IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
November 1742 to August 1744.
WHITEFIELD left Scotland on November 1st, 1742; and arrived in London five days afterwards. He now resumed his ministry in his wooden Tabernacle, where, for some time past, Howell Harris had been officiating as his substitute. One of his first letters, in London, was addressed to his friend Habersham.
“London, November 12, 1742.
“My dearest Friend and Brother in a crucified Jesus,—How do I long to come over to see you, and the rest of my dear family! The cloud seems now to be moving towards America. I trust I shall be with you in a few months.
“The Lord did wonderful things for me and His people in Scotland. The concern expressed at my departure was unspeakable. I rode post from Edinburgh, and came here, in rather less than five days, on Saturday last.
“There seems to be a new awakening in London. We have been obliged to enlarge the Tabernacle. Dear Brother Harris has been sent with a sweet, searching commission. Brother Cennick is much blessed in Wiltshire. The word runs and is glorified in Wales. God is raising some fresh witnesses of the power of His dear Son’s blood in Gloucestershire. Blessed are the eyes which see the things that we see.
“The collections in Scotland were large. In Edinburgh, I collected £128 at one time, and £44 at another; and in Glasgow, about £128, with private donations. Blessed be God! I owe nothing now in England on the Orphan-house account; what is due is abroad. I think, since I have been in England, we have got near £1500. The Lord will provide what we want further. Glory be to His name!
“My wife lies now very weak. She was tossed for ten days in her voyage from Scotland. The ship was in imminent danger, but the Lord gave her much of His presence. I trust she will be ready shortly for another voyage.”
Whitefield spent nearly four months in London. His congregations, of course, were very large, and, in another respect, were remarkable. His friend Wesley was pre-eminentlyand almost exclusively the poor man’s preacher. It was otherwise with Whitefield. During the winter of 1742, the Earl and Countess of Huntingdon were constant in their attendance upon his ministry, and were often accompanied by his lordship’s sisters, the Ladies Hastings. Occasionally, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, two of the most celebrated and remarkable women of their day, were among his hearers; so also was Lord Lonsdale, who had been one of the lords of the bedchamber, and constable of the tower. Charles, third Duke of Bolton; Lord Hervey, who had distinguished himself as an orator in both houses of Parliament, and who had held the offices of vice-chamberlain, and keeper of the privy-seal; and Lord Sidney Beauclerk, fifth son of the Duke of St. Albans, were likewise numbered among the young preacher’s auditors. Yea, even royalty itself, in the persons of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, youngest son of George II., and his brother Frederick, Prince of Wales,helped to swell some of Whitefield’s congregations.[29]
This is a remarkable fact, and, perhaps, may be partly accounted for by the favour with which Whitefield had been honoured by some of the aristocracy of Scotland. Between him and them a warm friendship had been created; and there can hardly be a doubt that this helped to secure him the attention of not a few of the nobility of England. As shewing his Christian intimacy with persons of distinguished rank in Scotland, the following letters, written within a fortnight after his arrival in London, will be useful. The first was addressed to Lady Frances Gardiner, the wife of the celebrated colonel.