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 https://archive.org/details/lifeministryofre01 evan 
 
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MORRIS, 
 
 CALEB 
 
CALEB MORRIS, 1833. 
 
 CALEB MORRIS, 1847. CALEB MORRIS, 1890. 
 
The Lite and Ministry 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Rev. CALEB MORRIS, 
 
 WHO WAS MINISTER OF THE TABERNACLE, NARBERTH ; 
 
 AND OF FETTER LANE CHAPEL, LONDON. 
 
 BY THE - é yr 
 Reve. 2YSS Li, EVANS, M.A... B:Sc., 
 Lecturer in Hebrew at the University College of South Wales anti \ 
 Monmouthshire ; 
 and Minister of New Trinity Church, Canton, Cardiff. % 
 
 x 
 
 TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THE GOOD IS AN ACT OF PIETY.” 
 
 DLonoon ; 
 ALEXANDER anvd SHEPHEARD, LTb., 
 FURNIVAL STREET, HoLBorn, E.C. 
 
 1902. 
 
Div: Sch, 
 953.2 
 
 PREBPAGE. 
 
 I Do not suppose that any one who knew Caleb 
 Morris will require a word of apology for the appear- 
 ance of his biography. The natural question is rather, 
 “Why has it been delayed so long?” Many things 
 account for the delay. His public work practically 
 finished fifteen years before the close of his life, so 
 that even when he died his service seemed to be in the 
 distant past. Moreover, he spent the eventide of his 
 life in a quiet, secluded district in Wales, far away 
 from the scenes of his ministry and the men who had 
 come under the spell of his influence. It was also 
 known that he was very much opposed to the publica- 
 tion of his sermons, and this may have led some to 
 suppose that he would also disapprove of a biography. 
 I do not think there was any real justification for such 
 a supposition, for though he burned all the notes of 
 his sermons, he left behind him a number of diaries 
 which are of very great value to his biographer. His 
 nephew, the Rev. Caleb Gwion, of Milford, was in 
 a* 
 
iv 
 
 possession of them, and there was a general expecta- 
 tion that he would publish a biography to his uncle; 
 but the years passed and the book did not appear. On 
 being asked why he did not fulfil the general expecta- 
 tion, he said that “he felt quite unable to do him 
 justice, and thought it better to have no biography 
 than a book that was unworthy of his uncle’s name 
 and fame.” 
 
 I had been pressed for many years to undertake the 
 work on the ground that I was from the same parish, 
 and had been brought up in the same atmosphere, but 
 I had not the time required at my disposal ; moreover, 
 I did not feel equal to the serious task. However, 
 about three years ago, I paid a visit to the old neigh- 
 bourhood, and as I attended the services at the quiet 
 chapel on Sunday, looked on Caleb Morris’s name on 
 the tablet on the wall, and stood to gaze on his 
 monument in the burial ground, and listened to the 
 laments of the older people because no biography had 
 been written, I heard what seemed to me the call of 
 duty, and decided to do what I could to preserve his 
 memory in his fatherland. At first I thought of a 
 small book dealing with three worthies of the district 
 —Caleb Morris, John Evans and Simon Evans—but 
 as the material grew, I decided to devote the volume 
 to Caleb Morris alone. The book became much larger 
 than I had anticipated, for the biography ran to over 
 200 pages. 
 
Vv 
 
 The reception which it had in Wales was remark- 
 able for its cordiality, and very soon I was urged to 
 issue an English edition. I hesitated long, for, among 
 other reasons, I wanted to complete some work which 
 I began years ago; but at last I decided to yield to 
 the request of many brethren, and the result is the 
 book now presented to the reader. The general lines 
 on which it is constructed are the same as in the Welsh 
 volume, but it contains much new material, and has 
 been written from a somewhat different point of 
 view. Things which would be of interest to Welsh 
 readers only have been omitted; the chief difference, 
 however, lies in the additions which have been made. 
 The volume has become much larger than I expected. 
 Possibly some of the things inserted might have been 
 omitted ; but I thought it better to err on the side of 
 excess than of deficiency, for those who think there is 
 too much can pass over what does not interest them. 
 
 I have sought to place Caleb Morris before the 
 reader as he was, and have been specially anxious to 
 present a picture of his inner life which is so vividly 
 pourtrayed in his diaries. Brought up as I was in a 
 district where he was almost worshipped, I could not 
 be anything but an admirer; I can, however, truly 
 say that my admiration has increased the more I 
 have looked into his wonderful character; and my 
 simple aim has been to set forth his great personality 
 in all its lights and shadows. 
 
vi 
 
 My indebtedness to those who have helped me is: 
 very great. To the Rev. Caleb Gwion, who lived to 
 see the Welsh edition, and expressed himself satisfied 
 with it, but who was called to his reward last Spring, 
 I owe more than I can tell. He gladly gave me 
 information concerning his uncle, and lent me all the 
 diaries that had been preserved, and other books and 
 manuscripts. Mrs. Gwion has also kindly allowed me 
 to make use of the letters from Caleb Morris to Mr.. 
 Gwion, which are in her possession. 
 
 My next debt is due to the Rev. H. Gwion Jones, 
 Llandderfel, the son of Caleb Gwion’s youngest sister, 
 Joyce. Her husband, the Rev. David Jones, was the 
 minister of Penygroes during the last years of Caleb 
 Morris’s life; he copied many of his MSS., and also. 
 preserved some of his papers. These have been 
 willingly placed at my disposal by the Rey. H.. 
 Gwion Jones. 
 
 To describe all the help I have received would be a 
 long process ; I believe that the names of most of my 
 chief helpers are attached to their contributions as. 
 they occur in the volume. 
 
 My special thanks are due to the Rev. Robert 
 Davey, of Streatham, and the Rev. T. W. Chignell, of 
 Exeter, for valuable notes and reminiscences ; also to 
 the Rev. D. Anthony, B.A., Brighton ; the Rev. John 
 
Vii 
 
 Lewis, Tenby; the Rev. F. Fox Thomas, Reigate, who 
 died while the book was passing through the press; 
 the Rev. J. Lloyd James, March; Dr. Pan Jones, 
 Mostyn ; the Rev. P. W. Darnton, B.A.; and the Rev. 
 J. Morlais Jones, for much help rendered. The 
 assistance given by Mrs. Adeney, of Clapham, and Miss 
 Diplock, of Hastings, I highly appreciate. Mr. Stephen 
 Rees, Felinuchaf; Mr. Simon Picton, Hirwain; Mr. 
 David James, Porth ; Mr. W. L. Lovegrove, Hounslow ; 
 and Mr. Dyer, Liverpool, have sent me contributions 
 of great interest, and it would not be right for me to 
 omit mentioning my aged father as one of my most 
 efficient helpers. Books have been lent to me by a 
 large number of sympathisers whom I cannot name 
 one by one. Mr. Arthur Pye-Smith has kindly 
 placed at my disposal the records of the old Fetter 
 Lane Chapel that are extant, and has lent the blocks 
 of the entrance to the Chapel and of its interior, also 
 of the photograph of Caleb Morris which forms the 
 frontispiece. The Rev. T.G. Crippen, of the Memorial 
 Hall, has taken much trouble in aiding me. I am 
 indebted for views and photographs to Mr. E. Ceredig 
 Evans, Cardigan; Mr. A. G, Ames, secretary of 
 Fetter Lane Church, Leyton; Miss Anne Rees, 
 Felinuchaf; and Mrs. Eunice Williams, Port Talbot, 
 Caleb Morris’s niece. And, finally, I wish to acknow- 
 ledge the great care with which my brother-in-law, 
 Mr. R. S. Forrester, M.A., Swansea, has corrected the 
 proof-sheets. 
 
Vill 
 
 The above list shows that a great quantity of 
 material has been placed at my disposal, and I have 
 not omitted anything that seemed to throw light on 
 the history and character of Caleb Morris. I have 
 also consulted, as far as I could, all the notices of him 
 that have appeared. In English, the chief are those 
 in the “Homilist,” the “Preacher’s Lantern,” the 
 “ Pulpit Memorials,” and Dr. Waddington’s “ Congrega- 
 tional History.” I have also made use of items of 
 intelligence from the Patriot and the Hvangelical 
 Magazine. My chief source in Welsh was the 
 excellent sketch in “Hanes Eglwysi Annibynol 
 Cymru” by the late Dr. John Thomas, of Liverpool. 
 
 I have mentioned my authority for all the chief 
 statements, and when I have inserted a mere rumour 
 I have distinctly said so. It would be too much to 
 claim perfect accuracy for the narrative, but I venture 
 to hope that the errors as to matters of fact are few 
 and insignificant. In matters of opinion and judgment 
 IT can truly say that I have endeavoured to be fair and 
 impartial. 
 
 It may be advisable to indicate briefly the plan of 
 the book. In the first three chapters an attempt is 
 made to describe the environment in which Caleb 
 Morris was reared. I hesitated to insert these 
 chapters in the Welsh edition, but the universal 
 verdict on them was so favourable that I could not 
 
1x 
 
 omit them from the English edition. I found great 
 difficulty, however, with the third chapter, as I could 
 not assume that the readers had any special know- 
 ledge of the History of Religion in Wales, and I 
 decided to insert a short sketch of religion in the 
 Principality, from the Reformation to the beginning 
 of the Nineteenth Century. I am quite conscious of 
 its imperfections, but it may claim to be a fair 
 synopsis of the chief influences which had co- 
 operated to form the religious condition of Wales in 
 the Nineteenth Century. After the introductory 
 chapters, the chronological order is followed, and the 
 diary is used largely for all the periods where its aid 
 was available. In the closing chapters the main 
 characteristics of Caleb Morris as a thinker and 
 preacher are sketched. 
 
 The careful reader will probably notice a difference 
 between the later and the earlier style of Caleb Morris. 
 Let it be remembered that English was a foreign 
 language to him, as it was to the writer of this 
 biography, and that many years had to elapse ere he 
 acquired a complete mastery over it. Up to the end 
 of his life he felt diffident about his power of expressing 
 himself in English, and this was one of the reasons 
 why he shrank from publishing his thoughts. Whether 
 there was any real ground for that shrinking I leave 
 to the judgment of the reader. 
 
xX 
 
 In concluding this labour of love, I can only express: 
 the hope that the reader of the book may enjoy some 
 degree of the pleasure and inspiration which I had in 
 preparing it. 
 
 D. TYSSIL EVANS. 
 
 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, CARDIFF, 
 December, 1901. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE. 
 
 Awone THE Prescetty Hits soc . 
 Rivers, Cliffs, and Mountains. The FSaie Ten. 
 View from Prescelly and Voeldrigarn. Cairns and Cromlech. 
 Arthur’s Quoit and Ogham Stones; Castles and Crosses. 
 Influence of Mountain Scenery on St. Brynach, Williams of 
 Pantycelyn, Dr. Thomas, of Stockwell, and Oaleb Morris. 
 
 CHAPTER. II. 
 WHITECHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE 
 
 Descent of the Welsh and their Chavaatarnten, Seen 
 Influence. Hard Conditions of Life. Poor Soil and Primitive 
 .Farming. Simplicity in Food and Dress. Industry. Co- 
 operation. Hospitality. Sympathy. Lack of Education and 
 Literature. Homely Virtues. Absence of Crime. Modern 
 Changes. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Tue Renicious ENVIRONMENT 
 
 Slow Progress of the ipetonmatiene in Wales. Puritan 
 Influence. ~ Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and 
 Quakers. Dr. John Evans’ Statistics of Nonconformity. 
 The Great Religious Revival, Griffith Jones, Llanddowror. 
 Preaching Tours and Travelling Teachers. Howell Davies, 
 of Llysyvran. Daniel Rowlands, of Llangeitho. Howell 
 Harris. Williams of Pantycelyn. John Wesley and George 
 Whitefield. Methodist Associations and Societies. Eclipse 
 and Death of Howell Harris. Death of Daniel Rowlands and 
 Williams of Pantycelyn. Thomas Charles, of Bala—Preacher 
 and Teacher, Organiser and Author. Mary Jones and the 
 Bible. Formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 Controversy about Ordination. First Ordination of 
 Methodist Ministers. Withdrawal of Clergymen. Progress 
 of Calvinistic Methodism. Wesleyan Methodism in Wales. 
 Presbyterians become Independents or Unitarians. Great 
 Strength of Baptists and Independents in Pembrokeshire. The 
 Mother Church of the Baptists at Rhydwilym. Kilvowyr. 
 Controversy about Laying on of Hands. Ebenezer and its 
 Remarkable Minister. Blaenyffos. Bethel. Bethabara. 
 Mother Church of Indépendents at Henllan, Rhydyceisiaid. 
 Glandwr. John Griffiths. Penygroes. Hebron. William 
 Evan. Brynberian. Henry George. Chief Factors in the 
 Formation of Caleb Morris’s Religious Character. 
 
 12 
 
 28 
 
xii 
 CHAPTER IV PAGE 
 Home AND Earty EXPERIENCES... kee ae see oo ghS 
 Parentage. Brothers and Sisters. Park-Yd. The Simple 
 Home. First School. Uncongenial Tasks. Youthful Delights. 
 Sea-side Trips. Kilgerran Fair. Longing for the Town 
 
 School. The Books of His Boyhood. Moral Training. 
 Religious Influences at Penygroes and Brynberian. ; 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ScHoois AND COLLEGE ... ans doc Pr tee ae aca dO 
 On the Tivy, the Cleddau, and the Towy. 
 
 First Journey to Cardigan. Leaving Home. Rapid Pro- 
 gress at the Cardigan Grammar School. _ Haverfordwest 
 Grammar School. Parting of the Ways.’ Lawyer, Excise 
 Officer, Schoolmaster, or Preacher? Becomes a Church 
 Member. Early Piety. First Sermon. Urged to Prepare for 
 the Christian Ministry. Journey to Carmarthen. Sir Lewis 
 Morris’s Description of Carmarthen and Neighbourhood. 
 Grammar School. Presbyterian College. Principal David 
 Peter. Clynadda. College Curriculum. Love for Philosophy. 
 Thoughts on Preaching. College Friendship. Invitation to 
 Narberth. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 ORDINATION AT NaRBERTH ... hoe “oo ome oe oan 08 
 Narberth in Romance and Story, and in the Nineteenth 
 Century. A Duoglot Town. Solemn Ordination Services. 
 
 Confession of Faith. Deep Impressions. Principal Peter. 
 Warlow, of Milford. Morgan Jones, of Trelech. 
 
 CHAPTER VIl. 
 Tae Dawn or His Mmistey... . 96 
 
 Intense Earnestness. His Diary. Zeal, Gloom, and Popu- 
 larity. Voyage to Bristol. First Glimpse of England. George 
 Burder. James Parsons. Missionary Zeal. Storm at Sea. 
 Welcome Home. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Sout Strrueeizs ... “a ese ese eee eee aco 
 
 Great Activity. _Despondent Moods. ‘‘Cymanfa”’ at 
 Penygroes. Annual Meetings of the Carmarthen College. 
 His Vow. The Joy of Service. Catechising Schools. Grieved 
 at the State of Religion. Longing for a Revival. Dissatisfied 
 with Himself. Soul Dissection. Self-depreciation. High 
 Standard. The Difficult Ascent. 
 
xiil 
 
 CHAPTER IX. PAGE 
 
 On THE WING ... 2 
 Letters to the Chen at Neaiinedbary: sae "5 ine Ghaeh ue 
 the Tabernacle, Haverfordwest. First Visit to London. ‘‘A 
 Supply” at Craven Chapel. Preaches at Fetter Lane. Visit 
 to Banbury. Letter to Mr. Edward Swaine. Letter to the 
 Rev. George Burder. Supplies Fetter Lane for a Month. 
 Speaks at the Annual Meeting of the London Missionary 
 Society. Accepts the Co-pastorate of Fetter Lane Church. 
 Prospects. 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Fiest Montus at Ferrer Lane 
 Begins his Ministry at Fetter Lane een iM ebiakony 
 of Fetter Lane Church. The Rev. George Burder. The London 
 of 1827. Religious Characteristics. Famous Ministers and 
 Preachers of the Period. Fetter Lane Chapel Without and 
 Within. Recognition at Fetter Lane. Reflections. Enthu- 
 siasm and Industry. New Friends and Old. His Views on 
 Preaching, Aim, Style, and Delivery. Passion for Souls. 
 Recreations. Review. 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Visit To WaLEs IN 1828 
 Sunday in Bristol. Robert Hall, Cecdeeni) lone Joys. 
 Retrospect. Narberth. Haverfordwest and Penygroes. Medi- 
 tations on Aversion to Prayer and on Preaching. Letter to 
 the Church at Fetter Lane, Return to London. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 SUNSHINE AND SHADOW ac sce ane oe ae : 
 Prayer and Service. Meditation on Preaching. Religious 
 Revival. Another Journey to Wales. Reflections. Visit 
 to the Parish Church. Evil of False Argumentsin Religion. 
 New Year Consecration. Serious Illness. First Sermon 
 after Recovery. Lines on his Recovery, by the Rev. W. 
 Griffith, Holyhead. Death of the Rev. Thomas Stevenson, 
 Gate Street Chapel. Funeral Address. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Tue Op Pastor anD THE NEW x 
 
 Changes in Church and State. Tue Heme “Death 
 
 of George Burder. Caleb Morris’s Feelings. Becomes Sole 
 
 Pastor of Fetter Lane. Enlargement of Chapel. New 
 
 Weigh House Chapel. Welsh Chapel Debts. Ventnor, Isle 
 
 of Wight. Another Serious Ilmess. Long Letter to the 
 Church from Wales. 
 
 5g LOE 
 
 . 139 
 
 sa) L60 
 
 o. 168 
 
 » 184 
 
XIV 
 CHAPTER XIV. PAGE 
 
 ‘Wazs op Lonpoy ... fi nae wae 205 oct ... 204 
 
 Letters to the Rev. J. Davies, Glandwr. Invitation to the 
 Principalship of Brecon College. Hesitation. Strong Appeal 
 from the Church. Decides to Remain in London. Extracts 
 from the Minutes of the Deacons of Fetter Lane Church. 
 Reconsecration and Revival. Mission Services at Surrey Chapel. 
 Address on the Connection between Prayer and the Bestow- 
 ment of Divine Influence. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ‘(COMRADESHIP ... te cj He r . 218 
 
 The ‘‘ Patriot’’ on Caleb Morris asa Friend. Letter to the 
 Rev. J. Davies, Clapton Park. Friendship with Nun Morgan 
 Harry. A Suspicious Sermon. Death of Nun Morgan Harry. 
 Foneral Sermon. ‘‘Servant of the Age.” Memoir to his 
 Friend. Hearing hisown Sermon. Tokens of Esteem. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Vistr To WaLEs Iv 1843... an eo Sos ae oes 228 
 Deathbed and Sanctuary ; Moorland and Sea. 
 
 Carmarthen and Cardigan. With his Brother on the Borders 
 of Death. Meditations on the Rhos. Sunday at Penygroes; 
 School, Sermon and ‘‘Cwrdd Bach.’’ Table Talk. Four Noted 
 Welshmen. Ordination Prayer at Brynberian. Caleb Morris 
 and David Rees, Llanelly. The Influence of a Pastor. The 
 Death Chamber; Selecting a Grave. Funeral and Sacrament. 
 At the Tabernacle, Haverfordwest. Milford and Broadhaven. 
 Recreation. Saturday Anxieties. Administering the Lord’s 
 Supper to Baptists. Thoughts on Christian Union. 
 Beccaism. Long Speech at Penygroes. Significance of the 
 Movement. Parting with his aged Father. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Tur GUIDE AND INSPIRER OF YouTH ses : wow) aa 
 
 Sunday-school and Day Schools at Fetter Lane. The 
 Teacher. Tribute of a Scholar, Mr. Henry Dyer. Magnetic 
 Power over the Young. Testimonies of Mrs. Adeney and Mrs. 
 Diplock, Robert Hughes, Rev. David Griffith, Rev. John 
 Lewis, Dr. Reynolds, and Professor Burditt, Rev. Robert 
 Davey and Rev. T. W. Chignell, Sclections from Mrs. 
 Diplock’s Note-Book. 
 
XV 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE 
 ‘CHURCH AND HomME ... ies ee .. 264 
 
 Meditation at the Close of the Year. Varied Service. Chapel- 
 keeper and Precentor. Failure of Health. Sermons on the 
 Letters to the Seven Churches. Dissatisfied with the Religious 
 Thought and Practices of the Day. The Evangelical Alliance, 
 Great Sermon at Banbury. Devotion to his Family. Corre- 
 spondence with Caleb Gwion. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Last Years or His Ministry ve 56c pas oe ... 280 
 
 Conversation, Visitors—Rev. J. Young, M.A., Mr. J. D. 
 Morrell, Henry Allon, B. Brown. Topics of Conversation. 
 Books Read—Philosophy, History, Poetry, Gospels. Declin- 
 ing Health. Sketch of a Service at Fetter Lane, by the Rev. 
 A.J. Morris. Criticism of the Treatment of Caleb Morris in 
 Dr. Waddington’s ‘‘ Congregational History,’’ The Facts. 
 Resignation. Church Refuses to Accept it. Tour on the 
 Continent. Baptist Noel. Stories. Characteristic Letter to 
 the Rey. J. Davies, Clapton Park. Theological Periodicals. 
 Michaelmas Summer. Ordination of Caleb Gwion at Brecon. 
 Resignation of Fetter Lane Pastorate. Eccleston Chapel. 
 Testimony of Mr. W. L. Lovegrove, Services in his Private 
 House. Overwhelmed. Was he Responsible for his 
 Despondency? Over-intensity of his Harly Days. In- 
 herited Disposition. Views of the “‘ Patriot’? and Dr. David 
 Thomas. His Wonderful Fascination. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 KVENTIDE cen ae coe eee eee aes a0 . 807 
 
 Temptations of Retirement, Abstinence from Marriage. 
 Why? Reverence for Womanhood. The Kindness and 
 Generosity of Women. Parting Gift to the Rev. T. W. 
 Chignell. Letter Written on the Last Day of 1855. Settles 
 Down at Coedcenlas. Critic and Helper. The Country 
 Gentleman. Generosity to the Poor. Interest in Children. 
 Coedcenlas Pennies. The White Mare of Coedcenlas. Voel- 
 drigarn and the Pipe. Reading. Influence on the Young. 
 Treatment of Students. ‘Testimonies of Dr. Pan Jones, Rev. 
 W. Gilbert Evans, Rev. J. M. Prytherch, and Dr Herber 
 Evans. Charming Talker. Views on Preaching. The Ser- 
 vices at Penygroes and Discussions on the Way Home. Expo- 
 sitions and Prayers. ‘‘ Cymanfa” at Bethel and Blaenyffos. 
 Long Services. Last Sermon at Narberth. The Past and the 
 Future. Sunset Clouds and Glories. The Last Voyage. 
 Embarks at Cardigan Bar. Funeral at Penygroes. Nature's 
 Tears. Monument. The Sacred Spot. 
 
Xxvl 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. PAGE 
 
 THE STUDENT AND THINEER .. ne ase ss bon ain 
 Importance and Difficulty of Mental History. The Diligent 
 Student and Fresh Thinker. Compared with Horace Bushnell, 
 John Foster, Bishop Wilberforce, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 
 The Trend of his Thought. Close Connection with Dr. Young’s 
 “‘Christ of History.”” Sketch of the Argument of the Book 
 Theological Position. Interview with Rev. T. W. Chignell. 
 The Resurrection of Christ. False Inferences from the Incident. 
 Not a Unitarian. Rev. Robert Davey on him as a Thinker. 
 His Views on ‘‘ The Soul’ and ‘‘ The Book of Revelations.” 
 Notes on ‘‘The Atonement” and on the Bible. The Human 
 and Divine Elements in the Bible. The Gospels and the 
 Epistles. The Unique Authority and Glory of Christ. The 
 Danger of the Expression ‘‘Going Jack to Christ.” The 
 Breadth and Sanity of his Thinking. The Essential Connec- 
 tion of the Church, the Bible, Christ, and Christian Experience. 
 The Dynamic Aspect of Christianity. Its Complete Justifica- 
 tion in the Future, but its Tendency now Clear. His Probable 
 Attitude towards Evolution and Biblical Criticism. The Points 
 on which he Laid the Chief Stress. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII, 
 
 337 
 
 THe PREACHER... ne ae aS wae es se ... 369 
 Overwhelming Testimony to his Wonderful Preaching. A 
 Preacher of the First Rank. A Rare Combination of Gifts. 
 His Presence and Power of Expression. Pulpit Manner. His 
 Eloquence ; Tender, Dignified, Thrilling. Freshness and 
 Fulness of Thought. Suggestiveness. Unique Expounder 
 of Scripture. The Instinct for Souls. Mysticism. Spiritu- 
 ality. Low Moods. His Public Prayers. Soaring Heaven- 
 ward. Farewell! ce 
 APPENDIX. 
 Cates Morris's Szrmons ae aoe . 385 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 Portraits or Cares Morris... ae o ... (Frontispiece) 
 Cromircu, at Pentre Evan... an is Ck: 
 VOELDRIGARN, FROM COEDCENLAS 7 
 On THE Tivy, CenartH Fats 75 
 Entrance To Ferrer Lane CHAprEn 143 
 Interior oF Ferrer Lane CHAPEL... 148 
 Tue PREscELLY Rance FRoM THE RuH6s 231 
 Facsmore oF Cates Moersnis’s Hanpwritine 276 
 View oF GWBERT ON CaRDIGAN Bar 333 
 Monument ovER Cates Morris’s GRAVE ... 335 
 
Che Life ano Ministry 
 
 or 
 
 CALEB MORRIS. 
 
 Hmong the Prescelly hills. 
 
 ALEB MORRIS was born at Park-yd, in the parish of 
 Whitechurch, which lies at the foot of Voeldrigarn, 
 one of the heights of the Prescelly mountains 
 
 stretching across North Pembrokeshire from east to west. 
 As the region lies outside the well-trodden path of the 
 tourist, it is necessary to indicate its main features, if the 
 reader is to have any distinct idea of the kind of place in 
 which the subject of this biography spent his early days. 
 
 Pembroke, together with the adjoining counties of 
 Cardigan and Carmarthen, formed in olden times the division 
 of Wales known by the name Dyved, the Roman Demetia, 
 and there are many reasons for preserving this ancient 
 grouping. With the exception of South Pembrokeshire, 
 these portions of the Principality are very closely related in 
 the structure of the ground, the nature of the scenery, and 
 the characteristics of the inhabitants. 
 
