A SKETCH
OF THE
LIFE AND LABORS
OF
GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
BY THE
REV. J. C. RYLE, B.A.,
Author of "A Call to Prayer," "Living or Dead," "Wheat and Chaff," "The Cross," &c.
NEW-YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, 683 BROADWAY
1854.
[Pg 3]
There are some men in the pages of history, whosegreatness no person of common sense thinks of disputing.They tower above the herd of mankind, likethe Pyramids, the Parthenon, and the Colosseum,among buildings. Such men were Luther and Augustine,Gustavus Adolphus and George Washington, Columbusand Sir Isaac Newton. He who questions theirgreatness must be content to be thought very ignorant,very prejudiced, or very eccentric. Public opinion hascome to a conclusion about them—they were great men.
But there are also great men whose reputation liesburied under a heap of contemporary ill-will and misrepresentation.The world does not appreciate them,because the world does not know their real worth. Theircharacters have come down to us through poisoned channels.Their portraits have been drawn by the ill-naturedhand of enemies. Their faults have been exaggerated.Their excellences have been maliciously kept back andsuppressed. Like the famous sculptures of Nineveh,they need the hand of some literary Layard to clearaway the rubbish that has accumulated round theirnames, and show them to the world in their fair proportions.Such men were Vigilantius and Wickliffe. Suchmen were Oliver Cromwell and many of the Puritans.[Pg 4]And such a man was George Whitefield.
There are few men whose characters have suffered somuch from ignorance and misrepresentation of the truthas Whitefield's.
That he was a famous Methodist, and ally of JohnWesley, in the last century; that he was much runafter by ignorant people, for his preaching; that manythought him an enthusiast and fanatic; all this is aboutas much as most Englishmen know.
But that he was one of the principal champions ofevangelical religion in the eighteenth century in our owncountry; that he was one of the most powerful andeffective preachers that ever lived; that he was a manof extraordinary singleness of eye, and devotedness tothe interests of true religion; that he was a regularlyordained clergyman of the Church of England, andwould always have worked in the Church, if the Churchhad not, most unwisely, shut him out; all these are things,of which few people seem aware. And yet, after calmexamination of his life and writings, I am satisfied thisis the true account that ought to be given of GeorgeWhitefield.
My chief desire is to assist in forming a just estimateof Whitefield's worth. I wish to lend a helping handtowards raising his name from the undeservedly low placewhich is commonly assigned to it. I wish to place himbefore your eyes as a noble specimen of what the graceof God can enable one man to do. I want you to treasureup his name in your memories, as one of the brightestin that company of departed saints who were, intheir day, patterns of good works, and of whom theworld was not worthy.
I propose, therefore, without further preface, to give[Pg 5]you a hasty sketch of Whitefield's times, Whitefield'slife, Whitefield's religion, Whitefield's preaching, andWhitefield's actual work on earth.
1. The story of