part of his character. It was certainly, however, an eminent part of it. In his Journals and Letters an impartial reader will find instances thereof in almost every page: such as, lively gratitude to God in the first place, and to all whom God had used as instruments of good to him; sincere love in dealing so plainly with his correspondents about the interest of their souls; frequent and particular intercession for his friends, his enemies, and all mankind; great delight in the society of christian acquaintance; many very sorrowful partings and joyful meetings with his friends; tender-heartedness to the afflicted; the pleas, ure in procuring and administering seasonable supply to the indigent; and condescension to people of the lowest rank, to instruct and converse with them for their good, in as kind and sociable a manner as if he had been their brother or intimate friend. These are manifest proofs that he had a heart easily susceptible of every humane, tender and compassionate feeling. And this was certainly a great mean of enabling him so strongly to affect the hearts of others.

Had his natural talents for oratory been employed in secular affairs, and been somewhat more improved by the refinements of art and the embellishments of erudition, it is possible they would soon have advanced him to distinguished wealth and renown. But his sole ambition was, to serve a crucified Saviour, in the ministry of the gospel. And, being early convinced of the great hurt that has been done to christianity by a bigoted spirit, he insisted not upon the peculiar* tenets of a party, but upon the universally interesting doctrines of holy scripture concerning the ruin of mankind by sin, and their recovery by divine grace; doctrines, the truth of which he himself had deeply felt. To make men sensible of the misery of their alienation from God, and of the necessity of justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of a life of devotedness to God, was the principal aim

* "I love all that love our Lord Jesus Christ." "Oh! how do I long to see bigotry and party-zeal taken away, and all the Lord's servants more knit together!"

"I wish all names among the saints of God were swallowed up in that one of Christian."

of all his discourses. "The only Methodism I desire to know (says he, in the Preface to his Journals, 1756) is a holy method of dying to ourselves, and of living to God." By this description he was far from intending to con fine true religion to the exercises of devotion. By "live ing to God," he meant a constant endeavor after conformity to the divine will in all things. For he says in another place, "It is a great mistake to suppose that religion consists only in saying our prayers. Every christian lies under a necessity to have some particular calling whereby he may be a useful member of the society to which he belongs. A man is no further holy than he is relatively holy and he only will adorn the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in all things, who is careful to perform all the civil offices of life, with a single eye to God's glory, and from a principle of lively faith in Jesus Christ our Saviour. This is the morality which we preach." He used also to give this definition of true religion" that it is a universal morality founded upon the love of God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." Licentiousness and luxury, and all sorts of time wasting and dissipating amusements, how fashionable soever, he constantly inveighed against. These were the topics on which he employed his eloquence.

But, not to dwell any longer on his accomplishments as an orator, and the excellent purposes to which, through the grace of God, he devoted them; one thing remains to be mentioned, of an infinitely higher order than any human powers whatever: and that is, the power of God which so remarkably accompanied the labors of his servant, and without which both scripture and experience teach us, that all external means, however excellent, are ineffectual and vain. It is here Mr. Whitefield is most to be envied, were it lawful to envy any man. When we consider the multitudes that were not only awakened, but brought under lasting religious impressions, by his ministry, and the multitudes that were wrought upon in the same manner by the ministry of others, excited by his example, both in Great Britain and America, we are naturally led into the same sentiments with Mr. Wesley in his funeral sermon-" What an honor hath it pleased God to put upon his faithful servant! Have we read or heard of

any person, since the apostles, who testified the gospel of the grace of God through so widely-extended a space, through so large a part of the habitable world? Have we read or heard of any person who called so many thousands, so many myriads, of sinners to repentance? Above all, have we read or heard of any who has been a blessed instrument in his hand of bringing so many sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God?”.

