George Whitefield was born in the Bell Inn, Gloucester, on December 16th, 1714. His father, Thomas Whitefield, was at first a wine merchant in Bristol, but afterwards became an inn-keeper; his mother was Elizabeth Edwards, of Bristol. The surroundings of the boy were not calculated to make him religious, yet in his mother's heart there was a thoughtful love which did all that was possible to shield him from the worst temptations of his lot. As his father died in 1716, George, the last-born of his seven children, fell exclusively to the mother's care. His boyhood was a wild, merry, thoughtless, sin-stained time. He confesses to lying, evil speaking, and petty thefts from his mother's pocket; he spent much money in plays and entertainments; his…

George Whitefield (1714-1770) comes first as the preacher of his day. At Pembroke College, Oxford, he was already under serious impressions when he joined the little society of students who met to study the Scriptures, to converse, and to pray. Their favourite books were "The Imitation of Christ," and Law's "Serious Call." These only led him into mental confusion, till at length, after seven weeks of illness caused by soul-trouble and austerities, God removed the heavy load, and enabled him, as he describes, "to lay hold on His dear Son by a living faith," and gave "the spirit of adoption to seal me, as I humbly hope, to the day of redemption. At first my joys were like a spring tide, which, as it were,…