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diff --git a/41480-0.txt b/41480-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3e6474 --- /dev/null +++ b/41480-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13516 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christmas Evans, by Paxton Hood + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Christmas Evans + The Preacher of Wild Wales: His country, his times, and his contemporaries + + +Author: Paxton Hood + + + +Release Date: November 25, 2012 [eBook #41480] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS EVANS*** + + +Transcribed from the 1888 Hodder and Stoughton edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + CHRISTMAS EVANS: + The Preacher of Wild Wales. + + + _HIS COUNTRY_, _HIS TIMES_, _AND HIS_ + _CONTEMPORARIES_. + + * * * * * + + BY THE REV. + PAXTON HOOD, + + AUTHOR OF + “THE THRONE OF ELOQUENCE,” “WORLD OF PROVERB AND PARABLE,” + “THE WORLD OF ANECDOTE,” “ROBERT HALL,” ETC. + + * * * * * + + _THIRD EDITION_. + + * * * * * + + London: + HODDER AND STOUGHTON, + 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. + + * * * * * + + MDCCCLXXXVIII. + + [_All rights reserved_.] + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + Hazell Watson and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury + + + + +TO THE REV. JOHN DAVIES, OF BRIGHTON. + + +MY DEAR FRIEND,—I believe there is no man living to whom I could so +appropriately inscribe an attempt to give some appreciation of the life +and labours of Christmas Evans as yourself. Your revered father and he +were taken on the same evening into Church fellowship in the old +communion of Castell Hywel, and within a week of each other they preached +their first sermons from the same desk; after this their ways diverged, +Evans uniting himself with the Baptist Communion, your father joining the +Independent; still, like two rivers flowing, and broadening, from +neighbouring, but obscure springs in the heart of their native +Plynlymmon, cheerfully they ran their beautiful course, beneath the +providential law of Him who chooses our inheritance for us, and fixes the +bounds of our habitations. They both served their generation in their +own land well, before they fell on sleep. Your father was called “the +Silver Trumpet of Wales,” and the name of Evans rolled like a +far-resounding bell among its wild mountains. In their early Christian +life they were associates; in their fame, while living, competent judges +tell me they were equal; and I have brought them together again. In the +memories I have sought to retain in this volume, I have attempted to give +some idea of what old Wild Wales was when these two brothers in arms +arose, and I have attempted to show what the singular institution of +preaching effected for the old insulated land. But I am also glad to +avail myself of the opportunity thus afforded me to express my sense of +mingled admiration, and affection for yourself, and congratulation that +the father, who left you an orphan so young, must rejoice, from that +cloud of witnesses he so long since joined, to know that you followed him +in a successful and happy ministry; while I rejoice, that, unlike him, +you have been permitted to enjoy the sunset in a serene and golden old +age. May you long enjoy it. + + My Dear Friend, + I am very affectionately + EDWIN PAXTON HOOD. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER I. + SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WELSH PREACHING. + PAGE +Wales, the Country and the People—Individuality of 1 +the Welsh Pulpit—St. David—The Religious Sense of the +People—Association Meetings—Gryffyth of +Caernarvon—Bardic Character of the Sermons—A +Repetition of Sermons—Peculiarities of the Welsh +Language—Its Singular Effects as spoken—Its +Vowels—Its Pictorial Character—The _Hwyl_—Welsh +Scenery—Isolated Character of the Old Chapels—Plain +Living and High Thinking—Ludicrous Incidents of +Uncertain Service—Superstitions of +Heathenism—Fondness of the People for +Allegory—Haunted Wales—The Rev. John Jones and the +Mysterious Horseman—Old Wild Wales—St. +David’s—Kilgerran—Welsh Nomenclature—John Dyer—Old +Customs. + CHAPTER II. + CHRISTMAS EVANS’S EARLY LIFE UNTIL HIS ENTRANCE INTO THE + MINISTRY. +Birth and Early Hardships—Early Church 40 +Fellowship—Beginning to Learn—Loses an Eye—A Singular +Dream—Beginning to Preach—His First Sermon—Is +Baptized—A New Church Fellowship—The Rev. Timothy +Thomas—Anecdotes—A Long Season of Spiritual +Depression—Is ordained as Home Missionary to +Lleyn—Commencement of Success as a Preacher—Remarks +on Success—Marries—Great Sermon at Velinvoel—A +Personal Reminiscence of Welsh Preaching. + CHAPTER III. + THE MINISTRY IN THE ISLAND OF ANGLESEA. +Journey to Anglesea—Cildwrn Chapel, and Life in the 63 +Cildwrn Cottage—Poverty—Forcing his Way to +Knowledge—Anecdote, “I am the Book”—A Dream—The +Sandemanian Controversy—Jones of Ramoth—“Altogether +Wrong”—The Work in Peril—Thomas Jones of +Rhydwilym—Christmas’s Restoration to Spiritual +Health—Extracts from Personal Reflections—Singular +Covenant with God—Renewed Success—The Great Sermon of +the Churchyard World—Scenery of its Probable +Delivery—Outline of the Sermon—Remarks on the +Allegorical Style—Outlines of Another Remarkable +Sermon, “The Hind of the Morning”—Great Preaching but +Plain Preaching—Hardships of the Welsh Preacher. + CHAPTER IV. + THE MINISTRY IN ANGLESEA (CONTINUED). +Christmas Evans as a Bishop over many Churches—As a 106 +Moderator in Public Meetings—Chapel-building and all +its Difficulties to Christmas Evans—Extensive +Travelling for Chapel Debts—Especially in South +Wales—The Cildwrn Cottage again—A Mysterious Life of +Poverty but of Hospitality—Catherine’s Troubles—Story +of a Hat—Wayfaring—Insatiability for Sermons in the +Welsh—The Scenery of a Great Sermon—The Demoniac of +Gadara—A Remarkable Illustration of the Varied Method +of the Preacher—A Series of Illustrations of his +Power of Allegoric Painting—The Four Methods of +Preaching—The Seeking of the Young Child—Satan +walking in Dry Places—Christmas Evans in Another +Light—Lengthy Letter to a Young +Minister—Contributions to Magazines—To be accursed +from Christ—Dark Days of Persecution—Threatened with +Law for a Chapel Debt—Darker Days—Loss of his +Wife—Other Troubles—Determines to leave Anglesea. + CHAPTER V. + CONTEMPORARIES IN THE WELSH PULPIT—WILLIAMS OF WERN. +The Great Welsh Preachers unknown in England—The 166 +Family of the Williamses—Williams of Pantycelyn—Peter +Williams—Evan Williams—Dr. Williams—Williams of +Wern—The Immense Power of his Graphic +Language—Reading and Thinking—Instances of his Power +of Luminous Illustration—Early Piety—A Young +Preacher—A Welsh Gilboa—Admiration of, and Likeness +to, Jacob Abbot—Axiomatic Style—Illustrations of +Humour—The Devils—Fondness for Natural +Imagery—Fondness of Solitude—Affecting Anecdotes of +Dying Hours—His Daughter—His Preaching +characterised—The Power of the Refrain in the +Musician and the Preacher, “Unto us a Child is born.” + CHAPTER VI. + CONTEMPORARIES—JOHN ELIAS. +Fire and Smoke—Elias’s Pure Flame—Notes in the 185 +Pulpit—Carrying Fire in Paper—Elias’s Power in +Apostrophe—Anecdote of the Flax-dresser—A Singular +First Appearance in the Pulpit—A Rough Time in +Wales—The Burning of the Ravens’ Nests—A Hideous +Custom put down—The Great Fair of Rhuddlan—The Ten +Cannon of Sinai—Action in Oratory—The Tremendous +Character of his Preaching—Lives in an Atmosphere of +Prayer—Singular Dispersion on a Racecourse—A +Remarkable Sermon, Shall the Prey be taken from the +Mighty?—Anecdote of a Noble Earl—Death and Funeral. + CHAPTER VII. + CONTEMPORARIES—DAVIES OF SWANSEA. +Traditions of his Extraordinary 202 +Eloquence—Childhood—Unites in Church Fellowship with +Christmas Evans, and with him preaches his First +Sermon—The Church of Castell Hywel—Settles in the +Ministry at Trefach—The Anonymous Preacher—Settles in +Swansea—Swansea a Hundred Years Since—Mr. Davies +reforms the Neighbourhood—Anecdotes of the Power of +his Personal Character—How he Dealt with some Young +Offenders—Anecdote of a Captain—The Gentle Character +of his Eloquence—The Human Voice a Great Organ—The +Power of the “Vox Humana Stop”—A Great Hymn +Writer—His Last Sermon. + CHAPTER VIII. + THE PREACHERS OF WILD WALES. +Rees Pritchard, and “The Welshman’s Candle”—A 217 +Singular Conversion—The Intoxicated Goat—The Vicar’s +Memory—“God’s better than All”—Howell Harris—Daniel +Rowlands at Llangeitho—Philip Pugh—The Obscure +Nonconformist—Llangeitho—Charles of Bala—His Various +Works of Christian Usefulness—The Ancient Preachers +of Wild Wales characterised—Thomas Rhys +Davies—Impressive Paragraphs from his Sermons—Evan +Jones, an Intimate Friend of Christmas Evans—Shenkin +of Penhydd—A Singular Mode of Illustrating a +Subject—Is the Light in the Eye?—Ebenezer Morris—High +Integrity—Homage of Magistrates paid to his +Worth—“Beneath”—Ebenezer Morris at +Wotton-under-Edge—His Father, David +Morris—Rough-and-ready Preachers—Thomas +Hughes—Catechised by a Vicar—Catching the +Congregation by Guile—Sammy Breeze—A Singular Sermon +in Bristol in the Old Time—A Cloud of Forgotten +Worthies—Dr. William Richards—His Definition of +Doctrine—Davies of Castell Hywel, the Pastor of +Christmas Evans, and of Davies of Swansea—Some +Account of Welsh Preaching in Wild Wales, in Relation +to the Welsh Proverbs, Ancient Triads, Metaphysics, +and Poetry—Remarks on the Welsh Language and the +Welsh Mind—Its Secluded and Clannish Character. + CHAPTER IX. + CHRISTMAS EVANS CONTINUED—HIS MINISTRY AT CAERPHILLY. +Caerphilly and its Associations—“Christmas Evans is 261 +come!”—A Housekeeper—His Characteristic Second +Marriage—A Great Sermon, The Trial of the +Witnesses—The Tall Soldier—Extracts from Sermons—The +Bible a Stone with Seven Eyes—“Their Works do Follow +them”—A Second Covenant with God—Friends at +Cardiff—J. P. Davies—Reads Pye Smith’s “Scripture +Testimony to the Messiah”—Beattie on Truth—The +Edwards Family—Requested to Publish a Volume of +Sermons, and his Serious Thoughts upon the Subject. + CHAPTER X. + CAERNARVON AND LAST DAYS. +Leading a Forlorn Hope again—More Chapel Debts—A 287 +Present of a Gig—Jack, _bach_!—The One-eyed Man of +Anglesea once more—The Old Man’s Reflections in his +Journal—Characteristic Letters on Church +Discipline—Threescore Years and Twelve—Starts on his +Last Journey to liquidate a Chapel Debt—An Affecting +Appeal to the Churches—Laid up at +Tredegar—Conversations—In Swansea—This is my Last +Sermon—Dying—Last Words—“Good-bye! Drive on!” + CHAPTER XI. + SUMMARY OF GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTMAS EVANS, AS A + MAN AND A PREACHER. +A Central Figure in the Religious Life of Wales—In a 304 +Singular Degree a Self-made Man—His Words on the +Value of Industry—His Honest Simplicity—Power of +Sarcasm Repressed—Affectionate Forgiveableness—Great +Faith, and Power in Prayer—A Passage in Dean Milman’s +“Samor”—His Sermons a Kind of _Silex +Scintillaus_—Massive Preaching, but lightened by +Beautiful Flowers—As an Orator—A Preacher in the Age +of Faith—Seeing Great Truths—His Remarks on what was +called “Welsh Jumping” in Religious Services. + CHAPTER XII. + SUMMARY OF GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTMAS EVANS AS A + PREACHER. +Remarks renewed in Vindication of his Use of Parable 322 +in the Pulpit—His Sermons appear to be Born of +Solitude—His Imitators—His Probable Acquaintance with +“The Sleeping Bard” of Elis Wynn—A +Dream—Illustrations—The Gospel Mould—Saul of Tarsus +and his Seven Ships—The Misplaced Bone—The Man in the +House of Steel—The Parable of the Church as an Ark +among the Bulrushes of the Nile—The Handwriting—Death +as an Inoculator—Time—The Timepiece—Parable of the +Birds—Parable of the Vine-tree, the Thorn, the +Bramble, and the Cedar—Illustrations of his more +Sustained Style—The Resurrection of Christ—They drank +of that Rock which followed them—The Impossibility of +Adequate Translation—Closing Remarks on his Place and +Claim to Affectionate Regard. + + + + APPENDATORY CHAPTER. + SELECTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE SERMONS. + Sermon I.—The Time of Reformation 358 + „ II.—The Purification of the Conscience 368 + „ III.—Finished Redemption 378 + „ IV.—The Father and Son Glorified 386 + „ V.—The Cedar of God 396 +A Sermon on the Welsh Hills 407 + + + +CHAPTER I. +_SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WELSH PREACHING_. + + +Wales, the Country and the People—Individuality of the Welsh Pulpit—St. +David—The Religious Sense of the People—Association Meetings—Gryffyth of +Caernarvon—Bardic Character of the Sermons—A Repetition of +Sermons—Peculiarities of the Welsh Language—Its Singular Effects as +Spoken—Its Vowels—Its Pictorial Character—The _Hwyl_—Welsh +Scenery—Isolated Character of the Old Chapels—Plain Living and High +Thinking—Ludicrous Incidents of Uncertain Service—Superstitions of +Heathenism—Fondness of the People for Allegory—Haunted Wales—The Rev. +John Jones and the Mysterious Horseman—Old Wild Wales—St. +David’s—Kilgerran—Welsh Nomenclature—John Dyer—Old Customs. + +WE propose, in the following pages, to give some account of Christmas +Evans, the great Welsh preacher; believing that he had a style and manner +of preaching which, to English minds and readers, will seem altogether +his own, perhaps more admirable than imitable. But before we enter upon +the delineation of his life, or attempt to unfold his style, or to +represent his method as displayed in his sermons, it may be well to +present some concise view of Welsh preaching and Welsh preachers in +general, especially those of the last age; for as an order of preaching +it has possessed its own very distinctive peculiarities. Some readers +may at first indeed inquire, Is not preaching very much the same +everywhere, in all counties and in all countries? And Wales, which seems +itself in its nearness now only like a district of England, and that +district for the most part wild and but scantily peopled,—can there be +anything so remarkable about its pulpit work as to make it either capable +or worthy of any separate account of its singularities and +idiosyncrasies? To most English people Welsh preaching is a phase of +religious life entirely unknown: thousands of tourists visit the more +conspicuous highways of Wales from year to year, its few places of public +resort or more manifest beauty; but Wales is still, for the most part, +unknown; its isolation is indeed somewhat disturbed now, its villages are +no longer so insulated as of old, and the sounds of advancing life are +breaking in upon its solitudes, yet, perhaps, its fairest scenes are +still uninvaded. But if the country be unknown, still more unknown are +the people, and of its singular preaching phenomena scarcely anything is +known, or ever can be known by English people; yet it is not too much to +say that, in that little land, during the last hundred years, amidst its +wild glens and sombre mountain shadows, its villages retreating into +desolate moorlands and winding vales, where seldom a traveller passes by, +there have appeared such a succession and race of remarkable preachers as +could be rivalled—in their own peculiar popular power over the hearts and +minds of many thousands, for their eminence and variety—in no other +country. Among these, Christmas Evans seems to us singularly +representative; eminently Welsh, his attributes of power seem to be +especially indicative of the characteristics of the Welsh mind, an order +of mind as remarkably singular and individual, and worthy of study, as +any national character in the great human family. But even before we +mention these, it may be well to notice what were some of the reasons for +the eminent influence and usefulness of Christmas Evans, and some of his +extraordinary preaching comrades and contemporaries to whom we shall have +occasion to refer. + +Preaching is, in Wales, the great national characteristic; the Derby Day +is not more truly a characteristic of England than the great gatherings +and meetings of the Associations all grouped around some popular +favourites. The dwellers among those mountains and upon those hill-sides +have no concerts, no theatres, no means of stimulating or satisfying +their curiosity. For we, who care little for preaching, to whom the +whole sermon system is perhaps becoming more tedious, can form but little +idea, and have but little sympathy with that form of religious society +where the pulpit is the orchestra, the stage, and the platform, and where +the charms of music, painting, and acting are looked for, and found in +the preacher. We very likely would be disposed even to look with +complacent pity upon such a state of society,—it has not yet +expired,—where the Bulwers, the Dickenses, the Thackerays, and Scotts are +altogether unknown,—but where the peculiar forms of their +genius—certainly without their peculiar education—display themselves in +the pulpit. If our readers suppose, therefore, a large amount of +ignorance,—well, upon such a subject, certainly, it is possible to enter +easily upon the illimitable. Yet it is such an ignorance as that which +developed itself in Job, and in his companions, and in his age—an +ignorance like that which we may conceive in Æschylus. In fact, in +Wales, the gates of every man’s being have been opened. It is possible +to know much of the grammar, and the history, and the lexicography of +things, and yet to be so utterly ignorant of _things_ as never to have +felt the sentiment of strangeness and of terror; and without having been +informed about the names of things, it is possible to have been brought +into the presence and power of _things_ themselves. Thus, the ignorance +of one man may be higher than the intelligence of another. There may be +a large memory and a very narrow consciousness. On the contrary, there +may be a large consciousness, while the forms it embraces may be +uncertain and undefined in the misty twilight of the soul. This is much +the state of many minds in Wales. It is the state of feeling, and of +poetry, of subtle questionings, high religious musings, and raptures. +This state has been aided by the secludedness of the country, and the +exclusiveness of the language,—not less than by the rugged force and +masculine majesty and strength of the language;—a language full of angles +and sharp goads, admirably fitted for the masters of assemblies, +admirably fitted to move like a wind over the soul, rousing and soothing, +stirring into storm, and lulling into rest. Something in it makes an +orator almost ludicrous when he attempts to convey himself in another +language, but very powerful and impressive in that. It is a speaking and +living language, a language without any shallows, a language which seems +to compel the necessity of thought before using it. Our language is fast +becoming serviceable for all that large part of the human family who +speak without thinking. To this state the Welsh can never come. That +unaccommodating tongue only moves with a soul behind it. + +Thus, it is not the first reason, but it is not unimportant to remember, +that, until very recently, the pulpit in Wales has been the only means of +popular excitement, instruction, or even of entertainment; until very +recently the Welsh, like the ancient Hebrew lady, have dwelt among their +own people, they have possessed no popular fictions, no published poems, +no published emanations either of metaphysics or natural science; immured +in their own language, as they were, less than a century since, among +their own mountains, their language proved a barrier to the importation +of many works accessible to almost all the other languages of Europe. It +may be said that religion, as represented through the men of the pulpit, +has made Wales what she is. When the first men of the pulpit, Howell +Harris, Daniel Rowlands, and others, arose, they found their country +lying under a night of spiritual darkness, and they effected an amazing +reformation; but then they had no competitive influences to interfere +with their progress, or none beyond that rough, rude sensuality, that +barbarism of character, which everywhere sets itself in an attitude of +hostility to spiritual truth and to elevated holiness; there were no +theatres or race courses, there was no possibility that the minds of the +multitudes should be occupied by the intellectual casuistries of a later +day; Wales possessed no Universities or Colleges, and very few Schools; +on the other hand, there were some characteristics of the national mind +very favourable to the impulse these men gave, and the impressions they +produced. So it has happened that the Welsh preacher has been elevated +into an importance, reminding us of the Welsh tradition concerning St. +David, the patron saint of Wales, regarding whom it is said, that, while +preaching in the year 520, in Cardigan, against the Pelagian heresy, such +was the force of his argument, and the eloquence of his oratory, that the +very ground on which he stood rose beneath his feet and elevated itself +into a hillock; and there, in after ages, a church was erected upon the +spot to which awful tradition pointed as the marvellous pulpit of the +patron saint. + +Three-fourths of any amount of power which either or any of these first +preachers, or their successors, have obtained over their countrymen, and +countrywomen, arises from the fact that the Welsh possess, in an eminent +degree, what we call a Religious Nature; they are very open to Wonder; +they have a most keen and curious propensity to inquire into the hidden +causes of things, not mere material causes, but Spiritual causes, what we +call Metaphysics; the Unseen Universe is to them as to all of us a +mystery, but it is a mystery over which they cannot but brood; when +education is lacking, this realizing of the unseen is apt to give rise to +superstitious feelings, and superstitions still loiter and linger among +the glens, the churchyards, and old castles and ruins of Wales, although +the spread of Christian truth has divested them of much of their ancient +extravagance; when, therefore, the earnest voice of their native speech +became the vehicle for unfolding the higher doctrines of the Christian +life, the sufferings of the Redeemer and their relation to eternal laws +and human conditions, probably a people was never found whose ears were +more open, or whose hearts were more ready to receive, and to be stirred +to their utmost depths. Thus Religion—Evangelical Religion—became the +very life of the land of Wales. + +“There is not a heathen man, woman, or child in all the Principality,” +said a very eminent Welshman to us once, probably with some measure of +exaggeration; “there are wicked men, and women,” he continued, +“unconverted men, and women, but there is not a man, woman, or child +throughout Wales who does not know all about Jesus Christ, and why He +came into the world, and what He came to do.” Thus, within the memory of +the writer of this volume, Religion was the one topic upon which you +might talk intelligently anywhere in Wales: with the pitman in the +coalmine, with the iron-smelter at the forge, with the farmer by his +ingleside, with the labourer in his mountain shieling; and not merely on +the first more elementary lessons of the catechism, but on the great +bearings and infinite relations of religious things. Jonathan Edwards, +and Williams of Rotherham, and Owen, and Bunyan, and Flavel,—these men +and their works, and a few others like them, were well known; and, +especially, the new aspects which the modified opinions of Andrew Fuller +had introduced into religious thought; thus, you might often feel +surprised when, sitting down in some lowly cottage, you found yourself +suddenly caught, and carried along by its owner in a coil of metaphysical +argument. This was the soil on which the Welsh preachers had to work, +and cast abroad their seed. + +No person can have heard anything of the Welsh religious life without +having heard also of the immense annual gatherings, the Association +meetings, a sort of great movable festival, annually held in Wales, to +which everything had to give place, and to which all the various tribes +of the various Houses of the Lord came up. Their ordinary Sunday +services were crowded, but, upon these great occasions, twenty or +twenty-five thousand people would come together; and, to such +congregations, their great men, their great preachers, such as those we +are about to mention, addressed themselves—addressed themselves not to a +mass ignorant and unintelligent, but all thoroughly informed in religious +matters, and prepared to follow their preacher whithersoever his +imagination or thought might lead him. The reader must not smile when we +remind him that Wales was,—had been for ages,—the land of Bards; a love +of poetry, poetry chanted or recited, had always been the Welshman’s +passion, and those great writers of our literature who best know what +poetry is, have taught us that we are not to look upon those productions +with contempt. For ages there had been held in Wales what has been +called, and is still called the _Eisteddfod_, or _Cymreigyddion_, or the +meeting of the Bards and Minstrels; they were, as Pennant has called +them, British Olympics, where none but Bards of merit were suffered to +rehearse their pieces, or Minstrels of skill to perform. These +Association meetings were a kind of religious Eisteddfodd, where the +great Welsh preacher was a kind of sacred Bard; he knew nothing of +written sermons; he carried no notes nor writings with him to his pulpit +or platform, but he made the law and doctrine of religious metaphysics +march to the minstrelsy and music of speech; on the other hand, he did +not indulge himself in casting about wildfire, all had been thoroughly +prepared and rooted in his understanding; and then he went with his +sermon, which was a kind of high song, to chant it over the hearts of the +multitude. We shall have occasion to show, by many instances, from the +lives of their greatest men, how their own hearts had been marvellously +prepared. + +There is a pleasant anecdote told of one of them, Gryffyth of Caernarvon, +how he had to preach one night. Before preaching, staying at a farmhouse +on the spot, he desired permission to retire before the service began; he +remained in his room a considerable time; the congregation had assembled, +still he did not come; there was no sign of his making his appearance. +The good man of the house sent the servant to request him to come, as the +people had been for some time assembled and waiting. Approaching the +room she heard, what seemed to her to be a conversation, going on between +two persons, in a subdued tone of voice, and she caught from Mr. Gryffyth +the expression, “_I_ will not go unless _you_ come with me.” She went +back to her master, and said, “I do not think Mr. Gryffyth will come +to-night; there is some one with him, and he is telling him that he will +not come unless the other will come too; but I did not hear the other +reply, so I think Mr. Gryffyth will not come to-night.” + +“Yes, yes,” said the farmer, “_he_ will come, and I warrant the _other_ +will come too, if matters are as you say between them; but we had better +begin singing and reading until the _two_ do come.” And the story goes +on to say that Mr. Gryffyth did come, and the other One with him, for +they had a very extraordinary meeting that night, and the whole +neighbourhood was stirred by it and numbers were changed and converted. +It was Williams of Wern who used to tell this pleasing anecdote; it is an +anecdote of one man, but, so far as we have been able to see, it +illustrates the way in which they all prepared themselves before they +began to speak. + +It must not be supposed from this that they imagined that prayer was to +dispense with preparation; their great preachers studied hard and deeply, +and Williams of Wern, one of the greatest of them all, says, “In order to +be a good preacher, usefulness must be the grand aim, usefulness must +choose the text and divide it, usefulness must compose the sermon and sit +at the helm during the delivery; if the introduction be not clear and +pertinent it is evident the preacher does not know whither he is going, +and if the inferences are of the same character, it is obvious he does +not know where he has been. Unstudied sermons are not worth hearing or +having; who would trust his life in the hands of a physician who had +never thought of his profession?” But these men never permitted the +understanding to supersede emotion, and, when they met the people face to +face, the greatest of them went prepared, warmed and kindled, and ready +to warm and kindle. + +Thus their sermons became a sort of inspired song, full of +imagination—imagination very often, and usually, deriving its imagery +from no far-off and recondite allusions, never losing itself in a flowery +wilderness of expressions, but homely illustrations, ministered to by the +things and affairs of ordinary life, and, therefore, instantly preacher +and people in emotion were one. + +It is indeed true that many of their great preachers repeated the same +sermon many times. Why not? So did Whitfield, so did Wesley, so have +most eminent preachers done; but this need in no way interfere with—it +did not interfere with—the felt necessity for unction on the part of the +minister; and as to the people they liked to hear an old favourite again, +or a sermon, which they had never heard although they had heard much +about it. We believe it was to Christmas Evans a pert young preacher +said, “Well, you have given us an old sermon again to-day.” + +“What then, my boy?” said the Master of Assemblies; “had you a new one?” + +“Certainly,” was the answer. + +“Well, but look you,” said the unblushing old culprit, “I would not take +a dozen new sermons like yours for this one old sermon of mine.” + +“No, nor I,” chimed in a gruff old deacon. “Oh yes, and look you, I +should like to hear it again; but as for _yours_, I never heard it +before, and I do not want to hear it again.” + +But then the _Language_! Of course the language had a great deal to do +with this preaching power, we do not mean generally, but particularly; on +all hands the Welsh is acknowledged to be a wonderful language. A +Welshman will tell you that there is no language like it on the face of +the earth, but that is a testimony borne by many scholars who are not +Welshmen; perhaps there is no other language which so instantly conveys a +meaning and at the same time touches emotion to the quick. True, like +the Welshman himself, it is bony, and strangers to its power laugh +somewhat ignorantly at its never-ending succession of consonants. +Somebody has said that the whole language is as if it were made up of +such words as our word “_strength_,” and if the reader will compare in +his mind the effect of the word _power_ as contrasted with the word +_strength_, he will feel something of the force of the language, and its +fitness for the purposes of impression; but still this conveys but a poor +idea of its great attributes. + +It is so _literal_ that the competent hearer, or reader, instantly +realizes, from its words, things. Well do we remember sitting in Wales +with a group of Welsh ministers and Welshmen round a pleasant tea-table; +we were talking of the Welsh language, and one of our company, who had +perhaps done more than any one of his own country for popular Welsh +literature, and was one of the order of eminent Welsh preachers of whom +we are speaking, broke forth: “Oh!” he said, “you English people cannot +see all the things in your Bible that a Welshman can see; now your word +‘_blessed_,’ it seems a very dear sweet thing to an Englishman and to a +Welshman, but a Welshman sees the _thing_ in the word, ‘_Gwyn ei fyd_,’ +that is, ‘_a white world_—white,’ literally, white their world; so a +Welshman would see there is a ‘_white world_’ for the pure in heart, a +‘_white world_’ for the poor in spirit, a ‘_white world_’ for them who +are reviled and persecuted for righteousness’ sake; and when you read, +‘_Blessed_ is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,’ the +Welshman reads his Bible and sees there is a ‘_white world_’ for such a +one, that is, all sin wiped out, the place quite clean, to begin again.” + +This is not all. We are not intending to devote any considerable space +to a vindication of the Welsh language, but, when we speak of it with +reference to the effects it produces as the vehicle of Oratory, it is +necessary to remark that, so far from being,—as many have supposed who +have only looked at it in its strange combination of letters on a page, +perhaps unable to read it, and never having heard it spoken,—so far from +being harsh and rugged, coarse or guttural, it probably yields to no +language in delicious softness, in melting sweetness; in this it has been +likened to the Italian language by those who have been best able to +judge. Lord Lyttleton, in his “Letters from Wales,” says, that when he +first passed some of the Welsh hills, and heard the harp and the +beautiful female peasants accompanying it with their melodious voices, he +could not help indulging in the idea that he had descended the Alps, and +was enjoying the harmonious pleasures of the Italian Paradise. And as we +have already said, there has long prevailed an idea that the Welsh +language is a multitude of consonants; but indeed the reverse is the +case; the learned Eliezer Williams says, in his “Historical Anecdotes of +the Welsh Language,” “The alphabet itself demonstrates that the charge of +a multiplicity of consonants is fallacious, since, whether the number of +letters be reckoned twenty-two or twenty-four, seven are vowels; there +remain therefore a more inconsiderable number than most of the European +languages are obliged to admit . . . . _Y_ and _w_ are considered as +vowels, and sounded as such; _w_ is pronounced like _o u_ in French in +the word _oui_.” To persons ignorant of the language, how strange is the +appearance, and how erroneous the idea of the sound to be conveyed by +_dd_, _ll_, _ch_, but indeed all these are indications of the softening +of the letter; in a word, the impressions entertained of the harshness of +the language are altogether erroneous. + +The supposition that the Welsh language is made up of consonants is more +especially singular from the fact that it possesses, says a writer in the +_Quarterly Review_, what perhaps no other nation has,—a poem of eight +lines in which there is not a single consonant. These verses are very +old, dating from the seventeenth century;—of course the reader will +remember that the Welsh language has seven vowels, both _w_ and _y_ being +considered and sounded as such. This epigram or poem is on the Spider, +and originally stood thus,— + + “O’i wiw ŵy i weu e â;—o’i iau Ei wyau a wea, + E wywa ei wê aua, A’i weau yw ieuau ia.” + +To this, the great Gronwy Owen added a kind of counter change of vowels, +and the translation has been given as follows:— + + “From out its womb it weaves with care + Its web beneath the roof; + Its wintry web it spreadeth there— + Wires of ice its woof. + + “And doth it weave against the wall + Thin ropes of ice on high? + And must its little liver all + The wondrous stuff supply?” + +A singular illustration of the vowel power in a language ignorantly +supposed to possess no vowels. + +And these remarks are not at all unnecessary, for they illustrate to the +reader, unacquainted with the language, the way in which it becomes such +a means of immediate emotion; its words start before the eye like +pictures, but are conveyed to the mind like music; and yet the bony +character of the language, to which we have referred before, adds to the +picture dramatic action and living strength. What a language, then, is +this for a competent orator to play upon,—a man with an imaginative mind, +and a fervid and fiery soul! Then is brought into play that element of +Welsh preaching, without knowing and apprehending which there would be no +possibility of understanding the secret of its great power; it is the +“_hwyl_.” When the Welsh preacher speaks in his best mood, and with +great unction, the highest compliment that can be paid him, the loftiest +commendation that can be given, is, that he had the “_hwyl_.” “_Hwyl_” +is the Welsh word for the canvas of a ship; and probably the derivation +of the meaning is, from the canvas or sails of a ship filled with a +breeze: the word for breeze, _awel_, is like it, and is used to denote a +similar effect. Some years since, when the most eminent Welsh preacher +we have recently seen in England, at an ordination service, was +addressing his nephew in a crowded church in the neighbourhood of London, +he said, “And, my dear boy, remember you are a Welshman; don’t try to +speak English, and don’t try to speak like the English.” A great many of +his hearers wondered what the good man could mean; but both he and his +nephew, and several others of the initiated, very well knew. He meant, +speak your words with an _accent_, and an accent formed from a soul +giving life and meaning to an expression. This, we know, is what the +singer does,—this is what the musician tries to do. All words are not +the same words in their meaning; the Welsh preacher seeks to play upon +them as keys; the words themselves help him to do so. Literally, they +are full of meaning; verbally, he attempts to pronounce that meaning; +hence, as he rises in feeling he rises in variety of intonation, and his +words sway to and fro, up and down,—bass, minor, and soprano all play +their part, a series of intonings. In English, this very frequently +sounds monotonous, sometimes even affected; in Welsh, the soul of the man +is said to have caught the _hwyl_,—that is, he is in full sail, he has +feeling and fire: the people catch it too. A Welsh writer, describing +this, quotes the words of Jean Paul Richter: “Pictures during music are +seen into more deeply and warmly by spectators; nay, many masters have in +creating them acknowledged help from music.” Great Welsh preaching, is +very often a kind of wild, irregular chant, a jubilant refrain, recurring +again and again. The people catch the power of it; shouts rise—prayers! +“_Bendigedig_” (“blessed,” or synonymous with our “Bless the Lord!”) +Amen! “_Diolch byth_!” and other expressions, rise, and roll over the +multitude; they, too, have caught the _hwyl_. It is singular that, with +us, the only circumstances and scenes in which such manifestations can +take place, are purely secular, or on the occasions of great public +meetings. The Welshman very much estimates the greatness of a preacher +by his power to move men; but it does not follow, that this power shall +be associated with great apparent bodily action. The words of John Elias +and Williams of Wern consumed like flames, and divided like swords; but +they were men of immense self-possession, and apparently very quiet. It +has always been the aim of the greater Welsh preachers to find out such +“acceptable”—that is, fitting and piercing—words, so that the words alone +shall have the effect of action. + +But, in any account of Welsh preaching, the place ought never to be +forgotten—the scenery. We have said, the country is losing, now, many of +its old characteristics of solitude and isolation; the railways are +running along at the foot of the tall mountains, and spots, which we knew +thirty years since as hamlets and villages, have now grown into large +towns. It has often been the case, that populations born and reared +amidst remote mountain solitudes, have possessed strong religious +susceptibilities. The Welshman’s chapel was very frequently reared in +the midst of an unpeopled district, likely to provoke wonder in the mind +of the passing stranger, as to whence it could derive its congregation. +The building was erected there because it was favourable to a confluence +of neighbourhoods. Take a region near to the spot where Christmas Evans +was born,—a wild, mountainous tract of country, lying between the +counties Brecon and Cardigan; for long miles, in every direction, there +are no human habitations,—only, perhaps, here and there, in a deep +dingle, some lone house, the residence of a sheep farmer, with three or +four cultivated fields in its immediate neighbourhood; and at some +distance, on the slopes of the mountain, an occasional shepherd’s hut. +It is a scene of the wildest magnificence. The traveller, as he passes +along, discerns nothing but a sea of mountains,—rugged and precipitous +bluffs, and precipices innumerable; here the grand and sportive streams, +the Irvon, the Towy, and the Dothia, spring from their rocky channels, +and tumble along, rushing and gurgling with deafening roar; here, as you +pass along, you encounter more than one or two “wolves’ leaps;”—dark +caverns are there, from whence these brotherly rivers rush into each +other’s embrace. These regions, when we were in the habit of crossing +them, many years since,—and we often crossed them,—we very naturally +regarded as the Highlands, the sequestered mountain retreats, of Wales; +this was Twm Shon Catty’s, the Welsh Rob Roy’s, country; for let Scotland +boast as she will— + + “Wales has had a thief as good, + She has her own Rob Roy.” + +And wonderfully romantic is the story of this same Welsh gentleman, and +predatory chieftain. Here you find, to this day, his cave, from whence +the bold and humorous outlaw was wont to spring forth, to spread terror +and rapine over the whole region. It is thirty years since we passed +through these desolations; they are probably much the same now as they +were then; let the traveller shout as he will as he passes along, it is +not from any human being, it is only from the wild rock, or screaming +bird, he will have a reply. + +Now, what do our readers think of a large and commodious chapel in the +midst of a wild region like this? But one there is, in the very heart of +the wilderness. Up to this place the worshippers come, on Sabbath +mornings, from distances varying from two to eight miles. It is a +Calvinistic-Methodist chapel; and the Rev. William Williams, in his +interesting little historical sketch of Welsh Calvinistic-Methodism, +tells how he preached in this building, several years since, when the +chapel was crowded with worshippers; and in the yard adjoining, between +fifty and sixty ponies, which had borne the worshippers to the place, +with or without vehicles, were waiting the time for the return journey. +This building had its birth from a congregation gathered first in one of +the farm houses in these inaccessible wilds, in 1847. It seems strange +to think how far people will travel to Divine Service when they have no +such service near their own doors. We were struck with this, a short +time since, in Norway; we found our way to a little village church, and +there, on a spot where was next to no population, we found the Lutheran +church crowded; and outside, a large square space thronged with carioles, +ancient old shandydan landaus, carts, and every kind of +conveyance,—horses and ponies stabled in the sheds all round; and we +learned that many of the congregation had travelled in this way, beside +the numbers who had walked, twelve, sixteen, eighteen miles to the +service. + +And thus, also, in Wales, many were the long and weary miles usually +traversed, and through every variety of weather; and it seemed to be +usually thought that the service, or services, repaid all the toil. And +there was very little, externally, to aid the imagination, or to charm +the taste, either in the building itself, or in the ritual adopted;—all +was of the plainest and most severe order. The building, no doubt, was +little more than a shelter from the weather; generally, perhaps, huge and +capacious,—that was necessary,—but it was quite unadorned; the minister +had nothing in the way of robes or attire to aid the impressions of +reverence; there was no organ,—usually no instrument of any +description,—although if an entire stranger to the language had entered, +and heard the long, low, plaintive wail of almost any of their +hymns,—most of them seeming to express a kind of dirge-like feeling of an +exiled, conquered, and trampled people, a tone with its often-renewed +refrain, its long-drawn minor, now sobbing into grief, occasionally +swelling into triumph,—he might have found the notes of an organ were not +needed to compel the unexpected tear. An exiled, conquered, and trampled +people,—that expresses a great deal of truth. Wales has wrongs quite as +bitter as any which Ireland ever knew;—the very cause of the existence of +most of her chapels arose from the fact that, in many of her parish +churches, not a word of Welsh was spoken; and perhaps frequently their +ministers could not speak the native language;—the very judges who +dispensed justice from the Bench were usually English, and needed an +interpreter, that they might be able to understand the case upon which +they were to give a judgment. Wales has had very little for which to +thank England, but her people have never been seditious. Pious, +industrious people, with their simple amusements and weird superstitions, +and blossoming out into their great religious revivals and reformations, +they have had to thank themselves, chiefly, for all the good which has +unfolded itself upon their soil. These circumstances, however, have no +doubt aided their peculiar and isolated religious life. + +But, in those great assemblies, the Association meetings to which we have +referred, many of the great preachers stood, with their vast +congregations round them, in Nature’s open Cathedral. Christmas Evans +preached many of his noblest sermons amidst the imposing ruins of +Caerphilly, Pembroke, and Manobear Castles; or the preacher found himself +with his audience on the slope of some sweet, gorse-covered hill, in the +neighbourhood of tumbling torrents, which did not sing so loudly in their +melody as to interfere with the sweet restfulness of the surrounding +scene. Preachers and hearers were accustomed to plain living,—one of the +most essential conditions of high thinking; neither of them knew anything +of luxury; and when most of them spoke, the age of luxury, even with us, +had not yet set in. Bread and milk, or oatmeal and milk, were the +favourite diet of all, in those days; even tea was all but unknown, and +the potato almost their nearest approach to a dainty dish. They lived on +good terms with Nature, with whom we have been quarrelling now for some +years past; and thus they were prepared to receive such lessons as Nature +might give, to aid and illustrate the deeper lessons of Divine Grace. + +Of course, there was considerable uncertainty about the +services,—excepting those more imposing and important occasions; and this +gave, very frequently, a tone of the ludicrous to their announcement of +the services. Thus, if a stranger asked what time the service would +commence, it would often have been quite impossible to get any +information; and failures, says Mr. D. M. Evans, were so frequent, that +the announcement was often made with perfect gravity, “— will be here +next Sunday, if he comes.” Mr. Evans continues, that he well knew a +deacon who claimed the prerogative to make announcements to the +congregation, but who every week was guilty of such blunders, that he was +implored to resign the honour to some other brother; to which he +indignantly replied, that it was his crown, and was he not told in +Scripture, “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown”? +Often, when the preacher appeared, he showed himself in the pulpit almost +out of breath, sometimes in sad disarray, sometimes apparently as if +smothered with wrappers and top-coats; and by his panting and puffing, as +someone said, “seeming to show that God Almighty had asked him to preach +the Gospel, but had given him no time for it.” + +In a word, it is impossible, knowing Wales as we know it in our own day, +to form any very distinct idea of the country as it was when these great +preachers arose; and, when the tides of a new spiritual life rolled over +the Principality, the singular relics of even heathenish superstition +were loitering still among the secluded valleys and mountains of the +land. No doubt, the proclamation of the Gospel, and the elevated faith +which its great truths bring in its train, broke the fascination, the +charm, and power of many of these; but they lingered even until within +the last forty or fifty years,—indeed, the superstition of the Sin-Eater +is said to {23} linger even now in the secluded vale of Cwm-Aman, in +Caermarthenshire. The meaning of this most singular institution of +superstition was, that when a person died, the friends sent for the +Sin-Eater of the district, who, on his arrival, placed a plate of salt +and bread on the breast of the deceased person; he then uttered an +incantation over the bread, after which, he proceeded to eat it,—thereby +eating the sins of the dead person; this done, he received a fee of +two-and-sixpence,—which, we suppose, was much more than many a preacher +received for a long and painful service. Having received this, he +vanished as swiftly as possible, all the friends and relatives of the +departed aiding his exit with blows and kicks, and other indications of +their faith in the service he had rendered. A hundred years since, and +through the ages beyond that time, we suppose this curious superstition +was everywhere prevalent. + +Another odd custom was the manner in which public opinion expressed +itself on account of any domestic or social delinquency. A large crowd +assembled before the house of the delinquent, one of whom was dressed up +in what seemed to be a horse’s head; the crowd then burst forth into +strong vituperative abuse, accompanying the execrations with the rough +music of old kettles, marrow-bones, and cleavers; finally, the effigy of +the sinner was burnt before the house, and the sacred wrath of the +multitude appeased. The majesty of outraged opinion being vindicated, +they dispersed. + +Some superstitions were of a more gentle character; the fairies, or +“little men in green,” as they were popularly called, continued to hold +their tenantry of Wales long after they had departed from England; and +even Glamorganshire, one of the counties nearest to England,—its roads +forming the most considerable highway through Wales,—was, perhaps, the +county where they lingered last; certainly not many years have passed by +since, in the Vale of Neath, in the same county, there would have been a +fear in taking some secluded pathway in the night, lest the “little +people” should be offended by the intrusion upon their haunts. + +With all these singular observances and superstitions, there was yet a +kind of Christian faith prevalent among the people, but buried beneath +dark ignorance and social folly. At Christmas time, at night, it was +usual to illuminate all the churches in the villages. And upon the New +Year’s morning, children came waking the dawning, knocking at the +doors,—usually obtaining admittance,—when they proceeded to sprinkle the +furniture with water, singing as they did so the following words, which +we quote on account of their quaint, sweet, old-world simplicity:— + + “Here we bring new water from the well so clear, + For to worship God with this happy new year. + Sing levy dew, sing levy dew, the water and the wine, + With seven bright gold wires and bugles that do shine. + Sing reign of fair maid, with gold upon her toe, + Open you the west door, and turn the old year go. + Sing reign of fair maid, with gold upon her chin, + Open you the east door, and let the new year in.” + +It is admitted on all hands that the dissolution of the mists of darkness +and superstition is owing to the people usually called Dissenters; the +Church of the Establishment—and this is said in no spirit of +unkindness—did very little to humanise or soften the rugged character, or +to put to flight the debasing habits of the people. Of course, there are +high and honourable exceptions; but while many clergymen devoted +themselves, with great enthusiasm, to the perpetuation of the singular +lore, the wild bardic songs, the triads, or the strange fables and mythic +histories of the country, we can call to mind the names of but very few +who attempted to improve, or to ameliorate, the social condition. So +that the preachers, and the vast gatherings of the people by whom the +preachers were surrounded, when the rays of knowledge were shed abroad, +and devotion fired, were not so much the result of any antagonism to the +Established Church,—_that_ came afterwards; they were a necessity created +by the painful exigencies of the country. + +The remarks on the superstitions of Wales are not at all irrelevant to +the more general observations on Welsh preaching; they are so essentially +inwoven with the type of character, and nationality. The Welsh appears +to be intimately related to the Breton; the languages assimilate,—so also +do the folk-lores of the people; and the traditions and fanciful fables +which have been woven from the grasses of the field, the leaves of the +forest, and the clouds of the heavens, would have furnished Christmas +Evans with allegoric texts which he might have expanded into sermons. It +is not possible to doubt that these form one branch, from the great +Celtic stem, of the human family. And not only are they alike in +language and tradition, but also in the melancholy religiousness, in the +metaphysical brooding over natural causes, and in the absence of any +genuine humour, except in some grim or gloomy and grotesque utterance. +The stories, the heroes, and the heroines, are very much the same; +historic memory in both looks back to a fantastic fairyland, and presents +those fantastic pictures of cities and castles strangely submerged +beneath the sea, and romantic shadows and spectral forms of wonderful +kings and queens, such as we meet in the Mabinogi of Taliesin, in the +Fairy Queen of Spenser, and in the Idylls of our Laureate. Thus, all +that could stir wonder, excite the imagination and the fancy, and +describe the nearness of the supernatural to the natural, would become +very charming to a Welshman’s ears; and we instantly have suggested to us +one of the sources of the power and popularity of Christmas Evans with +his countrymen. + +Even the spread and prevalence of Christian knowledge have scarcely +disenchanted Wales of its superstitions. Few persons who know anything +at all of the country, however slight such knowledge may be, are unaware +of this characteristic of the people. This remark was, no doubt, far +more applicable even twenty-five years since than now. The writer of +this volume has listened to the stories of many who believed that they +had seen the _Canwyll-y-corph_—corpse-candles—wending their way from +houses, more or less remote, to the churchyard. Mr. Borrow, also, in his +“Wild Wales,” tells us how he conversed with people in his travels who +believed that they had seen the corpse-candles. But a hundred years ago, +this was a universal object of faith; as was also the belief in coffins +and burial trains seen wending their way, in the dead of night, to the +churchyard. Omens and predictions abounded everywhere, while singular +legends and traditions in many districts hung also round church bells. +And yet with all this the same writer, remarking on Welsh character, +says, “What a difference between a Welshman and an Englishman of the +lower class!” He had just been conversing with a miller’s man,—a working +labourer in the lowliest walk of life; and found him conversant with the +old poets, and the old traditions of the country, and quite interested in +them; and he says, “What would a Suffolk miller’s man have said, if I had +repeated to him verses out of Beowulf or even Chaucer, and had asked him +about the residence of Skelton?” We must bear this in mind as we attempt +to estimate the character with which the preacher had to deal. Haunted +houses were numerous. A lonely old place, very distinct to the writer’s +knowledge, had hung round it some wild traditions not unlike “Blind +Willie’s Story” in “Redgauntlet.” No doubt, now, all these things have, +to a considerable extent, disappeared,—although there are wild nooks, far +wilder than any we have in England, where the faith in the old +superstitions lingers. In the great preaching days, those men who shook +the hearts of the thousands of their listeners, as they dealt with unseen +terrors, believed themselves to be—as it was believed of them that they +were—covered with the shadow of an Unseen Hand, and surrounded by the +guardianship of the old Hebrew prophet—“chariots of fire, and horses of +fire;” they believed themselves to be the care of a special Providence; +and some of the stories then current would only move the contempt of that +modern intelligence which has, at any rate, laid all the ghosts. + +It is not within the province of this volume to recapitulate and classify +Welsh superstitions; they were, and probably, in many neighbourhoods, are +still, very various: we must satisfy our readers with a slight +illustration. Perhaps some may object to the retailing such stories, for +instance, as the following. The apology for its insertion, then, must +be, that it is one of a number tending to illustrate that sense which the +old Welsh mind had, of its residence upon the borders of, and relation +to, the Invisible World. The Rev. John Jones, of Holywell, in +Flintshire, was one of the most renowned ministers in the Principality; +he was a man of extraordinary zeal and fervour as a preacher, and his +life and character were, in unblemished reputation, equal to his gifts +and zeal. He used to recite, with peculiar solemnity, a story of a +mysterious horseman, by whom he believed he had been delivered from a +position of extreme danger, when he was travelling, alone, from Bala, in +Merionethshire, to Machynlleth, in the county of Montgomery. He +travelled on horseback through a wild, desolate country, at that time +almost uninhabited; he had performed nearly half his journey, when, as he +was emerging from a wood, he says, “I observed coming towards me a man on +foot. By his appearance, judging from the sickle which he carried +sheathed in straw over his shoulder, he was doubtless a reaper in search +of employment. As he drew near, I recognized a man whom I had seen at +the door of the village inn at Llanwhellyn, where I had stopped to bait +my horse. On our meeting, he touched his hat, and asked if I could tell +him the time of day. I pulled out my watch for the purpose,—noticing, at +the same time, the peculiar look which the man cast at its heavy silver +case. Nothing else, however, occurred to excite any suspicion on my +part; so, wishing him a good afternoon, I continued my journey.” We must +condense Mr. Jones’s narration, feeling that the story loses much of its +graphic strength in so doing. He pursued his way down a hill, and, at +some distance farther on, noticed something moving on the other side of a +large hedge; he soon discovered it to be a man, running in a stooping +position. He watched the figure with curiosity, which grew into +something like fear as he recognized the reaper with whom he had spoken a +short time before, and that, as he moved on, he was engaged in tearing +the straw band from his sickle. The man hurried on, and Mr. Jones saw +him conceal himself behind a thicker part of the hedge, within a few +yards of the road, and near where a gate crossed the park. Mr. Jones +says he did not doubt, then, that he intended to attack and, perhaps, +murder him for the sake of the watch, and whatever money he might have +about him. He looked round: no other person was in sight,—no house near; +he was hemmed in by rocky banks and high hedges on either side. + +“I could not turn back,” he says; “my business was of the utmost +importance to the cause for which I was journeying.” He could not urge +his horse with speed, for the gate was not open through which he had to +pass; he felt that he was weak and unarmed, and had no chance against a +powerful man with a dangerous weapon in his hand. “In despair,” he says, +“rather than in a spirit of humble trust and confidence, I bowed my head, +and offered up a silent prayer. At this juncture, my horse, growing +impatient of delay, started off. I clutched the reins, which I had let +fall on his neck,—when, happening to turn my eyes, I saw, to my utter +astonishment, that I was no longer alone: there, by my side, I beheld a +horseman, in a dark dress, mounted on a white steed. In intense +amazement, I gazed upon him. Where could he have come from? He appeared +as suddenly as if he had sprung from the earth; he must have been riding +behind, and have overtaken me,—and yet I had not heard the slightest +sound. It was mysterious, inexplicable; but joy overcame my feelings of +wonder, and I began at once to address my companion. I asked him if he +had seen any one; and then described to him what had taken place, and how +relieved I felt by his sudden appearance. He made no reply, and, on +looking at his face, he seemed paying but slight attention to my words, +but continued intently gazing in the direction of the gate,—now about a +quarter of a mile ahead. I followed his gaze, and saw the reaper emerge +from his concealment, and run across a field to our left, resheathing his +sickle as he hurried along. He had evidently seen that I was no longer +alone, and had relinquished his intended attempt.” + +Mr. Jones sought to enter into conversation with his mysterious +companion, but he gave him no word in reply. He says he “was hurt at his +companion’s mysterious silence;” only once did he hear his voice. Having +watched the figure of the reaper disappear over the brow of a +neighbouring hill, he turned to the stranger, and said, “‘Can it for a +moment be doubted that my prayer was heard, and that you were sent for my +deliverance by the Lord?’ Then it was that I thought I heard the +horseman speak, and that he uttered the single word, ‘Amen!’ Not another +word did he give utterance to, though I spoke to him both in English and +Welsh. We were now approaching the gate, which I hastened to open; and +having done so, I waited at the side of the road for him to pass +through,—but he came not. I turned my head to look; the mysterious +horseman was gone; he was not to be seen; he had disappeared as +mysteriously as he had come. What could have become of him? He could +not have gone through the gate, nor have made his horse leap the high +hedges, which on both sides shut in the road. Where was he? had I been +dreaming? was it an apparition, a spectre, which had been riding by my +side for the last ten minutes?—was it but a creature of my imagination? +I tried hard to convince myself that this was the case; but why had the +reaper resheathed his murderous-looking sickle and fled? And then, a +feeling of profound awe began to creep over my soul. I remembered the +singular way of his first appearance,—his long silence, and the single +word to which he had given utterance after I had mentioned the name of +the Lord; the single occasion on which I had done so. What could I, +then, believe, but that my prayer had been heard, and that help had been +given me at a time of great danger? I dismounted, and throwing myself on +my knees, I offered up my thankfulness to Him who had heard my cry. I +then mounted my horse, and continued my journey; but through the long +years that have elapsed since that memorable summer’s day, I have never +for a moment wavered in my belief, that in the mysterious horseman I had +a special interference of Providence, by which I was delivered from a +position of extreme danger.” + +Now, however our readers may account for such incidents, the only purpose +in introducing such a story here, is to say that it gives a fair +illustration of that peculiar cast of ideal imagination which pervaded +the Welsh mind, and influenced at once the impressions both of preachers +and hearers. + +There is, perhaps, no other spot on our British soil where “the old +order” has so suddenly “changed” as in Wales: the breaking open the +mountains for mining purposes has led to the thronging of dense +populations on spots which were, only a few years since, unbroken +solitudes. Ruins, which the sentimental idler never visited, wrecks of +castles and abbeys crumbling into dust, isolated places through which we +passed thirty years since, which seemed as though they never could be +invaded by the railway whistle, or scarcely reached by the penny postman, +now lie on the great highway of the train. It is not saying too much to +affirm that there is no spot in Europe where the traveller is so +constantly brought into the neighbourhood of old magnificence, the relics +of vanished cities. + +The wonder grows as to what was the state of ancient society in Wales. +An eminent traveller says: “In England our ancestors have left us, +dispersed in various places, splendid remains of their greatness; but in +Wales you cannot travel ten miles without coming upon some vestige of +antiquity which in another country you would go fifty to trace out.” It +is of such spots that a Welsh poet, Dyer, says:— + + “The pilgrim oft, + At dead of night, ’mid his orisons hears, + Aghast, the voice of Time disparting towers, + Tumbling all precipitate, all down-dashed, + Rattling around, loud thundering to the moon.” + +What an illustration of this is St. David’s!—a little miserable village, +with the magnificent remains of its great palace, and the indications of +its once splendid cathedral; itself now a kind of suffragan, it once +numbered seven suffragans within its metropolitan pale—Worcester, +Hereford, Llandaff, Bangor, St. Asaph, Llanbadarn, and Margam. The mitre +now dimly beaming at almost the lowest step of the ecclesiastical ladder, +once shone with so proud a lustre as to attract the loftiest +ecclesiastics. St. David’s numbers one saint, three lord-treasurers, one +lord privy-seal, one chancellor of Oxford, one chancellor of England, +and, in Farrar, one illustrious martyr. + +Travel through the country, and similar reflections will meet you in +every direction. You step a little off the high-road, and—as, for +instance, in Kilgerran—you come to the traditional King Arthur’s castle, +the far-famed Welsh Tintagel, of which Warton sings,— + + “Stately the feast, and high the cheer, + Girt with many an armèd peer, + And canopied with golden pall, + Amid Kilgerran’s castle hall; + Illumining the vaulted roof, + A thousand torches flamed aloof; + The storied tapestry was hung, + With minstrelsy the arches rung, + Of harps that with reflected light + From the proud gallery glittered bright.” + +Or, in the neighbourhood of the magnificent coast of Pembrokeshire, the +wondrous little chapel of St. Govan’s, the hermitage of the hundred +steps; and those splendid wrecks of castles, Manopear, the home of +Giraldus Cambrensis, and the graceful and almost interminable recesses of +Carew. A traveller may plunge about among innumerable villages bearing +the names of saints for whom he will look in vain in the Romish +calendar,—St. Athan’s, St. Siebald’s, St. Dubric’s, St. Dogmael’s, St. +Ishmael’s, and crowds besides. All such places are girdled round with +traditions and legends known to Welsh archæologists—the very nomenclature +of Wales involving poetry and historical romance, and often deep tragedy. +The names of the villages have a whisper of fabulous and traditional +times, and are like the half-effaced hieroglyphs upon an old Egyptian +tomb. There is the _Fynnon Waedog_ (Bloody Well), _the Pald of Gwaye_ +(the Hollow of Woe), the _Maen Achwynfan_, (the Stone of Lamentation and +Weeping), the _Leysan Gwaed Gwyr_ (the Plant of the Blood of Man), +_Merthyr Tydvil_ is the Martyred Tydvil. Villages and fields with names +like these, remind us of the Hebrew names of places, really significant +of some buried tragedy, long holding its place in the heart, and terror +of the neighbourhood. + +In a land-locked solitude like that of Nevern, Cardiganshire,—where, +by-the-bye, we might loiter some time to recite some anecdotes of its +admirable clergyman and great preacher, one of the Griffiths,—the +wanderer, after a piece of agreeable wildness, comes to a village, +enchanting for its beauty, lying on the brink of a charming river, with +indications of a decayed importance; the venerable yew-trees of its +churchyard shadowing over a singular—we may venture to speak of it as a +piece of inexplicable—Runic antiquity, in a stone of a quadrangular form, +about two feet broad, eighteen inches thick, and thirteen feet high, with +a cross at the top. Few countries can boast, like Wales, the charm of +places in wildest and most delicious scenery, with all that can stir an +artist’s, poet’s, or antiquarian’s sensibility. What a neighbourhood is +Llandilo!—the home of the really great poet, John Dyer, the author of +“Grongar Hill,” a delicious spot in this neighbourhood. Here, too, is +Golden Grove, the retreat of our own Jeremy Taylor; and here, in his days +of exile, many of the matchless sermons of him who has been called, by +some, “the English Chrysostom,” and, by others, the “Milton of the +English pulpit,” were preached. We made a pilgrimage there ourselves +some few years since, urged by love to the memory of Jeremy Taylor. We +found the old church gone, and in its place a new one,—the taste of which +did not particularly impress us; and we inquired for Taylor’s pulpit, and +were told it had been chopped up for fire-wood! Then we inquired for a +path through the fields, which for a hundred and fifty years had been +called “Taylor’s Walk,” where the great bishop was wont to meditate,—and +found it had been delivered over to the plough. We hope we may be +forgiven if we say, that we hurried in disgust from a village which, in +spite of its new noble mansion, had lost to us its chief charm. But this +neighbourhood, with its Dynevor Castle and its charming river, the Towey, +and all the scenery described by the exquisite Welsh poet, in whose verse +beauty and sublimity equally reign, compels us to feel that if he +somewhat pardonably over-coloured, by his own associations, the lovely +shrine of his birth, he only naturally described the country through +which these preachers wandered, when he says,— + + “Ever charming, ever new, + When will the landscape tire the view! + The fountain’s fall, the river’s flow, + The woody valleys, warm and low: + The windy summit, wild and high, + Roughly rushing on the sky! + The pleasant seat, the ruin’d tow’r, + The naked rock, the shady bow’r; + The town and village, dome and farm, + Each give to each a double charm, + As pearls upon an Ethiop’s arm.” + +The manners of the people, a few years since, were as singular and +primeval as their country; in all the villages there were singular +usages. The “biddings” to their weddings,—which have, perhaps, yielded +to advanced good taste,—had a sweeter relief in other customs, at +weddings and funerals, tending to civilize, and refine. Throughout +Glamorganshire, especially, and not many years since, it was the +universal custom, when young unmarried persons died, to strew the way to +the grave with sweet flowers and evergreens. Mr. Malkin, in his +interesting work on South Wales, published now seventy years since, says: +“There is in the world an unfeeling kind of false philosophy, which will +treat such customs as I mention with ridicule; but what can be more +affecting than to see all the youth of both sexes in a village, and in +every village through which the corpse passes, dressed in their best +apparel, and strewing with sweet-scented flowers the ways along which one +of their beloved neighbours was carried to his, or her last home?” No +doubt such customs are very much changed, but they were prevalent during +that period to which most of those preachers whose manners we have +mentioned belonged. + +Such pathetic usages, indicating a simple state of society, are commonly +associated, as we have seen, with others of a rougher kind and character. +The Welsh preachers were the pioneers of civilization,—although advanced +society might still think much had to be done in the amelioration of the +national manners. They probably touched a few practices which were +really in themselves simple and affecting, but they swept away many +superstitions, quite destroyed many rude and degrading practices, and +introduced many usages, which, while they were in conformity with the +national instincts of the people (such as preaching and singing, and +assembling themselves together in large companies), tended to refine and +elevate the mind and heart. + +Such were the circumstances, and such the scenery, in which the great +Welsh preachers arose. + +We have not thought of those Welsh preachers who have made themselves +especially known in England. Many have, from time to time, settled as +pastors with us, who have deserved a large amount of our esteem and +honour, blending in their minds high reverence, the tender sensitiveness +of a poetic imagination, with the instinct of philosophic +inquisitiveness—even shading off into an order of scepticism,—but all +united to a strong and impressive eloquence. These attributes seem all +essentially to adhere in the character of the cultured Welsh preacher. +Caleb Morris finely illustrates all this; perhaps he was no whit +inferior, in the build and architecture of his mind, to Horace Bushnell, +whom he greatly resembled; but, unlike Bushnell, he never committed any +of his soliloquies of thought, or feeling to the press. The present +writer possesses volumes of his reported sermons which have never seen +the light. + +And what a Welshman was Rowland Williams! Who can read his life without +feeling the spirit of devotion, however languid, inflamed and fired? And +how, in spite of all the heresies attributed to him, and, growing up in +the midst of the sacred ardours of his character, we find illustrated the +wonder of the curious and searching eye, united to the warmth of the +tender and revering heart!—attributes, we repeat, which seemed to mingle +in very inferior types of Welsh preachers, as well as in the more +eminent, and which, as they kindle into a passion in the man’s nature who +desires to instruct his fellow-men, combine to make preaching, if they be +absent, an infamy, a pastime, a day labour, or a handicraft, an art or a +science; or, by their presence, constitute it a virtue and a mighty power +over human souls. Eminently these men seem to hear a voice saying, “_The +prophet that hath a dream_, _let him tell a dream_! _What is the chaff +to the wheat_? _saith the Lord_.” + + * * * * * + + _Note to_ “Cwm-Aman,” _page_ 23. + +Dr. Thos. Rees, in a letter to the Editor of the _Dysgedydd_, Rev. Herber +Evans, says, “That although bred and born within ten miles of Cwm-Aman, +he had never heard of this ridiculous superstition.” + + + + +CHAPTER II. +_EARLY LIFE UNTIL HIS ENTRANCE INTO THE MINISTRY_. + + + Birth and Early Hardships—Early Church Fellowship—Beginning to + Learn—Loses an Eye—A Singular Dream—Beginning to Preach—His First + Sermon—Is Baptized—A New Church Fellowship—The Rev. Timothy + Thomas—Anecdotes—A Long Season of Spiritual Depression—Is ordained as + Home Missionary to Lleyn—Commencement of Success as a + Preacher—Remarks on Success—Marries—Great Sermon at Velinvole—A + Personal Reminiscence of Welsh Preaching. + +Christmas Evans is not the first, in point of time, in the remarkable +procession of those men whose names we might mention, and of whom we +shall find occasion in this volume to speak, as the great Welsh +preachers. And there may be some dispute as to whether he was the first +in point of eminence; but he is certainly the one of the four whose name +is something more than a tradition. John Elias, Williams of Wern, and +Davies of Swansea, have left behind them little beside the legendary +rumour of their immense and pathetic power. This is true, especially, of +David Davies of Swansea; and yet, Dr. Rees, his successor, and a very +competent authority, says: “In some respects he was superior to all his +distinguished contemporaries.” But the name of Christmas Evans is, +perhaps, the most extensively known of any,—just as the name of Bunyan +has a far more extensive intimacy than the equally honourable names of +Barrow and Butler; and there is a similar reason for this. Christmas +Evans, in the pulpit, more nearly approached the great Dreamer than any +pulpit master of whom we have heard; many of his sermons appear to have +been long-sustained parables, and pictures alive with allegorical +delineation of human character. + +CHRISTMAS EVANS was born at a place called Esgairwen (Ysgarwen), in the +parish of Llandysul, in Cardiganshire; he was born on Christmas Day—and +hence his Christian name—in 1766. His parents, Samuel and Johanna Evans, +were in the poorest circumstances; his father was a shoemaker, and +although this profession has included such a number of men remarkable for +their genius and high attainments, it has never found the masters of the +craft greatly remarkable for the possession of gold or gear. His mother, +by her maiden name Lewis, came from a respectable family of freeholders +in the parish; but the father of Christmas died when he was a child,—and +these were hard days of poverty, almost destitution, for the poor +struggling widow and her family,—so her brother, James Lewis, of Bwlchog, +in the parish of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth, took little Christmas home to his +farm, engaging to feed and clothe him for such labour on the farm as the +poor boy might be able to perform. Here he stayed six years,—six +miserable years; his uncle was a hard, cruel man, a selfish drunkard. +Christmas used to say of him, in after years, “It would be difficult to +find a more unconscionable man than James Lewis in the whole course of a +wicked world.” During these, which ought to have been the most valuable +years of his life, no care was taken of his heart, his mind, or his +morals; in fact, he had neither a friend nor a home. At the age of +seventeen he could not read a word, he was surrounded by the worst of +examples, and he became the subject of a number of serious accidents, +through which he narrowly escaped with his life. Once he was stabbed in +a quarrel, once he was nearly drowned, and with difficulty recovered; +once he fell from a high tree with an open knife in his hand, and once a +horse ran away with him, passing at full speed through a low and narrow +passage. There is an erroneous impression that, in those days, he was a +great boxer, and that he lost his eye in a fight; the truth is quite +different; he was not a boxer, and never fought a battle in his life. He +lost his eye after his conversion, when he and some other young men were +attempting the work of mutual help, in making up for lost time, by +evening meetings, for various works of instruction; a number of his +former companions waylaid him at night, beat him unmercifully, and one +struck him with a stick over the eye. In after years, when some one was +jesting before Robert Hall at Welsh preachers, upon his mentioning +Christmas Evans, the jester said, “And he only has one eye!” “Yes, sir,” +he answered, “but that’s a piercer; an eye, sir, that could light an army +through a wilderness in a dark night.” So that in his sightless eye, +Christmas Evans, like the one-eyed Spiridion, the noble witness in the +Nicean Council, really “bore in his body a mark of the Lord Jesus.” But +we are anticipating. + +At about seventeen years of age, he left his bad uncle and his more +servile employments; still continuing the occupation of a farming lad, he +went to Glanclettwr; afterwards he lived at Penyralltfawr, at Gwenawlt, +and then at Castellhywel. Thus the days of his youth passed; he looks +like a poor, neglected, and forsaken lad. Of books he knew nothing,—he +had no men of intelligence around him with whom to converse, and his +condition in life doomed him to association with all that was low and +brutal. And yet, strange as it may seem, as his friend and earliest +biographer, Mr. Rhys Stephen, has testified, even then, as in the +instance of the rugged young Samson, “the Spirit of the Lord began to +move him at times.” It is not credible that, however crushed down +beneath the weight of such abject circumstances, the boy could have been +exactly what the other boys and men round him were; restless feelings, +and birth-throes of emotion and thought, make themselves known in most of +us before they assume a shape in consciousness: it is natural that it +should have been so with him. With a life of seriousness, which resulted +in Church membership, and which appears to have taken place when he was +about seventeen years of age, commenced his life of mental +improvement,—the first humble beginnings of intellectual effort. It is +singular that the Church with which he first united, at Llwynrhydowain, +originally Presbyterian, and of considerable importance in the early +history of Welsh Nonconformity, approached very nearly, when Evans united +with it, to Unitarianism. Its pastor was the Rev. David Davies; he was +an Arian, an eminent bard, a scholar, an admirable and excellent man, who +has left behind him a very honourable reputation. Such a man as Mr. +Davies was, he would be likely to be interested in the intelligent and +intellectual state of the youth of his Church and congregation. The +slight accounts we possess of the avidity with which Christmas Evans and +his companions commenced their “pursuit of knowledge under difficulties,” +is very animating and pleasing; they combined together with the desire to +obtain the earliest and most necessary means of mental acquisitiveness, +such as reading and writing, a desire for the acquisition of religious +knowledge, and what may be spoken of as some of the higher branches of +study. But we will employ Christmas Evans’s own words:— + + “During a revival which took place in the Church under the care of + Mr. David Davies, many young people united themselves with that + people, and I amongst them. What became of the major part of these + young converts, I have never known; but I hope God’s grace followed + them as it did me, the meanest of the whole. One of the fruits of + this awakening was the desire for religious knowledge that fell upon + us. Scarcely one person out of ten could, at this time, and in those + neighbourhoods, read at all, even in the language of the country. We + bought Bibles and candles, and were accustomed to meet together in + the evening, in the barn of Penyralltfawr; and thus, in about one + month, I was able to read the Bible in my mother tongue. I was + vastly delighted with so much learning. This, however, did not + satisfy me, but I borrowed books, and learnt a little English. Mr. + Davies, my pastor, understood that I thirsted for knowledge, and took + me to his school, where I stayed for six months. Here I went through + the Latin Grammar; but so low were my circumstances that I could stay + there no longer.” + +To preach, as we all know, has often been an object of ambition with +young converts, and the novices in the vestibule of knowledge of the +spiritual life; such an ambition seems very early to have stirred in the +heart of young Christmas. We have already mentioned how it was that he +so cruelly lost the use of an eye; it illustrates the singular brutality +of the time and neighbourhood; an inoffensive lad, simply because he +renounced the society of profane drunkards, and was laudably busying +himself with the affairs of a higher life, was set upon in the darkness +of the night by six young ruffians, unmercifully beaten with sticks, and +the sight of an eye destroyed. It was the night after this calamity that +he had a dream; and the dream of the night reveals the bent of his day +dreams. He dreamt that the Day of Judgment was come, that he saw the +world in a blaze; with great confidence he called out, “Jesus, save me!” +And he thought he saw the Lord turn towards him and say, “It was thy +intention to preach the Gospel, but it is now too late, for the Day of +Judgment is come.” But this vision of the night clung to him when he +awoke; perhaps he feared that the loss of the eye would interfere with +his acceptance as a minister. Certainly the dream had an influence on +his future career,—so had many other dreams. It was always his belief +that he had received some of his most important impressions from dreams: +nothing, apparently, no amount of reason or argument, could persuade him +to the contrary. To preach the Gospel became an ardent desire now with +this passionately imaginative and earnest youth; but there were serious +hindrances in the way. There appears to have been a kind of law in the +Church with which he was connected at Llwynrhydowain, that no member of +the Church should be permitted to preach until he had passed through a +college course. It is very remarkable that two of the greatest preachers +who have adorned the pulpit of Wales should have been admitted into +Church fellowship together on the same evening,—David Davies, afterwards +of Swansea, whose name we have already mentioned, and Christmas Evans. +It was always the regret and complaint of their first pastor, that the +Church law to which we have referred, deprived his Church of the two most +eminent men it had ever produced. There were, no doubt, other reasons; +but it is singular, now, to notice the parallelism of the gifted pair, +for they also preached their first sermon, within a week of each other, +in the same cottage. Cottage preaching was then of much more importance +than it now seems to our ecclesiastical and æsthetic apprehensions; and +the congregations which assembled in those old Welsh cottages were such +as to try the mental and spiritual strength of a young preacher. How +Davies acquitted himself, and how he ran his course, we may notice +by-and-bye; our present concern is with Christmas Evans. Perhaps our +readers will not entertain a depreciating opinion of the youth, when they +hear him very candidly confess that the substance of his first sermon was +taken from Beveridge’s “Thesaurus Theologicus,” a book borrowed, +probably, from his pastor. But a Mr. Davies, who must have been a +reading man although a farmer, heard it, was very much impressed by it, +but went home and found it; so that the poor boy’s reputation as a +preacher seemed gone. “Still,” said the good man, “I have some hope of +the son of Samuel the shoemaker, because the prayer was as good as the +sermon.” But perhaps he would not have thought so hopefully of the young +man had he then known, what Christmas afterwards confessed, that the +prayer, too, was very greatly committed to memory from a collection of +prayers by a well-known clergyman, Griffith Jones of Llanddowror. + +Such was the first public effort of this distinguished preacher; like the +first effort of his great English contemporary, Robert Hall, we suppose +it would be regarded as a failure. Meantime, we have to notice that the +spiritual life of the youth was going on; he began to be dissatisfied +with the frame of theologic sentiment of the Church to which he belonged. +He heard preachers who introduced him to the more grand, scriptural, and +evangelical views of Christian truth. The men of that time did not play +at preaching; the celebrated David Morris, father of the yet more +celebrated Ebenezer Morris; the great Peter Williams, Jones of Llangan, +Thomas Davies of Neath,—such men as these appear to have kindled in his +mind loftier views of the person and the work of Christ. Also, a man +named Amos, who had been a member of the same Church with Christmas +Evans, had left that communion, and joined that of the Baptists. A close +study of the Word of God led Christmas also to a change of convictions as +to the meaning and importance of the rite of baptism. A similar change +of theologic opinion was passing through the mind of his young friend and +fellow-member, David Davies, who finally united himself with the +Independent communion. Christmas Evans says, “I applied to the Baptist +Church at Aberduar, where I was in due time received; I was then about +twenty years and six months old. I was baptized by the Rev. Timothy +Thomas.” + +As the names of successive persons and pastors pass before our eyes, and +appear in these pages, it is at once affecting, humbling, and elevating, +to think of men of whom our ears have scarcely ever heard, but who, in +their day, were men “of whom the world was not worthy,” and whose “record +is now on high.” Such a man, beyond all question, was this Timothy +Thomas, the son of an eminent father, the brother of men who, if not as +eminent as himself, were yet worthy of the noble relationship. He was a +Welsh gentleman, lived on a farm, an extended lease of which he held, and +which enabled him to preach and fulfil the work of a pastor without any +monetary reward. He appears to have devoted himself, his time, his +energy, and his property to the work of the ministry. His farm was a +splendid one in the vale of the Teivy. Mr. Rhys Stephen, who knew him, +speaks of his gallant bearing, his ingenuous spirit, and of his princely +magnanimity; he would ride thirty or forty miles on a Saturday, through +the remote wilds of Caermarthenshire and Cardiganshire, to be ready for +the services on the Sunday. His gentlemanly bearing overcame and beat +down mobs which sometimes assembled for the purpose of insulting and +assailing him. Mr. Stephen mentions one singular instance, when Mr. +Thomas was expected to administer the ordinance of baptism, and, as was +not unusual in those days, in the natural baptistry of the river. A mob +had assembled together for the purpose of insulting and annoying the +service, the missiles of offence in their hands; when, suddenly, a +well-dressed gentleman, mounted on a noble horse, rode over the village +bridge; he hastily alighted, gave his bridle to a bystander, walked +briskly into the middle of the little flock; the inimical members of the +mob set him down for a magistrate at the least, and expected that he +would give the word to disperse; but instead of doing so, he took the +nearest candidate by the hand, and walked himself down into the stream, +booted and spurred as he was. Before the mob had done gaping, he had +done this part of his work; after this, however, he stood upon the brink +of the stream, still in his wet attire, and preached one of his ardent +sermons. He certainly conciliated the homage of the opposing forces, and +left them under the impression that the “dippers,” as the Baptists were +generally called, had certainly one gentleman among them. We do not know +how our Baptist brethren would like to submit to this kind of service, +but it certainly seems to resemble more closely the baptism of Enon, near +to Salem, and that of the Ethiopian prince by Philip, than some we have +seen. + +The anecdotes of this Timothy Thomas are too good and too numerous to be +entirely passed by. Once he was preaching in the enchanting +neighbourhood near Llandeilo, to which we referred in the first +chapter—the neighbourhood of Grongar Hill, and Golden Grove; the +neighbourhood of Dyer, Steele, and Jeremy Taylor. It was a still Sabbath +morning in the summer, and in that lovely spot immense crowds were +gathered to hear him. He had administered baptism, and preached, without +interruption, when someone came up to him and told him, with startled +fear and trepidation, that the clergyman,—the rector,—on his way to the +church, had been detained, utterly unable to pass through the crowd, +through the greater part of the service. Instantly, with admirable tact +and catholicity, he exclaimed: “I understand that the respected clergyman +of the parish has been listening patiently to me for the last hour; let +us all go to the church and return the compliment by hearing him.” The +church, and the churchyard as well, were instantly crowded; the clergyman +was delighted with the catholic spirit displayed by the Baptist minister, +and of course not a word further was said about the trespass which had +been committed. + +Timothy Thomas was a noble specimen of what has been called the “muscular +Christian;” he had great courage. Once, when travelling with his wife, +and set upon by four ruffians, he instantly, with his single stick, +floored two, but broke his stick in the very act of conquest. +Immediately he flew to a hedge and tore up a prodigious stake, and was +again going forth to victory, when the scoundrels, having had enough of +this bishop of the Church militant, took to flight and left him in +undisputed possession of the field. A remarkable man this,—a sort of +Welsh chieftain; a perfect gentleman, but half farmer, half preacher. In +the order of Church discipline, a man was brought up before him, as the +pastor, for having knocked down an Unitarian. “Let us hear all about +it,” said the pastor. “To tell all the truth about it, sir,” said the +culprit, “I met Jack the miller at the sign of the Red Dragon, and there +we had a single glass of ale together.” “Stop a bit,” said the minister; +“I hope you paid for it.” “I did, sir.” “That is in your favour, +Thomas,” said the pastor; “I cannot bear those people who go about +tippling at other people’s expense. Go on, Thomas.” “Well, sir, after a +little while we began quietly talking about religion, and about the work +of Jesus Christ. Jack said that He was only a man, and then he went on +to say shocking things, things that it was beyond the power of flesh and +blood to bear.” “I daresay,” said the pastor; “but what did he say?” +“He actually said, sir, that the blood of Christ had no more power in it +than the blood of a beast. I could not stand that any more, so I knocked +him down.” “Well, brother,” said the minister, “I cannot say that you +did the right thing, but I quite believe that I should have done so too. +Go, and sin no more.” + +But with all these marks of a strong character, the lines of Timothy +Thomas’s faith were clear and firm. + +Such was the man who received Christmas Evans into the Church of which he +became so bright and shining an ornament. This noble man survived until +his eighty-sixth year; he died at Cardigan, in 1840. He was asked, +sometimes, how many he had baptized during his lifetime, and he would +reply, brusquely, “About two thousand;” at other times, he would be more +particular, and say, “I have baptized at least two thousand persons. +Yes,” he would add tenderly, “and thirty of them have become ministers of +the Gospel; and it was I who baptized Christmas Evans,”—sometimes adding +naïvely, “I did it right, too,—according to the apostolic practice, you +know.” + +Thus we are brought to the interesting and important turning-point in the +life of Christmas Evans. He had united himself with the Baptist +communion. Our readers will clearly perceive, that he was a young man +who could not be hidden, and it was soon discovered that the work of the +ministry was to be his destination. As to his internal state, upon which +a ministerial character must always depend, these early years of his +religious life were times and seasons of great spiritual depression. +Such frames of feeling depend, perhaps, not less, or more, upon certain +aspects of religious truth, than they do upon the peculiarities of +temperament; a nervous imagination is very exhausting, and brings the +physical frame very low; moreover, exalted ideas, and ideals, produce +very depressing appreciations of self. He thought himself a mass of +ignorance and sin; he desired to preach, but he thought that such words +as his must be useless to his hearers: then, as to the method of +preaching, he was greatly troubled. He thought by committing his sermons +to memory he forfeited the gift of the Holy Spirit; so he says he changed +his method, took a text without any premeditation, and preached what +occurred to him at the time; “but,” he continues, “if it was bad before, +it was worse now; so I thought God would have nothing to do with me as a +preacher.” + +The young man was humbled; he entered every pulpit with dread; he thought +that he was such an one that his mere appearance in the pulpit would be +quite sufficient to becloud the hearts of his hearers, and to intercept +the light from heaven. Then it seems he had no close friend to whom he +could talk; he was afraid lest, if he laid bare the secrets of his heart, +he should seem to be only a hypocrite; so he had to wrap up the bitter +secrets of his soul in his own heart, and drink of his bitter cup alone. +Is this experience singular? Is not this the way in which all truly +great, and original preachers have been made?