George-Whitefield-Field-Preacher

MS FUNERAL 341
fully of him. He taught me the way to heaven, but I regarded
him not. that I could hear his voice again !
But
ah, never,
no, never shall I again hear it till in the judgment of the great
day he shall appear as a swift witness against me.' He yielded
himself to God.
On Tuesday, October 2nd, Whitefield was buried, according
to his wish, in front of the pulpit of Mr. Parsons, in the Presby-
terian Church at Newbury Port, the mighty host of mourners
present, six thousand members and ministers of many denomi-
nations, fitly representing the catholicity of his heart and the
magnitude of his labours. When the coffin was placed close
to the mouth of the vault, the Rev. Daniel Rogers, of Exeter,
one of his sons in the faith, ascended the pulpit, offered prayer,
and confessed before all his vast obligations to him whose
body they were about to commit to the grave. His emotion
conquered him, and as he cried out, ' O
my father, my father !
and stood and wept, the people mingled their tears with his.
They tried to sing a hymn, but weeping choked many voices.
A sermon was then preached ; the coffin was lowered into the
vault ; another short prayer was offered ; and the congregation,
still in tears, passed along the streets to their homes.
The outward demonstrations of grief were numerous and
sincere. The bells of Newbury Port were tolled, and the ships
in the harbour fired their guns, and hung their flags half-mast
high. Funeral sermons were preached in the principal cities
of America. In Georgia all the black cloth in the stores was
bought up for mourning by the sorrowing people. They hung
the church at Savannah in black, and the Governor and
Council led the procession which attended to hear the funeral
sermon. In London, where the news of his death was received
on November 5th, the same grief was felt and expressed. The
London Chronicle of November 19th says that the multitudes
which went to hear his funeral sermon by Wesley, in Totten-