After this, nothing more is known of Whitefield until the month of August next ensuing. On the 16th of April, at the battle of Culloden, the Jacobites were utterly defeated, and the cause of the Pretender entirely ruined. When the news reached Pennsylvania, Whitefield’s loyalty gushed forth in a sermon, which was immediately printed, with the title, “Britain’s Mercies, and Britain’s Duty. Represented in a Sermon preached at Philadelphia, on Sunday, August 24, 1746; and occasioned by the Suppression of the late unnatural Rebellion. By George Whitefield, A.B., late ofPembroke College, Oxon.Printed at Philadelphia, 1746.”[153] The sermon was almost altogether political, and need not be further noticed. It was a sufficient answer, however, to those who doubted Whitefield’s loyalty.
Two days after preaching his thanksgiving sermon, Whitefield wrote to his mother, as follows:—
“God is exceeding good to me and mine. We have all things pertaining to life and godliness. Many offers are made me; but the Lord Jesus keeps me from catching at the golden bait. Favour is given to me in the sight of the rich and great, and the door for my usefulness opens wider and wider. I love to range in the American woods, and sometimes think I shall never return to England. I was never better in health. My dear wife would send you a few lines, but she is weak by reason of a miscarriage four days ago.”
Immediately after this, Whitefield went to Maryland, where he spent, at least, a month in preaching to large congregations, in seven different counties. Excepting its slavery, Maryland had great attractions. Its soil was rich, and its hospitality unique. The young traveller, who visited Whitefield’s Orphan House in 1743, writes concerning the province:—
“Mush,[154] milk,and molasses, homine,[155] wild fowl, and fish, are the principal diet of the meaner inhabitants, whilst the water presented to you, by one of the barefooted family,in a copious calabash,[156] with an innocent strain of good breeding and heartiness,—the cake baking upon the hearth, and the cleanliness of everything around you,—put you in mind of the golden age, the times of ancient frugality and purity. All over the colony, there are full tables and open doors; and the kind salute, and generous detention remind one of the roast-beef ages of our forefathers. Their breakfast-tables have generally the cold remains of the former day, hashed or fricasseed, together with coffee, tea, chocolate, venison, pastry, punch, rum, and cider. The dinner consists of good beef, veal, mutton, venison,turkeys and geese, wild and tame, fowls boiled and roasted, pies, and puddings. Suppers are the same as dinners, with small additions, and a good hearty cup to precede a bed of down. This is the constant life the planters lead, and to this fare every comer is welcome.”
More than one half of the population of Maryland were slaves, and to these oppressed and cruelly treated fellow-creatures the planters owed their riches and their luxuries. Details of Whitefield’s labours in the colony do not exist. He simply states: “Everywhere almost, the door is opened for preaching; great numbers flock to hear; and the power of an ascended Saviour attends the word.I have preached with abundant success.”[157]
And, again, in a letter to Wesley, dated, “Queen Ann’s County, Maryland, October 14, 1746,” full of buoyancy, he writes:—
“If you ask, how it is with me? I answer, ‘Happy in Jesus, the Lord my righteousness.’ If you ask, what I am doing? I answer, ‘Ranging and hunting in the American woods after poor sinners.’ If you ask, with what success? I would answer, ‘My labours were never more acceptable; and the door, for fifteen hundred miles together, is quite open for preaching the everlasting gospel.’ Congregations are large, and the work is going on, just as it began and went on in England.
“Notwithstanding the declining state of Georgia, the Orphan House is in a better situation than ever; and, in a year or two, I trust, it will support itself. I am going there to spend some part of the winter,and to begin a foundation for literature.”[158]
Soon after this, Whitefield sent off his wife and a young lady through “the woods,” to Georgia; and, on November 8, he himself started for Virginia.