Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1857-07-02
GEORGE WHITEFIELD.

sparkling beauty of single sentences; but in
the power Of darting the gospel direct into
the conscience, he eclipsed them all. With
a full and beaming countenance, and the
frank and easy port which the English love-
for it is the symbol of honest purpose and
friendly assurance-he combined voice of
rich compass which would equally thrill over
Moorfelds in musical thunder, OR whisper
it's terrible secret in every private ear; and
to this gainly aspect and tuneful voice he
added most expressive and eloquent action.
Improved by conscientious practice, and in
stinct with his earnest nature, this elocution
was the acted sermon, and by it's pantoni-
mic portrait, enabled the eye to anticipate
each rapid utterance, and helped the memo
ry to treasure up the palpable ideas. None
ever used so boldly, or with more success,
the highest style of impersonation. His
clark! hark" could conjure up Gethse-
name with it's faltering moon and awake again
the cry of horror stricken innocence; and an
lapostrophe to Peter on the Holy Mount
would light up another Taber, and drown it
lin. glory from the opening heaven. His
were transformations, and if he spoke be-
cause he felt, his hearers understood because
they saw. They were not only enthusiastic
amateurs, like Garrick, who ran to weep
and tremble at his bursts of passion, but even
the colder critics Of the Walpole school were
surprised into momentary sympathy and re-
luctant wonder
Lord Chesterfield was listening in Lady
Huntington's pew when Whiteield was COM
pairing the benighted sinner to a blind beg
gar on dangerous road. His little dog
| gets away from him when skrting the edge
Of a precipice, and he is left to explore the
path with his iron shod staff On the very
verge of the cliff this blind guide slips
through his fingers and skins away down
the abyss. All unconscious the owner stoop-
led down to regain it, and stumbled forward
s'Good God! he is gone p shouted Chester
!, field, who Lasa4 been watching with breath
less alarm the blind mans movements, and
who jumped from his seat to save the catas-
trophe. But the glory of Whitefeld' S preach
ing was it's heart kindling and heart melting
gospel But for this all his bold strokes
and brilliant surprises mi ght have been no
better than the rhetorical triumphs of Kir-
wan and other pulpit dramatists He was
an orator, but he only sought to be an evan
gelist. Like volcano, where gold and
gems may be darted forth as well as common
things, but where gold and molten granite
flow alike in fiery fusion, bright thoughts
and splendid images might be projected from
it's flaming pulpit but all were merged in
the stream which bore along the gospel and
himself in blended fervor. Indeed, so SIM
pie was his nature, that glory to God and
good will to men having filled it, there was
room for little more.
Having no church to found. no family to
enrich, and no memory to immortalize he
was the mere ambassador Of God: and in
spired with its genial piteous spirit-so full
of heaven reconciled and humanity restored
he soon himself became living gospel
Radiant with it's benignity, and trembling
with its tenderness, by a sort of spiritual
induction, a vast audience would speedily be
brought into frame of mind-the transfu-
sing Of his own; and the white furrows on
their sooty faces told that Kingswood colliers
were weeping, or the quivering of an ostrich
plume bespoke it's elegant wearer's deep
emotion. Aud coming to his work direct
from communion with his Master, and in all
the strength of accepted prayer, there was
an elevation in his mind which often para
lyzed hostility, and self-pessession which
only made him, amid uproar and fury, more
sublime. With an electric bolt, he would
bring the jester in his FOOLS cap from his
perch on the tree, OF galvanize the brick-bat
from the skulking miscreant's grasp, or
sweep down in crouching submission and
shame-faced silence the whole of Barthole-
new Fair; whilst a revealing flash of SEN
tentlous doctrine, or vivifed Scri pture,
would disclose to awe-struck hundreds the
forgotten varieties Of another world, or the
unsupported arcana of their inner men. Il
came to break your head, but, through you,
God has broken my heart" was a sort of
confession with which he was familiar and
to see the deaf old gentlewoman, who used
to mutter imprecations at him as he passed
along the street, clambering up the pulpit
stairs to catch his angelic words, was sort
of spectacle which the triumphant gospel Of
ten witnessed in his day And when it is
known that his voice could be heard by twen-
ty thousand, and that ranging all the empire,
as well as America, he would often preach
thrice on working day, and that he has re-
celved IN one week as many as thousand
letters, from persons awakened by his SER
mons; if no estimate can be formed of the
results of his ministry, some idea may be
suggested of its vast extent and singular
effectiveness - North R,.,t,eb Po,,,e,r