continued to cultivate the friendship of many of his earlier friends, long after he had risen to a prominent station within the pale of the establishment; and the fact that he maintained an intercourse of friendship with such men as Watts, and Doddridge, and Leland, and Lardner, is as creditable to his grace's memory as to theirs.

He died in 1768.

volumes octavo.

His works were edited by Dr Porteous, in six

George Whitefield.

BORN A. D. 1714.-DIED A. D. 1770.

THIS pious and eloquent man was born at Gloucester, in December, 1714. His father was an innkeeper in that city. George was the youngest of several sons, and on the death of his father in 1716 was still very young. His mother tended him with great care, and he early became the subject of religious feeling,-but he himself describes his youthful days as vicious and degraded. At school, however, he made considerable progress in classical studies, and also distinguished himself by displays of eloquence. But at the age of fifteen, we find the youthful orator acting as his mother's assistant in the inn. In these circumstances, however, he indicated a different bent of mind, by composing sermons; and in the course of a year or two from his entrance on this situation, his mind assumed a religious tone, and both in public and in private he testified a regard for sacred things. At the age of eighteen, he entered the university of Oxford. Here he associated with a body of young men, including John and Charles Wesley, devoted to religious and charitable pursuits. Agreeably to the habits of this society, who received the appellation of Methodists, he took the sacrament weekly, and visited the gaol. In his self-denial he seems to have rivalled, if not exceeded, the strictest of his comrades. Bodily illness ensued. On his recovery, joy had taken the place of a depression under which he previously laboured. Proceeding to Gloucester for confirmation of his health, he there visited the poor, and held religious conversation with the young. Being now about twenty-one years of age, he was offered ordination by Dr Benson, bishop of Gloucester, and accordingly, in agreement with the solicitation of his friends, he prepared for orders, and, after prayer and self-examination, was ordained on Sunday, 20th June, 1736. On the following Sunday he preached at Gloucester. "As I proceeded," says he, speaking of that occasion, "I perceived the fire kindled, till, at last, though so young, and amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my childish days, I trust I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some few mocked; but most for the present seemed struck; and I have since heard that a complaint had been made to the bishop that I drove fifteen mad, the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before next Sunday." He now proceeded to Oxford; but being soon called to London, to perform service in the Tower, he officiated there for two months. In November he was again summoned from Oxford, and entered on a short course of ministrations at Dummer, Hants. At this time he declined a good London curacy; and in January, 1737-in prospect of leaving his na

tive country for Georgia, whither his friends John and Charles Wesley had gone-he went to visit his friends at Gloucester and Bristol. It was not until several months thereafter that he preached his farewell sermons in these cities. But, in the meantime, his services there and also in London and Bath were attended by numerous audiences.

At length, in December, 1737, he embarked for America. He persevered, and ultimately succeeded, in his attempts to establish religious services on board, and to introduce a moral improvement among his fellow-travellers. In regard to his own personal experience during the voyage, he thus expresses himself at a later period of his life :-"The remembrance of the happy hours I enjoyed in religious exercises on the deck is refreshing to my soul." In the colony he was well-received, and tokens of usefulness attended him. "I was really happy," says he, "in my little cure, and could have cheerfully remained among them, had I not been obliged to return to England, to receive priest's orders, and make a beginning towards laying a foundation for the orphan-house.” The scheme to which he here refers, was the formation of an institution for orphans in the colony, an object which he kept in view in the course of his approaching visit to England. For this destination he embarked in September, 1738. The voyage was unfavourable, and the travellers were almost reduced to extremity by want of provisions. At length the ship anchored before an island on the Irish coast. In reference to this circumstance, he remarks in his Journal :—“ Ever since I have been on board the Mary, these words, 'Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island' (which were part of the lesson I read last at Savannah,) have been continually pressed upon my heart, so that I have often mentioned it to one of my companions. Behold, they are now fulfilled!" The bishop of Limerick received him kindly, and he preached in the cathedral of that town. From Dublin he set out for England, and reached Parkgate at the end of November. In January thereafter he received priest's orders from Bishop Benson. Certain ministers of the establishment, however, treated him with coldness, and several churches were refused him. But he preached in others to which access was allowed him, and met with his followers for social intercourse in Fetter-lane. At Bristol, after preaching in the churches for two or three Sundays, they were at length shut against him. He officiated, however, at Newgate; and at Kingswood, a neighbouring tract inhabited by colliers, who were at this time in a rude and neglected state, be, after a struggle with his own mind, began to preach in the open air. This he found a peculiarly interesting scene. "The first discov. ery," says he, speaking of the colliers who attended him, "The first discovery of their being affected was to see the white gutters made by their tears, which plentifully fell down their black cheeks, as they came out of their coal-pits. Hundreds and hundreds of them were soon brought under deep convictions, which (as the event proved) happily ended in a sound and thorough conversion." His own feelings he thus describes "The open firmament above me, the prospect of the adjacent fields, with the sight of thousands and thousands, some in coaches some on horseback, and some in the trees, and at times all affected and drenched in tears together, to which sometimes was added the solemnity of the approaching evening, was almost too much for, and quite overcame me. At length, on John Wesley undertaking the post which he

