"In the conduct of life, he was remarkably gentle towards . all men, vaftly prudent and cautious, and always behaved with the meekness of wifdem.-He preached not himself, but Chrift Jefus his Lord. In this view, his eye was fingle, and he regarded no other object. He knew in whofe place he flood, and feared no man. He dared to flash the terrors of the law in the face of the ftouteft tranfgreffor, with the fame freedom as he difplayed the amiable beauties and glories of the gofpel for the comfort and refreshment of the penitent believer. As he highly honored his divine Mafter, he was highly favored by him, of which take one inftance. In a former illness, from which it was thought he could not recover, which happened fome months before he died, he was greatly diftreffed by a deep concern for his widow and his great family, on the event of his death. But GOD` was pleafed, in a time of great extremity, to grant him a glorious and aftonishing view of his power, wifdom, and goodness, and the riches of his grace, with a particular appropriation to himself and his.-Such as difpelled every fear, and at that time rendered him impatient (or averfe) to live; but at length, on his recovery, which commenced immediately on the removal of this diftrefs, his mind fettled into a divine calm: He feemed, equally willing to live or die, as GOD pleased. In this teinper he continued to his laft moment, when placidly he refigned his foul and all his mortal interefts, into the hands of HIS SAVIOUR and HIS GOD! Such intercourfe fometimes paffes between the Father of Spirits and the human fpirit; and fuch honor have they that fear GOD! GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A. B. SCA CARCE any man fince the apoftolic age, has more fully met with at least the treatment of the apoftles, mentioned by St. Paul, than the fubject of the prefent Memoir: For the exercife of their miniftry, was indeed, by honor and difhonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chafiened, and not killed; as forrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as having nothing, and yet poffeffing all things. 2 Cor. vi. 8, &c. They, who can juftly folve this para dox, may be able to underftand at the fame time the real character and conduct of the late Mr. Whitefield. This pious and extraordinary Minifter was born at Gloucefler, Dec. 16, 1714. His father, who was bred to the wine-trade at Bristol, removed from thence to Gloucefter, and kept an inn. He had fix fons and one daughter. Of the fons George was the youngeft, who was only two years old when his father died; and he was brought up with great tendernefs by his mother. The world is indebted for a well-drawn life of this excellent Man to the reverend Dr. Gillies of Scotland. We cannot enter into all the particulars fo minutely or exactly as that candid and valuable Biographer; and yet we with to give as much of fo important and remarkable a life, as can confift with a plan of fo much generality as that of our volumes. We fhall be excufed then if we extract or abridge thofe parts of that excellent performance, which comport the moft with our defign, or which may most edify and inform our pious Readers. It appears, that Mr. Whitefield was very early under ferious impreffions; but he acknowledged with compunction, what every body muft feel whether they acknowledge it or not, that the bent of our carnal nature is turned directly from GOD, and inclined only to nothing but evil. When he was between twelve and fifteen, he had made fome progrefs in claffical learning; and, we are told, that even then his eloquence began to appear in fome puerile compofitions written for the amufement of his fchool-fellows. But his rifing genius was deprived of the ufual means of improvement, through the decrease of his mother's trade; and he was obliged to affift her in carrying on the bufinefs of the inn. His turn of mind, however, though depreffed could not be extinguifhed; and in this very unfavourable fituation, we are told, that he compofed feveral fermons, and that the impreffions of religion were very ftrong upon him. When he was about feventeen, he received the facrament, and employed as much of his time as he could in prayer and reading, in fafting and meditation, and in all thofe devout exercifes, which are the food and the delight at once of every religious mind.. About eighteen, he entered at Pembroke-College in Oxford, and foon became acquainted with fome ferious young men, who, from certain rules and methods of life which they prefcribed themfelves, received in ridicule the name of methodifts-an appellation, once honorably bestowed upon fome antient phyficians who acted alfo in their way E e 2 apon upon a methodical plan of procuring and establishing health. Thefe ferious young men had no apprehenfion, however, of erecting a new fect under this or any other name; but, according to the practice of fome of the first reformers in the church of England, they meant only to revive fuch ufages of private devotion, as the indifference of the times to all religion, and the growing licentioufnefs among churchmen efpecially, had rendered not only obfolete, but (with concern it must be fpoken) prodigious, ridiculous, or extravagant. He knows but little of the perfons who brought in and fupported the Reformation, who does not know, that no ftrictness of life nor rules of devotion exercifed by thefe young men, could be more methodical and precife than thofe of the perfons who either planted our Englifb church, fupported it against Popery, or watered it with their blood. Thefe youths appeared indeed in a very unfavorable time; for, at that time, ferious and practical christianity in Englund was in a very low condition; fcriptural, experimental religion, (which in the laft century ufed to be the fubject of the fermons and writings of the clergy) was become quite unfashionable; and the only thing infifted on was a defence of the out-works of chriftianity against the objections of infidels. What was the confequence? The writings of infidels multiplied every day, and infidelity made a rapid progrefs among perfons of every rank, not because they were reafoned into it by the force of argument, but becaufe they were kept ftrangers to Chrift and the power of the gospel. We have a most affecting defcription of this, by bifhop Butler, whom none will fufpect of exaggerating the fact: It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted, by many persons, that christianity is not fo much as a fubject of inquiry; but that it is, now at length, difcovered to be fictitious; and accordingly they treat it, as if, in the prefent age, this were an agreed point among all people of difcernment; and nothing remained but to fet it up as a principal fubject of mirth and ridicule; as it were by way of reprifals, for its having fo long interrupted the pleafures of the world.' Such was the ftate of religion in England. Mr. Whitefield foon fell in with the pious views and manners of these young men, among whom were the brothers Meffrs. John and Charles Wesley, and whom, from this early intercourfe of heart, he continued to regard all his life, notwithstanding their future differences in opinion. from himself, and departure in principle from the doctrines of the church of England. He even carried his method of life to fuch feverity of abftinence, as to endanger his health; |