------- 26 MEMOIRS OF WHITEFIELD. tried what might be done between decks, among the soldiers. And though the place was not very commodious, he read prayers and expounded twice a day. At first he could not see any fruit of his labor, yet it was encouraging to find it so kindly received by his new red coat parishioners, (as he calls them) many of whom submitted cheerfully to be catechised about the lessons they had heard expounded. In this situation things continued for some time. But all this while, he had no place for retirement; and there was no divine service in the great cabin, both which he greatly desired. At last he obtained his wish: one day finding the ship captain a little inclined to favor him, he asked him to suffer him now and then to retire into the round-house, where the captain slept, and offered him money for the loan of it. The captain would not take the money, but readily granted his request. Soon afterwards, the military captain, having invited him to dish of coffee, he took the liberty to tell him, "that though he was a volunteer on board, yet as he was on board, he looked upon himself as his chaplain, and as such, he thought it a little odd to pray and preach to the servants, and not to the master;" and added, "that if he thought proper, he would make use of a short collect now and then to him, and the other gentlemen in the great cabin." After pausing awhile, and shaking his head, he answered, "I think we may, when we have nothing else to do." This awkward hint was all he got for the present; yet he was encouraged thereby to hope that the desired point would be soon gained. They were detained in the Downs by contrary winds for near a month; the soldiers, by this time, became more and more civilized, and the people at Deal heard him gladly. There he preached thrice, at the invitation of the ministers, and often expounded in the house where he lodged. This work was very delightful to him; but he was suddenly called away by a fair wind, about the end of January, 1738, just after he had preached in Upper Deal church. Whitefield sailed from the Downs for Georgia a few hours only before the the vessel which brought Wesley back from thence cast anchor there. The ships passed in sight of each other, but neither of these remarkable men knew that so dear a friend was on the deck at which he was gazing. But when Wesley landed he learned that his coadjutor was on board the vessel in the offing: it was still possible to communicate with him; and Whitefield was not a little surprised at receiving a letter which contained these words: "When I saw God by the the hint, return my nod, with a 'doctor, I ask your pardon,' and then to his cards and swearing again." MS. MEMOIRS OF WHITEFIELD. wind which was carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer you have inclosed." The inclosure was a slip of paper with this sentence, "Let him return to London." Wesley doubting, from his own experience, whether his friend could be so usefully employed in America as in England, had referred the question to chance, in which at that time he had great confidence, and this was the lot which he had drawn. But Whitefield, who never seems to have fallen into this superstition, was persuaded that he was called to Georgia; and even if he had not felt that impression upon his mind, the inconsistency of returning to London in obedience to a lot, which had been drawn without his consent or knowledge, and breaking the engagements which he had formed, would have been glaring, and the inconvenience not inconsiderable. He betook himself to prayer: the story of the prophet in the book of Kings came forcibly to his recollection, how he turned back from his appointed course, because another prophet told him it was the will of the Lord that he should do so, and for that reason a lion met him by the way. So he proceeded on his voyage. Being again on board, he was much comforted with the hope of doing good in the great cabin. Having no better place, he generally every night retired with his friend, the honorable Mr. Habersham, and his brother, and two servants, behind the round-house, for prayer and other religious exercises; sometimes he observed Captain Whiting hearkening within. One day, finding on the captain's pillow, The Independent Whig, he exchanged it for a book entitled, The Self Deceiver. Next morning, the captain came smiling, and inquired who made the exchange. Mr Whitefield confessed the charge, and begged his acceptance of the book, which he said he had * This remarkable instance of Wesley's predilection for the practice of sortilege, is not noticed by either of his biographers. Whitefield himself relates it, in a letter published at the time of their separation. "We sailed immediately," he adds. "Some months after, I received a letter from you at Georgia, wherein you wrote words to this affect: though God never before gave me a wrong lot, yet perhaps he suffered me to make such a lot at that time, to try what was in your heart.' I should never," says Whitefield, "have published this private transaction to the world, did not the glory of God call me to it. It is plain you had a wrong lot given you here, and justly, beWhitefield afterwards, in his recause you tempted God in drawing one." marks upon Bishop Lavington's book, refers to this subject in a manner which does him honor. "My mentioning," he says, " Mr Wesley's casting a lot on a private occasion, known only to God and ourselves, has put me to great pain. It was wrong in me to publish a private transaction to the world; and very ill-judged to think the glory of God could be promoted by unnecessarily exposing my friend. For this I have asked both God and him pardon years ago. And though I believe both have forgiven me, yet I believe I shall never forgive myself. As it was a public fault, I think it should be publicly acknowledged; and I thank a kind Providence for giving me this opportunity of doing it." read, and liked very well. From thenceforward, a visible alteration was seen in him. The other captain also, about the same time, met him as he was coming from between decks, and desired, "that they might have public service, and expounding twice a day." In April following, he thus mentions the happy effect of their very slow passage:-"Blessed be God, we now live very comfortably in the great cabin. We talk of little else but God and Christ; and scarce a word is heard among us, when together, but what has reference to our fall in the first, and our new birth in the second Adam." In about a fortnight, they reached Gibralter, whither they were bound to take in more soldiers. There, a Major Sinclair had been so kind as to provide a lodging for him unasked, who, with the other military gentlemen, even Governor Sabine, and General Columbine, received him most courteously. Being apprehensive, that at a public military table, he might be more than hospitality entertained; by way of prevention, he begged leave to remind his excellency of an observation made in the book of Esther, on the court of the great Ahasuerus-" that none did compel." He took the hint, and genteelly replied, "that no compulsion of any kind should be used at his table." And every thing was carried on with great decorum. The officers attended at public worship with order and gravity; the ministers also behaved with great civility; and all concurred to give him invitations to preach, which he did twice or thrice in a week;* and in the evenings and mornings, when not on board, he expounded, conversed, and prayed with a religious society of soldiers, who had liberty from the governor to assemble at any time in the church. His evening expositions were attended, not only by the soldiers, but by officers, ministers, and town's people; and from all that could be judged, his labors were not without the divine blessing. Finding another society of religious soldiers there, belonging to the church of Scotland, he sent them as well as the former, some proper books-talked with several of them, and endeavored to unite both societies together; urging in them the necessity of a catholic, disinterested love, and of joining in prayer for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. This exhortation also, by the blessing of God, had a good effect; and two or three of the latter society, being drafted out for Georgia, "Strange and unusual was the scene, both with respect to the place and people. The adjacent promontories, and the largeness of the rock of Gibraltar, helped me to enlarge my ideas of him, who in his strength setteth fast the mountains, and is girded about with power. And the place being, as it were, a public rendezvous for all nations, I thought I saw the world in epitome." Manuscript. WHITEFIELD SAILING FOR GEORGIA. "Whitefield sailed from the Downs for Georgia, a few hours only before the vessel which brought Wesley back from thence, cast anchor there." [p. 27. |