himself had so successfully occupied at Kingswood, he proceeded to Wales; and, after preaching in various places, he returned to London. There, during several months, he officiated in the open air, at Moorfields, Blackheath, and Kennington common; and many of his audiences on these occasions have been reckoned at upwards of twenty thousand. Having collected more than £1000 for the orphan-house of Georgia, he set sail for America in August, 1739, and after landing at Philadelphia, and preaching in that city and various other places to audiences that flocked to hear him, he reached Savannah in January, 1740. There, in the succeeding March, he began the building of the orphanhouse, which he named Bethesda. Fresh contributions being required for the institution, he again itinerated. Early in June he returned to Savannah; but, again setting out, he paid a successful and interesting visit to New England.

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In January, 1741, Whitefield again embarked for England. His visit to his native country opened on a melancholy scene. He had written what he himself calls "two well-meant, though injudicious letters against England's two great favourites, The Whole Duty of Man,' and Archbishop Tillotson," and had also answered a sermon by John Wesley on the subject of election. On this, as on other points, Whitefield was Calvinistic; but he himself remarks, that he thought his answer had some too strong expressions about absolute reprobation, which," he adds, "the apostle leaves rather to be inferred than expressed." On his arrival in England, accordingly, he found that he had given offence to many even of his former followers. His unpopularity he seems to have felt the more discouraging, as he was under great pecuniary embarrassment in regard to the orphan-house. A breach ensued between himself and the followers of Wesley; but a large shed was erected for him in London, near the Foundery, and multitudes attended his preaching. He also itinerated in England; and, being invited to Scotland, he arrived at Leith in the month of July. Proceeding to Dunfermline, he preached in the meeting-house of Ralph Erskine, one of the heads of the Secession; but a division soon occurred between himself and the Associate Presbytery, of which Erskine was a member, owing, apparently, to a difference of opinion in regard to the Solemn League and Covenant, and the propriety of his preaching for persons not of their communion. During his stay in Scotland he produced a powerful effect, and preached in a multitude of places. "I look," says Mr Willison of Dundee, in a letter dated October, 1741, "I look upon this youth as raised up of God for special service, and spirited for making new and singular attempts for promoting true Christianity in the world, and for reviving it where it is decayed; and I see him wonderfully fitted and strengthened both in body and mind for going through with his projects amidst the greatest discouragements and difficulties. I see the man to be all of a piece; his life and conversation to be a transcript of his sermons. It is truly a rare thing to see so much of God about any one man. Many here are blessing God for sending him to this country, though Satan has raged much against it." Returning to England he there continued his zealous exertions; but, on the 2d of June, 1742, he again arrived in Scotland. A great religious excitement had, by this time, taken place in the west of that country, particularly at Cambuslang. This

parish Whitefield visited; and, in a letter which he wrote from that place, he expresses such views of the articles and constitution of the church of Scotland as may serve to explain, both why he was employed by ministers of that church, and how he was so acceptable to persons of that communion. Again leaving Scotland, he proceeded to London, and resumed his duties at the Tabernacle; but in the course of the following spring, summer, and autumn, he itinerated in England. In March he attended the assizes, in a case of prosecution for the maltreatment of certain Methodists. He gained his cause, and the prosecution is said to have had a good effect. In the following year, however, he was attacked, when in bed, by a man who had been admitted to his chamber. He was advised to prosecute; "but being better employed," says he, "I went on my intended journey, was greatly blessed in preaching the gospel, and upon my return was well-paid for what I had suffered; curiosity having led perhaps two thousand persons more than ordinary to see and hear a man that had like to have been murdered in his bed."

