es of all sects and
denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was
matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the
extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much
they admir'd and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of
them, by assuring them they were naturally _half beasts and half
devils_. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners
of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about
religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so
that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing
psalms sung in different families of every street.

[79] George Whitefield, pronounced Hwit'field
(1714-1770), a celebrated English clergyman and pulpit
orator, one of the founders of Methodism.

And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject
to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner
propos'd, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but
sufficient sums were soon receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the
building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the
size of Westminster Hall;[80] and the work was carried on with such
spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been
expected. Both house and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for
the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire
to say something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building
not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in
general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a
missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at
his service.

[80] A part of the palace of Westminster, now forming the
vestibule to the Houses of Parliament in London.

Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the way thro' the
colonies to Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been
begun, but, instead of being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen,
accustomed to labour, the only people fit for such an enterprise, it
was with families of broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors,
many of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being
set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and unable to
endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving
many helpless children unprovided for. The