White, WiUiam, D.D., a Protestant Episcopal bishop, was born in Philadelphia, March 26, 1748. He passed A.B. at Philadelphia College in 1765, and was soon after ordained in England. On his return to America in 1772, he became associate minister of Christ Church and St. Peter's, Philadelphia, where he contin- ued till the Revolution. In 1777 he was chaplain to Congress and was elected rector of Christ and St. Peter's churches in Philadelphia. He was consecrated bishop at London in 1787, and died July 17, 1836. Exclusive of periodicals, he published, The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the United States (1782) : — Thoughts on the Singing of Psalms, etc., signed " Silas" (1808) : — Lect- ures on the Catechism of the P. E. Church, with Supple- mentary Lectures, etc. (1813, 2 vols. 8vo) : — Compara- tive Views of the Controversy between the Calvinists and the A rminians, etc. (1817, 2 vols. 8vo) : — Memoirs of the P. E. Church in the United States (1820, 8vo) -.—A Com- mentary on Ordination, etc. (1833, 8vo) : — An Essay : — and several Addresses, Letters, and Sermons. See Spragne, Annals of the A me?: Pulpit, v, 280.
Whitefield, Geouge, a pre-eminent evangelist and founder of the Calvinistic branch of the Methodists, was a native of Gloucester, England, in the Bell Inn of which town (his father being a tavern-keeper) he was born, Dec. 16, 1714. His father having died while George was yet young, the boy's education devolved solely on his mother, whose pious instructions and example had a powerful influence in imbuing his infant mind with strong religious impressions. Having resolved to culti- vate the superior talents with w hich she saw George was endowed, she sent him to a classical school. At the age of fifteen he had distinguished himself by the accuracy and extent of bis knowledge, and by his taste in Greek and Roman literature. But his mother not succeeding in the hotel, and becoming reduced to poverty, the progress of George's education was stopped, and, being driven to undertake some menial place about the estab- lishment, his manners and morals were much injured by his association with irreligious servants. Happily his re- ligious impressions revived, and, having been confirmed, he received for the first time the sacrament of the Lord's supper. His mother's circumstances improving, she sent him to Pembroke College, Oxford, and there he joined in forming a small select society for mutual im- provement in religious knowledge and personal piety, along with the Wesle\'s and a few college contempora- ries of kindred spirit. Dr. Benson, bishop of Gloucester, who was acquainted with his rare talents and pietj-, re- solved to grant him ordination, and the solemn ceremo- ny was performed at Gloucester on .Tune 20, 1736. His first sermon, preached on the following Sabbath, pro- duced an extraordinary sensation. From Gloucester he went to London, where he preached alternately in the
WHITEFIELD
983
WHITEFIELD
chapel of the Tower and at Ludgate Prison every Tues- day. In 1737 he joined his friends the Wesleys as a missionary at the Georgian settlement ; but he had only been four months resident there, wlien he returned to England both to obtain priest's orders and to raise subscriptions for erecting an orphan-house in that set- tlement. On his arrival in London, lie found an outcry raised against hira on account of Alethodism. Bishop Benson disregarded it and ordained him a priest. But he was denied access to the pulpits of many old friends; and hence lie commenced the practice of open - air preaching in Moortields, Kennington, Biackheath, and other quarters, where his ministrations were attend- ed by vast crowds. Having raised a fund of £1000 for his orphanage, Whitefield returned in 1739 to the American continent. At Savannah immense crowds re- paired to hear him, and extraordinary scenes of excite- ment were enacted. On Marcli 25, 1740, he laid the first brick of the orphan-asylum; and when the building was completed, he gave it the name of Bethesda. Al- though his ministry was very successful at Savannah, he sighed for his native land ; and accordingly, in 1741, he returned once more to Britain, where he continued with indefatigable diligence to preach the Gospel. In jjrosecution of that object, he made a tour througli Eng- land, "Wales, and Scotland, preaching in many places, and always in tlic open air, to immense crowds. While in Wales, he married Mrs. Jones, a' widow to whom he had long cherished a warm attachment; and shortly after his marriage he repaired to London, where, it be- ing winter, some of his admirers erected a wooden shed in which he preached, and which he called the Taber- nacle. He was under the patronage of the countess- dowager of Huntingdon, to whom he was chaplain, and whose benevolence he shared especially in the support of the community of which he was the head. At the death of that lady, her place was filled by lady Erskine.
In the beginning of August, 1744, Mr. Whitefield, though in an infirm state of health, embarked again for America. At New York he was taken exceedingly ill, and his death was apprehended ; but he gradually re- covered and resumed his arduous and important duties. He was still very much inconvenienced with pains in his side, for which he was advised to go to the Bermu- das. Landing there on March 15, 1748, he met with the kindest reception, and traversed the island from one end to the other, preaching twice every day. His con- gregations were large , he there collected upwards of £100 for his orphan-school; but as he feared a relapse in his disorder if he returned to America, he took pas- sage in a brig, and arrived in safety at Deal, and the next evening set off for London, at''ter an absence of four years.