In August, 1744, he again embarked for America. He was ill during the voyage, and, on his arrival, appeared to be at the point of death. In this state, however, he preached a sermon which had been advertised; "and such effects," says he, "followed the word, that I thought it was worth dying for a thousand times." Gradually recovering from his illness, he went about preaching; but being annoyed with pain in the side, and advised to visit Bermudas, he landed there in March, 1748. He was kindly received, and preached both to whites and negroes. The effect of a farewell discourse he thus describes :-" Attention sat on every face; and when I came to take my leave, oh! what a sweet unaffected weeping was there to be seen every where ! I believe there were few dry eyes. The negroes likewise without doors I heard wept plentifully. My own heart was affected, and though I have parted with friends so often, yet I find every fresh parting almost unmans me, and very much affects my heart." From this he set sail for England. and in the month of July arrived in London. On his arrival he visited Lady Huntingdon, and thereafter he preached, at her residence, in presence of several distinguished persons, including Lords Chesterfield and Bolingbroke. In September he paid another visit to Scotland, where he was followed by multitudes, and preached, as usual, with powerful effect. Returning to England he itinerated there, as, in 1751, he also did in Wales and Ireland. After again visiting Scotland, he re-embarked for America, where he arrived about the end of October. At the end of April he again proceeded to London, and after his arrival he itinerated in England and Scotland. "Fain," says he, in the course of these active labours, "Fain would I die preaching." After again travelling in America, he reached England in May, 1755. In the following year he opened a new place of worship in Tottenham-court road, and in 1758, alms-houses were begun for the benefit of poor widows. "If this be effected," says he, in reference to the latter scheme, "many godly widows will be provided for, and a standing monument left, that the Methodists are not against good works. During this visit he travelled, not only in England, but also in Scotland and Ireland, and large sums were collected, when he preached, for charitable purposes. During the latter part of his residence in this country,

bad health interfered with his exertions; but in June, 1763, he embarked for America, and in December, 1764, reached Savannah. A scheme of building a college in Georgia, however, called him again to England, where he arrived in 1765. During this visit he lost his wife, and his own health proved broken. But in 1769 he again embarked for America, and, after visiting the orphan-house, set out on an itineracy. He reached Newbury-port, in the course of his tour, September 29th, 1770. He was to preach on the succeeding day; but during the night he was distressed with asthma, and in the morning, at six o'clock, he expired. His life bears witness to the eloquence of his preaching, the worth of his character, and the influence he exerted both in this country and in America.

John Hortin, D. D.

BORN A. D. 1698.-died a. d. 1770.

THIS very learned and excellent divine was born in London on the 23d of October, 1698. His father, Renatus Jortin, was a native of Bretagne in France; he came over to England about the year 1687, when the protestants were obliged to quit France in consequence of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and was made a gentleman of the privy chamber in 1691; he afterwards became secretary to Lord Orford, Sir George Rooke, and Sir Cloudesley Shovel; and was cast away with the last, on the 22d of October, 1707. His mother was Martha Rogers, of an ancient and respectable family in Bucks, distinguished by their abilities and learning. He was trained at the Charter-house school, where he made a good proficiency in Greek and Latin.

In May 1715, he was admitted of Jesus college, Cambridge; and, about two years after, was recommended by his tutor, Dr Thirlby, who was then fond of him, and always retained a friendship for him, to make extracts from Eustathius for the use of Pope's Homer. In an account of this transaction, written by Jortin himself, are the following passages: "I cannot recollect what Mr Pope allowed for each book of Homer, but I have a notion that it was three or four guineas."—"I was in some hopes in those days-for I was young-that Mr Pope would make inquiry about his coadjutor, and take some civil notice of him. But he did not; and I had no notion of obtruding myself upon him. I never saw his face."

Jortin took his bachelor of arts degree in January, 1718-19, and masters in 1722; he had been chosen fellow of his college soon after the taking of his first degree. This year he distinguished himself by the publication of a few Latin poems, entitled 'Lusus Poetici,' which were well-received. In September, 1723, he entered into deacon's orders, and into priest's the June following. In January, 1726, he was presented by his college to Swavesey, near Cambridge; but marrying a daughter of Mr Chibnall, of Newport-Pagnell, Bucks, in 1728, he resigned that living, and soon after settled himself in London. In this town he spent the next two and thirty years of his life; for, though the earl of Winchelsea gave him the living of Eastwell in Kent, where he resided a little time; yet he very soon quitted it, and returned to Lon