2 
 
 The soil consists of Cambrian and Silurian rocks variegated 
 with intrusions of igneous masses. The elevations are of 
 moderate height, seldom rising above 1,500 feet, and are for 
 the most part bleak and bare; but between them many 
 charming glens and picturesque valleys bend and fold 
 themselves. 
 
 The Towy and the Tivy flow through scenes of unique 
 loveliness. Who can describe the sweet restfulness of these 
 delightful retreats which lie far away from the rush of 
 modern life! They are seldom disturbed by any intruder ; 
 and if some human form does appear, it is in quaint, old- 
 world aspect, dressed in curious garb, and trilling the 
 plaintive sounds of an ancient speech, Here may be seen 
 the primitive coracle, which carries a man across the stream 
 one moment, and is carried by the man the next. Where 
 else can we find so many traces of the simple life of the days 
 of yore ? 
 
 Pembrokeshire cannot show any river as enchanting as 
 the Towy and the Tivy; but it also has its beautiful 
 streams, such as the romantic Cych, which separates 
 Pembroke from Carmarthen, the scene of a celebrated 
 hunting expedition described in the Mabinogion ; the. lovely 
 Nevern and the picturesque Gwaun, flowing from the 
 Prescelly hills to the Irish Sea ; and above all the Cleddaus— 
 the Eastern Cleddau rushing by the episcopal ruins of 
 Llawhaden and along Canaston Wood, with the Western 
 Cleddau hurrying through many delightful spots “to 
 lovingly join” its eastern sister, ere both unitedly enter 
 the magnificent haven of Milford. 
 
 But the chief glory of the county is to be found in its 
 cloud-capped mountains and rock-bound coast, a coast 
 unsurpassed for its wild grandeur, according to Mr. Henry 
 Owen, “that unequalled coast of cliff and cavern, beaten 
 
Su 
 
 into a thousand fantastic forms by the mighty Atlantic 
 waves which almost encircle the home of Pembrokeshire 
 men.” 
 
 The highest point on the central mountain ridge is 
 Prescelly, or, as it is called in Welsh, “ Moel-cwm-cerwyn,” * x 
 which rises to a height of 1,754 feet and looks down upon a 
 deep circular hollow in the form of a brewing vat, whence 
 thename. All who have written on Pembrokeshire speak in 
 glowing terms of the view from the summit of this mountain. 
 
 Fenton “challenges the whole Principality, nay, the whole 
 kingdom, to furnish a view more intelligibly extensive and 
 more interestingly diversified.” Though this may seem 
 somewhat extravagant, yet all who have been privileged to 
 enjoy the outlook from Prescelly on a clear day will agree ; 
 about the charm and grandeur of the view. ) 
 
 From this central spot portions of ten Welsh and English | \ 
 counties can be seen, together with a part of Ireland. The |§ / 
 Wicklow hills on the west, Lundy, Devon and Somerset on | * 
 the east, with the hills of Montgomery, Merioneth and | 
 Carnarvon to the north, stand out on the far-off bounds of 
 the horizon. If we look nearer, the whole of Pembrokeshire, . 
 according to Giraldus ‘the fairest of all the lands of 
 Wales,” spreads itself out clearly and distinctly at our feet. 
 Towards the south, the fine haven appears like a series of 
 lakes, and the eye moves with rapture over a panorama of 
 hills and dales. Northwards, the Barony of Kemmaes, with 
 its thick hedgerows and cultivated fields of varied hue, 
 dotted with homesteads, “lies like a map before us, with 
 every gentleman’s seat and every farm distinguishable,” and 
 
 * ‘6 Moel”’ is the Welsh for a bare rounded elevation. On account 
 of the mutation of the initial consonant, ‘‘ Voel” is in much more 
 frequent use, especially in Dyved. 
 
 1# 
 
bY Pe lore fy >a OM 
 
 . A , : 4 o ye ¢ a = 
 . ( “ai ys en S&S {0 40 PL eae n 
 Saal — j | ’ a ar 
 } ” . 
 
 4 
 
 forms an exquisite picture set in a strong framework of rocky 
 heights. Toward the west, Cernydd Meibion Owen crowns a 
 lowly ridge, at the base of which is found the Cromlech of 
 Pentre Evan, one of the largest in the United Kingdom. 
 Beyond these, Carn Ingli, a sharp and steep elevation, rises 
 majestically ab eautiful valleys of Gwaun and 
 Nevern, and guards the picturesque bay of Newport. It is 
 
 CROMLECH, AT PENTRE EVAN. 
 
 associated with the name of St. Brynach. On it this Welsh 
 saint is said to have held frequent intercourse with the 
 angels, and the place is called in the records of the saints 
 “Mons Angelorum.” On the western horizon lies the sea with 
 its deep bays and bold headlands. The view on the east is 
 intercepted by the dark rounded mass of the Vrenny, now 
 treeless, but formerly covered with oaks. This combination 
 of insulated mountain masses and cultivated lands standing 
 
i) 
 \ P LAA /v 
 Q awh ve ' 
 
 forth plainly and vividly, with the sea in the distance, and 
 the hazy outlines of the hills far away, never fails to strike 
 the imagination and delight the heart. 
 
 It was while watching the Prescelly range swathed in 
 morning mists, and gradually becoming visible under the 
 influence of the rising sun, that Williams of Pantycelyn 
 composed his missionary hymn— 
 
 “ O’er the gloomy hills of darkness 
 Look, my soul, be still and gaze; ° 
 All the promises do travail 
 With a glorious day of grace; 
 Blessed jubilee, 
 Let thy glorious morning dawn.” 
 
 But we must leave this general range, with which Caleb 
 
 Morris was familiar from his youth, and come to the hill on + 
 
 whose slopes he was reared, and toward which he ever turned 
 with fond delight. It stands out boldly between Prescelly 
 and the Vrenny, and reaches a height of about 1,200 feet. 
 Great controversy has raged around its name, Voeldrigarn. 
 
 Does it mean the hill with three cairns, or the hill with 
 
 three ramparts? It is not my province to enter into 
 linguistic and archeological questions. Recent investiga- 
 tions have confirmed the existence of three cairns on the 
 summit, as well as portions of three ramparts or lines of 
 circumvallation. It has also been shown that the place was 
 used as an encampment during the Iron Age. Its shape and 
 commanding position suggest that it was once a military 
 post and signalling station, and that it formed one of a 
 series of mountain fortresses along the western coast. 
 
 The view from the summit is not quite so extensive as 
 that from Prescelly ; still, it is one of unique beauty and 
 grandeur. Who that has stood there watching the sun 
 rising behind the hills, or setting in the sea, will ever 
 
 [Y 
 
 . 
 
6 
 
 forget the experience? It is the custom of the children of 
 the district to climb the hill and explore the wonders at the 
 top ; and whatever they may lose in after life, the impres- 
 sious of those early days never fade from their memories, 
 and we have abundant proofs that the Véo-el, as the hill is 
 called in the neighbourhood, held an abiding place in the 
 imagination of Caleb Morris. 
 
 It is often thought that to be brought up in such a quiet 
 region, remote from the great centres of civilisation, is a 
 serious disadvantage ; but there are gains as well as losses. 
 There was no lack of objects of interest on and around 
 Voeldrigarn. What majestic stones, what lovely moss and 
 heather! There the broom and gorse are decked with 
 yellow flowers, and the ferns grow in the rents of the rocks. 
 The wild horned sheep leap over the precipices, while the 
 swift ponies and the black cattle roam over the moorlands. 
 What strange forms the cairns assume! ‘There is Saddle 
 Rock, and there is Manger Rock, beyond is Hollow Rock, 
 andin the dist ance Echo Rock—the source of never-ending 
 curiosity and wonder. How the clouds creep and glide 
 along the mountain’s breast, and form an ever-changing 
 diadem on its head. The Voel is the first herald of winter : 
 on its summit the snow first appears, and there it remains 
 long after it has melted on the plains. From it the storms 
 and tempests come, and down its sides the torrents sweep. 
 With the return of spring it puts on a kinder face, and 
 attracts the flocks and herds that sheltered at its base 
 during the cold and dreary season. The shepherd again 
 climbs its slopes, and dreams among its cairns. The thrifty 
 farmer and the diligent peasant bring their breast-ploughs and 
 turf-cutters to provide peat for fuel, and spend laborious 
 days in its hollows and depressions. The children laugh 
 and play among its echoes, and those who have been 
 
 ‘ ‘ / _, 
 < ELTA 
 i : : 
 
 ay Pn Lrg <i Ame 
 
 ~) 
 
7 
 
 fighting life’s battle in distant places seek restoration of 
 strength and enthusiasm by renewing their acquaintance 
 with the prickly gorse and purple heather, by wandering 
 among the stones and cairns, drinking in the life-giving 
 breezes, and revelling in the broad view. 
 
 The Voel is the farmer’s weather glass. When it wears 
 its black cap, he knows rain is not far off; but if in the 
 morning the mists dance and play around its head, and then 
 
 VOELDRIGARN, FROM COEDCENLAS. 
 
 give it a light, parting kiss, he goes to his work with the 
 firm assurance of a fair day. The great mass seems to 
 move. At times it looks quite near, its mounds and 
 hollows are so clear and distinct; then it is certain that 
 the storm and tempest are drawing nigh. At other times 
 it recedes into the distance, and appears to bid adieu to 
 those that dwell around its base ; but the inhabitants know 
 that this is only its artful way of saying, “ Fine weather is 
 
8 
 
 coming.” Dear old mountain, is it strange that people love 
 thee ? 
 
 There is no lack of historic and legendary associations. 
 Here is Arthur’s Cairn, and not far off lies Arthur’s Quoit, 
 with other objects that call to mind the exploits of the 
 Welsh hero. In the district are found traces of an old road, 
 perhaps of Roman, perhaps of Flemish origin, around which 
 gather many stories of the past. On yonder hill is the 
 windy pass through which the victorious Normans descended 
 to the basin of the Nevern, and frightened the inhabitants 
 into submission. Few counties have been the scene of so 
 many conflicts, and it is dotted over with castles in various 
 stages.of decay. It claims to be the birth-place of St. David, 
 the patron saint of Wales. Its cathedral and shrine were 
 famous in the Middle Ages, two pilgrimages to St. David’s 
 being considered equivalent toa pilgrimage to Rome, and 
 the ways of the pilgrims, marked with crosses, are still 
 pointed out, Its cromlechs and ogham stones lead the mind 
 back to the fading, distant past, and its misty mountains 
 
 . have become the home of elves and fairies. Every spot is 
 associated with some weird story ; legends have twined them- 
 selves around the rocks and cairns, and the cloudland ~ 
 becomes a magic circle, into which we look with fear and 
 trembling for the appearance of the fairy hosts. . 
 
 A London minister was once conducting a service in a little 
 
 | [ \. Mountains exert a wonderful influence over some natures. 
 
 _ chapel among the hills, and preached with marvellous power. 
 
 og | At the close of the service one of his deacons asked him, 
 || “ Why don’t you preach like that at home?” ‘Ah, these old 
 
 | \ mountains inspire me,” was the reply. Dr. David Thomas, 
 
 of Stockwell, after tracing the characteristics of Caleb 
 Morris, says: “I refer his remarkable powers to the sceneries 
 of his first years. In sooth, nothing else could have built 
 
such a frame and moulded such a mind. Your tame 
 countries can seldom rear such a man as this. Philo- 
 sophically, impressions are the materials out of which we 
 build our mental world ; but how different the impressions 
 made by Snowdon and a hillock, by Niagara and a brook. 
 God made His own great book, the Bible, out of minds that 
 tilled the mountain soil and breathed the mountain air.” 
 
 But even apart from the unique influence of mountain 
 scenery, the country is full of charm and inspiration to 
 the opening mind. How wonderful is the succession of 
 the seasons! The spring is ever welcome, but nowhere 
 so welcome as on the mountain side, where the frost and 
 snow, the tempest and storm, and all the rigours of winter 
 have wrought havoc and ruin. What a delight to see 
 the snowdrop and crocus, the primrose and violet, the 
 buttercup and daisy ; what a joy to hear the birds sing- 
 ing among the branches, and to watch them building their 
 nests under the eaves and in the hedgerows. How sweet 
 to behold the budding trees and opening flowers, to see 
 the hawthorn under its crown of bloom, and the apple-trees 
 and pear-trees covered with beautiful blossoms. Even on 
 the mountain-side the lilac is laden with purple clusters, 
 and the laburnum is decked with golden chains. Through 
 the rugged soil the corn springs, and the grass adorns the 
 slopes of the hill.” With the summer appear the strawberry 
 and bilberry amid the profusion of wild flowers which make 
 the thick, high hedges of Pembrokeshire a mass of beauty. 
 Then comes autumn, with its golden grain and trees laden 
 with fruit, with its harvest moon, which throws a beauti- 
 ful spell over the whole landscape. The inhabitant of the 
 town is not altogether a stranger to these charms, but 
 only he who lives in the country can enjoy them in all 
 their fulness and perfection. 
 
 ‘ 
 , a \ 
 \\ os y | ui 
 vole U a i, an V 
 
 % 
 
10 
 
 If George Owen, of Henllys, be correct, Caleb Morris 
 was freed from a terror which sometimes haunts us in 
 our rambles through the country, for he says that no 
 snake was ever seen alive in the parish of Whitechurch. 
 I am afraid that statement is not correct to-day, what- 
 ever may have been the case three centuries ago. 
 
 One sweet experience Caleb Morris, like all Pembrokeshire 
 youths, missed—he never heard the nightingale on his 
 native hills. For some reason this sweet singer seems to 
 avoid the west and north of Britain. A Welsh legend gives 
 a curious and clumsy explanation of its absence from 
 Pembrokeshire. It is said that St. David was once 
 disturbed in his evening prayers by the song of the nightin- 
 gale, and so fascinated was he by the sweet melody that he 
 could not attend to his devotions. He therefore prayed God 
 to remove the bird, and besought Him never to allow its 
 strains to be heard again in his diocese. That story is too 
 much tinged with medizeval asceticism to obtain our credence, 
 but it seeks to explain the fact that the nightingale is seldom 
 heard in Dyved. : 
 
 However, though some good things were missing at the 
 foot of the Prescelly Hills and some unpleasant things were 
 known, on the whole it was a very suitable training place 
 for a religious thinker and a moral teacher. Who could 
 gaze on that wondrous view from the mountain summit 
 without realising something of the greatness and grandeur 
 of the Universe! Who could watch the frequent and 
 sudden changes in the face of nature without being im- 
 pressed with the mystery of things! Who could witness 
 the constant succession of the varied forms of life without 
 being led to think of the living God! On a nature rich 
 and sensitive like that of Caleb Morris the impressions made 
 by the wonders of the outer world amid which he grew 
 
(° ‘Y\ wD wrth : 
 
 must have been deep and abiding, and these doubtless helped 
 to develop his profound and lofty thoughts concerning God 
 and the Universe. 
 We sball see in one of his meditations how the scenery of 
 the home of his childhood touched the very springs of his 
 being. Here we may quote a passage from one of his 
 sermons, which seems to be a reflection of his own experience. pS 
 In referring to the character of David, he alludes to the 
 external influences by which it was nurtured and developed, 
 and says: “The morning of his day this extraordinary man 
 spent not in college, nor camps, nor courts, but in following 
 the sheep among the pastures of Bethlehem. There, under 
 the breathings of spring and the blasts of winter ; there, in 
 fellowship with fields and flocks and silent stars; there, with 
 the spirit of nature and of God fresh upon him ; there, in 
 the land of vision, miracle, and angels ; there it was that his 
 character was formed, a character which afterwards exhibited 
 80 rare a combination of simplicity and grandeur, sensibility 
 and power.” | 
 That description might be applied almost without any \ 
 
 change to Caleb Morris himself, and justifies us in at- 
 tributing to this mountain home a large share in the mould- Na 
 
 ing of his mind and the shaping of his character. It is 
 beyond dispute that he had great affection for the hill on 
 whose bosom he was reared. When a lad he often climbed 
 its slopes ; when he visited his home time after time during 
 the period of his success and fame, he delighted to ascend to 
 the summit, and there found recreation for the body and 
 inspiration for the mind; and when his health failed and 
 his strength abated, he returned to his native place and spent 
 the evening of his life under the shadow of the old mountain ~ 
 that had charmed him in the days of his youth. 
 
II 
 
 Wihitecburch and its People. 
 
 MONGST the powers that co-operate to shape and 
 mould character, the social environment plays an 
 important part. The youth imitates the speech and 
 
 accent of his native neighbourhood, and his moral nature 
 receives permanent impressions from those with whom he 
 associates in his early days. Hence we proceed to ask what 
 kind of people inhabited the parish of Whitechurch a 
 century ago, and what influence they exerted on the plastic 
 mind and heart of Caleb Morris ? 
 
 It is not easy to think ourselves back a century, and to 
 realise the state of society at a period so remote from our 
 own. This is all the more difficult when far-reaching 
 changes have occurred in the interval, and something like a 
 revolution has taken place in the conditions of life. A 
 century ago there were no railways, no telegraphs, no 
 regular postal delivery, and, in the region of the Prescelly 
 Hills, almost no periodicals or books. The district was 
 therefore much more isolated than the remotest corner of 
 the country can be to-day. It seemed to be completely cut 
 off from the great world currents. 
 
 The population also had its marked peculiarities, There 
 are very few parts of the Principality where the inhabitants - 
 are more distinctly Welsh in speech and dress, customs and 
 
13 
 
 manners. In saying this, it is not meant that all the people 
 are of purely Welsh origin. Like the other dwellers in our 
 island home, they are a mixed race. 
 
 Indeed, the Welsh themselves are not the descendants of 
 one simple stock. It is now generally acknowledged that 
 the Welshman of to-day combines in himself elements from 
 Iberians, Goidels, and Brythons, the latter two belonging to 
 the Keltic race, the Iberians not being of Keltic origin. 
 Then came in succession the Saxons and Angles, the Danes, 
 Normans, and Flemings, who took possession of the coasts 
 and plains, and drove the more primitive inhabitants to the 
 hills. But even along the Prescelly range the names and 
 physiognomy bear witness to the influences of these later 
 invasions, and what a variety of forms the commingling of 
 races has produced. There we meet the Iberian, passionate 
 and melancholy, with dark eyes and jet black hair; the 
 Goidel, kind and humorons, characterised by his round head 
 and fair complexion; and the Brython, thoughtful and 
 idealistic, marked by his long head, delicate features, and 
 eyes blue as the firmament on a clear summer day. Along 
 with these Welsh characteristics are found the vigour and 
 energy of the Saxon, the enterprise of the Dane, the 
 doggedness of the Fleming, together with the dignity and 
 majesty of the Norman. But notwithstanding all this 
 diversity, the ground-work is Brythonic, and all the 
 other elements have been affected by its predominant 
 influence. 
 
 Of the new blood introduced into the district in historic 
 times, the largest proportion by far is Norman. According 
 to the traditional account, when Martin de Tours invaded 
 the district the inhabitants saw that resistance was hopeless, 
 and made their submission at once to the Norman lord, and 
 so won his goodwill. He is said to have granted in conse- 
 
14 
 
 quence of this special privileges to the parishes of White- 
 church, Melinau, and Llanfair, and, among others, the right 
 of selecting the clergyman of the parish alternately with the 
 patron of the living. It is quite possible that the leniency 
 of the Norman was due to the prowess and stubborn 
 resistance of the men of the district, that their bravery won 
 liberal terms. According to Fenton, ‘‘ Martin took possession 
 more by compromise than by subjugation.” In any case, 
 many of the Norman nobles entered into alliances by 
 marriage with the best families of Dyved, and the Norman 
 and Kelt seemed to dwell together in unity. 
 
 Evidence of the Norman influence is found by some in 
 the games which were popular in the neighbourhood in the 
 sixteenth century. George Owen, in his description of 
 Pembrokeshire, says that the parish of Whitechurch was 
 famous for its skill in chess-playing, and asserts that even 
 the servants were well versed in the game. Certainly it is 
 “worthy of note that such a simple people should be skilled 
 in this so rare a play,” and the fact bears distinct testimony 
 concerning the mental calibre of the parishioners. It may 
 also be a proof of the close relationship which once existed 
 between the Normans and the Welsh. 
 
 But though Norman and other influences can be clearly 
 traced, the people were essentially Welsh in their tempera- 
 ment and ways; and one of the peculiarities of the Welsh 
 ig a comparative carelessness about material comforts. The 
 Welshman can never find his heaven in the world of sense; 
 he always transports himself to some fairyland of visions 
 and ideas. Hence he is often apparently negligent about 
 things which occupy a large proportion of the attention of 
 other nations. J)oubtless, under the influence of his English 
 brother, he is becoming more concerned about temporal 
 prosperity ; but still his chief delight is in other regions, 
 
15 
 
 in music and song, in poetry and religion, and he has a 
 feeling of contempt for those whose main interest lies in 
 the questions, “ What shall we eat, what shall we drink, and 
 wherewithal shall we be clothed ?” 
 
 This characteristic has placed him at a disadvantage in 
 the race for wealth. He has allowed foreigners to work his 
 mines and possess the treasures of his native hills. He has 
 been a servant in his own land and has permitted others to 
 have dominion over him. This state of things is passing 
 away ; and, with the aid of improved education, the Welsh- 
 man has shown himself quite competent to hold his own in 
 all departments of human enterprise ; but it still remains 
 true that his chief strength lies in the province of the ideal 
 and the spiritual, and that his noblest service to the race 
 is rendered in the sphere of religion. 
 
 From all the traditions that have come down to us, it is 
 clear that life was a hard and stern experience to the people 
 of Whitechurch a hundred years ago. How far the cause 
 lay within themselves it is.not easy to decide; but it is 
 certain thet other influences also were at work. 
 
 The soil is poor and barren. Much of it is by nature 
 moorland or marshy bog, and great labour has to be 
 expended ere it yields a bare harvest. And even when it 
 has been cultivated, there is no rest for the farmer, for 
 unless he continues to dress and till the land, it eee falls 
 back to its pristine sterility. 
 
 The system of land tenure was about as “bad as it 
 could be. Speaking generally, the landlords were absentees, 
 and took little interest in their land beyond receiving the 
 rent. The tenants had to do all the improvements, and 
 they seldom possessed the necessary means. ‘There was 
 no encouragement for the farmer to improve the soil, for 
 he would almost certainly be rewarded for his industry by 
 
16 
 
 an increase in the rent. The leases granted were not for 
 definite periods, but for one, two, or three lives. Thus 
 there was no security of tenure, and many were the 
 tragedies caused by the sudden deaths of leaseholders, 
 combined with the hardness of heart of the landlords. 
 
 The evil consequences of these unfavourable conditions 
 were manifold. The farm buildings were rickety and in- 
 convenient, the implements were primitive and inefficient, 
 while the whole method of cultivation was lacking in 
 variety and progressiveness. This made it hard for every- 
 body—-hard for the horses and oxen, hard for the labourer, 
 hard for the artisan, and hard for the farmer and his 
 family. 
 
 The plough in use was not unlike that of which we 
 read in descriptions of Eastern lands. It was chiefly made 
 of wood, it had to be drawn by two oxen and two horses, 
 two or three men were required to work it, and in the 
 end the result was not satisfactory. Of it a Government 
 Commissioner writes : “A more awkward, unmeaning tool 
 is not te be found in any civilised country. It is not 
 calculated to cut a furrow, but to tear it open by main. 
 force. A field ploughed with it looks as if a drove of 
 swine had been moiling it.” It is only fair to add that the 
 stony and hilly character of the ground in many places 
 makes ploughing a very difficult task, and that there 
 are men who still maintain that better crops were obtained 
 after the old-fashioned Welsh plough than after the prepara- 
 tion of the ground by more modern instruments. 
 
 The age of machinery in agriculture had not dawned 
 around the Prescelly hills, and everything had to be done in 
 the most laborious way. The mower toiled from sunrise to 
 sunset with his scythe; and the reaper reaped the wheat 
 slowly with the hand hook. The barley and oats were 
 
17 
 
 indeed dealt with more expeditiously, for they were cut 
 with the sickle, or with the scythe and cradle; but these 
 processes were very slow compared with modern methods. 
 When the harvest had been safely gathered in, the remaining 
 operations were also very tedious. The threshing was done 
 with the handflail, the thudding strokes of which were 
 heard during the winter season ere the cock crew in the 
 morning, and were repeated in the evening after all the birds 
 had gone to rest. 
 
 The haulage of the farm was done in wains, or long carts 
 drawn by a combination of oxen and horses, and the 
 patience of men and animals was often sorely tried by the 
 steep hills and the bad state of the roads. Long journeys 
 had to be undertaken, for the nearest market town was ten 
 miles distant, the best markets were twenty or twenty-five 
 miles away. Lime was in general use as a manure, but none 
 was to be found nearer than South Pembrokeshire, a distance 
 of at least twenty miles. The same was true of culm and 
 coal, and consequently wood and peat formed the staple fuel 
 of the district. A great amount of time and energy was 
 expended on weary, tedious journeys over rough and difficult 
 roads ; and the experience was made all the more gailing by 
 the large number of turnpike gates at which tolls had to be 
 paid. 
 
 When the general conditions of life were such, the 
 labourer’s lot was inevitably very hard. He had no market 
 for his labour outside the parish except in the slate quarries 
 and lead mines of the district, and these did not require 
 many hands ; hence the wages were low, and he found it 
 very difficult to obtain the necessaries of life for himself 
 and family. We wonder how he could live on eightpence a 
 day, with a little extra allowance in harvest time! True, 
 
 he had his cottage garden, and might arrange to keep a cow 
 , 2 
 
 = 
 
 a 
 
18 
 
 on a neighbouring farm on easy terms; but the struggle for 
 existence must have been terrible, and his energies were 
 taxed to the utmost. The craftsman fared somewhat better, 
 for he generally had also his little farm ; but, even for him, 
 the conditions of life were stern and severe. 
 
 Though sentenced to such hard labours and strenuous 
 toil, the men did their work neatly and cleverly. The 
 Government Commissioner, who condemned the general 
 aspect of agriculture in the district, gave very high praise 
 to the labourers, and recognised the skill which they dis- 
 played in many directions. He writes: “The spades, 
 shovels, and mattocks used in ditch and hedge work are 
 very convenient, and workmen use them adroitly, forming 
 the sod face of their hedges in a very neat manner.” 
 
 Much of the soil was over-run with heather, gorse, and 
 brushwood ; but, by means of the breast plough, the surface 
 was pared off and subsequently burnt. And thus many 
 barren tracts were converted into corn-producing fields. 
 Of these operations the Commissioner says: “Very dex- 
 terously done.” In the same report several of the harvesting 
 operations are highly praised ; among other things the neat- 
 ness and quickness with which the sheaves were made into 
 mows in the field, and into stacks in the farmyard. Doubt- 
 less the moist nature of the climate, the suddenness of the 
 showers, and the violence of the storms had made this 
 agility and skill almost a necessity; but the fact that the 
 work was so well done shows that the backward state of 
 agriculture in other directions was due not to lack of 
 industry and intelligence, but to want of capital and a bad 
 system of land tenure. 
 
