Mr. Evans, in speaking of this solemn transaction and its influence upon
his spirit, subsequently observes: “I felt a sweet peace and tranquility
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;
from whose dwelling the painful dread of poverty and want had been for
ever banished away.”
Thus “strengthened with might in the inner man,” he labored with renewed
energy and zeal, and showers of blessings descended upon his labors. In
two years, his ten preaching places in Anglesea were increased to twenty,
and six hundred converts were added to the church under his care. “The
wilderness and solitary place were glad for them, and the desert rejoiced
and blossomed as the rose.”
STUDYING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
Mr. Evans made several visits to Liverpool, Bristol, and other parts of
England. On these occasions he was frequently solicited to preach in
English, to which he several times consented, to the great gratification
of his English friends. These sermons evinced the same energy of
thought, and the same boldness of imagery, as those which he preached in
Welsh; but in the power of his peculiar delivery, they were inevitably
far inferior. His brethren in England were much delighted with his
performances, and said it was “no wonder the Welsh were warm under such
preaching;” but his language was broken and hesitating, and they could
scarcely have any conception of his animation and energy when he spoke in
his vernacular tongue.
His success induced him to commence a systematic study of the English
language, that he might be able to preach in it with greater freedom and
effect. He could read English before, and was somewhat familiar with the
best English authors of his day; but never acquainted himself with the
grammar of the language till he was thirty-three years of age. But read
his own account of the matter:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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