“A letter may be directed (if you write immediately) to be left at the Rev. Mr. Ingham’s, Yorkshire. Thither I am bound now, and, if the season of the year should permit, I would stretch to Scotland. We have had most delightful seasons in London. The glory of the Redeemer filled the Tabernacle. If any doubt whether the cause we are embarked in be the cause of God, I say, ‘Come and see.’ Are you free that I should call upon you in my return to town? I think to come by way of Northampton. You shall hear what is done in Yorkshire. God has blessed my preaching at Oundle.”
It is evident that Whitefield wished Hervey to itinerate like himself; but this was a work for which the gentle rector of Weston-Favell was physically and mentally unfit.No good end would have been answered by his attempting it. Besides, by his pen, he was doing a great work, which Whitefield, had he tried, could not have done; and which itinerancy would have set aside. The fact is, though Whitefield and Hervey were both Oxford Methodists, Whitefield had not seen his old acquaintance for many years, and seems to have had no idea of the extreme delicacy of his health.
Whitefield’s progress to Ingham’s, at Aberford; to Grimshaw’s, at Haworth; and to other places, will be seen in the following extracts from his letters:—
“Newcastle, September 29, 1749.
“I have had many proofs that God’s providence directed my way into Yorkshire. I preached four times at Aberford, four times at Leeds, and thrice at Haworth, where lives one Mr. Grimshaw. At his church, I believe, we had above a thousand communicants, and, in the churchyard, about six thousand hearers. It was a great day of the Son of man. About Leeds are Mr. Wesley’s Societies. I was invited thither by them and one of their preachers; and Mr. Charles Wesley, coming thither, published me himself. I have preached here once, and am to preach again this evening. On Monday next, October 2nd, I propose to return to Yorkshire, and, from thence, to London. I have given over the immediate care of all my Societies to Mr. Harris; so that now I am a preacher at large. Everything is turning round strangely. O for simplicity and honesty to the end!”
To Lady Huntingdon, Whitefield wrote as follows:—
“Newcastle, October 1, 1749.
“Never did I see more of the hand of God, in any of my journeys, than in this. At Mr. Grimshaw’s, I believe, there were above six thousand hearers. The sacramental occasion was most awful. At Leeds, the congregation consisted of above ten thousand. In the morning, at five, I was obliged to preach out of doors. In my way hither, I met Mr. Charles Wesley, who returned, and introduced me to the pulpit in Newcastle. As I am a debtor to all, and intend to be at the head of no party, I thought it my duty to comply. I have preached in their room four times, and, this morning, I preached to many thousands in a large close. This evening, I am to do the same. The power of God has attended His word, and there seems to be a quickening of souls. To-morrow, God willing, we set out for Leeds. As it is so late in the year, my Scotch friends advise me to defer my going thither. Had I known that, I should have embarked for America this autumn.”
In these and other letters, written while in the north of England, Whitefield makes no mention of an event too important to be entirely omitted. It was now that CharlesWesley succeeded in preventing his brother marrying Grace Murray, by getting her married to John Bennet. This unpleasant, almost romantic, incident occupies so large a space in “The Life and Times of Wesley,” that I here purposely refrain from entering into details. The account there introduced has been severely criticised and censured by some of Wesley’s admirers, who seem to be unwilling to admit that he shared any of the infirmities common to human beings. I can only say, that while I could add to the details I have already given, I know of nothing that I ought either to retract or to modify. There can be no doubt that Whitefield was cognisant of the intentions of Charles Wesley; for the marriage with Bennet took place in Newcastle, the very day Whitefield left that town for Leeds; and, further, on the night previous to the marriage, Wesley, at Whitehaven, received a letter from Whitefield, requesting that he would meet him and Charles Wesley, at Leeds, two days afterwards. Nothing more shall be added, except to give Wesley’s own account of the distressing interview. He writes:—
“October 4, 1749. At Leeds, I found, not my brother, but Mr. Whitefield. I lay down by him on the bed. He told me my brother would not come till John Bennet and Grace Murray were married. I was troubled; he perceived it; he wept and prayed over me, but I could not shed a tear. He said all that was in his power to comfort me; but it was in vain.He told me it was his judgment that she was my wife,[250] and that he had said so to John Bennet, that he would fain have persuaded them to wait, and not to marry till they had seen me; but that my brother’s impetuosity prevailed and bore down all before it. On Thursday, October 5, about eight, one came in from Newcastle, and told us ‘They were married on Tuesday.’ My brother came an hour after. I felt no anger, yet I did not desire to see him; but Mr. Whitefield constrained me. After a few words had passed, he accosted me with, ‘I renounce all intercourse with you, but what I would have with a heathen man or a publican.’ I felt little emotion; it was only adding a drop of water to a drowning man; yet I calmly accepted his renunciation, and acquiesced therein. Poor Mr. Whitefield and John Nelson burst into tears. They prayed, cried, and entreated, till the storm passed away. We could not speak, but only fell on each other’s neck.”