 The women were not less skilful and industrious than the 
 men; and their manner of life was equally hard and 
 exacting. They took an active part in the harvest opera- 
 
) 
 W p Oat Wen Hany 
 
 19 
 
 tions and the rearing of cattle. Of them the Government 
 Commissioner says: “ They manage the dairy very cleverly.” 
 And when momentarily released from their occupations they 
 did not rest. They betook themselves to wool-carding and 
 spinning and knitting. The hand spinning-wheel was an 
 indispensable article in every house, and the matrons and 
 maidens of the district answered to the wise man’s descrip- 
 tion of the ideal woman in the Book of Proverbs: ‘“ She 
 seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 
 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the 
 distaff.” The typical mother of the neighbourhood is 
 accurately described in the words of the same writer: “She 
 looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not 
 the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her 
 blessed.” 
 
 Such conditions of life, so hard and so severe, were not 
 without their advantages. They tended to train a people 
 capable of great endurance. The exposure to summer heat 
 and winter cold, with the constant arduous toil, produced a 
 hardy race; no other type could stand the strain, and 
 industry became a necessity. Of Pembrokeshire George 
 Owen says: “The county does not nourish idle men.” 
 Certainly that was true of the parish of Whitechurch. The 
 place was a beehive of industry; the idler could not live in 
 such a district. 
 
 The simplicity of the life was as marked as its diligence. 
 This was evident in all directions. The dress of the 
 people was simple. Homespun was generally worn, and the 
 
 “great quest was not for grand and showy clothes, but for 
 those which would wear well and last long; but even in 
 rural Whitechurch fashion had its devotees. 
 
 Everybody is familiar with the quaint apparel of the 
 
 Welshwomen of former days—the peculiar bodice, not 
 Q* 
 
20 
 
 unlike the modern gentleman’s dress-coat ; the short, striped 
 gown ; the broad flannel apron, the neat shawl over the 
 shoulder and chest, the tall conical hat worn on great 
 occasions, under which the matrons set a white puckered cap, 
 the place of which in the case of maidens was taken by 
 smart ribbons. There seems to have been a keen rivalry 
 about the cut of the bodice, the colour and the folding of 
 the shawls and mantles, and especially concerning the tex- 
 ture and arrangement of the caps and ribbons. The general 
 garb of the men consisted of knee-breeches and blue stock- 
 ings, with short coat and soft, broad-brimmed hat ; but those 
 who aimed at being fashionable put on a beaver hat, a 
 swallow-tailed coat, and a coloured vest, and decked their 
 shoes with clasps and chains. On account of the bad state 
 of the roads shoes with wooden soles and pattens were in 
 general use, and the sound of the pedestrian could be heard 
 a long way off. 
 
 Most of the articles of clothing were made in the neigh- 
 bourhood. Dressmaking and tailoring were travelling 
 occupations, and every family had periodical visits from 
 those servants of the community. These periods were great 
 occasions, especially to the younger members of the family, 
 and furnished topics of conversation for many a day. 
 Craftsmen of all kinds lived in the neighbourhood ; thus the 
 community was almost self-supporting, and the presence of 
 these various artisans gave vigour and versatility to the 
 simple social organism. 
 
 The food was as simple as the dress. Few were the 
 
 luxuries to be found in the parish. The soil did not readily ° 
 
 produce wheat, hence barley-bread and oaten bread formed 
 the general diet. This was made with much skill, and the 
 housewives took great pride in the excellence of their bread- 
 making. Many of them were famous for the thinness of 
 
 ia 
 
21 
 
 their barley loaves and the brittleness of their oatmeal roils. 
 Oats were used in many other ways as an article of diet. 
 Oaten meal and butter-milk formed a favourite dish, and 
 flummery with sweet milk was the common mid-day meal in 
 the summer season. 
 
 The butter was of rare quality ; but, alas! most of it had 
 to be sold in order to pay the rent, and the people had to be 
 content with the cheese which was prepared from the milk 
 after all the cream had been scrupulously removed. On 
 standing, its rind grew thick and hard, and jocularly it was 
 compared to grindstones on which knives could be sharpened ; 
 still the toiler found it palatable, and it certainly ministered 
 to strength and vigour. 
 
 But the prince of the foods of the period has not, as far as 
 I know, an English name. It is sometimes called broth, but 
 that designation is utterly inadequate. The Scriptural 
 “ pottage”” comes nearest to what is wanted, and may serve, 
 failing a better name. It was a combination in the making 
 of which the Pembrokeshire housewife was particularly 
 clever; and its praises have often been sung by the poet- 
 asters of the county. So great did its excellence seem to the 
 inhabitants that they maintained that it was unrivalled. A 
 Pembrokeshire farmer and his daughter went once upon a 
 time to the Metropolis and spent days in admiring its 
 wonders, and gazing upon its glories; but after returning 
 home, the farmer exclaimed at supper-time : “ Ah, there are 
 many grand and fine things in London, but the Londoners 
 have no food equal to Pembrokeshire ‘cawl.’” Even 
 this famous food, however, may grow stale, especially in 
 summer time, when it is apt to become sour if kept long ; 
 and many are the tales told concerning this article of diet. 
 Let one suffice. One morning a farm servant did not find 
 the breakfast very appetising, and when he was asked to say 
 
- . 
 ry» s. i, 4 fe 
 
 grace he broke forth into doggerel rhyme, which may be 
 rendered somewhat as follows : 
 
 “* Good heavens, what a spread, 
 
 Sour pottage, mouldy bread.” 
 
 But though the pottage was liable to deterioration like other 
 foods, still, when newly made with home-cured bacon or beef 
 and fresh vegetables from the garden, it could hardly be 
 surpassed asa diet for strong men who worked hard. 
 
 Tea was scarcely known in this quiet region in those days 
 of yore, and it came into use very gradually. At first tea 
 drinking was a secret practice. The matron who had 
 become enamoured of it kept the tea-things in a drawer 
 under lock and key, and used the drawer as a table. Should 
 anyone come in while she was partaking of the beverage, 
 the drawer was immediately iocked, and thesecret was 
 rigorously kept. Ere long, however, the husband was 
 allowed to share in the luxury, and then the daughters and 
 the sons; afterwards, even the servants were permitted to 
 have a cup of tea on Sunday mornings and in the time 
 of harvest. Alas! nowadays, tea has won a complete victory, 
 and has displaced almost entirely many wholesome foods and 
 beverages, with sad consequences to the health and energy of 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 The social organism of the district was also very simple. 
 There were different classes, but the distance between them 
 was not great, and frequently all sections joined heartily 
 together. Even the largest farmers, with their wives and 
 children, worked on the farm, and so mingled with the servants 
 and labourers. In most cases all partook of the same kind of 
 food, on the same table, and in a real sense formed one 
 family. The artisans of the neighbourhood generally had 
 little farms, and thus all were united by the bond of a 
 common occupation. 
 
23 
 
 The harvest field was a meeting-ground for all. The 
 smith and the shoemaker, the mason and the carpenter, the 
 tailor and the weaver, were there taking part in the work. 
 The women and the children also shared in the labour and 
 the rejoicing. The whole community joined in gathering 
 the gifts that God had given. 
 
 Something like a co-operative system prevailed. Hach 
 one thought of others as well as of himself. The wet 
 climate and the changeable weather made it necessary to 
 conduct harvest operations with all possible speed, hence it 
 became the practice for farmers to help one another, and the 
 times of mowing the hay were arranged so as to ensure 
 mutual aid. There was an unwritten code in this matter 
 which no one could disregard without exposing himself to 
 social disgrace. 
 
 The conduct was not altogether unselfish, for its benefits 
 were evident to all; at the same time, it led people outside 
 the narrow groove of mere self-interest, and compelled them 
 to think of the claims and interests of their fellow-men. 
 Such a mode of life is primitive in its simplicity, but it has 
 not a few advantages over a more complex system of civilisa- 
 tion. - It makes it impossible for a man to be utterly selfish 
 and self-centred ; it shows clearly the interdependence of the 
 various parts of the social organism, and illustrates how the 
 good of each is intertwined with the good of all. 
 
 Closely connected with this practice of co-operation was 
 the generous hospitality of the district. The Welsh have 
 always been hospitable, and certainly Pembrokeshire and the 
 Prescelly district take no secondary place in this commend- 
 able feature of the national character. Were it not for the 
 fear of being too partial to one’s own native region, I should 
 say that it stands pre-eminent in this virtue. The hospitality 
 was no mere give and take arrangement, but a thing of 
 
 oe 
 
: /f } 
 
 A} : a 
 Liyr ee ee 
 
 24 
 
 heart and soul; it was no formal ceremony, but a real 
 pleasure and delight. Every door was open, every hearth 
 was free ; there was welcome everywhere and for all. 
 
 This fellow-feeling manifested itself in a marked 
 manner on special occasions—such as births, marriages, and 
 deaths. The newly-born child was welcomed by gifts from 
 many hands; this was true of the poor as well as of the 
 rich, Naturally, the wedding of the wealthy on horseback, 
 with all its excitement, was popular; but the wedding 
 procession of the poor peasant on foot was also the theme of 
 general interest. The whole neighbourhood united in good 
 wishes to the humblest, and these were accompanied by 
 substantial gifts. Everybody contributed something to give 
 the happy couple a good start. When death came the 
 house of mourning was filled with comforters. And at 
 funerals, the whole community stood by the graveside in 
 sorrowful sympathy. There was no such thing as a private 
 funeral; that was an impossibility in the warm, free, social 
 atmosphere. 
 
 As the virtues of the people were simple, so were their 
 vices and faults. Their hard lot left them little time for 
 reading and meditation. Indeed, the majority of the 
 people could neither read nor write. ‘Those who could read 
 found that books were few and periodicals scarce. The 
 ballad bought in the fair was the newspaper, and the 
 almanac formed the book of reference. In the best farms a 
 copy of the Bible would be found, and possibly the Prayer- 
 Book and some catechisms or small books of devotion ; and 
 in a few places Vicar Pritchard’s “ Welshman’s Candle ” and 
 Bunyan’s “ Pilgrim’s Progress.” A library larger than this 
 was a rarity ; and many houses were without a book of any 
 kind. Consequently ignorance abounded, accompanied by 
 superstitions. There were many ways of forecasting the — 
 
25 
 
 future, such as throwing nuts into the fire on All Hallow’s 
 Hye, and visiting the church at fixed periods ; but most of the 
 superstitions were connected with death. Seeing a “ corpse 
 candle” was quite a common occurrence, and the funeral 
 procession was often witnessed at midnight. The cries of 
 birds, the howlings of dogs, and many other occurrences 
 were interpretated as symbols of death, so that the people 
 were kept in constant terror. The inhabitants did not lack 
 ability— 
 ‘¢ But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page, 
 Rich with the spoils of time, did ne’er unroll ; 
 
 Chill penury repressed their noble rage, 
 And froze the genial current of the soul.”’ 
 
 The frequent intercourse of the people mitigated somewhat _ 
 the lack of literature, but their conversation moved in a 
 narrow groove. The absence of general intelligence fostered 
 local gossip and unhealthy curiosity. When the daily 
 pressure was removed on feast-days and market-days many 
 abandoned themselves to temporary excess, and the bodily 
 passions enslaved the soul. 
 
 But the little community was strikingly free from crime. 
 A native of Whitechurch who had not travelled beyond the 
 boundaries of his parish could not see any justification 
 whatever for the libellous couplet-— 
 
 “ Taffy was a Welshman, 
 Taffy was a thief,’’ 
 
 for he had been trained to respect the rights of others and 
 to observe the fundamental laws of social well-being. The 
 prevalent faults of the district were those to which kind and 
 generous natures succumb most readily, and such as are due 
 to weakness of will and lack of culture rather than to a 
 vicious and depraved disposition. 
 
26 
 
 Such in outline was the social environment in which 
 Caleb Morris spent his early days. In many respects it was 
 not a soil favourable to greatness ; but God can rear His 
 elect everywhere, and perhaps it was not so unfavourable 
 as it may appear at first sight. There human nature 
 was found in its simplicity, and endowed with the great 
 fundamental virtues. If the youth had much to learn when 
 he came in contact with the fuller and richer life of 
 the towns, he had very few things to unlearn; and in 
 the primitive social conditions of his native district he 
 saw the essentials of good and evil more clearly than 
 they can be discerned in the complex relations of a larger 
 community. Moreover, the stern conflict with nature and 
 circumstances which he witnessed as he grew up gave 
 him an insight into the grim realities of life, made him 
 sensitive to the various needs of humanity, and helped 
 him to sympathise with men in all their struggles and 
 difficulties. 
 
 Nothing has been said of the religious influences that 
 surrounded him, because these are so important as to 
 demand a chapter to themselves; but before proceeding 
 to that it ought to be said that the picture presented in 
 this chapter is not in many particulars true of the district 
 to-day. The conditions of life are easier, comforts are 
 more numerous, and education has wrought a wonderful 
 change in the tastes of the people. The railway and postal 
 systems have brought the quiet neighbourhood into com- 
 munication with the larger world, and the new route to 
 Ireland through Fishguard promises to make the Prescelly 
 region still better known. But there have been losses as 
 well as gains. The population of the parish is much 
 smaller than it was ; the craftsman has almost disappeared, 
 and it is sad to see the ruins of houses which were once 
 
if Bs 
 AWApsalZ 
 
 27 
 
 happy homes and centres of vigorous life. The enter- 
 prising youths migrate to the larger centres, and in con- 
 Sequence the rural community tends to dwindle and decay. 
 Still, on the whole, the neighbourhood remains the home 
 of a simple, industrious, intelligent, hospitable, warm- 
 hearted people who, amid all the toil and pressure of 
 their earthly calling, give heed to the sublime call of 
 duty and practise the great virtues” “Upon ‘which ¢ the wel- 
 fare of human society depends. ~ 
 
10 WE 
 
 The Religious Environment. 
 
 T is now generally taken for granted that the Welsh 
 are an essentially religious people, and that the deep 
 hold which religion has on the Principality is due to 
 
 the natural characteristics of the inhabitants. It is not easy 
 to harmonise this view with some of the salient facts of 
 history, such as the slow progress which the Protestant faith 
 made among the people of Wales fora whole century. This 
 may have been due to the absence of a great Welshman 
 among the reformers ; but whatever the reason, Wales re- 
 mained for generations under a dark cloud of irreligion and 
 immorality. 
 
 In the preamble to an Act passed in 1568, authorising the 
 translation of the Bible into the Welsh language, it is 
 asserted that Her Majesty’s subjects in Wales “do remain in 
 the like, or rather more ignorance, than they were in the 
 time of Papistry.” 
 
 In 1587 John Penry published a pamphlet on the: spiri- 
 tual destitution of Wales, and described its desolate, forlorn 
 condition in heartrending expressions. He accuses the 
 clergy of non-residence, inability to preach, lack of acquaint- 
 ance with the truths of the Gospel, immorality, and ignorance 
 of the Welsh language. Though he qualifies this condemn- 
 ation by solemnly declaring that God hath His chosen in 
 
Mp 
 Hl Ah} j 
 VA RAN 
 
 29 \\ ews Ald 
 
 Wales, and expresses the hope that the number of them 
 will be daily increased, still, it is evident that the Protes- 
 tant faith had very little hold on the Principality in his day. 
 
 Vicar Pritchard, of Llandovery, whose ministry extended 
 from 1602 to 1644, says that not one in a hundred of his 
 countrymen could read the Bible; that not a copy of the 
 Word of God was to be found even in the mansions of many 
 of the gentry ; that the clergy were asleep and negligent of 
 the solemn duties of their sacred office ; that the upper classes 
 had no regard for religion, while the common people were 
 totally ignorant and unwilling to receive instruction. 
 
 In 1641 Walter Craddock and others signed a petition in 
 which it was asserted that, upon strict inquiry, it was found 
 that there were scarcely as many conscientious and constant 
 preachers in Wales as there were of counties ; and that even 
 these were silenced or persecuted. | 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that for nearly a century the Protes- 
 tant religion made very little headway in the Principality ; 
 and yet to-day Wales can truly be called the most religious 
 and the most Protestant portion of the United Kingdom. 
 What has brought about the wonderful transformation ? 
 Many volumes would be needed to tell the marvellous story 
 of suffering and trial, of heroic struggle and noble endea- 
 vour. A great army of preachers and evangelists went 
 through the length and breadth of the land; the hills and 
 dales witnessed their earnest prayers and heard their trium- 
 phant songs; the country is dotted over with places which 
 have been made sacred by the labours of the saints; they 
 toiled hard amid many discouragements, but the seed-sowing 
 was not in vain; the glorious harvest has come, and praise 
 to God ascends from a redeemed people. 
 
 The Puritan spirit which regenerated England gradually 
 found its way into Wales. This first showed itself in 
 
30 
 
 the counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan. In 1633 
 Walter Craddock was deprived of his preaching licence by 
 the Bishop of Llandaff for refusing to read the Book of 
 Sports, and soon after began his career of evangelisation and 
 suffering. William Wroth, the rector of Llanvaches, an 
 eloquent preacher and an earnest Christian, was deprived of 
 his living in 1638 on account of his fidelity and zeal, and 
 in 1639 he founded at Llanvaches the first Independent 
 church in the Principality. Other men of similar spirit 
 appeared, among them Stephen Hughes, of Mydrim, the 
 Apostle of Carmarthenshire; John Myles, the pioneer of the 
 Baptists in Wales ; and Vavasor Powell, who suffered mani- 
 fold persecutions, and was cast into no less than thirteen 
 different prisons. 
 
 In consequence of the Restoration of 1660, and the 
 Uniformity Act of 1662, the Protestants became divided 
 into Conformists and Nonconformists, and were often found 
 in antagonism rather than struggling together against the 
 common foe. Still spiritual religion continued to advance. 
 The Nonconformists also were divided into distinct camps— 
 at times contending camps—chief among which were the 
 Presbyterians, the Independents, the Baptists, and the 
 Quakers; but the lines between these were not always 
 distinctly drawn, and there was a considerable amount of 
 co-operation between the several divisions of the Non- 
 conformist host. 
 
 From the period of the Restoration up to the great revival 
 of the 18th century, Nonconformity continued to make 
 steady progress, which became more marked after the 
 Toleration Act of 1688. The number of Nonconformist 
 churches in Wales at the time of the Restoration was about 
 twenty ; in the year 1735, when Howell Harris began his 
 fiery ministry, they had reached a figure between seventy 
 
31 
 
 and eighty. It must be borne in mind that in this period 
 church does not mean the same as congregation, or place of 
 worship, since several churches had more than one place of 
 meeting ; for instance, the Baptist church at Rhydwilym 
 had members in the three counties of Pembroke, Carmarthen, 
 and Cardigan, scattered over thirty-eight parishes, and the 
 Lord’s Supper was administered at different places in 
 rotation, The mere number of churches does not therefore 
 fully indicate the power of Nonconformity in the land. 
 
 The most reliable information available concerning the 
 Dissenting churches at this period is to be found in Dr. 
 John Evans’ statistics for the several counties of England 
 and Wales in the years 1715 and 1716. The statistics were 
 compiled with the view of showing the political strength of 
 Nonconformity, and hence the hearers are classified as 
 esquires, gentlemen, yeomen, tradesmen, farmers, labourers ; 
 and care is taken to insert the number of voters in each 
 church. Dr. John Evans reckons seventy churches or 
 pastoral charges in Wales, divided among the Independents, 
 Presbyterians, and Baptists, and estimates the number of 
 hearers at a little over 20,000. 
 
 In the case of a few churches no numbers are given, and 
 some churches have been omitted from the list. Moreover, 
 he takes no account of the Quakers, who had several 
 societies in Wales. It seems fair, therefore, to estimate 
 the strength of Nonconformity in the Principality at about 
 25,000. 
 
 Attempts have been made to discredit these figures, but 
 the statistics appear to have been compiled with great care, 
 and there can he no reasonable doubt about their general 
 accuracy. They bear striking testimony to the vigour of 
 Nonconformity in Wales in the early decades of the 
 eighteenth century. That it was not a spent force is 
 
 xX 
 
32 
 
 shown by the formation of new churches and the building 
 of new places of worship. Among the Independents alone, 
 during the period between 1689 and 1735, twenty-seven 
 new churches were formed, and forty-four new chapels were 
 built. These were chiefly in the counties of Glamorgan, 
 Carmarthen, and Pembroke. 
 
 It has been maintained that these churches did not reach 
 the masses. Alas! that is too true of the Church in every 
 “age, but it is clear, according to Dr. John Evans’ statistics, 
 that the labourers formed a considerable proportion of these 
 churches ; and there was no reason why he should have 
 magnified their numbers, for they had no votes, and did not 
 count in the realm of politics. 
 
 Another charge brought against these churches is that 
 they were cold and formal, utterly destitute of the missionary 
 spirit ; nay, that they were in a dwindling and decaying 
 condition, and that they would soon have become extinct 
 had it not been for the fresh impulse which they received 
 from the Methodist revival. 
 
 It is not easy to estimate correctly the amount of truth 
 which these assertions contain. Unfortunately, the History 
 of Religion in Wales has been written hitherto in a sectarian 
 rather than in a scientific spirit, and we have no really trust- 
 worthy guide in the matter. 
 
 Doubtless the old Nonconformist churches profited greatly 
 by the enthusiasm of the revival ; but the debt was not all 
 on one side. The Nonconformists, by their teaching and 
 preaching, had prepared the field for the Divine influences, 
 and the revival preachers often found their best helpers in 
 Nonconformist ministers who invited the evangelists to hold 
 services in the districts in which they laboured, and co- 
 operated with them in their noble efforts to evangelise the 
 Welsh people. 
 
33 
 
 The enthusiastic missionary is always apt to despise and 
 under-estimate the quiet work of the plodding minister, 
 while the latter tends to say of the work of the former 
 “ mere excitement.” An impartial historian must do justice 
 to each class of workers, and when such an historian comes 
 te write the history of religion in Wales, he will acknowledge 
 the transcendent service rendered by the great preachers and 
 missionaries without taking from the quieter ministers the 
 meed of praise that is due to them for their patient, faithful 
 service. 
 
 The religious revival of the eighteenth century in Wales 
 may be said to have spread from three centres, all of 
 them situated in South Wales—viz., Llanddowror, in Car- 
 marthenshire, where Griffith Jones was vicar; Llangeitho, 
 in Cardiganshire, where Daniel Rowlands was a curate ; and 
 Talgarth, in Breconshire, where Howell Harris began his 
 epoch-making mission. It is impossible, in a short sketch 
 like this, even to indicate the debt which Wales owes to 
 these renowned preachers and saints; and nothing is at- 
 tempted here beyond showing their place in the succession 
 of spiritual influences. 
 
 Griffith Jones was one of Cambria’s noblest sons, and 
 rendered untold services to the land of his birth. Born in 
 the parish of Kilrbedyn, which is situated partly in Car- 
 marthenshire and partly in Pembrokeshire, and brought 
 up under Nonconformist influences, he was educated at 
 Carmarthen, and became vicar of Llanddowror in the year 
 1716, and he laboured there incessantly to the end of his 
 life in 1761. 
 
 As a preacher he was vivid and eloquent, and withal 
 solemn and serious. He did not remain content with minis- 
 tering at home, but went on preaching tours throughout the 
 country, selecting for this purpose the seasons of Easter and 
 
 ; 3 
 
34 
 
 Whitsuntide, when the crowds met for plays, interludes, and 
 sports ; and thus he had an opportunity of proclaiming the 
 Gospel to many who never attended the church services. 
 
 He became impressed with the profound ignorance of the 
 people, and set about establishing schools for teaching them 
 to read the Welsh Bible. In the year 1760 these schools 
 numbered 215, with 8,687 scholars; and, in the course of 
 thirty years, it is estimated that 150,000 persons were taught 
 to read the Word of God. The teachers were itinerant, and 
 generally stopped in one place for three months, but, after 
 an interval, they went again over the same ground. The 
 expenses of the schools were defrayed by the offertories at 
 the Communion, and by the generosity of Madame Bevan 
 and other sympathisers. 
 
 Having taught the people to read, he induced the Society 
 for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge to issue two 
 editions of the Welsh Bible. He also translated several 
 religious books, and composed a catechism, or instructor, 
 which had a wide circulation. 
 
 It might have been thought that such a devoted servant 
 of Christ would have won the warm approval of the Church 
 authorities, but they did not appreciate his holy zeal; on 
 the contrary, they brought many accusations against him— 
 the chief charges being the use of Matthew Henry’s Cate- 
 chism ; the acknowledgment of Nonconformists as Chris- 
 tians ; and sympathy with the Methodist movement. They 
 also taunted him with his Nonconformist origin, and main- 
 tained that nine out of every ten of his communicants were 
 Dissenters. But notwithstanding all this, he remained to 
 the end a loyal servant of the Church which so blindly 
 refused to recognise his great and noble qualities. 
 
 In his earnest preaching and zeal for the distribution of 
 the Word of God he was a successor of Stephen Hughes, of 
 
35 
 
 Mydrim, who had laboured so earnestly in the same districts. 
 In his labours for the teaching of the people, he was a 
 predecessor of Thomas Charles, of Bala, who rendered such 
 signal service to the cause of religion in Wales; but the 
 method of his free and circulating schools was unique, and 
 designed to meet the special needs of his day. He had 
 great sympathy with evangelical Nonconformity, and looked 
 with a friendly eye on Methodism ; but was displeased with 
 what he considered its excesses and irregularities. 
 
 His disciple, Howell Davies, moved the county of 
 Pembroke with his eloquent preaching and profound piety. 
 His tenderness was irresistible, and his pathetic ministry 
 won thousands for Christ. It is said that in the parish 
 _ehurech at Llysyvran, at which he was a curate, as many as 
 2,000 communicants would partake of the Lord’s Supper on 
 Sacrament Sundays. He was more closely associated with 
 Methodism than his spiritual father, Griffith Jones, but he 
 also lived and died an adherent of the Established Church. 
 
