George-Whitefield-Field-Preacher

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H4 GEORGE WHITEFIELD
none of them have written any letters worth preserving, either
for their literary merit or their theological grasp. All that was
attempted was to comfort and cheer each other in the conflict
with earth and hell ; and hence their letters abound in ' experi-
ences.' Whitefield wrote sixty-five letters—none of them long,
some of them mere notes—during his three months' voyage
they were addressed to converts who wanted encouragement,
to backsliders who wanted reproof, to students who wanted
cheering in their espousal of the cause of Christ, to ministers
who wanted words of brotherly love. This was the work of a
man of only twenty-four years of age.
' Show them,' he says to Howel Harris about his congregations, ' show
iliem in the map of the word the kingdoms of the upper world, and the
transcendent glories of them ; and assure them that all shall be theirs if they
believe on Jesus Christ with their whole hearts. Press on them to believe
on Him immediately. Intersperse prayers with your exhortations, and
thereby call down fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost,
" To soften, sweeten, and refine,
And melt them into love."
Speak every time, my dear brother, as if it were your last ; weep out, if
possible, every argument, and, as it were, compel them to
'
how he loveth us " !
cry, " Behold,
As America is approached, he begins to show that great things
are shaping themselves in his mind, his world-wide work
suggests itself ; and with his usual promptitude he writes to a
friend :
' I intend resigning the parsonage of Savannah. The
orphan-house I can take care of, supposing I should be kept
at a distance ; besides, when I have resigned the parish, I shall
be more at liberty to take a tour round America, if God should
ever call me to such a work. However, I determine nothing :
I wait on the Lord.'
The voyage was useful, both to his body and soul—to his
soul, however, in a very distressing way. His journal from