The Accidental Revolutionary: George Whitefield and the Creation of America

IX. Good King, Bad King

105 CHAPTER Good King, Bad King IX In February of 1745, the French-backed effort to conquer England and restore the Stuarts to the throne began. But as the French invasion with ten thousand troops crossed the English Channel to land at Essex, a powerful storm blew in and swamped the fleet. One ship sank with all hands, and the others were turned back to France. Support for the coup cooled in France due to the disaster, but Bonnie Prince Charles was determined to gain the throne with or without French backing. The second Jacobite rebellion commenced when Charles Edward landed on Eriskay Island in Scotland on July 23, 1745, with a supply of friends, money, and arms. The Stuarts originally gained power when James I (from a daughter of Henry VII through the Scottish line) inherited the British throne, making Scotland the logical point of departure of Charles Edward for the invasion (the Jacobites took their name from “Jacobus,” the Latin form of James). Joined by discontented Scottish Highlanders, Charles Edward began the invasion, wresting Scottish cities away from British control and demanding supplies from every city he conquered. By October he commanded a force of forty-five hundred with four hundred horsemen , and moved south into England with the hope that the English citizens would welcome the return of the Stuarts and follow him to London. Upon reaching Derby in December, only one hundred miles from London, his Scottish officers began quarrelling about their ability to take and hold the capital. Had they known that George II was preparing to flee London, they might have pressed their advantage. The Accidental Revolutionary 106 IX For a brief moment, the future of England and America hung by a thread. The Jacobites chose to retreat and regroup instead. After a disorderly return to Scotland, Charles Edward’s army reorganized and gained strength through reinforcement from other clans, as well as with a group of French artillery and engineering experts—much less French support than sank in the channel ten months earlier. But their hesitation offered the British a chance to counterattack. On April 15, 1746, a pursuing British force led by the Duke of Cumberland, George II’s son, struck the Jacobite army at Nairn, inflicting heavy losses that scattered them. British forces ruthlessly pursued Jacobite rebels and leaders, executing them on the spot and committing other atrocities in the aftermath of their victory. But Charles got away and was hidden by various people still loyal to him in Scotland. After five months of fugitive wanderings, he escaped back to France despite the price of £30,000 on his head offered by the British government. Later, a Scottish lord was put on trial for harboring him. Many Jacobite supporters were quickly deported to the colonies and others emigrated on their own to begin an anonymous life free from the immediate hostility of England. * * * After a trip down to the Bethesda Orphanage in Georgia, Whitefield returned north to Philadelphia, whereupon hearing about the failed Jacobite rebellion in England, he prepared a sermon for a national day of thanksgiving. Whitefield preached “Britain’s Mercies and Britain ’s Duties” in Philadelphia on August 24, 1746, and had it immediately published. As the topic was time sensitive, the sermon probably was included in his repertoire for just the length of his preaching tour. But within it were themes he would echo in numerous sermons throughout the war years. Eager buyers quickly gobbled up at least four editions in Philadelphia and Boston. No other American sermon by any writer in 1746 went through more than one edition, showing Whitefield to be the most popular religious figure in the colonies three years after the revival. Recognizing that a growing body of Scots in America still harbored resentment and hostility, Whitefield wished to disarm any potential for trouble in America from new immigrants and deportees who were not loyal to the British crown. He had just completed 107 IX Good King, Bad King a tour of Scotland in 1744, where he aligned himself solidly with the Scottish Presbyterians, giving New England conspiracy theorists plenty of ammunition for attacking him. Additionally, still smarting from Chauncy’s charges of sedition, Whitefield might be accused of being a Jacobite sympathizer himself if he did not make a strong statement. It is likely that shiploads of the deported Jacobites were arriving in colonial ports, along with less rebellious Scotch-Irish...