In conversation he was always careful of the feelings of others. He
would never employ a sarcastic remark, but for the purpose of merited
rebuke. “It is better,” said he, “to keep sarcasms pocketed, if we
cannot use them without wounding the feelings of a friend.” But he was
capable, when occasion required, of wielding this weapon with terrible
effect. Take the following instances:—
Just before his removal from Cardiff to Caernarvon, he was conversing on
the contemplated change in a circle of several ministers. His labors had
been solicited in two or three other places, and the company were
canvassing the comparative claims of the different churches. A
feeble-minded young man present, who “thought more highly of himself than
he ought to think,” said:—“It is my opinion, Father Evans, that you had
better go to Caernarvon. It is not likely your talents would suit either
of the other places, but I think you might do very well at Caernarvon.”
Mr. Evans opened his large eye upon the speaker, and replied;—“And hast
_thou_ peeped? When didst thou creep from the shell?”
Once, two ministers, of different sects, were disputing in his presence
on what he deemed an unimportant matter of ecclesiastical discipline.
One of them asked:—“What say you, Mr. Evans?” Mr. Evans replied:—“I saw
two boys quarrelling over two snails. One of them insisted that his
snail was the better, because it had horns; while the other as
strenuously argued for the superiority of his, because it had none. The
boys were very angry and vociferous, but the two snails were friends.”
The disputants burst into a hearty laugh, and the debate ended.
A shallow atheist was ridiculing the idea of a God, because, as he
alleged, he had no sensible evidence of his being. Mr. Evans
answered:—“My friend, the mole in the meadow has never seen a king; shall
he therefore say there is no king? O thou atheistic mole! thou hast
never travelled out of thy own narrow field; and if thou hadst, thou hast
no eyes to see with; and wilt thou dare to say there is no God? Dost
thou think all others as blind as thyself? All that thou canst say is,
that thou dost not see God, and dost not wish to see him. How dost thou
know that the being of a God is not so manifest on the other side of the
river of death, that no doubt is entertained concerning it throughout all
the expanse of eternity? Can the earth-mole say there is no grand Lama
in Thibet? Poor worm! thou must travel through the gates of death, and
fathom the bottomless pit, and measure the land of destruction, and scale
the very heaven of heavens, and surround all the borders of time and
eternity, before thou canst assure thyself there is no God!”
PULPIT TALENTS AND LABORS.
As a preacher, Mr. Evans was very peculiar. No translation of his
sermons can give the English reader an adequate idea of their force and
beauty in the original.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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