 About the year 1735, the divine fire broke out in the 
 quiet vale of Aeron, in the county of Cardigan. Daniel 
 Rowlands was his brother’s curate at the church of Llan- 
 geitho, and was well known for his jollity and good humour ; 
 but suddenly he became another man, and began to utter 
 fierce denunciations against sin and wickedness. There is 
 no certainty about the human instrument used to bring 
 “about this great change. One tradition ascribes his con- 
 version to the influence of a sermon preached at Llanddewi- 
 brevi by Griffith Jones ; another tradition traces the 
 transformation to questionings that arose in his mind as 
 he contrasted his own barren ministry with the fruitful 
 ministry of Phylip Pugh, a Nonconformist minister who 
 was doing a great spiritual work in the district, being 
 the pastor of five churches, with 1,000 adherents. The two 
 
 3* 
 
36 
 
 traditions may rest on a basis of fact. Griffith Jones was @ 
 mighty preacher in those days, and it is probable that 
 Daniel Rowlands heard him, and that he was seriously 
 impressed. It is also certain that Phylip Pugh was on 
 more than one occasion a genuine friend, and a true spiritual 
 guide to the young curate. In the first period of the 
 revival, Daniel Rowlands used to thunder against sin and 
 proclaim the judgment until the people were terror stricken, 
 and the old Independent minister said to him one day : “ If 
 you go on preaching like that, Mr. Rowlands, you will kill 
 all the people. Preach the Gospel to the people, and apply 
 the balm of Gilead, the blood of Christ, to their spiritual 
 wounds, and show the necessity of faith in the crucified 
 Saviour.” When some busybodies suggested to Phylip Pugh 
 that Daniel Rowlands was not quite orthodox, he replied, © 
 “Let the young man alone, his heavenly Father will teach 
 him.” On the human side, the Church and Dissent may 
 claim a share in the religious revival at Llangeitho; but 
 the soul-transforming power was due to the divine Spirit 
 that refuses to recognise these ecclesiastical distinctions. 
 Almost simultaneously, and apparently quite independ- 
 ently, the divine fire broke out at Talgarth, where Howell 
 Harris began to denounce sin, and to urge the people 
 to flee from the wrath to come. Of all the Welsh 
 revivalists, Howell Harris is the most difficult to describe or 
 to estimate. He seems to stand alone, and baffles all 
 attempts to bring him under recognised spiritual laws. But 
 there can be no doubt about his tremendous earnestness, and © 
 the passionate ardour which he threw into the work of 
 saving souls. His whole being was aflame, and the 
 world has seldom seen such burning enthusiasm for the 
 conversion of sinners. His solemn, awe-inspiring presence 
 produced a profound impression wherever he went, and 
 
pike tient 
 
 37 Mark Py sey t 
 under the influence of his terrible preaching thousands 
 eried out, “ What must I do to be saved ?” Williams, of 
 Pantycelyn, was one of his early converts, and soon began 
 to thrill Wales with his heart-stirring hymns. 
 
 In 1737, Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands met at 
 Devynog, in Brecknockshire, and agreed to work together for 
 the evangelisation of Wales; and so the two flames, kindled 
 apart, became one great blaze. 
 
 Very soon the Welsh Revivalists came in touch with 
 George Whitefield and John Wesley, and the Welsh and 
 English evangelists worked side by side. These great 
 preachers held no narrow parochial views, but were eager to 
 proclaim everywhere the Gospel of the Grace of God. Howell 
 Harris was in constant communication with Whitefield and 
 Wesley, and Whitefield presided over the first association 
 held at Watford, a few miles from Cardiff, in January, 1743, 
 and at several associations held later. Whitefield went on 
 a preaching tour through South Wales in the year 1748, 
 and in many ways helped on the glorious work. 
 
 At the first association, the chief Welshmen were Daniel 
 Rowlands, Howell Harris, and Williams of Pantycelyn, and 
 they continued to be the leadefs of the movement for a 
 whole generation. Hach of these three great men had his 
 peculiar gifts. Howell Harris excelled as an evangelist ; he 
 also had considerable administrative powers. Daniel Row- 
 lands was supreme as a preacher, but not strong as an 
 organiser. Williams combined the poetic gift with business 
 tact, and was a very valuable helper to Rowlands. Griffiths 
 of Nevern used to say, “Daniel Rowlands can rule the 
 whole world, if he has Williams of Pantycelyn at his 
 elbow.” Daniel Rowlands was an ordained clergyman ; 
 Williams of Pantycelyn had been recognised as deacon, but 
 he never received full ordination; Howell Harris had ob- 
 
 as 
 
38 
 
 tained no episcopal sanction, yet he was a more ardent som 
 of the Church than Rowlands or Williams. None of the 
 leaders had any desire for separation from the Church ; they 
 rather sought to revive its zeal, and make it a mighty re- 
 generating power in the land. They were very cordially 
 welcomed by the Baptists and Independents, and invited to 
 preach in their chapels. Among prominent ministers of 
 these churches who received them with open arms, may be 
 mentioned Edmund Jones, Miles Harry, Lewis Rees, Enoch 
 Francis, Henry Palmer and Phylip Pugh. But their cager- 
 ness not to offend the Church authorities alienated many of 
 the Nonconformists, and was the cause of constant con- 
 troversy among the adherents of the movement. 
 
 The problem to be solved was very difficult, and taxed all 
 the skill of Howell Harris and his coadjutors. They were 
 not content with converting people, but wished also to gather 
 them into societies for Christian instruction, fellowship, and 
 discipline. This was attempted from the very beginning ; 
 but to bring these little Christian companies into orderly 
 metheds was a work of time that required great patience and 
 tact. Howell Harris sought guidance from many sources, 
 and modified the rules suggested by existing societies and 
 Evangelical ministers in order to meet the peculiar condi- 
 tions that prevailed in Wales. 
 
 The assemblies were called societies and not churches, and 
 those who superintended their working were designated 
 exhorters and not ministers. In order to keep these exhorters 
 under vigilance, monthly meetings and quarterly associations 
 were held, at which they were examined, and to which they 
 brought reports concerning the societies under their charge. 
 Discipline was also enforced at these periodical meetings. 
 There was no arrangement for administering the sacraments ; 
 for these it was still necessary to go to the parish churches. 
 
39 
 
 In some churches, as at Talgarth, the clergyman arranged 
 to administer the communion to the Methodists apart. 
 
 The disadvantages of the plan were many. The 
 Societies and associations had no convenient place where they 
 could meet; for they could not assemble in the parish 
 churches. Nonconformists lent them their chapels, and the 
 early associations were held at the Independent Chapel at 
 Watford ; but these chapels were not always available, and 
 some of the zealous Churchmen objected to meet in them, as 
 it seemed to associate the movement with Dissent. Con- 
 sequently the societies often met in private houses, or barns, 
 or any building available. In some places special buildings 
 were erected, but Howell Harris was averse to this. The 
 few structures that were reared were very plain, with bare 
 walls, rough benches without backs, and two pulpits, 
 generally at the ends of the building—one pulpit for the 
 ordained clergyman, and the other for the unordained 
 exhorters. 
 
 Tn connection with the quarterly associations many sermons 
 were preached, and so these meetings became means of 
 evangelising the masses, as well as opportunities for Christian 
 fellowship. The preaching services were generally held in 
 the open air. Howell Harris had begun his public work at — 
 Talgarth by preaching in the churchyard. After the regular 
 church service, the revival preacher would often hold a 
 service among the tombs, and make his earnest appeals to 
 the multitudes over the graves of the dead. At other times 
 a suitable field was selected, and the enthusiastic Hvangelist 
 addressed the crowd amid the beauty and grandeur of 
 nature. This field preaching took hold of the Welsh 
 imagination ; the practice spread to al! branches of the 
 Church, and it has continued until this day. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the workers overcame all difficulties 
 
40) 
 
 fora time; but, alas! differences began to arise among the 
 leaders, and eventually the evangelists were divided into 
 two contending camps, one acknowledging Howell Harris, 
 the other Daniel Rowlands as its head. Williams of 
 Pantycelyn clung to Daniel Rowlands, and felt bound to 
 forsake his spiritual father. The exact nature of the 
 quarrel is not clear. Some doctrinal differences are 
 mentioned ; but it seems certain that the chief causes of 
 disagreement were personal. Howell Harris, with all his 
 evangelical fervour, had a passionate nature and a domineer- 
 ing disposition. He was also lacking in the prudence and 
 quick sympathy which are essential for governing men. 
 After an estrangement of thirteen years the breach was 
 partially healed, but Howell Harris never regained his 
 ascendency. The endless labours had also told on his strong 
 constitution, and long ere he died, in 1773, the leadership of 
 the movement had passed to Daniel Rowlands. 
 
 The church at Llangeitho had for years been a great 
 religious centre. Thither men went from all parts to come 
 under the spell of the passionate eloquence of Daniel 
 Rowlands, and to receive the sacraments from his hand. 
 Every month thousands assembled in the quiet vale of Aeron. 
 Some would arrive on Saturday evening, singing the hymns 
 of Pantycelyn, and would rest at the springs to quench their 
 thirst, as they ate their simple bread and cheese. Others 
 would start before sunrise on Sunday morning, in order to 
 reach the sacred place at the appointed time. What a 
 thrilling chapter the experiences of these earnest souls would 
 make! Alas! it can no longer be written on the earth. 
 May we not hope to learn these holy records in the light of 
 heaven ? : 
 
 In the year 1763, Daniel Rowlands, who had never risen 
 above a curacy, was deprived of his preaching licence, and 
 
41 
 
 was compelled to leave the church that he loved. A chapel 
 was built for him on the other side of the river, in sight of 
 the church ; and while he lived the multitudes came to the 
 chapel, as they had come before to the church. He never 
 became a Nonconformist, but retained to the end his affec- 
 tion for the church of his youth, and his body was buried at 
 the eastern end of the sacred edifice; now, after the recent 
 renovation of the church, it rests within the walls. His 
 ‘death took place in the year 1790, and very soon after him, 
 his devoted co-worker, Williams of Pantycelyn, was called to 
 his reward. 
 
 During the fifty-five years from 1735 to 1790, a mighty 
 work had been done in Wales ; but the new community had 
 not yet been firmly established. The disputes between the 
 leaders had caused many of the societies to collapse, and it 
 became more and more difficult to keep the movement in 
 subordination to the church. Hitherto the leaders of the 
 revival had been afraid to range themselves alongside of the 
 older Nonconformist Churches ; their sympathies were rather 
 with the Established Church. However, they received no 
 encouragement from the Church authorities, quite the 
 reverse; only a few Evangelical clergymen sympathised 
 with them, and attended the monthly meetings and quarterly 
 associations. A great crisis was imminent ; the new move- 
 ment would have to ally itself with Dissent, or become a part 
 
 -of the Established Church. 
 
 At this juncture, God raised up for the service of Wales 
 one of the noblest men of whom any country can boast, 
 Thomas Charles, known throughout Wales as “ Charles o’r 
 Bala.” * He was the real founder of Welsh Calvinistic 
 Methodism, for under him the societies produced by the 
 Revival were welded together into a distinct community, with 
 a definite constitution, and became a compact organisation, 
 
42 
 
 fitted for rendering unique service to education and religion 
 in the Principality. 
 
 Thomas Charles was a native of the district in which 
 Griffith Jones had wielded supreme influence, and was born 
 in 1755, ten years before the death of that great clergyman. 
 In 1773 he was deeply impressed on hearing a sermon 
 by Daniel Rowlands at Capelnewydd, in Pembrokeshire. 
 Having spent six years in the academy at Carmarthen, 
 he went to Oxford in 1775. After ordination he became 
 curate in several churches, but his leanings towards Method- 
 ism caused him to be dismissed more than once. In the 
 year 1785 he joined the Methodists, and immediately 
 became a leader. He towered above the Methodists of 
 his day in learning, and possessed great powers of organisa- 
 tion. 
 
 He was also very earnest, and his winning ways made him 
 a universal favourite. He could not be compared with 
 Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands in preaching power,. 
 but he possessed other gifts which they lacked, gifts which 
 were of great importance at this crisis. 
 
 He followed Griffith Jones in laying great stress upon the. 
 imstruction of the people. He made the Sunday-school a 
 power in Wales, and gave it a unique character. In 
 England the Sunday-school is chiefly an agency for training 
 the children and the young people, but Thomas Charles 
 made it also an instrument for instructing adults in religious. 
 truth ; and even to the present day a large proportion of the 
 adults of Wales attend the Sunday-school. He laid stress. 
 on catechising, and instituted the associations of Sunday- 
 schools for catechising and exposition, a feature of 
 Welsh religious life which still survives in the country 
 districts. 
 
 He found the scarcity of Bibles a great hindrance, and was 
 
43 
 
 instrumental in getting the Society for the Promotion of 
 Christian Knowledge to issue an edition of the Welsh Bible 
 in 1799. This edition was soon exhausted, and still the 
 people hungered for the Word of God. Who has not heard of 
 Mary Jones, the little Welsh maid, who for six years travelled 
 daily a distance of four miles in order to read the Bible, 
 and at last, having saved enough to buy a Bible for herself,, 
 walked to Bala, a distance of twenty-five miles, in order to: 
 procure a copy, but when she got there found that the 
 edition had been sold out? This moved Thomas Charles 
 deeply, and he determined to make an effort towards 
 establishing a society for providing cheap Welsh Bibles—a. 
 resolve which eventually led to the formation of the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
 His labours as a preacher and evangelist were unremitting, 
 and he planted numerous churches in North Wales; he was, 
 in short, the leader of the movement which has made 
 Calvinistic Methodism the predominant religious power in 
 North Wales. 
 
 When his health failed, and he became unable to travel as 
 in his earlier days, he devoted himself to the composition of 
 religious books. The “ Instructor” has had a marvellous cir- 
 culation ; so has his ‘“‘ Bible Dictionary.” After the lapse of 
 nearly a century, these books are stillin general use. He did 
 not under-estimate the power of the pulpit, but he saw that 
 it must work in alliance with the school and with the press ;. 
 this broad philosophic view made him the greatest religious. 
 force in Wales during the last century. 
 
 In his lifetime a matter of supreme moment to Calvinistic 
 Methodism was decided. For a long period the question of 
 ordination had given much trouble to the Methodists. Many 
 of the evangelists were men who had received episcopal 
 ordination—such was Daniel Rowlands—and the sacraments. 
 
44 
 
 continued to be administered by ordained ministers only. 
 Some of these had broken the canonical law by administer- - 
 ing the sacraments in unconsecrated places, such as Capel- 
 newydd and Woodstock Chapel, in Pembrokeshire, and 
 in the Chapel at Liangeitho after Daniel Rowlands was 
 deprived of his preaching licence ; but no unordained preacher 
 had ventured to administer the Christian rites. This 
 restriction of the sacraments to ordained ministers involved 
 the necessity of long journeys for many of the Methodist 
 societies in order to obtain communion; and in districts 
 where the clergymen were out of sympathy with Methodism 
 several months had to elapse without a communion service. 
 
 Thomas Charles was at first opposed to separate ordination 
 for the Methodists, but at last he was convinced of its 
 necessity. In the whole of North Wales only three 
 ministers who had received episcopal ordination were in 
 sympathy with Methodism, and even in South Wales such 
 ministers were not numerous. At a meeting where the 
 matter was discussed, Ebenezer Morris asked Thomas 
 Charles, “ Which is the more important, preaching the 
 Gospel or administering the sacraments?” After some 
 deliberation, Thomas Charles replied, ‘‘ Preaching the 
 Gospel.” A thrill went through the meeting, and everybody 
 felt that the matter had been settled. The first Methodist 
 ordinations were held in the year 1811, the one in North 
 Wales at Bala, during the June association, and the one in 
 South Wales at Llandilo, in the association held there in the 
 month of August. Among those ordained were John Elias, 
 Thomas Jones of Denbigh, Ebenezer Morris, and Ebenezer 
 Richards. These ordinations, independent of the bishop, 
 meant complete separation from the Established Church, 
 and the formation of Calvinistic Methodists into a distinct 
 religious body. 
 
45 
 
 The step wads inevitable, and it has been abundantly 
 justified by the result. Since that period Calvinistic 
 Methodism has taken its place side by side with the other 
 Nonconformist bodies of Wales, and its progress has been 
 remarkable. At the time, however, the decision wrought 
 considerable injury to Methodism, for the clergymen who: 
 were in sympathy with the Methodist revival withdrew their 
 support, and in some districts, especially in parts of 
 Pembrokeshire, the loss in buildings and membership was 
 serious. 
 
 To those who are not acquainted with the religious. 
 history of Wales, the combination Calvinistic Methodism 
 appears very incongruous, for to them Methodism and 
 Calvinism seem quite incompatible. The preceding sketch ~ 
 of the revival movement of the 18th century in Wales is 
 sufficient to suggest the reason for the name. George 
 Whitefield had much more influence on the Welsh revival 
 than John Wesley, hence it tended towards Calvinism, and 
 in so far as the Welsh revival was indigenous, it had its 
 origin in Calvinistic sources. Griffith Jones, Daniel 
 Rowlands, and Howell Harris were Calvinists ; indeed, the 
 whole evangelistic body of Christians in Wales during the 
 18th century favoured Calvinism. Arminianism in the 
 Principality had become associated with Pelagianism, and 
 gradually drifted into Arianism and Unitarianism; hence 
 there was a strong prejudice among the most earnest souls 
 against all forms of Arminianism. 
 
 It is true that the term Calvinistic Methodist is cumbrous, 
 but there seems no help for it. English churches belonging 
 to this body sometimes call themselves Presbyterians. That 
 may be legitimate as far as church government is concerned, 
 but historically it is utterly misleading, for the Calvinistic 
 Methodists had no connection whatever with the Presby- 
 
46 
 
 terian churches that existed in Wales in the 17th and 18th 
 centuries. All such churches drifted either to Independency 
 or to Unitarianism. We havea standing proof of this in 
 the name “ Presbyterian College, Carmarthen.” 
 
 In order to give a general view of all the religious bodies 
 in Wales at the beginning of the 19th century, it is necessary 
 to make a short reference to Wesleyan Methodism. John 
 Wesley paid many visits to Wales, and established several 
 societies. But as he was ignorant of the Welsh language, 
 and all the Welsh revivalists were Calvinists, his influence 
 was largely confined to the English districts. No attempt 
 was made to spread Wesleyan Methodism among the Welsh 
 until the year 1800. The missionaries of Welsh Wesleyan 
 Methodism, who began their mission with the 19th century, 
 were men of burning enthusiasm and undaunted courage, 
 and in a few years they wrought a great work. This was, 
 however, confined to North Wales—even toa portion of North 
 Wales ; and Welsh Wesleyan Methodism has never made a 
 home for itself in South Wales. On the other hand, English 
 Wesleyan Methodism has been a growing force along the 
 southern coast, and Carmarthen can claim that it has given 
 to English Methodism one of its most prominent men, the 
 Rev. Hugh Price Hughes. 
 
 We have before us now all the great religious forces that 
 were influencing the Principality when Caleb Morris was a 
 youth. Which of them had the greatest share in moulding 
 his spiritual experience? We may almost leave out of 
 account Wesleyan Methodism, for although there were many 
 churches of that order in the English portion of Pembroke- 
 shire, none existed in the Welsh districts. It is true that 
 John Wesley had visited Newport and Cardigan, places not 
 more than ten miles from Voeldrigarn, and had preached in 
 them more than once ; still it was in English, and however 
 
47 
 
 he may have stirred the people with his spiritual power, no 
 result of this remained in the form of a society, and we 
 can hardly count Wesleyan Methodism among the abiding 
 religious forces of the district. 
 
 What about Calvinistic Methodism ? If we argued from 
 the condition of affairs to-day, we should not be able to set 
 down much to its credit. In the whole of the Nevern valley 
 the Methodist societies are few and small. In Whitechurch 
 and the five or six adjoining parishes there is not a single 
 Methodist society, and I am not aware that there is one 
 Methodist living in the parish where Caleb Morris was born. 
 But it would be very unfair to argue from the position of 
 Methodism in the district to-day that it exerted no power 
 there a century ago. Indirect influence it must have exerted, 
 for it had become an essential factor in the religious life of 
 Wales. 
 
 But that was not all, Liysyvran, the church of Howell 
 Davies, the great Pembrokeshire revivalist, was not more 
 than fifteen miles distant. Capelnewydd, one of the Metho- 
 dist centres where Daniel Rowlands and the other leaders 
 often preached and administered communion, was only six or 
 seven miles away. At Hglwyswrw, about three miles off, a 
 Methodist society existed in 1743 with thirty-five adherents, 
 and there were several other Methodist societies within a 
 radius of eight or ten miles. 
 
 How, then, has the present condition of Methodism in 
 the district come about ? It is the result of the ordination 
 
 _ policy of the Methodists in 1811. When Griffiths of 
 
 Nevern, and the other clergymen who were in sympathy 
 with Methodism, heard of the decision of the Methodists to 
 ordain ministers of their own, they withdrew their support ; 
 and as many of the chapels where the Methodist societies 
 met were in close association with parish churches, these 
 also were lost. The majority of the societies gradually 
 
48 
 
 collapsed, and the members went back to the parish churches 
 or allied themselves with the Independents and Baptists. 
 Yet, though Methodism is very weak in the district to-day, 
 and there is no record of any Methodist Society having ever 
 existed in the parish of Whitechurch, it seems fair to infer 
 that it exerted a considerable influence on the neighbourhood ~ 
 of Voeldrigarn a century ago. 
 
 What about the influence of the parish church? George 
 Owen traces the name Whitechurch to the care bestowed by 
 the parishioners on the sacred edifice ; but how far this is 
 true of the beginning of the nineteenth century is not 
 known, and devotion to the externals of religion is not 
 always a true index of its power over the heart and life. 
 Doubtless the influence of Griffith Jones—his preaching, his 
 schools, and his books—had been, felt in the parish, but 
 nearly half a century had elapsed since his death. 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century, several of the 
 clergy of the district were in sympathy with the Methodist 
 movement, and laboured hard to evangelise the people. 
 Griffiths of Nevern and Jones of Llangan rendered in- 
 calculable service. Jones of St. Dogmells and Davies of 
 Llanfyrnach also belonged to the same group, and it is 
 reasonable to suppose that some of their influence found its 
 way into the parish of Whitechurch; but, as no mention — 
 is made of the clergyman of the parish and of several 
 adjoining parishes in connection with the Methodist move- 
 ment, the natural inference is that they were not in sympathy 
 with it, and that they belonged rather to those who had not — 
 come under the reviving power of evangelical religion. 
 
 There remain to be considered the Baptists and the 
 Independents, the two denominations which have taken 
 possession of Welsh Pembrokeshire, and studded it with | 
 chapels and vigorous churches. The withdrawal of the 
 
49 
 
 support of the Evangelical Churchmen has been mentioned 
 as one of the causes of the decline of Methodism in the 
 district, but that was not the only cause, for then we should 
 have expected to see the Established Church strong in the 
 district, or to find the region sunk in religious indifference, 
 Neither expectation is in accordance with facts, for, with 
 one or two exceptions, the Established Church is very weak, 
 yet there is no region in the whole of Wales more thoroughly 
 religious. The only satisfactory explanation is to be found 
 in the deep hold which the Baptists and Independents had 
 on the district before the Methodist revival. They had 
 strack their roots deep in the soil, and, reinvigorated by the 
 spirit of the revival of the eighteenth century, they spread 
 forth branches in all directions, and covered the land with 
 their healing influence. 
 
 The Baptist churches of Pembrokeshire are all branches 
 from one mother church, which was founded in the year 
 1668, probably by William Jones, one of the ejected ministers 
 of 1662. It was the third or fourth Baptist church estab- 
 lished in Wales. It met, during its early history, in diverse 
 places ; among others, at Rushacre, Narberth—a place which 
 will again claim our attention—but eventually it made its 
 home at Rhydwilym, where a chapel was built in the year 
 1701. The church members in 1689 numbered 113. They 
 were scattered over forty parishes in the three counties of 
 Pembroke, Cardigan, and Carmarthen. Among them were 
 fifteen preachers. The church had two classes of elders— 
 ruling elders and teaching elders. The communion was 
 held in different districts in rotation, and members were 
 admitted after baptism by the laying on of hands. In 1715 
 this church, with two of its branches—Llangloffan and 
 Kilvowyr—is credited with 900 hearers. 
 
 In the year 1692, before Kilvowyr was formed, a branch 
 4 
 
50 
 
 existed at Kilcam, in the parish of Whitechurch, in the 
 house of one John Phillips. He emigrated to America, and 
 the branch was transferred to Kilvowyr. It is said that the 
 Baptists gave up Kilcam to the Independents, on the under- 
 standing that the Independents gave up a preaching-station 
 in the neighbourhood of Kilvowyr to the Baptists. Are we 
 as advanced in this matter to-day as our forefathers were 
 two centuries ago ? 
 
 The church at Kilvowyr grew in strength, but disputes. 
 came, the most serious of which was concerning the laying 
 on of hands. Eventually, in the year 1766, those who did 
 not wish to insist on this withdrew, and formed a new church 
 at Ebenezer, which had a wonderful era of prosperity under 
 its minister, Mr. Williams ; 171 members were baptized in 
 one year, and in the year 1794 the church had a membership. 
 of 340. Mr. Williams was a remarkable man. He was a 
 good scholar, an earnest preacher, and a skilful pastor. He 
 was also a Justice of the Peace for the counties of Cardigan 
 and Pembroke and for the borough of Cardigan, and a 
 Chairman of the Quarter Sessions, though he had never 
 taken communion in the Established Church. Not only 
 did he build up a vigorous church at Ebenezer, but he also 
 
 founded the Baptist church at Cardigan, which grew to be 
 
 a very strong church, and the mother of other churches. 
 Kilvowyr was about eight miles from Whitechurch, and 
 Ebenezer about four miles. Baptist causes were started also. 
 in three other places nearer still to Caleb Morris’s home— 
 one at Blaenyffos, about two miles away, where a chapel was 
 built in 1785. The church there remained small for a 
 period, and it is said that at the week-night services some- 
 times the only persons present were John Morgan the 
 minister, and an aged Christian woman named Betsy Morris. 
 After waiting for some time, she would say, “ Well, Mr 
 
ol 
 
 Morgan, begin the meeting by reading a chapter and 
 praying ; perhaps someone else will have come by that 
 time.” When this was done, and no one came, she would 
 say, ‘ Read another chapter and pray, to close the meeting.” 
 But with the nineteenth century a vigorous church grew 
 there. It was a branch of Kilvowyr, and continued to 
 practise the laying on of hands. One of the vivid recollec- 
 tions of my boyhood is a communion service at Blaenyffos, 
 when about twenty new members were received, and the 
 minister laid his hand on the head of each, accompanying 
 the movement with a word of prayer or a verse of Scripture. 
 In another direction, at a distance of about two miles, a 
 chapel called Bethel was built in the year 1794 for the use 
 of a branch of the church at Rhydwilym, and the cause has 
 flourished greatly. 
 
