to preach in St. Mary's Redcliffe but welcomed him and Mrs. Grevil's home
THe WESLEYS—IN PicTURE AND StToRY
ee i(i' YH
WESLEY AND WHITEFIELD AT BRISTOL, ENGLAND
EORGE
WHITEFIELD,
the great orator of Methodism, went to Bristol, England, in February of field had provided and arrived in Bristol on the 31st, going at once to the home where Whitefield was staying with his sister, Mrs. Grevil. Whitefield welcomed him and Mrs. Grevil's home became Wesley's home for a time.
1739. Boldly he requested permission to preach in St. Mary's Redcliffe but was quickly refused. He turned to the prisons and to some religious Societies of the City near at hand. Open air preaching was soon adopted by him and success quickly followed. Perhaps his greatest success was at Kingswood, Hanham Mount and other points.
Multitudes were being converted and he was not able to organize them for future training so he sent to London for his friend, John Wesley, to come to his aid. Wesley was averse to going, as were all of his friends, including his brother, Charles. The matter was finally decided by lot, after prayThe building in the picture stands on the exact spot where Mrs. Grevil lived, not far from the Horse Fair. It is said that it was from the upstairs of this home that Wesley saw the land adjoining the Horse Fair and coveted it for the Lord's work and afterward bought it on faith, and it became the site of the New Room. After Wesley heard Whitefield preach at Hanham Mount and Baldwin Street he was much impressed with the wonderful results.
Whitefield urged Wesley to preach in the open and to begin at once, since the churches were closed against them. This he did and soon multitudes were converted.
He began to organize these new converts into Classes and Societies. er had been offered, and John set out for Bristol on the 29th of March, 1739, in company with Mr. Easy and the father of Victor Purdy. He rode a horse from London that Mr. White-
Ture WESLEYS—IN PICTURE AND STORY
ee nn ee
GEORGE WHITEFIELD
with the Wesleys, caring for the poor, the sick, and the prisoner.
ISTORY tells us that George Whitefield was born in the home of an innkeeper in Gloucester, England, and that he spent the early years of his life in the atmosphere of the tavern business. He relates how he wore a blue apron, washed the mops, cleaned rooms, and did the work of a tapster. The father died while he was yet young, and for a time he stayed with his mother, helping her with the work of the inn. He stole money from her and gave it to the poor. He stole religious books that he might read them. He was sent to the grammar school, but found study distasteful and returned to the inn and its companionships. By some happy chance he gained admission to Pembroke College, Oxford. Here he met the Wesleys and joined the Holy Club. The religious influences of the Club took hold of him and changed his religious thinking. He gave himself to like ministries
He was ordained and preached his first sermon in 1736, and one year later, when he was but twenty-two years of age, he had established himself as the greatest and most popular preacher of his day. His success was almost instantaneous. He had a marvelous voice that electrified his hearers. Multitudes were converted under his preaching. He was not an organizer, so he sent for John Wesley to come to Bristol to help him. He taught Wesley the art of field preaching in 1739 and left shortly for America. Near Savannah, Georgia, he founded the Bethesda Orphanage, which continues to this day. His other labors in America were extensive, as well as in England.
He and Wesley differed in their religious faith, but they remained friends to the end of Whitefield's life in 1770.
Wesley preached his funeral sermon.
Tue WESLEYS—IN Picture AND SToRY
——————————————
GEORGE WHITEFIELD
PREACHER AND
EVANGELIST
HIS picture of the statue of Whitefield at the University of Pennsylvania tells its own story, of this man of God, who so signally affected the life of Philadelphia. It was in 1740 a bit more than a year after Whitefield had come to this city, that his friends, including Benjamin Franklin, planned to erect a building for him in which he and other ministers might conduct worship. A "Charity School" was incorporated with the building in which the children were educated grasister, and told her, "God intends something for me which we know not of."
His great-grandfather and _ his great-uncle were both ministers. It was in his blood, and George knew it, so that when an opportunity came to go to Oxford, he lost no time in starting.
The Holy Club was-in full swing at Lincoln College, and he almost immediately allied himself with these seekers after God. He sought God through poverty and severity, but to no avail until he found Christ through faith, in tis. In 1749 Franklin's plan to have the people erect an Academy was adopted with Whitefield's approval.
The properties were taken over by the trustees, a burdensome debt was assumed, and the "Charity School" and a preaching place became a part of the new building. In 1755 it was incorporated as the College of Philadelphia, and in 1791 it became the University of Pennsylvania. Strange as it may seem this young man of twenty-six years, born in Gloucester, England, was helping to found a University in America, although ten years before this he was a bartender in his own mother's tavern.
E755:
He finished Oxford in 1735 and the next year was ordained by Bishop Benson of Gloucester. He preached his first sermon in the town of his birth with all of his friends, including his mother present. This was the first of eighteen thousand sermons preached by him, before his death.
While he tended bar he felt that God was calling him to preach the Gospel.
He made a confidante of his
Tue WesLEYS—IN PicTuURE AND STORY Se eee —————————
THE HORSEFAIR IN BRISTOL
OHN WESLEY
was trained to think of the church as the only place that any preaching could be done worthily. When one stands in the Horsefair of Bristol, as shown in the picture, and lets his imagination work, he somehow feels the tramp of the oncoming multitudes that gathered from every hill and vale to hear this man, with his new message of hope and life. To this spot they came in thousands. Here, and near here, was where Wesley did his first field preaching. George Whitefield was responsible for his first few attempts, but after that God Himself was responsible. of every point relating to decency and Orders, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been done in a church. On Monday, April 2 [1739] I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence adjoining the city, to about 3,000 people.
I preached on 'Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' My load was gone, and all my doubts and scruples. God shone upon my path, and I knew this was His will concerning me." It seems strange that Wesley would debate the matter of field preaching so long for he must have realized that Jesus did Let Wesley tell his own story. "I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he [Whitefield] set me an example on Sunday, having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious that so effectively. But Wesley had been trained in the orders of the church, as Jesus had not.