This excellent character, joined to talents so extraordinary, and to labors which God was pleased to bless with almost unequalled success, was shaded with some infirmities. And what else could be expected in the present condition of humanity? These have been sufficiently laid open in the preceding Narrative of his Life. And it ought to be observed, that as there was something very amiable in the frankness and unreservedness which prevented his concealing them, so, through his openness to conviction, his teachableness,* and his readiness to confess and correct

*May God reward you for watching over my soul. It is difficult, I believe, to go through the fiery trial of popularity and applause, untainted.”

"When I am unwilling to be told of my faults, correspond with me no more. If I know any thing of my heart,

I love those best who are most faithful to me in this respect. Henceforward, dear Sir, I beseech you, by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, spare me not."

"We must be helps to each other on this side eternity. Nothing gives me more comfort, next to the assurance of the eternal continuance of God's love, than the pleasing reflection of having so many christian friends to watch with my soul. I wish they would smite me friendly, and reprove me oftener than they do."

"I rejoice that you begin to know yourself. If possible, Satan will make us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. I can tell this by fatal experience. It is not sudden flashes of joy, but having the humility of Christ Jesus, that must denominate us christians. If we hate reproof, we are so far from being true followers of the Lamb of God, that, in the opinion of the wisest of men, we are brutish."

O my

his mistakes, they became still fewer and smaller, decreased continually as he advanced in knowledge and experience.

It would be unjust to his memory not to take notice upon this occasion of that uniformity of sentiment which runs through all his sermons and writings, after he was thoroughly enlightened in the truth. Indeed, when he first set out in the ministry, his youth and inexperience led him into many expressions which were contrary to sound doctrine, and which made many of the sermons he first printed justly exceptionable; but reading, experience, and a deeper knowledge of his own heart, convinced him of his errors, and upon all occasions he avowed his belief of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, and the Standards of the Church of Scotland, as expressly founded on the word of God. He loved his friend, but he would not part with a grain of sacred truth for the brother of his heart. Thus we see him constrained to write and print against the Arminian tenets of Mr. John Wesley, whom he loved in the bowels of Jesus Christ.And it appears, from several other Tracts in the 4th vol. of his Works, that he neglected no opportunity of stepping forth as a bold champion in defence of that faith which was once delivered to the saints.

What

"O my dear brother, still continue faithful to my soul; do not hate me in your heart; in any wise reprove me. "You need make no apology for your plain dealing. I love those best who deal most sincerely with me. ever errors I have been or shall be guilty of in my ministry, I hope the Lord will shew me, and give me grace to amend."

Q?

EXTRACTS

FROM SOME OF THE

FUNERAL SERMONS

Which were Preached on the Occasion of his Death.

MANY Sermons were preached upon the occasion of his death, both in America and England. From these, though they contain nothing materially different from the . above accounts, yet the reader will probably not be displeased to see the following extracts, as they not only set the character of Mr. Whitefield in a variety of lights, but are so many testimonies to it, by witnesses of undoubted credit, in different parts of the world.

The first was preached by Mr. Parsons, the very day on which he died,* from Phil. i. 21.-" For, to me to live is

*Early next morning, Mr. Sherburn of Portsmouth, sent Mr. Clarkson and Dr. Haven with a message to Mr. Parsons, desiring that Mr. Whitefield's remains might be buried in his own new tomb, at his own expence; and in the evening several gentlemen from Boston came to Mr. Parsons, desiring the body might be carried there. But as Mr. Whitefield had repeatedly desired he might be buried before Mr Parsons' pulpit, if he died at Newbury. port, Mr. Parsons thought himself obliged to deny both of these requests. The following account of his interment is subjoined to this sermon, viz. "October 2, 1770. At one o'clock all the bells in town were tolled for half an hour, and all the vessels in the harbor gave their proper signals of mourning. At two the bells tolled a second time. At three the bells called to attend the funeral. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Haven of Portsmouth, the Rev. Messrs. Daniel Rogers of Exeter, Jedediah Jewet and James. Chandler, of Rowley, Moses Parsons of Newbury, and Edward Bass of Newburyport, were pall-bearers. The procession was from the Rev. Mr. Parsons' of Newbury