Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales: His country, his times, and his contemporariesHood, Edwin Paxton
History
Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales: His country, his times, and his contemporaries
Hood, Edwin Paxton
Evans, Christmas, 1766-1838
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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