George-Whitefield-Field-Preacher

HIS 'DEAR LAMBS' 171
Full of cafes he took his passage from London to Leith.
Chief of all cares, and yet chief of all earthly joys, was
that distant family. He hopes, when he gets aboard, to
redeem time to answer his ' dear lambs' letters.' They had
rejoiced him exceedingly. He begs Mr. Barber to be
particular in the accounts—and not without reason, since
slander was soon busy with a tale about personal ends which
Whitefield was serving. He sends word that he has ordered
hats and shoes for the children, and intends to send brother
H 's order and other things with some cash very shortly.
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But the arrears hang on me yet. My Lord bears my burden ;
may He bear all yours for you. I am persuaded He will.'
When he sailed he found time to gratify his desire about
the orphans, and ten of his short letters are preserved. They
cannot compare with such charming letters as Irving wrote
to his little daughter, and now and again the harshest parts
of his creed appear in a most unpleasing form ; but love
keeps breaking through every line to lend its own gentle
light to the hearts of the little ones. It was in his best
manner that he wrote to a child at Boston :
'My dear Child,—I thank you for your letter ; I neither forgot you
nor my promise. O, that God may effectually work upon your heart
betimes, for you cannot be good too soon, or loo good. The little orphans
; t Georgia are crying out, " What shall we do to be saved? " How early
was Jesus in the temple, first hearing and then asking questions ! How
did He love the little children, how did He take them up in His sacred
arms and bless them ! And when He was just ascending to the highest
heaven, how tenderly did He speak to Peter, and bid him "feed His
lambs." Let all this encourage you to come to Him.'
Sifting the rest of the correspondence, we come upon a
sentence in a letter to the students at Cambridge and New
Haven in America, who had partaken of the religious influence
so sedulously diffused by Whitefield during his American tour,
which is worth a place m every student's room, ' Hence-