George-Whitefield-Field-Preacher

8 GEORGE WHITEFIELD
and a bed upon the floor. His old love for play-reading
revived again ; his vanity made him more careful to ' adorn his
body than deck and beautify his soul'; his former school-
fellows, whom he had done his share in misleading, now did
theirs in misleading him.
' But God,' he says, speaking in harmony with those Cal-
vinistic views which he afterwards adopted, 'whose gifts and ^
callings are without repentance, would let nothing pluck me
out of His hands, though I was continually doing despite to
the Spirit of grace. He saw me with pity and compassion,
when lying in my blood. He passed by me ; He said unto
me, " Live," and even gave me some foresight of His providing
for me. One morning, as I was reading a play to my sister,
said I, " Sister, God intends something for me that we know
not of. As I have been diligent in business I believe many
would gladly have me for an apprentice ; but every way seems
to be barred up, so that I think God will provide for me some
way or other that we cannot apprehend."
The deterioration of character which must have resulted
from his being without employment, and without any purposes
for the future, was happily averted by an accidental visit paid
to his mother by one of his former schoolfellows, now a ser-
vitor at Pembroke College, Oxford. When it was incidentally
mentioned in the conversation that the visitor had paid his
last quarter's expenses and received a penny, Mrs. Whitefield
eagerly caught at the news, and cried out, ' This will do for my
son ;
'
' and turning to George she said, Will you go to
Oxford, George?' He replied, 'With all my heart.' Appli-
cation was at once made for the help of the kind friends who
had aided their visitor, and mother and son were soon
rejoiced to know that interest would be used to secure George
a servitor's place in Pembroke College.
His learning, such as it was, had not been kept bright