 After the incorporation of the branch at Kilcam with 
 Kilvowyr, in 1704, there was no meeting-place for the 
 Baptists in the parish of Whitechurch itself till the year 
 1804. A zealous Baptist then came to reside at Coedcenlas 
 —a name that will often meet us—and he, with two others, 
 arranged to hold services on week-nights and Sundays at 
 one of the farmhouses. It is recorded that Christmas 
 Evans preached at the Independent Chapel at Penygroes in 
 the year 1806. In 1823 a Sunday-school was formed, and 
 in 1826 a Baptist chapel was opened at Bethabara, the 
 north-western corner of the parish. These facts indicate 
 clearly the activity and energy of the Baptists in the district. 
 
 Just as Rhydwilym was the centre from which the Baptist 
 churches sprang, so Henllan became the chief mother- 
 church of the Independénts in those parts. Several con- 
 gregations were gathered in Carmarthenshire in the period 
 between the Restoration and the Toleration Act, and were 
 
 ministered to by the ejected ministers, David Jones, William 
 4* 
 
 >< 
 é N 
 
52 
 
 Jones, and Stephen Hughes. The last-named minister was 
 a great spiritual force, and founded many churches. He 
 was a powerful preacher, and was also very active in the 
 distribution of Bibles and religious books. He is truly 
 called the Apostle of Carmarthenshire, and the predominance 
 of Congregationalism in Carmarthenshire, and the adjoining 
 portions of Pembroke and Cardigan, is largely due to his 
 earnest and self-denying labours. 
 
 The chapel at Henllan was opened in the year 1697- 
 The church was Presbyterian in government, and had three 
 grades of officers—ministers, elders, and deacons ; but many 
 of the members leaned towards Independency. In the year 
 1707 a dispute arose between the Moderate Calvinists and 
 Presbyterians on the one hand, and the High Calvinists and 
 Independents on the other, and the latter withdrew and 
 formed an Independent church at Rhydyceisiaid, Matthias 
 Maurice, the author of “Social Religion,” being among the 
 number. The following year a branch of the church at’ 
 Rhydyceisiaid was formed at Glandwr, and a chapel was 
 built there in 1712. The church at Henllan had 700 
 adherents, and that at Rhydyceisiaid 800. These, with other 
 similar facts, show that Nonconformity was vigorous in the 
 period before the appearance of Howell Harris, and that 
 the old churches were not without evangelical fervour and 
 enterprise. 
 
 The third minister of Rhydyceisiaid and Glandwr was 
 John Griffiths, who became famous as a thoughtful preacher, 
 a wise pastor, and an able teacher of young men preparing 
 for the Christian ministry. He held a school for preachers 
 in his farmhouse at Glandwr, and many ministers and 
 clergymen received their training at this rural academy, so 
 that his name became known throughout the Principality. 
 He was very careful about instructing the people in the 
 
53 
 
 truths of the Gospel, and through his skill and diligence his 
 church became very proficient in theology—perhaps more 
 so than any other church in Wales. This great Christian 
 teacher founded the church at Penygroes, in the parish of 
 Whitechurch, the spiritual home of Caleb Morris in the 
 days of his youth. 
 
 The work began at Kilcam, a farmhouse in which the 
 Baptists had started a cause half a century earlier, and the 
 church was incorporated in the year 1765. The members 
 were few, and had the Communion administered once in 
 three months. In the intervening months they were expected 
 to go to the mother-church at Glandwr, a distance of five or 
 six miles. John Griffiths held the pastorate until the year 
 1798. In the interval the first place of worship was built 
 at Penygroes. This was the house in which Caleb Morris 
 learned to worship in public. It was a plain, barn-like 
 structure, with two doors and a double roof. 
 
 In 1798 William Evan was ordained as co-pastor with 
 John Griffiths at Rhydyceisiaid, Glandwr, ‘and Penygroes. 
 About this time a bitter controversy aro arose in the church 
 at Glandwr between the High Calvinists, Moderate Cal- 
 vinists, and Arminians, The last section retired and formed 
 a church at Rhydypark, which eventually became Arian, 
 and then Unitarian. 
 
 The feud between the two groups of Calvinists waxed so 
 bitter that they could not worship together, and finally the 
 High Calvinists were locked out from the chapel. They 
 formed a separate church, and erected a chapel about a mile 
 from Glandwyr, and called it Hebron. William Evan became 
 the pastor of this High Calvinist church. 
 
 The people at Penygroes sided with the High Calvinists, xX 
 and so William Evan became their sole pastor. He had also 
 the charge of the church at Rhydyceisiaid. There was a 
 
 | t NA baths yee Fshis oY Oo i'd Lada vel 
 
 Whiter GAD 
 
 ” 
 
o4 
 
 distance of about six miles between Penygroes and Hebron, 
 and about seven miles between Hebron and Rhydyéeisiaid. 
 It was a very laborious pastorate, and it was impossible to 
 hold frequent meetings at each place; still, William Evan 
 worked hard, and discharged his ministry with great con- 
 scientiousness. He had not been well trained, but he was a 
 diligent reader and a vigorous thinker. He was a man of 
 deep conviction, and clung to his views with great tenacity. 
 He seemed quite at home in the mysteries of theology, and 
 could settle without any hesitation such abstract questions 
 as the eternal generation of the Son, the counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, the nature of the Atonement, and the 
 personal presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of 
 believers. 
 
 At first sight it would seem that such a ministry could 
 not benefit a lad, and we almost pity Caleb Morris because 
 he was compelled to listen to such teaching in his early 
 days; but possibly our pity is misplaced. With all the 
 debating and hair-splitting there was a solemn proclamation 
 of the great truths of revealed religion, such as the eternal 
 and sovereign love of God; the wickedness of sin and its 
 awful doom ; the importance of the death of Christ, and the 
 infinite value of the Atonement; the need of the Holy 
 Spirit for converting the human spirit and developing it 
 into the Divine image ; the incalculable worth of the soul ; 
 the terrible danger of losing it ; and the glorious possibility 
 of saving unto everlasting life. Hence, though we may 
 think that High Calvinistic teaching is not the best adapted 
 for the needs of men, we must also be prepared to admit 
 that it has often been accompanied with great earnestness 
 and passionate enthusiasm for the salvation of souls, and 
 has been very successful in building up strong characters. 
 
 It is recorded that William Evan baptized 556 infants 
 
— \ 
 
 WILLIAM: EVA NY 
 
 peer enn TARTS —_,, | 
 
 5d 
 
 between his ordination in 1798 and his death in 1818. He ys 
 received also a large number of new members ; among others 
 Caleb Morris and John Evans, two of the noblest souls that 
 
 x ever belonged to a Christian Church. Under him, these | 
 
 two also began to preach. Few ministers have been 
 privileged to welcome two such men into the fellowship 
 and work of the Christian Church ; and the highest tribute 
 to William Evan is to be found in the reverence and esteem 
 of these servants of God, who were introduced into the 
 Church and its service during his ministry. 
 
 There was another spiritual spring in the neighbourhood 
 from which Caleb Morris drank. Three or four miles from 
 his home, across a wild moorland, in a sheltered spot under 
 the shadow of Prescelly, stood an Independent Chapel, 
 called Brynberian. It was erected in the year 1690. The 
 church that flourished there established branches at Newport, 
 Velindre, Maenclochog, and Bethesda. All these were under 
 one pastor, or bishop, though the distance from one extreme 
 to the other was over twenty miles, and the district was 
 mountainous and difficult to traverse. For fifty years— 
 from 1790 to 1840—Henry George was the zealous and 
 faithful bishop of this group of churches. He was a man 
 ‘of noble build, over 6 feet 4 inches in height, and corre- 
 spondingly broad and strong. This giant frame, combined 
 with an earnest sonl, enabled him to accomplish wonders. 
 He never allowed wind or rain, heat or cold, snow or tempest 
 to interfere with his engagements. His princely aspect and 
 spotless character won for him universal reverence and 
 esteem. His sermons were not brilliant, but they were full 
 of ripe wisdom and rich in Gospel teaching. Behind them 
 was the power of a Christlike character, and his name is 
 still fragrant in the neighbourhood. To men of his type, 
 rather than to the revival preacher, must be traced the 
 
56 
 
 deep hold which religion has on North Pembrokeshire ; 
 and the history of religion in this county disproves altogether 
 the assertions sometimes made about the absence of the 
 missionary spirit among the Puritan Churches. 
 
 In his diary, in connection with the ordination of Evan 
 Lewis—Henry George’s successor at Brynberian—Caleb 
 Morris has the following entry :—“ I offered the ordination 
 prayer in the Welsh language. May God hear it, and bless 
 this good young man who is settled over this large church, 
 where, in my early days, I used frequently to hear the Word 
 from those who are now silent.” This is doubtless a 
 reference to Henry George, and we may look upon this 
 earnest evangelist and William Evan, the High Calvinist, 
 as the chief religious instructors of Caleb Morris in’ his 
 boyhood and youth. 
 
 There were in the district a few representatives of the 
 Presbyterians who had drifted into Arianism and Uni- 
 tarianism. Their nearest chapel was at Rhydypark, a 
 distance of seven or eight miles. In later times such 
 persons usually attended the services at Penygroes, but went 
 periodically to the Unitarian Church at Rhydypark. It is. 
 not probable that they were a strong force in the neighbour- 
 hood ; still, they were a standing protest against the extreme 
 Calvinistic views of William Evan, and threw their influence 
 on the side of those who advocated moderate Calvinism and 
 Arminianism. 
 
 What waves of spiritual influence had found their way to- 
 that quiet district! The majesty and grandeur of Calvinism, 
 the solemnity and seriousness of Puritanism, the passion and 
 fervour of Methodism, and the critical questionings of 
 Arianism. The only important current which could not be 
 found there was Arminian Methodism ; yet even. this was 
 represented by some of the Independents. Scarcely any 
 
o7 
 
 fresh religious stream has appeared since; rather, those 
 that existed then have become broader and deeper, and 
 have often united together. Caleb Morris was, to some 
 extent, under the influence of them all; but the Calvinism 
 and Puritanism of the Baptists and Independents became 
 the predominant power in the fashioning of his religious 
 character. 
 
IV. 
 
 bome and Early Experiences, 
 
 HE home elements are of supreme importance in 
 the making of a man, and mould, to a very great 
 extent, his being and destiny. There does not 
 
 exist, as far as I know, a portrait either of the father or 
 mother of Caleb Morris. Inthe quiet region of Voeldrigarn, 
 in the early part of the last century, most of the inhabitants 
 were content to live and die without leaving behind them 
 any representation of their bodily form and features. In- 
 deed, there was in many cases a decided aversion to any- 
 thing of the kind. 
 
 I can just remember his aged father, bent in form, with 
 snow-white hair and beard, leaning upon his staff when he 
 was close upon one hundred years of age. But that boyish 
 impression of the patriarch is of no value for the purposes 
 of this biography, and I must be content with giving briefly 
 the current tradition of the neighbourhood concerning him. 
 
 All are agreed that Stephen Morris was no ordinary man. 
 He would easily take the lead in any community of people. 
 He was strongly and symmetrically built, and the outward 
 form was a true index to the inward character. His intel- 
 tect was keen and penetrating ; no one was ever known to 
 triumph over him in argument, and he was considered an 
 
59 
 
 authority on all matters of importance. Men sought his 
 opinion constantly, and he was in many respects the oracle 
 of the neighbourhood. He could say smart things, and many 
 of his quick repartees have been handed down. He was as 
 kind as he was keen. His broad, open countenance pro- 
 claimed a generous heart, and he was ever ready to lend a 
 helping hand; and his uprightness and straightforward- 
 ness were proverbial. In religious matters he was reserved 
 and cautious. He was sixty-eight years of age when he 
 became a member of the church; this, however, was not 
 due to any lack of sympathy with religion, but to a certain 
 diffidence and hesitancy in spiritual things. Long before 
 he made a public profession of Christianity he was noted 
 for the interest which he took in theological questions ; and 
 at stated periods he would retire into a quiet spot for 
 prayer and meditation. 
 
 His wife, Mary, was in several respects a contrast to her 
 husband. Though equally kind and generous, she was very 
 sensitive, almost morbidly so; and as the years passed she 
 became more and more the prey of gloomy, melancholy 
 thoughts. Her chief delight was in religion. She was 
 much more at home in the realities of eternity than with 
 the fleeting things of time; and after a week spent in 
 helpless misery she would eagerly resort to the services on 
 Sunday, and be lost in ecstacy and delight. How unlike 
 the majority of the present day ! 
 
 Caleb inherited the combined characteristics of his 
 parents. He possessed the quick intellect of his father, 
 with his open, generous disposition ; he also shared the deep 
 religious sentiments of his mother, and not a little of her 
 tendency to look on the dark side of things and to harbour 
 desponding thoughts. 
 
 This combination of parental qualities goes a considerable 
 
60 
 
 way towards accounting for his rich and unique nature, but 
 it does not explain everything. There is something distinct 
 and underived in every man, and especially in every great 
 man, and it is impossible to deny to a personality like Caleb 
 Morris a large measure of originality. Our fathers paid too 
 little heed to heredity and environment ; we are prone to 
 over-estimate their influence and to overlook the profound 
 mystery of individuality. 
 
 The other members of the home circle were two sisters. 
 and a brother. Martha was the eldest of the children. 
 She grew up to be an intelligent and affectionate, generous 
 and religious woman. Caleb was particularly fond of her, 
 and she is frequently mentioned in his diaries. The 
 attachment may have been due to similarity of disposition ; 
 but this was not the only cause, for Martha was somewhat 
 lame, and this misfortune naturally called forth her brother's 
 sympathy. 
 
 Caleb was the second of the children, and after him came 
 Jacob. He, too, possessed exceptional abilities; but he did 
 not long for education as Caleb did, and so he remained 
 rooted in his native soil. Nor did he share his distinguished 
 brother’s lofty idealism and religious earnestness.. Later on 
 we shall come to a pathetic chapter in his history. 
 
 Hannah, the youngest daughter, was a model of womanly 
 kindness and devoutness. She had a large family, and one 
 of her sons, Stephen, was a special favourite with Caleb 
 Morris. 
 
 It is no longer possible to give a detailed description of 
 the family life; but its leading features are easily traced. 
 It exhibited the simplicity and industry, kindness and. 
 hospitality which prevailed in the district. 
 
 The home—Park-y¥d (corn-field)—stood high up on the 
 mountain slope ; only one other little farm stood higher— 
 
‘ 61 
 
 Green Hill, the spot where the writer first saw the light. 
 There was no architectural beauty about Caleb Morris’s 
 birthplace. It was a plain house, built from the rough 
 stones found on the hill-sides, and roofed with grey slates. 
 There were two rooms on the ground floor, with a little 
 dairy at the back. The windows were small, but, with the 
 huge chimneys, there was no lack of ventilation ; and, as the 
 door was generally open, there was no scarcity of light and 
 fresh air. The floor was covered with blue flags, which 
 were kept beautifully clean and sprinkled with sand, or 
 adorned with figures by means of white chalk. 
 
 When we have entered the house through the narrow 
 passage between the parlour on the right and the high 
 wainscot on the left, the polished dresser stands before us, 
 the pride of the housewife, hung with decanters of varied 
 hues and shapes, and decked with burnished pewter plates, 
 many of them precious heir-looms. As our eyes move 
 towards the dairy door they rest for a moment on the 
 quaintly-carved grandfather’s clock, and then catch a glimpse 
 of the cool pans which hold the milk, with the cheesepress 
 and other dairy utensils, all neat and bright. We turn 
 round and, looking towards the window, notice the high 
 settle along the wainscot forming a cosy corner for the 
 table, so white a table that to put a cloth upon it would be 
 
 -as if one were to paint a lily. 
 
 Under the wide-open chimney rose the hearth, on it the 
 peat and wood were burning, “and the pewter plates on the 
 dresser caught and reflected the flames as shields of armies the 
 sunshine.” In one corner of the hearth was fixed a high grate, 
 filled with layers of balls made of culm mixed with clay. Once 
 this culm fire was lighted, it was not allowed to go out by 
 night or by day, but kept ever burning. Along the rough 
 beams overhead, which supported the boards above, were 
 
a, a 4 ae 
 a LYyY) € Lt 
 SH irre. ia Sate 
 
 62 
 
 suspended the home-cured bacon, the onions, thyme, chamo- — 
 mile, and other medicinal herbs; in a little nook, over the ~ 
 hearth, the book-case was placed—to Caleb the most im- 
 portant spot in all the house. In this upper room, as it was 
 called, the family spent most of their time during the day ; 
 and when the long winter nights came round, they and some 
 friendly visitor sat around the blazing fire and discussed the 
 affairs of the district, told tales and stories, sometimes ghost 
 stories that made the blood creep and filled the heart with 
 terror. 
 
 Partitioned off from this living room was the little 
 parlour, with its hanging press and chest— 
 
 ‘¢ The chest contrived a double debt to pay ; 
 A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.” 
 
 One corner was occupied by a neat cupboard in which the 
 china and other treasures were kept, and chairs filled up the 
 vacant spaces. The walls were decorated with pictures and 
 Sampler work, while plants and flowers adorned the windowsill. 
 Such were the chief contents of the ground floor, plain enough ; 
 bald, some would say; but not without the sense of comfort 
 and homeliness. In such humble places many—may I not 
 say most ?—of Cambria’s greatest men have been reared. 
 What are the occupations of the day? The father is an 
 early riser, and is up with the lark. In summer, he looks 
 around his little farm before breakfast and does odds and 
 ends ; in winter, he threshes the corn in the tiny barn and 
 tends the cattle while the morning meal is being prepared. 
 Breakfast over, he goes to his workshop, for, like many of 
 the people around, he combines farming with a craft, until 
 he can take a farm large enough to employ all his energies 
 and keep him in comfort. He is a shoemaker, and noted 
 for his skilful workmanship. He works for the gentry of 
 
the district, and comes into contact with the best people in 
 the Vale of Nevern. His shop is a centre for the discussion 
 
 of all the topics of the day, and as he plies his tools he also 
 
 leads the conversation. The children sometimes creep in 
 
 quietly to see and hear what is going on, and thus step 
 
 outside their own narrow little world ; but generally they 
 are in the house with their mother, or playing in the fields. 
 Caleb is no great hand at games; he loves his books, and. 
 it is not easy to tear him away from them. Where did he 
 learn to read? Probably at home, for schools were very 
 scarce in those days. It is possible, however, that he spent 
 
 some time under the tuition of a farmer’s son in the neigh-- 
 
 bourhood who kept a little school. Not much is known of 
 this teacher apart from his beautiful handwriting. There 
 is a tradition that a somewhat bumptious fellow came to the 
 neighbourhood, and laughed at the farmer’s simple school. 
 The rural schoolmaster flew into a passion, and challenged 
 his critic to a competition in handwriting. He could not 
 decline the chalienge, but he was no match for the farmer’s 
 son in calligraphy. Caleb Morris wrote a beautiful hand, 
 and the probability is that he was taught writing, reading,. 
 and arithmetic at this rural school. 
 
 Having learned to read, he devoured eagerly all the 
 literature within his reach. But circumstances would not 
 allow him to be always at his books ; as he grew up he was 
 expected to take his share in the occupations of the farm, 
 
 and particularly to help his mother to look after the sheep. 
 
 and cattle. He had no love for work of this kind, any more 
 than another great Welshman of the period, Williams o’r 
 Wern. Of Williams it is related that one of his sisters used 
 to do the work for him quietly, and when, after a struggle, 
 
 he tore himself away from his books to do what was. 
 
 expected of him, he found that it had been done already 
 
64 
 
 by his kind and thoughtful sister. We wonder if Caleb 
 Morris’s extra fondness for his elder sister was strengthened 
 by a similar experience ? 
 
 One task above all others was repulsive to him, and 
 helped to make the winter gloomy. In that somewhat 
 barren district food for the cattle was often scarce, and the 
 furze or gorse growing on hedge and moorland was used to 
 eke it out. For the cattle these had to be pounded smooth 
 on a huge stone, by means of an iron tool with a wooden 
 handle. It was a long, dreary, monotonous task, and to 
 spend precious hours over the furze-trough rather than over 
 his favourite books was a sore trial of patience to Caleb. 
 
 When summer came, he was released from this vexatious 
 toil. For this and many other reasons he welcomed the 
 spring with special delight. As the earth was clothed 
 with new beauty, his work became easier and pleasanter. 
 The wild sheep which gave him such trouble in winter, 
 made their way to the mountain, and he was glad to climb 
 the hill to look after their welfare, for he enjoyed the 
 glorious view, and after he had seen and numbered his little 
 flock, he could sit for hours in the shelter of some rock, 
 reading and thinking and dreaming. . 
 
 The summer brought many other delights. The season 
 of sheep-shearing was full of excitement. All the sheep 
 from the hill-side were brought to the large pond on the 
 moor to be washed. What an assemblage of men and boys, 
 of dogs and huge walking-sticks! What fun to see the 
 sheep leaping into the water and swimming out! The 
 shearing lasted for days, and all the men of the district were 
 gathered in one central place. Then came the hay harvest, 
 with its social interchange of labour and simple rustic play. 
 
 In the interval between the hay and corn harvest, two 
 stirring events generally occurred : one a trip to the seaside 
 
65 
 
 in carts and wagons, the other a visit to St. Lawrence Fair. 
 
 The sea resort was Newport, a charming little watering- | 
 place at the foot of Carn Ingli, with picturesque sands and © 
 
 bays, and bold rocks, with caves and fissures. The grandeur 
 of the sea, the excitement of bathing, the good humour of 
 the crowd, and the varied entertainment of the journey to 
 and fro, made this annual trip a red-letter day. 
 
 No less exciting was the visit to St. Lawrence Fair at 
 Kilgerran. Oh the crowds of people, the droves of horses 
 and cattle, sheep and pigs; the fat dealers from England, 
 with their whips and spurs and strange speech ; the shooting 
 galleries and merry-go-rounds ; the wares exposed for sale ; 
 the stands, with buns and gingerbread, and all kinds of 
 fruits and drinks. What a paradise for a boy if he had 
 enough money in his pocket ; but when that was limited, 
 what an anxious problem how to spend the few coppers to 
 the best advantage, as Herber Evans found it in his early 
 days! These early experiences make an indelible im- 
 pression on the country lad, and nothing in after life quite 
 comes up to the boyish delight in a rural fair. As these 
 childish joys began to fade with repetition, and maturer 
 tastes were formed, Kilgerran still had charms—its quaint 
 churchyard, its ancient castle, abounding in strange corners, 
 and looking down upon the peaceful Tivy, flowing through 
 a scene of unsurpassed beauty. 
 
 After these relaxations, the corn harvest came, and the 
 whole population of the parish—men, women, and children 
 —were found in the fields. It was a season of hard work, 
 and yet of real joy. But, alas! it heralded the approach of 
 winter, and as the days became shorter, and the clouds and 
 mists gathered around the hills, Caleb was apt to become 
 depressed. 
 
 Inthe autumn of 1812, these gloomy thoughts took strong 
 
 i) 
 
66 
 
 hold of him, and one day as he was with his father digging 
 potatoes in the field and feeling very weary, he threw his 
 mattock to the ground and said: “ Father, I will not 
 work another stroke, unless you promise to send me to the 
 town school.” The father promised to do his best in the 
 matter, and so induced the boy to continue his toil, From. 
 that moment Caleb’s education became the great problem at 
 Park-jd; it was seriously discussed also in several other 
 homes in the neighbourhood. 
 
 It would be a serious mistake, however, to think that all 
 his education was yet to come. Though his technical training 
 had been very meagre, he had learned to love books, which is 
 more than can be said of many highly educated people. His 
 stock of literature was small; with our modern views, we 
 should say pitiably small. His chief books were three: the 
 Bible, “Burkitt’s Commentary,” and Bunyan’s “ Pilgrim’s 
 Progress.” What a poor library! Yea, and what a rich 
 library! Again and again he read the Bible and Bunyan’s 
 immortal dream. His mind became imbued with their 
 great ideas, his imagination was filled with their grand 
 pictures, and his heart}was moved with their sublime passion. 
 Ah! perhaps, he was better educated after all than those who: 
 read so much, and think so little ; who lightly touch so many 
 things, but make none of them their own; who allow such 
 a multitude of cross-currents to move them that they have no 
 strong bent in the direction of goodness. Caleb Morris. 
 never became weary of the books that charmed him at the 
 quiet home on the hill-side. Bunyan’s dream remained a 
 favourite with him, and he edited a Welsh edition of the 
 “Pilgrim’s Progress,” which was published by James 
 Virtue, in the year 1843. The Bible continued to be the 
 chief theme of his study to the end of his days, and the 
 great aim of his life’ was to understand and proclaim its 
 
 es 
 
67 t 
 
 wonderful teaching. A youth who had contracted such a 
 love for these two kings among books, had made great pro- 
 gress in the most important education. 
 
 At home he had been trained in the virtues which form 
 the foundation of a noble character—truthfulness and 
 honesty, reverence and self-control, kindness and humility. 
 We cannot be sure that family worship was conducted at 
 Park-yd night and morning; the probabilities are that 
 it was not, for the father was not a professing Christian, 
 
 ‘and the mother would be too nervous and sensitive to 
 
 conduct it. Still, we cannot be certain, for John Evans, 
 a contemporary and friend of Caleb Morris, says that his 
 father held family worship regularly, though he was not a 
 church member ; in any case, the atmosphere of the home 
 was religious, and the boy was taught, from his earliest days, 
 to honour the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 ' He went with his father and mother to the service on 
 the Sabbath Day, and learned to worship God publicly. Out- 
 wardly there was nothing attractive about the service, but 
 all the more, perhaps, on that account it appealed to the 
 earnest soul. How strange that simple service would seem 
 to us—the square, plain building, with high-backed pews 
 in the centre, and stone benches along the walls, a box pulpit 
 perched aloft, between two plain windows, and the ground 
 floor made of lime and sand—the singing, a slow plaintive 
 unison—the reading monotonous, and the prayer long and 
 doctrinal—the sermon deep and argumentative, and yet, 
 over all, a strange solemnity and impressiveness, rudely 
 disturbed at times by some of the dogs that lie scattered 
 over the floor. 
 
 Who would have thought of High Churchism amid such 
 surroundings ; but there existed at least two customs that 
 
 savoured somewhat of modern Ritualism. The men and 
 5* 
 
68 
 
 women entered by distinct doors and sat apart; and when 
 the minister said, ‘‘ Let us pray,” all the people stood up and 
 turned round, so as to have their faces in the same direction 
 as the man who led their devotions. They cared nothing 
 for the eastern position, but they all looked towards the 
 same source of grace. It may be questioned whether this 
 attitude is preferable to kneeling ; it is certainly much more 
 devotional than the lounging in which so many of our 
 modern congregations indulge during public prayer. 
 
