire. And a door, I believe, will be opened for teaching the poor negroes. Several of them have done their usual work in less time, that they might come to hear me. Many of their owners, who have been awakened, resolved to teach them Christianity. Had I time, and proper schoolmasters, I might immediately erect a negro school in South Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania. Many would willingly contribute both money and land."
The Baptist church in Charleston at this time was nearly extinct, being reduced to five or six communicants, but Whitefield's success greatly increased their number, and it thus gained strength which it has never lost. It is also gratefully mentioned even now by the church of that denomination at Eutaw, that Whitefield during this visit to South Carolina preached the dedication-sermon of their house of worship.
Whitefield left Charleston on July 21, visiting and preaching on his way homeward, which he reached towards the close of the same week. He preached on the Sabbath in extreme weakness of body, but "with the Holy Ghost from above," and several were hopefully converted to God. On the 18th of August, he again left Savannah for Charleston, where he was able, for want of bodily strength, to preach but once a day, but he thought that his sermons were attended with more power and success than ever before. In a few days after, having preached a farewell sermon to four thousand hearers, he sailed for New England, where he had been very cordially invited by leading ministers and others in Boston and many other places.