W H I 



W H I 



had preached and printed in favour of perfeftion and uni- 

 verfal redemption, and againft the doftrine of elsftion. He 

 had written a reply, but he acknowledges that he had uied 

 expreffious that were too ftrongin reference to abfolute repro- 

 bation, which had offended numbers of his fpiritual children. 

 His worldly circumftances were embarrafTed, and he owed 

 looo/. for the orphan-houfe, and fome of his bills were re- 

 turned. He had fome enemies who circulated reflexions on 

 his integrity in the contraft of this bufinefs ; but they were 

 never jullified, and his fhte of fecular affairs at his death 

 affords a ftrong prefumption that they were groundlefs. 

 Dr. Franklin, who lived upon the fpot, bears teftxmony to 

 his honefty. At this time, a feparation had taken place 

 between him and Wedey, and this had occafioned a decreafe 

 of his auditors. However, his zeal and perfeverance over- 

 came thefe difBculties. In order to counteraft Wefley's 

 popularity, he built a (hed near his chapel in Moorfields, 

 which he called the Tabernacle ; and in procefs of time this 

 rofe from a mean beginning to be a fpacious edihce ; and he 

 alfo renevv-ed his field-preaching. At this time, he paid his 

 firfl vifit to Scotland ; and though he was a clergyman of 

 the church of England, which excited fome prejudice 

 againft him, he was invited into the churches, and preached 

 to large congregations, and made colleftions for his orphans. 

 On his return by Wales, he married a Mrs. James, a widow 

 lady of Abergavenny. His zeal for doing good, and for 

 making profelytes, induced him, in the fpring of 1742, to 

 engage in a conteft with the idle people who had booths in 

 Moorfields, and where they frequented for their amufement 

 00 hchdays. On Whitmonday he collefted a party of his 

 attendants, and reforted to the fpot with a view of con- 

 dufting a religious fervice. Although he was much dif- 

 turbed in this effufion of his piety and zeal, the refult, as he 

 fays, was fo much in his favour, that he received 1000 notes 

 from perfons under conviftion ; and foon after more than 

 300 were admitted into the fociety in one day. In 1748 he 

 returned from a third voyage to America ; and then com- 

 menced his acquaintance with the countefs of Huntingdon, 

 who appointed him her chaplain, and excited the curiofity 

 of fome perfons of rank to bear him : among thefe were the 

 earl of Chefterfield and lord BoUngbroke. About this pe- 

 riod, it is faid, his fentiments became more rational ; for on 

 his third vifit to Scotland, it was announced to a fynod aflem- 

 bled at Glafgow to inveftigate certain charges againfl his opi- 

 nions, that with regard to certain points which were con- 

 Cdered as objeAionable, his fentiments had been altered for 

 upwards of two years ; and that he now feldom preached a 

 fermon without guarding his hearers againft impreifions, and 

 admonifhing them that a holy life is the beft evidence of a 

 ftate of grace. From tlii-? lime, he was fully employed by a 

 vifit to Ireland, two more voyages to America, and his 

 Englifh circuits, till the year 1756, when his chapel in Tot- 

 tenham-court-road was erefted. His labours were inceffant 

 for many years ; but at length, on a feventh vifit to America, 

 he was feized with an afthmatic complaint at Newbury- 

 port, New England, which terminated his life in September 

 1770, near the completion of his fifty-fixth year. 



With regard to his general character, we (hall clofe this 

 article with the refleftions cf a judicious and candid bio- 

 grapher. " That he had much enthufiafm and fanaticifm in 

 his compofition is fufficiently evident from his own journal 

 and letters ; but whether thefe were accompanied, as they 

 not unfrequently are, with craft and artifice, is a difputable 

 point. There are, in his narratives, obvious marks of a dif- 

 pofition to reprefent himfelf as under the fpecial proteftion of 

 Providence, and to magnify trifling incidents into little lefs 

 than miracles in his favour ; and much of what is com- 



12 



monly called cant is apparent in his confefljons and humiK- 

 ations. Yet that he was a hypocrite afting a part will 

 fcarcely be believed by any one who looks at his courfe of 

 hfe during 34 years. He has been charged with difhonefty 

 and immorality ; yet as it is certain that he obtained the 

 efteem of many perfons of worth, it may be concluded that 

 fuch accufations were deftitute of proof. His intelleftual 

 qualities were well fuited to the talk he undertook ; and if 

 in the pulpit he occafionally intermixed buffoonery with his 

 vehemence, the latter was not lefs effeftual on that account. 