 When the service is over the men gather in little groups 
 to discuss the doctrine ; the women go round the graves in 
 the adjoining burial ground, and shed many a silent tear 
 over the dear ones that are gone; the children who have 
 learnt their letters read the inscriptions on the tomb-stones, 
 while those who cannot read admire the pebbles and gravel 
 that are strewn over the dead. 
 
 There is no Sunday-school as yet, and the remainder of 
 the day is spent quietly at home, unless a strange preacher 
 is holding a service at one of the farm-houses, or a prayer- 
 meeting is held in some house where there is sickness or 
 Sorrow. 
 
 There is an occasional week-night service. It may be 
 due to the christening of a baby. The pastor is present, the 
 neighbours assemble, and, as the young life is dedicated to 
 God in Christian baptism, the older people are reminded 
 of the terrors of sin and the riches of God’s grace. Or the 
 people may have been drawn together by the hand of death. 
 A prayer-meeting is held in the home of the departed, to 
 sympathise with the sorrowing relatives, and to impress 
 upon all who are present the insecurity of life, and the 
 solemn duty of being prepared for death. Who can grow 
 up in such an atmosphere altogether unconcerned about 
 religious things ? 
 
 , 
 
69 
 
 Now and then Stephen Morris would go on Sunday to 
 Brynberian, for his family came from that neighbourhood, 
 and Caleb was permitted to go with him across the wide 
 stretch of moorland, under the shadow of the bare hills. 
 What an opportunity for asking questions and discussing 
 great themes! ‘The solitude prepared his mind for worship ; 
 the noble mien and earnest words of the Evangelical preacher, 
 Henry George, made a deep impression on the lad, and as 
 son and father returned to their mountain home, who can 
 tell what holy converse they held together? Such associa- 
 tions make places truly sacred, and wherever Providence 
 may lead Caleb Morris in after days, he will ever remember 
 with much tenderness his early experiences among his 
 native hills. 
 
We 
 
 Schools and College. 
 
 ON THE TIvy, THE CLEDDAU, AND THE Towy. 
 
 HE eager debates at Park-yd, and the frequent con- 
 ferences with neighbouring friends, have resulted in 
 the determination to send Caleb Morris to the town 
 
 school. The lad’s countenance is beaming with delight. 
 His jet-black eyes are more brilliant than usual, and his 
 dark flowing locks seem to have formed additional curls. 
 The father is relieved to think that the matter has been 
 decided, though there are clouds still over the way; and 
 even the gloom of the mother disappears as she thinks of 
 the prospects and possibilities of her clever boy. 
 
 The first practical step is to be taken on the Saturday, 
 the market day at Cardigan, which lies at a distance of 
 about ten miles. Everything is got ready for the journey, 
 and father, mother, and son are early on their way in a little 
 pony-cart. They pass the neighbouring farms, and every- 
 body seems to be interested in the fact that Caleb Morris 
 is going to the town school. They cross the valley through 
 which the Nevern flows, and gradually climb to the highest 
 point on the journey. From there they have a fine view of 
 Voeldrigarn and the Prescelly range. Perhaps the boy had 
 never looked at his native hills from such a vantage ground 
 
71 
 
 before. How interesting it was to be able to locate every 
 spot! Still the bent of his mind was towards Cardigan 
 that day. 
 
 After travelling for miles through a comparatively level 
 country, they find themselves on the high ground above 
 Cardigan Bay. What a fine stretch of sea! There lies 
 Cardigan, some miles up the river. They hurry down the 
 hill, and soon arrive at Cardigan Bridge. That was one 
 of the wonders of the neighbourhood—its arches, its walls, 
 with their curious angles, and the great river beneath, now 
 flowing towards the sea, and now driven by the tide in 
 the opposite direction. It would be easy for the lad to 
 spend hours on the bridge; but the school occupied his 
 thoughts and drew him on. 
 
 They go to the Vicarage ; the good clergyman welcomes 
 them, and immediately takes a liking to the boy. The 
 terms are soon arranged, and the date of entrance fixed. 
 The next step, to secure lodgings, is not so easy ; but, afger 
 some trouble, that is settled too. Their work is done, but, 
 before returning home, they go through the market and 
 look around the town. The lad examines everything eagerly, 
 and is sure already that he will like the place. 
 
 The following week is a busy time at Park-yd. The 
 tailor must come and see that the boy is properly clad. 
 Shoemakers’ children are proverbial for being badly shod ; 
 but Stephen Morris must postpone everything else that 
 week until Caleb is provided for. The mother is full of 
 care and anxiety that nothing should be forgotten. She 
 looks out for the best ham, and packs it carefully. The 
 round cheese which seems most tasty is chosen and put 
 aside. A pile of curled, brittle oaten bread is prepared, 
 and a large wheaten loaf baked on the hearthstone. Two 
 rolls of golden butter are made, one for Caleb, and the 
 
v% 
 c - 1 
 7. * ‘ 7 e 
 
 ¥ J Woes 
 
 a NL ND 
 ee : 
 
 <- 
 
 } 
 \ 
 
 other for the landlady in the town, to ensure her goodwill 
 toward the new lodger. By Saturday morning everything 
 was ready, and father and son were early on their way to 
 Cardigan. Few were the words spoken between mother and 
 son that morning ; the heart was too full for the tongue to 
 speak ; but the hesitating, downward glances spoke volumes. 
 The lad was now leaving home for the first time. Oh, what 
 a world of meaning is contained in the expression “leaving 
 home”! What a loss! Will there be a corresponding 
 gain? ‘Time mast show. 
 
 The journey is accomplished. Caleb Morris is in Cardigan, 
 and there to stay. When his father turns homewards, the 
 son goes with him over the bridge and up the hill. 
 Eventualiy the father says: “ Now, go back, my son; be 
 a good boy, and God bless thee!” The separation has. 
 taken place. Father and son move in different directions. 
 We are at one of the great turning-points in life. 
 
 The lad begins in earnest. On the Sunday he is a devout 
 worshipper. On Monday he is at the town school, for which 
 he had been long yearning. He thirsts for knowledge and 
 seeks after it with passionate zeal. The weeks and months 
 pass, and he makes very rapid progress ; nothing can stand 
 before him. His fame spreads throughout the town, and 
 glowing reports concerning him find their way to his native 
 parish. His relaxations are few, for he takes but little interest 
 in the ordinary school games. On Saturdays he leaves his 
 books for a little while, for it is market day, and there is a 
 chance of seeing some one from the region of Whitechurch, 
 and hearing something about the old home ; besides, a welcome: 
 parcel may come, and cause him to lose himself for a moment 
 in sweet memories. Occasionally his father or his mother 
 comes to see him, and at distant intervals he goes to spend 
 Sunday at Park-jd and Penygroes; but when he does, he is up 
 
 72 
 
73 
 
 early on Monday, in order to be back in town in time for 
 lessons. He may also be induced to pay a visit now and 
 then to the sea, at Gwhert, or row up the romantic Tivy 
 past Kilgerran, and then walk toward the Cenarth Falls. 
 He is lost in rapture over the beauty of the scenery, and 
 is much interested in the fishermen with their nets, rods, 
 and coracles, as they seek the trout, salmon, and sewin. 
 
 One Saturday he is very gloomy, for his father has told him: 
 that he cannot keep him in school any longer. He tells his 
 master, who replies that such a step would be a crime ; and 
 offers to take him without fee, on the understanding that he 
 should give him occasional help with the lower classes. 
 So the difficulty is overcome for the moment. Alas! very 
 soon a more serious crisis arises. The good clergyman dies, 
 and Caleb Morris has to leave school and return to the home 
 beside the hill. 
 
 What is to be done? All are agreed that he ought to be 
 sent to another school, but how can it be accomplished ? 
 Well, Stephen and Mary Morris found a way, to their 
 honour be it said, and determined that their son should 
 be well educated. This time he was sent to Haverfordwest, 
 a greater distance away than Cardigan, and a more expensive 
 place. 
 
 Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire, 
 and was at the time the largest town in the district. It is 
 more English than Welsh, being situated in the district 
 where the Flemings settled, which is often called little 
 England beyond Wales. The town is prettily placed on a 
 steep hill, rising from the Western Cleddau, and contains 
 the ruins of a castle and priory. It can boast of fine 
 churches and excellent public buildings. Among other institu- 
 tions the town possessed a good grammar school, and to this 
 school Caleb Morris found his way. 
 
} 
 
 1 
 % Yd } 
 
 ; 
 
 i 
 
 74 
 
 It was quite a new experience for him, and at first the 
 ‘boys laughed at him. He was from the Welsh district, and 
 the Flemings had not quite forgotten their animosity to the 
 Welsh. Moreover, he was a boy from the country, and so 
 fell far short of the standard of town boys. He had the 
 additional misfortune of not being fond of games. Still, 
 very soon he had triumphed. His black eyes glowed with 
 indignation when the boys treated him unfairly, and they 
 began to be afraid of him. Then he was such a talker: it 
 was a delight to listen to him, though his Welsh accent was 
 still strong. He never would condescend to tricks, and in 
 course of time all the boys came to respect him—even to 
 love him, for when they were in difficulties about con- 
 struing Greek and Latin, and solving problems in Euclid 
 and algebra, Caleb Morris always came to their rescue. His 
 knowledge was magnified, and among the boys he was 
 considered a greater scholar than the master; and so, when 
 he left, the boys said it was because the master had no more 
 to teach him. 
 
 Doubtless his stay at Haverfordwest benefited him in 
 many ways. He aoquired greater proficiency in English, 
 and won more confidence in himself and his own abilities. 
 He also came in contact with a warm-hearted Calvinistic 
 Methodist, who took great interest in him and helped to 
 deepen his religious convictions. But he was forced by 
 circumstances to leave Haverfordwest, and returned once 
 more to his mountain home. The outlook now became very 
 dubious, and he was pressed to come to a decision about his 
 course in life. 
 
 He found the right path slowly. At first he was drawn 
 towards a solicitor’s office. The son of Mr. Owen Davies, 
 of Pen’rallt, in the same parish, who had been his friend 
 and companion in the school at Cardigan, had become 
 
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 TIVA HLUVNGO—AAI 
 
 t 
 
x 
 
 76 
 
 articled to a solicitor, and it appeared at one time as if he 
 would follow a similar course. A solicitor from Carmarthen 
 came down to see him. It is not difficult to picture his 
 jolting ascent in his carriage over the rough and narrow 
 roads to Park-jd. At last he has reached the place, and 
 where is Caleb? In the barn, bruising gorse for the cattle. 
 Though clad in rustic garb and engaged in humble toil,. 
 the solicitor saw at a glance that he was one of Nature’s 
 noblemen, and offered to take him. For some reason they 
 did not come to terms; possibly the expense was greater 
 than Stephen Morris could bear. It is also probable that 
 the youth was not much drawn in this direction. He felt 
 more interested in a higher law, and was becoming con- 
 vinced that his vocation was to be the ministry of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 After this there was a talk about making him an Excise 
 officer ; but that suggestion also came to nought. Soon he 
 opened a school in the schoolroom at Penygroes, and began: 
 to teach the youth of the neighbourhood. He was young, 
 but he was far superior to the ordinary schoolmaster of the 
 period, and he rendered good service to many, for he had 
 the rare power of kindling in others an enthusiasm for 
 knowledge. 
 
 About this time he passed through deep religious ex-. 
 periences. He retired to lonely places to meditate and pray. 
 In the depth of the night he was often found in the church- 
 yard at Penygroes wrestling with God. Others kept far 
 from the place because they were afraid of ghosts; but he 
 was attracted to the spot as to some sacred place. 
 
 When he was about fourteen years of age he became 
 convinced that he ought to join the church at Penygroes,. 
 but he hesitated to make his wishes known. Diffidence was. 
 one of his abiding characteristics. How could he stand. 
 
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 (AAs 
 7 (WMLY Wal Aw) 
 
 4 ry ; 
 the catechising of the aged Calvinistic minister and the “OV,” ai 
 questionings of elders and deacons? Was it not pre- ~ 
 sumptuous in a youth of fourteen to seek church member- 
 ship? At last he hit upon an ingenious plan. He wrote 
 down his desire on a sheet of paper, which he put in the 
 pulpit Bible at Penygroes, half fearing and half wishing that 
 the minister might see it. The minister did see it, and 
 gladly welcomed the promising lad into church fellowship. 
 
 A few years before he had received another earnest youth 
 into church membership—John Evans, who was _begin- 
 ning to preach when Caleb Morris became a church member. 
 The names of these two men are inseparably associated in 
 thé traditions of the~placé."They were, beyond all con- 
 troversy, the two most remarkable men whom that church 
 
 ever welcomed into the communion of saints ; and, after the we 4 
 Becmeee SS 
 lapse of a century, their fame survives. oe ys - 
 
 Having joined the Church, Caleb Morris thee himself : 
 heart and soul into Christian service. He started expository 
 meetings at a farm-house called Maesgwyn, which wasthen «// 
 inhabited by a good Christian, "Thomas Marsden. The “/\~ 
 meetings commenced with prayer and singing; then a 
 section of the Bible, announced beforehand, was discussed in 
 catechetic fashion. This gave a great impulse to Biblical 
 study in the neighbourhood, and for many years meetings 
 of this type were held on Sunday evenings—indeed, they 
 are not yet quite discontinued. They helped to rear a 
 generation well versed in the Word of God, and strong in 
 their attachment to spiritual things. 
 
 All were impressed with the young man’s clearness of 
 thought, his great gifts of speech, his skill in expounding 
 the Bible, and his passionate earnestness. Soon the im- 
 pression became general that he was called to be a preacher, 
 and ere long he preached his first sermon. This occurred 
 
 ff 
 é 
 
 Wray any V 4M 
 
in a small house on the moorland, about half-a-mile from 
 
 Park-jd. The text was “As new-born babes, desire the 
 sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” The 
 neighbours had come together to criticise and to sympathise ; 
 but long ere the sermon was finished, all were lost in 
 
 admiration and astonishment. Those rural folk were quick 
 
 enough to see that a great man had arisen among them, 
 and they gave him every encouragement. He preached his 
 second sermon at Penygroes, and it gave such satisfaction 
 that the church unanimously requested him to prepare for 
 the Christian ministry. 
 
 He continued to conduct the day school, but his heart 
 was drawn more and more towards the pulpit. The 
 traditions concerning his piety and earnestness at that 
 period are very striking; his whole being seemed to be 
 absorbed in divine things. On the road and mountain top, 
 in field and garden, on week days as well as Sundays he was 
 filled with the Spirit. His addresses were suffused with 
 divine tenderness, his appeals were well nigh irresistible, and 
 his prayers made every place where they were uttered a divine 
 sanctuary. If stones and rocks, trees and springs could 
 speak, what wonderful tales of his devotion they would 
 record. 
 
 As his mind became fixed on the ministry, his thoughts 
 gravitated towards Carmarthen, and on the ist August, 
 1816, he wended his way towards that ancient town. It 
 was a long way off—over twenty miles, and that in part 
 over a rough mountainous road. Still it was a road 
 full of interest, and passing through historic scenes. The 
 region had been evangelised by Stephen Hughes, of Mydrim ; 
 Griffith Jones, of Llanddowror ; Morgan Jones, of Trelech, 
 and men of similar spirit. It was then a stronghold of 
 Independency, and continues so unto this day. 
 
79 
 
 When he approached the beautiful vale of Towy, he could 
 not help contrasting the scenery with the bolder and more 
 barren outlook from his native hill. Carmarthen is a place: 
 whose name and fame go back to Roman times. Here the 
 sage Merlin did his wonderful deeds, and uttered his strange 
 prophecies ; and a neighbouring height is still named after 
 him. The town has been the centre of great events in 
 the national life of Wales ; near it stands the palace of the 
 Bishop of St. Davids; and though the coal and iron 
 industries have moved the centre of gravity eastwards, 
 Carmarthen still possesses something of its former glory. 
 
 Let Sir Lewis Morris, the illustrious son of the district, 
 describe its quaint, primitive beauty :— 
 
 Far, far away, in wild Wales, by the shore of the boundless Atlantic 
 
 Where the cloud-capt peaks of the North are dwarfed to the hills of 
 the South, 
 
 And through the long vale to the sea, the full-fed devious Towy 
 
 Turns and returns on itself, like the coils of a silvery snake, 
 
 A grey town sits up aloft on the bank of the clear, flowing river, 
 
 As it has sat since the days when the Roman was first in the land ; 
 
 A town, with a high ruined castle, and walls mantled over with 
 ivy, 
 
 With church towers square and strong, and narrow irregular streets ; 
 
 And, frequent in street and lane, many-windowed high-shouldered 
 chapels, 
 
 Whence, all the still Sabbath, ascend loud preaching and passionate 
 prayer. 
 
 And here and there a rude square, with statues of popular heroes, 
 
 A long quay, with scarcely a ship, and a hoary bridge spanning the 
 stream, 
 
 The stream which struggles in June by the shallows where children 
 are swimming, 
 
 The furious flood which at Yule roars seaward, resistless along. 
 
 Though the white steam ribbons float by it, forlorn it seems, almost 
 forsaken, 
 
 > 
 
80 
 
 All the day long in the week the dumb streets are hushed in repose, 
 
 But on market or fair days comesa throng of Welsh-speaking peasants, 
 
 From many a lonely farm in the folds of the rain-beaten hills, 
 
 And the long streets are filled with the high-pitched speech of the 
 chaffering Kymry, 
 
 With a steeple-crowned hat, here and there, and the red cloaks which 
 daunted the French. 
 
 Above the grey old town, at the mouth of the exquisite valley, 
 
 Rises a quaint village church deep in o’ershadowing yews ; 
 
 On a round-topped hill it stands, looking down on the silvery river, 
 
 And the smooth meadows fenced by tall elms, and the black kine, like 
 flies on the green. 
 
 Below, ’midst its smooth-pleached lawns, stands the many-roofed 
 Anglican palace, 
 
 And aloft from its straight ridged-pines, the enchanter’s summit 
 ascends. 
 
 Thence along the upward vale, by fold upon fold of the river, 
 
 By park and tower, at last the far-off mountain chains soar, 
 
 Flecked with shadow and sunshine, which float on the side of the 
 desolate moorland, 
 
 And the whole still landscape lies bathed in a haze of ineffable peace. 
 
 But we are concerned not so much with its quiet beauty 
 and general historic associations as with its educational 
 advantages. It has possessed for ages a good Grammar 
 School, and for a long period it has been the abode of a 
 Nonconformist Academy or College. We have already seen 
 that two of the greatest men of Wales—Griffith Jones, of 
 Llanddowror, and Thomas Charles, of Bala—were trained 
 at these institutions, not to mention lesser names; and to 
 these historic homes of learning Caleb Morris came. He 
 was at the Grammar School from 1816 to 1818, and at the 
 Presbyterian College from 1818 to 1822. 
 
 The college now situated at Carmarthen is, according to 
 a recent official report of the University of Wales, “ the 
 oldest of all the Welsh theological colleges, and notable for 
 
81 
 
 the eminent services it has rendered to the ministry of the 
 yarious Churches in Wales.” *It runs back to the Academy 
 opened at Brynllwarch, near Bridgend, Glamorganshire, by 
 the Rev. Samuel Jones, M.A., Fellow of Jesus College, 
 Oxford, who was ejected from the living at Llangynwydd 
 in 1662. This excellent man presided over it with remark- 
 able efficiency to the close of his valuable life in 1697. 
 
 After his death the Academy was moved to Abergavenny, 
 and among its pupils was Samuel Jones, of Tewkesbury, 
 under whom Archbishop Secker and Bishop Butler studied. 
 Then it was brought back to a place near Brynllwarch, and 
 presided over by Rees Price, the father of Richard Price, 
 the moral philosopher. Afterwards it was removed to Car- 
 marthen, and was for years under the charge of Perrot, who 
 had been ordained to the ministry by Matthew Henry. 
 Vavasor Griffiths succeeded him, and the Academy was 
 removed to Maesgwyn, in Radnorshire, where Williams of 
 Pantycelyn was educated. After a short visit to Haverford- 
 west, the Academy returned to Carmarthen, where it has 
 remained ever since, except for a short period towards the 
 close of the eighteenth century. The London Congrega- 
 tional and Presbyterian Boards had voted sums for the 
 support of the tutors and students since its commencement ; 
 but, on account of the objection of the Congregational Board 
 to one of the teachers, who was a Pelagian, or even an Arian, 
 it withdrew its grant in 1755, and established an Independent 
 Academy at Abergavenny, which, after wandering to Wrex- 
 ham, Llanfyllin, and Newtown, became stationed at Brecon, 
 where the Memorial College was built in 1862. 
 
 After the withdrawal of the Congregational Board, the 
 Academy at Carmarthen came under the sole control of the 
 Presbyterian Board. Among its teachers was Dr. Jenkins, 
 who was a professed Arian. In the years 1784-6 the 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 students were in a state of chronic rebellion, and the 
 Academy was removed to Swansea ; but the change of place 
 did not bring about peace, and the Academy was closed in 
 the year 1795. The dispute was partly doctrinal and partly 
 personal. Many of the Presbyterians had become Arians, 
 and were drifting towards Unitarianism ; these wanted the 
 Principal to be an Arian. The bulk of the students, how- 
 ever, came from the Independents, and they desired a man 
 of Evangelical views to be at the helm. The wishes of the 
 latter prevailed, and David Peter, the minister of Lammas 
 Street Chapel, Carmarthen, was appointed Principal, a post 
 which he occupied over forty years. This appointment 
 brought back the institution to Carmarthen, and at that period 
 its name was changed from an academy to a college, though 
 the number of students was then limited to twelve; and it 
 has been known since as the Presbyterian College. 
 
 David Peter was nota man of extraordinary ability, but 
 he exerted great influence in his day, through a combination 
 of common sense, industry, and earnestness. As a minister 
 he was eminently successful. There were only forty members 
 at Lammas Street when he undertook the pastorate ; there 
 were over 600 when he died. Meanwhile the church had 
 ceased to be Presbyterian, and had become Congregational. 
 
 This was the man under whose guiding influence Caleb 
 Morris came for six years, for he was a master of the 
 Grammar School as well as Principal of the College and 
 minister of the church at Lammas Street. From his 
 inaugural address as Principal of the College, delivered in 
 the year 1796, we know that he had broad and lofty ideas 
 about the training of men for the ministry. He was quite 
 free from the modern weakness which seeks to co-ordinate 
 theology with other branches of learning, and would drive 
 men to study the deepest problems before laying a founda- 
 
83 
 
 tion of general culture. He says: “In order to be a good 
 divine, one must be a classic, a mathematician, a philosopher, 
 an astronomer, an historian, and a diligent, pious Christian. 
 He should be able to read the Sacred Volume in the original 
 languages with ease and pleasure, and have such a know- 
 ledge of Greek and Latin as will enable him to compare 
 the Scriptures with other ancient writings.” He urged 
 his students to study the Bible with unprejudiced minds, 
 avoiding bigotry on the one hand and indifference on the 
 other. 
 
 He paid great attention to composition and the art of 
 delivery, and thus made the collegiate training a direct 
 preparation for the work of the preacher. Doubtless he 
 found it almost impossible to reduce his high ideals into 
 practice; but it was something to have a man of such 
 lofty aims at the head of an institution preparing men for 
 the Christian ministry. Is our ideal so high to-day as 
 David Peter’s a century ago ? 
 
 His position as Principal was full of difficulties, for 
 Unitarians and Trinitarians watched him with jealous eyes. 
 The Unitarians accused him of favouring orthodoxy, and 
 the Calvinists called him a “trimmer.” The charges 
 neutralise each other, and show that, on the whole, he held 
 the balance evenly and fairly. 
 
 The other teacher in Caleb Morris’s time was David Lewis 
 Jones, who had been trained at the College in the years 
 1807-11. For three years he was a teacher at Llandyssul, 
 and a co-pastor with the celebrated David Davies, Castell- 
 hywel, at Llwynrhydowen. He held the post of classical 
 tutor at the Presbyterian College from 1814 to 1830. In 
 religion he was an Arian, and in his later years a Unitarian ; 
 and held the pastorate of the Unitarian Chapel, Carmarthen, 
 from 1825 to 1830. His tastes were literary rather than 
 
 6* 
 
84 
 
 theological, and he was known by the nom de plume “ Clym 
 Adda.” 
 
 Such were the men under whom Caleb Morris received 
 his collegiate training. The course could not have been 
 thorough, but it was broad and comprehensive. There are 
 no detailed statements on record concerning Caleb Morris’s 
 progress at college; bat there is no reason for doubting the 
 accuracy of the current tradition, which says that he found the 
 work of the college mere child’s play, and that he was a 
 voracious reader. Few young men in Wales could have had 
 his preliminary training, and we can easily believe that with 
 his unique abilities very little time was required for his 
 college tasks. That wasa misfortune. It wasa pity that be 
 was not thrown among young men equally able with himself, 
 and subjected to severe training in definite studies. For- 
 tunately his earnestness kept him from wasting his time 
 and neglecting his privileges; but a certain desultoriness 
 crept into his method of study which was a calamity to one 
 so disposed as he was to brooding melancholy. 
 
 He was a respectable classic when he entered college, and 
 at least kept up his pre-collegiate studies. He seems to 
 have devoted great attention to the study of the Greek 
 Testament. As far as I can gather he did not know much 
 Hebrew; he had not learnt any before entering college, 
 and it was impossible for the busy principal to devote much 
 attention to this difficult study. His favourite subject was 
 philosophy, and he gave great heed to theology. We cannot 
 suppose the teaching in these subjects to have been very 
 masterly or profound; but the college possessed a good 
 library, and the young philosopher pondered deeply over the 
 contents of the thick heavy volumes—he revelled in the 
 cloudland of abstractions, and oft lost himself in the mists 
 of metaphysics. 
 
85 
 
 This passionate devotion to philosophy had two unfortunate 
 consequences. It crippled his taste for poetry and general 
 literature. In his boyish days he had, like most youths, 
 dabbled in rhyming, and during his first year at college he 
 wrote an elegy on the death of his old pastor, William 
 Evan. He had a pretty fancy, and a fine imagination ; but 
 
 he neglected to cultivate them, he even oppressed and 
 
 crushed them with loads of philosophy. His unique de- 
 votion to those studies, vague and vast, also tended to 
 nurture his natural disposition to melancholy. Had he been 
 compelled to mingle lighter and more definite studies with 
 these philosophic abstractions, he would have been saved from 
 many pitfalls in later days. With his imperfect college 
 training, he achieved wonders; with a course better adapted 
 to his talents, what would he not have accomplished ? 
 