—Luther, Bunyan, Dr. Payson, +Robert Hall,—how many beside? Such men have attained high scholarships, +and fellowships, in the great university of human nature; like Peter, +pierced to the heart themselves, they have “pricked” the hearts, the +consciences, of the thousands who have heard them. Thus, more than from +the lore of classical literatures, they have had given to them “the +tongue of the learned,” which has enabled them to speak “a word in season +to those who were wearied;” thus, “converted” themselves, they have been +able to “strengthen their brethren.” + +Evans passed through a painful experience; the young man was feeling his +way. He was unconscious of the powers within him, although they were +struggling for expression; and so, through his humility and lowly +conceptions of himself, he was passing on to future eminence and +usefulness. + +Lleyn was the first place where he appears to have felt his feet. Lleyn +at that time had not even the dignity of being a village; it is a little +inland hamlet out of Caernarvon Bay; Nevin is its principal village; +perhaps if the reader should seek out Lleyn, even upon a tolerable map of +Caernarvonshire, he will have a difficulty in finding it. It seems to +have been a hamlet of the promontory, on a grand coast, surrounded by +magnificent hills, or overhanging mountains; we have never visited it, +but those who have done so speak of it as possessing the charms of +peculiar wildness: on the one side, precipitous ravines, shut in by the +sea; on the other, walls of dark mountains,—forming the most complete +picture of isolation possible to imagine. Here is said to be the last +resting-place of Vortigern, who fled hither to escape the rage of his +subjects, excited by his inviting the Saxons to Britain. A curious +tradition holds that the mountains are magnetic, and masters of vessels +are said to be careful not to approach too near the coast, fearing the +effect upon their compasses; this is believed to be the effect of a +strong undercurrent setting in all along the coast, dangerous to vessels, +and apt to lead them out of their course. Such was Lleyn, the first +field of labour on which this melancholy and brooding youth was to +exercise his ministry. + +Evans had attended the Baptist Association at Maesyberllan in +Brecknockshire, in 1790; he was persuaded there to enter upon the +ministry in this very obscure district, and he was ordained as a +missionary to work among the humble Churches in that vicinity. It does +not appear that, in his own neighbourhood, he had as yet attained to any +reputation for peculiar power, or that there were any apparent auguries +and prognostications of his future usefulness. It is curious to notice, +almost so soon as he began his work in this his first distinct field of +labour, he appears like a man new made; for this seems to have been the +place where the burden of which Bunyan speaks, rolled from this +Christian’s back; here a new life of faith began to glow in him, and he +knew something of what it is to have the “oil of joy for mourning, and +the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness.” A little +success is very encouraging; depreciation is frequently the parent of +depression; success is often a fine old strengthening wine; and how often +we have had occasion to admire men who have wrought on at life’s tasks +bravely and cheerfully, although success never came and sat down by their +side, to cheer and encourage them; one sometimes wonders what they would +have done had their efforts and words received the garland and the crown. +Well, perhaps not so much; these things are more wisely ordered than we +know. Only this also may be remarked, that, perhaps, the highest order +of mind and heart can do almost as well without success as with it,—will +behave beautifully if success should come, will behave no less +beautifully even if success should never come. + +At Lleyn, Christmas Evans tasted the first prelibations of a successful +ministry; a wondrous power attended his preaching, numbers were gathered +into the Church. “I could scarcely believe,” he says, “the testimony of +the people who came before the Church as candidates for membership, that +they were converted through my ministry; yet I was obliged to believe, +though it was marvellous in my eyes. This made me thankful to God, and +increased my confidence in prayer; a delightful gale descended upon me as +from the hill of the New Jerusalem, and I felt the three great things of +the kingdom of heaven, righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy +Ghost.” Indeed, very unusual powers seemed to attend him. He says, “I +frequently preached out of doors at nightfall,” and the singing, and the +praising seem to have touched him very tenderly; he frequently found his +congregations bathed in tears and weeping profusely. Preaching was now +to him, as he testifies, a very great pleasure,—and no wonder; quite a +remarkable revival of religious feeling woke up wherever he went. When +he first entered Lleyn, the religious life was very cold and feeble; +quite wonderful was the change. + +After a time, exhausted with his work in these villages, he accepted an +invitation to visit the more remote parts of South Wales. When +ministers, like Christmas Evans, are enfeebled in health, they recreate +themselves by preaching; the young man was enfeebled, but he started off +on his preaching tour; he could not obtain a horse, so he walked the +whole way, preaching in every village or town through which he passed. +Very frequently large numbers of the same congregation would follow after +him the next day, and attend the services fifteen or twenty times, +although many miles apart. So he went through the counties of Cardigan, +Pembroke, Caernarvon, Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Brecknock, stopping and +holding services at the innumerable villages lying on his way. The fame +that a wonderful man of God had appeared spread through South Wales on +the wings of the wind, and an appointment for Christmas Evans to preach +was sufficient to attract thousands to the place. While he yet continued +at Lleyn as itinerant missionary, in that short time he had acquired +perhaps a greater popularity than any other preacher of that day in +Wales. + +We have not said that, during the first years of his residence at Lleyn, +he married Catherine Jones, a young lady a member of his own Church,—a +pious girl, and regarded as in every way suitable for his companion. It +will be seen that, so far from diminishing, it seemed rather to increase +his ardour; he frequently preached five times during the Sabbath, and +walked twenty miles; his heart appeared to be full of love, he spoke as +in the strains of a seraph. No wonder that such labour and incessant +excitement told upon his health, it was feared even that he might sink +into consumption; but surely it was a singular cure suggested for such a +disease, to start off on the preaching tour we have described. + +At last, however, in an unexpected moment, he became great. It was at +one of those wonderful gatherings, an Association meeting, held at +Velinvoel, in the immediate neighbourhood of Llanelly. A great concourse +of people were assembled in the open air. There was some hitch in the +arrangements. Two great men were expected, but still some one or other +was wanted to break the ice—to prepare the way. On so short a notice, +notwithstanding the abundant preaching power, no one was found willing to +take the vacant place. Christmas Evans was there, walking about on the +edge of the crowd—a tall, bony, haggard young man, uncouth, and +ill-dressed. The master of the ceremonies for the occasion, the pastor +of the district, was in an agony of perplexity to find his man,—one who, +if not equal to the mightiest, would yet be sufficient for the occasion. +In his despair, he went to our old friend, Timothy Thomas; but he, +declining for himself, said abruptly, “Why not ask that one-eyed lad from +the North? I hear that he preaches quite wonderfully.” So the pastor +went to him. He instantly consented. Many who were there afterwards +expressed the surprise they felt at the communication going on between +the pastor and the odd-looking youth. “Surely,” they said, “he can never +ask that absurdity to preach!” They felt that an egregious mistake was +being committed; and some went away to refresh themselves, and others to +rest beneath the hedges around, until the great men should come; and +others, who stayed, comforted themselves with the assurance that the +“one-eyed lad” would have the good sense to be very short. But, for the +young preacher, while he was musing, the fire was burning; he was now, +for the first time, to front one of those grand Welsh audiences, the +sacred _Eisteddfod_ of which we have spoken, and to be the preacher of an +occasion, which, through all his life after, was to be his constant work. +Henceforth there was to be, perhaps, not an Association meeting of his +denomination, of which he was not to be the most attractive preacher, the +most longed-for and brilliant star. + +He took a grand text: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies +in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of +His flesh, through death, to present you holy, and unblamable, and +unreprovable in His sight.” Old men used to describe afterwards how he +justified their first fears by his stiff, awkward movements; but the +organ was, in those first moments, building, and soon it began to play. +He showed himself a master of the instrument of speech. Closer and +closer the audience began to gather near him. They got up, and came in +from the hedges. The crowd grew more and more dense with eager +listeners; the sermon became alive with dramatic representation. The +throng of preachers present confessed that they were dazzled with the +brilliance of the language, and the imagery, falling from the lips of +this altogether unknown and unexpected young prophet. Presently, beneath +some appalling stroke of words, numbers started to their feet; and in the +pauses—if pauses were permitted in the paragraphs—the question went, “Who +is this? who have we here?” His words went rocking to and fro; he had +caught the “_hwyl_,”—he had also caught the people in it; he went +swelling along at full sail. The people began to cry, “_Gogoniant_!” +(Glory!) “_Bendigedig_!” (Blessed!) The excitement was at its highest +when, amidst the weeping, and rejoicing of the mighty multitude, the +preacher came to an end. Drawn together from all parts of Wales to the +meeting, when they went their separate ways home they carried the memory +of “the one-eyed lad” with them. + +Christmas Evans was, from that moment, one of the most famous preachers +in the Principality. Lord Byron tells us how he woke up one morning and +found himself famous. In those days, a new great Welsh preacher was +quite as famous a birth in the little country of Wales as the most famous +reputation could be in the literary world of England. + +We can conceive it all; for, about thirty-five years since, we were +spectators of some such scene. It was far in the depths of the dark +mountains beyond Abersychan, that we were led to a large Welsh service; +but it was in a great chapel, and it was on a winter’s night. The place +was dimly lit with candles. There were, we remember, three preachers. +But whilst the first were pursuing their way, or the occasional hymns +were being chanted, our companion said to us, “But I want you to hear +that little hump-backed man, behind there; he will come next.” We could +scarcely see the little hump-backed man, but what we saw of him did not +predispose our minds to any very favourable impressions, or prophecies of +great effects. In due time he came forward. Even as soon as he +presented himself, however, there was an evident expectation. The people +began more certainly to settle themselves; to crane their necks forward; +to smile their loving smile, as upon a well-known friend, who would not +disappoint them; and to utter their sighs and grunts of satisfaction. He +was as uncouth a piece of humanity as we have ever seen, the little +hump-backed man, thin and bony. His iron-grey hair fell over his +forehead with no picturesque effect, nor did his eyes seem to give any +indication of fire; and there was a shuffling and shambling in his gait, +giving no sign of the grace of the orator. But, gradually, as he moved +along, and before he had moved far, the whole of that audience was +subject to his spell of speech. His hair was thrown back from his +forehead; his features were lighted up. Hump-backed! You neither saw +it, nor thought of it. His wiry movement seemed informed by dignity and +grandeur. First, there came forth audible gaspings, and grunts of +approval and pleasure. His very accent, whether you knew his language or +not, compelled tears to start to the eyes. Forth came those devout +gushings of speech we have mentioned, which, in Wales, are the +acclamations which greet a preacher; and, like Christmas Evans with the +close of his first grand sermon, the little hump-backed man sat down, +victorious over all personal deformity, amidst the weeping and rejoicing +of the people. We have always thought of that circumstance as a +wonderful illustration of the power of the mind over the body. + +Christmas returned to Lleyn, but not to remain there long. The period of +his ministry in that neighbourhood was about two years, and during that +time the religious spirit of the neighbourhood had been deeply stirred. +It is most likely that the immediate cause which led to his removal may +be traced to the natural feeling that he was fitted for a much more +obvious and extended field of labour. Lleyn was a kind of mission +station, its churches were small, they had long been disorganised, and it +was not likely that, even if they woke at once into newness of life, they +could attain to ideas of liberality and Church order, on which the growth +and advance and perpetuity of the Churches could alone be founded; and +then it was very likely discovered that the man labouring among them +would be demanded for labours very far afield; it is awkward when the +gifts of a man make him eminently acceptable to shine and move as an +evangelist, and yet he is expected to fill the place, and be as steady in +pastoral relations as a pole star! + + + + +CHAPTER III. +_THE MINISTRY IN THE ISLAND OF ANGLESEA_. + + + Journey to Anglesea—Cildwrn Chapel, and Life in the Cildwrn + Cottage—Poverty—Forcing his Way to Knowledge—Anecdote, “I am the + Book”—A Dream—The Sandemanian Controversy—Jones of Ramoth—“Altogether + Wrong”—The Work in Peril—Thomas Jones of Rhydwilym—Christmas’s + Restoration to Spiritual Health—Extracts from Personal + Reflections—Singular Covenant with God—Renewed Success—The Great + Sermon of the Churchyard World—Scenery of its Probable + Delivery—Outline of the Sermon—Remarks on the Allegorical + Style—Outlines of Another Remarkable Sermon, “The Hind of the + Morning”—Great Preaching but Plain Preaching—Hardships of the Welsh + Preacher. + +In 1792 Christmas Evans left Lleyn. He speaks of a providential +intimation conveyed to him from the Island of Anglesea; the providential +intimation was a call to serve all the Churches of his order in that +island for seventeen pounds a year! and for the twenty years during which +he performed this service, he never asked for more. He was twenty-six +years of age when he set forth, on his birthday, Christmas Day, for his +new and enlarged world of work. He travelled like an Apostle,—and surely +he travelled in an apostolic spirit,—he was unencumbered with this +world’s goods. It was a very rough day of frost and snow, + + “The way was long, the wind was cold.” + +He travelled on horseback, with his wife behind him; and he arrived on +the evening of the same day at Llangefni. On his arrival in Anglesea he +found ten small Baptist Societies, lukewarm and faint; what amount of +life there was in them was spent in the distraction of theological +controversy, which just then appeared to rage, strong and high, among the +Baptists in North Wales. He was the only minister amongst those +Churches, and he had not a brother minister to aid him within a hundred +and fifty miles; but he commenced his labours in real earnest, and one of +his first movements was to appoint a day of fasting and prayer in all the +preaching places; he soon had the satisfaction to find a great revival, +and it may with truth be said “the pleasure of the Lord prospered in his +hand.” + +Llangefni appears to have been the spot in Anglesea where Christmas found +his home. Llangefni is a respectable town now; when the preaching +apostle arrived there, near a hundred years since, its few scattered +houses did not even rise to the dignity of a village. Cildwrn Chapel was +here the place of his ministrations, and here stood the little cottage +where Christmas and his wife passed their plain and simple days. Chapel +and cottage stood upon a bleak and exposed piece of ground. The cottage +has been reconstructed since those days, but upon the site of the queer +and quaint old manse stands now a far more commodious chapel-keeper’s +house. As in the Bedford vestry they show you still the chair in which +John Bunyan sat, so here they show a venerable old chair, Christmas +Evans’s chair, in the old Cildwrn cottage; it is deeply and curiously +marked by the cuttings of his pocket-knife, made when he was indulging in +those reveries and daydreams in which he lived abstracted from everything +around him. + +The glimpses of life we obtain from this old Cildwrn cottage do not +incline us to speak in terms of very high eulogy of the Voluntary +principle, as developed in Anglesea in that day; from the description, it +must have been a very poor shanty, or windy shieling; it is really almost +incredible to think of such a man in such a home. The stable for the +horse or pony was a part of the establishment, or but very slightly +separated from it; the furniture was very poor and scanty: a bed will +sometimes compensate for the deprivations and toils of the day when the +wearied limbs are stretched upon it, but Christmas Evans could not, as +James Montgomery has it, “Stretch the tired limbs, and lay the head, upon +his own delightful bed;” for, one of his biographers says, the article on +which the inmates, for some time after their settlement, rested at night, +could be designated a bed only by courtesy; some of the boards having +given way, a few stone slabs did some necessary service. The door by +which the preacher and his wife entered the cottage was rotted away, and +the economical congregation saved the expense of a new door by nailing a +tin plate across the bottom; the roof was so low that the master of the +house, when he stood up, had to exercise more than his usual forethought +and precaution. + +Here, then, was the study, the furnace, forge, and anvil whence were +wrought out those noble ideas, images, words, which made Christmas Evans +a household name throughout the entire Principality. Here he, and his +Catherine, passed their days in a life of perfect naturalness—somewhat +too natural, thinks the reader—and elevated piety. Which of us, who +write, or read these pages, will dare to visit them with the indignity of +our pity? Small as his means were, he looks very happy, with his +pleasant, bright, affectionate, helpful and useful wife; he grew in the +love and honour of the people; and to his great pulpit eminence, and his +simple daily life, have been applied, not unnaturally, the fine words of +Wordsworth— + + “So did he travel on life’s common way + In cheerful lowliness; and yet his heart + The mightiest duties on itself did lay.” + +And there was a period in Wordsworth’s life, before place, and fame, and +prosperity came to him, when the little cottage near the Wishing Gate, in +Grasmere, was not many steps above that of the Cildwrn cottage of +Christmas Evans. The dear man did not care about his poverty,—he appears +never either to have attempted to conceal it, nor to grumble at it; and +one of his biographers applies to him the pleasant words of Jean Paul +Richter, “The pain of poverty was to him only as the piercing of a +maiden’s ear, and jewels were hung in the wound.” + +It was, no doubt, a very rough life, but he appears to have attained to +the high degree of the Apostle,—“having food and raiment, let us be +therewith content;” and he was caught up, and absorbed in his work: +sermons, and material for sermons, were always preparing in his mind; he +lived to preach, to exercise that bardic power of his. That poor room +was the study; he had no separate room to which to retire, where, in +solitude, he could stir, or stride the steeds of thought or passion. + +During those years, in that poor Cildwrn room, he mastered some ways of +scholarship, the mention of which may, perhaps, surprise some of our +readers. He made himself a fair Hebraist; no wonder at that, he must +have found the language, to him, a very congenial tongue; we take it +that, anyhow, the average Welshman will much more readily grapple with +the difficulties of Hebrew than the average Englishman. Then he became +so good a Grecian, that once, in a bookseller’s shop, upon his making +some remarks on Homer in the presence of a clergyman, a University man, +which drew forth expressions of contempt, Christmas put on his classical +panoply, and so addressed himself to the shallow scholar, that he was +compelled, by the pressure of engagements, to beat a surprisingly quick +retreat. + +Very likely the slender accoutrements of his library would create a sneer +upon the lips of most of the scholars of the modern pulpit: his lexicons +did not rise above Parkhurst,—and _we_ will be bold to express gratitude +to that forgotten and disregarded old scholar, too; Owen supplied him +with the bones of theological thought, the framework of his systematic +theology; and whatever readers may think of his taste, Dr. Gill largely +drew upon his admiration and sympathy, in the method of his exposition. +But, when all was said and done, he was the Vulcan himself, who wrought +the splendid fancies of the Achilles’ shield,—say, rather, of the shield +of Faith; he did not disdain books, but books with him were few, and his +mind, experience, and observation were large. + +A little while ago, we heard a good story. A London minister of +considerable notoriety, never in any danger of being charged with a too +lowly estimate of himself, or his powers, was called to preach an +anniversary sermon, on a week evening, some distance from London. +Arrived at the house of the brother minister, for whom he had undertaken +the service, before it commenced, he requested to be shown into the +study, in which he might spend some little time in preparation: the +minister went up with him. + +“So!” said the London Doctor, as he entered, and gazed around, “this is +the place where all the mischief is done; this is your furnace, this is +the spot from whence the glowing thoughts, and sparks emanate!” + +“Yes,” said his host, “I come up here to think, and prepare, and be +quiet; one cannot study so well in the family.” + +The Doctor strode up and down the room, glancing round the walls, lined +with such few books as the modest means of a humble minister might be +supposed to procure. + +“Ah!” said the Doctor, “and these are the books, the alimentary canals +which absorb the pabulum from whence you reinvigorate the stores of +thought, and rekindle refrigerated feeling.” + +“Yes, Doctor,” said the good man, “these are my books; I have not got +many, you see, for I am not a rich London minister, but only a poor +country pastor; you have a large library, Doctor?” + +The great man stood still; he threw a half-indignant and half-benignant +glance upon his humble brother, and he said, “_I_ have no library, _I_ do +not want books, _I_ am _the_ Book!” + +Christmas Evans, so far as he could command the means,—but they were very +few,—was a voracious reader; and most of the things he read were welded +into material for the imagination; but much more truly might he have +said, than the awful London dignitary and Doctor, “I have no books, I am +the book.” His modesty would have prevented him from ever saying the +last; but it was nevertheless eminently and especially true, he _was_ the +book. There was a good deal in him of the self-contained, self-evolving +character; and it is significant of this, that, while probably he knew +little, or nothing, of our great English classical essayists, John Foster +and his Essays were especially beloved by him; far asunder as were their +spheres, and widely different their more obvious and manifested life, +there was much exceedingly alike in the structure of their mental +characters. + +We have already alluded to the dream-life of Christmas Evans; we should +say, that if dreams come from the multitude of business, the daily +occupation, the ordinary life he lived was well calculated to foster in +him the life of dreams. Here is one,—a strange piece, which shows the +mind in which he lived:—“I found myself at the gate of hell, and, +standing at the threshold, I saw an opening, beneath I which was a vast +sea of fire, in wave-like motion. Looking at it, I said, ‘What infinite +virtue there must have been in the blood of Christ to have quenched, for +His people, these awful flames!’ Overcome with the feeling, I knelt down +by the walls of hell, saying, ‘Thanks be unto Thee, O great and blessed +Saviour, that Thou hast dried up this terrible sea of fire!’ Whereupon +Christ addressed me: ‘Come this way, and I will show you how it was +done.’ Looking back, I beheld that the whole sea had disappeared. Jesus +passed over the place, and said: ‘Come, follow Me.’ By this time, I was +within what I thought were the gates of hell, where there were many +cells, out of which it was impossible to escape. I found myself within +one of these, and anxious to make my way out. Still I felt wonderfully +calm, as I had only just been conversing with Jesus, and because He had +gone before me, although I had now lost sight of Him. I got hold of +something, with which I struck the corner of the place in which I stood, +saying, ‘In the name of Jesus, open!’ and it instantly gave way; so I did +with all the enclosures, until I made my way out into the open field. +Whom should I see there but brethren, none of whom, however, I knew, +except a good old deacon, and their work was to attend to a nursery of +trees; I joined them, and laid hold of a tree, saying, ‘In the name of +Jesus, be thou plucked up by the root!’ And it came up as if it had been +a rush. Hence I went forth, as I fancied, to work miracles, saying, ‘Now +I know how the Apostles wrought miracles in the name of Christ!’” + +It was during the earlier period of Christmas Evans’s ministry at +Anglesea, that a great irruption took place in the island, and, indeed, +throughout the Principality; and the Sandemanian controversy shook the +Churches, and especially the Baptist Churches, almost beyond all +credibility, and certainly beyond what would have been a possibility, but +for the singular power of the chief leader, John Richard Jones, of +Ramoth. Christmas Evans himself fell for some time beneath the power of +Sandemanian notions. Our readers, perhaps, know enough of this peculiar +form of faith and practice, to be aware that the worst thing that can be +said of it is, that it is a religious ice-plant, religion in an +ice-house,—a form chiefly remarkable for its rigid ritualistic +conservation of what are regarded as the primitive forms of apostolic +times, conjoined to a separation from, and a severe and cynical +reprobation of, all other Christian sects. + +Christmas Evans says of himself at this period: “The Sandemanian heresy +affected me so far as to quench the spirit of prayer for the conversion +of sinners, and it induced in my mind a greater regard for the smaller +things of the kingdom of heaven, than for the greater. I lost the +strength which clothed my mind with zeal, confidence, and earnestness in +the pulpit for the conversion of souls to Christ. My heart retrograded, +in a manner, and I could not realize the testimony of a good conscience. +Sabbath nights, after having been in the day exposing and vilifying, with +all bitterness, the errors that prevailed, my conscience felt as if +displeased, and reproached me that I had lost nearness to, and walking +with, God. It would intimate that something exceedingly precious was now +wanting in me; I would reply, that I was acting in obedience to the Word; +but it continued to accuse me of the want of some precious article. I +had been robbed, to a great degree, of the spirit of prayer, and of the +spirit of preaching.” + +And the man who headed and gave effect to this Sandemanian movement, +which was regarded as a mighty reform movement, was Jones of Ramoth. No +doubt a real and genuine character enough, a magnificent orator, a master +of bitter wit, and vigorous declamation. That is a keen saying with +which Richard Hooker commences his “Ecclesiastical Polity:” “He that +goeth about to persuade a multitude, that they are not so well governed +as they ought to be, shall never want attentive and favourable hearers; +because they know the manifold defects whereunto every kind of regiment +is subject; but the secret lets and difficulties, which in public +proceedings are innumerable and inevitable, they have not ordinarily the +judgment to consider.” This seems to have been the work, and this the +effect, of John Richard Jones: very much the sum and substance of his +preaching grew to be a morbid horror of the entire religious world, and a +supreme contempt—one of his memorialists says, a superb contempt—for all +preachers except himself, especially for all itinerant preachers. In +fact, Ramoth Jones’s influence in Anglesea might well be described in +George MacDonald’s song, “The Waesome Carl:”— + + “Ye’re a’ wrang, and a’ wrang, + And a’thegither a’ wrang; + There’s no a man aboot the toon + But’s a’thegither a’ wrang. + + “The minister wasna fit to pray, + And let alane to preach; + He nowther had the gift o’ grace, + Nor yet the gift o’ speech. + + “He mind’t him o’ Balaam’s ass, + Wi’ a differ ye may ken: + The Lord He opened the ass’s mou’, + The minister opened’s ain. + + “Ye’re a’ wrang, and a’ wrang, + And a’thegither a’ wrang; + There’s no a man aboot the toon + But’s a’thegither a’ wrang.” + +Compared with the slender following of the Sandemanian schism now,—for we +believe it has but six congregations in the whole United Kingdom,—it +seems strange to know that it laid so wonderful a hold upon the island of +Anglesea. It did, however; and that it did was evidently owing to the +strong man whose name we have mentioned. He was a self-formed man, but +he was a man, if not of large scholarship, of full acquaintance with +Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; he was a skilful musician; he understood the +English language well, but of the Welsh he was a great master. But his +intelligence, we should think, was dry and hard; his sentiments were +couched in bitter sarcasm: “If,” said he, “every Bible in the world were +consumed, and every word of Scripture erased from my memory, I need be at +no loss how to live a religious life, according to the will of God, for I +should simply have to proceed in all respects in a way perfectly contrary +to the popular religionists of this age, and then I could not possibly be +wrong.” He was very arrogant and authoritative in tone and manner, +supercilious himself, and expecting the subordination of others. He was +so bitter and narrow, that one naturally supposes that some injustice had +embittered him. Some of his words have a noble ring. But he encouraged +a spirit far other than a charitable one wherever his word extended; and +it has been not unnaturally said, that the spread of this Sandemanian +narrowness in Anglesea, realized something of the old Scotch absurdity of +having two Churches in the same cottage, consisting of Janet in one +apartment, and Sandy in the other; or of that other famed Scottish +Church, which had dwindled down to two members, old Dame Christie, and +Donald, but which seemed at last likely to dwindle yet farther into one, +as Christie said she had “sair doubts o’ Donald.” + +The work of Christmas Evans, so far successful, seemed likely to be +undone; all the Churches seemed inoculated by these new and narrow +notions, and Christmas Evans himself appears, as we have seen, to have +been not altogether unscathed. There is something so plausible in this +purism of pride; and many such a creed of pessimism is the outgrowth of +indifference born, and nurtured, upon decaying faith,—a faith which, +perhaps, as in the instance of Ramoth Jones and his Sandemanian teachers, +continued true to Christ, so far as that is compatible with utter +indifference to humanity at large, and an utter separation from the +larger view of the Communion of Saints. + +There was, however, a grand man, who stood firm while ministers and +Churches around him were reeling, Thomas Jones, of Glynceiriog, in +Denbighshire; he is said to have been the one and only minister, at all +known to the public, who remained in his own denomination firm, and, +successfully in his own spirit, withstood, and even conquered, in this +storm of new opinion. And this Thomas Jones did not stand like an +insensible stone or rock, but like a living oak, braving the blasts of +veering opinion. Most men think in crowds,—which is only to say they are +the victims of thoughtless plausibilities. This Thomas Jones appears to +have known what he believed; he was eminent for his politeness, and +greatly deferential in his bearing; but with all this, his courtesy was +the courtesy of the branch which bows, but retains its place. He was a +man of marvellous memory, and Christmas Evans used to say of him, that +wherever Thomas Jones was, no Concordance would be necessary. He was a +great master in the study of Edwards “On the Freedom of the Will,” and +his method of reading the book was characteristic; he would first seize a +proposition, then close the book, and close his eyes, and turn the +proposition round and round that it might be undisturbed by anything +inside the treatise, or outside of it, and in this way he would proceed +with the rigorous demonstration. He was a calm and dignified knight in +the tournament of discussion; and, before his lance, more vehement but +less trained thinkers and theologians went down. + +Thus it was that he preached a great Association sermon at Llangevni, in +1802, which dealt the Sandemanian schism a fatal blow; the captivity +beneath the spell of the influence of Ramoth Jones was broken, and turned +as streams in the south. While the sermon was being preached, Christmas +Evans said, “This Thomas Jones is a monster of a man!” Then the great +revival sprang up,—the ice reign was over; but shortly after, he was +called away to Rhydwilym, in Caermarthenshire. Young as he was, when +John Elias heard of his departure, he said, “The light of the north is +removed.” He died full of years, full of honours, full of love; closing +a life, says one, of quiet beauty, which perhaps has never been +surpassed, at Rhydwilym, in 1850. + +This irruption of Sandemanian thought, as we have said and seen, affected +the spiritual life and earnest usefulness of Christmas Evans. It is well +we should place this passing flower upon the memory of Jones of +Rhydwilym, for he, it seems, broke the spell and dissolved the +enchantment, and bade, in the heart of Christmas Evans, the imprisoned +waters once more to flow forth warm, and rejoicing, in the life and +enthusiasm of love. May we not say, in passing, that some such spell, if +not beneath the same denomination of opinion, holds many hearts in +bondage among the Churches in our time? + +The joy which Christmas Evans felt in his deliverance, realizes something +of the warm words of the poet of the _Messiah_— + + “The swain in barren deserts, with surprise + Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise; + And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds, to hear + New falls of water murmuring in his ear.” + +“I was weary,” he says, referring to this period, “of a cold heart +towards Christ, and His sacrifice, and the work of His Spirit—of a cold +heart in the pulpit, in secret prayer, and in the study. For fifteen +years previously, I had felt my heart burning within, as if going to +Emmaus with Jesus. On a day ever to be remembered by me, as I was going +from Dolgelly to Machynlleth, and climbing up towards Cadair Idris, I +considered it to be incumbent upon me to pray, however hard I felt in my +heart, and however worldly the frame of my spirit was. Having begun in +the name of Jesus, I soon felt, as it were, the fetters loosening, and +the old hardness of heart softening, and, as I thought, mountains of +frost and snow dissolving and melting within me. This engendered +confidence in my soul in the promise of the Holy Ghost. I felt my whole +mind relieved from some great bondage; tears flowed copiously, and I was +constrained to cry out for the gracious visits of God, by restoring to my +soul the joys of His salvation; and that He would visit the Churches in +Anglesea that were under my care. I embraced in my supplications all the +Churches of the saints, and nearly all the ministers in the Principality +by their names. This struggle lasted for three hours; it rose again and +again, like one wave after another, or a high flowing tide, driven by a +strong wind, until my nature became faint by weeping and crying. Thus I +resigned myself to Christ, body and soul, gifts and labours—all my +life—every day, and every hour that remained for me; and all my cares I +committed to Christ. The road was mountainous and lonely, and I was +wholly alone, and suffered no interruption in my wrestlings with God. + +“From this time, I was made to expect the goodness of God to Churches, +and to myself. Thus the Lord delivered me and the people of Anglesea +from being carried away by the flood of Sandemanianism. In the first +religious meetings after this, I felt as if I had been removed from the +cold and sterile regions of spiritual frost, into the verdant fields of +Divine promises. The former striving with God in prayer, and the longing +anxiety for the conversion of sinners, which I had experienced at Lëyn, +were now restored. I had a hold of the promises of God. The result was, +when I returned home, the first thing that arrested my attention was, +that the Spirit was working also in the brethren in Anglesea, inducing in +them a spirit of prayer, especially in two of the deacons, who were +particularly importunate that God would visit us in mercy, and render the +Word of His grace effectual amongst us for the conversion of sinners.” + +And to about this time belongs a most interesting article, preserved +among his papers, “a solemn covenant with God,” made, he says, “under a +deep sense of the evil of his own heart, and in dependence upon the +infinite grace and merit of the Redeemer.” It is a fine illustration of +the spirit and faith of the man in his lonely communions among the +mountains. + + + +Covenant with God. + + + I. I give my soul and body unto Thee, Jesus, the true God, and + everlasting life; deliver me from sin, and from eternal death, and + bring me into life everlasting. Amen.—C. E. + + II. I call the day, the sun, the earth, the trees, the stones, the + bed, the table, and the books, to witness that I come unto Thee, + Redeemer of sinners, that I may obtain rest for my soul from the + thunders of guilt and the dread of eternity. Amen.—C. E. + + III. I do, through confidence in Thy power, earnestly entreat Thee + to take the work into Thine own hand, and give me a circumcised + heart, that I may love Thee; and create in me a right spirit, that I + may seek thy glory. Grant me that principle which Thou wilt own in + the day of judgment, that I may not then assume pale-facedness, and + find myself a hypocrite. Grant me this, for the sake of Thy most + precious blood. Amen.—C. E. + + IV. I entreat Thee, Jesus, the Son of God, in power grant me, for + the sake of Thy agonizing death, a covenant interest in Thy blood + which cleanseth; in Thy righteousness, which justifieth; and in Thy + redemption, which delivereth. I entreat an interest in Thy blood, + for Thy _blood’s_ sake, and a part in Thee, for Thy Name’s sake, + which Thou hast given among men. Amen.—C. E. + + V. O Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, take, for the sake of Thy + cruel death, my time, and strength, and the gifts and talents I + possess; which, with a full purpose of heart, I consecrate to Thy + glory in the building up of Thy Church in the world, for Thou art + worthy of the hearts and talents of all men. Amen.—C. E. + + VI. I desire Thee, my great High Priest, to confirm, by Thy power + from Thy High Court, my usefulness as a preacher, and my piety as a + Christian, as two gardens nigh to each other; that sin may not have + place in my heart to becloud my confidence in Thy righteousness, and + that I may not be left to any foolish act that may occasion my gifts + to wither, and I be rendered useless before my life ends. Keep Thy + gracious eye upon me, and watch over me, O my Lord, and my God for + ever! Amen.—C. E. + + VII. I give myself in a particular manner to Thee, O Jesus Christ + the Saviour, to be preserved from the falls into which many stumble, + that Thy name (in Thy cause) may not be blasphemed or wounded, that + my peace may not be injured, that Thy people may not be grieved, and + that Thine enemies may not be hardened. Amen.—C. E. + + VIII. I come unto Thee, beseeching Thee to be in covenant with me in + my ministry. As Thou didst prosper Bunyan, Vavasor Powell, Howell + Harris, Rowlands, and Whitfield, O do Thou prosper me. Whatsoever + things are opposed to my prosperity, remove them out of the way. + Work in me everything approved of God for the attainment of this. + Give me a heart “sick of love” to Thyself, and to the souls of men. + Grant that I may experience the power of Thy Word before I deliver + it, as Moses felt the power of his own rod, before he saw it on the + land and waters of Egypt. Grant this, for the sake of Thine + infinitely precious blood, O Jesus, my hope, and my all in all. + Amen.—C. E. + + IX. Search me now, and lead me into plain paths of judgment. Let me + discover in this life what I am before Thee, that I may not find + myself of another character when I am shown in the light of the + immortal world, and open my eyes in all the brightness of eternity. + Wash me in Thy redeeming blood. Amen.—C. E. + + X. Grant me strength to depend upon Thee for food and raiment, and + to make known my requests. O let Thy care be over me as a + covenant-privilege betwixt Thee and myself, and not like a general + care to feed the ravens that perish, and clothe the lily that is cast + into the oven; but let Thy care be over me as one of Thy family, as + one of Thine unworthy brethren. Amen.—C. E. + + XI. Grant, O Jesus, and take upon Thyself the preparing of me for + death, for Thou art God; there is no need but for Thee to speak the + word. If possible, Thy will be done; leave me not long in + affliction, nor to die suddenly, without bidding adieu to my + brethren, and let me die in their sight, after a short illness. Let + all things be ordered against the day of removing from one world to + another, that there be no confusion nor disorder, but a quiet + discharge in peace. O grant me this, for the sake of Thine agony in + the garden. Amen.—C. E. + + XII. Grant, O blessed Lord, that nothing may grow and be matured in + me to occasion Thee to cast me off from the service of the sanctuary, + like the sons of Eli; and for the sake of Thine unbounded merit, let + not my days be longer than my usefulness. O let me not be like + lumber in a house in the end of my days, in the way of others to + work. Amen.—C. E. + + XIII. I beseech Thee, O Redeemer, to present these my supplications + before the Father; and oh, inscribe them in Thy Book with Thine own + immortal pen, while I am writing them with my mortal hand in my book + on earth. According to the depths of Thy merit, Thine undiminished + grace, and Thy compassion, and Thy manner unto Thy people, O attach + Thy Name in Thine Upper Court to these unworthy petitions; and set + Thine Amen to them, as I do on my part of the covenant. + Amen.—CHRISTMAS EVANS, _Llangevni_, _Anglesea_, _April_ 10, 18—. + +Is not this an amazing document? It is of this time that he further +writes:—“I felt a sweet peace and tranquillity of soul, like unto a poor +man that had been brought under the protection of the Royal Family, and +had an annual settlement for life made upon him; and from whose dwelling +painful dread of poverty and want had been for ever banished away.” We +have heard of God-intoxicated men; and what language can more +appropriately describe a covenant-engagement so elevated, so astonishing, +and sublime? + +Now, apparently strengthened as by a new spirit, with “might in the inner +man,” he laboured with renewed energy and zeal; and new and singular +blessings descended upon his labours. In two years, his ten preaching +places in Anglesea were increased to twenty, and six hundred converts +were added to the Church under his own immediate care. It seemed as if +the wilderness and the solitary place were glad for him, and the desert +rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. + +Probably, Christmas Evans’s name had been scarcely announced, or read, in +England, until his great Graveyard Sermon was introduced to a company of +friends, by the then celebrated preacher, Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool. As +the story has been related, some persons present had affected contempt +for Welsh preaching. “Listen to me,” said Raffles, “and I will give to +you a specimen of Welsh eloquence.” Upon those present, the effect was, +we suppose, electrical. He was requested to put it in print; and so the +sermon became very extensively known, and has been regarded, by many, as +the preacher’s most astonishing piece. + +To what exact period of Evans’s history it is to be assigned cannot be +very well ascertained, but it is probably nearly sixty years since +Raffles first recited it; so that it belongs, beyond a doubt, to the +early Anglesea days. It was, most likely, prepared as a great bardic or +dramatic chant for some vast Association meeting, and was, no doubt, +repeated several times, for it became very famous. It mingles something +of the life of an old Mystery Play, or Ober-Ammergau performance; but as +to any adequate rendering of it, we apprehend that to be quite +impossible. Raffles was a rhetorician, and famous as his version became, +the good Doctor knew little or nothing of Welsh, nor was the order of his +mind likely very accurately to render either the Welsh picture or the +Welsh accent. His periods were too rounded, the language too fine, and +the pictures too highly coloured. + +It was about the same time that, far away from Anglesea, among the +remote, unheard-of German mountains of Baireuth, a dreamer of a very +different kind was visited by some such vision of the world, regarded as +a great churchyard. Jean Paul Richter’s churchyard, visited by the dead +Christ, was written in Siebinckas, for the purpose of presenting the +misty, starless, cheerless, and spectral outlook of the French atheism, +which was then spreading out, noxious and baleful, over Europe. + +Very different were the two men, their spheres, and their avocations; +overwhelming, solemn, and impressive as is the vision of Jean Paul, it +certainly would have said little to a vast Welsh congregation among the +dark hills. Christmas Evans’s piece is dramatic; his power of +impersonation and colloquy in the pulpit was very great; and the reader +has to conceive all this, while on these colder pages the scenes and the +conversations go on. It appears to have been first preached in a small +dell among the mountains of Carnarvonshire. The spot was exquisitely +romantic; it was a summer’s season, the grass was in its rich green, +brooks were purling round, and the spot hemmed in by jagged crags and the +cliffs of tall mountains; a beautiful spot, but an Englishman spoke of it +as “beauty sleeping on the lap of terror.” + +A preliminary service, of course, went on,—hymns, the sounding of the +slow, plaintive minor melody from thousands of tongues, rising and +loitering, and lingering among the neighbouring acclivities, before they +finally fade off into silence; then there is reading, and prayer, singing +again, and a short sermon before Christmas Evans comes. He has not +attained to the full height of his great national fame as yet; he is +before the people, however, “the one-eyed man of Anglesea,”—the +designation by which he was to be known for many years to come. He +stands six feet high, his face very expressive, but very calm and quiet; +but a great fire was burning within the man. He gave out some verses of +a well-known Welsh hymn, and while it was being sung took out a small +phial from his waistcoat-pocket, wetting the tips of his fingers and +drawing them over his blind eye; it was laudanum, used to deaden the +excruciating pain which upon some occasions possessed him. + +He gave out his text from Romans v. 15: “If through the offence of one +many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is +by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” Naturally, he does +not begin at once, but spends a little time, in clearly-enunciated words, +in announcing two things,—the universal depravity and sinfulness of men, +and the sighing after propitiation. _Mene_! _Tekel_! he says, is +written on every human heart; wanting, wanting, is inscribed on heathen +fanes and altars, on the laws, customs, and institutions of every nation, +and on the universal consciousness of mankind; and bloody sacrifices +among pagan nations show the handwriting of remorse upon the +conscience,—a sense of guilt, and a dread of punishment, and a fear which +hath torment. + +As he goes on the people draw nearer, become more intense in their +earnest listening; they are rising from their seats, their temporary +forms. Some are in carriages; there is a lady leaning on her husband’s +shoulder, he still sitting, she with outstretched neck gazing with +obviously strange emotion at the preacher; some of the people are +beginning to weep. There is an old evangelical clergyman who has always +preached the Gospel, although laughed at by his squire, and quite unknown +by his Bishop; he is rejoicing with a great joy to hear his old loved +truths set forth in such a manner; he is weeping profusely. + +Christmas Evans, meantime, is pursuing his way, lost in his theme. Now +his eye lights up, says one who knew him, like a brilliantly-flashing +star, his clear forehead expands, his form dilates in majestic dignity; +and all that has gone before will be lost in the white-heat passion with +which he prepares to sing of Paradise lost, and Paradise regained. One +of his Welsh critics says: “All the stores of his energy, and the +resources of his voice, which was one of great compass, depth, and +sweetness, seemed reserved for the closing portions of the picture, when +he represented the routed and battered hosts of evil retreating from the +cross, where they anticipated a triumph, and met a signal, and +irretrievable overthrow.” Thus prepared, he presented to his hearers the +picture of + + + +“THE WORLD AS A GRAVEYARD.” + + + “Methinks,” exclaimed the impassioned preacher, “I find myself + standing upon the summit of one of the highest of the everlasting + hills, permitted from thence to take a survey of the whole earth; and + all before me I see a wide and far-spread burial-ground, a graveyard, + over which lie scattered the countless multitudes of the wretched and + perishing children of Adam! The ground is full of hollows, the + yawning caverns of death; and over the whole scene broods a thick + cloud of darkness: no light from above shines upon it, there is no + ray of sun or moon, there is no beam, even of a little candle, seen + through all its borders. It is walled all around, but it has gates, + large and massive, ten thousand times stronger than all the gates of + brass forged among men; they are one and all safely locked,—the hand + of Divine Law has locked them; and so firmly secured are the strong + bolts, that all the created powers even of the heavenly world, were + they to labour to all eternity, could not drive so much as one of + them back. How hopeless is the wretchedness to which the race is + doomed! into what irrecoverable depths of ruin has sin plunged the + people who sit there in darkness, and in the shadow of death, while + there, by the brazen gates, stands the inflexible guard, brandishing + the flaming sword of undeviating Law! + + “But see! In the cool of the day, there is one descending from the + eternal hills in the distance: it is Mercy! the radiant form of + Mercy, seated in the chariot of Divine Promise. She comes through + the worlds of the universe; she pauses here to mark the imprisoned + and grave-like aspect of our once fair world; her eye affected her + heart as she beheld the misery, and heard the cry of despair, borne + upon the four winds of heaven; she could not pass by, nor pass on; + she wept over the melancholy scene, and she said, ‘Oh that I might + enter! I would bind up their wounds, I would relieve their sorrows, + I would save their souls!’ An embassy of angels, commissioned from + Heaven to some other world, paused at the sight; and Heaven forgave + that pause. They saw Mercy standing by the gate, and they cried, + ‘Mercy, canst thou not enter? Canst thou look upon that world and + not pity? Canst thou pity and not relieve?’ And Mercy, in tears, + replied, ‘I can see, and I can pity, but I cannot relieve.’ ‘Why + dost thou not enter?’ inquired the heavenly host. ‘Oh,’ said Mercy, + ‘Law has barred the gate against me, and I must not, and I cannot + unbar it.’ And Law stood there watching the gate, and the angels + asked of him, ‘Why wilt thou not suffer Mercy to enter?’ And he + said, ‘No one can enter here and live;’ and the thunder of his voice + outspoke the wailings within. Then again I heard Mercy cry, ‘Is + there no entrance for me into this field of death? may I not visit + these caverns of the grave; and seek, if it may be, to raise some at + least of these children of destruction, and bring them to the light + of day? Open, Justice, Open! drive back these iron bolts, and let me + in, that I may proclaim the jubilee of redemption to the children of + the dust!’ And then I heard Justice reply, ‘Mercy! surely thou + lovest Justice too well to wish to burst these gates by force of arm, + and thus to obtain entrance by lawless violence. I cannot open the + door: I am not angry with these unhappy, I have no delight in their + death, or in hearing their cries, as they lie upon the burning hearth + of the great fire, kindled by the wrath of God, in the land that is + lower than the grave. But _without shedding of blood there is no + remission_.’ + + “So Mercy expanded her wings, splendid beyond the brightness of the + morning when its rays are seen shooting over mountains of pearl,—and + Mercy renewed her flight amongst the unfallen worlds; she re-ascended + into the mid air, but could not proceed far, because she could not + forget the sad sight of the Graveyard-World, the melancholy prison. + She returned to her native throne in the Heaven of heavens; it was a + glorious high throne, unshaken and untarnished by the fallen fate of + man and angels. Even there she could not forget what she had + witnessed, and wept over, and she weighed the woes of the sad world + against the doom of eternal Law; she could not forget the prison and + the graveyard, and she re-descended with a more rapid and radiant + flight, and she stood again by the gate, but again was denied + admission. And the two stood there together, Justice and Mercy; and + Justice dropped his brandishing sword while they held converse + together; and while they talked, there was silence in heaven. + + “‘Is there then no admission on any terms whatever?’ she said. ‘Ah, + yes,’ said Justice; ‘but then they are terms which no created being + can fulfil. I demand atoning death for the Eternal life of those who + lie in this Graveyard; I demand Divine life for their ransom.’ And + while they were talking, behold there stood by them a third Form, + fairer than the children of men, radiant with the glory of heaven. + He cast a look upon the graveyard. And He said to Mercy, ‘Accept the + terms.’ ‘Where is the security?’ said Justice. ‘Here,’ said Mercy, + pointing to the radiant Stranger, ‘is my bond. Four thousand years + from hence, demand its payment on Calvary. To redeem men,’ said + Mercy, ‘I will be incarnate in the Son of God, I will be the Lamb + slain for the life of this Graveyard World.’ + + “The bond was accepted, and Mercy entered the graveyard leaning on + the arm of Justice. She spoke to the prisoners. Centuries rolled + by. So went on the gathering of the firstfruits in the field of + redemption. Still ages passed away, and at last the clock of + prophecy struck the fulness of time. The bond, which had been + committed to patriarchs and prophets, had to be redeemed; a long + series of rites and ceremonies, sacrifices and oblations, had been + instituted to perpetuate the memory of that solemn deed. + + “At the close of the four thousandth year, when Daniel’s seventy + weeks were accomplished, Justice and Mercy appeared on the hill of + Calvary; angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, principalities + and powers, left their thrones and mansions of glory, and bent over + the battlements of heaven, gazing in mute amazement and breathless + suspense upon the solemn scene. At the foot of Calvary’s hill was + beheld the Son of God. ‘Lo, I come,’ He said; ‘in the bond it is + written of me.’ He appeared without the gates of Jerusalem, crowned + with thorns, and followed by the weeping Church. It was with Him the + hour and the power of darkness; above Him were all the vials of + Divine wrath, and the thunders of the eternal Law; round Him were all + the powers of darkness,—the monsters of the pit, huge, fierce and + relentless, were there; the lions as a great army, gnashing their + teeth ready to tear him in pieces; the unicorns, a countless host, + were rushing onwards to thrust him through; and there were the bulls + of Bashan roaring terribly; the dragons of the pit unfolding + themselves, and shooting out their stings; and dogs, many, all round + the mountain. + + “And He passed through this dense array, an unresisting victim led as + a lamb to the slaughter. He took the bond from the hand of Justice, + and, as He was nailed to the cross, He nailed it to the cross; and + all the hosts of hell, though invisible to man, had formed a ring + around it. The rocks rent, the sun shrank from the scene, as Justice + lifted his right hand to the throne, exclaiming, ‘Fires of heaven, + descend and consume this sacrifice!’ The fires of heaven, animated + with living spirit, answered the call, ‘We come! we come! and, when + we have consumed that victim, we will burn the world.’ They burst, + blazed, devoured; the blood of the victim was fast dropping; the + hosts of hell were shouting, until the humanity of Emmanuel gave up + the ghost. The fire went on burning until the ninth hour of the day, + but when it touched the Deity of the Son of God it expired; Justice + dropped the fiery sword at the foot of the cross; and the Law joined + with the prophets in witnessing to the righteousness which is by + faith in the Son of God, for all had heard the dying Redeemer + exclaim, ‘It is finished!’ The weeping Church heard it, and lifting + up her head cried too, ‘It is finished!’ Attending angels hovering + near heard it, and, winging their flight, they sang, ‘It is + finished!’ The powers of darkness heard the acclamations of the + universe, and hurried away from the scene in death-like feebleness. + He triumphed over them openly. The graves of the old Burial-ground + have been thrown open, and gales of life have blown over the valley + of dry bones, and an exceeding great army has already been sealed to + our God as among the living in Zion; for so the Bond was paid and + eternal redemption secured.” + +This was certainly singular preaching; it reads like a leaf or two from +Klopstock. We may believe that the enjoyment with which it was heard was +rich and great, but we suppose that the taste of our time would regard it +as almost intolerable. Still, there are left among us some who can enjoy +the _Pilgrim’s Progress_, and the _Fairy Queen_, and we do not see how, +in the presence of those pieces, a very arrogant exception can be taken +to this extraordinary sermon. + +A more serious objection, perhaps, will be taken to the nomenclature, the +symbolic language in which the preacher expressed his theology. It +literally represented the theology of Wales at the time when it was +delivered; the theology was stern and awful; the features of God were +those of a stern and inflexible Judge; nature presented few relieving +lights, and man was not regarded as pleasant to look upon. Let the +reader remember all this, and perhaps he will be more tolerant to the +stern outline of this allegory; it is pleasant, now, to know that we have +changed all that, and that everywhere, and all around us, God, and +nature, and man are presented in rose-hued lights, and all conditions of +being are washed by rosy and pacific seas; we see nothing stern or awful +now, either in nature or in grace, in natural or in supernatural things; +Justice has become gentlemanly, and Law, instead of being stern and +terrible, is bland, and graceful, and beautiful as a woman’s smile! + +In Christmas Evans’s day, it was not quite so. As to objections to the +mode of preaching, as in contrast with that style which adopts only the +sustained argument, and the rhetorical climax and relation, we have +already said that Christmas must be tried by quite another standard; we +have already said that he was a bard among preachers, and belonged to a +nation of bards. It was a kind of primeval song, addressed to people of +primeval instincts; but, whatever its merits or demerits may be, it +fairly represents the man and his preaching. It does not, indeed, +reflect the style of the modern mind; but, there are many writers, and +readers at present, who are carrying us back to the mediæval times, and +the monastic preachers of those ages, and among them we find innumerable +pieces of the same order of sustained allegory which we have just quoted +from Christmas Evans. What is it but to say, that the simple mind is +charmed with pictures,—it must have them; and such sermons as abound in +them, have power over it? + +We believe we have rendered this singular passage with such fairness that +the reader may be enabled to form some idea of its splendour. When it +was repeated to Robert Hall, he pronounced it one of the finest +allegories in the language. When Christmas Evans was on a visit to Dr. +Raffles, the Doctor recited to him his own version, and, apparently with +some amazement, said, “Did you actually say all that?” “Oh, yes,” said +Christmas, “I did say all that, but I could never have put it into such +English.” And this we are greatly disposed to regard as impairing the +bold grandeur and strength of the piece; any rendering of it into English +must, as it seems to us, add to its prettiness, and therefore divest it +of its power. + +Probably to the same period of the preacher’s history belongs another +sermon, which has always seemed to us a piece of undoubted greatness. It +is upon the same subject, the Crucifixion of Christ. We should think +that its delivery would, at any time, from such lips as his, produce +equally pathetic emotions. The allegory is not so sustained, but it is +still full of allegorical allusions derived from Scriptural expression. + + + +“THE HIND OF THE MORNING. + + + “It is generally admitted that the twenty-second Psalm has particular + reference to Christ. This is evident from His own appropriation of + the first verse upon the cross: ‘My God! my God! why hast Thou + forsaken Me?’ The title of that Psalm is ‘_Aijeleth Shahar_,’ which + signifies ‘A Hart, or the Hind of the Morning.’ The striking + metaphors which it contains are descriptive of Messiah’s peculiar + sufferings. He is the Hart, or the Hind of the Morning, hunted by + the Black Prince, with his hell-hounds—by Satan, and all his allies. + The ‘dogs,’ the ‘lions,’ the ‘unicorns,’ and the ‘strong bulls of + Bashan,’ with their devouring teeth, and their terrible horns, + pursued Him from Bethlehem to Calvary. They beset Him in the manger, + gnashed upon Him in the garden, and well-nigh tore Him to pieces upon + the cross. And still they persecute Him in His cause, and in the + persons and interests of His people. + + “The faith of the Church anticipated the coming of Christ, ‘like a + roe or a young hart,’ with the dawn of the day promised in Eden; and + we hear her exclaiming in the Canticles—‘The voice of my beloved! + behold, He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the + hills!’ She heard Him announce His advent in the promise, ‘Lo, I + come to do Thy will, O God!’ and with prophetic eye, saw Him leaping + from the mountains of eternity to the mountains of time, and skipping + from hill to hill throughout the land of Palestine, going about doing + good. In the various types and shadows of the law, she beheld Him + ‘standing by the wall, looking forth at the windows, showing Himself + through the lattice;’ and then she sang—‘Until the day break and the + shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like the roe or the + young hart upon the mountains of Bether!’ Bloody sacrifices revealed + Him to her view, going down to the ‘vineyards of red wine;’ whence + she traced Him to the meadows of Gospel ordinances, where ‘He feedeth + among the lilies’—to ‘the gardens of cucumbers,’ and ‘the beds of + spices;’ and then she sang to Him again—‘Make haste’—or, flee + away—‘my beloved! be thou like the roe or the young hart among the + mountains of spices.’ + + “Thus she longed to see Him, first ‘on the mountain of Bether,’ and + then ‘on the mountain of spices.’ On both mountains she saw Him + eighteen hundred years ago, and on both she may still trace the + footsteps of His majesty, and His mercy. The former, He hath tracked + with His own blood, and His path upon the latter is redolent of + frankincense and myrrh. + + “Bether signifies division. This is the craggy mountain of Calvary; + whither the ‘Hind of the Morning’ fled, followed by all the wild + beasts of the forest, and the bloodhounds of hell; summoned to the + pursuit, and urged on, by the prince of perdition; till the victim, + in His agony, sweat great drops of blood—where He was terribly + crushed between the cliffs, and dreadfully mangled by sharp and + ragged rocks—where He was seized by Death, the great Bloodhound of + the bottomless pit—whence He leaped the precipice, without breaking a + bone; and sunk in the dead sea, sunk to its utmost depth, and saw no + corruption. + + “Behold the ‘Hind of the Morning’ on that dreadful mountain! It is + the place of skulls, where Death holds his carnival in companionship + with worms, and hell laughs in the face of heaven. Dark storms are + gathering there—convolving clouds, charged with no common wrath. + Terrors set themselves in battle-array before the Son of God; and + tempests burst upon Him which might sweep all mankind in a moment to + eternal ruin. Hark! hear ye not the subterranean thunder? Feel ye + not the tremor of the mountain? It is the shock of Satan’s + artillery, playing upon the Captain of our Salvation. It is the + explosion of the magazine of vengeance. Lo, the earth is quaking, + the rocks are rending, the graves are opening, the dead are rising, + and all nature stands aghast at the conflict of Divine mercy with the + powers of darkness. One dread convulsion more, one cry of desperate + agony, and Jesus dies—an arrow has entered into His heart. Now leap + the lions, roaring, upon their prey; and the bulls of Bashan are + bellowing; and the dogs of perdition are barking; and the unicorns + toss their horns on high; and the devil, dancing with exultant joy, + clanks his iron chains, and thrusts up his fettered hands in defiance + towards the face of Jehovah! + + “Go a little farther upon the mountain, and you come to ‘a new tomb + hewn out of the rock.’ There lies a dead body. It is the body of + Jesus. His disciples have laid it down in sorrow, and returned, + weeping, to the city. Mary’s heart is broken, Peter’s zeal is + quenched in tears, and John would fain lie down and die in his + Master’s grave. The sepulchre is closed up, and sealed, and a Roman + sentry placed at its entrance. On the morning of the third day, + while it is yet dark, two or three women come to anoint the body. + They are debating about the great stone at the mouth of the cave. + ‘Who shall roll it away?’ says one of them. ‘Pity we did not bring + Peter, or John with us.’ But, arriving, they find the stone already + rolled away, and one sitting upon it, whose countenance is like + lightning, and whose garments are white as the light. The + steel-clad, iron-hearted soldiers lie around him, like men slain in + battle, having swooned with terror. He speaks: ‘Why seek ye the + living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen; He is gone forth + from this cave victoriously.’ + + “It is even so! For there are the shroud, and the napkin, and the + heavenly watchers; and when He awoke, and cast off His grave-clothes, + the earthquake was felt in the city, and jarred the gates of hell. + ‘The Hind of the Morning’ is up earlier than any of His pursuers, + ‘leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills.’ He is + seen first with Mary at the tomb; then with the disciples in + Jerusalem; then with two of them on the way to Emmaus; then going + before His brethren into Galilee; and, finally, leaping upon the top + of Olivet to the hills of Paradise; fleeing away to ‘the mountain of + spices,’ where He shall never more be hunted by the Black Prince and + his hounds. + + “Christ is perfect master of gravitation, and all the laws of nature + are obedient to His will. Once He walked upon the water, as if it + were marble beneath His feet; and now, as He stands blessing His + people, the glorious Form, so recently nailed to the cross, and still + more recently cold in the grave, begins to ascend like ‘the living + creature’ in Ezekiel’s vision, ‘lifted up from the earth,’ till + nearly out of sight; when ‘the chariots of God, even thousands of + angels,’ receive Him, and haste to the celestial city, waking the + thrones of eternity with this jubilant chorus—‘Lift up your heads, O + ye gates! and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors! and the King of + glory shall come in!’ + + “Christ might have rode in a chariot of fire all the way from + Bethlehem to Calvary; but he preferred riding in a chariot of mercy, + whose lining was crimson, and whose ornament the malefactor’s cross. + How rapidly rolled his wheels over the hills and the plains of + Palestine, gathering up everywhere the children of affliction, and + scattering blessings like the beams of the morning! Now we find Him + in Cana of Galilee, turning water into wine; then treading the waves + of the sea, and hushing the roar of the tempest; then delivering the + demoniac of Gadara from the fury of a legion of fiends; then healing + the nobleman’s son at Capernaum; raising the daughter of Jairus, and + the young man of Nain; writing upon the grave of Bethany, ‘I am the + resurrection and the life;’ curing the invalid at the pool of + Bethesda; feeding the five thousand in the wilderness; preaching to + the woman by Jacob’s well, acquitting the adulteress, and shaming her + accusers; and exercising everywhere, in all his travels, the three + offices of Physician, Prophet, and Saviour, as he drove on towards + the place of skulls. + + “Now we see the chariot surrounded with enemies—Herod, and Pilate, + and Caiaphas, and the Roman soldiers, and the populace of Jerusalem, + and thousands of Jews who have come up to keep the Passover, led on + by Judas and the devil. See how they rage and curse, as if they + would tear him from his chariot of mercy! But Jesus maintains his + seat, and holds fast the reins, and drives right on through the angry + crowd, without shooting an arrow, or lifting a spear upon his foes. + For in that chariot the King must ride to Calvary—Calvary must be + consecrated to mercy for ever. He sees the cross planted upon the + brow of the hill, and hastens forward to embrace it. No sacrifice + shall be offered to Justice on this day, but the one sacrifice which + reconciles heaven and earth. None of these children of Belial shall + suffer to-day. The bribed witnesses, and clamorous murderers, shall + be spared—the smiters, the scourgers, the spitters, the + thorn-plaiters, the nail drivers, the head-shakers—for Jesus pleads + on their behalf: ‘Father, forgive them! they know not what they do. + They are ignorant of Thy grace and truth. They are not aware of whom + they are crucifying. Oh, spare them! Let Death know that he shall + have enough to do with _me_ to-day! Let him open all his batteries + upon _me_! _My_ bosom is bare to the stroke. _I_ will gather all + the lances of hell in _my_ heart!’ + + “Still the chariot rushes on, and ‘fiery darts’ are thick and fast, + like a shower of meteors, on Messiah’s head, till He is covered with + wounds, and the blood flows down His garments, and leaves a crimson + track behind Him. As He passes, He casts at the dying malefactor a + glance of benignity, and throws him a passport into Paradise, written + with His own blood; stretches forth His sceptre, and touches the + prison-door of death, and many of the prisoners came forth, and the + tyrant shall never regain his dominion over them; rides triumphant + over thrones and principalities, and crushes beneath his wheels the + last enemy himself, and leaves the memorial of his march engraven on + the rocks of Golgotha! + + “Christ is everywhere in the Scriptures spoken of as a Blessing; and + whether we contemplate His advent, His ministry, His miracles, His + agony, His crucifixion, His interment, His resurrection, or His + ascension, we may truly say, ‘All His paths drop fatness.’ All His + travels were on the road of mercy; and trees are growing up in His + footsteps, whose fruit is delicious food, and ‘whose leaves are for + the healing of the nations.’ He walketh upon the south winds, + causing propitious gales to blow upon the wilderness till songs of + joy awake in the solitary place, and the desert blossoms as the rose. + + “If we will consider what the prophets wrote of the Messiah, in + connection with the evangelical history, we shall be satisfied that + none like Him, either before or since, ever entered our world, or + departed from it. Both God and man—at once the Father of eternity + and the Son of time, He filled the universe, while He was embodied + upon earth, and ruled the celestial principalities and powers, while + He wandered, a persecuted stranger, in Judea. ‘No man,’ saith He, + ‘hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even + the Son of man who is in heaven.’ + + “Heaven was no strange place to Jesus. He talks of the mansions in + His Father’s house as familiarly as one of the royal family would + talk of Windsor Castle where he was born; and saith to His disciples, + ‘I go to prepare a place for you; that where I am there ye may be + also.’ The glory into which He entered was His own glory—the glory + which He had with the Father before the world was. He had an + original and supreme right to the celestial mansions; and He acquired + a new and additional claim by His office as Mediator. Having + suffered for our sins, He ‘ought to enter into His glory.’ He ought, + because He is ‘God, blessed for ever;’ He ought, because He is the + representative of His redeemed people. He has taken possession of + the kingdom in our behalf, and left on record for our encouragement + this cheering promise, ‘To him that overcometh will I grant to sit + with me in my throne; even as I also have overcome, and am set down + with my Father in His throne.’ + + “The departure of God from Eden, and the departure of Christ from the + earth, were two of the sublimest events that ever occurred, and + fraught with immense consequences to our race. When Jehovah went out + from Eden, He left a curse upon the place for man’s sake, and drove + out man before him into an accursed earth. But when Jesus descended + from Olivet, He lifted the curse with Him, and left a blessing behind + Him—sowed the world with the seed of eternal blessings; ‘and instead + of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the briar + shall come up the myrtle-tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a + name, and an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off.’ He + ascended to intercede for sinners, and reopen Paradise to His people; + and when He shall come the second time, according to the promise, + with all His holy angels, then shall we be ‘caught up to meet the + Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’ + + “‘The Lord is gone up with a shout!’ and has taken our redeemed + nature with Him. He is the Head of the Church, and is the + representative at the right hand of the Father. ‘He hath ascended on + high; He hath led captivity captive; He hath received gifts for men; + yea, for the rebellious also, that God may dwell among them.’ ‘Him + hath God exalted, with His own right hand, to be a Prince and a + Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.’ This + is the Father’s recognition of His ‘Beloved Son,’ and significant + acceptance of his sacrifice. ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted + Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name + of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in + the earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should + confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ + + “The evidence of our Lord’s ascension is ample. He ascended in the + presence of many witnesses, who stood gazing after Him till a cloud + received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly + toward heaven, two angels appeared to them, and talked with them of + what they had seen. Soon afterward, on the day of Pentecost, He + fulfilled, in a remarkable manner, the promise which He had made to + His people: ‘If I go away I will send you another Comforter, who + shall abide with you for ever.’ Stephen, the first of His disciples + that glorified the Master by martyrdom, testified to his murderers, + ‘Lo, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the + right hand of God!’ And John, the ‘beloved disciple,’ while an exile + ‘in Patmos, for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ,’ + beheld Him ‘in the midst of the throne, as a Lamb that had been + slain!’ These are the evidences that our Lord is in heaven; these + are our consolations in the house of our pilgrimage. + + “The Apostle speaks of the _necessity_ of this event, ‘Whom the + heaven _must_ receive.’ + + “Divine necessity is a golden chain reaching from eternity to + eternity, and encircling all the events of time. It consists of many + links all hanging upon each other; and not one of them can be broken + without destroying the support of the whole. The first link is in + God, ‘before the world was;’ and the last is in heaven, when the + world shall be no more. Christ is its Alpha, and Omega, and Christ + constitutes all its intervenient links. Christ in the bosom of the + Father, receiving the promise of eternal life, before the foundation + of the world, is the beginning; Christ in His sacrificial blood, + atoning for our sins, and pardoning and sanctifying all them that + believe, is the middle; and Christ in heaven, pleading the merit of + His vicarious sufferings, making intercession for the transgressors, + drawing all men unto Himself, presenting the prayers of His people, + and preparing their mansions, is the end. + + “There is a necessity in all that Christ has done as our Mediator, in + all that He is doing on our behalf, and all that he has engaged to + do—the necessity of Divine love manifested, of Divine mercy + exercised, of Divine purposes accomplished, of Divine covenants + fulfilled, of Divine faithfulness maintained, of Divine justice + satisfied, of Divine holiness vindicated, and of Divine power + displayed. Christ felt this necessity while He tabernacled among us, + often declared it to His disciples, and acknowledged it to the Father + in the agony in the Garden. + + “Behold Him wrestling in prayer, with strong crying and tears: + ‘Father, save me from this hour! If it be possible, let this cup + pass from me!’ Now the Father reads to Him His covenant engagement, + which He signed and sealed with His own hand before the foundation of + the world. The glorious Sufferer replies, ‘Thy will be done! For + this cause came I unto this hour. I will drink the cup which Thou + hast mingled, and not a dreg of any of its ingredients shall be left + for my people. I will pass through the approaching dreadful night, + under the hidings of Thy countenance, bearing away the curse from my + beloved. Henceforth repentance is hidden from my eyes!’ Now, on His + knees, He reads the covenant engagements of the Father, and adds, ‘I + have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished the work which + Thou gavest Me to do. Now glorify Thou Me, according to Thy promise, + with Thine own Self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the + world was. Father, I will also that they whom Thou hast given Me be + with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory. Thine they were, + and Thou hast given them to Me, on condition of My pouring out My + soul unto death. Thou hast promised them, through My righteousness + and meritorious sacrifice, the kingdom of heaven, which I now claim + on their behalf. Father, glorify My people, with Him whom Thou + lovedst before the foundation of the world!’ + + “This intercession of Christ for His saints, begun on earth, is + continued in heaven. This is our confidence and joy in our journey + through the wilderness. We know that our Joshua has gone over into + the land of our inheritance, where He is preparing the place of our + habitation for Israel; for it is His will that all whom He has + redeemed should be with Him for ever! + + “And there is a text which speaks of the period when the great + purposes of our Lord’s ascension shall be fully accomplished: ‘Until + the times of the restitution of all things.’ + + “The period here mentioned is ‘the dispensation of the fulness of + time,’ when ‘the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in,’ and ‘the + dispersed of Judah’ shall be restored, and Christ shall ‘gather + together in Himself all things in heaven and in earth,’ overthrow his + enemies, establish his everlasting kingdom, deliver the groaning + creation from its bondage, glorify His people with Himself, imprison + the devil with his angels in the bottomless pit, and punish with + banishment from His presence them that obey not the Gospel. + + “To this glorious consummation, the great travail of redemption, and + all the events of time, are only preparatory. It was promised in + Eden, and the promise was renewed and enlarged to Abraham, to Isaac, + and to Jacob. It was described in gorgeous oriental imagery by + Isaiah, and ‘the sweet Psalmist of Israel;’ and ‘spoken of by all the + Prophets, since the world began.’ Christ came into the world to + prepare the way for His future triumph—to lay on Calvary the ‘chief + corner-stone’ of a temple, which shall be completed at the end of + time, and endure through all eternity. He began the great + restitution. He redeemed His people with a price, and gave them a + pledge of redemption by power. He made an end of sin, abolished the + Levitical priesthood, and swallowed up all the types and shadows in + Himself. He sent home the beasts, overthrew the altars, and quenched + the holy fire; and, upon the sanctifying altar of His own divinity, + offered His own sinless humanity, which was consumed by fire from + heaven. He removed the seat of government from Mount Zion, in + Jerusalem, to Mount Zion above, where He sits—‘a Priest upon His + throne,’ drawing heaven and earth together, and establishing ‘the + covenant of peace between them both.’ + + “Blessed be God! we can now go to Jesus, the Mediator; passing by + millions of angels, and all ‘the spirits of just men made perfect;’ + till we ‘come to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better + things than that of Abel.’ And we look for that blessed day, when + ‘this gospel of the kingdom’ shall be universally prevalent; ‘and all + shall know the Lord, from the least even to the greatest;’ when there + shall be a ‘new heaven, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth + righteousness;’ when both the political, and the moral aspects of our + world shall be changed; and a happier state of things shall exist + than has ever been known before,—when the pestilence, the famine, and + the sword shall cease to destroy, and ‘the saints of the Most High + shall possess the kingdom’ in ‘quietness, and assurance for ever.’ + Then cometh the end, when Emmanuel ‘shall destroy in this mountain + the veil of the covering cast over all people, and swallow up death + in victory!’” + +Such sermons as we have quoted surely convey a living and distinct idea +of the kind of power which made the man remarkable. It is, from every +aspect, very unlike the preaching to which we are now accustomed, and +which, therefore, finds general favour with us; it is dogmatic in the +last degree; nothing in it is tentative, or hypothetical, yet the +dogmatism is not that of a schoolman, or a casuist; it is the dogmatism +of burning conviction, of a profound and unquestioning faith in the +veracity of New Testament truth, and the corresponding light and +illustration from the Old. In these sermons, and others we shall place +before our readers, there is nothing pretty, no nice metaphysical or +critical analysis, no attempt to carve giants’ heads on cherry-stones. +He realized his office as a preacher, not as one set apart to minister to +intellectual luxury, or vanity, but to stand, announcing eternal truth. +The people to whom he spoke were not _dilettantic_, he was no +_dilettante_. We can quite conceive,—and therefore these remarks,—that +the greater number even of the more eminent men in our modern pulpit will +regard the style of Christmas Evans with contempt. We are only setting +it forth in these pages. Evidently it told marvellously on the +Principality; it “searched Jerusalem with candles;” those who despise it +had better settle the question with Christmas Evans himself, and show the +superiority of their method by their larger ministerial usefulness. + +The worth and value of great preaching and great sermons must depend upon +the measure to which they represent the preacher’s own familiarity with +the truths he touches, and proclaims. The history of the mind of +Christmas Evans is, from this point of view, very interesting. We can +only get at it from the papers found after his death; but they reveal the +story of the life, walk, and triumph of faith in his mind and heart. He +kept no journal; but still we have the record of his communions with God +amongst the mountains,—acts of consecration to God quite remarkable, +which he had thought it well to commit to paper, that he might remind +himself of the engagements he had made. It was after some such season +that he said to a brother minister, “Brother, the doctrine, the +confidence, and strength I feel will make people dance with joy in some +parts of Wales;” and then, as the tears came into his eyes whilst he was +speaking, he said again, “Yes, brother!” + +Little idea can be formed of the Welsh preacher from the life of the +minister in England. The congregations, we have seen, lay wide, and +scattered far apart. Often, in Wales ourselves, we have met the minister +pursuing his way on his horse, or pony, to his next “publication;” very +often, his Bible in his hand, reading it as he slowly jogged along. So +Christmas Evans passed his life, constantly, either on foot or on +horseback, urging his way; sometimes through a country frowning as if +smitten by a blow of desolation, and at others, laughing in loveliness +and beauty; sometimes through the hot summer, when the burning beams +poured from the craggy mountains; sometimes in winter, through the snow +and rain and coldest inclemency, to fulfil his engagements. For the +greater part of his life his income was never more than thirty pounds a +year, and for the first part only about from ten to seventeen. It looks +a wretched sum; but we may remember that Luther’s income was never much +more; and, probably, what seems to us a miserable little income, was very +much further removed from want, and even poverty, than in other, less +primitive, circumstances is often an income of hundreds. Certainly, +Christmas Evans was never in want; always, not only comfortable, but able +even to spare, from his limited means, subscriptions to some of the great +societies of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +_THE MINISTRY IN ANGLESEA_ (_CONTINUED_). + + +Christmas Evans as a Bishop over many Churches—As a Moderator in Public +Meetings—Chapel-building and all its Difficulties to Christmas +Evans—Extensive Travelling for Chapel-debts—Especially in South Wales—The +Cildwrn Cottage again—A Mysterious Life of Poverty but of +Hospitality—Catherine’s Troubles—Story of a Hat—Wayfaring—Insatiability +for Sermons in the Welsh—The Scenery of a Great Sermon—The Demoniac of +Gadara—A Remarkable Illustration of the Varied Method of the Preacher—A +Series of Illustrations of his Power of Allegoric Painting—The Four +Methods of Preaching—The Seeking of the Young Child—Satan walking in Dry +Places—Christmas Evans in Another Light—Lengthy Letter to a Young +Minister—Contributions to Magazines—To be accursed from Christ—Dark Days +of Persecution—Threatened with Law for a Chapel Debt—Darker Days—Loss of +his Wife—Other Troubles—Determines to leave Anglesea. + +The few glimpses we are able to obtain of the life and ministry in +Anglesea, assure us of the supreme influence obtained by Christmas Evans, +as was natural, over all the Churches of his order throughout that +region. And in a small way, in a circle far removed from the noise of +ideas, and the crowds and agitations of the great world, incessant +activity was imposed upon him,—so many Societies under his care, so many +meeting-houses to be erected, and funds to be procured for their +erection, so many cases of Church discipline, so many co-pastors +appointed, and set apart to work with him—who, however, were men mostly +in business, had their own domestic affairs to manage, and for all the +help they could give, needed helping and guidance; who had to receive +instructions from him as to what they were to do, and whither they were +to go,—so that, in fact, he was here, in Anglesea, a pastor of pastors, a +bishop, if ever any pastor deserved that designation; an overseer of many +Churches, and of many ministers. And hence, as a matter of course, in +all ministerial meetings, and other smaller gatherings, he was usually at +once not merely the nominal president, but the presiding spirit. + +Rhys Stephen suggests a good many ludicrous aspects to the monthly +meetings, and other such gatherings; indeed, they were of a very +primitive description, and illustrative of what we should call a very +rude, and unconventional state of society. Order was maintained, +apparently, very much after the patriarchal or patristic fashion. All +the preachers he called by their Christian names, and he would certainly +have wondered what stranger happened to be in the place had any one +addressed him as Mr. Evans; “Christmas Evans,” before his face and behind +his back, was the name by which he was known not only throughout all +Anglesea, but, by-and-by, throughout the entire Principality. + +Affectionate familiarity sometimes pays the penalty in diminished +reverence, and in a subtraction from the respect due to a higher gift or +superior position. Christmas appears to have been equal to this dilemma, +and to have sustained with great natural dignity the post of Moderator, +without surrendering his claim upon the affection of his colleagues. In +such a meeting, some humble brother would rise to speak a second time, +and, perhaps, not very pointedly, to the question; then the Moderator in +the pulpit, gathering up his brows, would suddenly cut across the speaker +with, “William, my boy, you have spoken before: have done with it;” or, +“Richard, _bach_, you have forgotten the question before the meeting: +hold your tongue.” + +On one occasion, a minister from South Wales, although a native of +Anglesea, happening to be present, and rising evidently with the +intention of speaking, Christmas, who suffered no intrusion from the +south into their northern organizations, instantly nipped the flowers of +oratory by crying out, “Sit down, David, sit down.” + +Such instances as these must seem very strange, even _outré_, to our +temper, taste, and ideas of public meetings; but they furnish a very +distinct idea of time, place, and circumstances, and give a not +altogether unbeautiful picture of a state of society when, if politeness +and culture had not attained their present eminence, there was a good +deal of light and sweetness, however offensive it might seem to our +intellectual Rimmels and Edisons. + +Perhaps in every truly great and apostolic preacher, the preaching power, +although before men the most conspicuous, is really the smallest part of +the preacher’s labour, and presents the fewest claims for homage and +honour. We have very little, and know very little, of the Apostle Paul’s +sermons and great orations, mighty as they unquestionably were; he lives +to us most in his letters, in his life, and its many martyrdoms. Ah, we +fancy, if Christmas Evans had but to preach, to stay at home and minister +to his one congregation, what a serene and quiet life it would have been, +and how happy in the humble obscurity of his Cildwrn cottage! + +But all his life in Anglesea seems to have been worried with +chapel-debts. Chapels rose,—it was necessary that they should rise; +people in scattered villages thronged to hear the Word; many hundreds +appear to have crowded into Church fellowship, chapels had to be +multiplied and enlarged; but, so far as we are able to read his +biography, Christmas appears to have been the only person on whom was +laid the burden of paying for them. Certainly he had no money: his +wealth was in his eloquence, and his fame; and the island of Anglesea +appears to have been by no means indisposed to lay these under +contribution. A chapel had to be raised, and Christmas Evans was the +name upon which the money was very cheerfully lent for its erection; but +by-and-by the interest pressed, or the debt had to be paid: what could be +done then? He must go forth into the south, and beg from richer +Churches, and from brethren who, with none of his gifts of genius or of +holiness, occupied the higher places in the sanctuary. + +Our heart is very much melted while we read of all the toils he +accomplished in this way. Where were his sermons composed? Not so much +in his lowly cottage home as in the long, lonely, toilsome travels on his +horse through wild and unfrequented regions, where, throughout the long +day’s journey, he perhaps, sometimes, never met a traveller on the +solitary road. For many years, it is said, he went twice from his +northern bishopric to the south, once to the great Association, wherever +that might be, and where, of course, he was expected as the chief and +most attractive star, but once also with some chapel case, a journey +which always had to be undertaken in the winter, and which was always a +painful journey. Let us think of him with affection as we see him +wending on, he and his friendly horse, through wild snows, and rains, and +bleak storms of mountain wind. + +Scarcely do we need to say he had a highly nervous temperament. The dear +man had a very capricious appetite, but who ever thought of that? He was +thrown upon himself; but the testimony is that he was a man utterly +regardless of his own health, ridiculously inattentive to his dress, and +to all his travelling arrangements. These journeys with his chapel case +would usually take some six weeks, or two months. It was no dainty tour +in a railway train, with first-class travelling expenses paid for the +best carriage, or the best hotel. + +A man who was something like Christmas Evans, though still at an infinite +remove from him in the grandeur of his genius, a great preacher, William +Dawson—Billy Dawson, as he is still familiarly called—used to say, that +in the course of his ministry he found himself in places where he was +sometimes treated like a bishop, and sometimes like an apostle; sometimes +a great man would receive, and make a great dinner for him, and invite +celebrities to meet him, and give him the best entertainment, the best +room in a large, well-furnished house, where a warm fire shed a glow over +the apartment, and where he slept on a bed of down,—and this was what he +called being entertained like a bishop; but in other places he would be +received in a very humble home, coarse fare on the table, a mug of ale, a +piece of oatmeal cake, perhaps a slice of meat, a poor, unfurnished +chamber, a coarse bed, a cold room,—and this was what he called being +entertained like an apostle. + +We may be very sure that the apostolic entertainment was that which +usually awaited Christmas Evans at the close of his long day’s journey. +Not to be looked upon with contempt either,—hearty and free; and, +perhaps, the conversation in the intervals between the puff of the pipe +was what we should rather relish, than the more timorous and equable flow +of speech in the finer mansion. This is certain, however, that the +entertainment of Christmas Evans, in most of his excursions, would be of +the coarsest kind. + +And this was far from the worst of his afflictions; there were, in that +day, persons of an order of character, unknown to our happier, more +Christian, and enlightened times,—pert and conceited brethren, unworthy +to unloose the latchet of the great man’s shoes, but who fancied +themselves far above him, from their leading a town life, and being +pastors over wealthier Churches. Well, they have gone, and we are not +writing their lives, for they never had a life to write, only they were +often annoying flies which teased the poor traveller on his way. On most +of these he took his revenge, by fastening upon them some _sobriquet_, +which he fetched out of that imaginative store-house of his,—from the +closets of compound epithet; these often stuck like a burr to the coat of +the character, and proved to be perhaps the best passport to its owner’s +notoriety through the Principality. Further than this, we need not +suppose they troubled the great man much; uncomplainingly he went on, for +he loved his Master, and he loved his work. He only remembered that a +certain sum must be found by such a day to pay off a certain portion of a +chapel-debt; he had to meet the emergency, and he could only meet it by +obtaining help from his brethren. + +In this way he travelled from North to South Wales forty times; he +preached always once every day in the week, and twice on the Lord’s Day. +Of course, the congregations everywhere welcomed him; the collections +usually would be but very small; ministers and officers, more usually, as +far as was possible, somewhat resented these calls, as too frequent and +irregular. He preached one of his own glorious sermons, and then—does it +not seem shocking to us to know, that he usually stood at the door, as it +were, hat in hand, to receive such contributions as the friends might +give to him? And he did this for many years, until, at last, his +frequent indisposition, in consequence of this severity of service, +compelled him to ask some friend to take his place at the door; but in +doing this he always apologised for his delegation of service to another, +lest it should seem that he had treated with inattention and disrespect +those who had contributed to him of their love and kindness. + +And so a number of the Welsh Baptist chapels, in Anglesea and North +Wales, rose. There was frequently a loud outcry among the ministers of +the south, that he came too often; and certainly it was only the +marvellous attractions of the preacher which saved him from the indignity +of a refusal. His reply was always ready: “What can I do? the people +crowd to hear us; it is our duty to accommodate them as well as we can; +all we have we give; to you much is given, you can give much; it is more +blessed to give than receive,” etc., etc. Then sometimes came more +plaintive words; and so he won his way into the pulpit, and, once there, +it was not difficult to win his way to the people’s hearts. It was what +we suppose may be called the age of chapel cases. How many of our +chapels in England have been erected by the humiliating travels of poor +ministers? + +Christmas Evans was saved from one greater indignity yet, the +encountering the proud rich man, insolent, haughty, and arrogant. It is +not a beautiful chapter in the history of voluntaryism. In the course of +these excursions, he usually succeeded in accomplishing the purpose for +which he set forth; probably the contributions were generally very small; +but then, on many occasions, the preacher had so succeeded in putting +himself on good terms with all his hearers that most of them gave +something. + +It is said that on one occasion not a single person passed by without +contributing something: surely a most unusual circumstance, but it was +the result of a manœuvre. It was in an obscure district, just then +especially remarkable for sheep-stealing; indeed, it was quite notorious. +The preacher was aware of this circumstance, and, when he stood up in the +immense crowd to urge the people to liberality, he spoke of this crime of +the neighbourhood; he supposed that amidst that large multitude it was +impossible but that some of those sheep-stealers would be present: he +addressed them solemnly, and implored them, if present, not to give +anything to the collection about to be made. It was indeed a feat rather +worthy of Rowland Hill than illustrative of Christmas Evans, but so it +was; those who had no money upon them borrowed from those who had, and it +is said that, upon that occasion, not a single person permitted himself +to pass out without a contribution. + +The good man, however, often felt that a burden was laid upon him, which +scarcely belonged to the work to which he regarded himself as especially +set apart. Perhaps he might have paraphrased the words of the Apostle, +and said, “The Lord sent me not to attend to the affairs of your +chapel-debts, but to preach the gospel.” There is not only pathos, but +truth in the following words; he says, “I humbly think that no +missionaries in India, or any other country, have had to bear such a +burden as I have borne, because of chapel-debts, and _they_ have not had +besides to provide for their own support, as I have had to do through all +my life in Anglesea; London committees have cared for _them_, while I, +for many years, received but seventeen pounds per annum for all my +services. The other preachers were young, and inexperienced, and the +members threw all the responsibility upon me, as children do upon a +father; my anxiety often moved me in the depths of the night to cry out +unto God to preserve His cause from shame. God’s promises to sustain His +cause in the world greatly comforted me. I would search for the Divine +promises to this effect, and plead them in prayer, until I felt as +confident as if every farthing had been paid. I laboured hard to +institute weekly penny offerings, but was not very successful; and after +every effort there remained large sums unpaid in connection with some of +the chapels which had been built without my consent.” + +Poor Christmas! As we read of him he excites our wonder. + + “Passing rich with forty pounds a year.” + +looks like positive wealth as compared with the emoluments of our poor +preacher; and yet the record is that he was given to hospitality, and he +contributed his sovereign, and half-sovereign, not only occasionally, but +annually, where his richer neighbours satisfied their consciences with +far inferior bequests. How did the man do it? He had not married a rich +wife, and he did not, as many of his brethren, eke out his income by some +farm, or secular pursuit; a very common, and a very necessary thing to +do, we should say, in Wales. + +But, no doubt, Catherine had much to do with his unburdened life of +domestic quiet; perhaps,—it does not appear, but it seems probable—she +had some little money of her own; she had what to her husband was +incomparably more valuable, a clear practical mind, rich in faith, but a +calm, quiet, household faith. Lonely indeed her life must often have +been in the solitary cottage, into which, assuredly, nothing in the shape +of a luxury ever intruded itself. It has been called, by a Welshman, a +curious anomaly in Welsh life, the insatiable appetite for sermons, and +the singular, even marvellous, disregard for the temporal comforts of the +preacher. Christmas, it seems to us, was able to bear much very +unrepiningly, but sometimes his righteous soul was vexed. Upon one +occasion, when, after preaching from home, he not only received less for +his expenses than he naturally expected, but even less than an ordinary +itinerant fee, an old dame remarked to him, “Well, Christmas, _bach_, you +have given us a wonderful sermon, and I hope you will be paid at the +resurrection,” “Yes, yes, _shan fach_,” said the preacher, “no doubt of +that, but what am I to do till I get there? And there’s the old white +mare that carries me, what will she do? for her there will be no +resurrection.” + +Decidedly the Welsh of that day seemed to think that it was essential to +the preservation of the purity of the Gospel that their ministers should +be kept low. Mr. D. M. Evans, in his Life of Christmas Evans, gives us +the anecdote of a worthy and popular minister of this time, who was in +the receipt of exactly twenty pounds a year; he received an invitation +from another Church, offering him three pounds ten a month. This +miserable lover of filthy lucre, like another Demas, was tempted by the +dazzling offer, and intimated his serious intention of accepting “the +call.” There was a great commotion in the neighbourhood, where the poor +man was exceedingly beloved; many of his people remonstrated with him on +the sad exhibition he was giving of a guilty love of money; and, after +much consideration, the leading deacon was appointed as a deputation to +wait upon him, and to inform him, that rather than suffer the loss of his +removal on account of money considerations, they had agreed to advance +his salary to twenty guineas, or twenty-one pounds! Overcome by such an +expression of his people’s attachment, says Mr. Evans, he repented of his +incontinent love of money, and stayed. + +A strange part-glimpse all this seems to give of Welsh clerical life, not +calculated either to kindle, or to keep in a minister’s mind, the +essential sense of self-respect. The brothers of La Trappe, St. Francis +and his preaching friars, do not seem to us a more humiliated tribe than +Christmas and his itinerating “little _brethren_ of the poor.” We +suppose that sometimes a farmer would send a cheese, and another a few +pounds of butter, and another a flitch of bacon; and, perhaps, +occasionally, in the course of his travels,—we do not know of any such +instances, we only suppose it possible, and probable,—some rich man, +after an eloquent sermon, would graciously patronize the illustrious +preacher, by pressing a real golden sovereign into the apostle’s hand. + +One wonders how clothes were provided. William Huntingdon’s “Bank of +Faith” seems to us, in comparison with that of Christmas Evans, like the +faith of a man who wakes every morning to the sense of the possession of +a million sterling at his banker’s,—in comparison with _his_ faith, who +rises sensible that, from day to day, he has to live as on the assurance, +and confidence of a child. + +Certainly, Wales did not contain at that time a more unselfish, and +divinely thoughtless creature than this Christmas Evans; and then he had +no children. A man without children, without a child, can afford to be +more careless and indifferent to the world’s gold and gear. The coat, no +doubt, often got very shabby, and the mothers of Israel in Anglesea, let +us hope, sometimes gathered together, and thought of pleasant surprises +in the way of improving the personal appearance of their pastor; but +indeed the man was ridiculous in his disregard to all the circumstances +of dress and adornment. Once, when he was about to set forth on a +preaching tour, Catherine had found her mind greatly exercised concerning +her husband’s hat, and, with some difficulty, she had succeeded in +equipping that noble head of his with a new one. But upon the journey +there came a time when his horse needed to drink; at last he came to a +clear, and pleasant pond, or brook, but he was at a loss for a pail; now +what was to be done? Happy thought, equal to any of those of Mr. +Barnand! he took the hat from off his head, and filled it with water for +poor old Lemon. When he returned home, Catherine was amazed at the +deterioration of the headgear, and he related to her the story. A man +like this would not be likely to be greatly troubled by any defections in +personal adornment. + +Wordsworth has chanted, in well-remembered lines, the name and fame of +him, whom he designates, for his life of probity, purity, and +poverty,—united in the pastoral office, in his mountain chapel in +Westmoreland,—Wonderful Robert Walker. Far be it from us to attempt to +detract from the well-won honours of the holy Westmoreland pastor; but, +assuredly, as we think of Christmas Evans, he too seems to us even far +more wonderful; for there was laid upon him, not merely the thought for +his own pulpit and his own family, but the care of all the Churches in +his neighbourhood. + +And so the end is, that during these years we have to follow him through +mountain villages, in which the silence and desolation greet him, like +that he might have found in old Castile, or La Mancha,—through spots +where ruined old castles and monasteries were turned into barns, and hay +and straw stowed away within walls, once devoted either to gorgeous +festivity or idolatry,—through wild and beautiful scenes; narrow glen and +ravine, down which mountain torrents roared and foamed,—through wild +mountain gorges, far, in his day, from the noise and traffic of +towns,—although in such spots Mr. Borrow found the dark hills strangely +ablaze with furnaces, seeming to that strange traveller, so he said, +queerly enough, “like a Sabbath in hell, and devils proceeding to +afternoon worship,”—past simple, and unadorned, and spireless churches, +hallowed by the prayers of many generations; and through churchyards in +which rests the dust of the venerable dead. We can see him coming to the +lonely Methodist chapel, rising like a Shiloh, bearing the ark, like a +lighthouse among the high hills—strolling into a solitary cottage as he +passes, and finding some ancient woman, in her comfortable kitchen, over +her Welsh Bible, and concordance, neither an unpleasant nor an unusual +sight;—never happier, we will be bold to say, than when, keeping his own +company, he traverses and travels these lone and solitary roads and +mountain by-paths, not only through the long day, but far into the night, +sometimes by the bright clear moonlight, among the mountains, and +sometimes through the “villain mists,” their large sheets rolling up the +mountain sides bushes and trees seen indistinctly like goblins and elves, +till— + + “In every hollow dingle stood, + Of wry-mouth fiends a wrathful brood.” + +So we think of him pressing on his way; no doubt often drenched to the +skin, although uninjured in body; sometimes through scenes novel and +grand, where the mountain looks sad with some ruin on its brow, as +beneath Cader Idris (the chair or throne of Idris), where the meditative +wanderer might conceive he saw some old king, unfortunate and melancholy, +but a king still, with the look of a king, and the ancestral crown on his +forehead. + +We may be sure he came where corpse-candles glittered, unquenched by +nineteenth-century ideas, along the road; for those travelling times were +much nearer to the days of Twm ór Nant, who, when he kept turnpike, was +constantly troubled by hearses, and mourning coaches, and funeral +processions on foot passing through his gate. Through lonely places and +alder swamps, where nothing would be heard but the murmuring of waters, +and the wind rushing down the gullies,—sometimes falling in with a pious +and sympathetic traveller, a lonely creature, “Sorry to say, Good-bye, +thank you for your conversation; I haven’t heard such a treat of talk for +many a weary day.” Often, passing through scenes where the sweet voice +of village bells mingled with the low rush of the river; and sometimes +where the rocks rolled back the echoes like a pack of dogs sweeping down +the hills. “Hark to the dogs!” exclaimed a companion to Mr. Borrow once. +“This pass is called _Nant yr ieuanc gwn_, the pass of the young dogs; +because, when one shouts, it answers with a noise resembling the crying +of hounds.” + +What honour was paid to the name and memory of the earnest-hearted and +intrepid Felix Neff, the pastor of the Higher Alps; but does not the +reader, familiar with the life of that holy man, perceive much +resemblance in the work, the endurance, and the scenery of the toil, to +that of Christmas Evans? May he not be called the pastor of our English +Engadine? + +All such lives have their grand compensations; doubtless this man had +his, and _great_ compensations too; perhaps, among the minor ones, we may +mention his ardent reception at the great Association gatherings. At +these his name created great expectations; there he met crowds of +brethren and friends, from the remote parts of the Principality, by whom +he was at once honoured and loved. We may conceive such an occasion; the +“one-eyed man of Anglesea” has now been for many years at the very height +of his popularity; his name is now the greatest in his denomination; this +will be one of his great occasions, and his coming has been expected for +many weeks. No expectation hanging upon the appearance of Jenny Lind, or +Christine Nielson, or Sims Reeves, on some great musical festivity, can +reach, in our imagination, the expectations of these poor, simple +villagers as they think of the delight they will experience in listening +to their wonderful and well-loved prophet. + +So, along all the roads, there presses an untiring crowd, showing that +something unusual is going on somewhere. The roads are all picturesque +and lively with all sorts of people, on foot, on horseback, in old farm +carts, and even in carriages; all wending their way to the largest and +most central chapel of the neighbourhood. It is the chief service. It +is a Sabbath evening; the congregation is wedged together in the spacious +house of God; it becomes almost insupportable, but the Welsh like it. +The service has not commenced, and a cry is already raised that it had +better be held in an adjoining field; but it is said this would be +inconvenient. The doors, the windows, are all thrown open; and so the +time goes on, and the hour for the commencement of the service arrives. +All eyes are strained as the door opens beneath the pulpit, and the +minister of the congregation comes in, and makes his way, as well as he +can, for himself and his friend, the great preacher—there he is! that +tall, commanding figure,—that is he, the “one-eyed man of Anglesea.” + +A murmur of joy, whisperings of glad congratulation, which almost want to +burst into acclamations, pass over the multitude. And the service +commences with prayer, singing, reading a chapter, and a short sermon,—a +very short one, only twenty minutes. There are crowds of preachers +sitting beneath the pulpit, but they, and all, have come to hear the +mighty minstrel—and the moment is here. A few more verses of a hymn, +during which there is no little commotion, in order that there may be +none by-and-bye, those who have been long standing changing places with +those who had been sitting. There, he is up! he is before the people! +And in some such circumstances he seems to have first sung that wonderful +song or sermon, + + + +THE DEMONIAC OF GADARA. + + +The text he announced was—“_Jesus said unto him_, _Go home unto thy +friends_, _and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee_, +_and hath had compassion on thee_.” + +The introduction was very simple and brief; but, before long, the +preacher broke loose from all relations of mere comment and explanation, +and seemed to revel in dramatic scenery, and pictorial imagination, and, +as was so usual with him in such descriptions, increasing, heightening, +and intensifying the picture, by making each picture, each scene, to live +even in the kind of enchantment of a present demoniacal possession. He +began by describing the demoniac as a castle garrisoned with a legion of +fiends, towards which the great Conqueror was approaching over the Sea of +Tiberias, the winds hushing at His word, the sea growing calm at His +bidding. Already He had acquired among the devils a terrible fame, and +His name shook the garrison of the entire man, and the infernal legion +within, with confusion and horror. + + “I imagine,” he said, “that this demoniac was not only an object of + pity, but he was really a terror to the country. So terrific was his + appearance, so dreadful and hideous his screams, so formidable, + frightful, and horrid his wild career, that all the women in that + region were so much alarmed that none of them dared go to market, + lest he should leap upon them like a panther on his prey. + + “And what made him still more terrible was the place of his abode. + It was not in a city, where some attention might be paid to order and + decorum (though he would sometimes ramble into the city, as in this + case). It was not in a town, or village, or any house whatever, + where assistance might be obtained in case of necessity; but it was + among the tombs, and in the wilderness—not far, however, from the + turnpike road. No one could tell but that he might leap at them, + like a wild beast, and scare them to death. The gloominess of the + place made it more awful and solemn. It was among the tombs—where, + in the opinion of some, all witches, corpse-candles, and hobgoblins + abide. + + “One day, however, Mary was determined that no such nuisance should + be suffered in the country of the Gadarenes. The man must be + clothed, though he was mad and crazy. And if he should at any future + time strip himself, tie up his clothes in a bundle, throw them into + the river, and tell them to go to see Abraham, he must be tied and + taken care of. Well, this was all right; no sooner said than done. + But, so soon as the fellow was bound, although even in chains and + fetters, Samson-like he broke the bands asunder, and could not be + tamed. + + “By this time, the devil became offended with the Gadarenes, and, in + a pout, he took the demoniac away, and drove him into the wilderness. + He thought the Gadarenes had no business to interfere, and meddle + with his property; for he had possession of the man. And he knew + that ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’ It is probable + that he wanted to send him home; for there was no knowing what might + happen now-a-days. But there was too much matter about him to send + him as he was; therefore, he thought the best plan would be to + persuade him to commit suicide by cutting his throat. But here Satan + was at a nonplus—his rope was too short. He could not turn + executioner himself, as that would not have answered the design he + has in view, when he wants people to commit suicide; for the act + would have been his own sin, and not the man’s. The poor demoniac, + therefore, must go about to hunt for a sharp stone, or anything that + he could get. He might have been in search of such an article, when + he returned from the wilderness into the city, whence he came, when + he met the Son of God. + + “Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. And when + he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud + voice said, ‘What have I to do with thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God most + high? I beseech Thee, torment me not.’ + + “Here is the devil’s confession of faith. The devils believe and + tremble, while men make a mock of sin, and sport on the brink of + eternal ruin. To many of the human race, Christ appears as a root + out of dry ground. They see in Him neither form nor comeliness, and + there is no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. Some said He + was the carpenter’s son, and would not believe in Him; others said He + had a devil, and that it was through Beelzebub, the chief of the + devils, that He cast out devils: some cried out, ‘Let Him be + crucified;’ and others said, ‘Let His blood be on us and on our + children.’ As the Jews would not have Him to reign over them, so + many, who call themselves Christians, say that He is a mere man; as + such, He has no right to rule over their consciences, and demand + their obedience, adoration, and praise. But the devils know + better—they say, Jesus is the Son of God most high. + + “Many of the children of the devil, whose work they do, differ very + widely from their father in their sentiments respecting the person of + Christ. + + “Jesus commanded the legion of unclean spirits to come out of the + man. They knew that out they must go. But they were like + Irishmen—very unwilling to return to their own country. They would + rather go into hogs’ skins than to their own country. And He + suffered them to go into the herd of swine. Methinks that one of the + men who fed the hogs, kept a better look out than the rest of them + and said, ‘What ails the hogs? Look sharp there, boys—keep them + in—make good use of your whips! Why don’t you run? Why, I declare, + one of them has gone over the cliff! There, there, Morgan, goes + another! Drive them back, Tom.’ Never was there such a running, and + whipping, and hallooing; but down go the hogs, before they are aware + of it. + + “One of them said, ‘They are all gone!’ + + “‘No, sure not all gone into the sea!’ + + “‘Yes, every one of them, the _black hog_ and all. They are all + drowned! the devil is in them! What shall we do now? What can we + say to the owners?’ + + “‘What can we say?’ said another; ‘we must tell the truth—that is all + about it. We did our best—all that was in our power. What could any + man do more?’ + + “So they went their way to the city, to tell the masters what had + happened. + + “‘John, where are you going?’ exclaimed one of the masters. + + “‘Sir, did you know the demoniac that was among the tombs there?’ + + “‘Demoniac among the tombs! Where did you leave the hogs?’ + + “‘That madman, sir—’ + + “‘Madman! Why do you come home without the hogs?’ + + “‘That wild and furious man, sir, that mistress was afraid of so + much—’ + + “‘Why, John, I ask you a plain and simple question—why don’t you + answer me? Where are the hogs?’ + + “‘That man who was possessed with the devils, sir—’ + + “‘Why, sure enough, you are crazy! You look wild! Tell me your + story, if you can, let it be what it may.’ + + “‘Jesus Christ, sir, has cast the unclean spirits out of the + demoniac; they are gone into the swine; and they are all drowned in + the sea; for I saw the tail of the last one!’ + + “The Gadarenes went out to see what was done, and finding that it was + even so, they were afraid, and besought Jesus to depart from them. + + “How awful must be the condition of those men who love the things of + this world more than Jesus Christ. + + “The man out of whom the unclean spirits were cast, besought Jesus + that he might be with Him. But He told him to return to his own + house, and show how great things God had done unto him. And he went + his way, and published, throughout the whole city of Decapolis, how + great things Jesus had done unto him. The act of Jesus casting so + many devils out of him, was sufficient to persuade him that Jesus was + God as well as man. + + “I imagine I see him going through the city, crying—‘Oh yes! Oh yes! + Oh yes! please to take notice of me, the demoniac among the tombs. I + am the man who was a terror to the people of this place—that wild + man, who would wear no clothes, and that no man could bind. Here am + I now, in my right mind. Jesus Christ, the Friend of sinners, had + compassion on me. He remembered me when I was in my low estate—when + there was no eye to pity, and no hand to save. He cast out the + devils and redeemed my soul from destruction.’ + + “Most wonderful must have been the surprise of the people, to hear + such proclamation. The ladies running to the windows, the shoemakers + throwing their lasts one way, and their awls another, running out to + meet him and to converse with him, that they might be positive that + there was no imposition, and found it to be a fact that could not be + contradicted. ‘Oh, the wonder of all wonders! Never was there such + a thing,’ must, I think, have been the general conversation. + + “And while they were talking, and everybody having something to say, + homeward goes the man. As soon as he comes in sight of the house, I + imagine I see one of the children running in, and crying, ‘Oh, + mother! father is coming—he will kill us all!’ + + “‘Children, come all into the house,’ says the mother. ‘Let us + fasten the doors. I think there is no sorrow like my sorrow!’ says + the broken-hearted woman. ‘Are all the windows fastened, children?’ + + “‘Yes, mother.’ + + “‘Mary, my dear, come from the window—don’t be standing there.’ + + “‘Why, mother, I can hardly believe it is father! That man is well + dressed.’ + + “‘Oh yes, my dear children, it is your own father. I knew him by his + walk, the moment I saw him.’ + + “Another child stepping to the window, says, ‘Why, mother, I never + saw father coming home as he comes to-day. He walks on the footpath, + and turns round the corner of the fence. He used to come towards the + house as straight as a line, over fences, ditches, and hedges; and I + never saw him walk as slowly as he does now.’ + + “In a few moments, however, he arrives at the door of the house, to + the great terror and consternation of all the inmates. He gently + tries the door, and finds no admittance. He pauses a moment, steps + towards the window, and says in a low, firm, and melodious voice, ‘My + dear wife, if you will let me in, there is no danger. I will not + hurt you. I bring you glad tidings of great joy.’ The door is + reluctantly opened, as it were between joy and fear. Having + deliberately seated himself, he says: ‘I am come to show you what + great things God has done for me. He loved me with an everlasting + love. He redeemed me from the curse of the law, and the threatenings + of vindictive justice. He saved me from the power and dominion of + sin. He cast the devils out of my heart, and made that heart, which + was a den of thieves, the temple of the Holy Spirit. I cannot tell + you how much I love my Saviour. Jesus Christ is the foundation of my + hope, the object of my faith, and the centre of my affections. I can + venture my immortal soul upon Him. He is my best friend. He is + altogether lovely—the chief among ten thousand. He is my wisdom, + righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. There is enough in + Him to make a poor sinner rich, and a miserable sinner happy. His + flesh and blood is my food,—His righteousness my wedding garment, and + His blood is efficacious to cleanse me from all my sins. Through Him + I can obtain eternal life; for He is the brightness of the Father’s + glory, and the express image of His Person: in whom dwelleth all the + fulness of the Godhead bodily. He deserves my highest esteem, and my + warmest gratitude. Unto Him who loved me with an eternal love, and + washed me in His own blood, unto Him be the glory, dominion, and + power, for ever and ever! For He has rescued my soul from hell. He + plucked me as a brand from the burning. He took me out of the miry + clay, and out of a horrible pit. He set my feet upon a rock, and + established my goings, and put in my mouth a new song of praise, and + glory to Him! Glory to Him for ever! Glory to God in the highest! + Glory to God for ever and ever! Let the whole earth praise Him! + Yea, let all the people praise Him!’ How sweet was all this, the + transporting joy of his wife! + + “It is beyond the power of the strongest imagination to conceive the + joy and gladness of this family. The joy of seafaring men delivered + from shipwreck; the joy of a man delivered from a burning house; the + joy of not being found guilty at a criminal bar; the joy of receiving + pardon to a condemned malefactor; the joy of freedom to a prisoner of + war, is nothing in comparison to the joy of him who is delivered from + going down to the pit of eternal destruction. For it is a joy + unspeakable and full of glory.” + +The effect of this sermon is described as overwhelmingly wonderful. The +first portion, in which he pictured the mysterious and terrible being, +the wild demoniac, something of a wild beast, and something of a fiend, +made the people shudder. Then, shifting his scene, the catastrophe of +the swine, the flight of the affrighted herdsmen, the report to the +master, and the effect of the miracle on the populace, was rendered with +such dramatic effect, the preacher even laughing himself, as he painted +the rushing swine, hurrying down the steep place into the lake, +especially the “black hog,” and all,—for they all understood the point of +that allusion,—that beneath the grim grotesqueness of the scene, laughter +ran over the whole multitude. But the pathos of the family scene! Mary +embracing her restored husband; and the restored maniac’s experience, and +hymn of praise. The place became a perfect Bochim; they wept like +mourners at a funeral. Shouts of prayer and praise mingled together. +One who heard that wonderful sermon says, that, at last, the people +seemed like the inhabitants of a city which had been shaken by an +earthquake, that, in their escape, rushed into the streets, falling upon +the earth screaming, and calling upon God! + +This sermon has never been printed; indeed, it is obvious that it never +could be prepared for the press. It defies all criticism; and the few +outlines we have attempted to present are quite inadequate to reproduce +it. All who heard it understood, that it was a picture of a lunatic, and +demon-haunted world; and it was beneath the impression of this, that +passionate cries, universal, thankful, penitent murmurs rose; whilst +amidst loud “Amens!” and sobs, and tears, some petitions ascended: “O +Lord, who didst walk on the sea, that Thou mightest meet the Gadarene, +cast out some demons from our midst to-night.” + +Although the demoniac of Gadara is not, in the strict sense of the word, +an allegory, yet it is allegoric throughout; a fine piece of shadowy +painting, in which unconverted, and converted men, and women might +realize something of their own personal history, and the means by which +they would “come to themselves.” + +And, no doubt, the chief charm, and most original characteristic of the +preacher, was his power of sustained allegory; some incident, even some +passing expression in Scripture, some prophetic figure of speech, was +turned round and round by him, beaten out, or suggested a series of +cartoon paintings, until it became like a chapter from the “Pilgrim’s +Progress.” It has seemed to us, that his translators have been +singularly unfortunate in rendering these excursions of his fancy into +English; our most vivid impressions of them have been derived from those +who had heard them, in all their freshness, from the preacher’s own +wonderful lips. We will attempt to transfer one or two of these +allegories to our pages. It must have been effective to have heard him +describe the necessity of Divine life, spiritual power, to raise a soul +from spiritual death. This may be called + + + +“THE FOUR METHODS OF PREACHING. + + + “He beheld,” he said, “such a one as Lazarus lying in the cave, + locked in the sleep of death; now how shall he be raised? how shall + he be brought back to life? Who will roll away for us the stone from + this sepulchre? First came one, who went down to the cave with + blankets, and salt, to rub with the fomentations of duty, to appeal + to the will, to say to the sleeping man, that he could if he would; + chafing and rubbing the cold and inert limbs, he thinks to call back + the vital warmth; and then retiring, and standing some distance + apart, he says to the other spectators, ‘Do you not see him stir? + Are there no signs of life? Is he not moving?’ No, he lies very + still, there is no motion. How could it be otherwise? how could a + sense of moral duty be felt by the man there?—_for the man was dead_! + + “The first man gave up in despair. And then came the second. ‘I + thought you would never do it,’ he said; ‘but if you look at me, you + will see a thing. No,’ he said, ‘your treatment has been too + gentle.’ And he went down into the cave with a scourge. Said he, + ‘The man only wants severe treatment to be brought back to life. I + warrant me I will make him feel,’ he said. And he laid on in quick + succession the fervid blows, the sharp threatenings of law and + judgment, and future danger and doom; and then he retired to some + distance. ‘Is he not waking?’ he said. ‘Do you not see the corpse + stir?’ No! A corpse he was before the man began to lay on his + lashes, and a corpse he continued still;—_for the man was dead_! + + “‘Ah,’ said another, advancing, ‘but I have wonderful power. You, + with your rubbing, and your smiting, what can you do? but I have it, + for I have two things.’ And he advanced, and he fixed an electric + battery, and disposed it so that it touched the dead man, and then, + from a flute which he held, he drew forth such sweet sounds that they + charmed the ears which were listening; and whether it was the + battery, or whether it was the music, so it was, that effect seemed + to be produced. ‘Behold,’ said he, ‘what the refinements of + education and cultivation will do!’ And, indeed, so it was, for the + hair of the dead man seemed to rise, and his eye-balls seemed to + start and dilate; and see! he rises, starts up, and takes a stride + down the cave. Ah, but it is all over; it was nothing but the + electricity in the battery; and he sank back again flat on the floor + of the cave;—_for the man was dead_! + + “And then, when all were filled with despair, there came One, and + stood by the entrance of the cave; but He was the Lord and Giver of + life, and standing there, He said, ‘Come from the four winds, O + breath, and breathe upon this slain one, that he may live. Christ + hath given thee life. Awake, thou that sleepest.’ And the man + arose; he shook off his grave-clothes; what he needed had come to him + now—_life_! Life is the only cure for death. Not the prescriptions + of duty, not the threats of punishment and damnation, not the arts + and the refinements of education, but new, spiritual, Divine _life_.” + +The same manner appears in the way in which he traces the story of a soul +seeking Christ, under the idea of the Wise Men following the leading star +in + + + +“SEEKING THE YOUNG CHILD.” + + +We have remarked before that the preacher’s descriptions of Oriental +travel were always Welsh, and this could not arise so much from +ignorance, for he was fairly well read in the geography, and, perhaps, +even in the topography, of the Holy Land; but he was quite aware that +Oriental description would be altogether incomprehensible to the great +multitude of his auditors. He described, therefore, the Wise Men, not as +we, perhaps, see them, on their camels, solemnly pacing the vast sandy +desert, whose sands reflected the glow of the silvery star. They passed +on their way through scenes, and villages, which might be recognised by +the hearers, anxiously enquiring for the young Child. Turnpikes, if +unknown in Palestine, our readers will, perhaps, remember as one of the +great nuisances of even a very short journey in Wales in Christmas’s day. + + “The wise men came up to the gate,—it was closed; they spoke to the + keeper, inquiring, ‘Do you know anything of the Child?’ + + “The gatekeeper came to the door, saying, in answer to the question, + ‘You have threepence to pay for each of the asses.’ + + “They explained, ‘We did not know there was anything to pay; here is + the money; but tell us, do you know anything of the young Child?’ + + “No, the keeper did not even know what they meant. For they know + nothing on the world’s great highway of the Child sent for the + redemption of man. But he said, ‘You go on a little farther, and you + will come to a blacksmith’s shop; he has all the news, he knows + everything, and he will be sure to be able to tell you all you want + to know.’ + + “So they paced along the road, following the star, till they came to + the blacksmith’s shop; and it was very full, and the blacksmith was + very busy, but they spoke out loudly to him, and said, ‘Where is the + young Child?’ + + “‘Now,’ said the blacksmith, ‘it is of no use shouting that way; you + must wait, you see I am busy; your asses cannot be shod for a couple + of hours.’ + + “‘Oh, you mistake us,’ said the wise men; ‘we do not want our asses + shod, but we want you to tell us, you, who know everything + hereabouts, where shall we find the young Child.’ + + “‘I do not know,’ said the blacksmith. For the world, in its bustle + and trade, knows nothing, and cares nothing about the holy Child + Jesus. ‘But look you,’ he said, ‘go on, and you will come to the + inn, the great public-house; everybody from the village goes there, + they know all the news there.’ + + “And so, with heavy hearts, they still pursued their way till they + came to the inn; at the door, still resting on their asses, they + inquired if any one knew of the Child, the wonderful Child. + + “But the landlord said, ‘Be quick! Evan, John, where are you? bring + out the ale—the porter—for these gentlemen.’ + + “‘No,’ they said, ‘we are too anxious to refresh ourselves; but tell + us, hereabouts has been born the wonderful Child; He is the desire of + all the nations; look there, we have seen His Star, we want to + worship Him. Do you know?’ + + “‘Not I,’ said the landlord. For pleasure knows nothing of Him + through whom the secrets of all hearts are revealed. ‘Plenty of + children born hereabouts,’ said the landlord; ‘but I know nothing of + Him whom you seek.’ And he thought them a little mad, and was, + moreover, a little cross because they would not dismount and go into + the inn. ‘However,’ he said, ‘there is an old Rabbi lives in a lane + hard by here; I think I have heard him say something about a Child + that should be born, whose name should be called Wonderful. See, + there is the way, you will find the old man.’ + + “So again they went on their way; and they stopped before the house + of the old Rabbi, and knocked, and the door was opened; and here they + left their asses by the gate, and entered in; and they found the old + Rabbi seated with his Hebrew books, and chronicles about him, and he + was strangely attired with mitre and vestment. And now, they + thought, they would be sure to learn, and that their journey might be + at an end. And they told him of the Star, and that the young Child + was born who should be King of the Jews, and they were come to + worship Him. + + “‘Ah, yes,’ he said, ‘He is coming, and you shall see Him, but not + now. You shall behold Him, but not nigh. See, it is written here—a + Star shall rise out of Jacob. And when He comes it will be here He + will show Himself. Go back, and when He comes I will send word and + let you know.’ For even religious people, and Churches, cannot + always guide seekers after God to Him whom to know is life eternal. + + “But they were not satisfied, and they said, ‘No, no, we cannot + return; He is born, He is here!’ + + “‘There has been a great mistake made,’ said the Rabbi; ‘there have + been some who have said that He is born, but it is not so.’ + + “‘But who has said it?’ they inquired. + + “And then he told them of another priestly man, who lived near to the + river hard by; and to him they went, and inquired for the young + Child. + + “‘Yes, yes,’ he said, when they pointed him to the Star, ‘yes, + through the tender mercies of our God, the Dayspring from on high + hath visited us; to give light to them that sit in darkness and the + shadow of death; to guide our steps into the way of peace.’ + + “And so he guided them to the manger, and the Star rested and stood + over the place where the young Child was, while they offered their + gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” + +Sometimes the preacher, in another version which we have seen, appears to +have varied the last guide, and to have brought the wise men, by a +singular, and perfectly inadmissible anachronism, to the man in the +camel’s hair by the river’s brink, who said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, +who taketh away the sins of the world!” + +But one of the most effective of these sustained allegories, was founded +on the text which speaks of the evil “spirit walking through dry places, +seeking rest, and finding none.” We believe we were first indebted for +it, to the old dame who entertained us nearly forty years since in the +Caerphilly Cottage. + + + +SATAN WALKING IN DRY PLACES. + + +The preacher appears to have been desirous of teaching the beautiful +truth, that a mind preoccupied, and inhabited by Divine thoughts, cannot +entertain an evil visitor, but is compelled to betake himself to flight, +by the strong expulsive power of Divine affections. He commenced, by +describing Satan as a vast and wicked, although invisible +spirit,—somehow, as Milton might have described him; and the preacher was +not unacquainted with the grand imagery of the “Paradise Lost,” in which +the poet describes the Evil One, when he tempts, with wandering feet, the +dark, unbottomed, infinite abyss, and, through the palpable obscure, +seeks to find out his uncouth way. Christmas described him, as spreading +his airy flight on indefatigable wings, determined to insinuate himself, +through the avenues of sense, to some poor soul, and lure it to +destruction. And, with this end, flying through the air, and seeking for +a dwelling-place, he found himself moving over one of those wide Welsh +moors, the preacher so well knew, and had so often travelled; and his +fiery, although invisible glance, espied a young lad, in the bloom of his +days, and the strength of his powers, sitting on the box of his cart, +driving on his way to the quarries for slate or lime. + + `“‘There he is,’ said Satan; ‘his veins are full of blood, his bones + are full of marrow. I will cast my sparks into his bosom, and set + all his passions on fire; I will lead him on, and he shall rob his + master, and lose his place, and find another, and rob again, and do + worse; and he shall go on from worse to worse, and then his soul + shall sink, never to rise again, into the lake of fire.’ But just + then, as he was about to dart a fiery temptation into the heart of + the youth, the evil one heard him sing, + + “‘Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, + Pilgrim through this barren land; + I am weak, but Thou art mighty, + Hold me by Thy powerful hand; + Strong deliverer, + Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.’ + + ‘Oh, but this is a dry place,’ said the fiery dragon as he fled away. + + “But I saw him pass on,” said the preacher, “hovering, like a hawk or + a vulture, in the air, and casting about for a suitable place where + he might nestle his black wings; when, at the edge of the moor, he + came to a lovely valley; the hills rose round it, it was a beautiful, + still, meadow-like spot, watered by a lovely stream; and there, + beneath the eaves of a little cottage, he saw a girl, some eighteen + years of age, a flower among the flowers: she was knitting, or sewing + at the cottage door. Said Satan, ‘She will do for me; I will whisper + the evil thought in her heart, and she shall turn it over, and over + again, until she learns to love it; and then the evil thought shall + be an evil deed; and then she shall be obliged to leave her village, + and go to the great town, and she shall live a life of evil, all + astray from the paths of my Almighty Enemy. Oh, I will make her + mine, and then, by-and-bye, I will cast her over the precipices, and + she shall sink, sink into the furnace of divine wrath.’ And so he + hastened to approach, and dart into the mind of the maiden; but while + he was approaching, all the hills and crags seemed to break out into + singing, as her sweet voice rose, high and clear, chanting out the + words, + + “‘Jesus, lover of my soul, + Let me to Thy bosom fly, + While the nearer waters roll, + While the tempest still is high. + Other refuge have I none, + Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; + Leave, ah, leave me not alone, + Still support, and comfort me.’ + + ‘This is a very dry place, too,’ said the dragon, as he fled away. + + “And so he passed from the valley among the hills, but with hot rage. + ‘I will have a place to dwell in!’ he said; ‘I will somehow leap over + the fences, and the hedges, of the purpose, and covenant, and grace + of God. I do not seem to have succeeded with the young, I will try + the old;’ for passing down the village street, he saw an old woman; + she, too, was sitting at the door of her cot, and spinning on her + little wheel. ‘Ah!’ said Satan, ‘it will be good to lay hold of her + grey hairs, and make her taste of the lake that burneth with fire and + brimstone.’ And he descended on the eaves of the cot; but as he + approached near, he heard the trembling, quavering voice of the aged + woman murmuring to herself lowly, ‘For the mountains shall depart, + and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from thee, + neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord, + that hath mercy on thee.’ And the words hurt the evil one, as well + as disappointed him; they wounded him as he fled away, saying, + ‘Another dry place!’ + + “Ah, poor Devil!” exclaimed the preacher, “and he usually so very + successful! but he was quite unsuccessful that day. And, now, it was + night, and he was scudding about, like a bird of prey, upon his black + wings, and pouring forth his screams of rage. But he passed through + another little Welsh village, the white cottages gleaming out in the + white moonlight on the sloping hillside. And there was a cottage, + and in the upper room there was a faint light trembling, and ‘Oh,’ + said the Devil to himself, ‘Devil, thou hast been a very foolish + Devil to-day, and there, in that room, where the lamplight is, old + Williams is slowly, surely wasting away. Over eighty, or I am + mistaken; not much mind left; and he has borne the burden and heat of + the day, as they call it. Thanks to me, he has had a hard time of + it; he has had very few mercies to be thankful for; he has not found + serving God, I think, a very profitable business. Come, cheer up, + Devil, it will be a grand thing if thou canst get him to doubt a bit, + and then to despair a bit, and then to curse God, and die; that will + make up for this day’s losses.’ + + “Then he entered the room; there was the old man lying on the poor + bed, and his long, thin, wasted hands and fingers lying on the + coverlid; his eyes closed, the long silvery hair falling over the + pillow. Now, Satan, make haste, or it will be too late; the hour is + coming, there is even a stir in every room in the house: they seem to + know that the old man is passing. But as Satan himself moved before + the bed, to dart into the mind of the old man, the patriarch rose in + bed, stretched forth his hands, and pinned his enemy to the wall, as + he exclaimed, ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of + death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy + staff they comfort me; Thou preparest a table before me, in _the + presence of mine enemy_; Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup + runneth over; goodness and mercy, all the days of my life, dwell in + the house of my God for ever.’ Oh, _that_ was a fearfully dry place! + The old man sank back, it was all over; those words beat Satan down + to the bottom of his own bottomless pit, glad to escape from such + confusion and shame, and exclaiming, ‘I will return to the place from + whence I came, for this is too dry for me.’” + +This will, no doubt, be thought, by many, to be strange preaching; many +would even affect to despise it,—perhaps would even regard it as a high +compliment were we to say, they would feel exceedingly puzzled even if, +by way of a change, they were called upon to use it. It appears, +however, to have been a style exceedingly fascinating to the Welsh mind +of that day; it told, it stirred up suggestions, awakened thoughts, and +reclaimed and converted character; and we need not, therefore, stay to +attempt any vindication of it. + +We have inserted these very characteristic illustrations here, because +they appear to have belonged to the Anglesea period. Such, then, was the +teaching, the preaching, the truth, which, while it was his own truth, +and sustained his own mind, gave to him such power, at once, amongst the +Churches to which he immediately administered, and made him the object of +such attraction, when visiting distant neighbourhoods. + +It might have been thought—it has usually been the case, in the instances +of other men—that such excursions as those we have described, would have +interfered with the great success of his work in the ministry as a +preacher, and with his efficiency as a pastor. That they did not, +substantially, is clear from many evidences. There can be no doubt that +his sermons were no off-hand productions; there was a careful, rigid, and +patiently conscientious weighing of their material. All those which we +possess, abundantly show this; and he entered with all his heart, and +mind, and strength into the work of preaching; but he never had an easy +sphere; and yet, would his sermons have been greater had he been placed +where the circle of his labour would have been narrower, and the means of +his support more ready, and sufficient, and ample? Most likely not; but +he weighed the entire work of the ministry in a manner which seems to us, +sometimes, more like the sound thoughtfulness, and consideration of the +theological Principal of a college, than a popular, or itinerant +preacher. As an illustration of this, we may insert the following, very +lengthy, but admirable letter to a young minister, written, we believe, +some time nearer the close of his career than that we have just +depicted:— + + “DEAR BROTHER,—1. Consider, in the first place, the great + importance, to a preacher, of a blameless life. You must, like + Timothy, ‘flee youthful lusts,’ as you would escape from beasts of + prey; for there are kinds of beasts, living in the wilderness of + man’s corruption, that will charm, by means of their beauteous + colours, those that walk among their haunts; there is no safety but + by keeping from them, and adhering to such as live by faith, and + watch, and pray. It will be well for you, while you travel through + the coppice of youth, to keep from all appearance of evil. May you + have grace to pass through the coppice of forbidden trees, without + cutting your name into the bark of one of them, or you may be + upbraided, at critical times, by those who may wish to prove that you + are not better than themselves; even the _iota_, inserted by your + hand, may be produced after many years. + + “2. I remember the words of Luther, that _reading_, _prayer_, and + _temptation_ are necessary to strengthen, and to purify the talents + of a minister. Read, to extend your general knowledge, especially as + to the plan of redemption, according to the Scriptures, in all its + parts, from the election to the glorification; that you may, like a + spiritual watchmaker, know all the relative cog-wheels, and be able + to open them in the pulpit, and to connect them all by faith, hope, + and charity, that they may occupy their own places, and exhibit their + true results on the dial-plate; thus proving yourself a workman that + needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Be + not like that thrasher, who presumptuously took his watch to pieces + in the barn, and could not put it together again, but was obliged to + carry it home in his handkerchief. The messengers of God, described + in the book of Revelations, are full of eyes behind, and before. You + must use prayer to fetch strength out of Christ, like the homer to + carry home the manna in, or the water-pot of the woman of Samaria. + Without the prayer of faith, the preacher will have ‘nothing to draw + with,’ from the well that is deep,—even _the deep things of God_. + Temptation is requisite, to prove the nature of the metal of the + preacher’s character, and doctrine,—‘approved of God.’ The piece of + gold, in every true minister’s ministry, must be tried in some + furnace, prepared by Divine Providence. He must, therefore, do the + work of an evangelist, fulfil his ministry, endure hardness, and + affliction, and thus prove himself a good soldier of Jesus Christ. + + “3. Avail yourself, in the morning of your days, of every + opportunity to acquire knowledge useful for the ministry. Let it be + your constant aim, to turn every stream and rivulet of knowledge in + the right direction, to facilitate the work of the ministry, for the + good of souls, and the glory of God; as the bee, in all her + excursions amongst the flowers of the gardens, and the hedges, + gathers honey to enrich the hive, as the common treasury of the + industrious race. Always have a book to read, instead of indulging + in vain conversations. Strive to learn English, as you cannot have + academical training. Learn your own mother-tongue well. Learn to + write a good hand by frequent practice. Avoid vain conversation, + instead of growth in knowledge. Remember this, that you cannot + commit some loved sin in private, and perform the work of the + ministry, in public, with facility and acceptance. For a preacher to + fall into sin, be it a secret one, and to live in it, is as fatal, + ultimately, as the cutting of Samson’s hair. Be strong in the grace + that is in Christ Jesus against all corruption. + + “4. With regard to the composition of your sermons: first, let the + matter be evangelical. The doctrine of the Gospel is a mould from + heaven, and not changed. It puts its own impress and shape on the + professor that is melted into it, so that his justification, + sanctification, and all his salvation, flow from the merits of + Christ; and all through God’s grace, and not of ourselves. The + gospel, as a glass, should be kept clean and clear in the pulpit, + that the hearers may see the glory of Christ, and be changed to the + same image. Every duty is to be urged by evangelical motives. ‘Let + us have grace,’ etc. + + “Hereby we can serve God in all the duties of the kingdom of heaven. + The whole is summed up in living by faith, which worketh by love, to + him that died for us, and rose again for our justification. + Secondly, let your divisions be natural to the text. Take care that + your interpretation accord with the contexts. Two or three general + heads; avoid many. Four or five remarks you may make on each head; + see that they are fairly in the truth of the text. Thirdly, I am not + inclined to make inferences, or applications, from the whole. When + the preacher has expended his strength, or ingenuity, in endeavouring + to impress, and apply the truth to the minds of his hearers, + application seems to me to be doing again what has been effected + already. The blacksmith does not put the horse-shoe in the fire, + after he has nailed it to the hoof; and the cook does not spread the + cloth again, when dinner is over. Fourthly, beware of long sermons, + as well as long prayers. When there is but one preacher, he should + not preach for more than an hour; when there are two, both should not + be more than an hour and a half, that the worship may close within + two hours; whenever this time is passed, coolness and fatigue ensue. + To put three ministers to preach (in one meeting) is a modern + corruption, and likely to make some progress in Wales; while the + English, generally, have but one sermon in one service. They excel + us herein; for we do not read that, on the day of Pentecost, Peter, + James, and John, preached after each other; but Peter, ‘_one_ of the + twelve,’ delivered that successful sermon. When we lose sight of the + Scriptures, and common sense, we are driven to extremes, though it be + with the kindly purpose of respecting strange ministers, by putting + them to preach. + + “5. Attend, also, my young brother, to your outward appearance in + the pulpit. Beware of a proud, haughty appearance, with wandering + eyes, and unfeeling countenance, so that the people utterly fail to + see the man of God in you. We must, in order hereunto, have + something like unto Moses, when he had been on the mount with God, + that will indicate seriousness, love to souls, a spirit of prayer, + zeal for Christ, and longing for the salvation of men; like unto + those who have felt the fear of perdition ourselves, and the infinite + value of salvation by God’s grace; and that we wrestle with God in + order to be useful to souls. These things must be imprinted on our + appearance and deportment, having transformed us, in some measure, to + a heavenly form and habit. Our outward conversation should be + consistent herewith, or men will despise us as hypocrites, without + the fear of God. + + “6. Avoid, my dear brother, all foolish bodily gestures. + + “7. We now come to the part of the subject upon which you are most + anxious to have my thoughts: that refers _to the delivery of your + sermons_. It is difficult to put general rules of rhetoric into + execution. After reading all that has been said by Blair, Williams, + Fuller, and the Archbishop of Cambray (Fenelon), who have spoken at + length of Cicero and Demosthenes, it is easy, by endeavouring to + follow them, to lose the spirit of the work, and thus, by seeking the + form, to forfeit the life. Preach the gospel of the grace of God + intelligibly, affectionately, and without shame—all the contents of + the great box, from predestination to glorification. It was the + closing, and concealing, of this box that occasioned the opening of + the venomous Mohammedan box, as well as that of Popery, together with + all the vain legality that is to be found among Protestants, + established and dissenting. It may be said, that they seek + justification; but it is by the deeds of the law. The locking up, + and the losing, of the doctrine of grace, through the merits of + Christ, utterly destroyed the Jewish Church; for it was in the chest, + which they locked up by their false interpolations of Scripture, that + the ‘things which belong to their peace’ were contained; ‘but now,’ + says the Redeemer, ‘they are concealed from their eyes;’ shut up + under unbelief. ‘The things that pertain to their peace’ belong also + to our peace, as Gentiles. The Deity of Christ, etc.; Redemption, + etc. Excuse this digression, for the river of God’s throne moved me + along. + + “We were upon the best mode of delivering sermons for edification. + It is not easy to reduce the rules of prudence into practice. I have + seen some men, of the highest powers, who understood Greek better + than their mother-tongue, attempting to preach according to rule, and + to them the pulpit was like unto Gilboa; they neither affected + themselves, nor their hearers. The difficulty was, the bringing of + their regulations into natural practice. I saw one of those men, the + most eminent for learning and genius, who found the right way, under + the influence of a mighty fervency that descended upon him in the + pulpit, so that his voice became utterly different from what it used + to be, and his tongue at liberty, as though something was cut that + had hitherto restrained his tongue, and affections, from natural + exercise. + + “Here you have the sum, and substance, and mystery of all rules:—1. + Let the preacher influence himself; let him reach his own heart, if + he would reach the hearts of others; if he would have others feel, he + must feel himself. Dry shouting (or vociferation) will not do this. + The shout of a man who does not himself feel the effect of what he + says, hardens, instead of softening; locks, instead of opening the + heart. 2. The elevation, and fire of the voice must accord with the + fervency of the matter in the heart. A person said to me once, ‘Mr. + Evans, you have not studied Dr. Blair’s Rhetoric.’ That man, with + his rules, was always as dry as Gilboa. ‘Why do you say so,’ replied + I, ‘when you just now saw hundreds weeping under the sermon? That + could not be, had I not first of all been influenced myself, which, + you know, is the substance, and mystery, of all rules for speaking.’ + Wherever there is effect, there is life; and rules, without life, + have no power. Now, brother, follow the natural course of affection, + and voice. Raise not the voice while the heart is dry; but let the + heart and affections shout first; let it commence within. Take this + comparison:—Go to the blacksmith’s shop; he first puts the piece of + iron in the fire, and there is no sound of striking the anvil; he + collects together the coals for heat; then he tells the boy, ‘Blow!’ + while he masterfully manages the shovel, adjusting the coals, and + asking sundry questions. He calmly looks at the fire heating the + iron, and does not yet take hold of the hammer, nor order his + assistants to use the sledge; but at length, seeing that the iron has + attained the proper malleability, he takes it out, covered with + sparkling fire, puts it on the anvil, handles the hammer, and orders + his workman to take the larger one, and fashions it according to his + pleasure; and so on, all day long. Here, observe, he does not beat + the iron in order to make it hot, for without first heating it, the + beating process is in vain. Equally vain is the hammer of + vociferation, unless the matter is brought home with warmth into our + hearts. We have often sought to produce effect, and to influence our + hearers, much as though the smith merely put the iron in fire, and + barely warmed it; it is contrary to the nature of things to use the + hammer while the material is not duly tempered. Thus I have + frequently, brother, found myself in preaching. You have, above, the + mystery of all effective speaking, in Parliament, at the bar, and in + the pulpit; remembering the difference in the subjects, and the + sources of heat. In the pulpit, we speak of the deep things of God; + and we are to pray for, and to expect warmth from the Divine Spirit. + You complain that you cannot get your voice into a manageable key, + and yet to speak with liveliness and power. Many, with a bad voice, + well-governed, have become powerful speakers; while others, with a + good voice, have, in consequence of not mastering a natural key, and + not being able to move themselves, been most ineffective speakers. I + would direct you to fix your voice at its natural pitch, which you + may easily do; you may then, with facility, raise and lower it + according to the subject in hand. If you commence in too high a key, + you cannot keep it up long. First, you cannot modulate it as the + occasion may require; and you fall into an unpliable, tedious + monotony, and all natural cadence, and emphasis is lost. Without + attuning the voice into the natural key, effective oratory is + impossible. Secondly, remember, not to speak in your throat, or + nostrils. If the former, you must soon become hoarse, and harsh + loudness follows; the glory and vivacity are then departed, and + instead of facility and cheerfulness, you have the roarings of + death—the breath failing, with forced screams, and harsh whisperings. + Thirdly, raise your voice to the roof of your mouth; do not close + your teeth against it, neither imprison it in the nostrils, but open + your mouth naturally, and keep your voice within your lips, where it + will find room enough to play its high, and its low intonations, to + discourse its flats, and sharps, to utter its joys, and sorrows. + When you thus have your voice under control, instead of you being + under its control, dragging you about in all disorder, you will find + it your servant, running upon your errands, up and down, all through + the camp, alternating in energy, and pliability, to the end of the + sermon; and not becoming cold and weak, scarcely bearing you through, + like Bucephalus, Alexander the Great’s horse, which, mortally + wounded, just brought his master out of the battle, and then expired. + Fourthly, remember, not to press too much upon your breath, when you + have attained the natural use of it, by using very long sentences, + without pausing at proper places, which (pauses) will add to the + effect, as well as preserve the voice; so that you will be, like the + smith, ready to strike the duly-tempered metal, prepared to give the + suitable emphasis at the end of the paragraph. Let the matter raise + the voice, do not attempt by the voice to elevate the subject. + Fifthly, use words easily understood, that the people’s affections + may not cool, while the mind is sent to a dictionary, to understand + your terms. The great work, the exploit of a minister, is to win the + heart to believe in Christ, and to love Him. Sixthly, bear in mind, + also, the necessity of keeping the voice free, without (affected) + restraint; give every syllable, and every letter, its full and proper + sound. (It is one of the peculiarities and excellences of the Welsh + language, and proves its Eastern origin.) No letter has to complain + that it is (condemned to be) mute, and neglected, and has no + utterance. In English, many letters have this complaint; but in + Welsh, every letter, even as the knights at the round table of King + Arthur, has, without preference, its own appropriate and complete + sound. Seventhly, remember, also, to enunciate clearly the last + syllable in every Welsh word; that will cause your most distant + hearer to understand you; while, without this, much of what you say + must be inevitably lost. Eighthly, in order to all this, carefully + attend to the manner of the best, and ablest preachers, and imitate, + not their weaknesses, but their excellences. You will observe, that + some heavenly ornament, and power from on high, are visible in many + ministers when under the Divine irradiation, which you cannot + approach to by merely imitating their artistic excellence, without + resembling them in the spiritual taste, fervency, and zeal which + Christ and his Spirit ‘work in them.’ This will cause, not only your + being like unto them in gracefulness of action, and propriety of + elocution, but will also induce prayer for the anointing from the + Holy One, which worketh mightily in the inward man. This is the + mystery of all effective preaching. We must be endowed with power + from on high: here is the grand inward secret. Without this, we + (often) perceive that it is impossible, with all academic advantages, + to make good preachers of young men from any college, in the Church + of England, or among the dissenters, in the English or the Welsh + language. A young preacher must have the mystery of being + ‘constrained’ by ‘the love of Christ’; ‘the gift of God’ must be + kindled in him; and He alone, by the Spirit, can sustain that gift by + the Holy Spirit. ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ May the Lord + give you, brother, a good understanding in all things; and preserve + in you the heavenly gift by the Holy Ghost! may it be rekindled where + it is, and contributed where it is not! Without it, we can do + nothing for the glory of God, or the good of souls. + + “Affectionately, + “CHRISTMAS EVANS.” + +Sometimes Mr. Evans occupied such slight leisure as he could command, by +a contribution to the _Seren Gomer_, an extensively-circulating magazine +of the Principality. Several of these papers are interesting; we select +one, illustrating the bent of the writer’s mind; it was published January +1821,—“An inquiry into the meaning of the singular language of the +Apostle, his wish + + + +“TO BE ACCURSED FROM CHRIST. + + + “‘For I could wish that I were accursed (anathema) from Christ for my + brethren,’ etc. (Rom. ix. 3). Many things, most incredible to me, + have been said in exposition of this passage; and principally, I + think, from not observing that the word ‘anathema’ is used in two + senses,—the one good, and the other bad. Barclay analyses into four + acceptations; and, according to the first, it signifies that which is + devoted, or set apart, to God, in a good sense. According to + Parkhurst, it signifies, in Luke xxi. 5, a consecrated gift, set + apart for the temple of God, and to His service alone. The word + translated gifts is _anathemasi_. In the second book of Maccabees, + ix. 8, the word denotes a consecrated gift. The word in the LXX., + according to Parkhurst, is synonymous with the Hebrew word CHEREM, + and signifies, generally, that which is entirely separated from its + former condition, and use. If so, why should we not understand Paul, + in the text, as expressing his ardent desire that he should be + separated, _a devoted thing_, for the conversion of his brethren + according to the flesh? Having gone thus far in explanation, we + offer the following interpretation: ‘For I could wish that I were + _anathema_, or a gift, in my labours as an apostle, and a preacher of + the Gospel, from Christ, for the spiritual benefit of my brethren + according to the flesh, principally, instead of being an apostle to + the Gentiles, as I am appointed; theirs is the adoption, etc.; and I + could also wish that I, also, as an apostle, were an especial gift of + Christ for their distinctive service.’ If this be correct, there is + no necessity for changing the tense of the verb from the present to + the perfect, and reading, ‘I could wish,’ as ‘I have wished;’ while + it saves us from putting in the Apostle’s mouth a wish entirely + opposed to the ‘new creation,’ to the plan of Divine grace, and to + the glory of God; for it is certain that it is quite in opposition to + all this, for a man to desire to live in sin, and to be accursed for + ever,—and that cannot for a moment be predicated of the Apostle of + the Gentiles. I humbly ask some learned correspondent, whether there + is anything in the original text with which this exposition will not + harmonize. + + “CHRISTMAS EVANS.” + +This letter led to some unsympathetic criticism, and reply. Christmas +Evans wrote a vindication of his former views, which may be not +uninteresting to our readers, as illustrating a phase of his intellectual +character. It appeared in the _Seren Gomer_ for 1822:— + + “MR. GOMER,—If you please, publish the following, in defence of my + former letter on Romans ix. 3, and in reply to your correspondent, + _Pen Tafar_. + + “It is admitted, on all hands, that the words in the question express + the highest degree of love to the Jews. Let us, now, put the + different expositions before the reader, and then let him judge which + of them contains the greatest harmony and fitness; _i.e._, first, to + express love to the Jews; second, the best adapted to bring about + their salvation; third, the most consistent with supreme love to + Christ; and fourth, within the confines of sinlessness. + + “1. Many learned men set forth the Apostle as having formed this + desire when he was an enemy to Christ. This they maintain by tracing + the word _anathema_ throughout the Greek Scriptures, and the Hebrew + word _cherem_, of which it is the synonym. _Anathema_, they say, + always signifies ‘without an exception,’ a separation, or devotement + of a beast, a city, or something else, to irredeemable destruction + (Lev. xxvii. 29). The devoted thing was not to be redeemed, but + certainly to be put to death (Gal. i. 9). ‘_Let him be accursed_,’ + says Paul of the angel that would preach another gospel. ‘If any man + love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be _anathema maranatha_,’ + ‘accursed when the Lord cometh.’ But who _can_ believe that this is + the meaning of the word in the passage before us? I say, with Dr. + Gill, ‘This never can be the signification.’ What probability is + there that Paul would swear, calling Jesus Christ to witness, to his + ancient enmity against Him? This was notorious enough throughout the + whole country. No asseveration was necessary to prove _Paul’s + persecuting spirit_. + + “Again, how could that which he formerly had been, prove, he now + having denied himself, his old persecuting spirit, and, being deeply + ashamed on the account, prove his present love to the Jews? How did + his former love to Satan prove his present love to the Jews? + + “2. Others say that it is Paul’s wish as a Christian, whatever + _anathema_ means. I believe it is his desire as a Christian; + otherwise I see not how it could be an instance of his love to his + brethren according to the flesh. Several authors maintain that Paul + was willing, _for the sake of saving his nation_, _to part with his + interest in Christ_, _and to perish for ever_. Peter Williams and + Matthew Henry give this interpretation. But, seriously, how can a + person persuade himself to believe this? Would not the Apostle, in + this case, love his nation more than Christ, and be accordingly + unworthy of Christ? This is opposed to a principle of our nature, + which never can desire its own destruction; to the principle of + grace, which loves Christ above all things on earth, and in heaven. + Such a desire would make Paul a devil. + + “3. Others suppose that Paul here speaks inconsiderately, in a kind + of ecstasy, carried away by a stream of affection to his people. Who + can believe this without giving up Paul’s inspiration, even when he + solemnly appeals to Christ? + + “4. Another notion is, that the Apostle was willing, and desirous to + be excommunicated from the Church of Christ upon earth, and to be + deprived of its ordinances. How can this, again, be considered as + consistent with love to Christ, and His Church? What tendency could + his leaving the Church have to induce the Jews to enter it? This is + contrary to the whole course of the Divine command, and promises: God + will give His people an everlasting home, and place in His house. + + “5. Some say, it is an _hyperbole_. To confirm this, Exod. xxxii. + 32 is quoted as a case in point: ‘_Blot me_, _I pray thee_, _out of + Thy book_, _which Thou hast written_.’ This is not the book of + eternal life, but the book of the dispensation, in which Moses was + leader, and mediator. ‘_I would_,’ he says, ‘_give up my office_.’ + God rejected the request: ‘Lead the people unto the place of which I + have spoken to thee.’ It was not for Israel, nor a condition of + forgiveness to them, but for himself, that Moses said, ‘Blot my name + out of Thy book.’ All this gives but little assistance to understand + the Apostle. The two spiritual men do not stand on the same ground. + Moses seeks the obliteration of his name, unless Israel was pardoned. + Paul seeks a work, and an office, in order to the forgiveness of his + nation. + + “6. Further, it is supposed to be proper to modify—_to soften_—the + meaning of the word _anathema_, as signifying, sometimes, anything + devoted to God, and that never could, afterwards, be appropriated to + any other service; and here, to understand it in that softened sense, + signifying that Paul was willing for the Redeemer to make him a + devoted thing—a martyr for the truth, for the good of the Jewish + nation. This is substantially the opinion of Thomas Charles, and Dr. + Gill. Christmas Evans’s theory is erected on this ground—the + modified sense of the word; thus, ‘I could wish myself entirely set + apart, by Christ, to the service of my people, for their spiritual + good; I should have been glad, had I my choice, to have been an + Apostle, separated to them alone, and not to the Gentiles, with my + dwelling, and labours, amongst them, and to die a martyr for the + truth, even the most horrible death that could be devised, if Christ + had appointed me hereto.’ If ‘P. T.’ says this is a new + interpretation of Christmas Evans’s, the answer is, No, but a + legitimate extension of a former one; for he did not intend, nor did + his words import, the separation of martyrdom, or the most + anathematised sufferings, from Paul for his kinsmen according to the + flesh. + + “7. Is it not plain, and does not ‘P. T.’ see, that this view is + superior to the former five, and that it takes in, and is an + improving addition to the latter of the five, as to its fitness to + express the Apostle’s great love to his people, without destroying + his love to Christ, as well as to bring about the salvation of the + Jews by proper means? How could the death of the Apostle contribute + to the conversion of the Jews, unless he died _as an apostate of the + circumcision_?” + +It appears to have been towards the close of the Anglesea period, that he +was thrown into a panic of fear, by a threat of a legal prosecution, on +account of some chapel debts, for which, of course, he was regarded as +responsible. “They talk,” he said, “of casting me into a court of law, +where I have never been, and I hope I shall never go; but I will cast +them, first, into the court of Jesus Christ.” We have seen that he was +in the habit of putting on paper his prayers, and communions with God. +It was a time of severe trial to him. He says, “I knew there was no +ground of action, but, still, I was much disturbed, being, at the time, +sixty years of age, and having, very recently, buried my wife.” He +continues, “I received the letter at a monthly meeting, at one of the +contests with spiritual wickedness in high places. On my return home, I +had fellowship with God, during the whole journey of ten miles, and, +arriving at my own house, I went upstairs to my own chamber, and poured +forth my heart before the Redeemer, who has in His hands all authority, +and power.” And the following seem to be the pathetic words in which he +indulged:— + + “O blessed Lord! in Thy merit I confide, and trust to be heard. + Lord, some of my brethren have run wild; and forgetting their duty, + and obligations to their father in the Gospel, they threaten me with + the law of the land. Weaken, I beseech Thee, their designs in this, + as Thou didst wither the arm of Jeroboam; and soften them, as Thou + didst soften the mind of Esau, and disarmed him of his warlike temper + against Thy servant Jacob, after the wrestling at Penuel. So disarm + them, for I do not know the length of Satan’s chain in this case, and + in this unbrotherly attack. But Thou canst shorten the chain as + short as it may please Thee. Lord, I anticipate them in point of + law. They think of casting Thine unworthy servant into the little + courts here below; but I cast my cause into the High Court, in which + Thou, gracious Jesus, art the High Chancellor. Receive Thou the + cause of Thine unworthy servant, and send him a writ, or a notice, + immediately—sending into their conscience, and summoning them to + consider what they are doing. Oh, frighten them with a summons from + Thy court, until they come, and bow in contrition at Thy feet; and + take from their hands every revengeful weapon, and make them deliver + up every gun of scandal, and every sword of bitter words, and every + spear of slanderous expressions, and surrender them all at Thy cross. + Forgive them all their faults, and clothe them with white robes, and + give them oil for their heads, and the organ, and the harp of ten + strings, to sing, for the trampling of Satan under our feet by the + God of peace. + + “I went up once,” he says, “and was about ten minutes in prayer; I + felt some confidence that Jesus heard. I went up again with a tender + heart; I could not refrain from weeping with the joy of hope that the + Lord was drawing near to me. After the seventh struggle I came down, + fully believing that the Redeemer had taken my cause into His hands, + and that He would arrange, and manage for me. My countenance was + cheerful, as I came down the last time, like Naaman, having washed + himself seven times in the Jordan; or Bunyan’s Pilgrim, having cast + his burden at the foot of the cross, into the grave of Jesus. I well + remember the place—the little house adjoining the meeting-house, at + Cildwrn, where I then resided—in which this struggle took place; I + can call it Penuel. No weapon intended against me prospered, and I + had peace, at once, to my mind, and in my (temporal) condition. I + have frequently prayed for those who would injure me, that they might + be blessed, even as I have been blessed. I know not what would have + become of me, had it not been for these furnaces in which I have been + tried, and in which the spirit of prayer has been excited, and + exercised in me.” + +It is scarcely necessary to add, that the threat was never executed, nor +did poor Christmas, apparently, hear anything further of the matter; but +we have seen how great was the trouble, and agitation it caused him, +while the fear was upon him. It is very affecting to find that this +great, this saintly, and earnest minister, had upon his heart, and mind, +the burden of all the chapel-debts connected with his denomination in +Anglesea, while he was minister there. + +It might have been thought that the ministerial course of Christmas Evans +would close in Anglesea, where he had laboured so long, and so +effectually. He was, now, about sixty years of age, but there was little +light just now, in the evening-time of his life; indeed, clouds of +trouble were thickening around him. It often seems that trouble, in the +ministerial life, comes exactly at that moment when the life is least +able to stand, with strength, against it; and, certainly, in the life of +Christmas Evans, sorrows gathered, and multiplied at the close. + +Chief among these must be mentioned, beyond any doubt, the death of the +beloved companion of all the Anglesea life, his good wife, Catherine; she +left him in 1823. She was eminently, and admirably fitted to be the wife +of such a man as Christmas. Somewhat younger than her husband, she +supplied many attributes of character, to him most helpful; she was not +an enthusiast, but she was a Christian, with real, deep, and devout +convictions. We have no lengthy accounts of her; but little side-lights, +a kind of casemented window, reveal a character at once affectionate, +beautiful, and strong. + +We have seen that their home was the region of self-denial, and her +husband long remembered, and used to tell, how “if there happened to be +on our table one thing better than the other, she would, modestly, but +cheerfully and earnestly, resist all importunity to partake of it until +she ascertained that there was enough for both.” What a little candle +such a sentence as this is, but what a light it sheds over the whole +room! She did not pretend to be her husband; he filled his larger +sphere, and she, in all her manifold, gentle ways, sought to give him +rest. Surely she adds another name to the long catalogue of good wives. +She reminds us of Lavater’s wife, and some little incidents in that +Cildwrn cottage call up memories from the manse of St. Peter’s Church, +and the shadows of the old Lindenhof of Zurich, where probably life did +not put on a gayer apparel, or present more lavish and luxurious +possibilities, than in the poor parsonage of Anglesea. + +It is incredible, almost, to read what the good Catherine did, poor—to +our thinking, miserable—as was the income of her husband. Her hand was +most generous; how she did it, what committee of ways and means she +called together, in her thoughtful mind, we do not know,—only, that she, +constantly, found some food to give to poor children, and needy people; +unblessed by children of her own, she employed her fingers in making +clothes for the poor members, and families, of the Church. There was +always help for the poor hungry labourer passing her cottage; the house +was always open for the itinerant minister travelling on his way to some +“publication,” and she was always ready to minister to his necessities +with her own kind hands. Her husband often thought that the glance she +gave upon a text shed light upon it. She never had robust health, but +she accompanied her husband on several of his longer journeys through the +greater part of Wales,—ah, and some of them in the winter, through storms +of rain, and snow, and hail, along dangerous roads too, across difficult +ferries; and she was uniformly cheerful! What an invaluable creature, +what a blessed companion! A keener observer of character, probably, from +what we can gather, than her husband; a sharper eye, in general, to +detect the subterfuges of selfishness and conceit. + +One mighty trial she had before she died; she had, in some way, been +deeply wounded, grievously injured, and hurt, and she found it hard to +forgive; she agonized, and prayed, and struggled; and before she was +called to eternity, she was able to feel that she had forgiven, and +buried the memory of the injuries in the love and compassion of the +Redeemer. Her husband had to give her up, and at a time, perhaps, when +he needed her most. The illness was long, but great strength was given +to her, and at last the release came. There was mourning in the Cildwrn +cottage. The last night of her life she repeated a beautiful, and +comfortable Welsh hymn, and then, ejaculating three times, “Lord Jesus, +have mercy upon me!” she breathed forth her quiet, affectionate, and +hopeful spirit, into her Saviour’s hands, and left her husband all alone, +to bear the burden of her departure, and other griefs, and troubles which +were crowding upon him. + +Other troubles,—for, in what way we need not attempt too curiously to +inquire,—the pastorate gave to the poor old pastor little, or no peace. +There were strong Diotrephesian troubles agitating the great preacher’s +life. The Churches, too, which Christmas Evans had raised, and to which, +by his earnest eloquence, and active, organizing mind, he had given +existence, grew restive, and self-willed beneath his guidance, refusing +his advice with reference to ministers he suggested, and inviting others, +whose appointment he thought unwise. + +Poor Christmas! Did he ever ask himself, in these moments, when he +thought of his lost Catherine, and felt the waves of trouble rising up, +and beating all round him,—did he ever ask himself whether the game was +worth the candle? whether he was a mere plaything in life, whom that arch +old player, Death, had outplayed, and defeated? Did it ever seem to him +that it was all a vanity, ending in vexation of spirit? The life most +beloved had burnt out, the building he had spent long years to erect, +seemed only to be furnished for discomfort, and distraction. + +Did he begin to think that the wine of life was only turning into acrid +vinegar, by-and-by to end with the long sleeping-draught? Of life’s good +things, in the worldling’s sense of good, he had tasted few; most clearly +he had never desired them. He had never the opportunity, nor had he ever +desired to be like a Nebuchadnezzar, roaming the world like a beast, and +pasturing at a dinner-table, as upon a sort of meadow-land of the +stomach, sinking the soul to the cattle of the field; but he might have +expected that his Church, and Churches, would be a joy, a rest, a +pleasant meadow-land to him. The body was certainly crumbling to decay: +would the ideas also prove like frescoes, which could be washed out by +tears, or removed, and leave the soul only a desolate habitation, waiting +for its doom of dust? + +We do not suppose that, amidst his depressing griefs, these desolating +beliefs, or unbeliefs, had any mastery over him. What did the men who +tormented him know of those mighty springs of comfort, which came from +those covenants he had made with God, amidst the lonely solitudes of his +journeyings among the wild Welsh hills? He had not built his home, or +his hopes, on the faithfulness of men, or the vitality of Churches; the +roots of his faith, as they had struck downward, were now to bear fruit +upward. + +There was a fine healthfulness in his spirit. There is nothing in his +life to lead one to think that he had ever been much intoxicated by the +fame which had attended him; he appears to have been always beneath the +control of the great truths in which he believed, and it was not the +seductive charms of popularity for which he cared, but the power of those +truths to bring light, conviction, and rest, to human souls. All his +sermons look that way; all that we know of his preaching, and experience, +turns in that direction. + +Rose-leaves are said to act as an emetic, and have much the same effect +on the constitution as senna-leaves. It is so with those sweet things +which fame offers to the imagination; the conserves of its fragrance, +by-and-by, become sickening. So, the robust nature of our fine old +friend had to rise over grief, and disappointment, and unfriendliness, +and diaconal dictation and impertinence. Only one thing he remembered. +He appears to have been sustained, even as Edward Irving was, in his +conviction that the truth of his message, the lamp of the ministry which +he carried, gave to him a right, and a prerogative which he was not to +relinquish; he had proved himself, he had proved the Spirit of God to be +in him of a truth. He was not a wrangler, not disposed to maintain +debates as to his rights; nor was he disposed to yield to caprice, +faction, and turbulence; and so, he began to think of retiring, old as he +was, from the field, the fragrance of which had proclaimed that the Lord +had blessed him there. + +Christmas Evans, as he draws near to the close of his work in Anglesea, +only illustrates what many a far greater, and many a lesser man than he, +have alike illustrated. There is a fine word among the many fine words +of that great, although eccentric teacher, John Ruskin:—“It is one of the +appointed conditions of the labour of man, that in proportion to the time +between the seed-sowing and the harvest, is the fulness of the fruit; and +that generally, therefore, the further off we place our aim, and the less +we desire to be the witnesses of what we have laboured for, the more wide +and rich will be the measure of our success.” This was, no doubt, the +consolation of Christmas; but as we look upon him, a friendly voice +reminds us, that, as he leaves Anglesea, he realizes very much of Robert +Browning’s soliloquy of the martyred patriot:— + + “Thus I entered, and thus I go! + In triumphs people have dropped down dead. + Paid by the world,—what dost thou owe + Me? God might question; now, instead, + ’Tis God shall repay! I am safer so.” + +So the candlestick was removed out of its place in Anglesea, and Anglesea +soon, but too late, regretted the removal. Christmas Evans, however, +seems to illustrate a truth, which may be announced almost as a general +law, from the time of the Saviour and his Apostles down to our own, that +those who have wrought most unselfishly, and serviceably for the cause of +God, and the well-being of man, had to receive their payment in +themselves, and in the life to come. In proportion to the greatness of +their work was the smallness of their remuneration here. + +If we refer to the painful circumstances in connection with the close of +the ministry of Christmas Evans at Anglesea, it is, especially, to notice +how his faith survived the shock of surrounding trouble. He himself +writes: “Nothing could preserve me in cheerfulness and confidence under +these afflictions, but the assurance of the faithfulness of Christ; I +felt assured that I had much work yet to do, and that my ministry would +be instrumental in bringing many sinners to God. This arose from my +trust in God, and in the spirit of prayer that possessed me; I frequently +arose above all my sorrows.” + +And again he writes: “As soon as I went into the pulpit during this +period, I forgot my troubles, and found my mountain strong; I was blessed +with such heavenly unction, and longed so intensely for the salvation of +men, and I felt the truth like a hammer in power, and the doctrine +distilling like the honey-comb, and like unto the rarest wine, that I +became most anxious that the ministers of the county should unite with me +to plead the promise, ‘If any two of you agree touching anything,’ etc. +Everything now conspired to induce my departure from the island: the +unyielding spirit of those who had oppressed, and traduced me; and my own +most courageous state of mind, fully believing that there was yet more +work for me to do in the harvest of the Son of Man, my earnest prayers +for Divine guidance, during one whole year, and the visions of my head at +night, in my bed—all worked together towards this result.” + +Few things we know of are more sad than this story. “It was an affecting +sight,” says Mr. William Morgan, quoted by Mr. Rhys Stephen in his +Memoir, “to see the aged man, who had laboured so long, and with such +happy effects, leaving the sphere of his exertions under these +circumstances; having laboured so much to pay for their meeting-houses, +having performed so many journeys to South Wales for their benefit, +having served them so diligently in the island, and passed through so +many dangers; now some of the people withheld their contributions, to +avenge themselves on their own father in the Gospel; others, while +professing to be friends, did little more; while he, like David, was +obliged to leave his city, not knowing whether he should ever return to +see the ark of God, and his tabernacle in Anglesea again. Whatever +misunderstanding there was between Mr. Evans, and some of his brethren, +it is clear that his counsels ought to have been received with due +acknowledgment of his age, and experience, and that his reputation should +have been energetically vindicated. I am of opinion, I am quite +convinced, that more strenuous exertions should have been made to defend +his character, and to bear him, in the arms of love, through the archers, +and not to have permitted him to fall in the street without an advocate.” + +The whole aim of Mr. Evans’s life, as far as we have been able to read +it, was to get good from heaven, in order that he might do good on earth. +Clearly, he never worked with any hope of a great earthly reward for any +personal worthiness; perhaps there arose a sense that he had always been +unjustly remunerated, that burdens had been laid upon him he ought not to +have been called upon to bear; and now the sense of injustice sought, as +is so frequently the case, to vindicate itself by ingratitude. It seems +so perpetually true, in the sad record of the story of human nature, that +it is those who have injured us who seek yet further to hurt us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. +_CONTEMPORARIES IN THE WELSH PULPIT—WILLIAMS OF WERN_. + + +The Great Welsh Preachers unknown in England—The Family of the +Williamses—Williams of Pantycelyn—Peter Williams—Evan Williams—Dr. +Williams—Williams of Wern—The immense Power of his Graphic +Language—Reading and Thinking—Instances of his Power of Luminous +Illustration—Early Piety—A Young Preacher—A Welsh Gilboa—Admiration of, +and Likeness to, Jacob Abbot—Axiomatic Style—Illustrations of Humour—The +Devils—Fondness for Natural Imagery—Fondness of Solitude—Affecting +Anecdotes of Dying Hours—His Daughter—His Preaching characterised—The +Power of the Refrain in the Musician and the Preacher, “Unto us a Child +is born.” + +WE pause here for a short time, in our review of the career, and +character, and pulpit power of Christmas Evans, to notice some of those +eminent men, who exercised, in his day, an influence over the Welsh mind. +We will then notice some of those preachers, of even the wilder Wales, +who preceded these men. So little is known of many of them in England, +and yet their character, and labours, are so essentially and excellently +instructive, that we feel this work, to those who are interested, to be +not one of supererogation. The men, their country, the people among whom +they moved, their work in it, the singular faith in, and love for +preaching, for the words these men had to utter,—they must seem, to us, +remarkable, and memorable. In this time of ours, when preaching, and all +faith in preaching, is so rapidly dying out, that it may be regarded, +now, as one of the chief qualifications of a candidate for the pulpit, +that he cannot preach a sermon, but can “go to those who sell, and buy +for himself”—this study of what was effected by a living voice, with a +real live soul behind it, must seem, as a matter of mere history, +noteworthy. And first among those who charmed the Welsh ear, in the time +of Christmas Evans, we mention Williams of Wern. + +It is not without reason, that many eminent Welshmen can only be known, +and really designated after the place of their birth, or the chief scene +of their labours. The family of the Williamses, for instance, in Wales, +is a very large one—even the eminent Williamses; and William Williams +would not make the matter any clearer; for, always with tenderest love +ought to be pronounced the name of that other William Williams, or, as he +is called, Williams of Pantycelyn—the obscure, but not forgotten, Watts +of Wales. His hymns have been sung over the face of the whole earth, and +long before missionary societies had been dreamed of, he wrote, in his +remote Welsh village, + + “O’er the gloomy hills of darkness;” + +and he has cheered, and comforted many a Zion’s pilgrim by his sweet +song, + + “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah!” + +He was born in 1717, and died in 1791. This sweet and sacred singer +ought to receive more than this passing allusion. Little is known of him +in England; and it is curious that Mr. Christopher’s volume on “Hymn +Writers and their Hymns” neither mentions his hymns, nor his name. + +A writer in the _Quarterly Review_, evidently not very favourable to that +denomination of religious sentiment which Williams represented, has +spoken of the “unmixed pleasure” his name and character awakens: “He was +a man in whom singular purity of sentiment added grace to a truly +original genius.” “His direction to other composers was, never to +attempt to compose a hymn until they feel their souls near heaven. His +precept, and his practice, in this respect, have been compared to those +of Fra Angelico.” Would that some competent Welsh pen would render for +us, into English, more of these notes of the sweet singer of Pantycelyn. + +William Williams came from the neighbourhood of Llandovery, the parish of +Pritchard of the “Welshman’s Candle;” he was, as his hymns would +indicate, well educated; he studied for, and entered upon the medical +profession; but, converted beneath the preaching of Howell Harris, in +Talgarth churchyard, he turned from medicine to the work of the ministry. +He was a member of the Established Church; he sought, and received +ordination, and deacon’s orders, but, upon application for priest’s +orders, he was refused. He then united himself with the Calvinistic +Methodists, but still continued to labour with the great Daniel Rowlands, +at Llangeitho. His sermons were, like his hymns, often sublime, always +abounding in notes of sweetness. During the forty three years of his +ministry, it is said, he travelled about 2,230 miles a year, making in +all 95,890 miles! He wrote extensively, also, in prose. There is a +handsome edition of his works in the Welsh language, and an English +edition of some of his hymns. Among the most beautiful, our readers will +remember— + + “Jesus, lead us with Thy power + Safe into the promised rest.” + +This was William Williams of Pantycelyn. + +Then, there was Peter Williams, a famous name in the Principality, and of +about the same period as Williams of Pantycelyn. No man of his time did +so much to cultivate religious literature in Wales. He was a great +preacher, and an exemplary man; when a minister within the Church of +England, he was persecuted for his opinions, and practices; and, when he +left that communion, he suffered even a more bitter persecution from his +Methodist brethren. His life, and his preaching, appear to have been +full of romantic incidents. + +Then there was Evan Williams, who is spoken of as a seraphic man, and +whose life appears to justify the distinctive designation, although he +died at the age of twenty-nine, very greatly in consequence of ill-usage +received in persecution. + +Then, in England, we are better acquainted with Daniel Williams, the +founder of what is called Dr. Williams’s Library; and who, in addition to +this magnificent bequest, left sums of money to Wales for schools, +endowments of ministers, annual grants of Bibles, and religious books, +and for widows of ministers; by which Wales has received since, and +receives now, the sum of about £700 a year. His ministry, however, was +in London, at Hand Alley, Bishopsgate Street, nearly two hundred years +since. His works are contained in six octavo volumes; but he scarcely +falls beneath the intention of these pages. + +Besides these, there are many others; so that, as we said above, the name +of Williams represents, not only a large family, but a family remarkable +for Christian usefulness in Wales. But, in this catalogue of eminent +preachers, Williams of Wern, among those of his name, is singularly +eminent. He had that power, to which we have referred, of using his +language in such a manner, that people, in a very awful way, realized the +scenes he described. Dr. Rees mentions of him, that when preaching on +the resurrection of the dead, from the window of Ynysgan Chapel, Merthyr +Tydvil, he so riveted the attention of the vast multitude, who were on +the burying-ground before him, that when he reached the climax, all the +crowd moved together in terror, imagining that the graves under their +feet were bursting open, and the dead rising. Yet Williams was a +singularly quiet preacher; these effects were wrought by the power of +that language, so wonderfully fitted to work on the emotions of a very +imaginative people, and which he knew how to play upon so well. + +This great preacher had quite as remarkable an individuality as either of +the eminent men, whose characters we may attempt faintly to portray. +Christmas Evans, we have seen, led his hearers along through really +dramatic, and pictorial representations. Davies was called the “Silver +Trumpet” of Wales; his voice was an instrument of overwhelming compass, +and sweetness. Elias was a man of severe, and passionate eloquence,—all +the more terrible, because held in the restraint of a perfect, and +commanding will. Williams differed from all three; nor must it, for a +moment, be said that he “attained not to the first three.” His eminence +was equal to theirs, and, in his own walk, he was quite as highly +esteemed; but his department of power was completely different. Perhaps, +he was less the vehicle of vehement passion than either Elias, or Davies; +and it was altogether apart from his purpose to use the amazing imagery +of Christmas Evans. His mind was built up of compacted thought; his +images were not personifications, but analogies. So far as we are able +to form a conception of him, his mind appears to have moved in a pathway +of self-evidencing light. + +Thus, if we were to speak of these four men as constituting a quartette +in the harmony of the great Welsh pulpit, we should give to John Elias +the place of the deep bass; to Davies, the rich and melting soprano; to +Christmas Evans the tenor; reserving, for Williams of Wern, the place of +the alto. His teaching was eminently self-evolved. None of the great +Welsh preachers dealt much with pen, and paper. They wrought out their +sermons on horseback, or whilst moving from place to place. With +Williams it was especially so. Two ministers called upon him in 1830. +One of them was something of a bookworm, and he asked him if he had read +a certain book which had just been published. Williams said he had not. +“Have you,” continued his friend, “seen so-and-so?” naming another work. +“No, I have not.” And, presently, a third was mentioned, and the answer +was still in the negative. “I’ll tell you what,” said Mr. Williams, “you +read too much; you do not think sufficiently. My plan in preparing +sermons is to examine the connection of a passage, extract its principle, +and think it over in my own mind. I never look at a Commentary, except +when completely beaten.” + +It has often been said that, in the very proportion in which eloquence is +effective, and commanding in delivery, in the degree in which it is +effective as _heard_, it is impossible to be _read_; and, with some +measure of exception, this is, no doubt, true. Williams, certainly, is +an illustration of this general principle; yet he was, perhaps, one of +the most luminous of speakers; only, this alone, without accompanying +passion, does not make the orator. Take the following as an illustration +of his manner. On ejaculatory prayer:— + + “Ejaculatory prayer is the Christian’s breath; the secret path to his + hiding-place; his express to heaven in circumstances of difficulty, + and peril; it is the tuner of all his religious feelings; it is his + sling, and stone, with which he slays the enemy, ere he is aware of + it; it is the hiding of his strength; and, of every religious + performance, it is the most convenient. Ejaculatory prayer is like + the rope of a belfry; the bell is in one room, and the handle, or the + end of the rope which sets it a-ringing, in another. Perhaps the + bell may not be heard in the apartment where the rope is, but it is + heard in its own apartment. Moses laid hold of the rope, and pulled + it hard, on the shore of the Red Sea; and though no one heard, or + knew anything of it, in the lower chamber, the bell rang loudly in + the upper one, till the whole place was moved, and the Lord said, + ‘Wherefore criest thou unto me?’” + +This is luminous preaching. Unfortunately, as with others, we have very +little—scarcely anything, indeed—left of Williams’s pulpit talk. + +William Williams was born in the year 1781, at Cwm-y-swn-ganol, in +Merionethshire. There his parents occupied a farm, and were much +respected. It seems, to us, an odd thing that their name was not +Williams, but Probert, or Ap-Robert. He received his name of Williams +from the singular practice, then prevalent in many parts of Wales, of +converting, with the aid of the letter S, the Christian name of the +father into the surname of the son. His father, although an orderly +attendant upon Divine Worship, never made a public profession of +religion; but his mother was a very pious, and exemplary member of the +Calvinistic Methodist connexion. + +The decisive hour of real religious conviction came to the youth when he +was very young—only about thirteen years of age. Impressions deep, and +permanent, were made on his mind, and heart, and at fifteen he was +received into Church fellowship; but he suffered greatly from diffidence. +Although it was expected of him, he could not pray either in the family, +or in public, because, as he used to say, he would then be required, by +all his acquaintance, to conduct himself like a perfect saint. But one +night, when all the family, with the exception of his mother, and +himself, had retired to rest, she engaged in prayer with him, and then +said, “Now, Will, dear, do you pray,” and he did so; and from this moment +dated the commencement of his courage, and confidence. + +It was in his twenty-second year that he entered Wrexham Academy. He was +a thorough Welshman—a monoglot. He made some progress in the acquisition +of English, and Greek; but he could never speak English fluently, and was +advanced in life before he knew a word of it; and he used to say, “When I +violate English, I am like a child that breaks a window; I do not go back +to mend it, but I run away, hoping I shall not be seen.” As linguists, +most of his fellow-students outshone him; in the pulpit, from his very +first efforts, he not only outshone them all, but it was soon seen that +he was to transcend most of the teachers, and speakers of his time. + +Perhaps his example will not commend itself to some of our modern +writers, as to preparation for the ministry; for when he was recommended +to continue longer under tuition, he said, “No—no; for if so, the harvest +will be over while I am sharpening my sickle.” Young as he was, he took +a singular view of the leadings of Providence, which, however, eminently +marks the character of the man. He received a most unanimous invitation +from a large, and influential Church at Horeb, in Cardiganshire, and was +just about accepting the invitation, when the smaller, and, in +comparison, quite insignificant sphere of Wern was put before him, with +such commendations of the importance of the work as commanded his +regards. He declined Horeb, and accepted Wern. + +His field of labour appears to have comprehended a cluster of villages, +such as Llangollen, Rhuabon, and Rhosllanerchrugog; and in this region +the greater number of his days were passed, excepting that brief period, +towards the close of his life, when he became the minister of the great +Welsh tabernacle in Cross Hall Street, Liverpool. But he left Wales with +a heavy heart, amidst the pretty distinctly expressed dissatisfaction of +the people of the Principality, who, however, still insisted on giving +him his designation of Williams of Wern. Nor was he away from them long. +His old Church continued unsettled, and after three years’ ministry in +Liverpool, he returned to Wern, to close his active, and useful life. + +His pastorate consisted, really, of three places—Wern, Rhos, and Harwood. +It was a singular circumstance, that whilst large crowds thronged round +him at the first two places, and while his name was becoming as a sharp +arrow through the whole Principality, he made little impression on +Harwood. He used to say that Harwood had been of greater service to him +than he had been to it; for it was “the thorn in the flesh, lest he +should be exalted above measure;” and if he ever felt disposed to be +lifted up when he saw the crowds gathering round him at other places, he +had only to go over to, or think about Harwood, and this became an +effectual check to the feelings of self-inflation, in which he might have +been tempted to indulge. It was so, whilst other places, Churches, and +congregations, “waited for him as for the rain, and opened their mouths +wide as for the latter rain;” whilst upon other fields his “doctrine +distilled as the dew,” his stubborn Harwood appears to have been a kind +of Welsh Gilboa, upon which no dew fell. + +He was claimed as a kind of public property, and Churches at a distance +seemed to think they had a right to his services, frequently very much to +the irritation of his own people, to whom he might have given the +consolation he once administered to a brother minister; “I understand +that your people complain a good deal because you so often leave them. +Well, let us be thankful that the reverse is not the case; for our own +people might have tired of us, and be pleased to hear strangers, and +preferred our absence, regarding us as ‘a vessel wherein is no +pleasure.’” Unfortunately, in such cases, congregations do not take the +matter as philosophically as the old Scotchwoman, who, when she met a +neighbouring clergyman one Sabbath morning, wending his way to her own +kirk, expressed her surprise at meeting him there, and then. He +explained that it was an exchange of services. “Eh, then,” said the old +woman, “_your_ people will be having a grand treat the day.” + +Something of the nature of Williams’s mind, and his method of +ministration, may be gathered from his exceeding admiration of Jacob +Abbot, and especially his work, “The Corner Stone.” “Oh! what a pity,” +he said, “that we cannot preach as this man writes.” But, so far as we +have been able to judge from the scanty means we possess, he did preach +very much after the manner of Jacob Abbot’s writings. His words appear, +first, to have been full of strong, seminal principles, and these were +soon made clear in the light of very apt illustrations. Truly it has +been said, that, first, the harper seizes his harp, and lays his hand +firmly upon it, before he sweeps the strings. In an eminent manner, +Williams gave to his people the sense, as soon as he commenced, that a +subject was upon his heart, and mind; and he had a firm grasp of it, and +from his creative mind each successive stroke was some fine, apt, happy +evolution. + +Illustration was his _forte_, but of a very different order from that of +Christmas Evans; for instance, illustrating the contests of Christian +creeds, and sects with each other, “I remember,” he said, “talking with a +marine, who gave to me a good deal of his history. He told me the most +terrible engagement he had ever been in, was one between the ship to +which he belonged, and another English vessel, when, on meeting in the +night, they mistook each other for a French man-of-war. Many persons +were wounded, some slain; both vessels sustained serious damage from the +firing, and, when the day broke, great was their surprise to find the +English flag hoisted from the masts of both vessels, and that, through +mistake, they had been fighting all night against their own countrymen. +It was of no avail, now, that they wept together: the mischief was done. +Christians,” said the preacher, “often commit the same error in this +present world. One denomination mistakes another for an enemy; it is +night, and they cannot see to recognise each other. What will be their +surprise when they see each other in the light of another world! when +they meet in heaven, after having shot at each other through the mists of +the present state! How will they salute each other, when better known, +and understood, after having wounded one another in the night! But they +should wait till the dawn breaks, at any rate, that they may not be in +danger, through any mistake, of shooting at their friends.” + +The Welsh language is, as we suppose our readers well know, especially +rich in compact, proverbial, axiomatic expressions. The Welsh triads are +an illustration of this. The same power often appears in the pulpit. +The latter, and more recent, languages are unfavourable to the expression +of proverbs. Williams we should suppose to have been one of the most +favourable exemplifications of this power. General tradition in Wales +gives him this kind of eminence—poem, and proverb united in his +sentences. We have not been able to obtain many instances of this; and +we fear it must be admitted, that our language only in a clumsy way +translates the pithy quaintness of the Welsh, such as the following: “The +door of heaven shuts from below, not from above. ‘Your iniquities have +separated, saith the Lord.’” “Of all the birds,” he once said, “the dove +is the most easily alarmed, and put to flight, at hearing a shot fired. +Remember,” he continued, “that the Holy Ghost is compared to a dove; and +if you begin to shoot at each other, the heavenly Dove will take wing, +and instantly leave you. The Holy Spirit is one of love, and peace, not +of tumult, and confusion. He cannot live amongst the smoke, and noise of +fired shots: if you would grieve the Holy Spirit, and compel Him to +retire, you have only to commence firing at one another, and He will +instantly depart.” “The mind of man is like a mill, which will grind +whatever you put into it, whether it be husk or wheat. The devil is very +eager to have his turn at this mill, and to employ it for grinding the +husk of vain thoughts. Keep the wheat of the Word in the mind; ‘keep thy +heart with all diligence.’” + +Some of his words seem very odd, although he was a most grave, and +serious man. Thus; “Our prayers often resemble the mischievous tricks of +town-children, who knock at their neighbours’ houses, and then run away; +we often knock at Heaven’s door, and then run off into the spirit of the +world: instead of waiting for entrance, and answer, we act as if we were +afraid of having our prayers answered.” Again: “There are three devils +which injure, and ravage our Churches, and congregations,—the singing +devil, the pew-letting devil, and the Church officers’ appointment devil: +they are of the worst kind of devils, and this kind goeth not out but by +prayer, and fasting.” “The old ministers,” he used to say, “were not +much better preachers than we are, and, in many respects, they were +inferior to us; but they had a success attendant upon their ministry that +can now seldom be seen. They prayed more than we do. It was on his +knees that Jacob became a prince; and if we would become princes, we must +be more upon our knees. We should be successful as our fathers, could we +be brought to the same spirit, and frame of mind.” + +But Williams is like Elias in this; we have had none of his sermons +rendered into English, and, therefore, the descriptions we have are +rather tantalizing. Mr. Parry, the Congregational minister of Llandudno, +a man well fitted to judge—himself one of the most distinguished living +poets in the Welsh language, and who has carried many prizes from the +Eisteddfodd—says of him: “I shall never forget his eloquence. It poured +forth like a swollen torrent. I cannot help referring to a sermon he +preached at an annual Association at Llanerchmedd, Anglesea. The meeting +was, as usual, held in the open air. The weather was very sultry; the +congregation seemed drowsy. His manner, before preaching, showed +considerable restlessness, and when he came to the desk, he looked rather +wild. It was evident his spirit was on fire, and his mind charged +brimful with ideas. He read his text in a quick, bold tone; ‘But now +they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly.’ He poured forth such +a flood of eloquent description, that he completely enchanted our +feelings, and made us imagine we felt the field move under our feet. He +himself thought this occasion one of the most remarkable in his life; for +I spoke to him about the sermon years after. I believe it served to +raise our Churches throughout the whole land.” + +He was a more extensive reader than any of his brethren in the ministry; +a keen observer, too, in the departments of natural history, and natural +philosophy. It was, indeed, much like his own method, and it illustrated +the reason of his great admiration for Jacob Abbot’s “Corner Stone,” when +he very prettily says, “The blessed Redeemer was very fond of His +Father’s works.” He used to say, “If we understood nature better, it +would help us to understand the Bible better. The kingdom of nature, and +the kingdom of grace, are very like each other. There is a striking +resemblance between the natural principles of the one, and the moral +principles of the other.” He entered with a kind of joy into the sublime +moods of nature; was fond of watching the play of the lightning, and +listening to the voice of the thunder. “Jesus,” he used to say, “loved +to look at the lily, and to listen to the birds; to speak upon the +mysteries of the seed, and to draw forth principles from these things. +It was no part of His plan to expound the laws of nature, although He +understood them more perfectly than any one else; but He employed nature +as a book of reference, to explain the great principles of the plan of +salvation.” + +A clergyman writes of him, that “his appearance when preaching was very +remarkable, and singularly beautiful. When standing in a great crowd, +every soul seemed agitated to its centre, and cheeks streaming with +tears. It is but justice that every one should have his likeness taken +when he appears to the greatest advantage; and so Williams. His picture, +on such an occasion, would be an honour to the country which reared him, +a treasure to the thousands who heard him, and a name to the painter.” +The likeness is before us now, and in the firm, composed thoughtfulness, +a kind of sad, far outlook in the eyes, and the lips which seem to wait +to tremble into emotion—we think we can well realize, from the inanimate +engraving, what life must have been in the speech of this extraordinary +man. His mind was cast in a sweetly meditative mould. He was fond of +retreating by himself among the trees, and walking beneath their shadows, +as they formed a canopy over his head. He said of one such place, “I +think I must love that spot through all eternity, for I have felt a +degree of heaven there.” + +And thus he died. He had lost his wife some time before. It is very +affecting to read the account of himself, and his daughter, dying +together in different rooms of the same house. As he said to her, one +day, “We appear to be running, with contending footsteps, to be first at +the goal.” They spent much time in talking together, with unruffled +composure, of death, and heaven, and being “absent from the body, and +present with the Lord.” Every morning, as soon as he was up, found him +by the bedside of his daughter. + +Once he said to her, “Well, Eliza, how are you this morning?” + +“Very weak, father.” + +“Ah!” said he, “we are both on the racecourse. Which of us do you think +will get to the end first?” + +“Oh, I shall, father. I think you must have more work to do yet.” + +“No,” he said; “I think my work is nearly over.” + +“It may be so, father; but, still, I think I shall be the first to go.” + +“Perhaps,” he said, “it is best it should be so, for I am more able to +bear the blow. But,” he continued, “do you long to see the end of the +journey?” + +“Oh, from my heart!” she replied. + +“But why?” + +“Because I shall see so many of my old friends, and my mother; and, above +all, I shall see Jesus.” + +“Ah, well, then,” he said, “tell them I am coming! tell them I am +coming!” + +She died first. Her last words were, “Peace! peace!” He followed her +shortly after—on the 17th of March, 1840, in the fifty-ninth year of his +age. + +Amongst the great preachers of Wales, not one seems to have won more upon +the tender love of those who knew him. Dr. Raffles said of him, “What he +was as a preacher, I can only gather from the effects he produced on +those who understood the language in which he spoke, but I can truly say, +that every occasion on which I saw him only served to impress me more +with the ardour of his piety, and the kindness of his heart. He was one +of the loveliest characters it has been my lot to meet.” + +High strains of thought, rendered into the sweet variety, melting +tenderness, and the grand strength of the language of Wales, seem to have +been the characteristics of the preaching of Williams of Wern; tender, +and terrible, sweetness alternating with strength. We have already said +how much Welsh preaching derived, in its greatest men, from the power of +varying accent; the reader may conceive it himself if ever listening to +that wonderful chorus in Handel’s “Messiah,” which Herder, the great +German, called truly the Christian Epos; but the chorus to which we +refer, is that singular piece of varying pictorial power, “Unto us a +Child is born,” repeated, again and again, in sweet whispered accents, +playing upon the thought; the shepherds having kept watch over their +flocks by night in the fields, and having heard the revelation voices of +the angels say it—“For unto us a Child is born;” and then rolls in the +grand thunder, “And His name shall be called Wonderful;” and then, you +return back to the sweet silvery accents, “For unto us a Child is born;” +and the thought is, that the Wise Men are there offering their gifts; and +then roll in, again, the grand, overwhelming words, “And His name shall +be called Wonderful;” and yet again that for which we waited, the tender, +silvery whisperings, “Unto us a Child is born;” until it seems as if +flocks, and herds, and fields, shepherds, and wise men, all united with +the family of Jesus, beneath the song-singing through the heavens in the +clear starry night, “Unto us a Child is born, and His name shall be +called Wonderful.” Those who have listened to this chorus, may form some +idea of the way in which a great Welsh preacher—and Williams of Wern as a +special illustration—would run his thought, and its corresponding +expression, up and down, through various tones of feeling, and with every +one awaken, on some varying accent, a fresh interpretation, and +expression. Perhaps, the nearest approach we have heard, in England, to +the peculiar gifts of this preacher, has been in the happiest moods of +the beloved, and greatly honoured Thomas Jones, once minister of Bedford +Chapel, London. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +_CONTEMPORARIES—JOHN ELIAS_. + + +Fire and Smoke—Elias’s Pure Flame—Notes in the Pulpit—Carrying Fire in +Paper—Elias’s Power in Apostrophe—Anecdote of the Flax-dresser—A Singular +First Appearance in the Pulpit—A Rough Time in Wales—The Burning of the +Ravens’ Nests—A Hideous Custom put down—The Great Fair of Rhuddlan—The +Ten Cannon of Sinai—Action in Oratory—The Tremendous Character of his +Preaching—Lives in an Atmosphere of Prayer—Singular Dispersion on a +Racecourse—A Remarkable Sermon, Shall the Prey be taken from the +Mighty?—Anecdote of a Noble Earl—Death and Funeral. + +WE have already implied that Welsh preaching has had many varieties, and +very various influences too. Even the very excitements produced by these +famous men, whose names we are recording, varied considerably; but one +characteristic certainly seemed to attend them—the influence was real, +and very undoubted. When Rowland Hill was in Wales, and witnessed some +of the strong agitations resulting from great sermons, he said, he “liked +the fire, but he did not like the smoke.” It was, like so many of the +sayings of the excellent old humorist, prettily, and wittily said. But +it may, also, be remarked, that it is, usually, impossible to have real +fire without smoke; and it has further been well said, that the stories +of the results of such preaching make us feel that, could we only get the +fire, we need not object to a little of the smoke. + +We are introducing to our readers, now, in John Elias, one who, +certainly, does not seem to have surrounded the clear flames of his +eloquence with unnatural excitement. If the effects of his oratory seem +to rival all that we have heard of the astonishing power of George +Whitefield, the material of his sermons, the severity of their tone of +thought, and the fearfulness of their remorseless logic, remind us of +Jonathan Edwards. He had read extensively, especially in theology; and, +it has been truly said, his mind was a storehouse, large, lofty, and +rich. Like his great coadjutors, he prepared for the pulpit with amazing +care, and patience, but apparently never verbally—only seeing his ideas +clearly, and revolving them over and over until, like fuel in the +furnace, they flamed. He tells us how, having done his part, by earnest, +and patient study, he trusted to God to give to his prepared mind its +fitting expression, and speech. Of course, like the rest, he disclaimed +all paper in the pulpit. An eminent brother minister, Thomas Jones, of +Denbigh, was coming to London to preach what was considered the great +annual sermon of the London Missionary Society, at Surrey Chapel. In his +own country, Mr. Jones preached always extempore; but, being in company +with Matthew Wilkes, and John Elias, he inquired of old Matthew whether, +for such an occasion, he did not think that he had better write his +sermon. + +“Well, for _such_ an occasion,” said Matthew, “perhaps it would be better +to write your discourse; but, at any rate, let us have plenty of fire in +it.” + +“But,” said John Elias, “he cannot carry fire in paper!” + +“Never mind,” said Matthew; “paper will do very well to light the fire +with!” + +Mr. Wilkes’ witty rejoinder seems to give the entire value to notes, and +writing in the pulpit; but, no doubt, Elias expressed his conviction, and +the conviction of all these men, that you cannot carry fire in paper. +But we have before said that it was by no means wild-fire. One of the +great poets of Wales imagined a conversation going on between the soul +and the body of Elias, before they both went up together in the pulpit, +when the soul said to the body, “Now, you must be a sacrifice for an +hour. You must bear all my fire, and endure all my exertion, however +intense it may be.” And another writer says of him that, while some +preachers remind us of Pharaoh’s chariots, that drove heavily, Elias +reminded us, rather, of that text, “He maketh His angels spirits, and His +ministers a flame of fire.” + +Whatever is to be said of the peculiarities of other great Welsh +preachers, it seems to be admitted, on all hands, that John Elias was the +Demosthenes of the group. Let no reader smile, however high his regard +for the classic orator. The stories told of the effects of the preaching +of John Elias, greatly resemble those of the great Grecian orator, who, +at the close of his tremendous orations, found the people utterly +oblivious to all the beauty, and strength of his discourses—utterly +indisposed to admire, or criticise, but only conducted to that point of +vehement indignation, and passionate action, which had been, all along, +the purpose of the speaker, exclaiming, “Let us march against Philip!” + +If profound passionate conviction, persuasion altogether insensible of +anything besides its own emotions, be the chief attribute of the gifted +orator, John Elias must stand, we will not say matchless, but, from all +that we have heard of him, unsurpassed. We have no means of testing this +by any published sermons; scraps and fragments we have, and traditions of +the man, and his soul-piercing eloquence, float about over Wales; but we +apprehend it was an order of eloquence which would not submit itself to +either penmanship, or paper, either to the reporter, or the +printing-press. + +How extravagant some things seem when quietly read, unaccompanied by the +passion, and excitement which the preacher has either apprehended, or +produced! The reader remembers very well—for who does not?—Whitefield’s +vehement apostrophe, “Stop, Gabriel!” Who could deliberately write it +down to utter it? and what an affectation of emotion it seems to read it! +But that was not the effect produced on David Hume, who heard it; and we +may be very sure that man,—the most acute, profound, cold philosopher, +and correct writer, had no friendly feelings either to Whitefield, or +Gabriel—to the message which the preacher had to give, or the archangel +to carry. A quiet, ordinary, domestic state of feeling scarcely knows +how to make allowances for an inflamed orator, his whole nature heaving +beneath the passion produced by some great, and subduing vision, an +audience in his hands, as a river of water, prepared to move +whithersoever he will. Thus Elias, when he was handling some weighty +subject, would suddenly say, “Stop! silence!” (_Disymwth_! _Gosteg_!) +“What are they saying in Heaven on the subject?” His hearers testify +that, in such moments, he almost brought them within the precincts of the +glory. The effect was thrilling. And, dealing with alarming truths, he +would exclaim, “Stop! silence! What do they say in hell on this +subject?” + +The man who can do these things must be no hearsay man, or such +questionable excursions of speech would be likely to provoke laughter, +and contempt, rather than overwhelming awe. The effect of this preacher +was unutterable. It is said that upon such occasions, had the people +heard these things from the invisible world, as he expatiated on the +things most likely to be uttered, either in Heaven or hell, upon the +subject, they could scarcely have been more alarmed. + +His biographer, Mr. Morgan, Vicar of Syston, in Leicestershire, tells how +he heard him preaching once to a crowd in the open air, on “the Last +Day,” representing the wicked as “tares gathered into bundles,” and cast +into the everlasting burnings. There was a certain flax-dresser, who, in +a daring and audacious way, chose to go on with his work in an open room +opposite to where Elias was preaching from the platform; but, as the +preacher grew more and more earnest, and the flames more flashing, the +terrible fire more and more intense in its vehemence, the man was obliged +to leave his work, and run into a yard behind his house, to get out of +the reach of the cruel flames, and the awful peals of the thunder of the +preacher’s subduing voice. “But the awful language of that Elias +followed me there also,” said the panic-stricken sinner. + +There was a preacher of Caernarvon, one Richardson, a preacher of +peculiar tenderness, and sweetness, who made his hearers weep beneath the +lovely message he generally carried. On one occasion, while Elias was +pouring forth his vehement, and dreadful words, painting the next world +in very living, and fearful colours, his audience all panic-stricken, and +carried along as if they were on the confines of the darkness, and the +gates opening to receive them, a man, in the agony of his excitement, +cried out, “Oh, I wish I could hear Mr. Richardson, of Caernarvon, just +for five minutes!” No anecdote could better illustrate the peculiar +gifts, and powers of both men. + +John Elias was a native of Caernarvonshire. His parents were people in +very humble circumstances, but greatly respected. His paternal +grandfather lived with them. He was a member of the Church of England. +His influence over the mind of Elias appears to have been especially +good; and it is, perhaps, owing to this influence that, although he +became a minister, and the eminent pride of the Calvinistic Methodist +body, he, throughout his life, retained a strong affection for the +services, and even the institution, of the Church of England. Through +his grandfather, he acquired, what was not usual in that day, the +rudiments of education very early, and as a young child, could read very +well and impressively. Thus, when quite a child, they went together to +hear some well-known Methodist preacher. The time for the service had +long passed, and the preacher did not arrive. The old gentleman became +impatient, and said to his little grandson, “It’s a pity the people +should be idling like this; go up into the pulpit, John, and read a +chapter to them;” and, suiting the action to the word, he pushed the +child up into the pulpit, and shut the door after him. With much +diffidence, he began to read portions of the Sermon on the Mount, until, +venturing to withdraw his eye from the Bible, and look aside, lo! to his +great dismay, there was the preacher quietly waiting outside the pulpit +door. He gently closed the book, and slipped down the pulpit stairs. +This was his first appearance in the pulpit. Little could any one dream +that, in after years, he was to be so eminent a master in it. + +But he was only twenty years of age when he began to preach, indeed; and +it is said that, from the first, people saw that a prophet of God had +risen amongst them. There was a popular preacher, with a very Welsh +name, David Cadwalladr, who went to hear him; and, after the sermon, he +said, “God help that lad to speak the truth, for he’ll make the people +believe,—he’ll make the people believe whatever he says!” From the +first, John Elias appears to have been singularly like his two namesakes, +John the Baptist, and Elias the prophet. He had in him a very tender +nature; but he was a severe man, and he had a very severe theology. He +believed that sin held, in itself, very tremendous, and fearful +consequences, and he dealt with sin, and sinners, in a very daring, and +even dreadful manner. + +He appeared in a rough time, when there were, in the neighbourhood, +rough, cruel, and revolting customs. Thus, on Whitsunday in each year, a +great concourse of people used to assemble together to burn the ravens’ +nests. These birds bred in a high and precipitous rock, called _Y +gadair_ (that is, “the chair”). The birds were supposed to prey on young +poultry, etc., and the people thought it necessary to destroy them; but +they always did so on the Sabbath, and it became quite a wild festival +occasion; and the manner of their destruction was most savage, and +revolting. The nests were beyond their reach; but they suspended a fiery +fagot by a chain. This was let down to set the nests on fire; and the +young birds were roasted alive. At every blaze which was seen below, +triumphant shouts rose from the brutal crowd, rending the air. When the +savages had put the birds to death, they usually turned on each other; +and the day’s amusement closed in fights, wounds, bruises, and broken +bones. One of the first of Elias’s achievements was the daring feat of +invading this savage assembly, by proclaiming, in their very midst, the +wrath of God against unrighteousness, and Sabbath-breaking. Perhaps, to +us, the idea of preaching in such a scene seems like the attempting to +still a storm by the waving of a feather; but we may also feel that here +was a scene in which that terrible eloquence, which was a chief power of +Elias, was well bestowed. Certainly, it appears chiefly due to Elias +that the hideous custom was put down, and put to an end for ever. + +It was no recreative play, no rippling out of mild, meditative, innocent +young sermons, these first efforts of young Elias. For instance, there +was a great fair which was wont to be held at Rhuddlan, in Denbighshire. +It was always held on the Lord’s Day. Thither, into the midst of the +fair, went the young man. He took his stand on the steps of the New Inn, +the noise and business of the fair going on all around him. His friends +had earnestly tried to dissuade, and entreated him not to venture into +the midst of so wild, and dangerous a scene. Farmers were there, to hire +labourers; crowds of rough labourers were there. It was the great +market-day for scythes, and reaping-hooks. In the booths all round him +were the sounds of harps, and fiddles; it was a wild scene of +dissipation. There stood the solemn young man, thoughtful, grave, and +compassionate. Of course, he commenced with a very solemn prayer; +praying so that almost every order of person on the ground felt himself +arrested, and brought, in a solemn way, before God. Singular effects, it +is said, seemed to follow the prayer itself. Then he took for his text +the fourth commandment; but he said he had come to open upon them “the +whole ten cannon of Sinai.” The effects could hardly have been more +tremendous had the congregation really stood at the foot of the mountain +that “might not be touched.” In any case, Elias was an awful preacher; +and we may be sure that upon this occasion he did not keep his terrors in +reserve. + +One man, who had just purchased a sickle, was so alarmed at the +tremendous denunciations against Sabbath-breakers, that he imagined that +the arm which held the sickle was paralysed; he let it fall on the +ground. He could not take his eye from the preacher; and he feared to +stoop to pick it up with the other hand, lest that should be paralysed +also. It ought, also, to be said this man became an entirely changed +character, and lived, to an advanced age, a consistent Christian. The +great crowd was panic-stricken. The fair was never after held on the +Lord’s Day. Some person said to Elias, afterwards, that the fair was an +old custom, and it would recover itself, notwithstanding his +extraordinary sermon. Elias, in his dreadful manner, replied, “If any +one will give the least encouragement to the revival of that fair, he +will be accursed before the Holy Trinity, in the name of the Father, the +Son, and the Holy Ghost!” A dreadfully earnest sort of man this. We are +not vindicating his speeches, only giving an account of them. + +Mr. Jones, the Rector of Nevern, one of the most eminent of the Welsh +bards, says, “For one to throw his arms about, is not action; to make +this, or that gesture, is not action. Action is seen in the eye, in the +curling of the lip, in the frowning of the nose—in every muscle of the +speaker.” Mentioning these remarks to Dr. Pugh, when speaking of Elias, +he said he “never saw an orator that could be compared to him. Every +muscle was in action, and every movement that he made was not only +graceful, but it spoke. As an orator,” said Dr. Pugh, “I considered him +fully equal to Demosthenes!” + +It was tremendous preaching. It met the state of society—the needs of +the times. What is there in a sermon?—what is there in preaching? some +have flippantly inquired. We have seen that the preaching of Elias +effected social revolutions; it destroyed bad customs, and improved +manners. He lived in this work; it consumed him. Those who knew him, +applied to him the words of Scripture: “The zeal of Thine house hath +eaten me up.” In estimating him, and his work, it ought never to be +forgotten, that, as has always been the case with such men, he lived in a +life of wondrous prayerfulness, and spiritual elevation. He was called +to preach a great Association sermon at Pwlheli. In the whole +neighbourhood the state of religion was very low, and distressingly +discouraging to pious minds; and it had been so for many years. Elias +felt that his visit must be an occasion with him. It may almost be said +of that day, that “Elias prayed, and the heavens gave rain.” He went. +He took his text, “Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered!” It +was an astonishing time. While the preacher drove along with his +tremendous power, multitudes of the people fell to the ground. Calm +stood the man, his words rushing from him like flames of fire. There +were added to the Churches of that immediate neighbourhood, Mr. Elias’s +clerical biographer tells us, in consequence of the powerful impetus of +that sermon, two thousand five hundred members. + +The good man lived in an atmosphere of prayer. The stories which gather +about such men, sometimes seem to partake of the nature of exaggerations; +but, on the other hand, it ought to be recollected that all anecdotes and +popular impressions arise from some well-known characteristic to which +they are the correspondents. There was a poor woman, a neighbour’s wife. +She was very ill, and her case pressed very much upon the mind of Elias +in family prayer. But one morning he said to his wife, “I have somehow +missed Elizabeth in my prayer this morning; I think she cannot be alive.” +The words had scarcely passed from his lips when the husband was at the +door, to tell him of his wife’s departure. + +There is a singular circumstance mentioned of some horse-races, a great +disturbance to the best interests of the neighbourhood; on the day of the +great race, Elias’s spirit was very much moved, and he prayed most +passionately and earnestly that the Lord would do something to put a stop +to them. His prayer was so remarkable, that someone said, “Ahab must +prepare his chariot, and get away.” The sky became so dark shortly +after, that the gas was lighted in some of the shops of the town. At +eleven o’clock the rain began to pour in torrents, and continued until +five o’clock in the afternoon of the next day. The multitudes on the +race-ground dispersed in half-an-hour, and did not reassemble that year; +and what seemed more remarkable was, that the rainfall was confined to +that vicinity. It is our duty to mention these things. An adequate +impression could not be conveyed of the place this man held in popular +estimation without them. And his eminence as a preacher was astonishing; +wherever he went, whatever day of the week, or whatever hour of the day, +no matter what the time or the season, business was laid aside, shops +were closed, and the crowds gathered to hear him. Sometimes, when it was +arranged for him to preach in a chapel, and more convenient that he +should do so, a window was taken out, and there he stood, preaching to +the crowded place within, and, at the same time, to the multitudes +gathered outside. Mr. Morgan, late vicar of Christ Church, in Bradford, +gives an account of one of these sermons. There was a great panorama +exhibiting at the same time. Elias took the idea of moving +succession—the panorama of all the miracles wrought by Christ. It is +easy to see how, from such lips, a succession of wonderful pictures would +pass before the eye, of living miracles of Divine working,—a panorama of +wonderful cures. Mr. Morgan says, “I was very ill at the time, but that +striking sermon animated me, and I have often stirred the cold English +with the account of it.” + +We have said that no sermons are preserved; Elias himself regretted, in +his advanced life, that some, which had been of a peculiar interest to +him, had gone from him. Fragments there are, but they are from the lips +of hearers. Many of these fragments still present, in a very impressive +manner, his rousing, and piercing, and singularly original style; his +peculiar mode of dealing at will, for his purposes of illustration, with +the things of earth, heaven, and hell. + +Take one illustration, from the text, “_Shall the prey be taken from the +mighty_, _or the lawful captive be delivered_?” “_Satan_!” he exclaimed, +“what do you say? Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? ‘No, never. +I will increase the darkness of their minds; I will harden more the +hardness of their hearts; I will make more powerful the lusts in their +souls; I will increase the strength of their chains; I will bind them +hand and foot, and make my chains stronger; the captives shall never be +delivered. Ministers! I despise ministers! Puny efforts theirs!’ +‘_Gabriel_!’ exclaimed the preacher, ‘messenger of the Most High God: +shall the prey be taken from the mighty?’ ‘Ah! I do not know. I have +been hovering over this assembly. They have been hearing the Word of +God. I did expect to see some chains broken, some prisoners set free; +but the opportunity is nearly over; the multitudes are just upon the +point of separating; there are no signs of any being converted. I go +back from this to the heavenly world, but I have no messages to carry to +make joy in the presence of the angels.’” There were crowds of preachers +present. Elias turned to them. “‘What think you? You are _ministers_ +of the living God. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty?’ ‘Ah! who +hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? +We have laboured in vain, and spent our strength for nought; and it seems +the Lord’s arm is not stretched out. Oh, there seems very little hope of +the captives being delivered!’ ‘_Zion_! Church of Christ! answer me, +Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? What do you say?’ And Zion +said, ‘My God hath forgotten me; I am left alone, and am childless. And +my enemies say, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.’ Oh, I am +afraid the prey will not be taken from the mighty—the captive will not be +delivered. _Praying Christians_, what do you think? ‘O Lord, Thou +knowest. High is Thy hand, and strong is Thy right hand. Oh that Thou +wouldst rend the heavens, and come down! Let the sighing of the prisoner +come before Thee. According to the greatness of Thy power, preserve Thou +them that are appointed to die. I am nearly wearying in praying, and yet +I have a hope that the year of jubilee is at hand.’” Then, at this +point, Elias assumed another, higher, and his most serious manner, as if +about to speak to the Almighty; and, in quite another tone, he said, +“What is the mind of the Lord respecting these captives? Shall the prey +be taken from the mighty?” Then he exclaimed, “‘Thus saith the Lord, +Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the +terrible shall be delivered.’ Ah!” he exclaimed, “there is no doubt +about the mind and will of the Lord—no room for doubt, and hesitation. +‘The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and +everlasting joy upon their heads.’” + +This is the fragment of a sermon preached when Elias was about thirty +years of age. Of course it can give but a very slender idea, but perhaps +it shows something of the manner of the master. His imagination was very +brilliant, but more chastened, and subdued, than that of many. His +eloquence, like all of the highest order, was simple, and he trusted +rather to a fitting word, than to a large furniture of speech. It is +said that, to his friends, every sermon appeared to be a complete +masterpiece of elocution, a nicely-compacted, and well-fitted oration. + +Among the great Welsh preachers, David Davies, and Williams of Wern were, +like Rowlands of Llangeitho, comparatively fixtures. Of course, they +appeared on great Association occasions. But John Elias, and Christmas +Evans itinerated far, and wide. Unlike as they were in the build of +their minds, and the character of their eloquence, they had a great, and +mutual, regard, and affection for each other; and it is told how, when +either preached, the other was seen with anxious interest drinking in, +with the crowd, the words of his famous brother. Theirs are, no doubt, +the two darling names most known to the religious national heart of +Wales. To John Elias it is impossible to render such a mede of justice, +or to give of his powers even so comprehensive a picture, as is +attempted, even in this volume, of Christmas Evans. + +Something like an illustration of the man may be gathered from an +anecdote of the formation of one of the first Bible Societies in North +Wales. It was a very great occasion. A noble Earl, the Lord Lieutenant +of the county, was to take the chair; but when he heard that John Elias +was expected to be the principal speaker, he very earnestly implored that +he might be kept back, as “a ranter, a Methodist, and a Dissenter, who +could do no good to the meeting.” The position of Elias was such that, +upon such an occasion, no one could have dared to do that; so the noble +Lord introduced him, but with certain hints that “brevity, and +seriousness would be desirable.” The idea of recommending seriousness to +John Elias, certainly, seems a very needless commendation; but when Elias +spoke,—partly in English, and partly in Welsh,—especially when, in +stirring Welsh, he referred to the constitution of England, and the +repose of the country, as illustrating the value of the Bible to society, +and some other such remarks,—of course with all the orator’s piercing +grandeur of expression,—the chairman, seeing the inflamed state of the +people, and himself not well knowing what was said, would have the words +translated to him. He was so carried away by the dignified bearing of +the great orator, that he would have a special introduction to him at the +close of the meeting. A day or two after, a special messenger came to +invite him to visit, and spend some time at the house of the Earl. This, +however, was respectfully declined, for reasons, no doubt, satisfactory +to Elias, and which would satisfy the peer also, that the preacher had no +desire to use his great popularity for his own personal influence, and +aggrandisement. + +After a life of eminent usefulness, he died, in 1841, at the age of +sixty-eight. His funeral was a mighty procession, of about ten thousand +persons. They had to travel, a distance of some miles, to the beautiful +little churchyard of Llanfaes, a secluded, and peaceful spot,—a scene of +natural romance, and beauty, the site of an old Franciscan monastery, +about fourteen miles from Llangefni, the village where Elias died. The +day of the funeral was, throughout the whole district, as still as a +Sabbath. As it passed by Beaumaris, the procession saw the flags of the +vessels in the port lowered half-mast high; and as they passed through +Beaumaris town, and Bangor city, all the shops were closed, and all the +blinds drawn before the windows. Every kind of denomination, including +the Church of England, joined in marks of respect, and justified, more +distinctly than could always be done, the propriety of the text of the +funeral oration: “Know ye not that a prince and a great man has fallen?” +Of him it might truly be said, “_Behold I will make thee a new sharp +threshing instrument_, _having teeth_: _thou shalt thresh the mountains_, +_and beat them small_, _and shalt make the hills like chaff_.” + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +_CONTEMPORARIES—DAVIES OF SWANSEA_. + + +Traditions of his Extraordinary Eloquence—Childhood—Unites in Church +Fellowship with Christmas Evans, and with him preaches his First +Sermon—The Church of Castell Hywel—Settles in the Ministry at Frefach—The +Anonymous Preacher—Settles in Swansea—Swansea a Hundred Years Since—Mr. +Davies reforms the Neighbourhood—Anecdotes of the Power of his Personal +Character—How he Dealt with some Young Offenders—Anecdote of a +Captain—The Gentle Character of his Eloquence—The Human Voice a Great +Organ—The Power of the “Vox Humana” Stop—A Great Hymn Writer—His Last +Sermon. + +WE shall, in the next chapter, mention several names of men, mightily +influential as Welsh preachers in their own country, and to most English +readers utterly unknown. Perhaps the most conspicuous of these lesser +known men is, however, David Davies, of Swansea. Dr. Thomas Rees, in +every sense a thoroughly competent authority, speaks of him as one of the +most powerful pulpit orators in his own, or any other, age; and he quotes +the words of a well-known Welsh writer, a minister, who says of David +Davies: “In his best days, he was one of the chief of the great Welsh +preachers.” This writer continues: “I may be deemed too partial to my +own denomination in making such an observation. What, it may be asked, +shall be thought of John Elias, Christmas Evans, and others? In point of +flowing eloquence, Davies was superior to every one of them, although, +with regard to his matter, and the energy, and deep feeling with which he +treated his subjects, Elias, in his best days, excelled him.” As to this +question of feeling, however, the writer of these pages was talking, some +time since, with Dr. Rees himself, about this same David Davies, when the +Doctor said: “What the old people tell you about him is wonderful. It +was in his voice—he could not help himself; without any effort, five +minutes after he began to speak, the whole congregation would be bathed +in tears.” + +This great, and admirable man was born in the obscure little village of +Llangeler, in Carmarthenshire, in June, 1763. His parents, although +respectable, not being in affluent circumstances, could give him very few +advantages of education. Thus it happened that, eminent as he became as +a preacher, as one of the most effective hymn-writers in his language, +and as a Biblical commentator, he was entirely a self-made man. However, +as is so often the case in such instances, his earnest eagerness in the +acquisition of knowledge was manifest when he was yet very young; and he +was under the influence of very strong religious impressions at a very +early age. + +Even when he was quite a child, he would always stand up, and gravely ask +a blessing on his meals; and it is said that there was something so +impressive, and grave, in the manner of the child, that some careless +frequenters of the house always took off their hats, and behaved with +grave decorum until the short prayer was ended. His parents were not +religious persons, and, therefore, it is yet more remarkable that one +day, while he was still in his earliest years, his father heard him +fervently in prayer for them behind a hedge. It is not wonderful to +learn that he was greatly affected by it. It does not seem that this +depth of religious life accompanied him all the way through his boyhood, +and his youth; but a very early marriage—in most instances, so grave, and +fatal a mistake—would appear to have been the occasion of the restoration +of his religious convictions. He was but twenty when he married Jane +Evans, a respectable, and lovely young woman of his own neighbourhood; +and now his religious life began in real earnest. + +It is surely very remarkable, as we have already seen, that he, and +Christmas Evans were admitted into Church fellowship on the same +evening,—the Church to which we have already referred,—beneath the +pastorate of the eminent scholar, and bard, David Davies, of Castell +Hywel. The singularity did not stop here. Christmas Evans, and the +young Davies, preached their first sermon in the same little cottage, in +the parish of Llangeler, within a week of each other. The two youths +were destined to be the most eminent lights of their different +denominations, in their own country, in that age; but neither of them +continued long in connection with the Church at Castell Hywel; and as +they joined at the same time, so about the same time they left. + +David Davies, their pastor, was a great man, and an eminent preacher, but +he was an Arian, and the Church members were chiefly of the same school +of thought; and the convictions of both youths were altogether of too +deep, and matured an order, to be satisfied by the Arian view of the +person, and work of Christ. Moreover, they both, by the advice of +friends, were looking to the work of the Ministry, for which they must +have early shown their fitness; and, as we have noticed in the case of +Christmas Evans, there was a rule in the Church at Castell Hywel, that no +one should be permitted to preach who had not received an academical +training. + +This, in addition to their dissatisfaction with services devoted chiefly +to the frigid statements of speculative points of doctrine, or the +illustration of worldly politics, soon operated to move the young men +into other fields. Evans, as we know, united himself with the Baptists; +Davies found a congenial ministration at Pencadair, under the direction +of a noted evangelical teacher of those parts, the Rev. William Perkins. +There his deepest religious convictions became informed, and +strengthened. Davies was always a man of emotion; it was his great +strength when he became a preacher; and his biographer very pleasingly +states the relation of his after-work to this moment of his life, when he +says that, “Beneath the teaching of Mr. Perkins, a delightful change came +over his feelings; he could now see, in the revealed testimony concerning +the work finished by our Divine Surety, and Redeemer, enough to give +confidence of approach ‘into the holiest,’ to every one who believes the +report of it, as made known to all alike in the Scriptures. We may +justly say, ‘Blessed are their eyes who see’ this; who see that God is +now ‘reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their +trespasses.’ They, indeed, see the heavens opened, and the angels of God +ascending, and descending upon the Son of Man. They see that fulfilled +which was set forth of old in vision to Jacob, the restoration of +intercourse between earth and heaven through a mediator; and, in the +discovery of it, they walk joyfully in the way of peace, and in the +gracious presence of their reconciled Father.” + +It was after this period that the first sermon was preached, in the +cottage to which we have alluded. “The humble beginning of both Davies, +and Evans, naturally reminds us,” says Davies’ biographer, “of the +progress of an oak from the acorn to the full-grown tree, or that of a +streamlet issuing from an obscure valley among the mountains, and +swelling, by degrees, into a broad, and majestic river.” David Davies +soon became well known in his neighbourhood as a mighty evangelist. +Having grounded his own convictions, and even then possessed of a copious +eloquence, it is not wonderful to read that dead Churches rose into +newness of life, and became, in the course of time, flourishing +societies. He was ordained as a co-pastor with the Rev. John Lewis, at +Trefach. The chapel became too small, and a new one was built, which +received the name of Saron. He became a blessing to Neuaddlwyd, and +Gwernogle; his words ran, like flames of fire, through the whole +district. It is said that his active spirit, and fervent style of +preaching, gave a new tone to the ministry of the Independents throughout +the whole Principality. Hearers, who have been unaccustomed to the +penetrating, the quietly passionate emotionalness of the great Welsh +preachers, can scarcely form an idea of the way in which their at once +happy, and invincible words would set a congregation on fire. + +The beloved, and revered William Rees, of Liverpool, in his memoir of his +father, gives an illustration of this, in connection with a sermon +preached by Mr. Davies; and it furnishes a striking proof of the force of +his eloquence. The elder Rees speaks of one meeting in particular, which +he attended at Denbigh, at the annual gathering of the Independents. A +minister from South Wales preached at the service with unusual power, and +eloquence. Among the auditors, there was a venerable man, named William +Lewis, who possessed a voice loud, and clear as a trumpet, and who was, +at that time, a celebrated preacher among the Calvinistic Methodists. +The southern minister, in full sail, with the power of the “_hwyl_” +strong upon him, and the whole congregation, of course, in full sympathy, +all breathless, and waiting for the next word, came to a point in his +sermon where he repeated, says Mr. Rees, in his most pathetic tones, the +verse of a hymn, which can only be very poorly conveyed in translation:— + + “Streams from the rock, and bread from heaven, + Were, by their God, to Israel given; + While Sinai’s terrors blazed around, + And thunders shook the solid ground, + No harm befell His people there, + Sustained with all a Father’s care, + Perversely sinful though they were.” + +The drift of the passage was to show that the believer in Christ is just +as safe amidst terrors from within, and without. The sentiment touched +the electric chord in the hearts of the multitude. Old William Lewis +could bear it no longer. Up he started, unable to conceal his feelings. +“Oh, yes! oh, yes!” he exclaimed; “blessed be His name! God supported +His people amidst all the terrors of Sinai, sinful, and rebellious though +they were. That was the most dreadful spot in which men could ever be +placed; yet, even there, God preserved His people unharmed. Oh, yes! and +there He sustained me, too, a poor, helpless sinner, once exposed to the +doom of His law, and trembling before Him!” No sooner had the old man +uttered these words, than a flame seemed instantaneously to spread +through the whole congregation, which broke forth into exclamations of +joy, and praise. But the preacher, who had kindled this wonderful fire, +and who could do such things! For some time, Mr. Rees was unable to find +out who it was; and it was the younger Rees, long the venerable minister +in Liverpool, who discovered afterwards, from one of his father’s old +companions, that it was David Davies, from the south,—he who came to be +called, in his more mature years, “The great Revivalist of Swansea.” + +For, after labouring until the year 1802 in the more obscure regions we +have mentioned, where, however, his congregations were immense, and his +influence great over the whole Principality, he was invited by the +Churches of Mynyddbach, and Sketty—in fact, parts of Swansea—to become +their pastor; and on this spot his life received its consummation, and +crown. + +When Mr. Davies entered the town, it was a remarkably wicked spot; the +colliers were more like barbarians than the inhabitants of a civilized +country. Gangs of drunken ruffians prowled through its streets, and the +suburbs in different directions, ready to assault, and ill-treat any +persons who ventured near them. They were accustomed to attack the +houses as they passed, throwing stones at the doors, and windows, and +could scarcely open their mouths without uttering the most horrid oaths, +and blasphemies. It seems almost strange, to our apprehensions now, that +the presence of a preacher should effect a change in a neighbourhood; yet +nothing is more certain, than the fact that immense social reformations +were effected by ministers of the Gospel, both in England, and in Wales. + +Mr. Davies had not long entered Swansea before the whole neighbourhood +underwent a speedy, and remarkable change. He had a very full, and +magnificent voice; a voice of amazing compass, flexibility, and +tenderness; a voice with which, according to all accounts, he could do +anything—which could roll out a kind of musical thunder in the open air, +over great multitudes, or sink to the softest intonations, and whispers, +for small cottage congregations. It was well calculated to arrest a rude +multitude. And so it came about that Mynyddbach became as celebrated for +the work of David Davies, as the far-famed Llangeitho for the great work, +and reformation of David Rowlands. The people poured in from the country +round to hear him. Then, although very tender, and genial, his manner +was so solemn, and he had so intense a power of realizing, to others, the +deep, and weighty truths he taught, that he became a terror to +evil-doers. + +It is mentioned that numbers of butchers from the neighbourhood of +Cwmamman, and Llangenie, were in the habit of attending Swansea market on +Saturdays. Some of them, after selling the meat which they had brought, +were accustomed to frequent the public-houses, and to remain there +drinking, and carousing until the Sunday morning. It is a well-known, +and amusing circumstance, that, in the course of a little time, when +proceeding homewards on their ponies, if they caught a glimpse of Mr. +Davies coming in an opposite direction, they hastily turned round, and +trotted off, until they could find a bystreet, or lane, to avoid his +reproving glances, or warnings, which had the twofold advantage of +pertinency and serious wit, conveyed in tones sufficiently stentorian to +reach their ears. And there was a man, proverbially notorious for his +profane swearing, who plied a ferry-boat between Swansea, and Foxhole; +whenever he perceived Mr. Davies approaching, he took care to give a +caution to any who might be using improper expressions: “Don’t swear, Mr. +Davies is coming!” + +And there is another story, which shows what manner of man this Davies +was. One Saturday night, a band of drunken young men, and boys, threw a +quantity of stones against his door, according to their usual mode of +dealing with other houses. While they were busy at their work of +mischief, he suddenly opened the door, rushed out, and secured two or +three of the culprits, who were compelled to give him the names of all +their companions. He then told them that he should expect every one of +them to be at his house on a day which he mentioned. Accordingly, the +whole party came at the appointed hour, but attended by their mothers, +who were exceedingly afraid lest the offending lads should be sent to +prison in a body. Instead of threatening to take them before the +magistrates, Mr. Davies told them to kneel down with him; and having +offered up an earnest prayer, and affectionately warned them of the +consequences of their evil ways, he dismissed them, requesting, however, +that they would all attend at Ebenezer Chapel on the following Sunday. +They were, of course, glad to comply with his terms, and to be let off so +easily. In after years, several of them became members of his Church, +and maintained through life a consistent Christian profession. “And one +of them,” said Dr. Rees, when writing the story of his great predecessor, +“is an old grey-headed disciple, still living.” + +Such anecdotes as these show how far the character of the man aided, and +sustained the mighty power of the minister. Our old friend, the +venerable William Davies, of Fishguard, says: “I well remember Mr. Davies +of Swansea’s repeated preaching tours through Pembrokeshire, and can +never forget the emotions, and deep feelings which his matchless +eloquence produced on his crowded congregations everywhere; he had a +penetrating mind, a lively imagination, and a clear, distinctive +utterance; he had a remarkable command of his voice, with such a flow of +eloquence, and in the most melodious intonations, that his enraptured +audience would almost leap for joy.” + +Instances are not wanting, either in the ancient, or modern history of +the pulpit, of large audiences rising from their seats, and standing as +if all spellbound, while the preacher was pursuing his theme, and, to the +close of his discourse, subdued beneath the deepening impression, and +rolling flow of words. Perhaps the reader, also, will remember, if he +have ever been aware of such scenes, that it is not so much glowing +splendour of expression, or the weight of original ideas, still less +vehement action, which achieves these results, as a certain marvellous, +and melodious fitness of words, even in the representation of common +things. + +But to return to Mr. Davies. Davies of Fishguard, aforementioned, gives +an illustration of his preaching: “The captain of a vessel was a member +of my Church at Fishguard, but he always attended Ebenezer, when his +vessel was lying at Swansea. One day, he asked another captain, ‘Will +you go with me next Sunday, to hear Mr. Davies? I am sure he will make +you weep.’ ‘Make _me_ weep?’ said the other, with a loud oath. ‘Ah! +there’s not a preacher in this world can make _me_ weep.’ However, he +promised to go. They took their seats in the front of the gallery. The +irreligious captain, for awhile, stared in the preacher’s face, with a +defiant air, as if determined to disregard what he might say; but when +the master of the assembly began to grow warm, the rough sailor hung down +his head, and before long, he was weeping like a child.” Here was an +illustration of the great power of this man to move, and influence the +affections. + +As compared with other great Welsh preachers, Davies must be spoken of +as, in an eminent manner, a singer, a prophet of song, and the swell, and +cadences of his voice were like the many voices, which blend to make up +one complete concert. He was not only a master of the deep bass notes, +but he had a rich soprano kind of power, too; for we read that “when he +raised his voice to a higher pitch than ordinary, it increased in melody, +and power, and its effects were thrilling in the extreme; there were no +jarring notes—all was the music of eloquence throughout.” This must not +be thought wonderful—it is natural; all men cannot be thus, nor all +preachers, however good, and great. There are a few noble organs in the +world. The organ itself, however considered, is a wonderful instrument, +but there are some built with such extraordinary art that they are +capable of producing transcendent effects beyond most other instruments. +Davies, the preacher, was one of these amazing organs, in a human frame; +but the power of melody was still within his own soul, and it was the +wonderful score which he was able to read, and which he compelled his +voice to follow, which yet produced these amazing effects. + +Surely, it is not more wonderful, that the human voice should have its +great, and extraordinary exceptions, than that most wonderful piece of +mechanism and art, an organ. We have the organs of Berne, Haarlem, and +the Sistine Chapel—such are great exceptions in those powers which art +exercises over the kingdom of sound; their building, their architecture, +has made them singular, and set them apart as great instruments. But +even in these, who does not remember the power of the _vox humana_ stop? +We apprehend that few who have heard it in the organs of Berne, or +Fribourg, will sympathise with Dr. Burney’s irreverent, and ridiculous +condemnation of it, in his “History of Music,” as the “cracked voice of +an old woman of ninety, or Punch singing through a comb.” Far from this, +the hearer waits with intense anxiety, almost goes to hear this note, and +realizes in it, what has been said so truly, that music, as it murmurs +through the ear, is the nurse of the soul. But all organs have not the +_vox humana_ stop, nor all preachers either. The human voice, like the +organ, is a mighty instrument, but it is the soul which informs the +instrument with this singular power, so that within its breast all the +passions seem to reign in turn. Singular, that we have thought so much +of the great organs of the Continent, and have listened with such +intensity to the great singers, and have failed to apply the reflection +that the greatest preachers must be, in some measure, a combination of +both. + +Davies was one of those preachers, without whose presence the annual +gatherings, in which the Welsh especially delighted, would have been +incomplete. On such occasions, he was usually the last of the +preachers—the one waited for. As the service proceeded, it naturally +happened that some weariness fell over the assembly; numbers of people +might be seen in different parts, sitting, or reclining, on the grass; +but as soon as David Davies appeared on the platform, there was a +gathering in of all the people, pressing forward from all parts of the +field, eager to catch every word which fell from the lips of the speaker. +When a great singer appears at a concert, who of all the audience would +lose a single bar of the melody? He gave out his own hymn in a voice +that reached, without effort, to the utmost limits of the assembled +multitude, though he spoke in a quiet, natural tone, without any +exertion. He read his text deliberately, but in accents sufficiently +loud to be heard with ease by ten thousand people. What is any great +singer, without distinctness of enunciation? And distinct enunciation +has always been one of the strong points of the great Welsh preachers. +Hence, from this reason, he was always impressive, and he seldom preached +without using some Scriptural story, which he made to live, through his +accent, in the hearts of the people; illustrative similes, and not too +many of them; striking thoughts, beneath the pressure of which his manner +became more and more impressive, until, at each period, his hearers were +overpoweringly affected. Every account of him speaks of his wonderfully +impressive voice; and all this gained additional force from his dignified +bearing, and appearance, which took captive, and carried away, not only +more refined intelligences, but even coarsest natures, while the preacher +never approached, for a moment, the verge of vulgarity. Contemporary +preachers bore testimony that when the skilful singer had closed his +strain, the people could not leave the spot, but remained for a long time +after, weeping, and praising. + +We have said, already, that Mr. Davies was one of the Welsh hymn-writers; +eighty of his hymns are said to be among the best in the Welsh language. +He was a strong man, of robust constitution, but, it may be said, he died +young; before he had reached his fiftieth year, his excessive labours had +told visibly on his health, and for many months before his death, he was +strongly impressed with the idea that the time of his departure was at +hand. He died in the year 1816. The first Sabbath of that year, he +preached a very impressive sermon, from the text, “Thus saith the Lord, +This year thou shalt die.” + +His last sermon was preached about three weeks before he died, when he +also administered the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, and gave the right +hand of fellowship to thirteen persons, on their admission into the +Church. He spoke only a few words during the service, and in those, in +faltering accents, told his people he did not expect to be seen amongst +them any more. And, indeed, there was every indication, by his weakness, +that his words would be fulfilled. Every cheek was bedewed with tears. +The hearts of many were ready to burst with grief; for this man’s +affections were so great, that he produced, naturally, that grief which +we feel when the holders of our great affections seem to be parted from +us. + +He went home from this meeting to die. The struggle was not long +protracted. On the morning of December 26th, 1816, he breathed his last. +On the day of the funeral, a large concourse, from the town, and +neighbourhood, followed his remains to the grave. These lie in a vault, +which now occupies a space in the centre of the new chapel, reared on the +site of that in which he ministered so affectionately; and over the +pulpit, a chaste, and beautiful mural marble tablet memorialises, and +very conspicuously bears the name of David Davies. Of him, also, it +might be said: “_The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned_, +_that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary_.” + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +_THE PREACHERS OF WILD WALES_. + + +Rees Pritchard, and “The Welshman’s Candle”—A Singular Conversion—The +Intoxicated Goat—The Vicar’s Memory—“God’s better than All”—Howell +Harris—Daniel Rowlands at Llangeitho—Philip Pugh—The Obscure +Nonconformist—Llangeitho—Charles of Bala—His Various Works of Christian +Usefulness—The Ancient Preachers of Wild Wales characterised—Thomas Rhys +Davies—Impressive Paragraphs from his Sermons—Evan Jones, an Intimate +Friend of Christmas Evans—Shenkin of Penhydd—A Singular Mode of +Illustrating a Subject—Is the Light in the Eye?