 His learning and literary talents were mean, and he is a writer 

 only for his own feft." He publifhed, at intervals, fermons, 

 trails, and letters, which, after his death, were collected in 

 fix vols. 8vo. Middleton's Biog. Evangel. Mofh. £ccl. 

 Hift. Gen. Biog. 



Whitefield, in Geography, a town of America, in the 

 diftrift of Maine, and county of Lincoln, having 995 in- 

 habitants Alfo, a town of New Hampfhire, in the county 



of Cowes, having 51 inhabitants. — Alfo, a town of North 

 Carohna ; 40 miles W. of Newbern. 



Whitefield, or IVhiatfield, a townfhip of Pennfylvaniai 

 156 miles W. of Philadelphia. 



WHITEHALL, formerly called Skenefborough, a 

 poft-townfhip of Wafhington county, in the ftate of New 

 York, at the head of lake Champlain, about 65 miles N.E. 

 from Albany : in medial length about 10 miles from N. 

 to S., and 7 wide; firft erefted in 1788, with its prefent 

 limits. The foil is a ftiff clay, and adapted to grafs. Wood- 

 creek and Pawlet river unite in this town, and afford facility 

 to navigation and trade, as well as mill- feats. Marble, lime- 

 ftonc, and iron-ore, and alfo a mineral fpring, are found in '\ 

 this townfhip. It has i Congregational, i Prefbyterian, i 

 Baptift, and i Methodift congregation, and a competent- 

 number of common fchools ; 2 grift-mills, 2 faw-mills, a 

 fuHing-mill, and carding-machine. — Alfo, an incorporated 

 poft-village at the N. end, with confiderable trade, fituated 

 principally on the W. bank of Wood-creek, at its entrance 

 into lake Champlain ; 71 miles N-E. from Albany. About 

 a quarter of a mile from the village is a handfonie Prefby- 

 terian church, founded by the donation of John Williams, 

 efq. of Salem, who endowed it with a parfonage of 60 acres , 

 of land. The whole population, by the cenfus of 1 8 10, was 

 21 19, with 178 eleftors. — Alfo, atownftiip of Pennfylvania, 

 in Northampton county, with 2551 inhabitants ; 61 miles 

 N. of Philadelphia. 



WHITEHAVEN, a fea-port and market-town in 

 AUerdale ward, in the county of Cumberland, England, 

 is fituated between two hills at the northern extremity of a 

 narrow vale, at the diftance of 40 miles S.W. from Carliflc, 

 and 305 miles N.W. from London. The rife, progrefs, 

 and increafing importance of this now rich and flourifhing 

 town, ftrikingly difplay the effefts of trade, indullry, and 

 enterprife. From an obfcure hamlet, ,it has advanced, 

 within lefs than two centuries, to confiderable magnitude 

 and commercial importance ; and, both in extent and po- 

 pulation, by far exceeds the capital of the county. In the 

 year 1566, it confifted only of fix fifhermen's cabins; in 

 1633, of nine or ten thatched cottages; but in 1693, its 

 buildings were fufficiently numerous for 2222 inhabitants, 

 and have been progrefTively increafing ; till, in the year 18 11, 

 the population was returned to parHament as 10,106, oc- 

 cupying 1940 houfes. The increafe of fhipping has been 

 proportionate: in 1685, the whole number of veffels be- 

 longing to this port was 46, carrying 187 1 tons ; they have 

 fince gradually increafed to 230 ; the quantity of tonnage is 

 nearly 74,000 tons. The honour of raifing this town to its 

 prefent importance muft be attributed to the Lowther 



family. 