 His preaching talents developed rapidly during his college 
 days. He was a born preacher, and the influence of 
 principal and fellow-students kept this ideal before his 
 mind. Then, as now, the students at Carmarthen preached 
 on Sundays in the neighbouring churches, and thus perfected 
 their gifts in sacred oratory. Caleb Morris soon became 
 famous as a preacher, and he was in constant request as a 
 supply. As an illustration of his popularity, one example 
 may be given. Dr. Phillips, of Neuaddiwyd, exercised a 
 ministry of great power in Cardiganshire, and kept an 
 academy. Communion Sanday was considered more sacred 
 than the other Sundays, and Dr. Phillips would allow 
 neither a student nor an ordinary minister to occupy his 
 pulpit on the Communion Sunday; but Caleb Morris was 
 permitted to do this more than once while a student at 
 Carmarthen. 
 
 His views on preaching were sound and lofty ; and he often 
 talked with his fellow-student, William Griffith, afterwards 
 
86 
 
 of Holyhead, about the supreme function of the Christian 
 ministry. As students they were bosom friends, and the 
 wise people at Lammas Street, who then threw their 
 measuring-rod over the students, and prophesied concern- 
 ing the future, expected the most from Caleb Morris and 
 William Griffith, expectations which were fully justified by 
 events. Both were agreed that the great aim of preaching 
 should be usefulness. This view excluded all mere cleverness 
 and showy rhetoric. They sought, first and foremost, to 
 persuade and convince, encourage and inspire. 
 
 As to manner, they considered naturalness to be the most 
 important feature of effective preaching, and this was the 
 ideal which they set before themselves. This did not mean 
 the absence of discipline, for naturalness is generally the 
 outcome of careful training. Probably Caleb Morris was 
 more particular about preparing for the pulpit than his 
 friend. William Griffith had a readier gift of speech, and 
 his taste was not exacting; hence we have the former 
 saying to the latter, during one of his visits to the 
 Metropolis: ‘“‘ Now, William, do not be spouting about 
 London without due preparation.” 
 
 It is a misfortune that the letters which passed between 
 Caleb Morris and William Griffith have perished, for they 
 were two rare souls, and their spiritual affinities kept them 
 close friends till parted by death ; but nothing now remains 
 beyond the fact of their intimate friendship. In the life 
 of William Griffith we have the following testimony: “ I 
 spent there [at Carmarthen] four very happy years, and 
 enjoyed precious privileges, for which I can never be 
 sufficiently thankful. All my fellow-students have passed 
 away, but while we were there together, a warm friendship. 
 existed between us, which lasted for a lifetime, and will last 
 between some of us for ever; and between myself and the 
 
87 
 
 famous, able, and affectionate Caleb Morris more than all 
 the rest combined.” 
 
 After such a record, there is no difficulty in believing the 
 tradition that Caleb Morris was a model student ; that by 
 his industry, ability, and enthusiasm he had won the 
 affection, esteem, and admiration of all his fellow-students ; 
 and that the Principal of the College cherished the highest 
 expectations concerning his career in the ministry. 
 
 As his college course was drawing to a close, he had © 
 
 several invitations to vacant churches; but he was in no 
 hurry to respond. It is true that he had been eight years 
 at school and college, but he was still only twenty-two years 
 of age, and he shrank from the duties and responsibilities of 
 the ministry. At the close of 1822, he received a call from 
 the church at Narberth, in his native county. He felt 
 that this was also a call from heaven, and he accepted it 
 with fear and trembling, in the humble faith and hope that 
 God would make him an efficient minister of the New 
 Covenant. 
 
 ———— 
 
Vi. 
 
 Ordination at tarberth. 
 
 ARBERTH is a small country town on the edge of the 
 Pembrokeshire coalfield, about two miles from the 
 Eastern Cleddau, and six miles or so from the nearest 
 
 point of Carmarthen Bay, It was an important place in the 
 olden times, for Pwyll, the Prince of Dyved, had his chief 
 palace there. In the ancient Welsh Mabinogi, which describes 
 the hunting of the boar in Western Wales, it is said : “ And 
 they began to take a circuit of Dyved, to hunt and to take 
 their pleasure. And as they went through the country, they 
 had never seen land more pleasant to live in, nor better 
 hunting grounds, nor greater plenty of honey and fish. And 
 they began a feast at Narberth, for it was the chief palace, 
 and there originated all honour.” From this centre expedi- 
 tions were made to the Prescelly hills, and the Valley of 
 - Cych. In the immediate neighbourhood was the Forest of 
 Canaston, near which the picturesque Cleddau winds its way 
 past wood and glen, meadow and park, to the magnificent 
 Haven of Milford. In later times the Knights Templars 
 settled in the neighbourhood, and fixed their abode at a 
 place uear Narberth, which is now known by the name 
 Templeton, ‘Traces of Narberth Castle still remain, and of 
 an ancient mound, which is said to have been the seat of 
 
89 
 
 judicature of the Princes of Dyved. It came to be associated 
 with the appearance of a lady riding on a white horse, and 
 the Mabinogi says: “It is peculiar to the mound that 
 whosoever sits upon it cannot go hence without either 
 receiving wounds or blows, or else seeing a wonder.” 
 
 After the medizval ages, Narberth lost these unique 
 distinctions, and became a simple country town in the centre 
 of a fertile and well cultivated district. As we cross a 
 valley some miles to the north, the character of the soil is 
 seen to change, and instead of the grey colour of the 
 Silurian strata, we come to lands of rich red hue. A place 
 not far from the town is called Redstone. Toward the 
 south lie the limestone quarries and kilns, as well as the pits 
 of culm and anthracite coal. To this district the men of 
 the northern parts of the county come in troops in summer 
 time to fetch lime and culm. 
 
 The soil is not the only thing that changes as we approach 
 Narberth, the people also are seen to be very different ; for 
 the line which separates the English and Welsh district of 
 the county passes through this neighbourhood, the Welsh 
 dwelling on the North, and the English, having in their 
 veins a large proportion of the blood of the Flemings, 
 inhabiting the South. Narberth was thus a duoglot town, 
 more English indeed than Welsh, but possessing a consider- 
 able proportion of Welsh people, and depending largely for 
 its welfare on the Welsh farmers that came down from the 
 hills on the fair days and markets. The extension of railways 
 has interfered with this, and the town is not as important 
 to-day as it was a century ago. The Welsh element also 
 has been a declining quantity, and Narberth may now be 
 called an English town. 
 
 When Caleb Morris went there as minister the service 
 was conducted partly in Welsh. A kind of compromise was 
 
90 
 
 made, whereby the Welsh, who lived chiefly on the farms, 
 should be cared for in the morning, while the English town 
 folk, who did not seem to be enamoured of early rising, 
 should be ministered to in the evening. A pastorate of the 
 kind was beset with peculiar difficulties. It was not easy 
 to obtain the whole attention of a bi-lingual audience, and 
 there were little frictions constantly arising between the 
 claims of the two languages; at the same time, it was an 
 excellent training-place in English for a Welshman, and an 
 admirable sphere for an active earnest minister. 
 
 The church was probably a branch of the Welsh church at 
 Henllan. The chapel had been built in the year 1817 ; it 
 was therefore a comparatively young church, and Caleb 
 Morris had the opportunity of moulding it in its early days. 
 He set a very high standard of pulpit efficiency, and_many 
 of his successors have been men of deep piety and brilliant. 
 preaching ability; among them we may name the Rey, Joseph 
 Morris, of Bristol and [lfracombe, and the Rey. J. Morlais 
 Jones, of Lewisham, who, like Caleb Morris, began his 
 ministry at Narberth, and removed thence to London, and 
 exercised there a ministry of great power until he was 
 compelled to resign last year on account of ill-health. 
 
 The ordination of Caleb Morris took place on April 2nd, 
 1823. “On the occasion, the Rev. J. Bulmer, of Haver- 
 fordwest, preached on the nature of the Christian Church, 
 and also asked the usual questions ; the ordination prayer 
 was offered up by the Rev. W. Warlow, of Milford ; the 
 Rev. D. Peter, of Carmarthen, gave the charge to the 
 minister ; and the Rev. Morgan Jones, of Trelech, delivered 
 the charge to the church.” Such is the brief account given 
 in “ Hanes Eglwysi Annibynol Cymru.” 
 
 Fortunately, among the few papers in Caleb Morris’s own 
 handwriting that have been preserved are four sheets of 
 
91 
 
 notepaper, bound with a rough paper cover, dated March 
 25th, 1823, and signed ‘Caleb Morris.” The heading of 
 the contents is “Questions proposed and answered at the 
 ordination of Caleb Morris, which was holden at Narberth, 
 Pembrokeshire, April 2nd, 1823.” 
 
 On the margin we find the figures: 1853 
 1823 
 
 30 
 
 indicating that his ministry lasted thirty years. With the 
 exception of one of the questions, the whole is in Caleb 
 Morris’s own handwriting, which is a model of clearness, 
 neatness, and gracefulness. Evidently he himself valued 
 this historic document in his own experience, and we shall 
 place before the reader the portions which give an insight 
 into the mind and heart of the young preacher at this 
 important period of his life :— 
 
 “¢ Question I.—What are your views in taking upon you the work 
 of the Christian ministry ? 
 
 ‘¢ Answer.—Having been enabled, through divine mercy, to give 
 up myself to the Lord, and to His people by the will of God, I deem 
 it my duty, as well as my honour, to do everything in my power to 
 propagate the interest of His cause, and the glory of His name in the 
 world. And being actuated by a deliberate consideration of my 
 inward inclination, of some peculiar dispensations in God’s providence 
 towards me, of the warm encouragements which I have received from 
 my friends, and of the valuable privileges which I have enjoyed, I 
 do, in the fear of God, take upon me the solemn and important work 
 of the Christian ministry, with a view to the glory of God, and the 
 spiritual welfare of immortal souls.” 
 
 The second question is about the Protestant Reformation, 
 to which there is a brief reply. 
 
 “© Question IIT.—Will you, with diligence, fidelity, and persever 
 ance, exercise the duties of a Christian minister? 
 
92 
 
 “ Answer.—Concerning this I have great reason to ,be jealous 
 ‘over my own heart; nevertheless, by the grace of Ged, I purpose and 
 resolve to give myself wholly to prayer, meditation, reading, and 
 preaching ; to be faithful in the discharge of my duty to God and His 
 Church ; to renounce the hidden things of dishonesty, not to walk in 
 craftiness, nor to handle the Word of God deceitfully; but by 
 manifestation of the truth to commend myself to every man’s 
 conscience in the sight of God. I shall endeavour to give the light of 
 the knowledge of the glory of God to my hearers; to administer all 
 the ordinances of the Gospel according to the Word of God, and at 
 the seasons appointed by His Church; to be an example to the 
 believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in 
 purity ; and to do nothing in partiality. And also I shall consider it 
 my duty to consult the Word of God, and my brethren in the Gospel, 
 how I ought to behave myself in the house of God. 
 
 ‘¢ For strength to accomplish these things, and to keep that which 
 is committed to my trust, I look unto Him who has said ‘ My grace 
 is sufficient for thee,’ and pray that ‘His strength should be made 
 perfect in my weakness.’ Aud when at any time I shall be found 
 remiss therein, I desire my friends and brethren to remind me by 
 reproof and admonition of this solemn engagement now made, in the 
 presence of God, the Holy Angels, and this assembly.” 
 
 The fourth question is in the form of a request for an 
 outline of the leading truths which he means to make the 
 subject of his preaching. The reply is in the form of twelve 
 declarations on the great Christian verities. The point of 
 view is that of moderate Calvinism. He carefully avoids the 
 extremes of High Calvinism, and in reference to election and 
 “other abstruse questions he keeps as nearly as possible to the 
 words of Scripture. After his confession of faith, he adds :— 
 
 ‘«T believe these doctrines to be revealed in the Word of God, and 
 I trust the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness 
 hath shined in my heart, and hath brought me, in some measure, to 
 see their glory. And itis my sincere desire that the great Head of 
 the Church will enable me to be diligent in reading and studying the 
 sacred Scriptures, and other useful books; to be impartial in my 
 inquiries after truth ; to preach the truth as it is in Jesus; to defend 
 
93 
 
 the truth against the prejudices, errors, and persecutions of the 
 enemies of the cross of Christ ; to exemplify the truth in my deport-- 
 ment in the world ; and to die in the possession and consolation of the 
 same, 
 
 ‘Considering myself as one of the chief of sinners, and the most 
 unworthy of all His servants, I do, this day, fain express my public 
 gratitude to God for putting me in the ministry, and sincerely request 
 you, my fathers, brethren, and friends in Christ, to pray forme, Oh! 
 pray for me that I may be faithful even unto death. So help me 
 God! Amen.” 
 
 Who will say that Caleb Morris did not begin his ministry 
 in the right spirit? It is easy to believe that all were 
 impressed as the young preacher, with his dark locks and 
 glistening eyes, his delicate features and winning expression, 
 which changed under the stress of thought and feeling like 
 the heavens on an April day, made his clear, strong, and 
 humble confession ; and that they responded with sym- 
 pathetic tears to his solemn request for the help of their 
 prayers to enable him to discharge worthily the duties of his 
 sacred office. ‘ 
 
 The impression was deepened by the ministers who 
 conducted the remainder of the service. The Rev. W. 
 Warlow, minister of the Tabernacle, Milford, was a man of 
 deep piety, and one of the most active and successful 
 ministers of that generation. In the year 1843 Caleb 
 Morris writes concerning him, in a short memoir to the Rev. 
 Nun Morgan Harry, Mr. Warlow’s son-in-law :— 
 
 “‘This highly-esteemed minister has, by his pure and consistent 
 character, his amiable conversation, and his enlightened, spiritual, 
 and fervid ministry, served Christianity for more than half a century, 
 and still he is enabled to labour with energy and success. May the 
 evening of his day be crowned with blessings! The author’s grateful 
 recollection of the good which he derived, during the first years of 
 his ministry from the instructive and affectionate friendship of this 
 venerable minister might be some apology for making this just 
 reference to his living worth.” 
 
94 
 
 That is the right man to offer up an ordination prayer. 
 
 We have already seen what manner of man the Rey. 
 David Peter, the principal of the Presbyterian College, 
 Carmarthen, was, who gave the charge to the young minister. 4 
 He had behind him twenty-five years of service as preacher, 
 pastor, and teacher, and he spoke like a wise and loving ~ 
 father to the young man who had been under his care for 
 many years, and who had charmed him by his industry, 
 ability, and eloquence. 
 
 The memorable service was closed by the Rey. Morgan 
 Jones, of Trelech, who delivered the charge to the church. 
 Who could have done this more fittingly than the man that 
 planted church after church on the borders of Pembroke, 
 Carmarthen, and Cardigan? He found the church at Trelech 
 small, quarrelsome, and unspiritual, but in a few years it 
 blossomed like the garden of the Lord under his ministry. 
 He had a right to speak words of counsel and warning, and 
 to point out to the church at Narberth the only path to true 
 progress and prosperity. 
 
 There is a tendency in some quarters at the present time 
 to disparage the old ordination service, and to substitute for it 
 something more modern and fashionable in the form of a 
 social gathering characterised by light and airy speeches. I 
 cannot help thinking that such a course is nothing less than 
 disastrous to the spiritual interests of the church. Surely 
 our fathers were right in the great stress which they laid on 
 ordination. Not that there is any virtue in the mere 
 ceremony ; but anything that tends to take away from the 
 solemnity of the occasion is to be deprecated. What 
 assembly on earth so sacred as a gathering of earnest 
 ministers and prayerful church members*met together in 
 order to set apart a man for the work of the Christian 
 ministry ? If they assemble in the proper spirit, Christ 
 
95 
 
 Himeelf is present, and the angels of God hover around the 
 place ; and it cannot be doubted that the special blessing of 
 heaven rested upon the meeting at Narberth, in which Caleb 
 Morris was consecrated to the highest service in the Church 
 of Christ. 
 
WAT: 
 
 The Dawn of his Ministry. 
 
 ALEB MORRIS threw himself into the work which he 
 had undertaken with ali the ardour and enthusiasm 
 of his sensitive nature ; he had a passionate yearning 
 
 to be an instrument in God’s hand for the salvation of souls. 
 His intense, thoughtful and eloquent preaching soon won 
 the ear of the town and neighbourhood. Crowds came to 
 hear him, and were greatly impressed by his brilliant 
 eloquence and deep earnestness. He frequently preached 
 in the surrounding districts, and wherever he went he had 
 large congregations and rapt attention. He was the means 
 of reviving the interest in religion far and wide. His 
 influence over the young was electric, an influence which he 
 retained to the end of his days. Among others, David 
 Thomas, of Hopshill (afterwards Dr. Thomas, of Stockwell), 
 came as a lad to hear him, and writes of him: “ He was 
 known to me from my eighth year until the close of his 
 ministry. Strange was the influence he had over me in the 
 days of childhood. His person was to me magnetic ; my 
 young sympathies ran after him. I went hither and thither 
 to hear him preach, for Narberth, the first sphere of his 
 ministry, was within eight miles of Hopshill, the farm on 
 which I was brought up. And when I came to London at 
 
97 
 
 seventeen I attended his chapel in Fetter Lane for about 
 
 four years.” 
 
 On the 29th of August, 1823, about four months after he 
 had commenced his ministry, he began to keep a diary. He 
 started with the resolution to write down something for 
 every day, but, like other men, he found this impracticable. 
 Method and regularity were not among his gifts, hence, after 
 a time, the entries became very irregular, whole months 
 being passed over without a line. Perhaps this was not 
 altogether a misfortune ; continuous diary-keeping is apt to 
 become mechanical, and if we are tantalised by long gaps 
 in his records, when we come upon an entry we are almost 
 certain to find in it something of value. His diaries are, 
 unfortunately, very imperfect in another respect. Several 
 of them have been lost, and those belonging to the most 
 active and important periods in his history. However, let 
 us make the best of what remains. 
 
 Happily the first diary has been preserved ; and in it we 
 have a vivid picture of his mind and heart soon after he 
 began his public ministry. It is in the form of a little pocket 
 book, about six inches by four, with leather covers, fastened 
 by a clasp, and having on the outside the title “ My Journal, 
 Vol. I.” On opening it, we see inside the cover the date 
 of his birth, the names of his parents, the date of his 
 admission to church membership, and of his entrance to the 
 Grammar School, Carmarthen ; also the date of his entering 
 and leaving the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen. The 
 character of the handwriting makes it certain that this was 
 written long after the diary, and towards the end of his 
 life. 
 
 The first page of the book is written in a beautiful hand. 
 The first line is— 
 
 ** Quotidiana,” 
 
 ~“I 
 
98 
 
 the second is— 
 *¢ Nulla dies sine linea.” 
 
 Then follows a verse from the Greek New Testament, written 
 in well-formed Greek characters. The verse is 2 Tim. 
 iv. 5: “ But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do 
 the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 
 The frontispiece closes with “ Narberth, August 29th, 1823.” 
 
 I shall give in full the entries for the first four days, that 
 the reader may have a glimpse at the earnestness and 
 activity of the young minister. 
 
 ‘* Friday, August 29th, 1823. 
 
 ‘*Got up at 7, Laboured all the morning and afternoon, under 
 mental depression and a degree of bodily pain; great deadness of 
 spirit ; no taste for study ; preached at the Tabernacle in the evening ; 
 read the first chapter of Joel; spoke from 1 Thess. v. 9; felt some 
 pleasure in speaking, but no warmth of soul; feel a conviction of the 
 need of fixedness of soul in divine things, Went to bed at 12. 
 
 * Saturday, 30th. 
 
 “Got up at 8. The weather was fine after a long continuation of 
 unseasonable rain which once threatened a very bad harvest; but this 
 morning the sky is serene, the clouds are dispersed, the sun is 
 shining, and the fields assume a favourable aspect. For this I 
 experienced inward gratitude to the great Lord of the whole universe. 
 The renewal of His providential smiles ought to humble us for our 
 sins, silence our doubts, and excite our love and thankfulness for His 
 great mercies. May He be pleased to give a continuation of this 
 weather, that the fruits of the earth may be gathered together in 
 safety. Went to my study at half-past nine; continued there all 
 day. Fixed upon Gal. iv. 18; the subject, Zeal. I feel great need 
 of this myself, and I believe most of my congregation have the same 
 experience. May God bless it for our good to-morrow! I feel great 
 need of a spirit to pray for myself and others. I hope some of my 
 Christian brethren pray for me this evening, and that God will 
 prepare my mind for the work of the ensuing Sabbath. 
 
 ‘¢ Another week is almost gone; much has my sinful heart wandered 
 
99 
 
 from God this week. From a conversation that I had with some 
 friends about the improper conduct of a minister, and from the 
 account which I have read of an attack made on the moral character 
 of the Rev. Dr. ——,I learn the need of praying and watching. 
 Every bad conduct will sometime meet its reward. This I infer from 
 the first circumstance mentioned above, for I believe the Doctor to be 
 perfectly innocent. To-day I have enjoyed good bodily health. Bless 
 God, O my soul, for that and every other blessing. Amen. 
 “* Sunday, 31st. 
 
 ‘Got up at 6. Went to the prayer meeting at 7. More gathered 
 than this day week; four engaged in prayer, enjoyed some consola- 
 tion. Went to the meeting at 10; a tolerably good congregation ; 
 preached on Christian Zeal; felt a great desire that the sermon should 
 be blessed to the hearers and myself, but had no great liberty in 
 speaking. This was a chastisement from God ; I deserved it, may it- 
 lead me to dependence upon God, and to see my own insufficiency. 
 
 “Went to Llandyssilio in the afternoon (a distance of 5 miles) ; 
 preached to a very large congregation in the open air from Ezekiel 
 xxxvil. 10. Had much strength of soul and liberty of speech, but felt 
 very much exhausted. Examined the Sunday-school; may God 
 cause these scholars to have an experimental knowledge of the great 
 things they learn and repeat. This day six weeks I intend going 
 there again, Deo volente. Returned to Narberth for7. Learnt that 
 men are imperfect. Christians are prone to speak of others to their 
 disadvantage and injury. May God forgive them, and cause them to 
 avoid this abominable practice. I see that I must watch and pray; 
 may God uphold me. Let integrity preserve me in the true path! 
 
 ** Another Sabbath is gone! May God bless the preaching of His 
 Word this day. I feel great depression of spirits, and a desire to 
 commit myself to God. Heard of the death of two youug females, 
 the daughters of Jenkin Davies, Pencader. Alas! how uncertain is 
 human life! May God make me useful while I live, and prepare me 
 for death. My soul, trustin God. Free from bodily pain. 
 
 “* Monday, 1st September. 
 
 “Got up at 8. Visited some friends in the morning, some of 
 them in affliction, which principally arose from the impropriety of 
 others in the discharge of relative duties. Religion ought to influence 
 men in their domestic concerns, as well as ecclesiastical. 
 
 7* 
 
100 
 
 ‘At 7 went to the missionary prayer-meeting ; many assembled 
 together. The subject of my address was the nature of Christ’s 
 kingdom ; just, peaceable, extensive, and everlasting. Enjoyed 
 much pleasure, and had much strength and liberty in speaking. The 
 consideration of the labours of missionaries convinced me of my duty to be 
 very diligent. May I feel the power of Jesus’ love! May God;hear 
 our prayers this evening. Feel my mind in a good frame. Bless the 
 Lord, O my soul! Amen.’’ 
 
 That is a type of the contents of the diary. On every 
 page we see the earnest soul longing for a more complete 
 consecration in order to render more effective service. What 
 a lofty sense of the minister’s mission and of the duties of 
 Christians ; what a broad view of the sphere of religion ; 
 what complete reliance on God’s grace; what faith in the 
 power of God’s word, and in prayer; what searching 
 criticisms and wide sympathies! But with all these 
 excellencies we cannot overlook a tendency to morbid intro- 
 spection, and to religious depression. This was largely 
 constitutional, a heritage which he had received from his 
 mother. It added to the charm of his personality, and to 
 the impressiveness of his ministry ; but behind it lurked a 
 serious danger which might mar his usefulness. For the 
 present, however, let us rejoice in his passionate enthusiasm 
 for the Kingdom of God. 
 
 Two expressions in the extracts deserve a word of com- 
 ment. Preachiny in the open air has ever been an important 
 factor in Welsh religious Jife. Wecan trace it back so far as 
 St. David, the patron saint of Wales. Giraldus Cambrensis 
 practised it in his itinerary through Wales. The early Non- 
 conformists sometimes resorted to it; but it was with the 
 Methodist revival that it came into general use. All the 
 great popular preachers of Wales practised it ; and it sur- 
 vives in the annual preaching associations up to the present 
 day. There is nothing exceptional in out-door preaching ; 
 
101 
 
 what is remarkable in the history of the religion of Wales 
 is that nearly all its leading men have taken part in it, and 
 thus the good news of the Gospel has been proclaimed by the 
 most powerful preachers in the remotest corners of the land. 
 This is one of the secrets of the complete evangelisation of 
 Wales. 
 
 Examining the Sunday-school also deserves notice. This 
 custom can be traced to the influence of Thomas Charles, of 
 Bala. Sunday-schools learn portions of a catechism, or a 
 selection from the Bible, and when fully learnt, the minister 
 listens to the recitation of it in public, asks questions, and 
 makes comments. Sometimes the whole school recites 
 together in unison. At other times, after starting in unison, 
 the several classes recite separate verses, and the whole 
 school again joins in the closing portion. The children 
 generally have a selection of the catechism or of Scripture 
 for themselves. Once in the year, usually at Whitsuntide, 
 several schools meet together in a central place and recite, 
 one after another, thus occupying a large portion of the day. 
 In recent times, the Scripture and catechising have been 
 associated with the singing of special hymns and anthems. 
 It is difficult to over-estimate the influence of this practice 
 on the religious life of rural Wales. It has kept alive the 
 interest of the adults and the children in the Sunday-school, 
 and it has taught the people to commit to memory large 
 portions of the Bible and catechisms, and thus grounded 
 them in religious knowledge and Biblical truth. 
 
 To return to the diary, as we read page after page we feel 
 that never was a minister more devoted to his work. Day 
 after day was given to reading and studying, preaching and 
 visiting. Our only fear is that the fire is too ardent and 
 that the frail and delicate frame cannot bear it. On the 
 Friday in the week already mentioned, he spent the morning 
 
ew es 
 
 and afternoon in his study, and in the evening preached 
 on “Growing in grace.” On the Saturday he was in his 
 study all day and prepared two sermons for the following 
 day. On the Sunday he got up at six, was at the seven 
 o’clock prayer-meeting, preached at ten to a large congrega- 
 tion, spent the afternoon in meditation, and preached again 
 in the evening to a very large congregation. At the close of 
 the day he writes : “ Enjoyed very great strength and liberty 
 in speaking ; the people seemed very attentive, and some of 
 them deeply impressed. Blessed be God for His kind 
 assistance! May this teach me to depend on Him and not 
 on myself. Felt very much exhausted ; felt some importunity 
 in secret prayer.” 
 
