About this period also, Mr. Hervey and he were employed in revising each other's manuscripts; the former was then preparing his "Theron and Aspasio," a work which, though florid in its style, has been eminently useful in conducting many of its readers to a saving knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel. Of his friend's writings Mr. Whitefield says, "For me to play the critic on them, would be like holding up a candle to the sun. However, I will just mark a few places, as you desire. I foretell their fate; nothing but your scenery can screen you. Self will never bear to die, though slain in so genteel a manner, without showing some resentment against its artful murderer.... I thank you a thousand times for the trouble you have been at in revising my poor compositions, which I am afraid you have not treated with a becoming severity. How many pardons shall I ask for mangling, and, I fear, murdering your 'Theron and Aspasio?' If you think my two sermons will do for the public, pray return them immediately. I have nothing to comfort me but this, that the Lord chooses the weak things of this world to confound the strong, and things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. I write for the poor; you for the polite and noble. God will assuredly own and bless what you write."
Whitefield was now also very busy in erecting his second London Tabernacle, which he dedicated, June 10, 1753. We have, for the sake of completing the narrative of its first building, already given in our third chapter a statement of the second tabernacle, to which the reader is referred.
Both the judgment and inclination of Mr. Whitefield concurred to induce him to persevere in his itinerant course, correctly judging that in this way he best employed his peculiar talents. After preaching, therefore, with his usual fervor and success for a short time in his newly erected Tabernacle, he again set out towards Scotland, where he spent some days at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and preached generally twice, sometimes three times a day, and once five times. He says, "Attention sat upon all faces, and friends came round like bees, importuning me to stay another week." This he found too much for his strength, but still went forward, often expressing his desire to serve his divine Master to the utmost limit of his power, and his hopes to be with him soon in heaven. During this journey, including his return to London, where he arrived the latter end of September, he travelled about twelve hundred miles, and preached one hundred and eighty times, to many thousands of hearers.
As converts increased in Bristol and its neighborhood, Mr. Whitefield felt compelled to erect there also a "tabernacle." Lady Huntingdon was one of the earliest contributors to this important object, and through her influence Lord Chesterfield gave twenty pounds to it. He had no taste for religion, but he well understood oratory, and in his letter to Lady Huntingdon covering his remittance, he said, "Mr. Whitefield's eloquence is unrivalled, his zeal inexhaustible." The Earl of Bath sent fifty pounds, saying, "Mocked and reviled as Mr. Whitefield is by all ranks of society, still, I contend that the day will come when England will be just, and own his greatness as a reformer, and his goodness as a minister of the most high God."
The Tabernacle at Bristol was dedicated November 25, 1753, with a sermon from Whitefield. Its history is one of deep interest. Its early ministers were worthy of any age, but remarkably fitted for that in which their lot was cast; men of pith and power, undismayed at dangers, braving all kinds of difficulty and toil, and prepared equally for labor and sufferings in the cause of their great Master. Nor have later ministers dishonored their predecessors; the cause still flourishes, and the hallowed house has been the birthplace of many eminent Christians. What Whitefield then said of this house might often be said of it now: "It is large, but not half large enough; for if the place could contain them, nearly as many would attend as in London." He always delighted in his visits to this place, and laid here a foundation for vast benefits, even to the present day. On one of his visits to preach here, he began a series of sermons on the evening before the commencement of the fair. His text was, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money, and without price." Isa. 55:1. The congregation was large, and thus he began: "My dear hearers, I fear that many of you are come to attend Bristol fair. So am I. You do not mean to show your goods until to-morrow; but I shall exhibit mine to-night. You are afraid purchasers will not come up to your price; but I am afraid my buyers will not come down to mine; for mine," striking his hand on the Bible, "are 'without money, and without price.'"
After the dedication of this Bristol Tabernacle, Whitefield preached in the open air in various parts of Somersetshire, at seven o'clock at night. "My hands and body," says he, "were pierced with cold; but what are outward things, when the soul is warmed with the love of God? The stars shone with exceeding brightness; by an eye of faith I saw Him who 'calleth them all by their names.' My soul was filled with a holy ambition, and I longed to be one of those who 'shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.'"
At this time he had a fine opportunity to show his Christian attachment to his old friends. Mr. John Wesley had, by a series of extraordinary labors, brought his life into great danger, and Whitefield, hearing of this while at Bristol, wrote a sympathizing letter to his brother Charles, in which he prays for the descending garment of Elijah to rest on the surviving Elisha, and encloses an ardent and solemn farewell to the invalid, who was supposed to be dying. He says, "The news and prospect of your approaching dissolution have quite weighed me down. I pity myself and the church, but not you. A radiant throne awaits you, and ere long you will enter into your Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy crown, ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring throng of saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen years, must be left behind to grovel here below. Well, this is my comfort, it cannot be long ere the chariots will be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain you, even you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not leave us yet. But if the decree is gone forth that you must now sleep in Jesus, may he kiss your soul away, and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant love. If in the land of the living, I hope to pay my best respects to you next week. If not, reverend and dear sir, farewell." He had soon the satisfaction of witnessing the recovery of his friend, who was to survive him more than twenty years.
We have already intimated that Whitefield used his influence in Scotland in favor of the New Jersey college, located at Princeton. In accordance with his advice, the friends of the college in this country sent over the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards president of the college, and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to promote its interests in the British islands. A few extracts from the manuscript diary of Davies, with the use of which we have been favored for this volume, will show the readiness of Whitefield to labor, or to "be nothing," so that the cause of Christ might be advanced. The deputation arrived in England in the closing month of 1753, and thus writes Davies: