The Americans are proud of their possession, and, to this day, not only preserve his sepulchre, but, at Newbury Port, still use in the pulpit the old Bible out of which Whitefield was wont to read his texts, and still keep the old chair in which he died, and still shew the ring taken from the finger of his corpse.
Excepting the value of the copyright of his publications, Wesley died almost penniless; and the same would have been Whitefield’s case, but for certain legacies bequeathed to him only a short time before his death. By the decease of his wife, in 1768, he became possessed of £700. Mrs. Thomson, of Tower Hill, bequeathed him £500; Mr. Whitmore, £100; and Mr. Winder, £100;[697] making a total of £1,400. This, in round figures, was the sum disposed of in Whitefield’s “last will and testament.” The Orphan House buildings, furniture, slaves, and lands might be regarded as property held in trust, and, as such, were left “to that elect lady, that mother in Israel, that mirror of true and undefiled religion, the Right Honourable Selina, Countess-Dowager of Huntingdon;”[698] and, in case of her death, to Whitefield’s “dear first fellow-traveller, and faithful, invariable friend, the Honourable James Habersham, Esq., President of His Majesty’s Honourable Council,” in Georgia. The Tabernacle, and Tottenham Court Road chapel, with the adjacent manses, coach-houses, stables, and other buildings, having been erected, in great part, by the subscriptions of the public, were also, in a certain sense, trust properties; and were left to be managed by Whitefield’s “worthy, trusty, tried friends, Daniel West, Esq., in Church Street, Spitalfields; and Mr. Robert Keen, woollen draper, in the Minories.” The remainder of Whitefield’s bequests were as follows:—
| £ | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lady Huntingdon | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| The Honourable James Habersham, for mourning | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabriel Harris, Esq., of Gloucester | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Ambrose Wright, a faithful servant | 500 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Richard Whitefield, a brother | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Thomas Whitefield, a brother | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. James Smith, a brother-in-law | 80 | 0 | 0 |
| Mrs. Frances Hartford, a niece | 70 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. J. Crane, steward at the Orphan House | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Benjamin Stirk, for mourning | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter Edwards,[699] at the Orphan House | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| William Trigg, at ditto | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Thomas Adams, of Rodborough | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Rev. Mr. Howell Davies, for mourning | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Torial Joss, for ditto | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Cornelius Winter, for ditto | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Ambrose Wright’s three brothers, for ditto | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Ditto’s sister-in-law, for ditto | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Richard Smith | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| The old servants in London, the widows, etc., for mourning | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| £1330 | 0 | 0 |
The residue of Whitefield’s monies, if any, were to be given to the Orphan House Academy. His wife’s gold watch, he bequeathed to James Habersham; his wearing apparel, to Richard Smith; to his four executors, James Habersham, Charles Hardy, Daniel West, and Robert Keen, each a mourning ring; also, he added:—
“I leave a mourning ring to my honoured and dear friends and disinterested fellow-labourers, the Rev. Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, in token of my indissoluble union with them, in heart and Christian affection, notwithstanding our difference in judgment about some particular points of doctrine. Grace be with all them, of whatever denomination, that love our Lord Jesus, our common Lord, in sincerity.”
The conclusion of Whitefield’s will is too characteristic to be omitted:—
“To all my other Christian benefactors, and more intimate acquaintance,I leave my most hearty thanks and blessing, assuring them that I am more and more convinced of the undoubted reality and infinite importance of the grand gospel truths, which I have, from time to time, delivered; and am so far from repenting my delivering them in an itinerant way, that, had I strength equal to my inclination, I would preach them from pole to pole, not only because I have found them to be the power of God to the salvation of my own soul, but because I am as much assured that the Great Head of the Church hath called me by His Word, Providence, and Spirit, to act in this way, as that the sun shines at noonday. As for my enemies, and misjudging, mistaken friends, I most freely and heartily forgive them, and can only add, that the last tremendous day will soon discover what I have been, what I am, and what I shall be when time itself shall be no more. And, therefore, from my inmost soul, I close all, by crying, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Even so, Lord Jesus! Amen and amen!’
“George Whitefield.”
Whitefield’s will was written by himself, and signed, at the Orphan House, on March 22, 1770, in the presence of Robert Bolton, Thomas Dixon, and Cornelius Winter, as witnesses. It was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, on February 5, 1771.[700]
When great men die, poets sing. So it was in the case of Whitefield. To say nothing of poems printed in newspapers and magazines, the following were a few of the elegies published separately: “Zion in Distress, an Elegy on the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. By W. S.” “The Bromsgrove Elegy, in blank verse, in which are represented the Subjects of his Ministry, his Manner of Preaching, the Success of his Labours, his excellent Moral Character, and his Death. By John Fellows, of Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire.” “An Elegy. By Jacob Rowel.” “An Elegy, exhibiting a brief History of the Life, Labours, and Glorious Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. By T. Knight, Minister of the Gospel at Halifax.”[701] “A Monody on the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield.” “An Elegiac Poem, dedicated to the Memory of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. By James Stevens, Preacher of the Gospel.”“Elegiac Lines. By Rev. Mr. De Courcy.”[702] “A Pastoral. By the Rev. Walter Shirley.”[703]