The "brother Rowlands," mentioned in this letter, was probably the Rev. Daniel Rowlands, Rector of Llangeitho, in the county of Cardigan. Rowlands was a remarkable man. He entered the ministry of the Establisment when unconverted, and was wont to descend from his pulpit to join in the athletic games of his parishioners. Through curiosity, he went to hear Griffith Jones; became a changed man; and began to preach, "like thunder," among the Welsh mountains. This was about the year 1737. Like Whitefield, he became an itinerant clergyman. Besides serving his own Church, for a salary of £10 a year, he made frequent detours through the mountainous regions of Wales and into England, preaching in the Methodist chapels, in the open air, and wherever he had a chance. Multitudes followed him from town to town; and his overwhelming eloquence often kindled an enthusiasm which it is difficult to describe. Whitefield writes: "The power of God, under the ministry of Mr. Rowlands, was enough to make a person's heart burn within him. At seven in the morning, have I seen perhaps ten thousand from different parts, in the midst of a sermon, crying, Gogoniant! (Glory!) ready to leap for joy." Even when repeating the Church service, tears and convulsive sobs, followed by cries of Gogoniant, would break out, and run through the multitude like a contagious fever. As early as 1746, Rowlands had as many as three thousand communicants to whom he was accustomed to administer the sacrament.[445] At length, his irregular labours evoked warnings from his bishop, and, at last, his license was rescinded. "And now," says an able writer in the London Quarterly Review (1849), "from every part of Wales—from the mouth of the Wye up to the Dovey and the Conway—people flocked to hear the eloquence, and to receive the sacrament from the hands, of one who had acquired the dignity of a martyr."
This is not the place for further details of the life of Daniel Rowlands. The reader will meet with him again; but, it may be added, that, in a preface to three of his sermons, published in 1778, (8vo. 98 pp.,) it is stated that, "for about forty years," he had been "the most laborious and successful minister in Wales;" and that he still travelled "through most of the counties yearly, to spread abroad the riches of God's grace." No places, though some were very large, were sufficient "to hold his auditories. Above a hundred preachers in Wales esteemed him as their father, most of whom met him four times a year to consult about the most likely means of promoting the Redeemer's interests; and he administered the Lord's supper to thousands monthly, some of the communicants coming a distance of upwards of fifty miles."
In the foregoing letter, to Howell Harris, Whitefield says, "Outward enemies are now more quiet." Compared with the opposition encountered in previous years, this was true; but the "outward enemies" were not entirely silent. One of the pamphlets published against him was the following: "A Comparison between the Doctrines taught by the Clergy of the Church of England, and the Doctrines taught by Whitefield, Seagrave, and others: in which the true notion of preaching Christ is stated; the doctrinal preaching of the Established Church is vindicated; and the Methodists proved guilty of not preaching the Gospel of Christ. To which is added, the Wisdom of fleeing from Persecution, exemplified in the Conduct of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield at Charleston, in South Carolina. London: 1741." (8vo. 28 pp.)
The Gentleman's Magazine, also, ministered to the gratification of its readers by scurrility like the following. After pointing out the doctrinal differences between Wesley and Whitefield, it continued:—
"It is plain that one of them has a lying spirit; and, since their pretences are so much alike, we may conclude that it is the same spirit in both. The controversy has grown to so great a height, that Mr. Whitefield tells his auditors, that, if they follow Mr. Wesley's doctrines, they will be damned, eternally damned. On the other hand, Mr. Wesley tells his congregations, that, if they follow Mr. Whitefield, it will bring all to distraction and confusion at last. Now, here is oracle against oracle, revelation against revelation, and the God of truth in one is declared to be a liar, by what He mentions in the other" (p. 321).
The Weekly Miscellany, as usual, excelled all other publications by the grossness and violence of its personal abuse. In the numbers for March 14, 21, 28, there were long leading articles against Whitefield. Throughout the whole of April, there were similar articles against Wesley. On May 2, both Whitefield and Wesley were vigorously attacked, and the opinion was expressed, that, "they are privately set on by popish emissaries, to promote their interests, and to take advantage of our being engaged in a war abroad to raise disturbance at home; and, in the end, to bring in the Pretender upon us, and so to involve us in blood, ruin, and confusion, to the utter subversion of both church and state."
These mendacious onslaughts were continued every week up to June 27, when Mr. Hooper's infamous Weekly Miscellany expired, and was succeeded by the New Weekly Miscellany, or Westminster Journal. As a specimen of its final foamings against Whitefield, the following is taken from its concluding number:—
"Observations on Mr. Whitefield's conduct in America.—Mr. Hooker,—You have heard in all the public prints of the designed insurrection of the blacks in New York, to murder all the English on that continent,—how many houses they set on fire with that intention,—how they armed themselves with guns and knives for that purpose,—how near they were to execute their design,—with what difficulty it was suppressed,—how many persons have been executed upon that account,—and how many are still in prison in order to take their trials for that bloody conspiracy.
"What I submit to your consideration is, how far Mr. Whitefield has been instrumental in bringing this about. He tells us, in his Journals, how he has travelled above fourteen hundred miles in America, particularly to Pennsylvania, New England, New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina: and that, in all these places, he has taken care to inveigh against the clergy of the Church of England; that he has frequently preached in the dissenting meetings, and has been carressed by their teachers. Now the consequence of all this is to raise feuds and animosities among ourselves. Mr. Whitefield has contended very strenuously for the conversion and baptizing of the negroes. The design is good, if well managed; but it does not appear that he made much application to the planters, their masters, who ought principally to be consulted. For the education of the negroes, he has purchased five thousand acres of land in Pennsylvania, which he has taken care to settle, upon himself and his heirs for ever, for that purpose."
By such perversions and insinuations, this malignant writer proceeds to assert, that, one result of Whitefield's preaching has been to make the negroes discontented and turbulent, so "that all the planters are forced to be doubly on their guard, and are not sure, when they go to bed, but that they shall have their throats cut before the next morning. The same preaching may be the overturning of several of the colonies. How far Mr. Whitefield is answerable before God, for the consequences of these proceedings, must be left to his own conscience to determine."
It is remarkable, that, in the very midst of these weekly libellous attacks, Whitefield placidly remarks, "Outward enemies are now more quiet." Their falsehoods and bitterness were now comparatively disregarded. He had become accustomed to violent abuse, and, in defiance of it, went on his way rejoicing. He had foes, but he also had friends. To John Cennick, at Kingswood, he wrote as follows:—