—Ebenezer Morris—High +Integrity—Homage of Magistrates paid to his Worth—“Beneath”—Ebenezer +Morris at Wotton-under-Edge—His Father, David Morris—Rough-and-ready +Preachers—Thomas Hughes—Catechised by a Vicar—Catching the Congregation +by Guile—Sammy Breeze—A Singular Sermon in Bristol in the Old Time—A +Cloud of Forgotten Worthies—Dr. William Richards—His Definition of +Doctrine—Davies of Castell Hywel, the Pastor of Christmas Evans, and of +Davies of Swansea—Some Account of Welsh Preaching in Wild Wales, in +Relation to the Welsh Proverbs, Ancient Triads, Metaphysics, and +Poetry—Remarks on the Welsh Language and the Welsh Mind—Its Secluded and +Clannish Character. + +AMONGST the characteristic names of Wales, remarkable in that department +to which we shall devote this chapter, whoever may be passed by, the name +of Rees Pritchard, the ancient Vicar of Llandovery, ought not to go +unmentioned. We suppose no book, ever published in Wales, has met the +acceptance and circulation of “Canwyll-y-Cymry,” or “The Welshman’s +Candle.” Since the day of its publication, it has gone through perfectly +countless editions; and there was a time, not long since, when there was +scarcely a family in Wales, of any intelligence, which did not possess a +copy. + +Its author was born in the parish of which he became the vicar, so far +back as 1575. He was educated at Oxford. His early life was more +remarkable for dissipation of every kind, than for any pursuits +compatible with his sacred profession. He was, especially, an inveterate +drunkard; the worst of his parishioners were scandalised by his example, +and said, “Bad as we may be, we are not half so bad as the parson!” The +story of his conversion is known to many, who are not acquainted with his +life, and work, and the eminence to which he attained; and it certainly +illustrates how very strange have been some of the means of man’s +salvation, and how foolish things have confounded the wise. As George +Borrow says in his “Wild Wales,” in his account of Pritchard, “God, +however, who is aware of what every man is capable, had reserved Rees +Pritchard for great, and noble things, and brought about his conversion +in a very remarkable manner.” + +He was in the habit of spending much of his time in the public-house, +from which he was, usually, trundled home in a wheelbarrow, in a state of +utter insensibility. The people of the house had a large he-goat, which +went in, and out, and mingled with the guests. One day, Pritchard called +the goat to him, and offered it some ale, and the creature, so far from +refusing it, drank it greedily, and soon after fell down in a state of +intoxication, and lay quivering, to the great delight of Pritchard, and +his companions, who, however, were horrified at this conduct in one, who +was appointed to be their example, and teacher. Shortly after, as usual, +Pritchard himself was trundled home, utterly intoxicated. He was at +home, and ill, the whole of the next day; but on the day following, he +went down to the public-house, and called for his pipe, and tankard. The +goat came into the room, and again he held the tankard to the creature’s +mouth; but it turned away its head in disgust, hurried away, and would +come near him no more. This startled the man. “My God!” he said, “is +this poor dumb creature wiser than I?” He pursued, in his mind, the +train of feeling awakened by conscience; he shrank, with disgust, from +himself. “But, thank God!” he said, “I am yet alive, and it is not too +late to mend. The goat has taught me a lesson; I will become a new man.” +Smashing his pipe, he left his tankard untasted, and hastened home. He, +indeed, commenced a new career. He became, and continued for thirty +years, a great, and effective preacher; “preaching,” says Mr. Borrow, +“the inestimable efficacy of Christ’s blood-shedding.” + +Those poetical pieces which he wrote at intervals, and which are called +“The Welshman’s Candle,” appear only to have been gathered into a volume, +and published, after his death. The room in which he lived, and wrote, +appears to be still standing; and Mr. Borrow says: “Of all the old houses +in Llandovery, the old Vicarage is, by far, the most worthy of attention, +irrespective of the wonderful monument of God’s providence, and grace, +who once inhabited it;” and the old vicar’s memory is as fresh in +Llandovery, to-day, as ever it was. While Mr. Borrow was looking at the +house, a respectable-looking farmer came up, and was about to pass; “but +observing me,” he says, “and how I was employed, he stopped, and looked +now at me, and now at the antique house. Presently he said, ‘A fine old +place, sir, is it not? But do you know who lived there?’ Wishing to +know what the man would say, provided he thought I was ignorant as to the +ancient inmate, I turned a face of inquiry upon him, whereupon he +advanced towards me, two or three steps, and placing his face so close to +mine, that his nose nearly touched my cheek, he said, in a kind of +piercing whisper, ‘_The Vicar_!’ then drawing his face back, he looked me +full in the eyes, as if to observe the effect of his intelligence, gave +me two or three nods, as if to say, ‘He did indeed,’ and departed. _The_ +Vicar of Llandovery had then been dead nearly two hundred years. Truly +the man in whom piety, and genius, are blended, is immortal upon earth!” +“The Welshman’s Candle” is a set of homely, and very rememberable verses, +putting us, as far as we are able to judge, in mind of our Thomas Tusser. + +Mr. Borrow gives us a very pleasant taste in the following literal, +vigorous translation, which we may presume to be his own:— + + “GOD’S BETTER THAN ALL.” + + “God’s better than heaven, or aught therein; + Than the earth, or aught we there can win; + Better than the world, or its wealth to me— + God’s better than all that is, or can be. + + “Better than father, than mother, than nurse; + Better than riches, oft proving a curse; + Better than Martha, or Mary even— + Better, by far, is the God of heaven. + + “If God for thy portion thou hast ta’en, + There’s Christ to support thee in every pain; + The world to respect thee thou wilt gain; + To fear thee, the fiend, and all his train. + + “Of the best of portions, thou choice didst make, + When thou the high God to thyself didst take; + A portion, which none from thy grasp can rend, + Whilst the sun, and the moon on their course shall wend. + + “When the sun grows dark, and the moon turns red; + When the stars shall drop, and millions dread; + When the earth shall vanish, with its pomp, in fire, + Thy portion shall still remain entire. + + “Then let not thy heart, though distressed, complain; + A hold on thy portion firm maintain. + Thou didst choose the best portion, again I say; + Resign it not till thy dying day!” + +But the age of preachers in Wales, to which the following pages will more +immediately refer, commences with those two great men, who were indeed +the Whitfield, and the Wesley of Wales—Howell Harris of Trevecca, and +Daniel Rowlands of Llangeitho. It is remarkable that these two men, born +to be such inestimable, and priceless blessings to their country, were +born within a year of each other—Harris at Trevecca, in 1714, Rowlands at +Pantybeidy, in Cardiganshire, in 1713. As to Harris, he is spoken of as +the most successful preacher that ever ascended a pulpit, or platform in +Wales; and yet nothing is more certain, than that he neither aimed to +preach, nor will his sermons, so far as any knowledge can be obtained of +them, stand the test of any kind of criticism. This only is certain, +their unquestioned, and greatly pre-eminent usefulness. + +He did not deliver composed sermons, but unpremeditated addresses, on +sin, and its tremendous consequences; on death, and the judgment, and the +world to come. It is said, “His words fell like balls of fire, on the +careless, and impenitent multitudes.” Himself destined for a clergyman +of the Church of England, an Oxford man, and with a fair promise of +success in the Church—since before he left Oxford, he had a benefice +offered him—he repeatedly applied, in vain, for ordination. Throughout +his life, he continued ardently attached to the services of the Church of +England. + +It was, unhappily, from that Church, in Wales, he encountered his most +vehement opposition, and cruel persecution. He, however, roused the +whole country,—within the Church of England, and without,—from its state +of apathy, and impiety; while we quite agree with his biographer, who +says: “Any attempt to account philosophically for the remarkable effects +which everywhere attended the preaching of Howell Harris, would be +nothing better than an irreverent trifling with a solemn subject. All +that can be said, with propriety, is, that he was an extraordinary +instrument, raised by Providence, at an extraordinary time, to accomplish +an extraordinary work.” + +But Llangeitho, and its vicar, seem to demand a more lengthened notice, +as coming more distinctly within the region of the palpable, and +apprehensible. Daniel Rowlands was a clergyman, and the son of a +clergyman. At twenty-two years of age, he was appointed perpetual +curate, or incumbent, of the united parishes of Nantcwnlle and +Llangeitho, at a salary of ten pounds a year. He never received any +higher preferment in the Church on earth, although so eminent a blessing +to his country. He must have been some such man as our William Grimshaw, +of Haworth. When he entered upon his curacy, he was quite an unconverted +young man, given to occasional fits of intoxication, and in the summer he +left his pulpit, to take his part, with his parishioners, in the sports, +and games in the neighbouring fields, or on the village green. + +But, in the immediate neighbourhood of his own hamlet, ministered a good +and consistent Nonconformist, Philip Pugh, a learned, lovable, and lowly +man; and, in the smaller round of his sphere, a successful preacher. +Daniel Rowlands appears to have been converted under a sermon of the +eminent Rev. Griffith Jones of Llanddouror, at Llanddewibrefi; but it was +to Philip Pugh that he was led for that instruction, and influence, which +instrumentally helped to develop his character. It would seem that +Rowlands was a man bound to be in earnest; but conversion set on fire a +new genius in the man. He developed, hitherto undiscovered, great +preaching power, and his church became crowded. Still, for the first +five years of his new course of life, he did not know that more glorious +and beautiful Gospel which he preached through all the years following. + +He was a tremendous alarmist; the dangers of sin, and the terrors of the +eternal judgments, were his topics; and his hearers shrank, and recoiled, +while they were fascinated to listen. Again, the venerable Nonconformist +stepped in; Philip Pugh pointed out his defect. “My dear sir,” said he, +“preach the Gospel—preach the Gospel to the people. Give them the balm +of Gilead; show the blood of Christ; apply it to their spiritual wounds; +show the necessity of faith in a crucified Redeemer.” “I am afraid,” +said Rowlands, “that I have not all that faith myself, in its full +vigour, and exercise.” “Preach on it,” said Mr. Pugh; “preach on it, +until you feel it in that way,—it will come. If you go on preaching in +the way you have been doing, you will kill half the people in the +country. You thunder out the curses of the law, and preach in such a +terrific manner, that nobody can stand before you. Preach the Gospel!” +And again the young clergyman followed the advice of his patriarchal +friend, and unnumbered thousands in Wales had occasion, through long +following years, to bless God for it. + +Does not the reader call up a very beautiful picture of these two, in +that old and obscure Welsh hamlet, nearly a hundred and fifty years +since?—the conversation of such an one as Paul, the aged, with his young +son, Timothy; and if anything were needed to increase our sense of +admiration of the young clergyman, it would be that he did not disdain to +receive lessons from old age, and an old age covered with the indignities +attaching to an outlawed Nonconformist. In Wales, there were very many +men like Philip Pugh; we may incidentally mention the names of several in +the course of these pages—names well worthy of the commendation in +Johnson’s perfect lines: + + “Their virtues walked their narrow round, + Nor made a pause, nor left a void; + And sure the Eternal Master found + Their single talent well employed. + + “And still they fill affection’s eye, + Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind; + And let not arrogance deny + Its praise to merit unrefined.” + +Then there opened a great career before Rowlands, and Llangeitho became +as a shrine in evangelical Wales. He received invitations to preach in +every neighbourhood of the Principality; many churches were opened to +him, and where they were not, he took freely, and cheerfully, to the +chapels, or the fields. His words, and accents were of that marvellous +kind we have identified with Welsh preaching. Later on, and in other +times, people said, he found his successor in Davies of Swansea; and the +highest honour they could give to Swansea, in Davies’ day, was that “it +was another Llangeitho.” + +Rowlands had the power of the thunder, and the dew; he pressed an +extraordinary vitality into words, which had often been heard before, so +that once, while reading the Church Service, in his own church, he gave +such a dreadful tenderness to the words, “By thine agony, and bloody +sweat!” that the service was almost stopped, and the people broke forth +into a passion of feeling. Christmas Evans says: “While Rowlands was +preaching, the fashion of his countenance became altered; his voice +became as if inspired; the worldly, dead, and careless spirit was cast +out by his presence. The people, as it were, drew near to the cloud, +towards Christ, and Moses, and Elijah. Eternity, with its realities, +rushed upon their vision. These mighty influences were felt, more or +less, for fifty years. Thousands gathered at Llangeitho for communion +every month, and they came there from every county in Wales.” + +Such power there is in human words when divinely wielded; such was the +spiritual power of Daniel Rowlands. Well does one writer say, the story +of Llangeitho, well written, would read like a chapter in religious +romance. It is very doubtful whether we have the record of any other man +who drew such numbers to the immediate circle of his ministry, as +Rowlands. He did not itinerate so largely as most of the great Welsh +preachers. In an obscure spot in the interior of Cardiganshire, in an +age of bad roads, and in a neighbourhood where the roads were especially +bad, he addressed his immense concourses of people. His monthly +communion was sometimes attended by as many as three thousand +communicants, of whom, often, many were clergymen. Upwards of a hundred +ministers ascribe to him the means of their conversion. Thus, in his +day, it was a place of pilgrimages; and even now, there are not a few who +turn aside, to stand, with wonder, upon the spot where Rowlands exercised +his marvellous ministry. + +The four great Welsh preachers, Christmas Evans, John Elias, Williams of +Wern, and Davies of Swansea, on whose pulpit powers, and method, we have +more distinctly dilated, may be styled the tetrarchs of the pulpit of +Wild Wales of these later times. Their eminence was single, and +singular. Their immense powers unquestioned: rivals, never, apparently, +by their own selection, the great Welsh religious mind only rivalled them +with each other. After them it might be said, “Great was the company of +preachers,”—great, not merely in number, carrying also influence, and +usefulness of another kind; perhaps even superior to those honoured +names. + +How, for instance, can we do sufficient honour to the labours of CHARLES +OF BALA? This truly apostolic man was born at Llanvihangel, in 1755. +While yet a boy, he managed to introduce family worship into his father’s +house; but it was in his eighteenth year that he heard the great Daniel +Rowlands preach, and he says: “From that day I found a new heaven, and a +new earth, to enjoy; the change experienced by a blind man, on receiving +his sight, is not greater than that which I felt on that day.” In his +twentieth year he went to Oxford, and received Deacon’s orders, and was +appointed to a curacy in Somersetshire; he took his degree at his +University, but he could never obtain priest’s orders; in every instance +objection was made to what was called his Methodism. + +The doors of the Establishment were thus closed against him, and he was +compelled to cast in his lot with the Welsh Methodists, in 1785. Before +this, he had preached for Daniel Rowlands in his far-famed church at +Llangeitho, and the great old patriarch simply uttered a prophecy about +him when he said, “Mr. Charles is the gift of God to North Wales.” He +was an eminent preacher, but it was rather in other ways that he became +illustrious, in the great religious labours of his country. Moving about +to preach, from place to place, his heart became painfully impressed, and +distressed, by the great ignorance of the people everywhere, and that +such multitudes were unable to read the Word of God; so he determined on +the establishment of schools upon a singular principle. + +It was two or three years before he commenced his more settled labours in +Wales, that Robert Raikes had originated the Sunday-school idea in +Gloucester. Thomas Charles was the first to seize upon the idea, and +introduce it into his own country. Charles had an organizing, and +administrative, mind; he fixed upon innumerable places, where he settled +schoolmasters, for periods of from six to nine, and twelve months, to +teach the people to read, giving them the initial elements, and +rudiments, of education, and then removing these masters to another +locality. + +So he filled the country with schools—Sabbath, and night-schools. He +visited the schools himself, periodically, catechizing the children +publicly; and in the course of his lifetime, he had the satisfaction of +seeing the aspect of things entirely changed. He used no figure of +speech, when, towards the close of his life, he said, “The desert +blossoms as the rose, and the dry land has become streams of water.” To +these purposes of his heart he was able to devote whatever money he +received from the work of the ministry; he testifies affectionately that +“the wants of my own family were provided for by the industry of my dear +wife;” and he received some help by donations from England. He found, +everywhere, a dearth of Bibles, and it is curious to read that, although +the Church of England would not receive him as one of her ministers, when +his work became established, the Society for Promoting Christian +Knowledge made him, after considerable reluctance, a grant of no less +than ten thousand Welsh Bibles. After this, he went to London, for the +purpose of establishing a Society to supply Wales with the Holy +Scriptures. It was at a meeting of the Religious Tract Society, which +was called together for that purpose, that it was resolved to establish +the British and Foreign Bible Society; and before that society had been +established ten years, it had supplied Wales with a hundred thousand +copies of the Word of God. + +Other men were great preachers, but Thomas Charles was, in the truest +sense of the word, a bishop, an overseer,—travelling far, and wide, +preaching, catechizing, administrating, placing and removing labourers. +All his works, and words, his inward, and his outward life, show the +active, high-toned saintliness, and enthusiastic holiness, of the man. +There is, perhaps, no other to whom Wales is so largely indebted for the +giving direction, organization, and usefulness to all religious labour, +as to him. His modesty transcended his gifts, and his activity. John +Campbell, of Kingsland, himself noted in all the great, and good works of +that time, relates that at a meeting, at Lady Anne Erskine’s, at which +Mr. Charles was requested to state the circumstances which had made +little Bala a kind of spiritual metropolis of the Principality of Wales, +“he spoke for about an hour, and never once mentioned himself, although +he was the chief instrument, and actor, in the whole movements which had +made the place so eminent.” + +This good man, John Campbell, afterwards wrote to Mr. Charles’s +biographer: “I never was at Bala but once, which was not long after his +removal to the regions of immortality; and such was my veneration for his +character, and labours, that, in approaching it, I felt as if I was about +coming in sight of Sinai, or Jerusalem, or treading on classical ground. +The events of his life, I believe, are viewed with more interest by the +glorified than the battles of Actium, or Waterloo.” + +But, as a preacher, he was unlike those men, whose words moved upon the +wheels of thunder, and who seemed to deal with the lightnings of +imagination, and eloquence. As we read his words, they seem to flow with +refreshing sweetness. He was waited for, and followed everywhere, but +his utterances had nothing of the startling powers we have seen; we +should think he preached, rather, to those who knew, by experience, what +it is to grow in grace. There is a glowing light of holiness about his +words—a deep, sweet, experimental reality. Of course, being a Welshman, +his thoughts were pithily expressed. They were a sort of spiritual +proverbs, in which he turned over, again and again, some idea, until it +became like the triads of his country’s literature; and dilating upon an +idea, the various aspects of it became like distinct facets, setting +forth some pleasant ray. + +Such was Thomas Charles. Wales lost him at the age of sixty—a short +life, if we number it by years; a long life, if we consider all he +accomplished in it; and, to this day, his name is one of the most revered +throughout the Principality. + +It is impossible to do the justice even of mentioning the names of many +of those men, who “served their generation” so well, “according to the +will of God, and then fell asleep.” And it is as necessary, as it is +interesting, to notice how the various men, moved by the Spirit of God, +found Him leading, and guiding them in the path of labour, their +instincts chose. + +In the history of preaching, we believe there is no more curious chapter +than this, of these strange preachers in Wales. They have an +idiosyncrasy as entirely, and peculiarly, their own, as is that of the +country in which they carried on their ministrations. The preaching +friars of the times we call the dark, or middle ages, are very +remarkable, from the occasional glimpses we are able to obtain of them. +Very remarkable the band of men, evoked by the rise of Methodism in +England,—those who spread out all over the land, treading the paths +indicated by the voice, and finger of Whitfield, or Wesley. Very +entertaining are the stories of the preachers of the backwoods of +America, the sappers, and miners, who cleared a way for the planting of +the Word among the wild forests of the Far West. + +These Welsh preachers were unlike any of them,—they had a character +altogether their own. A great many of them were men of eminent genius, +glowing with feeling, and fancy; never having known college training, or +culture, they were very often men who had, somehow, attained a singular +variety of knowledge, lore, and learning, which, perhaps, would be +despised as unscientific, and unclassified, by the schools, but which was +not the less curious, and, to the Celtic mind, enchanting. + +They all lived, and fared hard; all their thoughts, and fancies were +high. If they marched before us now, the nineteenth century would, very +likely, regard them as a set of very rough tykes. Perhaps the nineteenth +century would regard Elijah, Amos, and Nahum, and sundry other equally +respectable persons, in much the same manner. Rude, and rough in gait, +and attire, the rudeness, and the roughness would, perhaps, be forgotten +by us, if we could interpret the torrent, and the wail of their speech, +and be, for a short time, beneath the power of the visions, of which they +were the rapt seers, and unveilers. We wonder that no enthusiastic +Welshman has used an English pen to pourtray the lives, and portraits of +a number of these Welsh worthies; to us, several of them—notably, John +Elias, and Christmas Evans—seem to realize the idea of the Ancient +Mariner,— + + “I pass like night from land to land, + I have strange power of speech; + The moment that his face I see, + I know the man that must hear me— + To him my tale I teach.” + +For instance, how many people in England ever heard the name of THOMAS +RHYS DAVIES, an extraordinary man? And he left an extraordinary diary +behind him, for he seems to have been a very methodical man; and his +diary shows that he preached during his lifetime at least 13,145 times, +and this diary contains a distinct record of the time, place, and text; +and it is said that there is scarcely a river, brook, or tarn, from +Conway to Llansanan, from Llanrwst to Newbridge, from the sea at +Llandudno, to the waters of the Berwyn mountains, in whose waves he had +not baptized. + +In fact, he was, perhaps, in his own particular, and peculiar line, +second to none of the great Welsh preachers; only, it is said that his +power was inexplicable, and yet that it stood the severest tests of +popularity. His sermons are said to have been exceedingly simple, and +very rememberable; they sprang out of a rare personal charm; he was +himself; but, perhaps, if he resembled one of his great brethren, it +would be Williams of Wern. His style was sharp, pointed, axiomatic, but +antithetic, never prodigal of words, his sermons were short; but he was +able to avail himself of any passing circumstance in the congregation, +and to turn it to good account. Once, when a congregation seemed to be +even more than usually disposed to cough, he said, “Cough away, my +friends, it will not disturb me in the least; it will rather help me than +not, for if you are coughing, I shall be sure that you are awake.” + +He had that rare gift in the preacher, perfect self-possession, the grand +preliminary to mastery over a congregation, an entire mastery over +himself. All great Welsh preachers, however they may sometimes dilate, +and expand truths into great paintings, and prolonged descriptions, excel +in the pithy, and proverb-uttering power; but Thomas Rhys Davies was +remarkable in this. Here are a few illustrations:— + + “Ignorance is the devil’s college.” + + “There are only three passages in the Bible which declare what God + is, although there are thousands which speak about Him. God is a + Spirit, God is Light, and God is Love.” + + “Pharaoh fought ten great battles with God, and did not gain one.” + + “The way through the Red Sea was safe enough for Israel, but not for + Pharaoh; he had no business to go that way, it was a private road, + that God had opened up for His own family.” + + “Let the oldest believer remember that Satan is older.” + + “Christ is the Bishop, not of titles, but of souls.” + + “Moses was learned, but slow of speech; it was well that he was so, + or, perhaps, he would not have found time to write the law. Aaron + had the gift of speech, and it does not appear that he had any other + gift.” + + “If you have no pleasure in your religion, make haste to change it.” + + “Judas is much blamed for betraying Christ for three pounds; many, in + our day, betray Him a hundred times for three pence.” + + “Pharaoh commanded that Moses should be drowned; in after days, + Pharaoh was paid back in his own coin.” + + “Many have a brother’s face, but Christ has a brother’s heart.” + +Such was Thomas Rhys Davies; like Christmas Evans, journeying from North +through South Wales, he was taken ill in the same house in which +Christmas Evans died. Conscious of his approaching death, he begged that +he might die in the same bed; this was not possible, but he was buried in +the same grave. + +Then there was EVAN JONES; he had been a _protégé_ of Christmas Evans; +Christmas Evans appears to have brought him forward, giving his verdict +on his suitability as to the ministry. Christmas Evans was able to +appreciate the young man, for he seems to have possessed really brilliant +powers; in his country, and in his land’s language, he attained to the +distinction of a bard; and it is said that his poetry rose to an +elevation of wild, and daring grandeur. As a preacher, he does not +appear to have studied to be popular, or to seek to adapt his sermons to +the multitude; he probably moved through cloudy grandeurs, from whence, +however, he sometimes descended, with an odd quaintness, which, if always +surprising, was sometimes reprehensible. Once, he was expatiating, +glowingly, on the felicities of the heavenly state, in that tone, and +strain which most preachers love, occasionally, to indulge, and which +most hearers certainly, occasionally, enjoy; he was giving many +descriptive delineations of heavenly blessedness, and incidentally said, +“There they neither marry, nor are given in marriage.” There was sitting +beneath him a fervent brother, who, probably, not knowing what he said, +sounded forth a hearty “Amen!” Evan heard it, looked the man full in the +face, and said, “Ah, you’ve had enough of it, have you?” + +This man was, perhaps, in his later years, the most intimate friend of +Christmas Evans. Christmas poured his brilliant imagination, couched in +his grand, although informal, rhetoric over the multitudes; Evan Jones +frequently soared into fields whither, only here and there, an eye could +follow his flight; but when the two friends were alone, their spirits +could mingle pleasantly, for their minds were cast very much in the same +mould; and when Christmas Evans died, it was this friend who published in +Welsh one of the most graceful tributes to his memory. + +In the history of the preaching, and preachers of a hundred years since, +we meet, of course, with many instances of men, who possessed +considerable power, but allied with much illiterate roughness; still, the +power made itself very manifest—a power of illustrating truth, and making +it clearly apprehended. Such a preacher must SHENKIN OF PENHYDD have +been, rough, and rude farmer as he was, blending, as was not at all +uncommon then, and even in our own far more recent knowledge, the +occupations of a farmer, and the ordained minister. Shenkin has left a +very living reputation behind him; indeed, from some of the accounts we +have read of him, we should regard him as quite a type of the rude, yet +very effective, Welsh orator. + +Whatever the Welsh preacher had to say, however abstract, it had to be +committed to an illustration, to make it palpable, and plain. In those +early times, a very large room, or barn, in which were several hundreds +of people, would, perhaps, have only one solitary candle, feebly +glimmering over the gloom. It was in such circumstances, or such a +scene, that Shenkin was once preaching on Christ as the Light of the +world. In the course of his sermon, he came to show that the world was +not its own light, and announced to his hearers what, perhaps, might +startle some of them, that “light was not in the eye.” It seemed as if +he had no sooner said this, than he felt it to be a matter that required +illustration. As he warmed with his subject, going round, and round to +make his meaning plain, but all the time seeming to fear that he was not +doing much towards it with his rustic congregation, he suddenly turned to +the solitary candle, and blew it out, leaving his congregation in utter +darkness. “There,” he exclaimed, triumphantly, to his invisible +congregation, “what do you say to that? Is the light in the eye?” This, +of course, settled the matter in the minds of the most obtuse; but it was +still a serious matter to have to relight, in a lonely little chapel, an +extinguished candle. + +He was a singular creature, this Shenkin. Not many Welsh preachers have +a greater variety of odd stories told than he, of his doings, and +sayings. He had a very downright, and straightforward method of speech. +Thus, he would say, “There are many who complain that they can scarcely +remember anything they hear. Have done with your lying!” he exclaimed. +“I’ll be bound to say you remember well what you sold your old white +horse for at Llandaff fair three years ago. Six or seven pounds, was it? +Certainly that has not escaped your memory. You can remember anything +but the Gospel.” And many of his images were much more of the +rough-and-ready, than of the classical, order. “Humility,” he once said, +“is as beautiful an ornament as a cow’s tail; but it grows, like the +cow’s tail, downwards.” + +Wales was covered with men like this. Every district possessed them, and +many of them have found their memorial in some little volume, although, +in most instances, they only survive in the breath of popular +remembrance, and tradition. + +One of the mightiest of these sons of thunder, who has left behind him a +name, and fame, scarcely inferior to the great ones on whom we have more +lengthily dwelt, was EBENEZER MORRIS. He was a fine, free, cheerful +spirit; his character sparkled with every Christian virtue,—a man of rare +gifts, and grace. With a severe sense of what was just in the relations +of life, and what constituted the principles of a strong theology, +keeping his unblemished course beneath the dominion of a peaceful +conscience, he enjoyed, more than many, the social fireside chat, with +congenial friends. Although a pastor, and a preacher of wide fame, he +was also a farmer; for he was one of an order of men, of whom it has been +said, that good people were so impressed with the privilege conferred by +preaching the gospel, that their hearers were careful not to deprive them +of the full enjoyment of it, by remunerating their labours too +abundantly. + +Ebenezer Morris held a farm, and the farmer seems to have been worthy of +the preacher. A story is told of him that, wanting to buy a cow, and +going down to the fair, he found one for sale which he thought would suit +him, and he bought it at the price named by its owner. Some days after, +Mr. Morris found that the price of cattle had gone up considerably, and +meeting the previous owner of the cow, he said, “Look here, I find you +gave me too great a bargain the other day; the cow is worth more than I +purchased her for,—here is another guinea; now I think we shall be about +right.” + +There are several stories told, in the life of this good, and great man, +showing that he could not take an unfair advantage, that he was above +everything mean, unfair, and selfish, and that guineas, and farms weighed +nothing with him in the balance against righteousness, and truth. His +influence over his whole country was immense; so much so, that a +magistrate addressed him once in public, saying, “We are under great +obligations to you, Mr. Morris, for keeping the country in order, and +preserving peace among the people; you are worth more than any dozen of +us.” On one occasion he was subpœnaed, to attend before a court of +justice, to give evidence in a disputed case. As the book was handed to +him, that he might take the oath, the presiding magistrate said, “No! no! +take it away; there is no necessity that Mr. Morris should swear at all; +his word is enough.” + +His appearance in preaching, his entire presence, is described as most +majestic, and commanding: his voice was very loud, and it is said, a word +from his mouth would roll over the people like a mighty wave. “Look at +that window,” said an aged deacon, in North Wales, to a minister, who had +come to preach at the chapel to which the former belonged, “look at that +window! It was there that Ebenezer Morris stood, when he preached his +great sermon from the words, ‘The way of life is above to the wise, that +he may depart from hell beneath,’ and when we all turned pale while we +were listening to him.” “Ah!” said the minister, “do you remember any +portion of that sermon?” “Remember!” said the old deacon; “remember, my +good man? I should think I do, and shall remember for ever. Why, there +was no flesh here that could stand before it!” “What did he say?” said +the minister. “Say! my good man,” replied the deacon; “say? Why, he was +saying, ‘Beneath, beneath, beneath! Oh, my people, hell is beneath, +beneath, _beneath_!’ until it seemed as if the end of the world had come +upon us all in the chapel, and outside!” + +When Theophilus Jones was selected as Rowland Hill’s co-pastor at +Wooton-under-Edge, Ebenezer Morris came to preach on his induction. In +that place, the audience was not likely to be a very sleepy one, but this +preacher roused them beyond their usual mark, and strange stories are +told of the sermon, while old Rowland sat behind the preacher, +ejaculating the whole of the time; and many times after, when Mr. Hill +found the people heavy, and inattentive, he was in the habit of saying, +“We must have the fat minister from Wales here, to rouse you up again!” +We know his likeness very well, and can almost realize his grand, solemn +manner, in his black velvet cap, which made him look like a bishop, and +gave much more impressiveness to his aspect, than any mitre could have +done. + +This Ebenezer Morris was the son of a man eminent in his own day, David +Morris, of whom it was said, that he scarcely ever preached a sermon +which was not the means of the conversion of men, and in his evangelistic +tours he usually preached two, or three times a day. There is a sermon, +still spoken of, preached at Rippont Bridge, Anglesea. The idea came to +him whilst he was preaching, that many of the people before him might +surely be lost, and he burst forth into a loud dolorous wail, every line +of his countenance in sympathy with his agonizing cry, in Welsh, which no +translation can render, “O bobl y golled fawr! y golled fawr!” The +English is, “O ye people of the great loss! the great loss!” It seems +slight enough to us, but it is said that the people not only moved before +his words, like reeds in a storm, but to this day they speak in Anglesea +of David Morris’s sermon of “The Great Loss.” + +The great authority for the most interesting stories of the religious +life in Wales, is the “History of Welsh Methodism,” by the late Rev. John +Hughes, of Liverpool; unfortunately, we believe it only exists in Welsh, +in three volumes, amounting to nearly two thousand pages; but “Welsh +Calvinistic Methodism; a Historical Sketch,” by the Rev. William +Williams, appears to be principally a very entertaining digest, and +condensation, of many of the most noticeable particulars from the larger +work. There have certainly appeared, from time to time, many most +interesting, and faithful men in the ministry of the Gospel in Wales, +quite beyond the possibility of distinct mention; some of them were very +poor, and lowly in life, and circumstances. Such was THOMAS HUGHES. He +is described as a man of small talent, and slender knowledge, but of +great holiness, and with an intense faith that many of his neighbours +were in a very bad condition, and that it was his duty to try to speak +words to them, whereby they might be saved. He used to stand under the +old walls of Conway, and numbers gathered around him to listen; until at +last he excited the anger of the vicar, who caused him to be arrested, +and brought into his presence, when the following conversation took +place:— + +_Vicar_. “You ought to be a learned man, to go about, and to be able to +answer deep questions.” + +_Hughes_. “What questions, sir?” + +_Vicar_. “Here they are—those which were asked me by the Lord Bishop. +Let’s see whether you will be able to answer them. Where was St. Paul +born?” + +_Hughes_. “In Tarsus.” + +_Vicar_. “Hem! I see that you know something about it. Well, can you +tell me who took charge of the Virgin Mary after our blessed Redeemer was +crucified?” + +_Hughes_. “John.” + +_Vicar_. “Well, once again. Who wrote the Book of Revelation? Answer +that if you can.” + +_Hughes_. “John the Apostle.” + +_Vicar_. “Ho! you seem to know a good deal, after all.” + +_Hughes_. “Perhaps, sir, you will allow me to ask you one or two +questions?” + +_Vicar_. “Oh yes; only they must be religious questions.” + +_Hughes_. “What is holiness? and how can a sinner be justified before +God?” + +_Vicar_. “Ho! we have no business to bother ourselves with such things, +and you have no business to put such questions to a man in my position; +go out of my sight, this minute.” And to the men who had brought him, +“Take care that you do not bring such people into my presence any more.” + +Hughes was a simple, earnest, believing man, with a good deal of Welsh +cuteness. After this interview with the vicar, he was permitted to +pursue his exhortations at Conway in peace. But there is a place between +Conway, and Llandudno, called Towyn Ferry; it was a very ignorant little +nook, and the people were steeped in unbelief, and sin; thither Hughes +determined to go, but his person was not known there. The news, however, +was circulated abroad, that there was to be a sermon, and religious +service. When he arrived, he found things did not appear very pleasant; +there were heaps of stones prepared for the preacher’s reception, when he +should make his appearance, or commence his work. Hughes had nothing +clerical in his manner, or garb, any more than any one in the crowd, and +no one suspected him to be the man, as he threw himself down on the +grass, and entered familiarly into conversation with the people about +him. After a time, when their patience began to fail, he stood up, and +said, “Well, lads, there is no sign of any one coming; perhaps the man +has heard that you are going to stone him; let one of us get up, and +stand on that heap of stones, and talk, and the rest sing. Won’t that be +first-rate?” + +“Capital,” said a bully, who seemed to be the recognised leader of the +crowd. “You go on the heap, and preach to us.” + +“Very well,” said Hughes, “I’m willing to try; but mind you, I shall make +some blunders, so you must be civil, and not laugh at me.” + +“I’ll make ’em civil,” said the bully. “Look here, lads, whoever laughs, +I’ll put one of these stones into his head!” + +“Stop you!” said Hughes; “the first thing we have to do, is to pray, +isn’t it?” + +“Ay, ay!” said the bully, “and I’ll be clerk. I’ll stand before you, and +you shall use my shoulder for the pulpit.” + +So prayer was offered, short, and simple, but in real earnest; and at its +close, a good many favourable words were uttered. Some volunteered the +remark that, “It was every bit as good as a parson.” Hughes proceeded to +give out a text, but the bully shouted,— + +“Hold on, you fool! we’ve got to sing first.” + +“Ay, ay!” said Hughes, “I forgot that.” + +So they sang a Welsh hymn, after a fashion, and then came the text, and +the sermon, which was short, and simple too, listened to very +attentively; and the singular part of the story is, that the bully, and +clerk, left the ground with the preacher, quieted, and changed, and +subsequently he became a converted man. The regeneration of Wales, +through its villages, and lone remote districts, is full of anecdotes +like this,—stories of persecution, and the faithful earnestness of simple +men, who felt in them a strong desire to do good, and fulfilled their +desire, becoming humble, but real blessings to their neighbourhoods. + +Only in a history of the Welsh pulpit—and that would be a volume of no +slight dimensions—would it be possible to recapitulate the names of the +men who exercised, in their day, considerable influence over the +scattered thousands of the Principality. They constitute a very varied +race, and were characterized by freshness, and reality, taking, of +course, the peculiar mental complexion of the preacher: some calm, and +still, but waving about their words like quiet lightnings; some vehement, +overwhelming, passionate; some remarkable for their daring excursions of +imagination; some abounding in wit, and humour. One of the most +remarkable of these last, one who ought not to go unmentioned in such an +enumeration, was SAMUEL BREEZE. This was the man who first introduced +“The Churchyard World” to Dr. Raffles,—of whom it was said, that if you +heard one of his sermons, you heard three preachers, so various were not +only the methods of his sermons, but even the tone of his voice. He is +said to have produced extraordinary effects. Christmas Evans said of +him, that “his eyes were like a flame of fire, and his voice like a +martial strain, calling men to arms.” + +The writer of this volume, in a work on the “Vocation of the Preacher,” +mentions a curious instance, which he gives from the unpublished +reminiscences of a dear departed friend—the Rev. John Pyer, late of +Devonport—who was present when the incident happened, in Bristol, perhaps +nearly eighty years since. Sammy Breeze, as he was familiarly called by +the multitudes who delighted in his ministry, came, periodically, from +the mountains of Cardiganshire, or the neighbourhood of Aberystwith, to +Bristol, where he spoke with more than tolerable efficiency in English. +Mr. Pyer, then a youth, was in the chapel, when, as was not unusual, two +ministers, Sammy Breeze and another, were to preach. The other took the +first place, a young man with some tints of academical training, and some +of the livid lights of a then only incipient rationalism in his mind. He +took for his text, “He that believeth shall be saved, and he that +believeth not shall be damned;” but he condoned the heavy condemnation, +and, in an affected manner, shaded off the darkness of the doom of +unbelief, very much in the style of the preacher in Cowper’s satire, who +never mentioned hell to ears polite. The young man, also, grew +sentimental, and “begged pardon” of an audience, rather more polite than +usual, for the sad statement made in the text. “But, indeed,” said he, +“he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not—indeed, I +regret to say, I beg your pardon for uttering the terrible truth, but, +indeed, he shall be sentenced to a place which here I dare not mention.” + +Then rose Sammy Breeze. He began: “I shall take the same text, to-night, +which you have just heard. Our young friend has been fery fine to-night, +he has told you some fery polite things. I am not fery fine, and I am +not polite, but I will preach a little bit of truth to you, which is +this: ‘He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall +be damned,’ _and I begs no pardons_.” He continued, “I do look round on +this chapel, and I do see people all fery learned and in-tel-lect-u-al. +You do read books, and you do study studies, and fery likely you do think +that you can mend God’s Book, and are fery sure you can mend me. You +have great—what you call thoughts, and poetries; but I will tell you one +little word, and you must not try to mend that; but if you do, it will be +all the same; it is this, look you: ‘He that believeth shall be saved, +and he that believeth not shall be damned, _and I begs no pardons_. And +then I do look round your chapel, and I do see you are a foine people, +well-dressed people, well-to-do people. I do see that you are fery rich, +and you have got your moneys, and are getting fery proud; but I tell you, +it does not matter at all; for I must tell you the truth, and the truth +is, ‘He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be +damned,’ _and I begs no pardons_. And now,” continued the preacher, “you +will say to me, ‘What do you mean by talking to us in this way? Who are +you, sir?’ And now I will tell you. I am Sammy Preeze. I have come +from the mountains of Cardiganshire, on my Master’s business, and His +message I must deliver. If you will never hear me again, I shall not +matter much, but while you shall hear me, you shall hear me, and this is +His word in me, and in me to you: ‘He that believeth shall be saved, and +he that believeth not shall be damned,’ _and I begs no pardons_.” + +It was a strange scene; but as he went on, in quaint, but terribly +earnest strain, anger passed into awe, and mute astonishment into rapt +attention. No one, who heard the words, could ever again hear them +unheeded, nor think lightly of the doom of the unbelieving. The anecdote +is worth being laid to heart, in these days, when there is too often a +reserve in declaring the whole counsel of God. + +After service, in the vestry, the deacons were in great anger with the +blunt preacher; and one, a well-known religious man in Bristol, +exclaimed, “Mr. Breeze, you have strangely forgotten yourself to-night, +sir. We did not expect that you would have behaved in this way. We have +always been very glad to see you in our pulpit, but your sermon to-night, +sir, has been most insolent, shameful!” He wound up a pretty sharp +condemnation by saying, “In short, I don’t understand you!” + +“Ho! ho!” exclaimed Sammy. “You say you do not understand me? Eh! look +you then, I will tell you; I do understand you! Up in our mountains, we +have one man there, we do call him exciseman; he comes along to our shops +and stores, and says, ‘What have you here? Anything contraband here?’ +And if it is all right, the good man says, ‘Step in, Mr. Exciseman, come +in, look you.’ He is all fair, open, and above-board. But if he has +anything secreted there, he does draw back surprised, and he makes a fine +face, and says, ‘Sir, I do not understand you.’ Now, you do tell me that +you don’t understand me, but I do understand you, gentlemen, I do; and I +do fear you have something contraband here; and I will say good-night to +you; but I must tell you one little word; that is: ‘He that believeth +shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned,’ _and I begs +no pardons_.” + +But, with these simple illustrations, we have not exhausted the number of +noticeable names. In connection with every name as it occurs, some +interesting anecdote meets the memory. There was Robert Lloyd, the +shoemaker, and Thomas the turner, and Robert Roberts, of whom, from the +stories before us, we do not find it difficult to believe, that he had +the power to describe things in such a vivid, and graphic manner, as to +make his hearers feel as if the scenes were passing before their eyes. +Then there were David Evans of Aberayron, and Ebenezer Richard of +Tregaron, and William Morris of St. David’s, whose every sermon was said +to be a string of sparkling gems; John Jones of Talysarn, and his +brother, David Jones; John Hughes; the seraphic Henry Rees, and Thomas +Philips, and many another name, concerning whom an illustration might be +furnished, of their powers of wit, wisdom, or eloquence. England, +itself, has been indebted, in many a circle, to eminent Welsh preachers, +who have stimulated thought, created the sphere of holy usefulness, moved +over the minds of cultivated members with the freshness of a mountain +wind, or a mountain stream. It would be invidious to mention their +names—many are yet living; and some, who have not long quitted the Church +on earth, have still left behind them the fragrance of loved, and +honoured names, and exalted, and earnest labours. + +Few of our readers, we may suppose, can be unacquainted with the name, +and memory of “The Man of Ross,” so famous through the verses of Pope. +Ross is a well-known little town in Monmouthshire, on the banks of the +Wye, on the borders of Wales. There, in the parish church, in the pew in +which John Kyrle, the Man of Ross, sat, more than a hundred years since, +a curious sight may be seen: two elm-trees rise, and spread out their +arms, and flourish within the church; especially during the spring, and +summer months, they form a singular adornment to the sacred edifice. The +tradition is, that they are suckers from a tree planted by the “Man of +Ross,” outside the church; but it was cut down by a certain rector, +because it excluded the light; the consequence was that they forced their +way inside, where they had continued to grow, and flourish. As we have +looked upon the singular sight of those trees, in the Man of Ross’s pew, +we have often thought of those who, in Wales, planted in the house of the +Lord, flourish in sacred, and sainted memories, in the courts of our God. +Although all that was mortal of them has passed away, they still bring +forth fruit, and flourish in the grateful recollections of the country, +they were permitted to bless, and adorn. + +Yes, it is very singular to think of many of these men of Wild Wales. +Even those who were counted heretical, were more than extraordinary men; +they were, perhaps, men who, in our day, would seem rather remarkable for +their orthodoxy of sentiment. Rhys Stephen, in an extended note in his +Memoirs of Christmas Evans, refers to the influence of discussions, in +the Principality, raised by the Rev. WILLIAM RICHARDS, LL.D. A large +portion of the ministerial life of this distinguished man, was passed in +England; he was educated for the ministry at the Baptist Academy in +Bristol, for some time co-pastor with Dr. Ash, author of the Dictionary, +and then became the minister of the Baptist Church at Lynn, in Norfolk, +where he remained for twenty years. He always continued, however, in +every sense of the word, a Welshman, and, notwithstanding his English +pastorates, his residences in Wales were frequent and long. + +He was born at Pen-hydd, in Pembrokeshire, in 1749. He published a +Welsh-English dictionary, and his services to Welsh literature were +eminent. But he was regarded as a heretic; his temperament, singular as +it seems in a Welshman, was almost purely philosophic, and neither +imaginative, nor emotional; he disliked the great annual religious +gatherings of his countrymen, and called them fairs, and the preachers, +upon these occasions, he sometimes described in epithets, which were not +complimentary. Naturally, his brethren paid him back; they called him a +heretic,—which is also an exceedingly convenient, and not unusual method +of revenge. Dr. Richards’s influence, however, in Wales, at the +beginning of this century, appears to have been very great; the charges +against him, he does not appear to have been very mindful to disprove, +and it is exceedingly likely that a different, or more guarded mode of +expression, was the height of his offending. Who can fathom, or +delineate, all the fine shades and divergencies of the Arian +controversy?—men whose perfect soundness, in evangelical doctrine, was +utterly undisputed, talked with Dr. Richards, and said, that they could +not discover that he held opinions different from their own. In a +letter, dated December 7th, 1804, when grave charges had been urged +against him, and all the religious mischiefs throughout the Principality +ascribed to him, he writes as follows, to a friend:— + + “I think I may safely say, that no great change, of any kind, has + taken place in my sentiments since I knew you. You must know, + surely, that I did not use to be an _Athanasian_, or even a + _Waterlandian_. Such views of the Deity always appeared to me too + _Tritheistical_. I have been used to think, and do so still, that + there is a particular meaning in such words as these of the + Apostle’s, ‘To us there is but one God, the Father;’ but I never + could say, or think, with the Socinians, that Jesus Christ is no more + than _a man_, like ourselves. I believe, indeed, that He is a Man; + but I, also, believe that He is ‘Emmanuel, God with us’—that he is + ‘the form of God’—‘the image of the invisible God’—an object of + Divine worship, so that we should ‘honour the Son as we honour the + Father’—‘that all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily,’ + or substantially. In short, I believe everything of the dignity, and + glory of Christ’s character, that does not _divide_ the Deity, or + land in _Tritheism_.” + +Again, to another correspondent: “I believe, also, in the doctrine of the +atonement, or sacrifice, of Christ, in the virtue of His blood, and in +the prevalence of His mediation.” + +Something of the same order of man, so far as sentiment, and knowledge +are indications, but possessed of more wit, imagination, and emotion, was +DAVIES, of CASTELL HYWEL, the first pastor of Christmas Evans, and of +Daniel Davies, of Swansea. He was, in his day, a man of many-sided +reputation, but of suspicious doctrinal relations. He was so eminent a +classical scholar, and so many of the Welsh clergy had received their +education from him, that when Dr. Horsley was appointed Bishop of St. +David’s, he expressed, in his usual passionate manner, his irritation +that the most distinguished tutor in South Wales was a Nonconformist, and +gave out that he would not ordain any of Mr. Davies’ pupils. Davies was +a great bard; and Welshmen who know both languages, say that his +translation of Gray’s “Elegy” is, in force, and pathos, superior to the +original. This will scarcely seem strange, if the deep pathos of the +Welsh language be taken into account. His epitaph on Dr. +Priestley—satirizing, of course, the materialism of +Priestley—illustrates, at once, his humour, and versification: + + “Here lies at rest, in oaken chest, + Together packed most nicely, + The bones, and brains, flesh, blood, and veins, + And _soul_ of Dr. Priestley!” + +As an illustration of his readiness of wit, a story is told, how one of +the most noted of the Welsh bards one day met him, while the rain was +streaming down upon him. Umbrellas, probably, were scarce. He was +covered with layers of straw, fastened round with ropes of the same +material; in fact, thatched all over. To him his brother bard exclaimed: + + “Oh, bard and teacher, famed afar, + Such sight I never saw! + It ill becomes a house like yours + To have a roof of straw.” + +To which Davies instantly replied: + + “The rain is falling fast, my friend; + You know not what you say, + A roof of straw, methinks, doth well + Beseem a wall of clay.” + +Such was Christmas Evans’s first “guide, philosopher, and friend.” + +And if we refer to certain characteristics of the Welsh language, which +make it eminently fine furniture for preaching-power, to these may be +added, what we have not so particularly dwelt on, but which does follow, +as a part of the same remark—the singular proverbial power of the Welsh +language. In reading great Welsh sermons, and listening to Welsh +preachers, we have often felt how much the spirit of their own triads, +and the manner of old Catwg the Wise, and other such sententious bards, +falls into their modern method. Welsh proverbs are the delightful +recreations of the archæologists of the old Welsh language. Here, while +we write these lines, we have piles of these proverbial utterances before +us; short, compact sayings, wherever they come from, but which have been +repeated on, from generation to generation. The Bardic triads, for +instance, relating to language, selected by Mr. Owen Pugh,—how admirable +they are for any preacher! They may stand as the characteristics of +their most eminent men. + +“The three indispensables of language—purity, copiousness, and aptness; +the three supports of language—order, strength, and harmony; the three +uses of language—to relate, to describe, to excite; the correct qualities +of language,—correct construction, correct etymology, and correct +pronunciation; three marks of the purity of language—the intelligible, +the pleasurable, the credible; three things that constitute just +description—just selection of words, just construction of language, and +just comparison; three things appertaining to just selection—the best +language, the best order, and the best object.” It must be admitted, we +think, that, in these old triads, there is much of the compact wisdom of +a primeval people, with whom books were few, and thoughts were fresh, and +constant. There seemed to be a singular propensity, in the old mind of +Wales, to throw everything into the form of a trinity of expression, or +to bind up words, as far as possible, in short, sententious utterances. +Catwg’s “Essay on Metaphysics” is a very brief, and concise one, but it +illustrates that rapid running-up-the-ladder kind of style, which has +always been the delight of the Welsh poet or teacher. + + “In every person there is a soul. In every soul there is + intelligence. In every intelligence there is thought. In every + thought there is either good, or evil. In every evil there is death; + in every good there is life. In every life there is God; and there + is no God but He than whom there can be none better. There is + nothing that cannot have its better, save the best of all. There is + no best of all except love. There is no love but God. God is love!” + +Illustrations of this kind fill volumes. It is not for us here to say +how much of the admirable, or the imitable there may be in the method. +It was the method of the old Welsh mind; it was the method into which +many of the best preachers fell, not because they, perhaps, knew so much +of the words of the bards, as because it represented the mind of the +race. Take a few of the Welsh proverbs. + + “He that is intent upon going, will do no good before he departs.” + + “Every one has his neighbour for a mirror.” + + “The water is shallowest where it bubbles.” + + “A lie is the quickest traveller.” + + “Fame outlives riches.” + + “He that is unlucky at sea, will be unlucky on land.” + + “There is always time for meat, and for prayer.” + + “He mows the meadow with shears.” + + “Calumny comes from envy.” + + “Every bird loves its own voice.” + + “The life of a man is not at the disposal of his enemy.” + + “He that loves the young, must love their sports.” + + “Prudence is unmarried without patience.” + + “He that is the head, should become the bridge.” + + “Three things come unawares upon a man: sleep, sin, and old age.” + +But it is not only that this sententious characteristic of the Welsh +language makes it a vehicle for the transparent expression of sentiment; +even our translations cannot altogether disguise the pathetic tones of +the language, and bursts of feeling. The following verse of an old Welsh +prayer, which, a _Quarterly Reviewer_ tells us, used to form, with the +Creed and Ten Commandments, part of the peasant’s daily devotion, +illustrates this:— + + “Mother, O mother! tell me, art thou weeping?” + The infant Saviour asked, on Mary’s breast. + “Child of th’ Eternal, nay; I am but sleeping, + Though vexed by many a thought of dark unrest.” + “Say, at what vision is thy courage failing?” + “I see a crown of thorns, and bitter pain; + And thee, dread Child, upon the cross of wailing, + All heaven aghast, at rude mankind’s disdain.” + +It is singular that Mr. Borrow found, on an old tombstone, an epitaph, +which most of our readers will remember, as very like that famous one Sir +Walter Scott gives us, from an old tomb, in a note to “The Lay of the +Last Minstrel.” The following is a translation:— + + “Thou earth, from earth, reflect, with anxious mind, + That earth to earth must quickly be consigned; + And earth in earth must lie entranced, enthralled, + Till earth from earth to judgment shall be called.” + +The following lines also struck Mr. Borrow as remarkably beautiful, of +which he gives us this translation. They are an inscription in a +garden:— + + “In a garden the first of our race was deceived; + In a garden the promise of grace was received; + In a garden was Jesus betrayed to His doom; + In a garden His body was laid in the tomb.” + +Such verses are very illustrative of the alliterative character of the +Welsh mind. + +But Wales, in its way—and no classical reader must smile at the +assertion—was once quite as much the land of song as Italy. Among the +amusements of the people was the singing of “Pennilion,” a sort of +epigrammatic poem, and of an improvisatorial character, testing the +readiness of rural wit. With this exercise there came to be associated, +in later days, a sort of rude mystery, or comedy, performed in very much +the same manner as the old monkish mysteries of the dark ages. These +furnished an opportunity for satirizing any of the unpopular characters +of the village, or the Principality. Such mental characteristics, +showing that there was a living mind in the country, must be remembered, +when we attempt to estimate the power which extraordinary preachers soon +attained, over the minds of their countrymen. Then, no doubt, although +there might be exceptions, and a Welshman prove that he could be as +stupid as anybody else, in general there was a keen love, and admiration +of nature. The names of places show this. Mr. Borrow illustrates both +characters in an anecdote. He met an old man, and his son, at the foot +of the great mountain, called Tap-Nyth-yr Eryri. + +“Does not that mean,” said Mr. Borrow, “the top nest of the eagles?” + +“Ha!” said the old man, “I see you understand Welsh.” + +“A little. Are there eagles there now?” + +“Oh, no! no eagle now; eagle left Tap-Nyth.” + +“Is that young man your son?” said Mr. Borrow, after a little pause. + +“Yes, he my son.” + +“Has he any English?” + +“No, he no English, but he plenty of Welsh; that is, if he see reason.” +He spoke to the young man, in Welsh, asking him if he had ever been up to +the Tap-Nyth; but he made no answer. + +“He no care for your question,” said the old man; “ask him price of pig.” + +“I asked the young fellow the price of hogs,” says Mr. Borrow, “whereupon +his face brightened up, and he not only answered my question, but told me +that he had a fat hog to sell.” + +“Ha, ha!” said the old man, “he plenty of Welsh now, for he see reason; +to other question he no Welsh at all, no more than English, for he see no +reason. What business he on Tap-Nyth, with eagle? His business down +below in sty with pig. Ah! he look lump, but he no fool. Know more +about pig than you, or I, or anyone, ’twixt here and Machunleth.” + +It has been said, that the inhabitants of a mountainous country cannot be +insensible to religion, and whether, or not this is universally true, it +is, certainly, true of Wales. The magnificent scenery seems to create a +pensive awe upon the spirit. Often the pedestrian, passing along a piece +of unsuggestive road, suddenly finds that the stupendous mountains have +sloped down, to valleys of the wildest, and most picturesque beauty, +valley opening into valley, in some instances; in others, as in the vale +of Glamorgan, stretching along, for many miles, in plenteous +fruitfulness, and beauty, illuminated by some river like the Tivy, the +Towy, or the Llugg, some of these rivers sparkling, and flashing with the +glittering _gleisiad_, as an old Welsh song sings it— + + “_Glan yw’r gleisiad yn y llyn_, + Full fair the _gleisiad_ in the flood + Which sparkles ’neath the summer’s sun.” + +The_ gleisiad_ is the salmon. We have dwelt on the word here, for the +purpose of calling the reader’s attention to its beautiful +expressiveness. It seems to convey the whole idea of the fish—its +silvery splendour, gleaming, and glancing through the lynn. + +It seems rather in the nature of the Welsh mind, to take instantly a +pensive, and sombre idea of things. A traveller, walking beneath a fine +row of elms, expressed his admiration of them to a Welsh companion. “Ay, +sir,” said the man; “they’ll make fine chests for the dead!” It was very +nationally characteristic, and hence, perhaps, it is that the owl (the +_dylluan_) among birds, has received some of the most famous traditions +of the Welsh language. Mr. Borrow thought there was no cry so wild, as +the cry of the _dylluan_—“unlike any other sound in nature,” he says, “a +cry, which no combination of letters can give the slightest idea of;” +and, surely, that Welsh name far better realizes it, than the _tu whit tu +whoo_ of our Shakespeare. + +Certainly, it is not in a page, or two, that we can give anything like an +adequate idea of that compacted poetry, which meets us in Wales, whether +we think of the varied scenery of the country, of the nervous, and +descriptive language, or of its race of people, so imaginative, and +speculative. + +It ought to be mentioned, also, as quite as distinctly characteristic, +that there is an intense clannishness prevalent throughout the +Principality. Communication between the people has no doubt somewhat +modified this; but, usually, an Englishman resident in Wales, and +especially in the more sequestered regions, has seldom found himself in +very comfortable circumstances. The Welsh have a suspicion that there +are precious secrets in their land, and language, of which the English +are desirous to avail themselves. And, perhaps, there is some +extenuation in the recollection that we, as their conquerors, have seldom +given them reason to think well of us. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +_CHRISTMAS EVANS CONTINUED—HIS MINISTRY AT CAERPHILLY_. + + +Caerphilly and its Associations—“Christmas Evans is come!”—A +Housekeeper—His Characteristic Second Marriage—A Great Sermon, The Trial +of the Witnesses—The Tall Soldier—Extracts from Sermons—The Bible a Stone +with Seven Eyes—“Their Works do Follow them”—A Second Covenant with +God—Friends at Cardiff—J. P. Davies—Reads Pye Smith’s “Scripture +Testimony to the Messiah”—Beattie on Truth—The Edwards Family—Requested +to Publish a Volume of Sermons, and his Serious Thoughts upon the +Subject. + +It was in the year 1826 that Christmas Evans, now sixty-two years of age, +left Anglesea, accepting an invitation to the Baptist Church at +Tonyvelin, in Caerphilly. His ministry at Anglesea had been long, +affectionate, and very successful; but, dear as Anglesea was to him, he +had to leave it, and he left it, as we have seen, under circumstances not +honourable to the neighbouring ministers, or the churches of which he had +been the patriarchal pastor. Little doubt can there be, that even he +suffered from the jealousy of inferior minds, and characters; so old as +he was, so venerable, and such a household name as his had become, +throughout all Wales, it might have been thought that he would not have +been permitted to depart. He left the dust of his beloved wife, the long +companion of his Cildwrn cottage, behind him, and commenced his tedious +journey to his new home. He had about two hundred miles to travel, and +the travelling was not easy; travelling in Wales was altogether unrelated +to the more comfortable, and commodious modes of conveyance in England, +even in that day; and now he would have to cross a dangerous ferry, and +now to mount a rugged, and toilsome hill, to wind slowly along by the +foot of some gigantic mountain, to wend through a long, winding valley, +or across an extensive plain. As the old man passed along, he says he +experienced great tenderness of mind, and the presence of Christ by his +side. A long, solitary journey! he says, he was enabled to entrust the +care of his ministry to Jesus Christ, with the confidence that He would +deliver him from all his afflictions; he says, “I again made a covenant +with God which I never wrote.” + +Caerphilly would seem a very singular spot in which to settle one of the +most remarkable men, if not the most remarkable, in the pulpit of his +country, and his time,—beyond all question, the most distinguished in his +own denomination, there, and then. Even now, probably, very few of our +readers have ever heard of Caerphilly; it is nearly forty years since the +writer of the present pages was there, and there, in a Welsh cottage, +heard from the lips of an old Welsh dame the most graphic outlines he has +ever heard, or read, of some of the sermons of Christmas Evans. Since +that day, we suppose Caerphilly may have grown nearer to the dignity of a +little town, sharing some of the honours which have so lavishly fallen +upon its great, and prosperous neighbour, Cardiff. + +Caerphilly, however insignificant, as it lies in its mountain valley, a +poor little village when Christmas Evans was there, has its own eminent +claims to renown: tradition says—and, in this instance, tradition is, +probably, correct—that it was once the seat of a large town. There, +certainly, still stands the vast ruins of Caerphilly Castle, once the +largest in all Great Britain next to Windsor, and still the most +extensive ruin; here was the retreat of the ill-fated Edward II.; here +was that great siege, during which the King escaped in the depth of a +dark, and stormy night, in the disguise of a Welsh peasant, flying to the +parish of Llangonoyd, twenty miles to the west, where he hired himself at +a farm, which, it is said, is still pointed out, or the spot where once +it stood, the site made memorable, through all these ages, by so singular +a circumstance. This was the siege in which that grand, and massive +tower was rent, and which still so singularly leans, and hangs there,—the +leaning tower of Caerphilly, as wonderful an object as the leaning tower +of Pisa, a wonder in Wales which few have visited. + +After this period, it was occupied by Glendower; gradually, however, it +became only famous for the rapacity of its lords, the Spencers, who +plundered their vassals, and the inhabitants of the region in general, so +that from this circumstance arose a Welsh proverb, “It is gone to +Caerphilly,”—signifying, says Malkin, that a thing is irrecoverably lost, +and used on occasions when an Englishman, not very nice, and select in +his language, would say, “It is gone to the devil.” Gloomy ideas were +associated for long ages with Caerphilly, as the seat of horror, and +rapacity; it had an awful tower for prisoners, its ruinous walls were of +wondrous thickness, and it was set amidst desolate marshes. + +And this was the spot to which Christmas Evans was consigned for some of +the closing years of his life; but, perhaps, our readers can have no idea +of the immense excitement his transit thither caused to the good people +of the village, and its neighbourhood. Our readers will remember, what +we have already said, that a small village by no means implied a small +congregation. His arrival at Caerphilly was looked upon as an event in +the history of the region round about; for until he was actually there, +it was believed that his heart would fail him at last, and that he would +never be able to leave Anglesea. + +It is said that all denominations, and all conditions of people, caught +up, and propagated the report, “CHRISTMAS EVANS IS COME!” “_Are you sure +of it_?” “YES, _quite sure of it_; _he preached at Caerphilly last +Sunday_! I know a friend who was there.” These poor scattered +villagers, how foolish, to us, seems their enthusiasm, and frantic joy, +because they had their country’s great preaching bard in their midst; +almost as foolish as those insane Florentines, who burst into tears and +acclamations as they greeted one of the great pictures of Cimabue, and +reverently thronged round it in a kind of triumphal procession. What +makes it more remarkable, is that they should love a man as poor, as he +was old. If they could revere him as, wearied and dusty, he came along +after his tedious two hundred miles’ journey, spent, and exhausted, what +an affluence of affection they would have poured forth had he rode into +Caerphilly, as the old satirist has it, in a coach, and six! + +Well, he was settled in the chapel-house, and a housekeeper was provided +for him. In domestic matters, however, he did not seem to get on very +well. North, and South Wales appeared different to him, and he said to a +friend, he must get a servant from the north. It was suggested to him, +that he might do better than that, that he had better marry again, and +the name of an excellent woman was mentioned, who would have been +probably not unwilling; and she had wealth, so that he might have +bettered his entire worldly circumstances by the alliance, and have made +himself pleasantly independent of churches, and deacons, and county +associations; and when it was first suggested to him, he seemed to think +for a moment, and then broke out into a cheerful laugh. “Ho! ho!” he +said, “I tell you, brother, it is my firm opinion that I am never to have +any property in the soil of this world, until I have a grave;” and he +would talk no more on the subject, but he took a good brother minister of +the neighbourhood into his counsel, Mr. Davies, of Argoed, and he +persuaded him to take his horse, and to go for him to Anglesea, and to +bring back with him the old, and faithful servant of himself, and his +departed wife, Mary Evans; and, in a short time, he married her, and she +paid him every tribute of untiring, and devoted affection, to the last +moment of his life. A really foolish man, you see, this Christmas Evans, +and, as many no doubt said, old as he was, he might have done so much +better for himself. It is not uninteresting to notice a circumstance, +which Mr. Rhys Stephen discovered, that Christmas Evans was married the +second time in the same parish of Eglwysilian, in Glamorganshire, the +church in which George Whitefield was married: the parish register +contains both their names. + +And what will our readers think, when they find that those who knew +Christmas Evans, both at this, and previous periods of his history, +declare that his preaching now surpassed that of any previous period? +Certainly, his ministry was gloriously successful at Caerphilly. +Caerphilly, the village in the valley, became like a city set upon a +hill; every Sabbath, multitudes might be seen, wending their way across +the surrounding hills, in all directions. The homes of the neighbourhood +rang, and re-echoed with Christmas Evans’s sermons; his morning sermon, +especially, would be the subject of conversation, in hundreds of homes, +many miles away, that evening. The old dame with whom we drank our cup +of tea, in her pleasant cottage at Caerphilly, near forty years since, +talked, with tears, of those old days. She said, “We used to reckon +things as they happened, by Christmas Evans’s sermons; people used to +say, ‘It must have happened then, because that was the time when +Christmas Evans preached The Wedding Ring,’ or The Seven Eyes, or some +other sermon which had been quite a book-mark in the memory.” + +No doubt, many grand sermons belong to the Caerphilly period: there is +one which reads, to us, like an especial triumph; it was preached some +time after he settled in the south; the subject was, “God manifest in the +flesh, justified in the spirit.” The grand drama in this sermon was the +examination of the evidences of Christ’s resurrection:— + + + +“THE TRIAL OF THE WITNESSES. + + + “The enemies of Christ, after His death, applied for a military guard + to watch at His tomb, and this application for a military guard was + rested on the fact, that the ‘impostor’ had said, in His lifetime, + that He would rise again on the third day. Without a doubt, had they + found His body in the grave, when the time had transpired, they would + have torn it from the sepulchre, exhibited it through the streets of + Jerusalem, where Jesus had preached, where He had been despitefully + used, and scourged; they would have shouted forth with triumph, ‘This + is the body of the impostor!’ But He had left the grave, that + morning, too early for them. The soldiers came back to the city, and + they went to the leaders of the people who had employed them, and the + leaders exclaimed, ‘Here is the watch! What is the matter? What is + that dread settled in their faces? Come in here, and we charge you + to tell the truth.’ ‘You have no need to charge us, for the fright, + the terror of it, is still upon us.’ ‘How? What has happened at the + grave? Did His disciples come, and take Him away?’ ‘They! no; but + if they had, our spears would have sufficed for them.’ ‘Well, but + how was it? What has taken place?’ ‘Well, see; while we were on the + watch, and early, in the dawn of the morning, a great earthquake, + like to that one that took place on Friday afternoon, _when He died_, + and we all fell powerless to the ground; and we saw angels, bright, + like the lightning; we were not able to bear the sight; we looked + down at once; we endeavoured, again, to raise our eyes, and we beheld + One coming out of the grave, but He passed by the first angel we saw, + who now was sitting on the removed stone; but He who came out of the + grave! we never saw one like unto Him before,—truly He was like unto + the Son of God.’ ‘What, then, became of the angel?’ ‘Oh, a legion + of them came down, and one of them, very fair, like a young man, + entered the grave, and sat where the head of Jesus had lain; and, + immediately, another, also, very fair, and beautiful, sat where His + feet had rested.’ ‘And did the angels say nothing to you?’ ‘No, but + they looked with eyes of lightning.’ ‘Saw you not His friends, the + women?’ ‘Oh, yes; they came there, but He had left the tomb before + their arrival.’ ‘Talked the angels to the women?’ ‘Yes; they seemed + to be of one family, and very well acquainted with one another.’ ‘Do + you remember anything of the conversation?’ ‘Yes; they said, “Fear + you not! let the Pharisees, and Darkness fear to-day! You seek + Jesus! He is not here, for He is risen indeed; He is alive, and + lives for ever. He has gone before you to Galilee.” We heard one + angel say, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Another angel + spoke to a woman called Mary, and said, “Why weepest _thou_, while + thy Lord is risen indeed, and is alive, so near unto thee? _let His + enemies weep to-day_!”’ ‘WHAT!’ exclaimed the leader of those + priests, and of the council, who had asked for the guard,—‘What! how + say you? _Close that door_! You, _tall_ soldier, approach: was it + not you who pierced His side?’ ‘Yes, it was I; but all that these + soldiers have said is all true; oh, alas! it is all true! He must + have been the Son of God.’ The Pharisees lost their cause, on the + day of their appeal; they gave the soldiers money, to say that His + disciples had stolen the body while they slept! _If they were + asleep_, _how did they know in what manner He had left the grave_? + They, however, suffered themselves to be suborned, and for money + lied, and, to this hour, the kingdom of Satan hangs upon that lie!” + +This sermon produced a profound impression. We have said, to render the +sermons of Christmas Evans in print, or by description, is impossible,—as +impossible as to paint tones, and accents, or the varying expressions +which pass over eye, and face, and lip. He was entreated to publish this +sermon, but he could only write out something like an outline of it, and +when it appeared in print, those who had been enraptured with it, in its +delivery, declared that it was not the same sermon; so he was entreated +to preach the sermon again. He made a humorous remark, on the +strangeness of a man preaching his own printed sermon; still, he +complied. His accomplished biographer, Rhys Stephen, heard it then, and +says of it, “While I have the faintest trace of memory, as to sermons I +have heard, this must always be pre-eminent, and distinct; in its +oratorical eminence, it stands alone, even among his great achievements. +One of the most striking parts of the sermon, was in the examination of +the Roman guard, the report of the soldiers to the authorities.” Mr. +Stephens continues, “We heard them talk, had a clear perception of the +difference of the tone, and more especially, when one of the chief +priests, in an anxious, agonizing whisper, said, ‘_Shut the door_!’ And +then, ‘You, tall soldier, approach: was it not you who pierced His side?’ +‘Yes, it was I.’ When Christmas Evans simulated the chief priest, and +singled out the tall soldier, and the conversation went on between the +two, such a combined triumph of sanctified fancy, and perfect oratory, I +never expect to witness again.” We may, also, say, that it illustrates +wherein, very greatly, lay the preacher’s power,—seizing some little +circumstance, and, by its homeliness, or aptness, giving reality, and +vivacity to the whole picture. + +It must be said, his are very great sermons; the present writer is almost +disposed to be bold enough to describe them, as the grandest Gospel +sermons of the last hundred years. Not one, or two, but several, are +especially noble. One of these we have, already, given: the splendid +embodiment, and personification of the twenty-second Psalm, _The Hind of +the Morning_, from the singular, and most significant designation, or +title of the Psalm itself. + +Another sermon which, probably, belongs to this period is + + “THE BIBLE REGARDED AS A STONE WITH SEVEN EYES,” + +evidently from Zech. iii. 9, “_Upon one stone shall be seven eyes_.” + +It was, in fact, a review of + + + +“_The Internal Evidences which prove the Gospel to be of God_. + + + “God’s perfections are, in some sort, to be seen in all He has done, + and in all He has spoken. He imprints some indication of His + character, on everything that His hand forms, and that His mouth + utters, so that there might be a sufficient difference between the + work, and the speech of God, and those of man. The Bible is the Book + of books, a book breathed out of heaven. It was easy enough for John + to determine, when he saw the Lamb, with the seven horns, and the + seven eyes, in the midst of the throne, that the Godhead was there, + and that such a Lamb was not to be found amongst creatures. When one + saw a stone, with seven eyes, before Zerubbabel, it was not difficult + to conclude that it was a stone from some unusual mine. In looking + at the page of the starry sky, the work of the fingers of the + Everlasting Power is traced in the sun, and moon, and stars; all + proclaim His name, and tell His glory. I am very thankful for books + written by man, but it is God’s book that sheds the light of the life + everlasting on all other books. I cannot often read it, hear it, or + reflect upon it, but I see— + + “1. _Eternity_, like a great fiery Eye, looking at me from the + everlasting, and the infinite distance, unfolding mysteries, and + opening before me the doors, windows, and chambers, in the + (otherwise) unknown, and awful state! This Eye leads me to the + source, and cause of all things, and places me in the presence, and + sight of the Almighty, who has in Him something that would destroy me + for ever, and yet something that spares, and animates me; pressing me + down, and at the same time, saying, ‘Fear not;’ something that melts + me into penitence, and, at once, causes me to rejoice in the faith, + inspiring me with the fear of joy; something that creates a wish in + me, to conceal myself from Him, and then a stronger wish, to stay, + for ever, in the light of His countenance. + + “2. _Omniscience_ looks at me, also, like a Divine Eye, out of every + chapter, verse, doctrine, and ordinance of the Gospel, and searches + me through and through. The attempt at concealment from it is + utterly vain. To this Eye, darkness is as the light. It has + descried, correctly, into the deepest abysses of my spirit; and it + has truthfully drawn my likeness before I received God’s grace; + having received it; and the future is, also, transparent before it. + There is something in the scanning of this Eye, that obliges me to + confess, against myself, my sins unto the Lord; and to cry out for a + new heart, and a right spirit; for the Author of the Book knows all. + + “3. When I yield to pensive reflections, under a sense of sin, and + when I see the tops of dark mountains of disease, and trouble at the + terrors of the grave, I see in the Bible _Infinite Goodness_, fairer + than the Shekinah of old, looking at me, out of eternity; it is like + the smile of the Eternal King, from His throne of mercy. Divine + love, merits of Christ, riches of grace, they are all here, and they + assure me, and I listen to the still, small voice, that follows in + its train, until I feel myself lifted up, out of the cave of despair, + by the dark mountain; and I stand on my feet, and I hope, and hear + the proclamation of the great mystery—‘Behold, I come, as it is + written in the roll of the Book. If I must die, I am willing to die; + for I come to seek, and to save that which is lost.’ + + “4. _Holiness_, _righteousness_, and _purity_ look at me, out of the + midst of the Book, like the fires of Sinai to Israel, or the I AM, + out of the burning bush; causing me to fear, and tremble, while I am + yet desirous of looking at the radiant glory, because it is + attempered with mercy. I take my shoes from off my feet, and + approach on my knees, to see this great sight. I cannot live, in + sin, in this presence,—still it does not slay me. The Eternal Power + is here, and, with one hand, it conceals me, in the shadow of + redeeming mercy, and, with the other, it points out the glory of the + great, and wondrous truth, that God is, at once, a just God, and + justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Where Thy glory rests, O + my God, there let me have my abode! + + “5. I also see _Infinite might_ radiating from the doctrine of the + Book, like God’s own Eye, having the energy of a sharp, two-edged + sword. Without asking permission of me, it proves itself ‘quick and + powerful, and pierces even to the dividing asunder of the soul, and + spirit, and of the joints, and marrow;’ it opens the private recesses + of my heart, and becomes a discerner, and judge of its thoughts, and + intents. When Lord Rochester, the great wit, and unbeliever of his + day, read Isa. liii. 5, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions,’ + etc., Divine energies entered his spirit, and did so thoroughly + pierce, and pervade it, that his infidelity died within him, and he + gladly received the faith, and hope that are in Christ. The power of + the Gospel visited Matthew, at the receipt of custom, the woman at + the well of Samaria, the malefactor on the cross, the converts on the + day of Pentecost, Paul by the way, and the jailer at Philippi; in + them all was exerted this resistless might of grace, the ‘_Let + __there be_’ of the original creation, which none can withstand. + + “6. When I am weak, and _distressed_, and _alone_, and none to + receive my tale of sorrow, none to express a word of fellow-feeling, + or of care for me, in the living oracles of the Gospel I see Divine + wisdom, and loving-kindness, looking at me tenderly, compassionately, + through the openings of my prison, and I feel that He, who dresses + the lily of the field, and numbers the sparrows, is near me, + numbering the hairs of my head, listening to my cries; and in all the + treasure of grace, and power, that was able to say to the lost one, + at the very door of the pit, ‘To-day shalt thou be with me in + Paradise,’ fearing no hindrances that might intervene, between + Golgotha and heaven, He is the same gracious Redeemer, and Preserver + to every one, that believes in His name. Who will teach me the way + of wisdom? who will guide me to her dwelling-place? It was in the + Gospel that wisdom came to reside near me, and here she teaches the + most untoward, convinces the most hard-hearted, reforms the most + licentious, and makes the simple wise unto salvation. + + “7. _I am sometimes filled with questions of anxious import_. Art + thou from heaven, O Gospel? Thou hast caused me to hope: Art thou a + rock? The reply: Dost thou not see, in my face, the true character + of God, and of the Eternal Power Incarnate? Dost thou not discern, + in Jesus, the image of the invisible God, which, unlike the first + Adam, the second Adam has preserved untarnished? and dost thou not + feel, in looking at it, thyself gradually changed into the same + image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord? In looking at God’s image + in the creature, the vision had no transforming power, but left ‘the + wise men’ of the ancient world where it found them, destitute of true + knowledge, and happiness, without hope, and without God in the world; + but here the vision transforms into the glorious likeness of the + sublime object, even Christ. + + “_The character of God_, given in the Gospel, is complete, and + perfect, worthy of the most blessed One, and there is no perfect + portraiture given of Him but in the Gospel. Mohammed’s God is + _unchaste_; Homer gave his Jupiter _revenge_; Voltaire deified + _mockery_; Insurrection and War were the gods of Paine;—but the + character of the God of the Gospel is awful in truth, and lovely in + goodness. In Isa. vi., the vision of the Divine glory caused the + six-winged cherubs to conceal their faces; but in Rev. iv., the + six-winged living things employ five wings to fly, and only one to + veil their faces, while they are full of eyes behind, and before, + looking forth unveiled. All the worshippers under the Gospel, look + with open face—without a veil, and on an unveiled object.” + +We have here, evidently, only the rudiments of a sermon, but a very fine +one, a very suggestive one. To most minds, the Bible has, probably, +been, as Thomas Carlyle, or Jean Paul, would express it, “an eyeless +socket, without the eye.” Christmas Evans was expressing, in this very +suggestive sermon, the thoughts of some men whose words, and works he had +probably never met with; as George Herbert says it— + + “In ev’ry thing + Thy words do find me out.” + +“Beyond any other book,” says Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “the Bible _finds_ +me;” while John Keble, in the “Christian Year,”—probably written about +the same time, when Christmas Evans was preparing his sermon,—was +employing the very same image in some of his most impressive words:— + + “_Eye of God’s Word_! where’er we turn, + Ever upon us! thy keen gaze + Can all the depths of sin discern, + Unravel every bosom’s maze: + + “Who, that has felt thy glance of dread + Thrill through his heart’s remotest cells, + About his path, about his bed, + Can doubt what Spirit in thee dwells?” + +In the following extract, we have a more sustained passage, very fresh, +and noble:— + + + +“THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM. + + + “In this world, every man receives according to his faith; in the + world to come, every man shall receive according to his works. + ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their + labours, and their works do follow them.’ Their works do not go + _before_ them, to divide the river of Jordan, and open the gates of + heaven. This is done by their faith. But their works are left + behind, as if done up in a packet, on this side of the river. John + saw the great white throne, descending for judgment, the Son of man + sitting thereon, and all nations gathered before Him. He is dividing + the righteous from the wicked, as the shepherd divideth the sheep + from the goats. The wicked are set on the left hand—‘Depart from me, + ye accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his + angels!’ But the righteous are placed on the right hand, to hear the + joyful welcome—‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom + prepared for you from the foundation of the world!’ The books are + opened, and Mercy presents the packets that were left on the other + side of Jordan. They are all opened, and the books are read, wherein + all their acts of benevolence are recorded. Justice examines the + several packets, and answers—‘All right. Here they are. Thus it is + written—“I was hungry, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye + gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; I was naked, and + ye clothed Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me!”’ The righteous + look upon each other, with wonder, and answer—‘Those packets must + belong to others. We know nothing of all that. We recollect the + wormwood, and the gall. We recollect the strait gate, the narrow + way, and the slough of despond. We recollect the heavy burden, that + pressed so hard upon us, and how it fell from our shoulders, at the + sight of the cross. We recollect the time, when the eyes of our + minds were opened, to behold the evil of sin, the depravity of our + hearts, and the excellency of our Redeemer. We recollect the time + when our stubborn wills were subdued, in the day of His power, so + that we were enabled both to will, and to do, of His good pleasure. + We recollect the time, when we obtained hope in the merit of Christ, + and felt the efficacy of His blood, applied to our hearts by the Holy + Spirit. And we shall never forget the time, when we first + experienced the love of God, shed abroad in our hearts. Oh, how + sweetly, and powerfully it constrained us to love Him, His cause, and + His ordinances! How we panted after communion, and fellowship with + Him, as the hart panteth after the water-brooks! All this, and a + thousand other things, are as fresh in our memory as ever. But we + recollect nothing of those bundles of good works. Where was it? + Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, and fed Thee; or thirsty, and gave + Thee drink; or a stranger, and took Thee in; or naked, and clothed + Thee? We have no more recollection, than the dead, of ever having + visited Thee in prison, or ministered to Thee in sickness. Surely, + those bundles cannot belong to us.’ Mercy replies—‘Yes, verily, they + belong to you; for your names are upon them; and, besides, they have + not been out of my hands since you left them on the stormy banks of + Jordan.’ And the King answers—‘Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as + ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have + done it unto Me.’ + + “If the righteous do not know their own good works; if they do not + recognize, in the sheaves which they reap at the resurrection, the + seed which they have sown, in tears, on earth,—they, certainly, + cannot make these things the foundation of their hopes of heaven. + Christ is their sole dependence, for acceptance with God, in time, + and in eternity. Christ, crucified, is the great object of their + faith, and the centre of their affections; and, while their love to + Him prompts them to live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this + present evil world, they cordially exclaim, ‘Not unto us, not unto + us, but to Thy name, O Lord, give glory.’” + +In leaving Anglesea behind him, the sufferings, and contradictions he had +known there, did not quench his enthusiastic holiness, and fervent +ardour. We are assured of this when we read his + + + +“SECOND COVENANT WITH GOD. + + + “While returning from a place called Tongwynlâs, over Caerphilly + Mountain, the spirit of prayer descended, very copiously, upon me. I + wept for some hours, and heartily supplicated Jesus Christ, for the + blessings here following. I found, at this time, a particular + nearness to Christ, as if He were close by me, and my mind was filled + with strong confidence that He attended to my requests, for the sake + of the merits of His own name. This decided me in favour of Cardiff. + + “I. Grant me the great favour of being led by Thee, according to Thy + will—by the directions of Thy providence, and Word, and this + disposing of my own mind, by Thy Spirit, for the sake of Thine + infinitely precious blood. Amen.—C. E. + + “II. Grant, if I am to leave Caerphilly, that the gale (of the + Spirit’s influence), and religious revival I had there, may follow me + to Cardiff, for the sake of Thy great name. Amen.—C. E. + + “III. Grant Thy blessing upon bitter things, to brighten, and + quicken me, more and more, and not to depress, and make me more + lifeless. Amen.—C. E. + + “IV. Suffer me not to be trodden under the proud feet of members, or + deacons, for the sake of Thy goodness. Amen.—C. E. + + “V. Grant me the invaluable favour of being, in Thy hand, the means + of calling sinners unto Thyself, and of edifying Thy saints, wherever + Thou wilt send me, for the sake of Thy name. Amen.—C. E. + + “VI. If I am to stay at Caerphilly, give me some tokens, as to + Gideon of old, by removing the things that discourage me, and are in + the way of the prosperity of religion, in that church. Amen.—C. E. + + “VII. Grant, Lord of glory, and Head of Thy Church, that the Ark of + the cause which is Thine, in Anglesea, and Caerphilly, may be + sustained from falling into the hands of the Philistines. Do not + reject it. Aid it speedily, and lift up the light of Thy countenance + upon it; and by Thy Spirit, Word, and providence, so operate, as to + carry things forward in the churches, and neighbourhoods, in such a + manner as will produce changes in officers, and measures, that will + accomplish a thorough improvement, in the great cause, for the + establishment of which, in the world, Thou hast died,—and by + scattering those that delight in war, and closing the mouths of those + that occasion confusion. Amen.—C. E. + + “VIII. Grant me way-tokens, by the time I begin my journey to + Liverpool, and from thence to Anglesea, if it is Thy will that I + should go thither this year. Amen.—C. E. + + “IX. Oh, grant me succour, beneath the shadow of the sympathy that + is in Thee, towards them who are tempted, and the unbounded power + there is in Thee, to be the relief of such. Amen.—C. E. + + “X. Accept of my thanksgiving, a hundred millions of times, that + Thou hast not hitherto cast me from Thine hand, as a darkened star, + or a vessel in which there is no pleasure; and suffer not my life to + be extended beyond my usefulness. Thanks that Thou hast not given me + a prey to the teeth of any. Blessed be Thy name. Amen.—C. E. + + “XI. For the sake of Thine infinite merit, do not cast me, Thy + servant, under the feet of pride, and injustice, of _worldly_ + greatness, riches, and selfish oppression of any men, but hide me in + the secret of Thy tabernacle, from the strife of tongues. Amen.—C. + E. + + “XII. Help me to wait silently, and patiently upon Thee, for the + fulfilment of these things, and not become enraged, angry, and speak + unadvisedly with my lips, like Moses, the servant of the Lord. + Sustain my heart from sinking, to wait for fresh strength from Zion. + Amen.—C. E. + + “XIII. Help me to wait upon Thee, for the necessaries of life; let + Thy mercy, and goodness follow me, while I live; and, as it hath + pleased Thee to honour me greatly, by the blessing Thou hast + vouchsafed upon the ministry through me, as an humble instrument, at + Caerphilly, after the great storm had beaten upon me in Anglesea, + like Job, grant that this honour may continue to follow me the + remainder of my days, as Thou didst unto Thy servant Job. Amen.—C. + E. + + “XIV. Let this covenant abide, like the covenant of salt, until I + come to Thee, in the world of eternal light. I entreat aid to resign + myself to Thee, and to Thy will. I beseech Thee, take my heart, and + inscribe upon it a deep reverence of Thyself, with an inscription, + that time, and eternity cannot efface. Oh, let the remainder of my + sermons be taken, by Thee, from my lips; and those which I write, let + them be unto Thee for a praise. Unto Thee I dedicate them. If there + should be anything, in them, conducive to Thy glory, and to the + service of Thy kingdom, do Thou preserve it, and reveal it unto men; + else, let it die, like the drops of a bucket in the midst of the + scorching heat of Africa. Oh, grant that there may be a drop of that + water, which Thou, alone, canst impart, and which springs up to + eternal life, running through all my sermons. In this covenant, + which, probably, is the last that will be written between me and + Thee, on the earth, I commit myself, my wife, and the churches + amongst whom I have preached, to the protection of Thy grace, and the + care of Thy covenant. Amen.—C. E. + + “XV. Let this covenant continue, when I am in sickness, or in + health, or in any other circumstance; for Thou hast overcome the + world, fulfilled the law, finished justifying righteousness, and hast + swallowed up death, in victory, and all power, in heaven and earth, + is in Thy hand. For the sake of Thy most precious blood, and perfect + righteousness, note this covenant, with Thine own blood, in the court + of the memorials of forgiving mercy: attach unto it Thy name, in + which I believe; and here I, this day, set my unworthy name unto it, + with my mortal hand. Amen.—CHRISTMAS EVANS. Dated Cardiff, April + 24th, 1829.” + +This document, found among his papers, after death, contains many +affecting words, which give an insight to painful experiences, and +sufferings. The standard set by Christmas Evans, was very high; his +expectations from the Christian profession were such as to give, to his +ideas of the pastoral office, perhaps somewhat of a stern aspect; nor can +we forget that all his life had been passed in a very severe school. He +was, perhaps, disposed to insist somewhat strenuously upon Church +discipline. No doubt, his years at Caerphilly were among the happiest, +and most unvexed in Church relations; his ministerial power, and success +were very great; still, as the covenant we have just recited hints, there +were probabilities of removal to Cardiff. + +The appearance of Christmas Evans in Caerphilly was regarded, as we have +seen, as something like an advent, and, to him, it was, for a short time, +a haven of pleasant rest. There were some eminent ministers, men of +considerable knowledge, and real power, residing in the neighbourhood, +with whom he appears to have had most pleasant intercourse; among others, +a Mr. J. P. Davies, in his way a mighty theologian, and clear, and ready +expositor; he was laid by, for some months, under medical care, at +Caerphilly, but was able to attend the ministry of the old preacher every +Sabbath, and became one of his most intimate friends; they met almost +daily, and the younger man was astonished by the elder’s insatiable +thirst for knowledge, and equally astonished by the extensive, and +varied, stores of information he had accumulated, in his busy, and +incessantly toilsome career. He acknowledged, afterwards, with delight, +the variety of lights he had received, both as to the construction of a +text, or the clearer definition of a principle, from his aged friend. As +to the preaching, he said it gave him quite a new impression of the order +of the preacher’s mind: he expected flashes of eloquence, brilliant +pictures,—of these he had long heard,—but what astonished him, was the +fulness, and variety of matter, Sabbath after Sabbath. Mr. Davies only +returned home to die; but he delighted his people, when he returned, by +repeatedly describing the comfort, and light he had received, from the +company of the matured, the aged, and noble man. + +The society he enjoyed was, probably, more cultivated, small as was the +village, than that by which he had been surrounded in Anglesea; from all +the inhabitants, and from the neighbourhood, he received marks of great +respect; it was, probably, felt, generally, that, by some singular turn +of affairs, a great man, a national man, a man of the Principality, had +settled in their midst. And he always after, and when he had left, +remembered this brief period of his life with deep gratitude. He was +more able to borrow books: here, for the first time, he read a work, +which was regarded as a mighty book in that day, Dr. Pye Smith’s +“Scripture Testimony to the Messiah;” he read it with intense eagerness, +incorporating many of its valuable criticisms into his sermons, and, +especially, making them the subjects of ordinary conversation. Rhys +Stephen says, “I remember listening to him with wonder, when, in +conversation with Mr. Saunders, of Merthyr, he gave the substance of Dr. +Pye Smith’s criticism on John xvii. 3. And I distinctly remember, that +when Mr. Evans said, ‘Mr. Saunders, you will observe that, on these +grounds, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, here mentioned, is the same +knowledge as that of the only true God, and that the knowledge of the +former is as necessary to salvation, as the knowledge of the +latter—indeed, they are one, and the same thing,’ ‘Yes, yes,’ was the +reply; ‘capital, very excellent. I never heard that interpretation +before.’ I was then a youth, and was not astonished by the +interpretation, which, of course, was new to me, so much as by the +admissions of the aged men that it was new to them.” At any rate, it +illustrates the avidity with which this mind still pursued the rays of +light, from book to book, from conversation to conversation. + +On another occasion, he met a young minister at Llantrissant, and, after +a meeting in the morning, he inquired of the young man what he was then +reading; the reply was, that he was going slowly through Beattie on Truth +a second time. Christmas Evans immediately replied, “You must come to +see me before you return to Swansea, and give me the substance of +Beattie: was he not the man that replied to David Hume, eh?” The young +man said he had the book in his pocket, and that he would cheerfully give +it him, but the print was very small. He, with still greater eagerness, +said, “I can manage that. I will take of it, with many thanks.” It was +a pleasure to give it him, and he pocketed it with as much pleasure as +ever a school-boy did the first prize, at the end of the session. In +three days after, the young man called upon him, at his own house, and +spent a couple of hours with him; but he says he could get no farther, in +conversation, than upon Beattie,—he was thoroughly absorbed in the +argument with Hume, and his school of scepticism, and unbelief. Yet he +was now sixty-five years of age; his one eye was very weak, though seeing +well enough, without a glass, at the proper distance; and he was, +otherwise, full of bodily infirmities; but his love of reading was +unabated, as was, also, his earnest curiosity to know what was passing on +in the world of thought. + +And among his friends, at this period, we notice some members of the +Edwards family,—David Edwards, of Beaupre, or, as it is commonly +pronounced, Bewper, in Glamorganshire; and Evan Edwards, of Caerphilly, +the son, and grandson of one of the most remarkable men modern Wales has +produced, William Edwards, in his day a mighty engineer. Until his time, +the Rialto, in Venice, was esteemed the largest arch in Europe, but he +threw an arch over the Taff forty-two feet wider, and thus, for a long +time, it held its reputation of being the largest arch in the world. A +wonderful man was William Edwards, entirely self-made, not only a great +engineer, but a successful farmer, and an ordained Independent minister. +He was wealthy, of course, but he insisted upon receiving a good income +from his church, although he distributed every farthing among the poor of +his own neighbourhood, and added, considerably, to the sum he +distributed, from his own property. The successor to Mr. Edwards, as the +pastor of the Independent Church of Y-Groeswen, was the Rev. Griffith +Hughes, a person of about the same age as Christmas Evans, also, although +a polished gentleman, a self-taught man, a wit, a man of considerable +reading, and information, and widely advanced in his religious opinions; +although, professedly, a Calvinist, beyond the narrow, and technical +Calvinism of his time, and even beyond the Fullerism, or doctrines of +Andrew Fuller, which had been charged on Christmas Evans, as a crime, by +his enemies in Anglesea. + +It was about this time that he was earnestly entreated to prepare a +volume of sermons for publication, and it seemed to be in connection with +this, and with some fears, and discouragements which still troubled his +mind, that he made the following entry, discovered among his papers after +his death:— + + “Order things so, O Lord, that they may not prove a hindrance, and a + discouragement to me, and an obstacle to the progress of Thy cause. + Thy power is infinite, and Thy wisdom infallible. Stand between me, + and all strife, that no evil effect may fall upon me. I flee under + the shadow of Thy wings to hide myself, as the chickens do under the + wings of the hen. Let nothing corrupt, and extinguish my gifts, my + zeal, my prosperity; let nothing hinder the Church. + + “I have been earnestly requested, by many of my brethren in the + ministry, to prepare some of my sermons for the press. In Anglesea, + I had no leisure for such work, although I once commenced it, and + wrote out five for the purpose. I let the work rest for two years, + at Caerphilly; but, here, my mind has been moved towards it anew; and + now I come to Thee, O Lord, who art the Head of the Church, and the + chief Prophet and Teacher of the Church, to consult Thee, whether I + shall proceed with the work, or not. Is it a part of my duty, or a + foolish device of my own? I beseech, for Thy name’s sake, Thy + gracious guidance herein. Permit me not to labour, with my weak + eyesight, at a work that Thou wilt not deign to bless, but that shall + be buried in oblivion,—unless it may please Thee (for Thou hast the + keys of the house of David), in Thy providence, to prepare my way to + publish the work, without danger to myself, of debt, and disgrace; + and unless it may please Thee, the great Shepherd of the sheep, to + guide me, to give forth the true Gospel, not only without error, but + with the savour, and unction that pervade the works of Bunyan, and + the hymns of William Williams; and, also, may they prove for the + edification of Thy Church, and the conversion of sinners! If Thou + wilt condescend to take the work under Thy care, help me to + accomplish the design. + + “In reading the 91st Psalm, I perceive that he who dwelleth in the + secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the + Almighty; and that is so safe a place, and so impenetrable a + protection, that the arrow that flieth by day, and the pestilence + that walketh in darkness, with the sting of the serpent, the asp, and + the viper, cannot hurt or injure him who hath made it his refuge. It + is by faith, I hope, that I have gathered together all my jewels, and + placed them under the shadow of safety that is in God. I have given + my name anew to Christ, my body, my talents, my facility in + preaching,—my name, and character as a man, a Christian, and as a + preacher of the Gospel; my time, the remainder of my preaching + services, my success, my wife, and all my friends, and helpers in the + cause of the Lord, for whom I earnestly pray that they may be blessed + in Anglesea, Caernarvonshire, Caerphilly, Cardiff, and all the + churches in Wales, many of which have helped me in my day.” + + + + +CHAPTER X. +_CAERNARVON AND LAST DAYS_. + + +Leading a Forlorn Hope again—More Chapel Debts—A Present of a Gig—Jack, +_bach_!—The One-eyed Man of Anglesea once more—The Old Man’s Reflections +in his Journal—Characteristic Letters on Church Discipline—Threescore +Years and Twelve—Starts on his Last Journey to liquidate a Chapel Debt—An +Affecting Appeal to the Churches—Laid up at Tredegar—Conversations—In +Swansea—This is my Last Sermon—Dying—Last Words—“Good-bye! Drive on!” + +The last field of the great, good man’s pastorate was Caernarvon; thither +he removed when about sixty-seven years of age. It might be thought, +that after such a hard, and exhausting life of travel, and toil, some +plan might have been devised, by which his last days should be passed in +restfulness, and peace; but it was not to be so: throughout his life, his +had been up-hill work, no path of roses, no easy way; and, indeed, we +usually know that such spheres are reserved for men who can carry nothing +with them but the weight of dignified dulness. Of every sphere, from his +first settlement at Lleyn, we read, that the cause was in a prostrate +condition; and so, here, Christmas Evans appears to have been invited to +take the charge of the Caernarvon church because it consisted of about +thirty members, chiefly of the lowest class, of course quarrelling, and +disunited. The dissolution of the church was advised. There was a +fairly respectable place of worship, but it was £800 in debt, apparently, +to us, in these days, not a very large sum, but a sum of considerable +importance in Wales, and especially in that day. + +So the question was discussed at a ministerial association, and some +brother minister present, delivered himself of a confirmatory dream he +had had on the subject, and the matter was practically settled, when a +young minister spoke up, in the conference, and said to the venerable +man, “Yes, you had better go to Caernarvon: it is not likely your talents +would suit, but you might do excellently well at Caernarvon.” The +impudent speech astounded all the ministers present, except the +unfortunate utterer of it. They knew not what to say. After a pause, +the brethren all struck utterly dumb, Christmas Evans opened his one +large eye upon his adviser, and, with some indignation, he said, “Ay, +where hast thou come from? How long is it since thou didst chip thy +shell?” Well, it was the very word: no one else could have, in so +summary a manner, crunched up the thin egg-shell of pretentious conceit. + +There was a real desire, on the part of the trustees of Caernarvon, and +of English friends in Liverpool, that he should return to the north; and +some gentlemen facilitated his return by giving him a gig, so that he +might travel at his ease, and in his own way. This was not a very great +donation, but it added, materially, to his comfort: he was able to travel +pleasantly, and conveniently with Mrs. Evans. His horse, Jack, had been +his companion for twenty years, but the pair were very fond of one +another. Jack knew, from a distance, the tones of his master’s voice; +and Christmas, on their journeys, would hold long conversations with +Jack. The horse opened his ears the moment his master began to speak, +made a kind of neighing, when the rider said, as he often did, “Jack, +_bach_, we have only to cross one low mountain again, and there will be +capital oats, excellent water, and a warm stable,” etc. + +So he bade farewell to Cardiff in 1832, and upon the following Sunday, +after his farewell there, he appears to have commenced his new ministry. +It seems pathetic to us, to think of the old man, but we have no idea +that he had any such pity, or sympathy for himself. Who can doubt, +either, that he favoured, and hailed the opportunity of the return to the +north? and Caernarvon, and Anglesea were almost one: he had but to cross +the Menai Straits to be again in Anglesea—Anglesea, the scene of so many +trials, and triumphs, where he had planted so many churches, sustained so +many spiritual conflicts, and enjoyed, in his Cildwrn cottage, no doubt, +years of much domestic happiness. It seems to us he ought never to have +left Anglesea; but he regarded his exile to Caerphilly as a mission, that +was to terminate, if success should crown it. And so he was back again +in the old neighbourhood, and it appears, that the announcement of his +return created universal delight, and joy, and strong excitement. He had +been absent for about seven years, and the people, on account of his +advanced age, when leaving them, expected to see him bowed with +infirmity, and his preaching power, they supposed, would rather +affectingly remind them of what he had been. + +Shortly after his entrance upon the work of Caernarvon, a public occasion +presented itself for his appearance in Anglesea. The whole neighbourhood +flocked out, to see the patriarch. As he appeared on the platform, or +preaching-place, in the open-air,—for no chapel could have contained the +multitude,—the people said, “Why, he does not seem at all older! he looks +more like a man of forty-five, than sixty-five, or sixty-six.” And his +preaching was just the same, or, possibly, even richer, and greater: it +was his own old self, their own old Christmas Evans; the same rich, and +excursive fancy, the same energetic, and fiery delivery. The appearance +of such a man, under such circumstances,—one who has worn well, borne the +burden and heat of the day, and taken his part “on the high places of the +field,”—is a mighty awakening, and heart-healing time for old believers, +who find their love to each other renewed in the rekindled love to the +old pastor, and father in Christ. Old memories very tenderly touch +reciprocating hearts. The old words, and the old voice, awaken old +emotions, which now have become new. But, then, it is only a minister +with a heart, who can touch this well-spring of feeling: starched +respectability will not do it, eminent collegiate learning will not do +it, rolling rhetorical periods will not do it. It is only the great +hearts who can open these sluices of feeling, these fountains of emotion, +in which the past, and the present mingle together, as the hearers drink +refreshing streams from the fountains of recollection. + +While in Caernarvon, he penned in his journal the following pious +reflections:— + + “I have been thinking of the great goodness of the Lord unto me, + throughout my unworthy ministry; and now, in my old age, I see the + work prospering wonderfully in my hand, so that there is reason to + think that I am, in some degree, a blessing to the Church, when I + might have been a burden to it, or rather a curse, by which one might + have been induced to wish me laid in the earth, that I might no + longer prevent the progress of the work. Thanks be to God, that it + is not so! though I deserve no better, yet I am in the land of mercy. + This is unto me, according to the manner of God unto His people. My + path in the valley, the dangers, and the precipices of destruction + upon which I have stood, rush into my thoughts, and also the sinking + of many in death, and the downfall of others by immorality, and their + burial in Kibroth-Hattaavah, the graves of inordinate desire; + together with the withering, the feebleness, and the unfruitfulness + of some, through the influence of a secret departure from God, and of + walking in the hidden paths, that lead to apostasy.” + +And here we may most appropriately insert a very characteristic letter, +which shows the exceedingly stringent ideas which Christmas Evans +entertained with regard to Church membership,—strait ideas, which, we +suppose, would be scarcely tolerable now:— + + + +“LETTER TO A BROTHER MINISTER ON CHURCH DISCIPLINE. + + + “BELOVED BROTHER,—I write to you, August 5th, 1836, in the seventieth + year of my age, and in the fiftieth of my ministry, after conversing + much with ministerial brethren, earnestly desiring to see our + Associational Union brought into action, by representatives of the + churches, with a view to promote a determination,—1. To bear each + other’s burden more efficiently, in the denomination to which we + belong. I lament the deficiency in this point, and ardently wish to + see it effectually remedied. 2. To watch over and promote a holy + conversation among all the members, and all the preachers, in a more + efficient manner, to prevent persons of unbecoming conversation from + obtaining privileges, in any church, when they have been excluded in + another; for that would occasion blots, and blemishes to appear on + the bright countenance of the ministry. The Associational Union, in + which all the churches of the same faith, and order join, should be a + defence of the independence of the churches, through their + representatives: it should also operate as a sort of check upon + independency, lest it should become opposed to the general good, and + frustrate the co-operation of the whole body. _That they may all be + one_, is the motto. + + “Respecting Church discipline. We cannot be certain that we are + doing right, by administering the same punishment to all offenders, + even for the same offence; for the general character weighs heavily, + in the balance of discipline. Also, a distinction should be made + between the seducer, and the seduced; and between being overcome, or + falling into sin, and living habitually in sin, and following it, as + a slave following his master. The denial of Peter, from weakness, + and without previous deliberation, was very different from the + betrayal of Judas, and his intentional selling of Christ. The + different characters of Saul, king of Israel, and that of David, + required different treatment, in discipline, on account of their + offences. The Lord’s discipline upon Saul was that of a rod of iron, + but upon David, the correcting rod of a Father, for his good, that he + might be a partaker of His holiness. + + “There are two things, brother, which we ought to avoid in the + exercise of discipline: 1, we should avoid too great severity on the + one part; and, 2, too much leniency on the other part. Wisdom is + necessary here to distinguish the different characters,—those who + require severity, and those who claim tenderness: the two are to be + found blended in the principle of evangelical discipline. A + difference is to be made betwixt some, who may have been companions + in the same crime; snatching some of them as brands from the burning. + The ground of the distinction lies in the different amount of guilt, + which subsists between the seducer, and seduced. + + “I have witnessed danger, and have sustained some harm myself, and + seen harm done in churches, by exercising tenderness towards some + persons, in the vain hope of their reformation. Receiving verbal + testimony, or mere fluent acknowledgments, from their lips, without + waiting for fruit, in action, also; some having been often accused; + and as often turning to the refuges frequented by them. I never + exercised tenderness towards such as these, without being repaid by + them afterwards, if they had opportunity: Shimei-like, they would + curse me, after I had shed the best oil of tenderness on their heads. + There are some in the Christian Church like Jezebel; and there are + some in our congregations like Joab, the son of Zeruiah, that you can + scarce discipline them without rending the kingdom, until they become + ripe for judgment; for they hardly ever repent, more than did Joab + and Shimei: they are ultimately suddenly broken, without any danger + to the Church from their fall. + + “I perceive that the Scriptures make a difference between one that + falls into sin, and one wallowing in it; between one overtaken by a + party of marauders, and dragged into the camp, and made drunk at + supper, and one, like Judas, going to the party, and being secretly + one of them, having pistols as they had: such are hypocrites. I have + many times been the advocate of the fallen, and in a variety of + instances have observed this operating beneficially for the Church. + Sometimes I have found those who had been spared upon their own + verbal contrition, blessing God for His long forbearance of them, and + also their spiritual brethren, who had in a manner set their bones; + as the Scripture hath it, ‘Restore such an one in the spirit of + meekness.’ + + “We should be careful that discretion, and love, be in exercise, + though in strife, and contention it be not always an easy matter to + do this. When the beasts of dissension get loose from the caravan, + Satan sometimes drives them through the streets of Zion, that they + may enter the houses of the inhabitants; and like the lioness that + escaped from the keepers at Shrewsbury, and attacked the foremost + horse in the carriage, so contentions frequently attack the leaders, + in order to stop the carriage of the ministry as it travels on, in + the labours of the pulpit. In the midst of the noise of strife, the + man of God must raise his voice to heaven for courage, and + tenderness, so that the oil of Christ’s love to the souls of men may + be found in the oil-flagon of reproof, which is poured on the head; + for if anger, and revenge enter in, they will drop, like the spider + in Germany, into the pot, and that will prevent the salutary effect + of the oil, because the poison of wrath is mixed with it. The + righteousness of God cannot be fulfilled in this manner in the + discipline. Oh, brother! who is sufficient for these things, without + constant help from heaven? How awful is this place! This is the + house of God, and the gate of heaven; and here is a ladder, by which + we may climb up for help, and a school, in which we may learn how to + conduct ourselves in the house of God. + + “You cannot but be conscious, brother, of the great difficulty there + is not to speak unadvisedly with our lips, as did Moses, whilst + drawing water for the rebellious Israelites. The rebellion of the + people had embittered his spirit, so that his obduracy stood like a + cloud between the people, and the tenderness of the Lord, when He was + showing mercy upon them by giving them water. Moses upbraided their + rebellion instead of showing mercy, as the dispensation of God now + required; a dispensation which contained in it a secret intimation of + the great mercy to be shown by the death of Christ on the cross. + Their strife was the cause of embittering the spirit of Moses, yet he + should have possessed his soul in patience. + + “There are two things, brother, which you should observe. First, you + will be called upon to attend to causes of contention; and you will + find persons so hardened, that you will not be able to obtain + weapons, in all the armoury of God’s Word, that will terrify them, + and make them afraid of entering their old haunts. Such are persons + without faith, and without the fear of God, and the love of Christ + influencing their minds; and though you warn them of the consequences + of their contentions, that they are likely to deprive them of the + privileges of the house of God, and thus forfeit the promised land, + yet they stand unmoved, nothing terrified, for they value the + flesh-pots of Egypt, and their livelihood there, more than the manna, + and the land of promise. You cannot frighten them by speaking of the + danger, and loss of the immunities of the Church below, or that + above. Esau-like, they will sell their birthright, as Christian + professors, for a mess of pottage. A man who has no money is not + afraid to meet with robbers in the wood; but he who has gold to lose + will be cautious, and watchful, lest he should be robbed of his + property. On a night of great storm, when ships are broken to + pieces, and sinking, a person who has no share in any of them will + not tremble, or feel any concern on their account. Thus there are + some men, concerning whom it is impossible to make them dread going + out among the rapacious beasts of backslidings, and no storms can + keep them in fear. Their spirit is one with the marauders, and they + have no care, for they have nothing to lose in the tempests that blow + upon the cause of the religion of Christ. These are the tares, or + the children of the wicked one, in the Church. + + “Secondly, for your own encouragement, brother, I remark that you + will have to attend to the exercise of discipline, and to treat with + persons that may be alarmed, and made to tremble at the Word of God, + and not rush on presumptuously in their evil course. These are + professors, who possess white garments, and the gold of faith, and + eye-salve from the unction of the Holy One. These individuals are + rich in faith. They are afraid of revolutions, and upsettings of the + constitutional order of the new covenant, for they have funds + invested in the stocks of God’s kingdom. They are afraid that any + storm, or rock of offence should come in the way of the Gospel ship, + for their treasure is on board it, and they have an interest in it. + They dread the thought of walking unwatchfully, and licentiously, + lest they should be robbed of their riches, and forfeit the + fellowship of God in prayer, lose the light of His countenance, and + His peace in the means of grace, and lest they should be deprived of + their confidence in the merits of Christ, and a good conscience. + They have denied themselves, and have pulled out the right eye, lest + they should not be acceptable before God. They dread harbouring in + their bosoms the old guilt and former doubts. They are cautious not + to give a night’s lodging to such miscreants as anger, revenge, lust, + and things which are of the earth; for they know that these are + robbers, and if they have any indulgence they will steal away the + _title-deeds_ of assurance to the inheritance. They are well aware, + also, that they will sustain the loss of a pure conscience, which has + been purged by the blood of Christ, and which, as a golden chest, is + a preserver of our confidence, immovable unto the end. It is + possible, brother, to manage, and discipline such professors. They + have something to lose, consequently they will not flee from their + refuge, lest they should be destroyed. _Keep that which thou hast_. + David lost for a season the enjoyment of the above blessings; but he + was cleansed with hyssop, had his spirit renewed, and his riches were + restored to him by faith’s view of the Messiah, for which he vowed to + sing aloud for ever, and ever. He prayed, after this, to be + delivered from presumptuous sins, lest he should be imprisoned a + second time by a party so wicked, and detestable. May the spiritual + gift be kindled in you, brother. Grace be with you, for ever, and + ever. + + “Affectionately, + “CHRISTMAS EVANS. + + “_Caernarvon_, _August_ 5_th_, 1836.” + +But it was hard work in Caernarvon. The debt upon the chapel was a +perpetually-recurring trouble. We have said when he went there eight +hundred pounds was the burden, and that the people were very poor. Of +this eight hundred, four hundred seems to have been collected by a Mr. +John Edwards, who used, as his introduction, in asking for contributions, +the specimen of Welsh eloquence to which we have referred (The Graveyard +World); so that Christmas Evans may, really, be regarded as the +liquidator of the debt to that extent. The time came when the whole +remaining sum had to be paid. What could be done? Over seventy years of +age, the old man started forth, on a tour through the south, to attempt +to raise the sum. In April, 1838, when he had been four years in +Caernarvon, he set off with his wife, and a young preacher, the Rev. John +Hughes. Before he set out, he wrote a circular to his brethren, which +was published in the _Welsh Magazine_. It is scarcely possible, we +think, to read it, remembering who wrote it, and the circumstances under +which it was written, without tears of feeling:— + + “DEAR BRETHREN,—We have received notice to pay up three hundred + pounds. The term of the lease of life has expired in my case, even + threescore and ten years, and I am very much afflicted. I have + purposed to sacrifice myself to this object, though I am afraid I + shall die on the journey” (he did die on his journey); “and I fear I + shall not succeed in my errand for Christ. We have no source to + which we can now repair, but our own denomination in Wales, and + brethren, and friends of other communities, that may sympathize with + us. Oh, brethren, pray, with me, for protection on the journey—for + strength, and health this _once_, on occasion of my bidding farewell + to you all! pray for the light of the Lord’s countenance upon me in + preaching; pray for His own glory, and that His key may open the + hearts of the people, to contribute towards His cause in its present + exigency. Oh, help us, brethren!—when you see the old brother, after + having been fifty-three years in the ministry, now, instead of being + in the grave with his colleagues, or resting at home with three of + them who are yet alive—brethren Lewis of Llanwenarth, Davies of Velin + Voel, and Thomas of Aberduar,—when you see him coming, with the + furrows of death in his countenance, the flowers of the grave on his + head, and his whole constitution gradually dissolving; having + laboured fifty years in the ministry in the Baptist denomination. He + comes to you with hundreds of prayers, bubbling, as it were, from the + fountain of his heart, and with a mixture of fear, and confidence. + Oh, do not frown upon him!—he is afraid of your frowns. Smile upon + him, by contributing to his cause, this once for all. If you frown + upon me, ministers and deacons, by intimating an _irregular case_, I + am afraid I shall sink into the grave before returning home. This is + my last sacrifice for the Redeemer’s cause.” + +Naturally, wherever he passed along, he was received by all the churches, +and throughout every county, with more than cordiality—with great joy. +He was very successful in raising money for the purpose which urged him +forth from home: perhaps his popularity was never so great as now. Mr. +Cross, one of his biographers, says, that wherever he preached, the place +was thronged at an early hour, and, frequently, multitudes remained +outside, unable to obtain admittance. He reached Monmouthshire, and +preached before the County Association; and it is said, that the sermon +evinced all his vigour of intellect, and splendour of genius, and as +perfect a command over the feelings of the great audience as ever. One +of his great images here was his description of the Gospel, on the day of +Pentecost, as a great electrical machine, Christ turning the handle, +Peter placing the chain in contact with the people, and the Holy Ghost +descending like a stream of ethereal fire, and melting the hearts of +three thousand at once. His text was, “By grace ye are saved.” + +But the effort was too much for him, and he was laid up for a week at the +house of Mr. Thomas Griffith, a kind host, who, with his whole family, +attempted, in every way, to minister to his comfort, and, with +affectionate assiduity, sought to restore him. On the whole, he appears +to have been full of vivacity that week, and, during the intervals of +pain, cheered, and charmed his friends. He had, one day, come +downstairs, and Mr. James, the son-in-law of his host, was helping him up +again. He had only got a few steps, when he said buoyantly, “Mr. James, +I dare say if I thought the French were behind me with their bayonets, I +should be able to get upstairs without your help.” With the word he took +his arm from Mr. James’s shoulder, and briskly ran up the flight of +steps, laughing at his feat. + +His conversation was, however, usually brightly religious. “This is the +Gospel,” he said once in the course of talk—“This is the Gospel: ‘He that +believeth shall be saved.’ Now, in order to the truth of this +declaration, every believer must be saved. If, in the last day, the +great enemy find one single soul not saved, who ever believed the Gospel, +he would take that soul up, present that soul to the Judge, and to the +immense assembly, and say, ‘The Gospel is not true.’ He would take that +lost believer through all the regions of pandemonium, and exhibit him in +triumph to the devils, and the damned.” “But,” said his host, “that +shall never be, Mr. Evans.” “No,” said he, planting the forefinger of +his right hand on his knee, as was his wont, and exclaiming, in a tone of +triumphant congratulation, “_Never_! _never_! _never_!” + +Leaving the house of Mr. Griffith, of Tredegar, he proceeded on his way, +preaching at Caerphilly, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Bridgend, and Neath, and he +reached Swansea on Saturday, July 14th. The next day, Sunday, he +preached twice—preached like a seraph, says one of his memorialists: in +the morning his subject was the Prodigal Son; the evening, “I am not +ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” He was the guest of Daniel Davies, the +pastor of the Welsh Baptist Church in the town, the blind preacher, as he +was called, a man of great celebrity, and unquestioned power. He was to +be the last host of his greater brother, or rather father, in the +ministry. On the Monday evening, he went out to tea, with a friend who +was always glad to greet him, Mr. David Walters; and on the same evening +he preached, in English, in Mount Pleasant Chapel: his text was, +“Beginning at Jerusalem.” He was very feeble,—perhaps we need scarcely +wonder at that, after the two services of the day before. He always felt +a difficulty when preaching in English, and, upon this occasion, he +seemed much tried; gleams, and flashes of his ordinary brilliancy there +were, as in the following:— + +“Beginning at Jerusalem! Why at Jerusalem? The Apostles were to begin +there, because its inhabitants had been witness to the life, and death of +Christ; there He had preached, wrought miracles, been crucified, and rose +again. Here, on the very spot of His deepest degradation, He was also to +be exalted: He had been crucified as a malefactor, He was now to be +elevated in the same place as a King; here were accorded to Him the +first-fruits of His resurrection.” This was the strain of the +sermon:—“‘At Jerusalem, Lord?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Why, Lord, these are the men who +crucified Thee; we are not to preach it to _them_?’ ‘Yes, preach it to +all.’ ‘To the man who plaited the crown of thorns, and placed it on Thy +Head?’ ‘Yes; tell him that from My degradation he may obtain a crown of +glory.’ ‘Suppose we meet the very man that nailed Thy hands and feet to +the cross, the very man that pierced Thy side, that spat in Thy face?’ +‘Preach the Gospel to them all: tell them all that I am the Saviour; that +all are welcome to participate in the blessings of My salvation; I am the +same Lord over all, and rich unto all that call on Me.’” Such were some +of the most characteristic passages. As he was coming down the pulpit +stairs, he said, loud enough to be heard by many present, “_This is my +last sermon_!” + +And it was even so. He was taken very ill during the night; the next day +he was worse, the next day worse still, and then medical assistance was +called in. But on the Thursday, he got up, and walked for some time in +the garden. It seems doubtful whether he thought that his end was so +near, although he had a dream, in one of the early evenings in the week, +in which he seemed to come up to a great river, which he did not then +cross, so that he scarcely thought his work or life might be over even +yet. + +But on Thursday night he was worse again, and on Friday morning, at two +o’clock, he said to his friends, Mr. Davies, Mr. Hughes, and others round +his bed, “I am leaving you. I have laboured in the sanctuary fifty-three +years, and this is my comfort, that I have never laboured without blood +in the basin,”—the ruling power of imagination strong in him to the +close, evidently meaning that he had never failed to preach Christ and +Him crucified. A few more remarks of the same character: “Preach Christ +to the people, brethren. Look at me: in myself I am nothing but ruin, +but in Christ I am heaven, and salvation.” He repeated a verse from a +favourite Welsh hymn, and then, as if he had done with earth, he waved +his hand, and exclaimed, “GOOD-BYE! DRIVE ON!” + +It seems another instance of the labour of life pervading by its +master-idea the hour of death. For how many years the “one-eyed man” of +Anglesea had gone to, and fro on his humble nag! As we have seen, lately +his friends had given him a gig, that he might be more at ease in his +Master’s service; still he had his old horse, companion of his many +journeys. While he was dying, the old mountain days of travel came over +his memory—“GOOD-BYE!” said he. “DRIVE ON!” He turned over, and seemed +to sleep. He slept indeed. His friends tried to rouse him, but the +angelic postman had obeyed the order,—the chariot had passed over the +everlasting hills. So he died, July 19th, 1838, in the seventy-third +year of his age, and fifty-fourth of his ministry. + +His funeral took place four days after his death, in the burying-ground +attached to the Welsh Baptist Chapel, in Swansea. It is said there never +was such a funeral in Swansea, such a concourse, and crowd of mourners, +weeping their way to the grave, and following, as it had been their +father. Fountains of sorrow were everywhere unsealed throughout the +Principality, in Anglesea especially, where he had passed the greater +portion of his life; indeed, throughout the Principality, there was +scarcely a pulpit, of the order to which he belonged, which was not +draped in black; and it was evident that all felt “a prince and a great +man had fallen in Israel.” + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +_SUMMARY OF GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTMAS EVANS_, _AS A MAN AND A +PREACHER_. + + +A Central Figure in the Religious Life of Wales—In a Singular Degree a +Self-made Man—His Words on the Value of Industry—His Honest +Simplicity—Power of Sarcasm Repressed—Affectionate Forgiveableness—Great +Faith, and Power in Prayer—A Passage in Dean Milman’s “Samor”—His Sermons +a Kind of Silex Scintillans—Massive Preaching, but lightened by Beautiful +Flowers—As an Orator—A Preacher in the Age of Faith—Seeing Great +Truths—His Remarks on what was called “Welsh Jumping” in Religious +Services. + +THE character of Christmas Evans, it will be seen, from all that has gone +before, appears to us to be eminently interesting as the most distinct, +to us the most central, and realizable figure, in the religious life of +his country, and his times: he is the central figure in a group of +remarkable men. We shall not discuss the question as to whether he was +the greatest,—greatness is so relative a term; he appears, to us, +certainly, from our point of view, the most representative Welsh preacher +of his time, perhaps of any time: in him seemed embodied not merely the +imaginative, but the fanciful, the parable-loving spirit of his +department of the great Celtic family; with this, that ardent devotion, +that supersensuous absorption, which to our colder temperament looks like +superstition. + +One writer finely remarks of him, and with considerable truth, so far as +his own country is concerned, “He is a connecting link between the +beginning and the ending of the eighteenth century; he has the light, the +talent, and the taste of the beginning, and has received every new light +that has appeared since. He was enabled to accompany the career of +religious knowledge in the morning, and also to follow its rapid strides +in the evening. In this he is unlike every other preacher of the day: +the morning and evening light of this wonderful century meet in him; he +had strength to climb up to the top of Carmel in the morning, and remain +there during the heat of the day, and see the consuming sacrifice, and +the licking up of the water; his strength continued, by the hand of the +Lord, so that he could descend from the mount in the evening, and run +without fainting before the king’s chariot to Jezreel.” + +On the whole, there is considerable truth in these words, although author +and reader may alike take exception to some of them. The circumstances +and situation of the life of this singular man have been set so clearly +before the reader in these pages, that there can be no difficulty in +apprehending the unpropitious and unfavourable atmosphere through which +he was compelled to move. Few men can ever have more richly deserved the +epithet of self-made: no systematic tuition could he ever have received; +near to manhood before he even attempted to obtain, before he had even +presented to him any inducements to attempt, the most rudimental elements +of knowledge; we cannot gather that he had any teachers, who assisted him +with more than hints, or the loan of a grammar, a lexicon, or some volume +he desired to read; there are no indications of any particular kindness, +no friendly hands, no wicket, or gate of school, or college opened to +him. And as with the commencement of his career, so with its course; his +intercourse was, probably, mostly with men, and minds inferior to his +own; books, we have seen, he had few, although he read, with avidity, +wherever he could borrow; and as with his mental training, so with his +spiritual experience,—it appears all to have gone on within himself, very +much unrelieved, and unaided; he had to fight his own doubts, and to +gather strength in the wrestling, and the conflict. And as he thus +formed himself, without assistance, so, apparently without any human +assistance, he continued to labour on, amidst the popular acclamations of +fame. The absence of all, and every exhibition of gratitude, is +peculiarly affecting. Altogether, this strikes us as a grand, +self-sustained, and much-enduring life, always hard, and necessitous; but +its lines are very indelible, written as with a pen of iron, and as with +the point of a diamond. It is natural that, in his old age, he should +speak thus to a young man of the— + + + +“VALUE OF INDUSTRY. + + + “I am an old man, my dear boy, and you are just entering the + ministry. Let me now, and here tell you one thing, and I commend it + to your attention, and memory. All the ministers that I have ever + known, who have fallen into disgrace, or into uselessness, _have been + idle men_. I never am much afraid of a young minister, when I + ascertain that he can, and does, _fairly sit down to his book_. + There is Mr. —, of whom we were talking just now, a man of such + unhappy temper, and who has loved, for many years, to meddle in all + sorts of religious disputes and divisions. He would have, long ago, + been utterly wrecked, had not his habits of industry saved him. He + has stuck to his book, and that has kept him from many dishonours, + which, had he been an idle man, must have, by this time, overwhelmed + him. An idle man is in the way of every temptation; temptation has + no need to seek him; _he is at the corner of the street_, _ready_, + _and waiting for it_. In the case of a minister of the Gospel, this + peril is multiplied by his position, his neglected duties, the + temptations peculiar to his condition, and his own superior + susceptibility. _Remember this—stick to your book_.” + +The foundations of the good man’s character were laid in honest +simplicity, real, and perfect sincerity; he was innocent, and +unsuspecting as a child, and here, no doubt, lay the cause of many of his +trials; his frank, and confiding disposition became the means by which +his own peace was poisoned, when jealous men, malicious men,—and these +sometimes Christian men,—took advantage of his simplicity. He once +employed a person to sell a horse for him at a fair; after some time, +Evans being there, he went out to see if the man was likely to succeed. +He found that a bargain was going on for the horse, and nearly completed. + +“Is this your horse, Mr. Evans?” said the purchaser. + +“Certainly it is,” he replied. + +“What is his age, sir?” + +“Twenty-three years.” + +“But this man tells me he is only fifteen.” + +“He is certainly twenty-three, for he has been with me these twenty +years, and he was three years old when I bought him.” + +“Is he safe-footed?” + +“Well, he is very far from that, and, indeed, that is the reason why I +want to part with him; and he has never been put into harness since I +bought him either.” + +“Please go into the house, Mr. Evans, and stop there,” said the man whom +he had employed to make the sale: “I never shall dispose of the horse +while you are present.” + +But the dealer was, in this instance, mistaken, for the frank manner in +which Mr. Evans had answered the questions, and told the truth, induced +the buyer to make the purchase, even at a very handsome price. But the +anecdote got abroad, and it added to Mr. Evans’s reputation, and good +name; and even the mention of the story in these pages, after these long +years have passed away, is more to his memory than the gold would have +been to his pocket. + +Like all such natures, however, he was not wanting in shrewdness, and we +have seen that, when irritated, he could express himself in sharp +sarcasm. He had this power, but, upon principle, he kept it under +control. It was a saying of his, “It is better to keep sarcasms +pocketed, if we cannot use them without wounding friends.” Once, two +ministers of different sects were disputing upon some altogether +trifling, and most immaterial point of ecclesiastical discipline. One of +them said, “What is your opinion, Mr. Evans?” and he said, “To-day I saw +two boys quarrelling over two snails: one of them insisted that his snail +was the best, because it had horns; while the other as strenuously +insisted that his was the best, because it had none. The boys were very +angry, and vociferous, but the two snails were very good friends.” + +He comes before us with all that strength of character which he +unquestionably possessed, as a spirit most affectionate, and especially +forgiving. An anecdote goes about of a controversy he had with a +minister of another sect, who so far forgot himself as to indulge in +language utterly inconsistent with all Christian courtesy. But a short +time elapsed, when the minister was charged with a crime: had he been +convicted, degradation from the ministry must have been the smallest part +of his punishment, but his innocence was made manifest, and perfectly +clear. Mr. Evans always believed the charge to be false, and the attempt +to prosecute to be unjust, and merely malicious. On the day when the +trial came on he went, as was his wont, in all matters where he was +deeply interested, into his own room, and fervently prayed that his old +foe might be sustained, and cleared. He was in company with several +friends and brother ministers, when a minister entered the room, and +said, “Mr. B— is fully acquitted.” Evans instantly fell on his knees, +and with tears exclaimed, “Thanks be unto Thee, O Lord Jesus, for +delivering one of Thy servants from the mouth of the lions.” And he very +soon joined his hearty congratulations with those of the other friends of +the persecuted man. + +It is certain the story of the Church recites very few instances of such +an active life, so eminently devotional, and prayerful: we have seen this +already illustrated in those remarkable covenants we have quoted. He had +an old-fashioned faith in prayer. He was very likely never troubled much +about the philosophy of it: his life passed in the practice of it. No +Catholic monk or nun kept more regularly the hours, the matins, or the +vigils than he. It appears, that for many years he was accustomed to +retire for a short season, for prayer, three times during the day, and to +rise at midnight, regularly, for the same purpose. He suffered much +frequently from slander; he had disorders, and troubles in his churches; +he had many afflictions, as we have seen, in life, and the frequent sense +of poverty; but these all appeared to drive this great, good man to +prayer, and his friends knew it, and felt it, and felt the serenity, and +elevation of his character when in the social circle, even when it was +also known that heavy trials were upon him. And one who appears to have +known him applies to him, in such moments, the language of the Psalmist, +“All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory +palaces.” + +And, perhaps, in this connection, we may say, without being +misunderstood, that the especial necessities of his life gave to it +something of a cloistered, and monastic character. He was not immured in +the cell, or the monastery, but how little can we realize the profound +solitude of those long journeys, so constantly renewed, through the +silence of the lonely hills, across the desolation of the uninhabited +moor! An intensely nervous, and meditative nature, no possibility of the +book then, no retreat, we can believe no desire to retreat from the +infinite stretched above him, and even the infinite seeming to spread all +around him. In so devout a nature, how calculated all this to foster +devotion, until it became at once the support, as well as the passion, of +the soul! + +And these perpetual wanderings among the mountains must have been a fine +spiritual education, an education deepening emotion in the soul, and at +the same time kindling the mind in thoughtful imagery. He reminds us of +Dean Milman’s hero, also a pilgrim through Wales:— + + “His path is ’mid the Cambrian mountains wild; + The many fountains that well wandering down + Plinlimmon’s huge round side their murmurs smooth + Float round him; Idris, that like warrior old + His batter’d and fantastic helmet rears, + Scattering the elements’ wrath, frowns o’er his way, + A broad irregular duskiness. Aloof + Snowdon, the triple-headed giant, soars, + Clouds rolling half-way down his rugged sides. + Slow as he trod amid their dizzy heights, + Their silences and dimly mingling sounds, + Rushing of torrents, war of prison’d winds; + O’er all his wounded soul flow’d strength, and pride, + And hardihood; again his front soar’d up + To commerce with the skies, and frank and bold, + His majesty of step his rugged path + Imprinted . . . + . . . Whence, ye mountains, whence + The spirit that within your secret caves + Holds kindred with man’s soul?” + +Henry Vaughan delighted to call himself the Silurist, always proud of the +country from whence he came: his was a different region of Wales from +that which produced Christmas Evans. Henry Vaughan was the swan of the +Usk; but the sermons of Evans, like the sacred poems of Vaughan, were a +kind of _Silex Scintillans_, or sparks from the flint, sparks shot forth +from the great mountains, and the overhanging stars, with both of which +he held long communion: he had no opportunity for any other often in the +course of his travel; they were as the streets of God, lighted with suns +stretching across his way, in the green amphitheatre of day, and the blue +amphitheatre of night. + +And this was, no doubt, very greatly the secret of his preaching. It is +not too strong a term to use, to say that, with all its brilliancy, its +bardic, and poetic splendours, it was massive preaching. He usually laid +the foundations of the edifice of a sermon, strong and secure in reason, +and in Scripture, securing the understanding, and the convictions of his +hearers, before he sketched those splendid allegories, or gave those +descriptive touches; before even he appealed to those feelings, when he +led the whole congregation captive by the chains of his eloquence. + +We have said before, that like most of the preachers of his country, he +delighted also in the use of sharp, rememberable sayings. That is a +striking expression when he says, speaking of death, to the believer in +Christ, “The crocodile of death shall be harnessed to the chariot of the +daughter of Zion, to bring her home to her father’s house.” Again, “Our +immortal souls, although in perishable bodies, are evidently originally +birds of Paradise, and our faculties are the beautiful wings by which we +understand, remember, fear, believe, love, hope, and delight in immortal, +and eternal things.” That is very pretty when he says, “Faith is the +wedding-ring by which the poor daughter of the old Ammonite is married to +the Prince of Peace: she is raised from poverty to opulence, from +degradation to honour, not because of the intrinsic value of the ring, +though it is a golden one, but on account of the union which it +signifies, between her, and the beloved Prince.” Again, “A cradle, a +cross, and a grave, all of His Father’s appointing, must Jesus have, in +order to open a fountain of living water to the world.” Such sentences +as these the reader will find strewn along all his sermons, and many such +in those which we have quoted more at length. + +But it must always be remembered that Christmas Evans was, in a +pre-eminent degree, the orator. He had a presence; he was nearly six +feet high, and finely-proportioned; his whole bearing was dignified, and +majestic; he had but one eye, it is true, but we can believe the +testimony which describes it as singularly penetrating, and even burning +with a wonderful effect, when the strong inspiration of his eloquence was +upon him. Then his voice was one of marvellous compass, and melody; like +his sermons themselves, which were able to touch the hearts of mighty +multitudes, so his voice was able to reach their ears. + +When he heard Robert Hall, the marvellous enchantment of that still, +small voice, a kind of soprano in its sweet, and cleaving clearness, so +overwhelmed him, that he longed to preach in that tone, and key; but the +voices of the men were fitted to their words,—Hall’s to his own +exquisitely-finished culture, and to the sustained, and elevated culture +either of spirit, or intelligence of those whom he addressed; Evans’s +words we suppose rolled like the thunder of a mighty sea, with all its +amplitude of many-voiced waves. Singers differ, and, no doubt, while we +are able to admire the evangelical force, and fervour, and even the fine +pictorial imagery of the sermons of Christmas Evans, it is something like +looking at the painting on the glass, which may be very pretty, and +exquisite, but in order really to see it, it should be in the camera, +with the magnifying lens, and the burning lamp behind it. Alas! it is so +with all reported and written eloquence: the figures, and the words are +almost as cold as the paper upon which they are printed, as they pass +before the eye; they need the inspiration of the burning genius, and that +inspired by a Divine affection, or afflatus, in their utterance, to give +them a real effect. + +And in the case of Christmas Evans’s sermons, this is not all: to us they +are only translations,—translations from the difficult Welsh +language,—translations without the wonderful atmospheric accent of the +Welsh vowel; so that the very best translation of one of Christmas +Evans’s performances can only be the skeleton of a sermon. We may admire +the structure, the architecture of the edifice, but we can form little +idea of the words which were said to have set Wales on fire. + +We recur to the expression we used a few sentences since. We are able to +appreciate the massive character of these sermons: it is very true they +are cyclopean,—they have about them a primæval rudeness; but then the +cyclopean architecture, although primitive, is massive. Here are huge +thoughts, hewn out of the primæval, but ever-abiding instincts of our +nature, or, which is much the same thing, from the ancient, and granite +flooring of the Divine Word. We must make this allowance for our +preacher: he took up his testimony from the grand initial letters of +Faith; he knew something of the other side of thought; the belief of his +country, in his time, in the earlier days of his ministry, had been very +much vexed by Sabellianism. + +The age of systematic, and scientific doubt had not set in on the +Principality; but he met the conscience of man as a conscience, as that +which was a trouble, and a sorrow to the thoughtful mind, and where it +was still untroubled, he sought to alarm it, and awaken it to terror, and +to fear; and he preached the life, and work of Christ as a legitimate +satisfaction, and rest to the troubled conscience. This was, no doubt, +the great burden of his ministry; these are the subjects of all his +sermons. He used the old words, the old nomenclature. + +Since the day of Christmas Evans, theological language is so altered, +that the theological lexicon of the eighteenth century would seem very +poorly to represent theological ideas in this close of the nineteenth. +But we have often thought, that, perhaps, could the men of that time be +brought face to face with the men of this, it might be found that terms +had rather enlarged their signification, than essentially altered their +meaning,—this in many instances, of course, not in all. But it would +often happen, could we but patiently analyze the meaning of theological +terms, we should often find a brother where we had suspected an alien, +and a friend where we had imagined a foe. + +Thus Christmas Evans dealt with great truths. He was a wise +master-builder, and all the several parts of his sermons were related +together in mutual dependence. The reader will notice that there was +always symmetry in their construction: he obeys an order of thought; we +feel that he speaks of that which, to the measure of the revelation +given, and his entrance into the mind of the Spirit, he distinctly +understands. A mind, which itself lives in the light, will, by its own +sincerity, make the subject which it attempts to expound clear; and he +had this faculty, eminently, of making abstruse truths shine out with +luminous, and distinct beauty. This is always most noble when the mind +of a preacher rises to the highest truths in the Christian scheme. A +great deal of our preaching, in the present day, well deserves the name +of pretty: how many men, whose volumes of sermons are upon our shelves, +both in England, and America, seem as if their preachers had been +students in the natural history of religion, gathering shells, pretty +rose-tinted shells, or leaves, and insects for a theological museum! And +a very pretty occupation, too, to call attention to the lily-work of the +temple. But there are others, whose aim has been— + + “Rather to see great truths + Than touch and handle little ones.” + +And, certainly, Christmas Evans was of that order who occupied the mind, +and single eye, rather on the pathway of the planet beyond him, than in +the study of the most exquisite shell on the sea-shore. Among religious +students, and even among eminent preachers, there are some, who may be +spoken of as Divine, and spiritual astronomers,—they study the laws of +the celestial lights; and there are others, who may be called religious +entomologists,—they find themselves at home amidst insectile +prettinesses. Some minds are equal to the infinitely large, and the +infinitely small, the remote not more than the near; but such instances +are very rare. + +The power of great truths overwhelms the man who feels them; this gives +rise to that impassioned earnestness which enables a great speaker to +storm, and take possession of the hearts of his hearers: the man, it has +been truly said, was lost in his theme, and art, was swallowed up in +excited feeling, like a whirlpool, bearing along the speaker, and his +hearers with him, on the current of the strong discourse. The histories +of the greatest orators,—for instance, Massillon, Bossuet, and Robert +Hall,—show how frequently it was the case, that the excited feelings of +an audience manifested themselves by the audience starting from their +seats, and, sometimes, by loud expressions of acclamation, or +approbation. Some such scenes appear to have manifested themselves, even +beneath Christmas Evans’s ministry. Some such scenes as these led to the +report of those excitements in Wales, which many of our readers have +heard of as “Welsh jumping.” Evans appears to have been disposed to +vindicate from absurdity this phenomenon,—the term used to describe it +was, no doubt, employed as a term of contempt. He says,— + + “Common preaching will not do to arouse sluggish districts from the + heavy slumbers into which they have sunk; indeed, formal prayers, and + lifeless sermons are like bulwarks raised against these things: five, + or six stanzas will be sung as dry as Gilboa, instead of one, or two + verses, like a new song full of God, of Christ, and the Spirit of + grace, until the heart is attuned for worship. The burying grounds + are kept in fine order in Glamorganshire, and green shrubs, and herbs + grow on the graves; but all this is of little value, for the + inhabitants of them are all dead. So, in every form of godliness, + where its power is not felt, order without life is exceedingly + worthless: you exhibit all the character of human nature, leaving + every bud of the flower to open in the beams of the sun, except in + Divine worship. On other occasions, you English appear to have as + much fire in your affections as the Welsh have, if you are noticed. + In a court of law, the most efficient advocate, such as Erskine, will + give to you the greatest satisfaction; but you are contented with a + preacher speaking so lifelessly, and so low, that you can hardly + understand a third part of what he says, and you will call this + decency in the sanctuary. To-morrow I shall see you answering fully + to the human character in your own actions. When the speakers on the + platform will be urging the claims of missions, you will then beat + the boards, and manifest so much life, and cheerfulness that not one + of you will be seen to take up a note-book, nor any other book, while + the speaker shall be addressing you. A Welshman might suppose, by + hearing your noise, that he had been silently conveyed to one of the + meetings of the Welsh jumpers, with this difference, that you would + perceive many more tears shed, and hear many more ‘calves of the + lips’ offered up, in the rejoicing meetings of Wales; but you use + your heels well on such occasions, and a little of your tongues; but + if even in Wales, in certain places,—that is, places where the + fervent gales are not enjoyed which fill persons with fear, and + terror, and joy, in approaching the altar of God,—you may see, while + hearing a sermon, one looking into his hymn-book, another into his + note-book, and a third turning over the leaves of his Bible, as if he + were going to study a sermon in the sanctuary, instead of attending + to what is spoken by the preacher as the mouth of God.” + +He proceeds, at considerable length, in this strain, in a tone of apology +which, while it is frank, and ingenuous, certainly seems to divest the +excitement of the Welsh services of those objectionable features which, +through a haze of ignorant prejudice, had very much misrepresented the +character of such gatherings in England. It was, as Mr. Evans shows, the +stir, and excitement, the more stereotyped acclamation, of an English +meeting manifesting itself in the devotional services of these wild +mountain solitudes. He continues,— + + “It is an exceedingly easy matter for a minister to manage a + congregation while Christian enjoyment keeps them near to God; they + are diligent, and zealous, and ready for every good work; but it is + very easy to offend this joyous spirit—or give it what name you + please, enthusiasm, religious madness, or Welsh jumping,—its English + name,—and make it hide itself; a quarrel, and disagreement in the + Church, will occasion it to withdraw immediately; indulging in sin, + in word or deed, will soon put it to flight: it is like unto the + angel formerly, who could not behold the sin of Israel without hiding + himself,—so is the angel of the religious life of Wales, which proves + him to be a holy angel, though he has the name of a Welsh jumper. My + prayer is, that this angel be a guard upon every congregation, and + that none should do anything to offend him. It is an exceedingly + powerful assistant to accompany us through the wilderness, but the + individual that has not felt its happy influences has nothing to + lose; hence he does not dread a dry meeting, and a hard prayer, for + they are all the same to him; but the people of this enjoyment pray + before prayer, and before hearing, that they may meet with God in + them. + + “The seasons when these blessings are vouchsafed to the churches of + Wales are to be noticed: it is generally at a time when the cause of + religion is at a low ebb, all gone to slumber; this happy spirit of + enjoyment in religion, like the angel of the pillar of fire, appears + when there is distress, and everything at the worst; its approach to + the congregation is like the glory of God returning to the temple of + old; it creates a stir among the brethren; they have a new prayer, + and a new spirit given them to worship God; this will lay hold of + another; some new strength, and light will appear in the pulpit, + until it will be imagined that the preacher’s voice is altered, and + that his spirit has become more evangelical, and that he preaches + with a more excellent savour than usual; tenderness will descend upon + the members, and it will be seen that Mr. Wet-eyes, and Mr. Amen, + have taken their place among them; the heavenly gale will reach some + of the old backsliders, and they are brought, with weeping, to seek + their forfeited privilege; by this time the sound of Almighty God + will be heard in the outer court, beginning to move the hearers like + a mighty wind shaking the forest; and as the gale blows upon the + outer court, upon the hearers, and the young people, and afterwards + making its way through the outer court, to rouse the inner court, + until a great concern is awakened for the state of the soul. And, + see, how these powerful revivals evince their nature: they are + certain, where they are strong, to bend the oaks of Bashan, men of + strong, and sturdy minds, and haughty hearts; they bring all the + ships of Tarshish, and the merchants of this world, in the harbour + hearing; the power of the day of the Lord will raze all the walls of + bigotry to the foundation; thoughts of eternal realities, and the + spirit of worship, are by these blessings diffused abroad, and family + worship is established in scores of families; the door of such a + district, opened by the powers of the world to come, creates the + channel where the living waters flow, and dead fish are made alive by + its virtues.” + +So Christmas Evans vindicated the excitements of religious services in +Wales from English aspersions. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +_SUMMARY OF GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTMAS EVANS AS A PREACHER_. + + +Remarks renewed in Vindication of his Use of Parable in the Pulpit—His +Sermons appear to be born of Solitude—His Imitators—His Probable +Acquaintance with “the Sleeping Bard” of Elis Wyn—A +Dream—Illustrations—The Gospel Mould—Saul of Tarsus and his Seven +Ships—The Misplaced Bone—The Man in the House of Steel—The Parable of the +Church as an Ark among the Bulrushes of the Nile—The Handwriting—Death as +an Inoculator—Time—The Timepiece—Parable of the Birds—Parable of the +Vine-tree, the Thorn, the Bramble, and the Cedar—Illustrations of his +more Sustained Style—The Resurrection of Christ—They drank of that Rock +which followed them—The Impossibility of Adequate Translation—Closing +Remarks on his Place and Claim to Affectionate Regard. + +FROM the extracts we have already given, it will be seen that Christmas +Evans excelled in the use of parable in the pulpit. Sometimes he wrought +his mine like a very Bunyan, and we believe no published accounts of +these sermons in Welsh, and certainly none that we have found translated +into English, give any idea of his power. With what amazing effect some +of his sermons would tell on the vast audiences which in these days +gather together in London, and in our great towns! This method of +instruction is now usually regarded as in bad taste; it does not seem to +be sanctioned by the great rulers, and masters of oratorical art. If a +man could create a “Pilgrim’s Progress,” and recite it, it would be found +to be a very doubtful article by the rhetorical sanhedrim. Yet our Lord +used this very method, and without using some such method—anecdote, or +illustration—it is doubtful whether any strong hold can be obtained over +the lower orders of mind. Our preacher entered into the spirit of +Scripture parable, and narrative. One of the most famous of his +discourses is that on the Demoniac of Gadara, which we have already given +in preceding pages. Some of our readers will be shocked to know that, in +the course of some of his descriptions in it, he convulsed his audience +with laughter in the commencement. Well, he need not be imitated there; +but he held it sufficiently subdued before the close, and an alternation +of tears, and raptures, not only testified to his powers, but to his +skill in giving an allegorical reading of the narrative. + +For the purpose of producing effect,—and we mean, by effect, visible +results in crushed, and humbled hearts, and transformed lives,—it would +be a curious thing to try, in England, the preaching of some of the great +Welshman’s sermons. What would be the effect upon any audience of that +great picture of the Churchyard World, and the mighty controversy of +Justice, and Mercy? Let it be admitted that there are some things in it, +perhaps many, that it would not demand a severe taste to expel from the +picture, but take it as the broad, bold painting of a man not highly +educated,—indeed, highly educated men, as we have said, could not perform +such things: a highly-educated man could never have written the +“Pilgrim’s Progress”—let it be remembered that it was delivered to men, +perhaps, we should say, rather educated than instructed, men illiterate +in all things _except_ the Bible. We ourselves have, in some very large +congregations, tried the preaching of one of the most famous of Evans’s +sermons, “The Spirit walking in dry places, seeking rest, and finding +none.” + +Christmas Evans’s preaching was by no means defective in the bone, and +muscle of thought, and pulpit arrangement; but, no doubt, herein lay his +great _forte_, and power,—he could paint soul-subduing pictures. They +were not pieces of mere word-painting, they were bathed in emotion, they +were penetrated by deep knowledge of the human heart. He went into the +pulpit, mighty from lonely wrestlings with God in mountain travellings; +he went among his fellow-men, his audiences, strong in his faith in the +reality of those covenants with God, whose history, and character we have +already presented to our readers. + +There was much in his preaching of that order which is so mighty in +speech, but which loses so much, or which seems to acquire such +additional coarseness, when it is presented to the eye. Preachers now +live too much in the presence of published sermons, to be in the highest +degree effective. He who thinks of the printing-press cannot abandon +himself. He who uses his notes slavishly cannot abandon himself; and, +without abandonment, that is, forgetfulness, what is oratory? what is +action? what is passion? If we were asked what are the two greatest +human aids to pulpit power, we should say, Self-possession and +Self-abandonment; the two are perfectly compatible, and in the pulpit the +one is never powerful without the other. Knowledge, Belief, Preparation, +these give self-possession; and Earnestness, and Unconsciousness, these +give self-abandonment. The first, without the last, may make a preacher +like a stony pillar, covered with runes and hieroglyphics; and the last, +without the first, may make a mere fanatic, with a torrent of speech, +plunging lawlessly, and disgracefully abroad. The two, in combination in +a noble man, and teacher, become sublime. Perhaps they reached their +highest realization, among us, in Robertson of Brighton. In another, and +in a different department, and scarcely inferior order of mind, they were +nobly realized in Christmas Evans. + +Perhaps there never was a time when ministers were more afraid of their +audiences than in this day; afraid of the big man, with his wealth, +afraid of the highly-cultured young man with the speculative eyeglasses, +who has finished his education in Germany; afraid lest there should be +the slightest departure from the most perfect, and elegant taste. The +fear of man has brought a snare into the pulpit, and it has paralysed the +preacher. And in this highly-furnished, and cultivated time we have few +instances of preachers who, in the pulpit, can either possess their +souls, or abandon them to the truth, in the text they have to announce. + +It must have been, one thinks, a grand thing to have heard Christmas +Evans; the extracts from his journal, the story they tell of his devout, +and rapt communions of soul with God, among the mountains, the bare, and +solitary hills, reveal sufficiently how, in himself, the preacher was +made. When he came into the pulpit, his soul was kindled, and inflamed +by the live coals from the altar. Some men of his own country imitated +him, of course. Imitations are always ludicrous,—some of these were +especially so. There was, says one of his biographers, the shrug, the +shake of the head, the hurried, undertoned exclamation, “Bendigedig,” +etc., etc., always reminding us, by verifying it, of Dr. Parr’s +description of the imitators of Johnson: “They had the nodosities of the +oak without its vigour, and the contortions of the sibyl without her +inspiration.” + +It was not so with him: he had rare, highly spiritual, and gifted +sympathies; but even in his very colloquies in the pulpit, there was a +wing, and sweep of majesty. He preached often amidst scenes of wildness, +and beauty, in romantic dells, or on mountain sides, and slopes, amidst +the summer hush of crags, and brooks, all ministering, it may be thought, +to the impression of the whole scene; or it was in rude, and unadorned +mountain chapels, altogether alien from the æsthetics so charming to +modern religious sensibilities; but he never lowered his tone, his +language was always intelligible; but both it, and the imagery he +employed, even when some circumstances gave to it a homely light, and +play, always ascended; he knew the workings of the heart, and knew how to +lay his finger impressively upon all its movements, and every kind of +sympathy attested his power. + +It is a great thing to bear men’s spirits along through the sublime +reaches, and avenues of thought, and emotion; and majesty, and sublimity +seem to have been the common moods of his mind; never was his speech, or +his pulpit, like a Gilboa, on which there was no dew. He gave it as his +advice to a young preacher, “Never raise the voice while the heart is +dry; let the heart, and affections shout first,—let it commence within.” +A man who could say, “Hundreds of prayers bubble from the fountain of my +mind,”—what sort of preacher was he likely to make? He “mused, and the +fire burned;” like the smith who blows upon the furnace, until the iron +is red hot, and then strikes on the anvil till the sparks fly all round +him, so he preached. His words, and thoughts became radiant with fire, +and metaphor; they flew forth rich, bright, glowing, like some rich metal +in ethereal flame. As we have said, it was the nature, and the habit of +his mind, to embody, and impersonate; attributes, and qualities took the +shape, and form of persons; he seemed to enter mystic abodes, and not to +talk of things as a metaphysician, or a theologian, but as a spectator, +or actor. The magnificences of nature crowded round him, bowing in +homage, as he selected from them to adorn, or illustrate his theme; all +things beautiful, and splendid, all things fresh, and young, all things +old, and venerable. Reading his discourses, for instance, the _Hind of +the Morning_, we are astonished at the prodigality, and the unity of the +imagination, the coherency with which the fancies range themselves, as +gems, round some central truth, drinking, and reflecting its +corruscations. + +Astounded were the people who heard; it was minstrelsy even more than +oratory; the truths were old and common, there was no fine +discrimination, and subtle touch of expression, as in Williams, and there +was no personal majesty, and dignity of sonorous swell of the pomp of +words, as in John Elias; but it was more,—it was the wing of prophecy, +and poetry, it was the rapture of the seer, or the bard; he called up +image after image, grouped them, made them speak, and testify; laden by +grand, and overwhelming feelings, he bore the people with him, through +the valley of the shadow of death, or across the Delectable Mountains. +There is a spell in thought, there is a spell in felicitous language; but +when to these are added the vision which calls up sleeping terror, the +imagination which makes living nature yet more alive, and brings the +solemn, or the dreadful people of the Book of God to our home, and life +of to-day, how terribly majestic the preacher becomes! + +The sermons of Christmas Evans can only be known through the medium of +translation. They, perhaps, do not suffer as most translations suffer; +but the rendering, in English, is feeble in comparison with the at once +nervous, bony, and muscular Welsh language. The sermons, however, +clearly reveal the man; they reveal the fulness, and strength of his +mind; they abound in instructive thoughts; their building, and structure +is always good; and many of the passages, and even several of the +sermons, might be taken as models for strong, and effective pulpit +oratory. Like all the preachers of his day, and order of mind, and +peculiarity of theological sentiment, and training, his usage of the +imagery of Scripture was remarkably free; his use also of texts often was +as significant, and suggestive as it was, certainly, original. + +No doubt, for the appreciation of his purpose, and his power in its +larger degree, he needed an audience well acquainted with Scripture, and +sympathetic, in an eminent manner, with the mind of the preacher. There +seem to have been periods, and moments when his mind soared aloft, into +some of the highest fields of truth, and emotion. Yet his wing never +seemed little, or petty in its flight. There was the firmness, and +strength of the beat of a noble eagle. Some eloquence sings, some +sounds; in one we hear the voice of a bird hovering in the air, in the +other we listen to the thunder of the plume: the eloquence of Christmas +Evans was of the latter order. + +We have remarked it before,—there is a singular parable-loving instinct +in Wales. Its most popular traditional, and prose literature, is imbued +with it; the “Mabinogion,” the juvenile treasures of Welsh legend, +corresponding to the Grimm of Germany, and the other great Teutonic and +Norse legends, but wholly unlike them, prove this. But we are told that +the most grand prose work in Wales, of modern date, and, at the same +time, the most pre-eminently popular, is the “Sleeping Bard,” by Elis +Wyn. He was a High Church clergyman, and wrote this extraordinary +allegory at the commencement of the last century. Christmas Evans must +have known it, have known it well. It portrays a series of visions, and +if Mr. Borrow’s testimony may be relied upon, they are thoroughly +Dantesque. He says, “It is a singular mixture of the sublime, and the +coarse, the terrible, and the ludicrous, of religion, and levity, and +combines Milton, Bunyan, and Quevedo.” + +This is immense praise. The Vision of the World, the first portion, +leads the traveller down the streets of Pride, Pleasure, and Lucre; but +in the distance is a cross street, little and mean, in comparison with +the others, but clean, and neat, and on a higher foundation than the +other streets; it runs upwards, towards the east; they sink downwards, +towards the north—this is the street True Religion. This is very much in +the style of Christmas Evans, and so also is the vision of Death, the +vision of Perdition, and the vision of Hell. This singular poem appears +to have been exceedingly popular in Wales when Christmas Evans was young. + +But our preacher has often been called the Bunyan of Wales—the Bunyan of +the pulpit. In some measure, the epithet does designate him; he was a +great master of parabolic similitude, and comparison. This is a kind of +preaching ever eminently popular with the multitude; it requires rather a +redundancy of fancy, than imagination—perhaps a mind considerably +disciplined, and educated would be unable to indulge in such exercises—a +self-possession, balanced by ignorance of many of the canons of taste, or +utterly oblivious, and careless of them; for this is a kind of teaching +of which we hear very little. Now we have not one preacher in England +who would, perhaps, dare to use, or who could use well, the parabolic +style. This was the especial power of Christmas Evans. He excelled in +personification; he would seem frequently to have been mastered by this +faculty. The abstraction of thought, the disembodied phantoms of another +world, came clothed in form, and feature, and colour; at his bidding they +came— + + “Ghostly shapes + Met him at noontide; Fear, and trembling Hope, + Silence, and Foresight; Death, the skeleton, + And Time, the shadow.” + +Thus, he frequently astounded his congregations, not merely by pouring +round his subject the varied hues of light, or space, but by giving to +the eye defined shapes, and realizations. We do not wonder to hear him +say, “If I only entered the pulpit, I felt raised, as it were, to +Paradise, above my afflictions, until I forgot my adversity; yea, I felt +my mountain strong. I said to a brother once, ‘Brother, the doctrine, +the confidence, and strength I feel, will make persons dance with joy in +some parts of Wales.’ ‘Yea, brother,’ said he, with tears flowing from +his eyes.” He was visited by remarkable dreams. Once, previous to a +time of great refreshing, he dreamt:— + +“He thought he was in the church at Caerphilly, and found many harps +hanging round the pulpit, wrapped in coverings of green. ‘Then,’ said +he, ‘I will take down the harps of heaven in this place.’ In removing +the covering, he found the ark of the covenant, inscribed with the name +of Jehovah. Then he cried, ‘Brethren, the Lord has come to us, according +to His promise, and in answer to our prayers.’” In that very place, he +shortly afterwards had the satisfaction of receiving one hundred and +forty converts into the Church, as the fruit of his ministry. + +As we have said, nothing can well illustrate, on paper, the power of the +orator’s speech, but the following may serve, as, in some measure, +illustrating his method:— + + + +“THE GOSPEL MOULD. + + + “I compare such preachers to a miner, who should go to the quarry + where he raised the ore, and, taking his sledge in his hand, should + endeavour to form bars of iron of the ore in its rough state, without + a furnace to melt it, or a rolling mill to roll it out, or moulds to + cast the metal, and conform the casts to their patterns. The Gospel + is like a form, or mould, and sinners are to be melted, as it were, + and cast into it. ‘But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of + doctrine which was delivered you,’ or into which you were delivered, + as is the marginal reading, so that your hearts ran into the mould. + Evangelical preachers have, in the name of Christ, a mould, or form + to cast the minds of men into; as Solomon the vessels of the temple. + The Sadducees and Pharisees had their forms, and legal preachers have + their forms; but evangelical preachers should bring with them the + ‘form of sound words,’ so that, if the hearers believe, or are melted + into it, Christ may be formed in their hearts,—then they will be as + born of the truth, and the image of the truth will appear in their + sentiments, and experience, and in their conduct in the Church, in + the family, and in the neighbourhood. Preachers without the mould + are all those who do not preach all the points of the Gospel of the + Grace of God.” + +We will now present several extracts, derived from a variety of sources, +happily illustrating the general character of his sermons. + + + +“SAUL OF TARSUS AND HIS SEVEN SHIPS. + + + “Saul of Tarsus was once a thriving merchant and an extensive + ship-owner; he had seven vessels of his own, the names of which + were—1. Circumcised the Eighth Day; 2. Of the Stock of Israel; 3. + Of the Tribe of Benjamin; 4. A Hebrew of the Hebrews; 5. As + touching the Law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning Zeal, persecuting the + Church. The seventh was a man-of-war, with which he one day set out + from the port of Jerusalem, well supplied with ammunition from the + arsenal of the Chief Priest, with a view to destroy a small port at + Damascus. He was wonderfully confident, and breathed out + threatenings and slaughter. But he had not got far from port before + the Gospel Ship, with Jesus Christ Himself as Commander on board, + hove in sight, and threw such a shell among the merchant’s fleet that + all his ships were instantly on fire. The commotion was tremendous, + and there was such a volume of smoke that Paul could not see the sun + at noon. While the ships were fast sinking, the Gospel Commander + mercifully gave orders that the perishing merchant should be taken on + board. ‘Saul, Saul, what has become of all thy ships?’ ‘They are + all on fire.’ ‘What wilt thou do now?’ ‘Oh that I may be found in + Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that + which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of + God. by faith.’” + + + +“THE MISPLACED BONE. + + + “Let every one keep his own place, that there be no schism in the + body. There arose a fierce contention in the human body; every + member sought another place than the one it found itself in, and was + fitted for. After much controversy, it was agreed to refer the whole + matter to one whose name was Solomon Wise-in-his-own-conceit. He was + to arrange, and adjust the whole business, and to place every bone in + its proper position. He received the appointment gladly, and was + filled with joy, and confidence. He commenced with finding a place + for himself. His proper post was the heel; but where do you think he + found it? He must needs be the golden bowl in which the brains were + deposited. The natural consequences followed. The coarse heel bone + was not of the right quality, nor of the suitable dimensions to + contain the brains, nor could the vessel intended for that purpose + form a useful, or comely part of the foot. Disorder ensued in foot, + head, face, legs, and arms. By the time Solomon + Wise-in-his-own-conceit had reconstructed the body, it could neither + walk, nor speak, nor smell, nor hear, nor see. The body was, + moreover, filled with intolerable agony, and could find no rest, + every bone crying for restoration to its own place, that is to say, + every one but the heel-bone; that was mightily pleased to be in the + head, and to have the custody of the brains. Sin has introduced + similar disorder amongst men, and even amongst professors of + religion, and into congregations. ‘Let every one keep his own place, + that there be no schism in the body.’ The body can do much, can bear + heavy burdens, all its parts being in their own positions. Even so + in the Church; much good can be done by every member keeping and + filling his own place without high-mindedness.” + + + +“THE MAN IN THE HOUSE OF STEEL. + + + “A man in a trance saw himself locked up in a house of steel, through + the walls of which, as through walls of glass, he could see his + enemies assailing him with swords, spears, and bayonets; but his life + was safe, for his fortress was locked within. So is the Christian + secure amid the assaults of the world. His ‘life is hid with Christ + in God.’ + + “The Psalmist prayed, ‘When my heart is overwhelmed within me, lead + me to the Rock that is higher than I.’ Imagine a man seated on a + lofty rock in the midst of the sea, where he has everything necessary + for his support, shelter, safety, and comfort. The billows heave and + break beneath him, and the hungry monsters of the deep wait to devour + him; but he is on high, above the rage of the former, and the reach + of the latter. Such is the security of faith. + + “But why need I mention the rock, and the steel house? for the peace + that is in Christ is a tower ten thousand times stronger, and a + refuge ten thousand times safer. Behold the disciples of Jesus + exposed to famine, nakedness, peril, and sword—incarcerated in + dungeons; thrown to wild beasts; consumed in the fire; sawn asunder; + cruelly mocked, and scourged; driven from friends, and home, to + wander among the mountains, and lodge in dens, and caves of the + earth; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; sorrowful, but always + rejoicing; cast down, but not destroyed; an ocean of peace within, + which swallows up all their sufferings. + + “‘Neither death,’ with all its terrors; ‘nor life,’ with all its + allurements; ‘nor things present,’ with all their pleasure, ‘nor + things to come,’ with all their promise; ‘nor height’ of prosperity; + ‘nor depth’ of adversity; ‘nor angels’ of evil; ‘nor principalities’ + of darkness; ‘shall be able to separate us from the love of God which + is in Christ Jesus.’ ‘God is our refuge, and strength; a very + present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the + earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst + of the sea—though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the + mountains shake with the swelling thereof.’ This is the language of + strong faith in the peace of Christ. How is it with you amid such + turmoil, and commotion? Is all peaceful within? Do you feel secure + in the name of the Lord, as in a strong fortress, as in a city well + supplied, and defended? + + “‘There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of + God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. God is in + the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help her, and + that right early.’ ‘Unto the upright, there ariseth light in the + darkness.’ The bright and morning star, shining upon their pathway, + cheers them in their journey home to their Father’s house. And when + they come to pass over Jordan, the Sun of Righteousness shall have + risen upon them, with healing in His wings. Already they see the + tops of the mountains of immortality, gilded with his beams, beyond + the valley of the shadow of death. Behold, yonder, old Simeon + hoisting his sails, and saying, ‘Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant + depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy + salvation.’ Such is the peace of Jesus, sealed to all them that + believe by the blood of His cross. + + “When we walk through the field of battle, slippery with blood, and + strewn with the bodies of the slain—when we hear the shrieks, and the + groans of the wounded, and the dying—when we see the country wasted, + cities burned, houses pillaged, widows, and orphans wailing in the + track of the victorious army, we cannot help exclaiming, ‘Oh, what a + blessing is peace!’ When we are obliged to witness family turmoils, + and strifes—when we see parents, and children, brothers, and sisters, + masters, and servants, husbands, and wives, contending with each + other like tigers—we retire as from a smoky house, and exclaim as we + go, ‘Oh, what a blessing is peace!’ When duty calls us into that + church, where envy, and malice prevail, and the spirit of harmony is + supplanted by discord, and contention—when we see brethren, who ought + to be bound together in love, full of pride, hatred, confusion, and + every evil work—we quit the unhallowed scene with painful feelings of + repulsion, repeating the exclamation, ‘Oh, what a blessing is peace!’ + + “But how much more precious in the case of the awakened sinner! See + him standing, terror-stricken, before Sinai. Thunders roll above + him—lightnings flash around him—the earth trembles beneath him, as if + ready to open her mouth, and swallow him up. The sound of the + trumpet rings through his soul, ‘Guilty! guilty! guilty!’ Pale and + trembling, he looks eagerly around him, and sees nothing but + revelations of wrath. Overwhelmed with fear, and dismay, he cries + out—‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me! What shall I + do?’ A voice reaches his ear, penetrates his heart—‘Behold the Lamb + of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!’ He turns his eyes to + Calvary. Wondrous vision! Emmanuel expiring upon the cross! the + sinner’s Substitute satisfying the demand of the law against the + sinner! Now all his fears are hushed, and rivers of peace flow into + his soul. This is the peace of Christ. + + “How precious is this peace, amid all the dark vicissitudes of life! + How invaluable this jewel, through all the dangers of the wilderness! + How cheering to know that Jesus, who hath loved us even unto death, + is the pilot of our perilous voyage; that He rules the winds, and the + waves, and can hush them to silence at His will, and bring the + frailest bark of faith to the desired haven! Trusting where he + cannot trace his Master’s footsteps, the disciple is joyful amid the + darkest dispensations of Divine Providence; turning all his sorrows + into songs, and all his tribulations into triumphs. ‘Thou wilt keep + him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he + trusteth in Thee.’” + + + +“THE PARABLE OF THE CHURCH AS AN ARK AMONG THE BULRUSHES OF THE NILE. + + + “I see an ark of bulrushes, daubed with slime, and pitch, placed on + the banks of the Nile, which swarmed with fierce crocodiles. + Pharaoh’s daughter espies it, and sends her maidens to find out what + there can be in it. Little Moses was there, with a face of + miraculous beauty, to charm the princess of Egypt. She determined to + adopt him as her son. Behold, a great wonder. On the brink of the + river, where the three great crocodiles—the Devil, Sin, and + Death—have devoured their millions, there lay those who it was seen, + before the foundation of the world, would be adopted into the court + of heaven. The Gospel comes forth like a royal princess, with pardon + in her hand, and mercy in her eye; and hastening with her + handmaidens, she glances at the thousands asleep in the perils of + sin. They had favour in her sight, and she sent for her maidens, + called Justification, and Sanctification, to train them for the + inheritance of the saints.” + + + +“THE HANDWRITING. + + + “When Adam sinned, there was issued against him the writ of death, + written by the finger of God in the book of the moral law. Adam had + heard it read before his fall, but in seeking to become a god, by + eating of the fruit of the tree, had forgotten it. Now God read it + in his conscience, and he was overwhelmed with fear. But the promise + of a Redeemer having been given, Mercy arranged that sacrifices + should be offered as a typical payment of the debt. When God + appeared on Sinai, to enter into covenant with His people, He brought + this writ in His hand, and the whole camp understood, from the + requirements of the law, that they must perish; their lives had been + forfeited. Mercy devised that a bullock’s blood should be shed, + instead of the blood of man. The worshippers in the temple were + bound to offer living sacrifices to God, that they might die in their + stead, and be consumed. Manoah feared the flames of the sacrifice + that was offered upon the rock; but his wife understood that, since + the angel had ascended in the flame, in their stead, it was a + favourable omen. Every worshipper, by offering other lives instead + of their own on the altars of God, acknowledged that the + ‘handwriting’ was in force against them, and their high priest had + minutely to confess all their sins ‘over’ the victim. Yet, by all + the blood that ever crimsoned Levi’s robe, and the altars of God, no + real atonement was made for sin, nor forgiveness procured for the + smallest crime. All the sacrifices made a remembrance of sin, but + were no means of pardon. More than two thousand years the question + had been entertained, how to reconcile man with God. The + ‘handwriting’ was real on Mount Ebal every year; meanwhile the debt + was fast accumulating, and new bills were being constantly filed. + The books were opened from time to time; but to meet the claims there + was nothing brought to the altar but the blood of sacrifices, as a + sort of draft in the name of Christ upon the Bank of Gold. When + Heaven, and earth had grown weary of this fictitious or seeming, + pardon of sin, I hear a voice exclaim: ‘Away with sacrifices, and + burnt-offerings: Heaven has no pleasure in them; a body has been + prepared for me. Lo, I come to reconcile man with God by one + sacrifice.’ He came, ‘leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon + the hills.’ Calling at the office where the ‘handwriting’ lay, when + only eight days old, He signed with His own blood an acknowledgment + of the debt, saying: ‘This is an earnest, and a pledge that my + heart’s blood shall be freely given.’ The three-and-thirty years + have expired; I see Him in Gethsemane, with the priceless purse of + gold which He had borne with Him through the courts of Caiaphas and + Pilate; but to them the image, and the superscription on the coin was + a mystery. The Father, however, recognised them in the court of + Sinai, where the ‘handwriting’ was that demanded the life of the + whole world. The day following, ‘the Virgin’s Son’ presented Himself + to pay the debt in liquid gold; and the treasure which He bore would + have set free a myriad worlds. He passes along the streets of + Jerusalem towards Sinai’s office; the mercy-seat is removed to ‘the + place of skulls;’ as He proceeds, He exclaims: ‘I am come not to + destroy, but to fulfil the law.’ Send in, before the hour of three, + each curse, and threat ever pronounced against my people. Bring in + the first old bill against Adam as their head. I will redeem a + countless host of infants to-day; their names shall be taken out of + old Eden’s accounts. Bring in the many transgressions which have + been filed through the ages, from Adam until now; include Peter’s + denial of me last night; but as to Judas, he is a son of perdition, + he has no part in me, having sold me for thirty pieces of silver. We + have here an exhaustless crimson treasure,—enough to meet the demand; + enough to fill every promise, and every prophecy with mercy; enough + to make my beloved, and myself happy, and blest for ever! By three + in the afternoon of that day, there was not a bill in all Eden, or + Sinai, that had not been brought to the cross. And when all was + settled, Christ bowed down His head, but cried with a loud voice: ‘It + is finished!’ The gates of death, and hell trembled, and shook. + ‘The posts of the doors moved at the voice.’ The great gulf between + God, and His people was closed up. Sinai appeared with the offering, + and grew still; the lightnings no longer flashed, and the thunder + ceased to roar.” + + + +“DEATH AS AN INOCULATOR. + + + “Death may be conceived of as a gigantic inoculator. He carries + about with him a monstrous box, filled with deadly matter, with which + he has infected every child of Adam. The whole race of man is doomed + by this law of death. But see! This old inoculator gets paid back + in his own coin. The Son of Man, humbling Himself to death, descends + into the tomb, but rises immortal. He seized death in Joseph’s + grave. But, amazing spectacle! with the matter of His own + immortality He inoculated mortality with death, whose lifeless corpse + will be seen, on the resurrection morning, among the ruins of His + people’s graves; while they, with one voice, will rend the air as if + eternity opened its mouth, exclaiming: ‘O death, where is thy sting? + O grave, where is thy victory?’” + + + +“TIME. + + + “Time, considered as a whole, is the age of the visible creation. It + began with the fiat, ‘Let there be light;’ and it will end with the + words: ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father,’ and ‘Go, ye cursed.’ Each + river, and mountain, town, and city, hovel, and palace, every son, + and daughter of Adam, must undergo the change, pass away, for + whatever is seen is only for a time. The time of restoration, by the + presence of the glory of Christ, will be the morning of judgment, and + resurrection. That morning will be the last of time: then eternity + begins. From that time, each man will dwell in his everlasting home: + the ungodly in a lake of fire, that will burn for ever; while the + joy, and happiness of the blest will know no end. + + “Oh the fearfulness of the word _everlasting_, written over the door + of the lake of fire! Oh the happiness it will create when read above + the eternal kingdom! + + “Time is the age of the visible world; but eternity is the age of + God. This limitless circle centres in Him. The age of the visible + world is divided into years, and days, according to the revolutions + of the earth, and sun,—into weeks, in memory of the world’s creation, + and the resurrection of Christ,—into hours, minutes, seconds, and + moments. These last can scarcely be distinguished, yet they are + parts of the great body of time; but seven thousand years constitute + no part of eternity. One day, and a thousand years, yea, millions of + years, are alike, compared with the age of God, forming no part of + the vast changeless circle that knows neither loss, nor gain. The + age of time is winding up by minutes, days, and years: the age of God + is one endless to-day; and such will be your age, and mine, when we + have once passed the limits of time, beyond which Lazarus is blessed, + and the rich man tormented. My brethren in the ministry, who in + years gone by travelled with me from one Association to another, are + to-day living in that great endless hour! + + “Time is an age of changes, revolutions, and reforms; but eternity is + calm, stationary, and changeless. He who enters upon it an enemy to + God, faithless, prayerless, unpardoned, and unregenerate, remains so + for ever. Great changes take place in time, for which the new song + in eternity will never cease. Natures have been changed, and enmity + has been abolished. In time, the life covenant was broken, and man + formed, and sealed his compact with hell. One, equal with God, died + upon the cross, in the form of a servant, to destroy the works of the + devil, and to unite man, and God in the bond of peace through His own + blood. Time, and language would fail to recount what in time has + been accomplished, involving changes from life, to death, and from + death, to life. Here the pure have become denied, and the guiltless + condemned; and here, also, the sinner has been justified, the + polluted cleansed, the poor enriched, the enemy reconciled, and the + dead have been made alive, where one paradise has been lost, and a + better regained. The new song from the midst of eternity sounds in + our ears. Hear it! It has for its subjects one event that took + place in eternity, and three that have transpired in time: ‘Unto Him + that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath + made us kings, and priests unto God, and His Father: to Him be glory, + and dominion for ever, and ever. Amen.’” + + + +“THE TIMEPIECE. + + + “You may move the hands on the dial-plate this way, and the other, + and finger as you please the machinery within, but if there be no + mainspring there your labour will be in vain. So the ‘hands’ of + men’s lives will not move, in holy obedience, at the touch of the + law, unless the mainspring be supplied by God through the Gospel; + then only will the whole life revolve on the pivot of the love of + Christ, as upon an imperishable diamond. It is not difficult to get + the timepiece to act well, if the internal machinery be in proper + order; so, with a right spirit within, Lydia attends to the word, + Matthew leaves ‘the receipt of custom,’ Saul of Tarsus prays; and the + three thousand repent, believe, and turn unto the Lord. + + “A gentleman’s timepieces were once out of order, and they were + examined, when it was found that in one of them the mainspring was + injured; the glass which protected the dial-plate of the other was + broken; while the machinery of the third had got damp, and rusty, + although the parts were all there. So the lack of holiness, in some + cases, arises from the want of heart to love God; another man has not + the glass of watchfulness in his conduct; another has got rusty with + backsliding from God, and the sense of guilt so clogs the wheels of + his machinery, that they must be well brushed with rebuke, and + correction, and oiled afresh with the Divine influence, before they + will ever go well again. + + “The whole of a Christian’s life is a reaching forward; but he has to + begin afresh, like the people of Israel in the wilderness; or, like a + clock, he has constantly to recommence at the figure one, and go on + to that of twelve, through all the years of his experience on earth. + But after the resurrection, he will advance, body, and soul, to the + figure of million of millions, never to begin again throughout + eternity. The sun in that world will never rise, nor set; it will + have neither east, nor west! How often has an invisible hand wound + up thy religious spirit below, but there the weights will never come + down again!” + + + +“PARABLE OF THE BIRDS. + + + “A gentleman kept in his palace a dove, a raven, and an eagle. There + was but little congeniality, or friendship amongst them. The dove + ate its own proper food, and lodged in the aviary. The raven fed on + carrion, and sometimes would pick out the eyes of an innocent lamb, + and had her nest in the branches of a tree. The eagle was a royal + bird; it flew very high, and was of a savage nature; it would care + nothing to eat half-a-dozen doves for its breakfast. It was + considered the chief of all birds, because it could fly higher than + all. All the doves feared its beak, its angry eyes, and sharp + talons. When the gentleman threw corn in the yard for the dove, the + raven would be engaged in eating a piece of flesh, a part of a lamb + haply; and the eagle in carrying a child from the cradle to its + eyrie. The dove is the evangelical, industrious, godly professor; + the raven is the licentious, and unmanageable professor; and the + eagle the high-minded, and self-complacent one. These characters are + too often amongst us; there is no denomination in church, or + meeting-house, without these three birds, if there be birds there at + all. These birds, so unlike, so opposed, never can live together in + peace. Let us pray, brethren, for union of spirit in the bond of + peace.” + + + +“PARABLE OF THE VINE-TREE, THE THORN, THE BRAMBLE, AND THE CEDAR. + + + “The trees of Lebanon held a council to elect a king, on the death of + their old sovereign, the Yew-tree. It was agreed to offer the + sovereignty to the Cedar; at the same time, in the event of the + Cedar’s declining it, to the Vine-tree, and then to the Olive-tree. + They all refused it. The Cedar said, ‘I am high enough already.’ + The Vine said, ‘I prefer giving forth my rich juice to gladden man’s + heart.’ In like manner, the Olive was content with giving its fruit, + and would receive no other honour. Recourse was then had to the + Thorn. The Thorn gladly received the office; saying to itself, ‘I + have nothing to lose but this white dress, and a berry for pigs, + while I have prickles enough to annoy the whole wood.’ The Bramble + rebelled against the Thorn, and a fire of pride, and envy was + kindled, which, at length, wrapped the whole forest in one blaze. + Two or three vain, and high-minded men have frequently broken up the + peace of congregations; and, by striving for the mastery, have + inflicted on the cause of religion incalculable injuries; when they + have had no more fitness for rule than the white-thorn, or the + prickly bramble.” + +The following extract is of another order; it is more lengthy, and it is +upon a theme which always drew forth the preacher’s most exulting notes:— + + + +“THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD. + + + “Let us now consider the fact of our Lord’s resurrection, and its + bearing upon the great truths of our holy religion. + + “This most transcendent of miracles is sometimes attributed to the + agency of the Father; who, as the Lawgiver, had arrested, and + imprisoned in the grave the sinner’s Surety, manifesting at once His + benevolence, and His holiness; but by liberating the prisoner, + proclaimed that the debt was cancelled, and the claims of the law + satisfied. It is sometimes attributed to the Son Himself; who had + power both to lay down His life, and to take it again; and the merit + of whose sacrifice entitled Him to the honour of thus asserting His + dominion over death, on behalf of His people. And sometimes it is + attributed to the Holy Spirit, as in the following words of the + Apostle:—‘He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according + to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.’ + + “_The resurrection of Christ is a clear and incontestable proof of + His Divinity_. + + “He had declared Himself equal with God the Father, and one with Him + in nature, and in glory. He had told the people that He would prove + the truth of this declaration, by rising from the grave three days + after His death. And when the morning of the third day began to dawn + upon the sepulchre, lo! there was an earthquake, and the dead body + arose, triumphant over the power of corruption. + + “This was the most stupendous miracle ever exhibited on earth, and + its language is:—‘Behold, ye persecuting Jews and murdering Romans, + the proof of my Godhead! Behold, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, the power, + and glory of your Victim!’ ‘I am He that liveth, and was dead; and + lo! I am alive for evermore!’ ‘I am the root, and the offspring of + David, and the Bright, and Morning Star!’ ‘Look unto Me, and be ye + saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there + is none else!’ + + “_Our Lord’s resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the + truth of Christianity_. + + “Pilate wrote the title of Christ in three languages on the cross; + and many have written excellent, and unanswerable things, on the + truth of the Christian Scriptures, and the reality of the Christian + religion; but the best argument that has ever been written on the + subject was written by the invisible hand of the Eternal Power, in + the rocks of our Saviour’s sepulchre. This confounds the sceptic, + settles the controversy, and affords an ample, and sure foundation + for all them that believe. + + “If any one asks whether Christianity is from heaven, or of men, we + point him to the ‘tomb hewn out of the rock,’ and say—‘There is your + answer! Jesus was crucified, and laid in that cave; but on the + morning of the third day it was found empty; our Master had risen, + and gone forth from the grave victorious.’ + + “This is the pillar that supports the whole fabric of our religion; + and he who attempts to pull it down, like Samson, pulls ruin upon + himself. ‘If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and + your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins;’ but if the fact is + clearly proved, then Christianity is unquestionably true, and its + disciples are safe. + + “This is the ground on which the Apostle stood, and asserted the + divinity of his faith:—‘Moreover, I testify unto you the gospel, + which I preached unto you; which also ye have received, and wherein + ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I + preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered + unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ + died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was + buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the + Scriptures.’ + + “_The resurrection of Jesus is the most stupendous manifestation of + the power of God_, _and the pledge of eternal life to His people_. + + “The apostle calls it ‘the exceeding greatness of His power to + usward, who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, + which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.’ This + is a river overflowing its banks—an idea too large for language. Let + us look at it a moment. + + “Where do we find ‘the exceeding greatness of His power’? In the + creation of the world? in the seven Stars and Orion? in the strength + of Behemoth and Leviathan? No! In the Deluge? in the fiery + destruction of Sodom? in the overthrow of Pharaoh, and his host? in + hurling Nebuchadnezzar, like Lucifer, from the political firmament? + No! It is the power which He wrought in Christ. When? When He + healed the sick? when He raised the dead? when He cast out devils? + when He blasted the fruitless fig-tree? when He walked upon the + waters of Galilee? No! It was ‘when He raised Him from the dead.’ + Then the Father placed the sceptre in the hands of the Son, ‘and set + Him above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and + every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that + which is to come; and put all things under His feet, and gave Him to + be Head over all things to the Church.’ + + “This is the source of our spiritual life. The same power that + raised the dead body of our Lord from the grave, quickens the soul of + the believer from the death in trespasses, and sins. His riven tomb + is a fountain of living waters; whereof, if a man drink, he shall + never die. His raised, and glorified body is the sun, whence streams + eternal light upon our spirits; the light of life, that never can be + quenched. + + “Nor here does the influence of His resurrection end. ‘He who raised + up Jesus from the dead shall, also, quicken our mortal bodies.’ His + resurrection is the pledge, and the pattern of ours. ‘Because He + lives, we shall live also.’ ‘He shall change our vile body, that it + may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.’ We hear Him speaking + in the Prophet:—‘Thy dead shall live; together with my dead body + shall they arise. Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for + thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her + dead.’ + + “How divinely does the Apostle speak of the resurrection-body of the + saints! ‘It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it + is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, + it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a + spiritual body. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and + this mortal must put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass + the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory! O + death, where is thy victory? O grave, where is thy sting? Thanks be + unto God that giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ + + “Ever since the fall in Eden, man is born to die. He lives to die. + He eats, and drinks, sleeps, and wakes, to die. Death, like a dark + steel-clad warrior, stands ever before us; and his gigantic shadow + comes continually between us, and happiness. But Christ hath + ‘abolished death, and brought life, and immortality to light through + the gospel.’ He was born in Bethlehem, that He might die on Calvary. + He was made under the law, that He might bear the direst penalty of + the law. He lived thirty-three years, sinless, among sinners, that + He might offer Himself a sin-offering for sinners upon the cross. + Thus ‘He became obedient unto death,’ that He might destroy the power + of death; and on the third morning, a mighty angel, rolling away the + stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, makes the very door of death’s + castle the throne whence He proclaims ‘the resurrection, and the + life.’ + + “The Hero of our salvation travelled into Death’s dominion, took + possession of the whole territory on our behalf, and returning, laden + with spoils, ascended to the Heaven of heavens. He went to the + palace, seized the tyrant, and wrested away his sceptre. He + descended into the prison-house, knocked off the fetters of the + captives; and when He came up again, left the door of every cell + open, that they might follow Him. He has gone over into our promised + inheritance, and His glory illuminates the mountains of immortality; + and through the telescope which He has bequeathed us we ‘see the land + which is very far off.’ + + “I recollect reading, in the writings of Flavel, this sentiment—that + the souls in Paradise wait, with intense desire, for the reanimation + of their dead bodies, that they may be united to them in bliss for + ever. Oh what rapture there shall be among the saints, when those + frail vessels, from which they escaped with such a struggle, as they + foundered in the gulf of death, shall come floating in, with the + spring-tide of the resurrection, to the harbour of immortality! How + glorious the reunion, when the seeds of affliction, and death are + left behind in the tomb! Jacob no longer lame, nor Moses slow of + speech, nor Lazarus covered with sores, nor Paul troubled with a + thorn in the flesh! + + “‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He + shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.’ + The glory of the body of Christ is far above our present conception. + When He was transfigured on Tabor, His face shone like the sun, and + His raiment was white as the light. This is the pattern shown to His + people on the mount. This is the model after which the bodies of + believers shall be fashioned in the resurrection. ‘They that be wise + shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn + many to righteousness, as the stars for ever, and ever.’ + + “In conclusion:—The angel said to the woman, ‘Go quickly, and tell + His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and behold, He goeth + before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him; lo! I have told + you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre, with fear, and + great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.’ + + “Brethren! followers of Jesus! be ye also preachers of a risen + Saviour! Go quickly—there is no time for delay—and publish the glad + tidings to sinners! Tell them that Christ died for their sins, and + rose again for their justification, and ascended to the right hand of + the Father to make intercession for them, and is now able to save + unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him! + + “And you, impenitent, and unbelieving men! hear this blessed message + of salvation! Do you intend ever to embrace the proffered mercy of + the Gospel? Make haste! Procrastination is ruin! Now is the + accepted time! Oh, fly to the throne of grace! Time is hastening; + you will soon be swallowed up in eternity! May the Lord have mercy + upon you, and rouse you from your indifference, and sloth! It is my + delight to invite you to Christ; but I feel more pleasure, and more + confidence in praying for you to God. I have besought, and entreated + you, by every argument, and every motive in my power; but you are yet + in your sins, and rushing on toward hell. Yet I will not give you up + in despair. If I cannot persuade you to flee from the wrath to come, + I will intercede with God to have mercy upon you, for the sake of His + beloved Son. If I cannot prevail in the pulpit, I will try to + prevail at the throne.” + +This must be regarded as a very noble piece; the words make themselves +felt; evidently, the resurrection of our Lord, to this preacher, was a +great reality; it is now, by many, regarded only as a charming myth; a +very curious eschatology in our day has found its way even into our +pulpits, and we have eminent ministers of the Church of England, +well-known Congregational, and other ministers, who affect to believe, +and to preach the Resurrection of Christ; but a careful listener in the +pew, or a converser by the fireside, will find, to his amazement, that +the resurrection, as believed by them, is no honest resurrection at all: +it is a spiritual resurrection which leaves the body of Jesus unrisen, +and in the possession of death, and the grave. In that view, which has +just passed before us, a very different, and most absolutely real +resurrection is preached; indeed, it is the only view which leaves a +heart of immortal hope in the Christian faith, the only view which seems +at all tenable, if we are to believe in the power of Christ’s +resurrection. + +We will close these extracts by one of yet another order,—a vivid +descriptive picture of the smiting of the rock, the streams flowing +through the desert, and the joy of the mighty caravan of pilgrims on +their way to the promised land. + + + +“‘THEY DRANK OF THAT ROCK WHICH FOLLOWED THEM.’ + + + “Having spoken of _the smiting_, let us, _now_, look at _the result_, + the flowing of the waters; a timely mercy to ‘the many thousands of + Israel,’ on the point of perishing in the desert; shadowing forth a + far greater mercy, the flowing of living waters from the ‘spiritual + rock,’ which is Christ. + + “In the death of our Redeemer, we see three infinite depths moved for + the relief of human misery: the love of the Father, the merit of the + Son, and the energy of the Holy Spirit. These are the depths of + wonder whence arise the rivers of salvation. + + “_The waters flowed in the presence of the whole assembly_. The + agent was invisible, but His work was manifest. + + “The water flowed _in great abundance_, filling the whole camp, and + supplying all the people. Notwithstanding the immense number, and + the greatness of their thirst, there was enough for each, and for + all. The streams ran in every direction to meet the sufferers, and + their rippling murmur seemed to say—‘Open thy mouth, and I will fill + it.’ Look to the cross! See there the gracious fountain opened, and + streams of pardoning, and purifying mercy flowing down the rock of + Calvary, sweeping over the mount of Olives, and cleaving it asunder, + to make a channel for the living waters to go out over the whole + world, that God may be glorified among the Gentiles, and all the ends + of the earth may see His salvation. + + “The water flowed _from the rock_, not pumped by human labour, but + drawn by the hand of God. It was the same power that opened the + springs of mercy upon the cross. It was the wisdom of God that + devised the plan, and the mercy of God that furnished the Victim. + His was the truth, and love that gave the promise by the prophet—‘In + that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and + to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and uncleanness.’ His was + the unchanging faithfulness that fulfilled it in His Son—‘Not by + works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy + He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy + Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our + Lord.’ Our salvation is wholly of God; and we have no other agency + in the matter than the mere acceptance of His proffered grace. + + “The water flowed _in twelve different channels_; and, according to + Dr. Pococke, of Scotland, who visited the place, the deep traces in + the rock are visible to this day. But the twelve streams, one for + each tribe, all issued from the same fountain, in the same rock. So + the great salvation flowed out through the ministry of the twelve + apostles of the Lamb, and went abroad over all the earth. But the + fountain is one. All the apostles preached the same Saviour, and + pointed to the same cross. ‘Neither is there salvation in any other, + for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we + must be saved.’ We must come to this spring, or perish. + + “The flowing of the waters _was irresistible by human power_. Who + can close the fountain which God hath opened? can Edom, or Moab, or + Sihon, or Og dam up the current which Jehovah hath drawn from the + rock? Can Caiaphas, and all the Jews, aided by the prince of this + world—can all the powers of earth and hell combined—arrest the work + of redemption, and dry up the fountain of mercy which Christ is + opening on Calvary? As soon might they dry up the Atlantic, and stop + the revolutions of the globe. It is written, and must be fulfilled. + Christ must suffer, and enter into His glory—must be lifted up, and + draw all men unto Him—and repentance, and remission of sins must be + preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. + + “_The water flowing from the rock was like a river of life to the + children of Israel_. Who can describe the distress throughout the + camp, and the appearance of the people, when they were invited to + approach a flinty rock, instead of a fountain, or a stream, to quench + their thirst? What angry countenances were there, what bitter + censures, and ungrateful murmurings, as Moses went up to the rock, + with nothing in his hand but a rod! ‘Where is he going,’ said they, + ‘with that dry stick? What is he going to do on that rock? Does he + mean to make fools of us all? Is it not enough that he has brought + us into this wilderness to die of thirst? Will he mock us now by + pretending to seek water in these sands, or open fountains in the + solid granite?’ But see! he lifts the rod, he smites the rock; and + lo, it bursts into a fountain; and twelve crystal streams roll down + before the people! Who can conceive the sudden transport? Hear the + shout of joy ringing through the camp, and rolling back in tumultuous + echoes from the crags, and cliffs of Horeb,—‘Water! water! A + miracle! a miracle! Glory to the God of Israel! glory to His servant + Moses!’ It was a resurrection-day to Israel, the morning light + bursting upon the shadow of death. New life, and joy are seen + throughout the camp. The maidens are running with cups, and + pitchers, to the rock. They fill, and drink; then fill again, and + haste away to their respective tents, with water for the sick, the + aged, and the little ones, joyfully exclaiming—‘Drink, father! + Drink, mother! Drink, children! Drink, all of you! Drink + abundantly! Plenty of water now! Rivers flowing from the rock!’ + Now the oxen are coming, the asses, the camels, the sheep, and the + goats—coming in crowds to quench their thirst, and plunging into the + streams before them. And the feathered tribes are coming, the + turtle-dove, the pigeon, the swallow, the sparrow, the robin, and the + wren; while the croaking raven, and the fierce-eyed eagle, scenting + the water from afar, mingle with them round the rock. + + “Brethren, this is but a faint emblem of the joy of the Church, in + drinking the waters that descend from Calvary, the streams that + gladden the city of our God. Go back to the day of Pentecost for an + instance. Oh what a revolution of thought, and feeling, and + character! What a change of countenance, and conscience, and heart! + Three thousand men, that morning full of ignorance, and corruption, + and guilt—idolaters, sensualists, blasphemers, persecutors—before + night were perfectly transformed—the lions converted into lambs—the + hard heart melted, the dead conscience quickened, and the whole man + become a new creature in Christ Jesus! They thirsted, they found the + ‘Spiritual rock,’ tasted its living waters, and suddenly leaped into + new life, like Lazarus from the inanition of the grave! + + “This is the blessing which follows the Church through all her + wanderings in the wilderness, accompanies her through the scorching + desert of affliction, and the valley of the shadow of death; and + when, at last, she shall come up out of great tribulation, her + garments shall be found washed and made white in the blood of the + Lamb; and the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall lead her + to everlasting fountains, and she shall thirst no more!” + +Among the great Welsh preachers, then, in closing, it will now be enough +to say, that, without claiming for Christmas Evans pre-eminence above all +his contemporaries, or countrymen, it may, with truth, be said, we have +yet better means of forming an opinion of him than of any other. We have +attempted to avail ourselves of such traditions, and stories of their +pulpit ministration, and such fragments of their spoken words, as may +convey some, if faint, still fair, idea of their powers. Even of +Christmas Evans our knowledge is, by no means, ample, nor are there many +of his sermons left to us; but such as we possess seem sufficient for the +formation of as high an estimate, through the medium of criticism, and +the press, as that which was formed by the flocking crowds, and thousands +who deemed it one of their greatest privileges, and pleasures to listen +to his living voice. And it must be admitted, we think, that these +sermons are of that order which retains much of its power, when the voice +through which it spoke is still. Welsh sermons, beyond almost any +others, lose their vitality by the transference to the press, and no +doubt this preacher suffers in this way, too; some, however, will not +bear the printing machine at all, and when the voice ceases to speak, all +which made them effective is gone. With these sermons it is, +undoubtedly, otherwise, and from some of them it may, perhaps, even be +possible to find models of the mould of thought, and the mode at once of +arrangement, as well as the qualities of emotion, and expression, which +make preaching successful, whether for converting, or comforting the +souls of men. Nor is it less significant that this man, who exercised a +ministry of immense usefulness for more than half a century, and retained +his power over men, with the same average freshness, and splendour until +within four days of his death, did so in virtue of the living freshness +of his heart, and mind. Like such men as John Bunyan, and Richard +Baxter, no University could claim him, for he was of none; he had +graduated in no college, had sat before no academical prelections, and +was decorated with no diplomas,—only the Divine Spirit was master of the +college in which he was schooled. We write this with no desire to speak +disparagingly of such training, but, rather, to bring out into +conspicuous honour the strength of this self-formed, severely toiling, +and nobly suffering man. He was a spiritual athlete in labours more +abundant; perhaps it might seem that the “one-eyed man of Anglesea,” as +he was so familiarly called, until this designation yielded to the more +affectionate term of “Old Christmas,” throughout the Principality—must +have been in bodily presence contemptible; but if his appearance was +rugged, we suppose it could scarcely have been less than royal,—a man the +spell of whose name, when he came into a neighbourhood, could wake up all +the sleepy villages, and bid their inhabitants pour along, up by the +hills, and down by the valleys, expectant crowds watching his appearance +with tears, and sometimes hailing him with shouts—must have been +something like a king among men. We have seen how poor he was, and how +indifferent to all that the world regarded as wealth, but he was one of +those of whom the apostle speaks “as poor, yet making many rich, as +having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” And thus, from every +consideration, whether we regard his singular genius, so truly national, +and representative of the mind, and character of his country, his +indomitable struggles, and earnest self-training, his extraordinary power +over his congregations, his long, earnest life of self-denying +usefulness, especially his intense reality, the holy purity, and +consecration of his soul, Christmas Evans deserves our reverent memory +while we glorify God in him. + + + + +APPENDATORY. +_SELECTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE SERMONS_. + + +AND now, although the various, and several selections we have given in +the different preceding sections of this volume, may assist the reader in +forming some idea of the manner, and method of Christmas Evans, before +closing the volume we will present some selections from entire sermons, +translated from the Welsh; and while, of course, labouring beneath the +disadvantages of translation, we trust they will not unfavourably +represent those various attributes of pulpit power, for which we have +given the great preacher credit. + +SERMON I.—THE TIME OF REFORMATION. + +SERMON II.—THE PURIFICATION OF THE CONSCIENCE. + +SERMON III.—FINISHED REDEMPTION. + +SERMON IV.—THE FATHER AND SON GLORIFIED. + +SERMON V.—THE CEDAR OF GOD. + + + +SERMON I. +THE TIME OF REFORMATION. + + + “_Until the time of reformation_.”—HEB. ix. 10. + +The ceremonies pertaining to the service of God, under Sinaitic +dispensation, were entirely typical in their character; mere figures of +Christ, the “High-priest of good things to come, by a greater, and more +perfect tabernacle, not made with hands;” who, “not by the blood of +goats, and calves, but by His own blood, has entered once into the holy +place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Sustaining such a +relation to other ages, and events, they were necessarily imperfect, +consisting “only in meats, and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal +ordinances,” not intended for perpetual observance, but imposed upon the +Jewish people merely “until the time of reformation,” when the shadow +should give place to the substance, and a Greater than Moses should “make +all things new.” Let us notice the time of reformation, and the +reformation itself. + +I. Time may be divided into three parts; the Golden Age before the fall, +the Iron Age after the fall, and the Messiah’s Age of Jubilee. + +In the Golden Age, the heavens, and the earth were created; the Garden of +Eden was planted; man was made in the image of God, and placed in the +garden, to dress, and keep it; matrimony was instituted; and God, resting +from His labour, sanctified the seventh day, as a day of holy rest to +man. + +The Iron Age was introduced by the temptation of a foreigner, who +obtruded himself into Paradise, and persuaded its happy denizens to cast +off the golden yoke of obedience, and love to God. Man, desiring +independence, became a rebel against heaven, a miserable captive of sin, +and Satan, obnoxious to the Divine displeasure, and exposed to eternal +death. The law was violated; the image of God was lost, and the enemy +came in like a flood. All communication between the island of Time, and +the continent of Immortality was cut off, and the unhappy exiles saw no +hope of crossing the ocean that intervened. + +The Messiah’s Age may be divided into three parts; the time of +Preparation, the time of Actual War, and the time of Victory and Triumph. + +The Preparation began with the dawning of the day in Eden, when the +Messiah came in the ship of the Promise, and landed on the island of +Time, and notified its inhabitants of His gracious intention to visit +them again, and assume their nature, and live and die among them; to +break their covenant allegiance to the prince of the iron yoke; and +deliver to them the charter, signed, and sealed with His own blood, for +the redemption, and renovation of their island, and the restoration of +its suspended intercourse with the land of Eternal Life. The motto +inscribed upon the banners of this age was,—“He shall bruise thy heel, +and Thou shalt bruise his head.” Here Jehovah thundered forth His hatred +of sin from the thick darkness, and wrote His curse in fire upon the face +of heaven; while rivers of sacrificial blood proclaimed the miserable +state of man, and his need of a costlier atonement than mere humanity +could offer. Here, also, the spirit of Messiah fell upon the prophets, +leading them to search diligently for the way of deliverance, and +enabling them to “testify beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the +glory that should follow.” + +Then came the season of Actual War. “Messiah the Prince” was born in +Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling bands, and laid in a manger,—the Great +Deliverer, “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those that +were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” With +His almighty hand, He laid hold on the works of the devil, unlocked the +iron furnace, and broke the brazen bands asunder. He opened His mouth, +and the deaf heard, the blind saw, the dumb spoke, the lame walked, and +the lepers were cleansed. In the house of Jairus, in the street of Nain, +and in the burial ground of Bethany, His word was mightier than death; +and the damsel on her bed, the young man on his bier, and Lazarus in his +tomb, rising to second life, were but the earnests of His future triumph. +The diseases of sin He healed, the iron chains of guilt He shattered, and +all the horrible caves of human corruption, and misery were opened by the +Heavenly Warrior. He took our yoke, and bore it away upon His own +shoulder, and cast it, broken, into the bottomless pit. He felt in His +hands, and feet, the nails, and in His side the spear. The iron entered +into His soul, but the corrosive power of His blood destroyed it, and +shall ultimately eat away all the iron in the kingdom of death. Behold +Him hanging on Calvary, nailing upon His cross three bills, the +handwriting of the law which was against us, the oath of our allegiance +to the prince of darkness, and the charter of the “everlasting covenant;” +fulfilling the first, breaking the second, and sealing the third with His +blood! + +Now begins the scene of Victory and Triumph. On the morning of the third +day, the Conqueror is seen “coming from Edom, with dyed garments from +Bozrah.” He has “trodden the winepress alone.” By the might of His +single arm He has routed the hosts of hell, and spoiled the dominions of +death. The iron castle of the foe is demolished, and the Hero returns +from the war, “glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of +His strength.” He enters the gates of the everlasting city, amid the +rejoicing of angels, and the shouts of His redeemed. And still He rides +forth in the chariot of His grace, “conquering, and to conquer.” A +two-edged sword issues from His mouth, and, in His train, follow the +victorious armies of heaven. Lo! before Him fall the altars of idols, +and the temples of devils; and the slaves of sin are becoming the +servants, and sons of the living God; and the proud sceptic beholds, +wonders, believes, and adores; and the blasphemer begins to pray, and the +persecutor is melted into penitence, and love, and the wolf comes, and +lays him down gently by the side of the lamb. And Messiah shall never +quit the field, till He has completed the conquest, and swallowed up +death in victory. In His “vesture dipped in blood,” He shall pursue the +armies of Gog and Magog on the field of Amageddon, and break the iron +teeth of the beast of power, and cast down Babylon as a mill-stone into +the sea, and bind the old serpent in the lake of fire, and brimstone, and +raise up to life immortal the tenants of the grave. Then shall the New +Jerusalem, the metropolis of Messiah’s golden empire, descend from +heaven, adorned with all the jewellery of creation, guarded at every gate +by angelic sentinels, and enlightened by the glory of God, and of the +Lamb; and the faithful shall dwell within its walls, and sin, and sorrow, +and death, shall be shut out for ever! + +Then shall Time be swallowed up in Eternity. The righteous shall inherit +life everlasting, and the ungodly shall find their portion in the second +death. Time is the age of the visible world; eternity is the age of the +invisible God. All things in time are changeful; all things in eternity +are immutable. If you pass from time to eternity, without faith in +Christ, without love in God, an enemy to prayer, an enemy to holiness, +“impurged and unforgiven,” so you must ever remain. Now is the season of +that blessed change, for which myriads shall sing everlasting anthems of +praise. “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” +To-day the office is open: if you have any business with the Governor, +make no delay. Now He has time to talk with the woman of Samaria by the +well, and the penitent thief upon the cross. Now He is ready to forgive +your sins, and renew your souls, and make you meet to become the +partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now He waits to +wash the filthy, and feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and raise the +humble, and quicken the spiritually dead, and enrich the poor, and +wretched, and reconcile enemies by His blood. He came to unloose your +bands, and open to you the gates of Eden; condemned for your acquittal, +and slain for the recovery of your forfeited immortality. The design of +all the travelling from heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven, is the +salvation of that which was lost, the restoration of intercourse, and +amity between the Maker and the worm. This is the chief of the ways of +God to man, ancient in its origin, wise in its contrivance, dear in its +accomplishment, powerful in its application, gracious in its influence, +and everlasting in its results. Christ is riding in His chariot of +salvation, through the land of destruction, and death, clothed in the +majesty of mercy, and offering eternal life to all who will believe. O +captives of evil! now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation; +now is the year of Jubilee; now is the age of deliverance; now is “the +time of reformation.” + +II. All the prophets speak of something within the veil, to be +manifested in due time; the advent of a Divine agent in a future age, to +accomplish a glorious “reformation.” They represent him as a prince, a +hero, a high priest, a branch growing out of dry ground, a child toying +with the asp, and the lion, and leading the wolf, and the lamb together. +The bill of the reformation had been repeatedly read by the prophets, and +its passage required the descent of the Lord from heaven. None but +Himself could effect the change of the dispensation. None but Himself +had the authority and the power to remove the first, and establish the +second. He whose voice once shook the earth, speaks again, and heaven is +shaken. He whose footsteps once kindled Sinai into flame, descends +again, and Calvary is red with blood. The God of the ancient covenant +introduces anew, which is to abide for ever. The Lord of the temple +alone could change the furniture, and the service from the original +pattern shown to Moses on the mount; and six days before the rending of +the veil, significant of abrogation of the old ceremonial, Moses came +down upon a mountain in Palestine to deliver up the pattern to Him of +whom he had received it on Sinai, that He might nail it to the cross on +Calvary; for the “gifts and sacrifices” belonging to the legal +dispensation, “could not make him that did the service perfect, as +pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats, and drinks, and +divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of +reformation.” + +This reformation signifieth “the removal of those things that are shaken, +as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may +remain;” the abrogation of “carnal ordinances,” which were local, and +temporal in their nature, to make room for a spiritual worship, of +universal, and perpetual adaptation. Henceforth the blood of bulls, and +goats is superseded by the great reconciling sacrifice of the Lamb of +God, and outward forms, and ceremonies give place to the inward +operations of a renovating, and purifying Spirit. + +To the Jewish Church, the covenant of Sinai was a sort of starry heaven. +The Shekinah was its sun; the holy festivals, its moon; and prophets, +priests, and kings, its stars. But Messiah, when He came, shook them all +from their spheres, and filled the firmament Himself. He is our “Bright +and Morning Star;” the “Sun of Righteousness,” rising upon us “with +healing in His wings.” + +The old covenant was an accuser, and a judge, but offered no pardon to +the guilty. It revealed the corruption of the natural heart, but +provided no renovating, and sanctifying grace. It was a natural +institution, for special benefit of the seed of Abraham. It was a small +vessel, trading only with the land of Canaan. It secured, to a few, the +temporal blessings of the promised possession, but never delivered a +single soul from eternal death, never bore a single soul over to the +heavenly inheritance. But the new covenant is a covenant of grace, and +mercy, proffering forgiveness, and a clean heart, not on the ground of +any carnal relationship, but solely through faith in Jesus Christ. +Christianity is a personal concern between each man, and his God, and +none but the penitent believer has any right to its spiritual privileges. +It is adapted to Gentiles, as well as Jews, “even as many as the Lord our +God shall call.” Already has it rescued myriads from the bondage of sin, +and conveyed them over to the land of immortality; and its voyages of +grace shall continue to the end of time, “bringing many sons to glory.” + +“Old things are passed away, and all things are become new.” The +circumcision of the flesh, made with hands, has given place to the +circumcision of the heart by the Holy Ghost. The Shekinah has departed +from Mount Zion, but its glory is illuminating the world. The Sword of +Joshua is returned to its scabbard; and “the sword of the Spirit, which +is the word of God,” issues from the mouth of Messiah, and subdues the +people under Him. The glorious High-priesthood of Christ has superseded +sacerdotal office among men. Aaron was removed from the altar by death +before his work was finished; but our High-priest still wears His +sacrificial vestments, and death hath established Him before the +mercy-seat, “a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec.” The +earthquake which shook Mount Calvary, and rent the veil of the temple, +demolished “the middle wall of partition” between Jews and Gentiles. The +incense which Jesus offered fills the temple, and the land of Judea +cannot confine its fragrance. The fountain which burst forth in +Jerusalem, has sent out its living streams into every land; and the heat +of summer cannot dry them up, nor the frosts of winter congeal them. + +In short, all the vessels of the sanctuary are taken away by the Lord of +the temple. The “twelve oxen,” bearing the “molten sea,” have given +place to “the twelve Apostles of the Lamb,” proclaiming “the washing of +regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” The sprinkled mercy-seat, +with its over-shadowing, and intensely-gazing cherubim, has given place +to “the throne of grace,” stained with the blood of a costlier sacrifice, +into which the angels desire to look. The priest, the altar, the +burnt-offering, the table of shew-bread, and the golden candlestick, have +given place to the better things of the new dispensation introduced by +the Son of God, of which they were only the figures, and the types. +Behold, the glory has gone up from the temple, and rests upon Jesus on +Mount Tabor; and Moses, and Elias are there, with Peter, and James, and +John; and the representatives of the old covenant are communing with the +Apostles of the new, and the transfigured Christ is the medium of the +communication; and a voice of majestic music, issuing from “the excellent +glory,” proclaims—“This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him.” + +“God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake unto our fathers +by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.” +Behold Him nailed to the Cross, and hear Him cry—“It is finished!” The +voice which shook Sinai is shaking Calvary. Heaven and hell are in +conflict, and earth trembles at the shock of battle. The Prince of Life +expires, and the sun puts on his robes of mourning. Gabriel! descend +from heaven, and explain to us the wondrous emblem! As set the sun at +noon on Golgotha, making preternatural night throughout the land of +Palestine, so shall the empire of sin, and death be darkened, and their +light shall be quenched at meridian. As the Sun of Righteousness, rising +from the night of the grave on the third morning, brings life, and +immortality to light; so shall “the day-spring from on high” yet dawn +upon our gloomy vale, and “the power of His resurrection” shall reanimate +the dust of every cemetery! + +He that sitteth upon the throne hath spoken—“Behold, I make all things +new.” The reformation includes not only the abrogation of the old, but +also the introduction of the new. It gives us a new Mediator, a new +covenant of grace, a new way of salvation, a new heart of flesh, a new +heaven and a new earth. It has established a new union, by a new medium, +between God, and man. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and +we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, +full of grace and truth.” “Forasmuch as the children were partakers of +flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same.” “God +was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, +preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into +glory.” Here was a new thing under the sun; the “Son of man” bearing the +“express image” of the living God; bearing it untarnished through the +world; through the temptations and sorrows of such a wilderness as +humanity never trod before; through the unknown agony of Olivet, and the +supernatural gloom of Golgotha, and the dark dominion of the king of +terrors: to the Heaven of heavens; where He sits, the adorable +representative of two worlds, the union of God and man! Thence He sends +forth the Holy Spirit, to collect “the travail of His soul,” and lead +them into all truth, and bring them to Zion with songs of everlasting +joy. See them, the redeemed of the Lord, flocking as returning doves +upon the wing, “to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God; +and to the spirits of just men made perfect; and to an innumerable +company of angels; and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant; and to +the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” + +Oh, join the joyful multitude! the year of jubilee is come. The veil is +rent asunder. The way into the holiest is laid open. The blood of Jesus +is on the mercy-seat. The Lamb newly slain is in the midst of the +throne. Go ye, with boldness, into His gracious presence. Lo, the King +is your brother, and for you has He stained His robe with blood! The +robe alone can clothe your naked souls, and shield them in the day of +burning. Awake! awake! put on the Lord Jesus Christ! The covenant of +Sinai cannot save you from wrath. Descent from Abraham cannot entitle +you to the kingdom of heaven. “Ye must be born again,” “born not of the +flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God.” You must have a new heart, +and become a new creation in Jesus Christ. This is the promise of the +Father, + + “This is the dear redeeming grace, + For every sinner free.” + +Many reformations have expired with the reformers. But our Great +Reformer “ever liveth” to carry on His reformation, till His enemies +become His footstool, and death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. +He will finish the building of His Church. When He laid “the chief +corner-stone” on Calvary, the shock jarred the earth, and awoke the dead, +and shook the nether world with terror; but when He shall bring forth the +top stone with shoutings of “Grace!” the dominion of Death and Hades +shall perish, and the last captive shall escape, and the song of the +bursting sepulchre shall be sweeter than the chorus of the morning stars! +Even now, there are new things in heaven; the Lamb from the slaughter, +alive “in the midst of the throne;” worshipped by innumerable seraphim +and cherubim, and adored by the redeemed from earth; His name the wonder +of angels, the terror of devils, and the hope of men; His praise the “new +song,” which shall constitute the employment of eternity! + + + +SERMON II. +THE PURIFICATION OF THE CONSCIENCE. + + + “_How much more shall the blood of Christ_, _who_, _through the + eternal Spirit_, _offered Himself without spot to God_, _purge your + conscience from dead works to serve the living God_.”—HEB. ix. 14. + +The Hebrew Christians, to whom the Apostle wrote, were well acquainted +with the laws of ceremonial purification by the blood of beasts, and +birds, for by blood almost everything was purified in the service of the +Temple. But it is only the blood of Christ that can purge the human +conscience. In speaking of this purification, as presented in our text, +let us notice—_the object_, _the means_, and _the end_. + +I. The object of this purification is the conscience; which all the +sacrificial blood shed, from the gate of Eden down to the extinction of +the fire on the Jewish altar, was not sufficient to purge. + +_What is the conscience_? An inferior judge, the representative of +Jehovah, holding his court in the human soul; according to whose decision +we feel either confidence, and joy in God, or condemnation, and +tormenting fear. His judicial power is graduated by the degree of moral +and evangelical light which has been shed upon his palace. His knowledge +of the will, and character of God is the law by which he justifies, or +condemns. His intelligence is the measure of his authority; and the +perfection of knowledge would be the infallibility of conscience. + +This faithful recorder, and deputy judge is with us through all the +journey of life, and will accompany us with his register over the river +Jordan, whether to Abraham’s bosom or the society of the rich man in +hell. While conscience keeps a record on earth, Jehovah keeps a record +in heaven; and when both books shall be opened in the final judgment, +there shall be found a perfect correspondence. When temptations are +presented, the understanding opposes them, but the carnal mind indulges +them, and there is a contest between the judgment, and the will, and we +hesitate which to obey, till the warning bell of conscience rings through +the soul, and gives distinct notice of his awful recognition; and when we +turn away recklessly from his faithful admonitions, we hear low +mutterings of wrath stealing along the avenues, and the quick sound of +writing-pens in the recording office, causing every denizen of the mental +palace to tremble. + +There is a _good conscience_, _and an evil conscience_. The work of +both, however, is the same; consisting in keeping a true record of the +actions of men, and passing sentence upon them according to their +deserts. Conscience is called good, or evil only with reference to the +character of its record, and its sentence. If the record is one of +virtues, and the sentence one of approval, the conscience is good; if the +record is one of vices, and the sentence one of condemnation, the +conscience is evil. + +Some have a _guilty conscience_, that is, a conscience that holds up to +their view a black catalogue of crimes, and rings in their ears a +sentence of condemnation. If you have such a conscience, you are invited +to Jesus, that you may find peace to your souls. He is ever in His +office, receiving all who come, and blotting out, with His own blood, the +handwriting which is against them. + +But some have a _despairing conscience_. They think that their crimes +are too great to be forgiven. The registry of guilt, and the decree of +death, hide from their eyes the mercy of God, and the merit of Christ. +Their sins rise like mountains between them, and heaven. But let them +look away to Calvary. If their sins are a thousand times more numerous +than their tears, the blood of Jesus is ten thousand times more powerful +than their sins. “He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto +God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” + +And others have a _dark_, _and hardened conscience_. They are so +deceived, that they “cry peace, and safety, when destruction is at the +door.” They are “past feeling, having the conscience seared as with a +hot iron.” They have sold themselves to work evil; to eat sin like +bread, and drink iniquity like water. They have bribed, or gagged the +recorder, and accuser within them. They will betray the just cause of +the righteous, and slay the messengers of salvation, and think that they +are doing God service. John the Baptist is beheaded, that Herod may keep +his oath of honour. A dead fish cannot swim against the stream; but if +the king’s conscience had been alive and faithful, he would have +said:—“Girl, I promised to give thee thy request, even to the half of my +kingdom; but thou hast requested too much; for the head of Messiah’s +herald is more valuable than my whole kingdom, and all the kingdoms of +the world!” But he had not the fear of God before his eyes, and the +proud fool sent, and beheaded the prophet in his cell. + +A _good conscience_ is a faithful conscience, a lively conscience, a +peaceful conscience, a conscience void of offence toward God, and man, +resting in the shadow of the cross, and assured of an interest in His +infinite merit. It is the victory of faith unfeigned, working by love, +and purifying the heart. It is always found in the neighbourhood, and +society of its brethren, “a broken heart and a contrite spirit;” an +intense hatred of sin, and an ardent love of holiness; a spirit of +fervent prayer, and supplication, and a life of scrupulous integrity, and +charity; and above all, a humble confidence in the mercy of God, through +the mediation of Christ. These constitute the brotherhood of +Christianity; and wherever they abound, a good conscience is never +lacking. They are its very element, and life; its food, its sunshine, +and its vital air. + +Conscience was a faithful recorder, and judge under the law, and +notwithstanding the revolution which has taken place, introducing a new +constitution, and a new administration, Conscience still retains his +office; and when “purged from dead works to serve the living God,” is +appropriately called a _good conscience_. + +II. The means of this purification is “the blood of Christ, who through +the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.” + +Could we take in, at a single view, all the bearings of “the blood of +Christ,” as exhibited in the Gospel, what an astonishing light would it +cast upon the condition of man; the character of God; the nature, and +requirements of His law; the dreadful consequences of sin; the wondrous +expiation of the cross; the reconciliation of Heaven, and earth; the +blessed union of the believer with God in Christ, as a just God, and a +Saviour; and the whole scheme of our justification, sanctification, and +redemption, through free, sovereign, infinite, and unspeakable grace! + +There is no knowledge like the knowledge of Christ, for the excellency of +which the apostle counted all things but loss. Christ is the Sun of +Righteousness, in whose light we see the tops of the mountains of +immortality, towering above the dense clouds which overhang the valley of +death. All the wisdom which philosophers have learned from nature, and +providence, compared with that which is afforded by the Christian +revelation, is like the _ignis fatuus_, compared with the sun. The +knowledge of Plato, and Socrates, and all the renowned sages of +antiquity, was nothing to the knowledge of the feeblest believer in “the +blood of Christ.” + +“The blood of Christ” is of infinite value. There is none like it +flowing in human veins. It was the blood of a man, but of a man who knew +no iniquity; the blood of a sinless humanity, in which dwelt all the +fulness of the Godhead bodily; the blood of the second Adam, who is the +Lord from Heaven, and a quickening Spirit upon earth. It pressed through +every pore of His body in the garden; and gushed from His head, His +hands, His feet, and His side, upon the cross. I approach with fear, and +trembling, yet with humble confidence, and joy. I take off my shoes, +like Moses, as he approaches the burning bush; for I hear a voice coming +forth from the altar, saying, “I and my Father are one; I am the true +God, and Eternal Life.” + +The expression, “the blood of Christ,” includes the whole of His +obedience to the moral law, by the imputation of which we are justified; +and all the sufferings of His soul and His body as our Mediator, by which +an atonement is made for our sins, and a fountain opened to wash them all +away. This is the spring whence rise the rivers of forgiving and +sanctifying grace. + +In the representation which the text gives us of this redeeming blood, +are several points worthy of our special consideration:— + +1. It is “_the blood of Christ_;” the appointed Substitute and Saviour +of men; “the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world.” + +2. It is the blood of Christ, _who offered Himself_. His humanity was +the only sacrifice which would answer the demands of justice, and atone +for the transgressions of mankind. Therefore “He has made His soul an +offering for sin.” + +3. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself _to God_. It was the +eternal Father, whose broken law must be repaired, whose dishonest +government must be vindicated, and whose flaming indignation must be +turned away. The well-beloved Son must meet the Father’s frown, and bear +the Father’s curse for us. All the Divine attributes called for the +offering; and without it, could not be reconciled to the sinner. + +4. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, _without +spot_. This was a perfect sacrifice. The Victim was without blemish, or +defect; the altar was complete in all its appurtenances; and the High +Priest possessed every conceivable qualification for his work. Christ +was at once victim, altar, and high-priest; “holy, harmless, and +undefiled”—“God manifest in the flesh.” Being Himself perfect God and +perfect man, and perfect Mediator between God and man, He perfects for +ever all them that believe. + +5. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, without spot, +_through the eternal Spirit_. By the eternal Spirit, here, we are to +understand, not the third Person of the Godhead, but the second; Christ’s +own Divine nature, which was co-eternal with the Father before the world +was, and which, in the fulness of time, seized on humanity—sinless, and +immaculate humanity—and offered it, body, and soul, as a sacrifice for +human sins. The eternal Spirit was at once the priest that offered the +victim, and the altar that sanctified the offering. Without His agency, +there could have been no atonement. The offering of mere humanity, +however spotless, aside from the merit derived from its connection with +Divinity, could not have been a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savour unto +God. + +6. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, without spot, +through the eternal Spirit, _that He might purge your conscience_. As +the typical sacrifices under the law purified men from ceremonial +defilement, so the real sacrifice of the Gospel saves the believer from +moral pollution. Blood was the life of all the services of the +tabernacle made with hands, and gave significance, and utility to all the +rites of the former dispensation. By blood the covenant between God, and +His people was sealed. By blood the officers, and vessels of the +sanctuary were consecrated. By blood the children of Israel were +preserved in Egypt from the destroying angel. So the blood of Christ is +our justification, sanctification, and redemption. All the blessings of +the Gospel flow to us through the blood of the Lamb. Mercy, when she +writes our pardon, and when she registers our names in “the Book of +Life,” dips her pen in the blood of the Lamb. And the vast company that +John saw before the throne had come out of great tribulation, having +“washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” + +The children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, on the very night that +the paschal lamb was slain, and its blood sprinkled upon the doorposts, +as if their liberty, and life were procured by its death. This typified +the necessity, and power of the Atonement, which is the very heart of the +Gospel, and the spiritual life of the believer. In Egypt, however, there +was a lamb slain for every family; but under the new covenant God has but +one family, and one Lamb is sufficient for their salvation. + +In the cleansing of the leper, several things were necessary; as running +water, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop, and the finger of the priest; but +it was the blood that gave efficacy to the whole. So it is in the +purification of the conscience. Without the shedding of blood, the leper +could not be cleansed; without the shedding of blood, the conscience +cannot be purged. “The blood of Christ” seals every precept, every +promise, every warning, of the New Testament. “The blood of Christ” +renders the Scriptures “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for +correction, for instruction in righteousness.” “The blood of Christ” +gives efficiency to the pulpit; and when “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” +is shut out, the virtue is wanting which heals, and restores the soul. +It is only through the crucifixion of Christ that “the old man” is +crucified in the believer. It is only through His obedience unto death, +even the death of the cross, that our dead souls are quickened, to serve +God in newness of life. + +Here rest our hopes. “The foundation of God standeth sure.” The bill of +redemption being presented by Christ, was read by the prophets, and +passed unanimously in both houses of parliament. It had its final +reading in the lower house, when Messiah hung on Calvary; and passed +three days afterward, when He rose from the dead. It was introduced to +the upper house by the Son of God Himself, who appeared before the throne +“as a lamb newly slain,” and was carried by acclamation of the heavenly +hosts. Then it became a law of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Holy Ghost +was sent down to establish it in the hearts of men. It is “the perfect +law of liberty,” by which God is reconciling the world unto Himself. It +is “the law of the Spirit of life,” by which He is “purging our +conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” + +III. The end of this purification is twofold,—that we may cease from +dead works, and serve the living God. + +1. The works of unrenewed souls are all “dead works,” can be no other +than “dead works,” because the agents are “dead in trespasses and sins.” +They proceed from the “carnal mind,” which “is enmity against God,” which +“is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” How can a +corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, or a corrupt fountain send forth +pure water? + +But “the blood of Christ” is intended to “purge the conscience from dead +works.” The apostle says—“Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, +as silver, and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition +from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb +without blemish, and without spot.” The Jews were in a state of bondage +to the ceremonial law, toiling at the “dead works,” the vain, and empty +forms, which could never take away sin; and unjustified, and unregenerate +men are still captives of Satan, slaves of sin, and death, tyrannized +over by various evil habits, and propensities, which are invincible to +all things but “the blood of Christ.” He died to redeem, both from the +burdens of the Mosaic ritual, and from the despotism of moral evil—to +purge the conscience of both Jew, and Gentile “from dead works to serve +the living God.” + +2. We cannot “serve the living God” without this preparatory +purification of conscience. If our guilt is uncancelled—if the love of +sin is not dethroned—the service of the knee, and the lip is nothing but +hypocrisy. “If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear +us.” Cherishing what He hates, all our offerings are an abomination to +Him; and we can no more stand in His holy presence than the dry stubble +can stand before a flaming fire. He who has an evil conscience flees +from the face of God, as did Adam in the garden. Nothing but “the blood +of Christ,” applied by the Holy Spirit, can remove the sinner’s guilty +fear, and enable him to draw nigh to God, in the humble confidence of +acceptance through the Beloved. + +The service of the living God must flow from a new principle of life in +the soul. The Divine word must be the rule of our actions. The Divine +will must be consulted and obeyed. We must remember that God is holy, +and jealous of His honour. The consideration that He is everywhere, and +sees everything, and will bring every work into judgment, must fill us +with reverence and godly fear. An ardent love for His law, and His +character must supplant the love of sin, and prompt to a cheerful and +impartial obedience. + +And let us remember that he is “the _living_ God.” Pharaoh is dead, +Herod is dead, Nero is dead; but Jehovah is “the living God.” And it is +a fearful thing to have Him for an enemy. Death cannot deliver from His +hand. Time, and even eternity, cannot limit His holy anger. He has +manifested, in a thousand instances, His hatred of sin: in the +destruction of the old world, the burning of Sodom, and Gomorrah, the +drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the sea; and I tell thee, sinner, +except thou repent, thou shalt likewise perish! Oh, think what +punishment “the living God” can inflict upon His adversaries—the loss of +all good—the endurance of all evil—the undying worm—the unquenchable +fire—the blackness of darkness for ever! + +The gods of the heathen have no life in them, and they that worship them +are like unto them. But our God is “the living God,” and “the God of the +living.” If you are united to Him by faith in “the blood of Christ,” +your souls are “quickened together with Him,” and “the power which raised +Him from the dead shall also quicken your mortal body.” + +May the Lord awaken those who are dead in trespasses, and sins, and +revive His work in the midst of the years, and strengthen the feeble +graces of His people, and bless abundantly the labours of His servants, +so that many consciences may be purged from dead works to serve the +living God! + + “There is a fountain filled with blood, + Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, + And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, + Lose all their guilty stains. + + “The dying thief rejoiced to see + That fountain in his day; + And there may I, as vile as he, + Wash all my sins away. + + “Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood + Shall never lose its power, + Till all the ransomed sons of God + Are saved, to sin no more.” + + + +SERMON III. +FINISHED REDEMPTION. + + + “_It is finished_.”