Extract of a Letter from the Reverend Mr. Smith, of Charles-Town, South-Carolina,dated March 2. 1746-7.
“Mr. WHITEFIELD’s excellent Parts, fine Elocution, and masterly Address; His admirable Talent of opening the Scriptures, and enforcing the most weighty Subjects upon the Conscience; His polite and serious Behaviour; His unaffected and superior Piety; His Prudence, Humility, and Catholick Spirit, are Things which must silence and disarm Prejudice itself. By these Qualifications of the Orator, the Divine, and theChristian, He has not only fixed himself deeper in the Affections of his former Friends, but greatly increased the Number wherever he has preached; and made his Way into the Hearts of several, who, till this Visit, had said all the severe Things against him thatEnmity itself seemed capable of. He now seems to reign over his Hearers, among whom are Gentlemen of the best Figure and Estate we have, and has gained some, whose former Prejudices one would have thought insuperable. As an Instance of our Affection and Esteem, no sooner was the Motion started by some particular Gentlemen, but, with the greatest Alacrity, and in a very short Time, we subscribed, and gave him, much above Two Hundred Pounds Sterling; which we should not have done, but upon a firm Persuasion of the Sincerity of his Intentions. We hope we have laid an effectual Scheme for tying him faster to America, which will give us the Satisfaction of seeing a Man we so highly esteem the oftener. These Things are so universally known in this Town, that you have free Leave to publish them, and to affix the Name of,
Dear Sir,
Your affectionate Friend and Servant,
JOSIAH SMITH.”
Extract of another Letter from South-Carolina, dated March 11th.
“It is with Pleasure I can now assure you, that the Rev. Mr. Whitefield has more Friends in Charlestown among Gentlemen, especially of Distinction and Substance, than ever heretofore. The Orator in the Pulpit, and the Gentleman and the Christian, happily united in Conversation, has triumph’d over a thousand Prejudices, and is become the Admiration of several, who before had conceiv’d the worst Idea of him imaginable. And since Actions are the best Expositors of the Heart, we have not been content to court his Company only, but, as a further Expression of our Esteem, have given him between two and three hundred Pounds Sterling.”
The above Extracts will, we doubt not, at once please the Friends of the Reverend Mr.Whitefield, and convince every candid Reader, that his Accounts of the Disposition of the Sums of Money heretofore collected for the Use of his Orphan House in Georgiaare just; since it cannot be conceived that Gentlemen, who live so near to that House asCharles-Town, South-Carolina, and have daily Opportunities of knowing how the Affair is conducted, should contribute so generously to Mr. Whitefield, if they thought his former Collections were not duly applied.
The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 23, 1747