George-Whitefield-Field-Preacher

142 GEORGE WHITEFIELD
Oh, what strong crying and tears,' he says, ' were shed and poured
forth after the dear Lord Jesus ! Some fainted, and when they had got a
little strength, would hear and faint again. Others cried out in a manner
almost as if they were in the sharpest agonies of death. And after I had
f finished my last discourse, I myself was so overpowered with a sense of
God's love, that it almost took away my life. However, at length I
revived, and having taken a little meat, was strengthened to go with
-. Messrs. Blair, Tennent, and some other friends, to Mr. Blair's house, about
twenty miles from Nottingham. In the way we refreshed our souls by
singing psalms and hymns. We got to our journey's end about midnight,
where, after we had taken a little food, and recommended ourselves to
God by prayer, we went to rest, and slept, I trust, in the favour as well as
under the protection of our dear Lord Jesus. Oh, Lord, was ever love like
Thine?'
The next day, at Fog's Manor, where Blair was minister,
the congregation was as large as that at Nottingham, and as
great, Whitefield says, ' if not a greater, commotion was in the
hearts of the people. Look where I would, most were
drowned in tears. The word was sharper than a two-edged
sword, and their bitter cries and groans were enough to pierce
the hardest heart. Oh !
what
different visages were there to
be seen. Some were struck pale as death, others were
wringing their hands, others lying on the ground, others
sinking into the arms of their friends, and most lifting up
their eyes towards heaven, and crying out to God for mercy !
I could think of nothing, when I looked upon them, so much
as the great day. They seemed like persons awakened by the
last trump, and coming out of their graves to judgment.'
His affectionate nature was beautifully shown in the many
thoughtful letters and messages which he addressed to all kinds
of friends during the time that the sloop waited at Newcastle
for a fair wind to take him to Savannah. But the affection he
was wont to inspire was strongest in the hearts of the orphans
and his dependent family, and on his return to Savannah with
the five hundred pounds that he had collected among the