—JOHN xix. 30. + +This exclamation derives all its importance from the magnitude of the +work alluded to, and the glorious character of the Agent. The work is +the redemption of the world; the Agent is God, manifested in the flesh. +He who finished the creation of the heavens, and the earth in six days, +is laying the foundation of a new creation on Calvary. Four thousand +years He has been giving notice of His intention to mankind; more than +thirty years He has been personally upon earth, preparing the material; +and now He lays the chief corner-stone in Zion, exclaiming—“It is +finished.” + +We will consider the special import of the exclamation, and then offer a +few remarks of a more general character. + +I. “It is finished.” This saying of the Son of God is a very striking +one; and, uttered, as it was, while He hung in dying agonies on the +cross, cannot fail to make a strong impression upon the mind. It is +natural for us to inquire—“What does it mean? To what does the glorious +Victim refer?” A complete answer to the question would develope the +whole scheme of redemption. We can only glance at a few leading ideas. + +The sufferings of Christ are ended. Never again shall He be persecuted +from city to city, as an impostor, and servant of Satan. Never again +shall He say, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Never +again shall He agonize in Gethsemane, and sweat great drops of blood. +Never again shall He be derided by the rabble, and insulted by men in +power. Never again shall He be crowned with thorns, lacerated by the +scourge, and nailed to the accursed tree. Never again shall He cry out, +in the anguish of His soul, and the baptism of blood—“My God! my God! why +hast Thou forsaken me!” + +The predictions of His death are fulfilled. The prophets had spoken of +His crucifixion many hundred years before His birth. They foresaw the +Governor who was to come forth from Bethlehem. They knew the Babe in the +manger, as He whose goings forth are of old, even from everlasting. They +drew an accurate chart of His travels, from the manger to the cross, and +from the cross to the throne. All these things must be fulfilled. Jesus +knew the necessity, and seemed anxious that every jot, and tittle should +receive an exact accomplishment. His whole life was a fulfilment of +prophecy. On every path He walked, on every house He entered, on every +city He visited, and especially on the mysterious phenomena which +accompanied His crucifixion, it was written—“that the Scriptures might be +fulfilled.” + +The great sacrifice for sin is accomplished. For this purpose Christ +came into the world. He is our appointed High Priest, the elect of the +Father, and the desire of the nations. He alone was in the bosom of the +Father, and could offer a sacrifice of sufficient merit to atone for +human transgression. But it was necessary also that He should have +somewhat to offer. Therefore a body was prepared for Him. He assumed +the seed of Abraham, and suffered in the flesh. This was a sacrifice of +infinite value, being sanctified by the altar of Divinity on which it was +offered. All the ceremonial sacrifices could not obtain the bond from +the hand of the creditor. They were only acknowledgment of the debt. +But Jesus, by one offering, paid the whole, took up the bond, the +hand-writing that was against us, and nailed it to the cross; and when +driving the last nail, He cried—“It is finished!” + +The satisfaction of Divine justice is completed. The violated law must +be vindicated; the deserved penalty must be endured; if not by the sinner +himself, yet by the sinner’s Substitute. This was the great undertaking +of the Son of God. He “bore our sins”—that is, the punishment of our +sins—“in His own body on the tree.” He was “made a curse for us, that we +might be made the righteousness of God in him.” There was no other way +by which the honour of God and the dignity of His law could be sustained, +and therefore “the Lord laid upon Him the iniquities of us all.” He +“died unto sin once;” not merely for sin, enduring its punishment in our +stead; but also “unto sin,” abolishing its power, and putting it away. +Therefore it is said, He “made an end of sin”—destroyed its condemning, +and tormenting power on behalf of all them that believe His sufferings +were equal to the claims of justice; and His dying cry was the voice of +Justice Himself proclaiming the satisfaction. Here, then, may the dying +thief, and the persecutor of the holy, lay down their load of guilt, and +woe at the foot of the cross. + +The new, and living way to God is consecrated. A veil has hitherto +concealed the holy of holies. None but the High Priest has seen the ark +of the covenant, and the glory of God resting upon the Mercy-seat between +the cherubim. He alone might enter, and he but once a year, and then +with fear, and trembling, and the sprinkling of atoning blood, after the +most careful purification, and sacrifice for himself. He has filled His +hands with His own blood, and entered into heaven itself, there to appear +in the presence of God for us. The sweet incense which He offers fills +the temple, and the merit of His sacrifice remains the same through all +time, superseding all other offerings for ever. Therefore we are +exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace. The tunnel under the +Thames could not be completed on account of an accident which greatly +damaged the work, without a new subscription for raising money; but Jesus +found infinite riches in Himself, sufficient for the completion of a new +way to the Father—a living way through the valley of the shadow of death +to “the city of the Great King.” + +The conquest of the powers of darkness is achieved. When their hour was +come, the prince and his host were on the alert to accomplish the +destruction of the Son of God. They hailed Him with peculiar +temptations, and levelled against Him their heaviest artillery. They +instigated one disciple to betray Him and another to deny Him. They +fired the rage of the multitude against Him, so that the same tongues +that lately sang, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” now shouted, “Crucify +Him! crucify Him!” They filled the priests, and scribes with envy, that +they might accuse Him without a cause; and inspired Pilate with an +accursed ambition, that he might condemn him without a fault. They +seared the conscience of the false witnesses, that they might charge the +Just One with the most flagrant crimes; and cauterized the hearts of the +Roman soldiers, that they might mock Him in His sufferings, and nail Him +to the cross. Having succeeded so far in their hellish plot, they +doubtless deemed their victory certain. I see them crowding around the +cross, waiting impatiently to witness his last breath, ready to shout +with infernal triumph to the depths of hell, till the brazen walls should +send back their echoes to the gates of the heavenly city. But hark! the +dying Saviour exclaims—“It is finished!” and the great dragon and his +host retreat, howling, from the cross. The Prince of our Salvation +turned back all their artillery upon themselves, and their own stratagems +became their ruin. The old serpent seized Messiah’s heel, but Messiah +stamped upon the serpent’s head. The dying cry of Jesus shook the +dominions of death, so that the bodies of many that slept arose; and rang +through all the depths of hell the knell of its departed power. Thus the +Prince of this world was foiled in His schemes, and disappointed in his +hopes, like the men of Gaza, when they locked up Samson at night, +thinking to kill him in the morning: but awoke to find that he was gone, +with the gates of the city upon his shoulders. When the Philistines +caught Samson, and brought him to their Temple, to make sport for them, +they never dreamed of the disaster in which it would result—never dreamed +that their triumph over the poor blind captive would be the occasion of +their destruction. “Suffer me,” said he, “to lean on the two pillars.” +Then he bowed himself, and died with his enemies. So Christ on Calvary, +while the powers of darkness exulted over their victim, seized the main +pillars of sin, and death, and brought down the temple of Satan upon its +occupants; but on the morning of the third day, He left them all in the +ruins, where they shall remain for ever, and commenced His journey home +to His Father’s house. + +II. So much concerning the import of our Saviour’s exclamation. Such +was the work He finished upon the cross. We add a few remarks of a more +general character. + +The sufferings of Christ were vicarious. He died, not for His own sins, +but for ours. He humbled Himself, that we might be exalted. He became +poor, that we might be made rich. He was wounded, that we might be +healed. He drained the cup of wrath, that we might drink the waters of +salvation. He died the shameful and excruciating death of the cross, +that we might live and reign with Him for ever. + +“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to have entered into +His glory?” This “ought” is the ought of mercy, and of covenant +engagement. He must discharge the obligation which He had voluntarily +assumed. He must finish the work which He had graciously begun. There +was no other Saviour—no other being in the universe willing to undertake +the work; or, if any willing to undertake, none able to accomplish it. +The salvation of one human soul would have been too mighty an achievement +for Gabriel—for all the angels in heaven. Had not “the only-begotten of +the Father” become our Surety, we must have lain for ever under the wrath +of God, amid “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” None but the +Lion of the tribe of Judah could break the seals of that mysterious book. +None but “God manifest in the flesh” could deliver us from the second +death. + +The dying cry of Jesus indicates the dignity of His nature, and the power +of life that was in Him to the last. All men die of weakness—of +inability to resist death—die because they can live no longer. But this +was not the case with the Son of God. He speaks of laying down His life +as His own voluntary act;—“No man taketh it from He, but I lie it down of +myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” +“He poured out His soul unto death”—did not wait for it to be torn from +Him—did not hang languishing upon the cross, till life “ebbed out by slow +degrees;” but poured it out freely, suddenly, and unexpectedly. As soon +as the work was done for which He came into the world, He cried—“It is +finished!” “bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.” Then the sun was +darkened, the earth quaked, the rocks rent, the graves opened, and the +centurion said—“Truly, this Man was the Son of God!” He cried with a +loud voice, to show that He was still unconquered by pain, mighty even +upon the cross. He bowed His head that death might seize Him. He was +naturally far above the reach of death, His Divine nature being +self-existent and eternal, and His human nature entitled to immortality +by its immaculate holiness; yet “He humbled Himself, and became obedient +unto death, even the death of the cross”—“He bowed His head, and gave up +the ghost.” + +We may regard this last exclamation, also, as an expression of His joy at +having accomplished the great “travail of his soul,” in the work of our +redemption. It was the work which the Father had given Him, and which He +had covenanted to do. It lay heavy upon His heart, and oh, how was He +straitened till it was accomplished! His “soul was exceedingly +sorrowful, even unto death;” “and His sweat, as it were, great drops of +blood, falling down to the ground.” But upon the cross, He saw of the +travail of His soul, and was satisfied. He saw that His sacrifice was +accepted, and the object of His agony secured—that death would not be +able to detain Him in the grave, nor hell to defeat the purpose of His +grace; that the gates of the eternal city would soon open to receive Him +as a conqueror, and myriads of exultant angels shout Him to His throne; +whither He would be followed by His redeemed, with songs of everlasting +joy. He saw, and He was satisfied; and, not waiting for the morning of +the third day, but already confident of victory, He uttered this note of +triumph, and died. + +And if we may suppose them to have understood its import, what a source +of consolation it must have been to His sorrowing disciples! The sword +had pierced through Mary’s heart, according to the prediction of old +Simeon over the infant Jesus. Her affections had bled at the agony of +her supernatural Son, and her wounded faith had well-nigh perished at His +cross. And how must all His followers have felt, standing afar off, and +beholding their supposed Redeemer suffering as a malefactor! How must +all their hopes have died within them, as they gazed on the accursed +tree! The tragedy was mysterious, and they deemed their enemies +victorious. Jesus is treading the winepress in Bozrah, and the earth is +shaking, and the rocks are rending, and the luminaries of heaven are +expiring, and all the powers of nature are fainting, in sympathy with His +mighty agony. Now he is lost in the fire, and smoke of battle, and the +dread artillery of justice is heard thundering through the thick +darkness, and shouts of victory rise from the troops of hell, and who +shall foretell the issue of the combat, or the fate of the Champion? But +lo! He cometh forth from the cloud of battle, with blood upon His +garments! He is wounded, but He hath the tread, and the aspect of a +conqueror. He waves His crimsoned sword, and cries—“It is finished!” +Courage, ye weepers at the cross! Courage, ye tremblers afar off! The +Prince of your salvation is victor, and this bulletin of the war shall +cheer myriads of believers in the house of their pilgrimage, and the +achievement which it announces shall constitute an everlasting theme of +praise. + +“It is finished!” The word smote on the walls of the celestial city, and +thrilled the hosts of heaven with ecstasy unspeakable. How must “the +spirits of just men made perfect” have leaped for joy, to hear that the +Captain of their salvation was victorious over all His enemies, and that +the work He had engaged to do for them, and their brethren was completed! +And with what wonder, and delight must the holy angels have witnessed the +triumph of Him, whom they were commanded to worship, over the powers of +darkness! It was the commencement of a new era in heaven, and never +before had its happy denizens seen so much of God. + +“It is finished!” Go, ye heralds of salvation, into all the world, and +proclaim the joyful tidings! Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up your +voice like a trumpet, and publish, to all men, that the work of the cross +is finished—that the Great Mediator, “made perfect through sufferings,” +has become “the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey +Him”—“is of God made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and +sanctification, and redemption!” Go, teach the degraded pagan, the +deluded Mohammedan, and the superstitious Papist, that the finished work +of Jesus is the only way of acceptance with God. Go, tell the polished +scholar, the profound philosopher, and the vaunting moralist, that the +doctrine of Christ crucified is the only knowledge that can save the +soul! Go,—say to the proud sceptic, the bold blasphemer, and the +polluted libertine, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of +the world.” Preach it to the gasping sinner upon the death-bed, and the +sullen murderer in his cell! Let it ring in every human ear, and thrill +in every human heart, till the gladness of earth shall be the counterpart +of heaven! + + + +SERMON IV. +THE FATHER AND SON GLORIFIED. + + + “_Howbeit_, _when He_, _the Spirit of Truth_, _is come_, _He will + guide you into all truth_; _for He shall not speak of Himself_; _but + whatsoever He shall hear_, _that shall He speak_; _and He will show + you things to come_. _He shall glorify me_: _for He shall receive of + mine_, _and shall show it unto you_. _All things that the Father + hath are mine_; _therefore_, _said I_, _that He shall take of mine_, + _and shall show it unto you_.”—JOHN xvi. 13–15. + +The wonderful Providence, which brought the children of Israel out of the +house of bondage, was a chain of many links, not one of which could be +omitted without destroying the beauty, and defeating the end of the +Divine economy. The family of Jacob came to Egypt in the time of +famine—they multiply—they are oppressed—their cries reach to heaven—God +manifests Himself in the burning bush—Moses is sent to Egypt—miracles are +wrought by his hand—Pharaoh’s heart is hardened—the firstborn are +slain—the passover is eaten—the people depart, led by the pillar of +God—the sea is divided—and, with many signs, and wonders, the thousands +of Israel are conducted through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Had +one of these links been wanting, the chain of deliverance had been +defective. + +So, in the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ, all the conditions, and +preparatives were essential to the completeness, and glory of the scheme. +The Son of God must consent to undertake our cause, and become our +substitute—the promise must be given to Adam, and frequently repeated to +the patriarchs—bloody sacrifices must be instituted, to typify the +vicarious sufferings of Messiah—a long line of prophets must foretell His +advent, and the glory of His kingdom—He must be born in Bethlehem, +crucified on Calvary, and buried in Joseph’s new tomb—must rise from the +dead, ascend to the right hand of the Father, and send down the Holy +Spirit to guide and sanctify His Church. Without all these +circumstances, the economy of redemption would have been incomplete and +inefficient. + +The last link in the chain is the mission and work of the Holy Spirit. +This is quite as important as any of the rest. Our Saviour’s heart seems +to have been much set upon it, during all His ministry, and especially +during the last few days, before His crucifixion. He spoke of it, +frequently, to His disciples, and told them that He would not leave them +comfortless, but would send them “another Comforter,” who should abide +with them for ever; and that His own departure was necessary, to prepare +the way for the coming of the heavenly Paraclete. In our text, He +describes the office of the Holy Spirit, and the specific relation which +He sustains to the work of Salvation:—“Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of +Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak +of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He +will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for He shall receive +of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are +mine; therefore said I, that He shall take of mine, and shall show it +unto you.” + +These words teach us two important truths—_first_, that the Son is equal +with the Father; and, _secondly_, that the Father, and the Son are alike +glorified in the economy of salvation. + +I. The Son claims equality with the Father. “All things that the Father +hath are mine.” + +This sentence is very comprehensive, and sublime—an unquestionable +affirmation of the Messiah’s “eternal power, and Godhead.” The same +doctrine is taught us, in many other recorded sayings of Christ, and +sustained by all the prophets, and apostles; and when I consider this +declaration, in connection with the general strain of the inspired +writers on the subject, I seem to hear the Saviour Himself addressing the +world in the following manner:— + +“All things that the Father hath are mine. His _names_ are mine. I am +Jehovah—the mighty God, and the everlasting Father—the Lord of Hosts—the +Living God—the True God, and Eternal Life. + +“His _works_ are mine. All things were made by me, and I uphold all +things by the word of my power. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work; +for as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the +Son quickeneth whom He will. I am the Author of universal being, and my +hand moveth all the machinery of Providence. + +“His _honours_ are mine. I have an indisputable right to the homage of +all created intelligences. I inhabit the praises of Eternity. Before +the foundation of the world, I was the object of angelic adoration; and +when I became incarnate as a Saviour, the Father published His decree in +heaven, saying—‘Let all the angels of God worship Him!’ It is His will, +also, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the +Father—in the same manner, and the same degree. He that honoureth the +Son, honoureth the Father; and he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth +not the Father: for I and my Father are one—one in honour—possessing +joint interest, and authority. + +“His _attributes_ are mine. Though as man, and Mediator I am inferior to +the Father; yet my nature is no more inferior to His, than the nature of +the Prince of Wales is inferior to the nature of the King of England. +You see me clothed in humanity; but, in my original state, I thought it +not robbery to be equal with God. I was in the beginning with God, and +possessed the same eternity of being. Like Him, I am almighty, +omniscient, and immutable; infinite in holiness, justice, goodness, and +truth. All these attributes, with every other possible perfection, +belong to me, in the same sense as they belong to the Father. They are +absolute, and independent, underived, and unoriginated—the essential +qualities of my nature. + +“His _riches of grace_ are mine. I am the Mediator of the new +covenant—the Channel of my Father’s mercies to mankind. I have the keys +of the House of David, and the seal of the Kingdom of Heaven. I have +come from the bosom of the Father, freighted with the precious treasures +of His good will to men. I have sailed over the sea of tribulation, and +death, to bring you the wealth of the other world. I am the Father’s +Messenger, publishing peace on earth—a peace which I have purchased with +my own blood upon the cross. It has pleased the Father that in me all +fulness should dwell—all fulness of wisdom, and grace—whatever is +necessary for the justification, sanctification, and redemption of them +that believe. My Father, and I are one, in the work of salvation, as in +the work of creation. We have the same will, and the same intention of +mercy toward the children of the great captivity. + +“The _objects of His love_ are mine. He hath given them to me in an +everlasting covenant. He hath given me the heathen for an inheritance, +and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. They were mine by +the original right of creation; but now they are doubly mine, by the +superadded claim of redemption. My Father, before the world was, gave me +a charter of all the souls I would redeem. I have fulfilled the +condition. I have poured out my soul unto death, and sealed the covenant +with the blood of my cross. Therefore, all believers are mine. I have +bought them with a price. I have redeemed them from the bondage of sin, +and death. Their names are engraven on my hands, and my feet. They are +written with the soldier’s spear upon my heart. And of all that the +Father hath given me, I will lose nothing. I will draw them all to +myself; I will raise them up at the last day; and they shall be with me +where I am, that they may behold my glory, which I had with the Father +before the foundation of the world.” + +II. The Father and the Son are equally glorified in the economy of +redemption, and the work of the Holy Spirit. + +1. The Son glorifies the Father. I hear Him praying in the +garden:—“Father, I have glorified Thee on earth; I have finished the work +which Thou gavest me to do.” I hear Him, again, amidst the supernatural +gloom of Calvary, with a voice that rings through the dominions of death, +and hell, crying—“It is finished!” + +What mighty achievement hast Thou finished to-day, blessed Jesus? and how +have Thine unknown agony, and shameful death glorified the Father? + +“I have glorified the Father, by raising up those precious things which +fell in Eden, and were lost in the abyss. + +“I have raised up my Father’s _law_. I found it cast down to the earth, +and trampled into the dust. I have magnified, and found it honourable. +I have vindicated its authority in the sight of men, and angels. I have +satisfied its demands on behalf of my redeemed, and become the end of the +law for righteousness to all who will receive me as their surety. + +“I have raised up my Father’s _name_. I have declared it to my brethren. +I have manifested it to the men whom He has given me. I have given a new +revelation of His character to the world. I have shown Him to sinners, +as a just God, and a Saviour. I have restored His worship in purity, and +spiritually upon earth. I have opened a new, and living way to His +throne of grace. I have written the record of His mercy with my own +blood upon the rocks of Calvary. + +“I have raised up my Father’s _image_. I have imprinted it afresh upon +human nature, from which it was effaced by sin. I have displayed its +excellence in my own character. I have passed through the pollutions of +the world, and the territory of death, without tarnishing its lustre, or +injuring its symmetry. Though my visage is marred with grief, and my +back ploughed with scourges, and my hands, and feet nailed to the +accursed cross, not one trace of my Father’s image has been obliterated +from my human soul. It is as perfect, and as spotless now as when I lay +in the manger. I will carry it unstained with me into heaven. I will +give a full description of it in my Gospel upon earth. I will change my +people into the same image, from glory, to glory. I will also renovate, +and transform their vile bodies, and fashion them like unto my own +glorious body. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; and +because I live, they shall live also—the counterpart of my own immaculate +humanity—mirrors to reflect my Father’s glory for ever.” + +2. The Father glorifies the Son. He prayed in the garden,—“And now, +Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had +with Thee before the world was.” Was the petition granted? Answer, ye +Roman sentinels, who watched His sepulchre! Answer, ye men of Galilee, +who gazed upon His chariot, as He ascended from the mount of Olives! + +The glorification of the Son by the Father implies all the honours of His +mediatorial office—all the crowns which He won by His victory over the +powers of death, and hell. The Father raised Him from the dead, and +received Him up into glory, as a testimony of His acceptance as the +sinner’s Surety—an expression of perfect satisfaction with His vicarious +sacrifice upon the cross. It was the just reward of His work; it was the +fruit of His gracious travail. He is “crowned with glory and honour for +the sufferings of death.” “Because He hath poured out His soul unto +death,” therefore “God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name +that is above every name.” + +What an honour would it be to a man, to receive eight, or ten of the +highest offices in the kingdom! Infinitely greater is the glory of +Emmanuel. His name includes all the offices, and titles of the kingdom +of heaven. The Father hath made Him “both Lord, and Christ”—that is, +given Him the supreme prerogatives of government and salvation. “Him +hath God exalted to be a prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to +Israel, and remission of sins.” He is “head over all things in the +Church”—Prime Minister in the kingdom of heaven—Lord Treasurer, +dispensing the bounties of Divine grace to mankind—Lord High-Chancellor +of the Realm, and Keeper of the great Seal of the living God; holding in +His hand the charter of our redemption, and certifying the authenticity +of the Divine covenant—Lord Chief Justice of heaven, and earth, having +all power, and authority to administer the laws of Providence throughout +the universe—the chief Prince—the General of the army—the Captain of the +Lord’s host—the Champion who conquered Satan, sin, and death; bruising +the head of the first, destroying the power of the second, and swallowing +up the third in victory. He hath the keys of hell, and of death. He +shutteth, and no man openeth; He openeth, and no man shutteth. He bears +all the honours of His Father’s house; and concentrates in Himself all +the glories of Supreme Divinity, redeemed humanity, and “mediator between +God, and man.” + +3. The Holy Spirit glorifies Father and Son together. He is procured +for the world by the blood of the Son, and sent into the world by the +authority of the Father; so that both are alike represented in His +mission, and equally glorified in His office. The gracious things which +the Father gave into the hands of the Son, when He descended from heaven, +the Son gave into the hands of the Spirit, when He returned to heaven. +“All things that the Father hath are mine; and He shall take of mine, and +shall show it unto you.” + +This is the object of the Spirit’s advent, the communication of the +things of Christ to men. What are the things of Christ? His merit, His +mercy, His image, His Gospel, His promises, all the gifts of His grace, +all the treasures of His love, and all the immunities of eternal +redemption. These the Father hath given to the Son, as the great Trustee +of the Church; and the Son hath given them to the Spirit, as the +appointed Agent of their communication. + +A ship was laden in India, arrived safely in London, unloaded her +precious cargo, and the goods were soon distributed all over the country, +and offered for sale in a thousand stores. The Son of God brought +immense riches of Divine grace from heaven to earth, which are all left +to the disposal of the Holy Spirit, and freely proffered to the +perishing, wherever the Gospel is preached. + +The Holy Spirit came, not to construct a new engine of mercy, but to +propel that already constructed by Christ. Its first revolution rent the +rocks of Calvary, and shook the rocky hearts of men. Its second +revolution demolished the throne of death, burst his prison-doors, and +liberated many of his captives. Its third revolution carried its builder +up into the Heaven of heavens, and brought down the Holy Spirit to move +its machinery for ever. Its next revolution, under the impulse of this +new Agent, was like “the rushing of a mighty wind” among the assembled +disciples at Jerusalem, kindled a fire upon the head of every Christian, +inspired them to speak all the languages of the babbling earth, and +killed, and quickened three thousand souls of the hearers. + +The Holy Spirit is still on earth, glorifying the Father, and the Son. +He convinces the world of sin. He leads men to Christ, through the +rivers of corruption, the mountains of presumption, and the terrible bogs +of despair, affording them no rest till they come to the city of refuge. +He continues on the field to bring up the rear; while the Captain of our +Salvation, on His white horse, rides victorious in the van of battle. He +strengthens the soldiers—“faint, yet pursuing!” raises the fallen; +encourages the despondent; feeds them with the bread of life, and the new +wine of the kingdom; and leads them on—“conquering and to conquer.” + +His work will not be finished till the resurrection. Then will He +quicken our mortal bodies. Then will He light His candle, and sweep the +house till He find every lost piece of silver. Then will He descend into +the dark caves of death, and gather all the gems of redeemed humanity, +and weave them into a crown for Emmanuel, and place that crown upon +Emmanuel’s head, amid the songs of the adoring seraphim! + +Thus the Holy Spirit glorifies the Father, and the Son. Let us pray for +the outpouring of His grace upon the Church. In proportion to His +manifestation in our hearts, will be our “knowledge of the light of the +glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Nor is this all; in +proportion to the visitations of the Holy Spirit, will be the purity of +our lives, the spirituality of our worship, the ardour of our zeal, and +charity, and the extent of our usefulness to the cause of Christ. Would +you see a revival of religion? pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit +upon you, to sanctify your hearts, and lives, that your light may “so +shine before men, that others may see your good works, and glorify your +Father who is in heaven.” + +“When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry +trees, then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then the Lord shall go out +before thee, to strike the hosts of the Philistines.” Brethren, this is +the time. The mulberry trees are shaking. God is going before His +people, to prepare their way to victory. The hand of Divine Providence +is opening a great, and effectual door for the Gospel. The mountains are +levelled, the valleys are exalted, and a highway is cast up in the +wilderness for our God. The arts of printing, and navigation, the +increasing commerce of the world, the general prevalence of the Spirit of +peace, the rapid march of literature and science, and the correspondence +of eminent and leading men in every nation, are so many preparatives for +the moral conquest of the world. The Captain of our Salvation, on the +white horse of the Gospel, can now ride through Europe and America: and +will soon lead forth His army, to take possession of Asia, and Africa. +The wings of the mighty angel are unbound, and he is flying in the midst +of heaven. + +Again: Christians are better informed concerning the moral state of the +world than formerly. If my neighbour’s house were on fire, and I knew +nothing of it, I could not be blamed for rendering him no assistance; but +who could be guiltless in beholding the building in flames, without an +effort to rescue its occupants? Brethren, you have heard of the +perishing heathen. You have heard of their dreadful superstitions, their +human sacrifices, and their abominable rites. You have heard of +Juggernaut, and the River Ganges, and the murder of infants, and the +immolation of widows, and the worship of idols, and demons. You know +something of the delusion of Mohammedanism, the cruel, and degrading +ignorance of Popery, and how millions around you are perishing for the +lack of knowledge. Do you feel no solicitude for their souls—no desire +to pluck them as brands from the burning? + +What can we do? The Scriptures have been translated into nearly all the +languages of the babbling earth. Missionaries have gone into many +lands—have met the Indian in his wigwam, the African in his Devil’s-bush, +and the devotee on his way to Mecca. We can furnish more men for the +field, and more money to sustain them. But these things cannot change, +and renovate the human heart. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my +Spirit, saith the Lord.” This is the grand regenerating agency. He +alone can convince and save the world. His aid is given in answer to +prayer; and the Father is more ready to give than we are to ask. + +Mr. Ward, one of the Baptist missionaries in India, in a missionary +discourse at Bristol, said,—“Brethren, we need your money,—we need your +prayers more.” Oh, what encouragement we have to pray for our +missionaries! Thus saith the Lord: “I will pour water upon him that is +thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit upon +thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” Let us plead with God +for the accomplishment of the promise, “Ye that make mention of the Lord, +keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He make Jerusalem a praise in +the whole earth.” + +Brethren in the ministry! let us remember that all our success depends +upon the aid of the Holy Spirit, and let us pray constantly for His +blessing upon the world! Brethren in the Church! forget not the +connection between the work of the Holy Spirit and the glory of your Best +Friend, and earnestly entreat Him to mingle His sanctifying unction with +the treasures of Divine Truth contained in these earthern vessels! +“Finally, Brethren, pray for us; that the Word of the Lord may have free +course and be glorified; and all the ends of the earth see the salvation +of our God!” + + + +SERMON V. +THE CEDAR OF GOD. + + + “_Thus saith the Lord God_: _I will also take of the highest branch + of the high cedar_, _and will set it_; _I will crop off from the top + of his young twigs a tender one_, _and plant it upon a high mountain + and eminent_; _in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant + it_: _and it shall bring forth boughs_, _and bear fruit_, _and be a + goodly cedar_; _and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing_; _in + the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell_; _and all the + trees of the field shall know that I_, _the Lord_, _have brought down + the high tree_, _and have exalted the low tree—have dried up the + green tree_, _and have made the dry tree to flourish_. _I_, _the + Lord_, _have spoken_, _and I have done it_.”—EZEKIEL xvii. 22–24. + +You perceive that our text abounds in the beautiful language of allegory. +In the context is portrayed the captivity of the children of Israel, and +especially the carrying away of the royal family by the king of Babylon. +Here God promises to restore them to their own land, in greater +prosperity than ever; and to raise up Messiah, the Branch, out of the +house of David, to be their king. All this is presented in a glowing +figurative style, dressed out in all the wealth of poetic imagery so +peculiar to the Orientals. Nebuchadnezzar, the great eagle—the +long-winged, full-feathered, embroidered eagle—is represented as coming +to Lebanon, and taking the highest branch of the tallest cedar, bearing +it off as the crow bears the acorn in its beak, and planting it in the +land of traffic. The Lord God, in His turn, takes the highest branch of +the same cedar, and plants it on the high mountain of Israel, where it +flourishes and bears fruit, and the fowls of the air dwell under the +shadow of its branches. + +We will make a few general remarks on the character of the promise, and +then pass to a more particular consideration of its import. + +I. This is an _evangelical_ promise. It relates to the coming and +kingdom of Messiah. Not one of the kings of Judah since the captivity, +as Boothroyd well observes, answers to the description here given. Not +one of them was a cedar whose branches could afford shadow, and shelter +for all the fowls of heaven. But the prophecy receives its fulfilment in +Christ, the Desire of all nations, to whom the ends of the earth shall +come for salvation. + +This prophecy bears a striking resemblance, in several particulars, to +the parable of the mustard-seed, delivered by our Lord. “The +mustard-seed,” said Jesus, “is the least of all seeds; but when it is +grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the +birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” So the +delicate twig of the young, and tender branch, becomes a goodly cedar, +and under its shadow dwell all fowl, of every wing. The prophecy, and +the parable are alike intended to represent the growth, and prosperity of +Messiah’s kingdom, and the gracious protection, and spiritual refreshment +afforded to its subjects. Christ is the mustard plant, and cedar of God; +and to Him shall the gathering of all the people be; and multitudes of +pardoned sinners shall sit under His shadow, with great delight, and His +fruit shall be sweet to their taste. + +This prophecy is a promise of the true, and faithful, and immutable God. +It begins with—“Thus saith the Lord God, I will do thus and so;” and +concludes with—“I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it.” There is +no peradventure with God. His Word is for ever settled in heaven, and +cannot fail of its fulfilment. When He says, “I promise to pay,” there +is no failure, whatever the sum. The Bank of grace cannot break. It is +the oldest and best in the universe. Its capital is infinite; its credit +is infallible. The mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of +Peace, is able to fulfil, to the utmost, all His engagements. He can do +anything that does not imply a contradiction, or a moral absurdity. He +could take upon Himself the form of a servant, and become obedient unto +death, even the death of the cross; but we can never forget, or +disregard, His promise, any more than He can cease to exist. His nature +renders both impossible. Heaven, and earth shall pass away, but His word +shall not pass away. Every jot, and tittle shall be fulfilled. This is +the consolation of the Church. Here rested the patriarchs, and prophets. +Here reposes the faith of the saints, to the end of time. God abideth +faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Our text is already partially verified +in the advent of Christ, and the establishment of His Church; the +continuous growth of the gospel kingdom indicates its progressive +fulfilment; and we anticipate the time, as not far distant, when the +whole earth shall be overshadowed by the branches of the cedar of God. + +II. We proceed to consider, with a little more particularity, the import +of this evangelical prophecy. It describes the character, and +mediatorial kingdom of Christ, and the blessings which He confers upon +His people. + +1. His character and mediatorial kingdom.—“I will take of the highest +branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top +of his young twigs a tender one, and plant it upon a high mountain and +eminent; in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it.” + +Christ, as concerning the flesh, is of the seed of Abraham—a rod issuing +from the stem of Jesse, and a branch growing out of his root. As the new +vine is found in the cluster, and one saith, “Destroy it not, for a +blessing is in it,” so the children of Israel were spared, +notwithstanding their perverseness, and their backslidings, because they +were the cluster from which should be expressed in due time the new wine +of the kingdom—because from them was to come forth the blessing, the +promised seed, in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed. +The Word that was in the beginning with God, one with God, in essence, +and in attributes, in the fulness of time assumed our nature, and +tabernacled, and dwelt among us. Here is the union of God, and man. +Here is the great mystery of godliness—God manifest in the flesh. But I +have only time now to take off my shoes, and draw near the burning bush, +and gaze a moment upon this great sight. + +The Father is represented as preparing a body, for His Son. He goes to +the quarry to seek a stone, a foundation-stone, for Zion. The angel said +to Mary:—“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the +Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that Holy Thing which shall be +born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” The Eternal lays hold on +that nature which is hastening downward, on the flood of sin, to the gulf +of death, and destruction, and binds it to Himself. Though made in the +likeness of sinful flesh, He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. He did +no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. The rod out of the +stem of Jesse is also Jehovah, our righteousness. The Child born in +Bethlehem is the mighty God. The Son given to Israel is the Everlasting +Father. He is of the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh; but he is +also the true God, and eternal life. Two natures, and three offices meet +mysteriously in His Person. He is at once the bleeding sacrifice, the +sanctifying altar, the officiating priest, the prophet of Israel, and the +Prince of Peace. All this was necessary that He might become “the Author +of eternal salvation, to all them that obey Him.” + +Hear Jehovah speaking of Messiah and His kingdom:—“Why do the heathen +rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set +themselves, and the rulers take council together against the Lord, and +against His anointed. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. +I will declare the decree by which He is to rule His redeemed empire.” +That decree, long kept secret, was gradually announced by the prophets, +but at the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, Jehovah Himself proclaimed it +aloud, to the astonishment of earth, the terror of hell, and the joy of +heaven:—“Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Come forth from +the womb of the grave, thou whose goings forth have been from of old, +even from everlasting. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for +Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy +possession. I will exalt Thee to the throne of the universe, and thou +shalt be chief in the chariot of the Gospel. Thou shalt ride through the +dark places of the earth, with the lamps of eternal life suspended to Thy +chariot, enlightening the world. Be wise, now, therefore, O ye kings; be +instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and +rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish +from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Let no man +withstand Him. Let no man seek to stay His progress. Herod, Pilate, +Caiaphas, stand off! clear the way! lest ye be crushed beneath the wheels +of His chariot! for that which is a savour of life to some, is to others +a savour of death; and if this stone shall fall upon you, it shall grind +you to powder!” + +Behold, here is wisdom! All other mysteries are toys, in comparison with +the mystery of the everlasting gospel—the union of three Persons in the +Godhead—the union of two natures in the Mediator—the union of believers +in Christ, as the branches to the vine—the union of all the saints +together in Him, who is the head of the body, and the chief stone of the +corner—the mighty God transfixed to the cross—the Son of Mary ruling in +the Heaven of heavens—the rod of Jesse becoming the sceptre of universal +dominion—the Branch growing out of his root, the little delicate branch +which a lamb might crop for its food, terrifying and taming the serpent, +the lion, the leopard, the tiger, and the wolf, and transforming into +gentleness, and love, the wild, and savage nature of all the beasts of +prey upon the mountain! “And such,” old Corinthian sinners, “were some +of you; but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified, in the +name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” And such, my +brethren, were some of you; but ye have been made a new creation in Jesus +Christ; old things are passed away, and all things are become new. Ye +are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. He is one with the +Father, and ye are one in Him; united and interwoven, like the roots of +the trees in the forest of Lebanon; so that none can injure the least +disciple of Christ, without touching the apple of His eye, and grieving +all His members. + +II. The blessings which He confers upon His people. It shall bring +forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar, and under it shall +dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall +they dwell; and all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, +have brought down the high tree, and have exalted the low tree—have dried +up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. + +_Christ is a fruitful tree_. “The tree is known by his fruit. Men do +not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. Every good tree +bringeth forth good fruit, and every evil tree bringeth forth evil +fruit.” This is a singular, supernatural tree. Though its top reaches +to the Heaven of heavens, its branches fill the universe, and bend down +to the earth, laden with the precious fruits of pardon, and holiness, and +eternal life. On the day of Pentecost, we see them hang so low over +Jerusalem, that the very murderers of the Son of God reach, and pluck, +and eat, and three thousand sinners feast on more than angels’ food. +That was the feast of first-fruits. Never before was there such a +harvest and such a festival. Angels know nothing of the delicious fruits +of the tree of redemption. They know nothing of the joy of pardon, and +the spirit of adoption. The Bride of the Lamb alone can say:—“As the +apple-tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the +sons. I sat down under his shadow, with great delight, and his fruit was +sweet, to my taste. He brought me also to his banqueting-house, and his +banner over me was love.” + +These blessings are the precious effects of Christ’s mediatorial work; +flowing down to all believers, like streams of living water. Come, ye +famishing souls, and take, without money, and without price. All things +are now ready. “The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all +manner of pleasant fruits, both new, and old.” Here is no scarcity. Our +Elder Brother keeps a rich table in our Father’s house. Hear Him +proclaiming in the streets of the city, in the chief places of +concourse:—“Come to the festival. There is bread enough, and to spare. +My oxen, and my fatlings are killed. My board is spread with the most +delicious delicacies—wine on the lees well refined, and fruits such as +angels never tasted.” + +_Christ is a tree of protection to His people_. This cedar not only +beautifies the forest, but also affords shade, and shelter for the fowls +of the air. We have the same idea in the parable of the mustard-seed, +“The birds of the air came and lodged in the branches thereof.” This is +the fulfilment of the promise concerning Shiloh, “To Him shall the +gathering of the people be.” It is the drawing of sinners to Christ, and +the union of believers with God. “All fowl of every wing.” Sinners of +every age, and every degree—sinners of all languages, colours, and +climes—sinners of all principles, customs, and habits—sinners whose +crimes are of the blackest hue—sinners carrying about them the savour of +the brimstone of hell—sinners deserving eternal damnation—sinners +perishing for lack of knowledge—sinners pierced by the arrows of +conviction—sinners ready to sink under the burden of sin—sinners +overwhelmed with terror and despair—are seen flying to Christ as a cloud, +and as doves to their windows—moving to the ark of mercy before the door +is shut—seeking rest in the shadow of this goodly cedar! + +Christ is the sure defence of His Church. A thousand times has she been +assailed by her enemies. The princes of the earth have set themselves in +array against her, and hell has opened upon her all its batteries. But +the Rock of Ages has ever been her strong fortress, and high tower. He +will never refuse to shelter her from her adversaries. In the time of +trouble He shall hide her in His pavilion; in the secret of His +tabernacle shall He hide her. When the heavens are dark, and angry, she +flies, like the affrighted dove, to the thick branches of the “Goodly +Cedar.” There she is safe from the windy storm, and tempest. There she +may rest in confidence, till these calamities be overpast. The tree of +her protection can never be riven by the lightning, nor broken by the +blast. + +_Christ is the source of life_, _and beauty to all the trees in the +garden of God_. Jehovah determined to teach “the trees of the forest” a +new lesson. Let the princes of this world hear it, and the proud +philosophers of Greece and Rome. “I have brought down the high tree, and +exalted the low tree—I have dried up the green tree, and made the dry +tree to flourish.” Many things have occurred, in the providence of God, +which might illustrate these metaphors; such as the bringing of Pharaoh +down to the bottom of the sea, that Israel might be exalted to sing the +song of Moses; and the drying up of the pride, and pomp of Haman, that +Mordecai might flourish in honour, and esteem. But for the most +transcendent accomplishment of the prophecy, we must go to Calvary. +There is the high tree, brought down to the dust of death, that the low +tree might be exalted to life eternal; the green tree dried up by the +fires of Divine wrath, that the dry tree might flourish in the favour of +God for ever. + +To this, particularly, our blessed Redeemer seems to refer, in His +address to the daughters of Jerusalem, as they follow Him, weeping, to +the place of crucifixion. “Weep not for me,” saith He. “There is a +mystery in all this, which you cannot now comprehend. Like Joseph, I +have been sold by my brethren; but like Joseph, I will be a blessing to +all my Father’s house. I am carrying this cross to Calvary, that I may +be crucified upon it between two thieves; but when the lid of the +mystical ark shall be lifted, then shall ye see that it is to save +sinners I give my back to the smiters, and my life for a sacrifice. Weep +not for me, but for yourselves, and your children; for if they do these +things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? I am the green +tree to-day; and, behold, I am consumed, that you may flourish. I am the +high tree, and am prostrated that you may be exalted.” + +The fire-brands of Jerusalem had well-nigh kindled to a flame of +themselves, amid the tumult of the people, when they cried out, “Away +with Him! Crucify Him! His blood be on us, and on our children!” O +wonder of mercy! that they were not seized and consumed at once by fire +from heaven! But He whom they crucify prays for them, and they are +spared. Hear His intercession:—“Father, forgive them! save these +sinners, ready for the fire. On me, on me alone, be the fierceness of +Thy indignation. I am ready to drink the cup which Thou hast mingled, I +am willing to fall beneath the stroke of Thy angry justice. I come to +suffer for the guilty. Bind me in their stead, lay me upon the altar, +and send down fire to consume the Sacrifice!” + +It was done. I heard a great voice from heaven:—“Awake, O sword, against +my Shepherd! Kindle the flame! Let off the artillery!” Night suddenly +enveloped the earth. Nature trembled around me. I heard the rending of +the rocks. I looked, and lo! the stroke had fallen upon the high tree, +and the green tree was all on fire! While I gazed, I heard a voice, +mournful, but strangely sweet, “My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken +me? My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My +strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. +One may tell all my bones. Dogs have compassed me about; strong bulls of +Bashan have beset me. They stare at me; they gape upon me with their +mouths; they pierce my hands and my feet. Deliver my soul from the +lions; my darling from the power of the dogs!” + +“It is finished!” O with what majestic sweetness fell that voice upon my +soul! Instantly the clouds were scattered. I looked, and saw, with +unspeakable wonder, millions of the low trees shooting up, and millions +of the dry trees putting forth leaves, and fruit. Then I took my harp, +and sang this song:—“Worthy is the Lamb! for He was humbled that we might +be exalted; He was wounded that we might be healed; He was robbed that we +might be enriched; He was slain that we might live!” + +Then I saw the beam of a great scale; one end descending to the abyss, +borne down by the power of the Atonement; the other ascending to the +Heaven of heavens, and lifting up the prisoners of the tomb. Wonderful +scheme! Christ condemned for our justification; forsaken of His Father, +that we might enjoy His fellowship; passing under the curse of the law, +to bear it away from the believer for ever! This is the great scale of +Redemption. As one end the beam falls under the load of our sins, which +were laid on Christ; the other rises, bearing the basket of mercy, full +of pardons, and blessings, and hopes. “He who knew no sin was made sin +for us”—that is His end of the beam; “that we might be made the +righteousness of God in Him”—this is ours. “Though He was rich, yet for +our sakes He became poor,”—there goes His end down; “that we, through His +poverty, might be rich,”—here comes ours up. + +O sinners! ye withered and fallen trees, fuel for the everlasting +burning, ready to ignite at the first spark of vengeance! O ye faithless +souls! self-ruined and self-condemned! enemies in your hearts by wicked +works! we pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God! He has +found out a plan for your salvation—to raise up the low tree, by humbling +the high, and save the dry tree from the fire, by burning up the green. +He is able to put, at the same time, a crown of glory on the head of the +law, and a crown of mercy on the head of the sinner. One of those hands +which were nailed to the cross blotted out the fiery handwriting of +Sinai, while the other opened the prison-doors of the captives. From the +mysterious depths of Messiah’s sufferings flows the river of the waters +of life. Eternal light rises from the gloom of Gethsemane. Satan +planted the tree of death on the grave of the first Adam, and sought to +plant it also on the grave of the second; but how terrible was his +disappointment and despair, when he found that the wrong seed had been +deposited there, and was springing up into everlasting life! Come! fly +to the shelter of this tree, and dwell in the shadow of its branches, and +eat of its fruit, and live! + +To conclude:—Is not the conversion of sinners an object dear to the +hearts of the saints? God alone can do the work. He can say to the +north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back. He can bring His sons +from afar, and His daughters from the ends of the earth. Our Shiloh has +an attractive power, and to Him shall the gathering of the people be. +Pray, my brethren, pray earnestly, that the God of all grace may find +them out, and gather them from the forest, and fish them up from the sea, +and bring them home as the shepherd brings the stray lambs to the fold. +God alone can catch these “fowl of every wing.” They fly away from us. +To our grief they often fly far away, when we think them almost in our +hands; and then the most talented and holy ministers cannot overtake +them. But the Lord is swifter than they. His arrows will reach them and +bring them from their lofty flight to the earth. Then He will heal their +wounds, and tame their wild nature, and give them rest beneath the +branches of the “Goodly Cedar.” + + * * * * * + +The following is so characteristic that, although it is in circulation as +a tract, it shall be quoted here; it has been called— + + + +A SERMON ON THE WELSH HILLS. + + +HE once preached from the text, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” +“Oh, my dear brethren,” he said, “why will you pay no attention to your +best Friend? Why will you let Him stand knocking, night and day, in all +weathers, and never open the door to Him? If the horse-dealer, or +cattle-drover came, you would run to open the door to him, and set meat, +and drink before him, because you think to make money by him—the filthy +lucre that perishes in the using. But when the Lord Jesus stands +knocking at the door of your heart, bringing to you the everlasting +wealth, which He gives without money, and without price, you are deaf, +and blind; you are so busy, you can’t attend. Markets, and fairs, and +pleasures, and profits occupy you; you have neither time, nor inclination +for such as He. Let Him knock! Let Him stand without, the door shut in +His face, what matters it to you? Oh, but it does matter to you. + +“Oh, my brethren! I will relate to you a parable of truth. In a +familiar parable I will tell you how it is with some of you, and, alas! +how it will be in the end. I will tell you what happened in a Welsh +village, I need not say where. I was going through this village in early +spring, and saw before me a beautiful house. The farmer had just brought +into the yard his load of lime; his horses were fat, and all were well to +do about him. He went in, and sat down to his dinner, and as I came up a +man stood knocking at the door. There was a friendly look in his face +that made me say as I passed, ‘The master’s at home; they won’t keep you +waiting.’ + +“Before long I was again on that road, and as soon as I came in sight of +the house, there stood the same man knocking. At this I wondered, and as +I came near I saw that he stood as one who had knocked long; and as he +knocked he listened. Said I, ‘The farmer is busy making up his books, or +counting his money, or eating, and drinking. Knock louder, sir, and he +will hear you. But,’ said I, ‘you have great patience, sir, for you have +been knocking a long time. If I were you I would leave him to-night, and +come back to-morrow.’ + +“‘He is in danger, and I must warn him,’ replied he; and knocked louder +than ever. + +“Some time afterwards I went that way again, and there still stood the +man, knocking, knocking, knocking. ‘Well, sir,’ said I, ‘your +perseverance is the most remarkable I ever saw! How long do you mean to +stop?’ + +“‘Till I can make him hear,’ was his answer; and he knocked again. + +“Said I, ‘He wants for no good thing. He has a fine farm, and flocks, +and herds, and stack-yards, and barns.’ + +“‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘for the Lord is kind to the unthankful, and the +evil.’ + +“Then he knocked again, and I went on my way, wondering at the goodness, +and patience of this man. + +“Again I was in those parts. It was very cold weather. There was an +east wind blowing, and the sleety rain fell. It was getting dark, too, +and the pleasantest place, as you all know, at such a time, is the +fireside. As I came by the farm-house I saw the candle-light shining +through the windows, and the smoke of a good fire coming out of the +chimney. But there was still the man outside—knocking, knocking! And as +I looked at him I saw that his hands, and feet were bare, and bleeding, +and his visage as that of one marred with sorrow. My heart was very sad +for him, and I said, ‘Sir, you had better not stand any longer at that +hard man’s door. Let me advise you to go over the way to the poor widow. +She has many children, and she works for her daily bread; but she will +make you welcome.’ + +“‘I know her,’ he said. ‘I am with her continually; her door is ever +open to me, for the Lord is the husband of the widow, and the father of +the fatherless. She is in bed with her little children.’ + +“‘Then go,’ I replied, ‘to the blacksmith’s yonder. I see the cheerful +blaze of his smithy; he works early, and late. His wife is a +kind-hearted woman. They will treat you like a prince.’ + +“He answered solemnly, ‘_I am not come to call the righteous_, _but +sinners to repentance_.’ + +“At that moment the door opened, and the farmer came out, cursing, and +swearing, with a cudgel in his hand, with which he smote him, and then +angrily shut the door in his face. This excited a fierce anger in me. I +was full of indignation to think that a Welshman should treat a stranger +in that fashion. I was ready to burst into the house, and maltreat him +in his turn. But the patient stranger laid his hand upon my arm, and +said, ‘Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.’ + +“‘Sir,’ I exclaimed, ‘your patience, and your long-suffering are +wonderful; they are beyond my comprehension.’ + +“‘The Lord is long-suffering, full of compassion, slow to anger, not +willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ +And again he knocked, as he answered me. + +“It was dark; the smithy was closed; they were shutting up the inn, and I +made haste to get shelter for the night, wondering more, and more at the +patience, and pity of the man. In the public-house I learned from the +landlord the character of the farmer, and, late as it was, I went back to +the patient stranger and said, ‘Sir, come away; he is not worth all this +trouble. He is a hard, cruel, wicked man. He has robbed the fatherless, +he has defamed his friend, he has built his house in iniquity. Come +away, sir. Make yourself comfortable with us, by the warm fireside. +This man is not worth saving.’ With that he spread his bleeding palms +before me, and showed me his bleeding feet, and his side which they had +pierced; and I beheld it was the Lord Jesus. + +“‘Smite him, Lord!’ I cried in my indignation; ‘then perhaps he will hear +thee.’ + +“‘Of a truth he _shall_ hear me. In the day of judgment he shall hear me +when I say, Depart from me, thou worker of iniquity, into everlasting +darkness, prepared for the devil and his angels.’ After these words I +saw Him no more. The wind blew, and the sleety rain fell, and I went +back to the inn. + +“In the night there was a knocking at my chamber. ‘Christmas _bach_!’ +{410} cried my landlord, ‘get up! get up! You are wanted with a +neighbour, who is at the point of death!’ + +“Away I hurried along the street, to the end of the village, to the very +farm-house where the stranger had been knocking. But before I got there, +I heard the voice of his agony: ‘Oh, Lord Jesus, save me! Oh, Lord +Jesus, have mercy upon me! Yet a day—yet an hour for repentance! Oh, +Lord, save me!’ + +“His wife was wringing her hands, his children were frightened out of +their senses. ‘Pray! pray for me!’ he cried. ‘Oh, Christmas _bach_, cry +to God for _me_! He will hear _you_; _me_! He will not hear!’ I knelt +to pray; but it was too late. He was gone.” + + + + +INDEX. + + +ABBOT, JACOB, referred to, 176. + +Accidents, a series of, 42. + +Accursed from Christ, 150; Reply to criticisms on, 152. + +Action in oratory, 194. + +Age of chapel cases, an, 113. + +Age, the golden, 359; The iron, 359; Messiah’s, 359. + +Agent, the Divine, 363. + +Aim and success, 162. + +Allegoric preaching, 90. + +Allegories:—Bible regarded as a stone with seven eyes, 270; Church as an +ark among the bulrushes, 337; Satan walking in dry places, 137; Saul of +Tarsus and his seven ships, 332; Seeking the young Child, 133; World as a +graveyard, 85. + +Allegory, Christmas Evans’s power of, 131. + +America, preachers in the backwoods of, 231. + +Anecdotes:—Announcement, a singular, 22; Ask him the price of pigs, 258; +Baptism, scene at a, 49; “Beattie on Truth,” 283; Beneath! beneath! +beneath! 239; Better marry, 265; Billy Dawson, 110; Butchers and +minister, 210; Cadwalladr and John Elias, 191; Chests for the dead, 259; +Child in the pulpit, a, 190; Christian, a muscular, 50; Christmas Evans +and his new hat, 118; Christmas Evans and the scholar, 67; Cough away! +233; Cow is worth more, the, 238; Deacon, a blundering, 22; Drunkard +converted by a goat, 218; Earl and John Elias, the, 200; Elizabeth cannot +be alive, 195; Fire and smoke, 185; Flax-dresser and the preacher, the, +189; Forgiving, 319; Gryffyth of Caernarvon, 11; Hope for the son of +Samuel, 47; “I am the Book,” 68; I baptized Christmas Evans, 52; Impudent +minister, an, 288; Knock-down argument, a, 51; Lucre, a lover of, 116; +Make me weep? 212; No marriage in heaven, 235; No oath required, 239; Of +Rowland Hill, 240; Offenders, punishing young, 210; Old sermon, preaching +an, 13; One-eyed lad, the, 57, 59, Paid at the resurrection, 116; Piecer, +a, 42; Plenty of fire in it, put, 186; Preach the Gospel, 224; Preacher, +a Welsh, 60; Preacher, an anonymous, 207; Racecourse, dispersion on a, +196; Raffles, Dr., and Christmas Evans, 92; Raffles, Dr., and the +Graveyard sermon, 82; Richard _bach_, 108; Richardson and John Elias, +190; Sabbath-breaker and the preacher, 193; Sammy Breeze, 245; Scotch +woman and her pastor, 176; Selling a horse, 317; Sheep-stealers, the, +113; “Sit down, David,” 108; Swearer, the, 210; Timothy Thomas and the +clergyman, 49; Two snails, the, 318; Welsh farmer, a, 220; Williams and +the bookworm, 171. + +“Ancient Mariner” quoted, the, 232. + +Anglesea, island of, Evans’s journey to, 63; Sandemanian schism in, 73; +Evans’s success in, 81; Leaving, 162, 165; Again in, 291. + +Announcement, a singular, 22. + +Apostle and bishop, treated as, 110. + +Apostrophe, a startling, 188. + +Arian, a Welsh, 204. + +Association meetings, 10; where held, 21; gathering at, 121. + +Associations, amongst old, 289. + + * * * * * + +BALA, Charles of, 227. + +Baptism, scene at a, 49. + +Bardic triads, 254. + +Bards, Wales the land of, 10, 11. + +“Beattie on Truth,” anecdote of, 283. + +_Bendigedig_, 17, 59. + +“Beneath! beneath! beneath,” 239. + +Beginning at Jerusalem, 301. + +Bible a stone with seven eyes, 270. + +Bibles for Wales, 228. + +Birds, parable of the, 343. + +Bone, the misplaced, 333. + +Bookworm and William Williams, the, 171. + +Borrow, George, quoted, 27, 218, 219, 258; Estimate of the “Sleeping +Bard,” 329. + +Bradford, vicar of Christ Church, referred to, 196. + +Breeze, Sammy, story of, 245. + +Breton akin to Welsh, 25. + +British and Foreign Bible Society established, 229. + +Browning, Robert, quoted, 163. + +Bully and preacher, 243. + +Bunyan, Christmas Evans compared with, 4; of Wales, 330. + +Burney’s, Dr., “History of Music,” referred to, 214. + +Butchers and minister, 210. + + * * * * * + +CADWALLADR, David, anecdote of, 191. + +Caernarvon, Richardson of, 190; Last days at, 287–303. + +Caerphilly, Christmas Evans’s ministry at, 261; Village of, 262; Castle +of, 263; Society at, 281. + +Campbell, Dr. John, quoted, 229. + +Candles, is the game worth, 160. + +Captain, the sceptical, 212. + +Castell Hywel, the church of, 43, 46, 204, 205. + +Castles, ruined Welsh, 34. + +Cedar of God, the, 396. + +Chair, Christmas Evans’s, 64. + +Chapel, Sabbath morning at a Welsh, 19. + +Chapels, character of Welsh, 20. + +Charles of Bala, 227; the gift of God to North Wales, 227; Establishes +schools, 228; Introduces Bibles, 228; A real bishop, 229; Modesty of, +229; Dr. Campbell on, 229; as a preacher, 230. + +Childhood, a remarkable, 203. + +Chorus, a grand musical, 183. + +Christ, the blood of, 371; Vicarious sufferings of, 382; Dignity of his +nature, 383; Mediatorial kingdom of, 398; A fruitful tree, 401; A tree of +protection to his people, 402; A source of life and beauty, 403. + +Christmas, a custom at, 24. + +Christopher’s, Mr., “Hymns and Hymn-writers,” referred to, 168. + +Church, the Welsh established, 25; Discipline, 291; An ark among the +bulrushes, 337. + +Churches, a bishop over, 106; Troubles with the, 160; An appeal to the, +297. + +Cildwrn cottage, the, 64; Life at, 65, 66. + +Clergymen, character of Welsh, 25. + +Coleridge, quoted, 274. + +Compensations, 121. + +Congregation, a sheep-stealing, 113; How to catch a, 243. + +Conscience, purification of, 368; What is the, 368; A good and evil, 369, +370; A guilty, 369; A despairing, 370; A dark and hardened, 370. + +Consonants, Welsh, 16. + +Controversy, the Sandemanian, 70–76. + +Conversations, 299. + +Conversion, a singular, 218. + +Conviction, the hour of religious, 173. + +“Corner-stone,” Abbot’s, referred to, 176, 180. + +Cottage preaching, 46. + +Cough away! 233. + +Covenant with God, a, 78; A second, 277; The old, 364. + +Cow, buying a, 238. + +Creeds and sects, contests of Christian, 177. + +Customs, singular Welsh:—Burning the ravens’ nests, 191, 192; Delinquent +and public opinion, 23, 24; Funeral, a, 37; New Year’s, 24, 25; +Sin-eater, the, 23. + + * * * * * + +DARKNESS, conquest of the powers of, 380. + +David, sit down, 108. + +Davies of Swansea, 40; Character as a preacher, 202; Birth and parentage, +203; A self-made man, 203; Childhood, 203; Marriage, 204; Unites in +Church fellowship, 204; And Christmas Evans, 204; Religious convictions, +205; First sermon, 206; Ministry at Trefach, 206; Preaching at Denbigh, +207; Settles at Swansea, 208; Reforms the neighbourhood, 209; His +wonderful voice, 209; And the butchers, 210; Dealing with young +offenders, 210; And the sceptical captain, 212; A prophet of song, 212; +Popularity at Association Meetings, 214; A hymn-writer, 215; Last sermon, +216; Death and funeral, 216. + +Davies, J. P., and Christmas Evans, 281. + +Davies, the Rev. David, 44, 204, 252; Epigrams of, 253. + +Davies, Thomas Rhys, 232; Character of his preaching, 233; Pithy sayings, +233. + +Dawson, Billy, 110. + +Days, dark, 155. + +Deacon, a blundering, 22. + +Debt, a chapel, 297. + +Debts, chapel, 109; Journeys to collect for, 109, 115. + +Delinquent and public opinion, the, 23. + +Demoniac of Gadara, 123; Effects of the sermon, 129. + +Demosthenes, a Welsh, 187, 194. + +Denbigh, Thomas Jones of, referred to, 186. + +Depression, spiritual, 52. + +Discipline, a case of Church, 51; A letter on, 291. + +Dissenters, what Welsh have effected, 25. + +Doctor and the humble minister, the, London, 68. + +Doctrine, a definition, 251. + +Dogs, the pass of young, 120. + +Dream, a singular, 45, 69, 331. + +“Drive on!” 302. + +Drunkard and the goat, the, 218. + +Dyer, John, quoted, 36. + + * * * * * + +EARL, anecdote of a noble, 200. + +“Ecclesiastical Polity” quoted, 72. + +Edward II., tradition of, 263. + +Edwards family, the, 283. + +Edwards, Jonathan, referred to, 186. + +Eisteddfod, the, 11. + +Elias, John, character as a preacher, 17; Pure flame, 186; And Matthew +Wilks, 186; Soul and body, 187; Character and power of his eloquence, +187–190, 199; And the flax-dresser, 189; Illustrations of his power, 190; +Parentage, 190; First appearance in the pulpit, 190; As a young preacher, +191; Puts down a cruel custom, 191; At Rhuddlan fair, 193; Tremendous +character of his preaching, 194, 195; Lives in an atmosphere of prayer, +195; And the races, 196; A panorama of miracles, 196; Shall prey be taken +from the mighty? 197; And the noble earl, 200; Death and funeral, 201. + +England, great Welsh preachers unknown in, 166. + +Entertainment, apostolic, 111. + +Epigrams, 253. + +Epitaph on Dr. Priestly, 253; An old Welsh, 257. + +Eternity, 271; Time swallowed up in, 362. + +Evans, Christmas, A representative preacher, 5; And the pert young +minister, 5; compared to Bunyan, 41; Birth and parentage, 41; A cruel +uncle, 41; Accidents, 42; Loses an eye, 42; Youthful days, 43; +Conversion, 43; Mental improvement, 44; A singular dream, 45; Desires to +become a preacher, 45, 46; First sermon, 46; Growth of spiritual life, +47; Baptism, 47; His pastor, 48–52; Spiritual depression, 52; Enters the +ministry, 54; First charge, 54; Success at Lleyn, 55, 61; First preaching +tour, 56; Marriage, 57; Becomes famous, 57–59; Removes to Anglesea, 63; +Cildwrn cottage, 64; Poverty, 66; Scholarship and library, 67; Reading, +69; A dream, 59; And the Sandemanian heresy, 70–76; Deliverance, 76; A +wayside prayer, 77; First covenant with God, 78–81; Renewed success, 81; +The Graveyard sermon, 82–90; And Dr. Raffles, 92; Inner life, 104; A +bishop over many churches, 106; As a moderator in public meetings, 107; +And chapel debts, 109, 114; Journeys, 110–115; A life of poverty and +hospitality, 115; And his new hat, 118; Wayfaring, 119; resemblance to +Felix Neff, 121; Power of allegory, 131; Letter to a young minister, 142; +Reply to criticism, 152; Threat of legal prosecution, 155; Pathetic +prayer, 155; Death of his wife, 157; Beautiful character of his wife, +158; Troubles with the churches, 160; Is the game worth the candles? 160; +Healthfulness of spirit and consolation, 163; Aim of his life, 165; +Remarks on Daniel Rowlands, 225; And Evan Jones, 235; Removes to +Caerphilly, 261; arrival at Caerphilly, 264; Second marriage, 265; +Sermons at Caerphilly, 266; Second Covenant with God, 277; And Mr. J. P. +Davies, 281; Society at Caerphilly, 281; And Pye Smith’s “Scripture +Testimony to the Messiah,” 282; And “Beattie on Truth,” 283; Friends, +283; requested to publish a volume of sermons, thoughts thereon, 284; +Removes to Caernarvon, 287; And the impudent young minister, 288; +Presented with a gig, 288; And his horse, 289; Among old associations, +289; Preaches again in Anglesea, 290; Reflections in his journal, 291; +Letter on Church discipline, 291; Chapel debt again, 297; Starts on his +last journey, 297; Appeal to the churches, 297; On the journey, 298; Laid +up at Tredegar, 299; Conversations, 299; At Swansea, 300; “My last +sermon,” 302; Dying, last words, 302; Funeral, 303; As a man, 304–321; A +central figure in Welsh religious life, 304; A connecting link, 305; +Self-made, 305; Selling a horse, 307; Power of Sarcasm, 308; +Forgiveableness, 309; Faith in prayer, 310; Character of his sermons, +312; Memorable sayings, 312; As an orator, 313; Dealt with great truths, +316; Remarks on “Welsh Jumping,” 317; Characteristics as a preacher, +322–357; Use of parable, 322; Sermons born in solitude, 325; Imitators, +326; fervour of his preaching, 327; use of Scriptural imagery, 328; +Probable acquaintance with the “Sleeping Bard,” 329; The Bunyan of Wales, +330; A dream, 331; Place and claim to affectionate regard, 355. + +Evans, D. M., quoted, 22; Life of Christmas referred to, 116. + +Evans, Mary, 265. + +Eye? is the light in the, 236. + +Eye, losing one, 42. + + * * * * * + +FARMER, anecdote of a Welsh, 220. + +Father and daughter, a dying, 182. + +Father and Son glorified, 386; glorifies the Son, 391. + +Finished! it is, 366, 378–385. + +Fire and smoke, 185. + +Fishguard, William Davies of, 211. + +Flame, pure, 187. + +Flax-dresser, the audacious, 189. + +Forgiving, power of, 309. + +Friars, preaching, 231. + +Funeral custom, a Welsh, 37; An imposing, 201. + + * * * * * + +GIG, present of a, 288. + +Gilboa, a Welsh, 175, 176. + +Gleisiad, the, 259. + +Glynceiriog, John Jones of, 74, 76. + +God, a covenant with, 78; Character of, 274; A second covenant with, 277; +Serve the living, 376; A new and living way to come to, 380. + +“God’s better than man,” 220. + +_Gogoniant_, 59. + +“Golden Grove,” Taylor’s, 35. + +Goodness, infinite, 271. + +Gospel, preach the, 224. + +Graveyard sermon, the, 82; Scenes at the delivery, 84, 85; +Characteristics of, 90, 91. + +Griefs, depressing, 160. + +Griffith, Mr. Thomas, referred to, 299. + +Gryffyth of Caernarvon, anecdote of, 11. + + * * * * * + +HALL, ROBERT, anecdote of, 42; On the Graveyard sermon, 91; preaching of, +313. + +Harris, Howell, of Trevecca, 221; Power of his preaching, 222. + +Harwood, 175. + +Hat, story of a new, 118. + +Health, restoration to spiritual, 76–78. + +Hell, at the gates of, 69. + +Herbert, George, quoted, 274. + +Hill, Rowland, anecdotes of, 185, 240. + +Hind of the Morning, the, 92. + +“Historical Anecdotes of the Welsh Language” referred to, 16. + +Holiness, righteousness, and purity, 272. + +Holy Spirit glorifies Father and Son, the, 392. + +Hope, leader of a forlorn, 287. + +Horse, selling a, 307. + +Horseman, the mysterious, 28–32. + +Horsley, Bishop, referred to, 252. + +House, the man in the Steel, the, 334. + +Houses, haunted, 27. + +Hughes, Mr. Griffith, 284. + +Hughes, Rev. J., “History of Welsh Methodism,” 241. + +Hughes, Thomas, 241; And the vicar, 242; And the bully, 243. + +Hume, David, referred to, 188. + +Huntingdon’s “Bank of Faith” referred to, 117. + +_Hwyl_, the, 17, 59, 207. + +Hymns, character of Welsh, 20. + + * * * * * + +IGNORANCE, character of Welsh, 5, 6. + +Illustrations:—Accursed from Christ, to be, 150; Beginning at Jerusalem, +301; Bible regarded as a stone with seven eyes, 270; Cedar of God, the, +396; Church as an ark among the bulrushes, 337; Contests of Christian +creeds and sects, 177; Death as an inoculator, 340; Demoniac of Gadara, +123; Dream, a, 331; Ejaculatory prayer, 172; Father and Son glorified, +386; Finished redemption, 378; Four methods of preaching, 131; Gospel +mould, the, 332; Handwriting, the, 338; Hind of the morning, 92; Letter +on Church discipline, 291; Letter to a young minister, 142; Man in the +steel house, the, 334; Misplaced bone, the, 333; Parable of the birds, +343; Parable of the vine-tree, the thorn, etc., 344; Pious reflections, +291; Pithy sayings, 233; Purification of the conscience, 368; Remarks on +“Welsh Jumping,” 317; Reply to criticisms, 151; Resurrection of our Lord, +345; Satan walking in Dry Places, 177; Saul of Tarsus and his Seven +Ships, 332; Seeking the Young Child, 133; Shall prey be taken from the +mighty? 197; Their works do follow them, 275; They drank of that rock, +etc., 351; Time, 340; Time of reformation, 358; Timepiece, the, 342; +Trial of the witnesses, 267; Value of industry, 306; World as a +graveyard, 85. + +Imagery, use of scriptural, 328. + +Imitators, 326. + +Improvement, efforts at self-, 44, 45. + +Industry, value of, 306. + +Inscription, a garden, 257. + +Irving, Edward, referred to, 162. + + * * * * * + +JACK _bach_, 289. + +Johnson, Dr., quoted, 225. + +Jones, Catherine, 57. + +Jones, Evan, 234; As a preacher, 235; Friendship with Christmas Evans, +235. + +Jones of Ramoth, 71, 72. + +Jones, Rev. J., and the mysterious horseman, 28–32. + +Jones, Thomas, of Glynceiriog, 74; Sermon on Sandemanianism, 75, 76. + +Jones, Thomas, referred to, 184. + +Journal, reflections in, 291. + +Journey, a last, 297. + +Justice, satisfaction of divine, 379. + + * * * * * + +KEBLE quoted, 274. + +“Keep that which thou hast,” 296. + +Kilgerran, King Arthur’s castle at, 34. + + * * * * * + +LANGUAGE, the Welsh, 6, 7; Characteristics of, 14; Eliezer Williams on +the, 16; Proverbial character of, 178, 254; Theological, 315. + +Last day, sermon on the, 189. + +Lavater, wife of, referred to, 158. + +Lewis, William, and Davies of Swansea, 207. + +Library, Christmas Evans’s, 67. + +Link, a connecting, 305. + +“Little men,” the superstition of, 24. + +Llandilo, neighbourhood of, 35. + +Llandovery, vicar of, 217; vicarage, 219. + +Llanfaes, churchyard of, 201. + +Llangeitho, Daniel Rowland of, 221. + +Llangevni, great Association sermon at, 75. + +Lleyn, 53, 54; Christmas Evans at, 55, 61. + +Llwynrhydowain, church at, 43, 46. + +Loss, the great, 240. + +Lucre, a lover of, 116. + +Lyttleton, Lord, quoted, 15. + + * * * * * + +MABINOGION, the, 329. + +MacDonald, George, quoted, 72. + +Maesyberllan, Christmas Evans at, 54. + +Malkin, Mr., quoted, 37. + +Man, a self-made, 305. + +Man, Christmas Evans as a, 304–321. + +“Man of Ross” referred to, 249. + +Marry, whom to, 265. + +Men, the wise, 133. + +_Messiah_, the, quoted, 76. + +Methodism, men evoked by, 231. + +Methodist and vicar, 242. + +Might, infinite, 272. + +Mighty? shall prey be taken from the, 197. + +Milman, Dean, quoted, 311. + +Mind, character of the Welsh, 259. + +Minister, letter to a young, 142; An impudent young, 288. + +Miracles, a panorama of, 196, 197. + +Minstrel preaching, 327, 328. + +Moderator, Christmas as a, 107, 108. + +Money, Christmas Evans collecting, 112. + +Morgan, Mr. W., on Evans leaving Anglesea, 164; His life of John Elias +referred to, 189. + +Morris, Caleb, referred to, 38. + +Morris, David, 240. + +Morris, Ebenezer, 238; Buying a cow, 238; And the oath, 239; As a +preacher, 239; An anecdote of, 239; At Wotton-under-Edge, 240; His +father, 240. + +Mould, the Gospel, 332. + +Mynyddbach, David Davies at, 209. + + * * * * * + +NATURE, a lover of, 180. + +Neff, Felix, referred to, 121. + +Nevern, scenery at, 35. + +Nevern, vicar of, quoted, 194. + +New, all things become, 365. + +New year custom, a, 24, 25. + +Nomenclature, Welsh, 34, 35. + +Norway, a village church in, 19. + + * * * * * + +OATH, taking the, 239. + +Omniscience, 271. + +One-eyed lad, the, 57, 59. + +Opportunities, avail yourself of, 143. + +Orator, Christmas Evans as an, 313. + +Oratory, action in, 194. + +Owl, cry of the, 259. + + * * * * * + +PANTYCELYN, Williams of, 167. + +Parable, use of, 322. + +Parables:—Church an ark among the bulrushes, 337; Misplaced bone, 333; Of +the birds, 343; Of the vine, the thorn, etc., 344; Satan walking in dry +places, 137; Saul of Tarsus and his seven ships, 332; Seeking the young +Child, 133; Stranger knocking at the farmer’s door, 407; Timepiece, 342. + +Parr, Dr., quoted, 326. + +Parry, Mr., on Williams’s preaching, 180. + +Pastors, town, and Christmas Evans, 111, 112. + +Penhydd, Shenkin of, 236. + +“Pennillion,” singing, 257. + +Perkins, Rev. William, 205. + +Pigs, ask him the price of, 258. + +Pithy sayings, 233. + +Poem, a Welsh, 16, 17. + +Poetical quotations, 16, 18, 25, 33, 34, 36, 66, 72, 76, 115, 120, 138, +139, 163, 167, 169, 207, 220, 224, 232, 253, 256, 257, 259, 277, 311, +331. + +Poverty, and hospitality, a life of, 115, 117. + +Prayer, 143; A wayside, 77; A pathetic, 155; Ejaculatory, 172; A first, +173; Power of, 179; Living in an atmosphere of, 195; An old Welsh, 256; +faith in, 310. + +Prayers, character of some, 179. + +Preaching, Welsh, 3, 4; A national characteristic, 5; Character of Welsh, +17; Scenery of Welsh, 21; Cottage, 46; An illustration of Welsh, 60; +Allegoric, 90, 91; Value of great, 104; Four methods of, 131; Luminous, +172; Tremendous, 194; Pretty, 316. + +Preacher, how to be a good, 12; A breathless, 22; An eloquent Welsh, 60; +Hardships of the Welsh, 105; Importance of a blameless life to a, 142; +Personal appearance of the, 181; An anonymous, 207; A voluminous, 232; +and farmer, 236, 238. + +Preachers, Welsh, 4; And Welsh customs, 37; Great Welsh, unknown in +England, 166; Peculiar character of old Welsh, 231; Rough and ready, 232; +A cluster of Welsh, 248. + +Preparation, 359. + +Priestly, Dr., epitaph on, 253. + +Pritchard, Rees, 217; A drunkard, 218; Singular conversion, 218; Author +of the “Welshman’s Candle,” 219. + +Promise, an evangelical, 397. + +Prosecution, a threat of legal, 155. + +Proverb uttering, 233; A Welsh, 263. + +Proverbial power of the Welsh language, 178, 254. + +Proverbs, Welsh, illustrations of, 255. + +Providence, under the special care of, 28. + +Pugh, Dr., referred to, 194. + +Pugh, Philip, and Daniel Rowlands, 222. + +Pulpit, character of the Welsh, 5; Results of, 7; Jeremy Taylor’s, 36; +Study appearances in, 142; The quartette of the Welsh, 171; Notes in the, +186; A child in the, 190; Aids to power in the, 325; Use of parable in, +322; Confidence in, 331. + +Pwllheli, John Elias at, 195. + +Pyer, Rev. John, referred to, 245. + + * * * * * + +_Quarterly Review_ quoted, 16, 168. + +Quartette, a Welsh, 171. + +Questions of anxious import, 273. + + * * * * * + +RACECOURSE, singular dispersion on a, 196. + +Raffles, Dr., and the Graveyard sermon, 82; And Christmas Evans, 92; On +William Williams, 183. + +Ramoth, Rev. J. R. Jones of, 71, 72. + +Ravens’ nests, burning the, 191,192. + +Reading, prayer, and temptation, 142. + +Redemption, finished, 378. + +Rees, Dr., quoted, 40, 170, 202. + +Rees, William, referred to, 207. + +Reflections, an old man’s pious, 291. + +Reformation, the time of, 358. + +Remarks, closing, 355. + +Resurrection of our Lord, 345; Proof of His Divinity, 345; Proof of the +truth of Christianity, 346; Pledge of eternal life, 347. + +Resurrection, paid at the, 116. + +Rhuddlan fair, 192, 193. + +Rhydwilym, John Jones of, 74–76. + +Richard _bach_, 108. + +Richards, Dr. William, 250; definition of doctrine, 251. + +Richardson of Caernarvon, 190. + +Richter, Jean Paul, dead Christ of, 83. + +Rob Roy, a Welsh, 18. + +Robertson of Brighton referred to, 325. + +Rock, drinking at the, 351. + +Rowlands, Daniel, 221; And Philip Pugh, 222; Character of his preaching, +225; popularity and usefulness, 226. + +Ruskin, John, quoted, 162. + + * * * * * + +SABBATH-BREAKER convicted, 193. + +Sabbath evening scene, 122. + +Saints, Welsh, 34. + +“Sair doubts o’ Donald,” 74. + +Salary, a small, 63. + +Samuel, hope for the son of, 47. + +Sandemanian controversy, 70–76. + +Sarcasm, Christmas Evans’s power of, 308. + +Satan walking in dry places, 137. + +Saul of Tarsus and his seven ships, 332. + +Scenery influences the mind, 259; Welsh, 17, 18. + +Scotchwoman and her pastor, the, 176. + +Seeking the young Child, 133. + +Sentences, memorable, 312. + +_Seren Gomer_, contributions to, 150, 152. + +Sermon, preaching an old, 13; Against Sandemanianism, 75; The Graveyard, +82; A last, 216; A wonderful, 268; “This is my last,” 302; On the Welsh +hills, 407. + +Sermons, studied and unstudied, 12; Bardic character of Welsh, 12, 13; +Value of great, 104; Composition of, 144; Delivery of, 145, 150; Where +Welsh preachers composed their, 171; Thoughts on being requested to +publish a volume of, 284; _Silex scintillaus_, 312; Massive, 314; Living +in the presence of published, 324; Born in solitude, 225, 226; +Characteristics of Christmas Evans’s, 328; Illustrative, 358, 368, 378, +386, 396, 407. + +Services, uncertainty of Welsh, 22. + +Sheep-stealers and the collection, 113. + +Shenkin of Penhydd, 236; His plainness of speech, 237. + +“Silver Trumpet of Wales,” the, 170. + +Sin, sacrifice for accomplished, 379. + +Sin-eater, superstition of the, 23. + +Sinai, the ten cannon of, 193. + +Singing, Welsh, 20. + +“Sleeping Bard,” the, 329. + +Smith, Dr. Pye, “Scripture Testimony to the Messiah,” 282. + +Snails, the two, 308. + +Son equal to the Father, the, 387; Glorifies the Father, 389. + +Song, a prophet of, 212. + +Soul and body, 187. + +Spider, a Welsh poem on the, 16. + +Spirit, a healthy, 161. + +St. David, a tradition of, 8. + +St. David’s cathedral, 33. + +St. Govan, chapel of, 34. + +Stephen’s, Rhys, Life of Christmas Evans referred to, 43, 107, 164, 250, +266, 269. + +“Stop, Gabriel!” 188. + +“Stop! Silence!” 189. + +Stranger knocking at the farmer’s door, the, 407. + +Streams, Welsh, 18. + +Subject, singular mode of illustrating a, 236. + +Success, value of, 55. + +Sunday schools established in Wales, 228. + +Superstitions, Welsh, character of, 26; Corpse candles, 27; Little men in +green, 24; Mysterious horseman, 28; Sin-eater, 23. + +Swansea, David Davies of, 40, 46, 202; One hundred years since, 208; +Christmas Evans at, 300. + +Swearer, the, 210. + + * * * * * + +TAYLOR, JEREMY, in Wales, 35. + +Temptation, 143. + +Thinking and living, 21. + +Things that are shaking, 363. + +Thomas, Timothy, 48; Anecdotes of, 49, 50, 51, 52. + +Time, 340. + +Timepiece, the, 342, + +Tintagel, the Welsh, 34. + +Tour, Christmas Evans’s first preaching, 56. + +Translations, inadequacy of, 314. + +Travelling in Wales, 119, 120, 262. + +Trefach, ministry of Davies at, 206. + +Trevecca, Howell Harris of, 221. + +Triads, the Welsh, 178; Bardic, 254. + +Troubles, a wife’s, 115. + +Truths, seeing great, 316; Power of great, 317. + +Twm Shon Catty’s country, 18. + + * * * * * + +UNCLE, a cruel, 41–42. + +Usefulness the aim and end of preaching, 12. + + * * * * * + +VAUGHAN, Henry, referred to, 311. + +Velinvoel, Christmas Evans at, 51–59. + +Vicarage, an old Welsh, 219. + +Victory and triumph, the scene of, 361. + +“Vocation of the Preacher” referred to, 245. + +Voice, the human, 213. + +Vortigern, supposed resting-place of, 54. + +_Vox Humana_ stop, the, 213. + + * * * * * + +“WAESOME CARL” quoted, the, 72. + +Wales, comparatively unknown, 4; Moral and intellectual condition of, 7; +Old wild, 32, 33; Travelling in, 119, 120, 262; The Watts of, 167; +Singular practice in, 173; A rough time in, 191, 192; The Whitefield and +Wesley of, 221; Sunday schools established in, 228; Bibles for, 228; A +land of song, 257; A central figure in the religious life of, 304; The +Bunyan of, 330. + +Wales, wild, preachers of, 217; Rees Pritchard, 217; Howell Harris, 221; +Daniel Rowlands, 221; Charles of Bala, 227; ancient preachers +characterized, 231; Thomas Rhys Davies, 232; Evan Jones, 234; Shenkin of +Penhydd, 236; Ebenezer Morris, 238; David Morris, 240; Thomas Hughes, +241; A cluster of worthies, 248; Dr. Richards, 250; Davies of Castell +Hywel, 252. + +Walker, wonderful Robert, referred to, 118. + +War, season of actual, 360. + +Watts of Wales, the, 167. + +Wayfaring, 119. + +Welsh religious nature, the, 8, 9; Wrongs of the, 20, 21; Proverbs, 255; +Clannish character of the, 260; Jumpers, 317. + +Welshman, a monoglot, 174. + +“Welshman’s Candle,” 168, 218, 219. + +“White world,” the, 15. + +Whitefield, George, referred to, 186; his startling apostrophe, 188. + +“Wild Wales,” Borrow’s, quoted, 27, 218, 219. + +Wilks, Matthew, anecdote of, 186. + +Williams, Daniel, 169. + +Williams, Evan, 169. + +Williams of Pantycelyn, 167; career of, 167, 169. + +Williams of Wern, 167, 170; Advice of, 12; Character and power of his +preaching, 17, 170; Order of mind, 171; Method of composing his sermons, +171; Illustration of manner, 172; Birth and parentage, 173; Religious +conviction, 173; First prayer, 173; Education, 174; settles at Wern, 174; +Extent of his pastorate, 175; Harwood, 175; Admiration for Jacob Abbot, +176; Mind and method, 176; Illustration, 177; Proverbial utterances, 178; +Prayer, 179; Eloquence, 180; Love of nature, 180, 182; Appearance when +preaching, 181; Personal appearance, 181; Dying, 182; His daughter, 182; +Death, 183; Dr. Raffles on, 183; Characteristics of his preaching, 183. + +Williams, Peter, 169. + +Williams, Rev. W., “Welsh Calvinistic Methodism” referred to, 241. + +Williams, Rowland, 38. + +Williamses, a family of, 167. + +Wisdom, divine, 273. + +Witnesses, trial of the, 267. + +Words, last, 302. + +Wordsworth, referred to, 118. + +Works, dead, 375. + +Works do follow them, their, 275. + +Worthies, a cluster of Welsh, 248. + +Wotton-under-edge, 240. + +Wrong, altogether, 72. + +Wyn, Elis, “Sleeping Bard” of, 329. + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + Hazell Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. + + + + +Footnotes. + + +{23} See Note at end of Chapter, _page_ 39. + +{410} _Bach_ is a Welsh term of affection. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS EVANS*** + + +******* This file should be named 41480-0.txt or 41480-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/4/8/41480 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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