"She is now doing honor to the remains of the Earl of Buchan, who sweetly slept in Jesus last week. All hath been awful, and more than awful. On Saturday evening, before the corpse was taken from Buchan house, a word of exhortation was given, and a hymn sung in the room where the corpse lay. The young Earl stood with his hands on the head of the coffin, the Countess Dowager of Buchan on his right hand, Lady Ann Agnes, and Lady Isabella Erskine on his left, and their brother the Hon. Thomas Erskine next to their mother, with Miss O——, Miss W——, Miss G——; on one side all the domestics, with a few friends on the other. The word of exhortation was received with great solemnity, and most wept under the parting prayer. At ten, the corpse was removed to good Lady Huntingdon's chapel, where it was deposited within a place railed in for that purpose, covered with black baize, and the usual funeral concomitants, except escutcheons.
"On Sunday morning, all attended in mourning at early sacrament. They were seated by themselves, at the feet of the corpse, and with their head servants, received first, and a particular address was made to them. Immediately after receiving, these verses were sung for them:
"'Our lives, our blood, we here present,
If for thy truth they may be spent:
Fulfil thy glorious counsel, Lord;
Thy will be done, thy name adored.
"'Give them thy strength, O God of power,
Then let men rave or devils roar,
Thy faithful witnesses they'll be;
'Tis fixed, they can do all through thee!'
"Then they received this blessing: 'The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you; the Lord cause his face to shine upon you, and give you peace;' and so returned to their places.
"Sacrament ended, and a blessed sacrament it was, the noble mourners returned to the good Countess of Huntingdon's house, which was lent them for the day. At eleven, public worship began. The bereaved relatives sat in order within, and the domestics round the outside of the rail. The chapel was more than crowded. Near three hundred tickets, signed by the present earl, were given out to the nobility and gentry, to be admitted. All was hushed and solemn. Proper hymns were sung, and I preached on the words, 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' Attention sat on every countenance, and deep and almost universal impressions were made. The like scene, and if possible more solemn, was exhibited in the evening, and I was enabled to preach a second time, and a like power attended the word as in the morning. Ever since, there hath been public service and preaching twice a day. This is to be continued till Friday morning, then all is to be removed to Bristol, in order to be shipped off to Scotland. The inscription on the coffin runs thus: 'His life was honorable—his death blessed—he sought earnestly peace with God—he found it, with unspeakable joy, alone in the merits of Jesus Christ, witnessed by the Holy Spirit to his soul—he yet speaketh. Go and do likewise.'
"I have often wished for you here. Congregations are very large, attentive, and deeply impressed. Great numbers of all ranks crowd to see and hear; and I trust many will also feel. Surely the death of this noble earl, thus improved, will prove the life of many. He behaved like the patriarch Jacob, when by faith, leaning upon his staff, he blessed his children. The earl added, 'Yea, and they shall be blessed.' He laid his hands on, and blessed his children, assuring them of his personal interest in Jesus. He had great foretastes of heaven. 'Had I strength of body,' cried he, 'I would not be ashamed, before men and angels, to tell what the Lord Jesus hath done for my soul. Come, Holy Ghost—come, Holy Ghost; happy, happy, happy!' and then sweetly slept in Jesus. All surviving relatives still feel the influence. They sit round the corpse, attended by their domestics and supporters, twice a day. Good Lady S—— gets fresh spirits. The present noble earl, I believe, hath got the blessing indeed, and seems, upon the best evidence, to determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He hath behaved in the most delicate manner to the Countess, and other noble survivors."
The summer of 1768 brought to Whitefield a series of changes. For the last time he now visited Edinburgh, where he found his congregations as large, and his Christian friends as affectionate as ever. Soon after his return to London, Mrs. Whitefield was seized with inflammatory fever, and died, as we have already seen, on the 9th of August. His own health too was more than declining. He writes, "I have been in hopes of my own departure. Through hard writing, and frequent preaching, I have burst a vein. The flux is in a great measure stopped; but rest and quietness are strictly enjoined."
"Rest and quietness!" With Whitefield such things were impossible as long as he could move or speak. His fire must burn till its whole material was expended; his heart overflowed, and he must labor till his body sank under exhaustion. No persecution could appall him, no sickness could long keep him from his beloved engagements. He would preach till he died, being fully assured that his "labor was not in vain in the Lord."
Neither Whitefield nor any of his friends could ever be the advocates of an unlearned ministry. Many of the men engaged under his direction, and preaching in what was already called "Lady Huntingdon's connection," needed, as they well knew, a better education than they possessed. Hence her ladyship obtained a lease of an old structure, supposed to have been part of an ancient castle erected in the reign of Henry the Second. The date over the entrance, now almost effaced, is 1176. It was called Trevecca House, was situated in the parish of Talgarth, in South Wales, and was for some time the residence of Howel Harris. This building was opened as a college for religious and literary instruction, and the chapel dedicated to the preaching of the everlasting gospel, Aug. 24, 1768, the anniversary of the Bartholomew act, and of the birth of her ladyship. Mr. Whitefield preached from Exod. 24:24: "In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee and bless thee;" and on the following Sabbath he addressed a congregation of some thousands, who assembled in the court before the college. His text on that occasion was, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." When speaking of the dedication of the college, Mr. Whitefield says, "What we have seen and felt at the college is unspeakable."