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