 We do not wonder at the expression “Felt very much 
 exhausted.” What else could he expect; but the following 
 evening we find him speaking again at the prayer-meeting 
 on the necessity of continuiny and watching in prayer. He 
 adds, ‘‘ Felt much comfort” ; but the following morning we 
 read ‘‘ Very unwell, greatly depressed in mind.” ‘These 
 changes in the mental atmosphere came with startling 
 suddenness, like thunder from a clear sky. It seemed as if 
 his nature was ever on the dividing line between ecstasy and 
 depression, and that very little was required to move it in 
 one direction or the other. Wise, methodical people, who 
 know nothing experimentally about,such a temperament, are 
 quite ready with their rules and regulations and infallible 
 remedies, and do not hesitate to condemn his gloomy moods. 
 They never descend to such depths. No, they do not, nor 
 do they rise to such heights. It seems as if the deep valleys 
 must always go along with the high mountains. I am not 
 disposed to deny that Caleb Morris might with severe 
 discipline have modified somewhat these violent contrasts in 
 his experiences ; but when prosy people, whose minds never 
 
103 
 
 fall much below nor rise much above a certain level, come with 
 their tapes and measures, and mark out the path along which a 
 man of sensitive soul must walk, I lose my patience, and 
 ery out: “I don’t want your monotonous commonplace 
 world. You would doubtless give a Caleb Morris without 
 fits of depression and gloom, without any complainings about 
 deadness of soul and lethargy of spirit; but at the same 
 time you would rob me of the seraphic preacher, the inspired 
 orator, and the enthusiastic seer that passes through the 
 clouds of earth and stands in the very presence of God. 
 Criticise if you wish, but do anything rather than rob me 
 of this unique personality that causes me to tremble and 
 rejoice in the presence of glorious spiritual realities.” How- 
 ever, even these very proper people, who despise enthusiasm 
 and all its ways, will be satisfied with the next entry in the 
 diary, “Took exercise most part of the day,” and even 
 with the next, “ Went home to Coedcenlas to see my family ; 
 found them all in good health ; thank God for this!” 
 Coedcenlas now takes the place of Parkyd (see view, page 7). 
 By this time the family had left the little holding where the 
 children were born, and the workshop that was attached to it, 
 and had removed to a larger farm, which required all the 
 skill and energy of Stephen Morris. Coedcenlas was not far 
 from the former home, only about half a mile. It stood in 
 the same parish and at the foot of the same hill. This place 
 continued to be the abode of the family for fifty years, and 
 we shall find constant reference to it in the diary. It was 
 one of the old-fashioned farmhouses, roomy and com- 
 modious, but without much claim to architectural beauty. 
 In front of the kitchen door stood a large porch with stone 
 benches on either side. Through this people entered the 
 large kitchen paved with blue flags, having the clock and 
 dresser at one end and the huge hearth and chimney corner at 
 
104 
 
 the other. Near the dresser a door opened to the parlour. 
 The floor of this was raised above the level of the kitchen 
 and boarded. This was the room where strangers were 
 welcomed and entertained. 
 
 In front of the parlour was a fine old garden, and not far 
 off a pretty lake. The spot was noted for its wealth of trees, 
 hence the name (Coed — trees), and the probability is that a 
 nobleman had lived there at one time who constructed the 
 lake and planted the trees. It was a calm retreat from the 
 busy world, and towards it Caleb Morris ever turned with 
 affection and delight. 
 
 Coedcenlas was one of the houses in which religious 
 
 ———~~services were often held. The preacher or conductor of the 
 
 service stood at the parlour door, with the select audience 
 behind him in the parlour, and the mass in front of him in 
 the large kitchen. On great occasions the crowd overflowed 
 to the staircase, the dairy and the other side rooms, and 
 even some had to be content with standing in the porch. 
 The next entry brings before us one of Caleb Morris’s life- 
 long friends. ‘“ My dear brother in the Gospel, John Evans, 
 came to see me. We spent the day together. Conversed 
 about composing sermons, the improper conduct of Christians 
 of different denominations towards each other, &c. Agreed 
 that the best method to silence cavils is to be humble and to 
 make use of the weapons of the Gospel—meekness, patience, 
 charity.” John Evans had been received a member at 
 Penygroes and had also started his preaching there. He had, 
 after a stay of four years at the Presbyterian College, 
 Carmarthen, come back to be the pastor of his mother 
 church. He proved to be a true man of God, and made the 
 neighbourhood one of the most religious in the Principality. 
 “The remainder of the week was spent in visiting friends 
 and relatives, and in preparing for Sunday. He preached in 
 
 . : a 
 | -— {f YY , 
 AMA. WY NOY ite v< 
 
 je .M” 
 
hj / Leh v4 
 
 7 a ——_——— 
 ¥, Z 
 e105 6 ee 
 
 the morning at Hebron in Welsh, and Mr. Philipps, a 
 missionary, in English. They came to Penygroes for the 
 evening service. At the close of the day he writes: “ Little 
 communion with God have I enjoyed this Sabbath,” and he 
 goes on to blame himself mercilessly for remissness in self- 
 examination and prayer, want of deep convictions, and 
 sinful lethargy of soul. He prays earnestly for the divine 
 influence to move his heart, stir his affections, and awaken 
 him to a realisation of spiritual things. The request was 
 soon granted, for he was in heavenly places at the prayer- 
 meeting at Penygroes on Monday evening. He writes: “TI \/ 
 Spoke for a few minutes with warmth of soul. It was a K 
 precious and blessed time to my spirit. Blessed be God for ‘ 
 it! I wish to continue to pray for this quiet spirit ; I feel 
 a desire to be established in the truth. I resolve in the 
 strength of grace to be more devoted to God in my meditations, 
 affections, time, and conversation. Now is the time to work 
 while I am young; perhaps my time is but short in this 
 world. May God enable me to be faithful to the end.” 
 
 The following morning he began the journey of fifteen 
 miles back to Narberth, but did not reach the goal till the 
 following evening. He had met friends and relatives, he 
 had visited his native parish, and received a hearty 
 welcome everywhere ; and yet his mind was ill at ease. He 
 writes in his diary: “This world affords no real pleasure, 
 only vezation of spirit. The study is the best place for me. 
 I must be more diligent ; so help me God.” 
 
 The following day he writes: “Spent the day in con- 
 versation with different friends. If I had been in my study 
 I should have been something wiser.” 
 
 Here is another characteristic entry: “ How idly have I 
 spent the day ; this was a day lost! From the privileges 
 which I have received, as well as the circumstances in which 
 
* Iam now, I ought to excel in knowledge, in piety, and in 
 
 my public ministrations. Much depends on the manner in 
 which I spend my time. I sustain a very important office! 
 My responsibility is very great ! My conscience is not clear, 
 for I have misspent more than ten hours to-day! May 
 God forgive me, and may I reform. I want to feel for souls 
 more than I do.” As Sunday approached, he stuck to his 
 study. In reference to the Communion Service on Sunday 
 he writes: “ Enjoyed much pleasure in administering the 
 sacrament. My heart was melted.” At the Evening 
 Service also there were evident tokens of the Divine 
 approval. 
 
 The diary contains an interesting record of his first visit 
 to England. This took place in the autumn of 1823 in 
 connection with special missionary meetings held at Bristol. 
 In those days there were no trains or steamboats, and the 
 choice lay between the coach route and a sailing vessel. The 
 latter alternative was chosen, and a start was made from 
 Narberth for Tenby on Monday, the 22nd of September. 
 with the intention of sailing for Bristol that night ; but the 
 violence of the weather delayed the departure until the 
 following morning. It was a stormy passage, and many 
 suffered frora sea-sickness ; but what troubled Caleb Morris 
 the most was the conduct of one of those in the ship. He 
 writes : ‘One of the men on board, an old man about sixty, 
 called God to damn his soul scores of times! May God 
 have mercy upon his soul !”’ 
 
 Having reached Bristol, he attended the meetings 
 diligently, and was deeply impressed. The leading points 
 in the speéches are carefully recorded. The accounts of 
 the sufferings of the missionaries and of the miserable 
 condition of the heathen world greatly moved him. It 
 is interesting to note how he felt as he first came in 
 
—. 
 baad 
 
 “TT ee 
 mF | Als 
 
 107 << 
 
 / 
 yw, 
 AVL) / 
 ES 
 
 contact with the great religious personalities of England. 
 He alludes to a lecture by the Rev. Mr. Foster (was it the 
 renowned John Foster ?) on the “ World and its Inhabitants,” 
 based on Eccles. i. 4. He admits the ability of the lecture, 
 but adds: “He is a moralist, he spoke but little of the 
 vital principles of religion; but, ah! why should I judge ? 
 perhaps he felt more than I do. He is a studious man, and 
 possessed of great originality.” Then follows a personal 
 application, “ It istime for me to awake ; I have time, books, 
 and therefore I should not neglect the small talent I possess.” 
 
 He strolls through the ancient city, noticing many things; 
 but the book stalls are the chief attraction. On the Sunday 
 he was a listener, morning and evening. In the afternoon 
 he preached at the Welsh Chapel to a small congregation, 
 and at the same place he preached again the following 
 evening. On Tuesday morning a clergyman preached at 
 St. Mary Redcliff Church, in the evening the service was 
 held at Castle Street Chapel. The devotional part was con- 
 ducted by the Rev. George Burder, and the sermon was 
 preached by the Rev. James Bennett, theological tutor at 
 Rotherham College. On the following morning he heard 
 the Rey. Joseph Fletcher, M.A., of Stepney, at Castle Green, 
 and joined in a Communion Service at the Tabernacle, con- 
 ducted by George Burder, Joseph Fletcher, and others. Did 
 he then have any presentiment that he would soon be in 
 close comradeship with these men? The other ministers 
 mentioned are Mr. Roberts, Dr. Ryland, Henry Townly 
 (Missionary), and the Rev. James Parsons, of York. He 
 was greatly impressed by James Parsons’s preaching. He 
 
 heard him twice, on Thursday evening at the Tabernacle, _ 
 
 and on Sunday evening at the same place. Of the latter 
 service he writes : ‘‘The chapel was crowded, and many left 
 who could not get admittance. This young man, who is 
 
108 SL 
 about feels years of age, is very popular. i 
 
 language was energetic and perspicuous, his voice sweet, his” 4 
 manner timid, animating and impressive. He seems to be 
 very conversant with Scripture. His sermon produced a 
 very deep impression on my mind. He seems to be free 
 from all pompous and haughty airs. He appeared to be in 
 earnest for souls. May I catch the same spirit.” —— 
 
 During his stay he preached again at the Welsh Chapel ; 
 and this time the congregation was not small. The 
 fortnight’s visit to Bristol exerted a great influence over 
 him. He was brought into touch with the larger English 
 world, and had the privilege of listening to some of the 
 leading religious orators of the day. He went back to 
 Wales thoroughly moved, and determined to throw his 
 whole soul into the work in which he was engaged. 
 
 He sums up his experience as follows: “This was a 
 Missionary Festival. Lord, what am I! I know nothing, 
 I have done nothing! May I devote myself more to God 
 and religion.” 
 
 The passage homeward was beset by storms. Of Thursday 
 he writes: “All day tossed to and fro on sea.” On 
 Friday the entry is: “Still on sea, and farther from home 
 than I was last night. The vessel anchored near Cardiff. 
 What a miserable place is this! No reading, no praying (in 
 public), no conversing about religious things. Blessed he 
 God that we are now in safety. For many hours we have 
 been exposed to the rage of the surges. The God who 
 holds the waters in the hollow of His hand has been kind in 
 His providence to us. Bless the Lord, O my soul. May it 
 please my God to bring me home to my dear people at 
 Narberth. I must give myself to study after this, if God 
 will give me health and days.” 
 
 On Saturday morning they reached Cardiff in a boat. 
 
 > 
 
 * 
 
109 
 
 He hurried thence by coach to Narberth, and arrived there 
 ab 7 o'clock on Sunday morning. The people were 
 exceptionally glad to see him, for it had been reported that 
 he was drowned on the voyage. 
 
 Very soon we find him attending a series of missionary 
 meetings at Swansea. He gives a detailed account of the 
 sermons and addresses; he was specially pleased with a 
 united Communion service held at Castle Street, when “a 
 great assembly of Christians of various denominations 
 solemnised the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.” On the 
 Sunday he preached three times at Castle Street—in the 
 evening to “a vast concourse of people.” Concerning the 
 services, he writes : “‘ Some seemed to be deeply affected. May 
 God bless my labours this day to these people, most of 
 whom, I am afraid, know but little of the influence of 
 religion on their minds. We ought to be very plain in our 
 addresses to sinners.” Having returned home, he earnestly 
 advocated the missionary cause at Narberth and Tenby. 
 
 I have quoted from the diary for this early period of his 
 ministry with considerable fulness, because the entries lay 
 bare his inner life. - They reveal clearly the serious view 
 which he took of his responsibilities as a minister, and his 
 burning zeal for doing good. They also set before us his 
 high ideal of the Christian life, and his bitter regrets when 
 he fell short of the standard which he had set himself. 
 They show, moreover, a strong leaning to despondency, 
 and a spirit chafing restlessly against the weakness of the 
 body and the limitations of earth. He had hosts of friends 
 and acquaintances; yet he was lonely and stood apart. 
 Few, if any, could understand the wrestlings of his soul. 
 He had to fight his battles alone, and the study was his 
 favourite place. It was a sanctuary as well as a study, for 
 he spent hours in secret communion with God. This was 
 
110 
 
 his only real rest. When he felt the nearness of God his | 
 conflicts ceased, and all his powers of mind and heart 
 rejoiced together in sweet harmony. 
 
 His favourite occupation was the study of God’s Word 
 and the contemplation of Divine truth. From his secret 
 cell he came forth filled to overflowing with great thoughts 
 and profound feelings; he ascended the pulpit as a man 
 inspired, and if he had freedom of utterance and liberty of 
 speech his words fell on the congregation like sweeping 
 torrents and refreshing streams. The people were com- 
 pletely under the spell of the speaker, and lost themselves 
 for the moment in the ideas and emotions, the longings and 
 visions of a noble soul. What he said was fresh and 
 pertinent. He knew the needs of men, and the corre- 
 sponding provisions of Divine grace; but other persons 
 might have said the same things without producing the 
 same results. The mystery of an earnest soul and a great 
 personality stood behind all, and gave his words a marvellous 
 power. 
 
VIII. 
 
 Soul Struggles, 
 
 HE ministry, begun with such intense earnestness, was 
 not without its dark clouds. These arose, not so much 
 from external causes as from the movements of the 
 
 minister’s own soul.» His very enthusiasm for goodness 
 
 constantly led him into deep sorrow. He could not reform 
 
 the world, he could not awaken the church, he could not 
 purify his own heart as quickly as he desired ; and hence 
 his diary is full of expressions of grief and disappointment. 
 Outwardly he had many things to cheer him. The congre- 
 gations at Narberth were large, and his fame as a preacher 
 secured him crowded audiences wherever he went. An 
 ordinary man would have gloried in this success ; but the 
 prevailing note in Caleb Morris’s diary is that of regret 
 caused by a sense of failure. Had he failed? By no 
 means ; but so high was his ideal of the minister’s character 
 and of the preacher’s responsibility that he was constantly 
 pained at his inability to reach it. His bodily and mental 
 constitution may account to some degree for the sad note 
 ‘which he so frequently sounds, but only to a very limited 
 degree; we must bear in mind his passionate zeal for 
 righteousness and the lofty standard which he had set 
 himself, if we are to understand the severe conflicts through 
 which he fought his way to victory. 
 
In his gloomy moments during the spring of 1824 he 
 looked forward with hopefulness to the great preaching 
 association of the three counties of Pembroke, Cardigan 
 and Carmarthen, which was to be*held at Penygroes in the 
 
 V » first week of June. As already indicated, these associations 
 
 go back to the period of the Toleration Act. The repre- 
 sentatives of the Nonconformist Churches met annually for 
 consultation and fellowship. Reports were received from 
 the churches, and a reply was sent from the associations in 
 the form of a circular letter. One or two prominent 
 ministers would also preach. When the Methodist Revival 
 broke out in Wales these associations underwent an 
 important modification. Reports from the churches and 
 societies were still received, but, in addition to this, the 
 meetings became great occasions for evangelising the 
 districts in which they were held. Preaching services were 
 held in the open air for days, and the whole neighbourhood 
 was aroused to religious earnestness. The Baptists and 
 Independents soon adopted the change; and these annual 
 preaching festivals still continue to flourish among all 
 denominations in Wales. In rural districts especially they 
 have proved a mighty power for good ; and though many 
 doubt whether they are exactly adapted to the present age, 
 Wales will be very reluctant to give up an institution which 
 has exerted such a profound influence all over the land. 
 
 In a field adjoining the churchyard at Penygroes, a rude 
 stage or platform was erected, roofed over with canvas, and 
 fitted with seats. In the centre a rough rostrum was 
 constructed for the preachers, and in front of this a lower 
 platform for the singers. Over the field long boards were 
 placed leaning on stones and blocks, to provide temporary 
 resting places for those who might become weary with 
 standing. 
 
g Myo othe 
 
 113 
 
 The great festival began with a conference of the 
 ministers in the chapel on Tuesday morning. The reports 
 from the various churches were very encouraging. It was 
 evident that the Congregational Churches of Pembroke, 
 Cardigan, and Carmarthen were walking in the light of the 
 Lord. The public meetings began on the field at twe 
 
 o’clock ; three sermons were preached in the afternoon, and ~ 
 
 two in the evening, Dr. Phillips, of Neuaddlwyd, and 
 Principal Peter, of Carmarthen, being among the preachers. 
 That night, every house in the district was an open house, 
 and in their simple but hearty way the inhabitants exercised 
 their well-known hospitality. 
 
 Wednesday was the chief day of the feast. The first 
 meeting was at seven o’clock in the morning, at which there 
 were two sermons ; but the great meeting of the gathering 
 was held at ten o’clock. To this the people came in 
 thousands from all parts of the county. The roads were 
 — 
 alive with conveyances of every kind, while lanes and 
 by-ways, paths and stiles were thronged with pedestrians. 
 
 The rough stage is filled with ministers and religious 
 leaders, the field is dotted over with people, a few sitting on 
 the raised planks, but the majority standing in an expectant 
 mood. oe mene, Sohn rene sees sat AEE, the 
 plaintive melody is taken up by the vast congregation, and 
 rises and falls like the waves of the sea. After the reading 
 of the Scriptures, another hymn is sung, and earnest 
 prayer is directed to heaven for the power of the Holy 
 Ghost. 'The Amens are loud and frequent, and it seems as 
 if God were drawing nigh to bless His people. The next 
 hymn is sung with deep feeling, then the first preacher 
 announces his text in a subdued tone. His voice 
 gradually rises, and as he pours out a flood of burning 
 words, the people become more and more animated. They 
 
 8 
 
CYMW an \ VG | Nn 
 \ J ay y, eo / 
 
 press on toward the platform, they gaze intently on the 
 speaker, and sway to and fro under the power of his mighty 
 eloquence. Tears and smiles follow each other like spring 
 showers and sunshine, and when the speaker comes to an 
 end, the tension is relieved by the singing of a hymn in 
 which the people give utterance to their hopes and fears, 
 their sorrows and joys. Another sermon follows, and after the 
 singing of a hymn, still another, for nothing less than three 
 sermons will do for the greatest meeting of the Association. 
 The tide of feeling runs high, and the refrain of the last 
 hymn is repeated again and again by the assembled 
 thousands. Even as they separate for the frugal meal, the 
 hymns and sermons still sound in their ears, re-echoed as it 
 were by the overshadowing hills. 
 
 Ere the hour for the afternoon service has arrived, the 
 space in front of the platform is again thronged, and under 
 hymns, prayers, and sermons the sacred experiences of 
 the morning are renewed. Now it is time for those who 
 live at a distance to wend their way homeward, but some 
 even of these remain for the evening service, which is to 
 close the great festival. It is a hallowed hour; in the 
 silence of the evening, as the shadows fall, and the hill-tops 
 reflect the glory of the setting sun, the multitude listens 
 with a solemn hush to the grand truths that are uttered by 
 God’s ministering servants ; time and eternity seem blended 
 in one sublime reality, and this visible world merges itself 
 in the higher world of faith and hope. The people are 
 reluctant to leave ; they are, as it were, chained to the spot 
 where their souls have felt the thrill of divine things, and as 
 
 | they move slowly homeward, to take up again life’s toil 
 
 and burden, they are conscious that some mysterious power 
 
 / has taken hold of them, and that life can never again be 
 the same as it was before this season of spiritual power. 
 
Ph & rn “dare 
 
 ¥or months and years this festival will be held in remem- 
 brance, the names of the masters of the assembly will be on 
 the lips of the people continually, the illustrations used by 
 them will be repeated again and again, the most solemn and 
 pathetic portions of their sermons will be referred to at the 
 Sunday school and prayer-meeting, on the hearth, and in the 
 confidential talk of friend with friend, and thus the holy 
 influence will live on and help to mould characters in 
 accordance with the mind of God. 
 
 Caleb Morris had looked forward to the solemn occasion 
 with glowing expectations, but, alas, he was grievously 
 disappointed. He was in one of his lethargic, unreceptive 
 moods, and writes :— 
 
 ‘¢ Alas ! little has my soul benefited in this great meeting. It was 
 my fault, for the sermons were good, and the occasion was to me very 
 interesting. It was in the church in which I was received a 
 member!! I enjoyed but little communion with God in secret 
 prayer, and therefore it could not be good. I hope, notwithstanding, 
 
 that this assembly will be productive of good effects in the 
 neighbourhood.”’ 
 
 He went back to Narberth in a gloomy and distracted 
 frame of mind, and could not settle down to study ; but on 
 the Saturday he writes: ‘“ Went to see a sick man at 
 Robeston, and found myself more fit for thinking.” The 
 sick room is often a better means of grace than the great 
 congregation. 
 
 On the 16th June he went up to the annual meeting of 
 the College at Carmarthen. The chief feature of the 
 gathering seems to have been a series of preaching services, 
 at which eight sermons were delivered, Caleb Morris and 
 his intimate friends, John Evans and William Griffith, 
 being among the preachers. Doubtless the reunion with 
 old college friends brought joy to Caleb Morris; but his 
 
 8* 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 
116 
 
 predominant thoughts were solemn, as the following extract 
 will show :— 
 
 ‘«Thus ended another annual meeting, the second to me since I 
 left Carmarthen, and perhaps the last. Oh! how Jittle good have I 
 done during these two years! How small has been my increase in 
 useful knowledge, in experience of Divine things, in holiness of 
 heart and life, in diligence and zeal, and in usefulness in the church 
 of the great God! ! Oh! I must begin anew, and give up myself 
 more to God, for my time is fast passing away.” 
 
 The last few months had been very trying to him; for, 
 with all his diligence and earnestness, he did not feel that. 
 he was making the right use of his time, or serving the 
 Church of Christ to the best of his ability. The usual 
 services of the church were on Friday night, the Sunday, 
 and Monday night. He preached on Friday night and 
 twice on the Sunday, and gave an address on Monday night. 
 He generally spent the Friday in preparing for the service 
 that night, and the whole of Saturday in preparation for the 
 Sunday. It was an unfortunate arrangement, for it meant 
 a tremendous strain toward the close of every week. The 
 early days of the week he spent in visiting and letter- 
 writing, along with miscellaneous reading. He became 
 more and more dissatisfied with desultory reading, and felt 
 that letter-writing and visiting ought to be made more 
 distinctly instrumental in the advancement of religion. 
 The solemn vow which he made towards the close of the 
 month of June was the outcome of these internal conflicts, 
 and sets forth, in a very striking manner, his whole- 
 heartedness in the work of the ministry :— 
 
 ‘Now I, Caleb Morris, do solemnly avow, in the presence of my 
 God, that, through the aid of divins grace, I will henceforth observe 
 and adhere to the following resolutions, which I consider consistent 
 with reason and true religion. “© So help me my gracious God. 
 
 “Written by my own hand, in my study, at Narberth, this 23rd 
 day of June, 1824. 
 
117 
 
 ‘¢ RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 “1, That every morning I will rise from bed between five and six 
 ’clock, unless my bodily disposition or some extraordinary occasion 
 preclude the possibility of the same. 
 
 “9. To engage in a short prayer, as soon as I finish to dress 
 myself, then to read a chapter or more in the Bible, and if anything 
 particularly strikes my mind while reading, to write it down, and 
 then examine myself, and pray the substance of what I shall have 
 read. For these secret devotions to devote a full hour every morning. 
 
 ‘3. To devote six hours, if not more, every day to read and study, 
 unless duty necessitates me to be otherwise engaged; and to bear on 
 my mind, when I am in my study, that ‘ study without prayer is 
 Atheism.’ 
 
 ‘4, Not to eat or drink more than is necessary to preserve health ; 
 and to be very sincere in my devotion at meals. 
 
 ‘*5. To avoid levity and jocularity wherever I be, both in my 
 expressions and my manners, and to endeavour to check them, if 
 possible, in others ; for God is with me at all times and in all places ; 
 and to drop some word for Jesus in every house I go to. 
 
 “6. Not to write a letter to anyone, on any occasion, without 
 putting something in it that may be calculated to make a religious 
 impression on the person to whom it is addressed, whether I consider 
 him to be a pious or an ung dly character. 
 
 ‘“7, Not to preach a sermon without endeavouring to get some 
 ‘ben=fit from it myself, to be always serious in the pulpit, recollecting 
 the awful expression that ‘ He who trifles in the pulpit must weep 
 an hell !? 
 
 “<8. To read the above resolutions once or more every week, and to 
 pray for strength to adhere to them faithfully and sincerely until 
 the end. 
 
 “‘T subscribe with my hand that I takw God to be my God, His 
 ‘Church my home, His people my friends, His cause my delight, and 
 His glory my ultimate end in all things. May I live and die as an 
 unworthy but faithful and devoted minister of the glorious Gospel of 
 the ever-blessed God. Amen and amen.” 
 
 After this solemn dedication he appears to have been 
 ¢alm and joyous for a period, and his manifold labours bear 
 
 oe 
 
hm 
 
 118 
 
 witness to the reality of the consecration. THis diary con- 
 tains many evidences that he enjoyed his work, such as :— 
 
 ‘¢ Found much pleasure in reading the Sermon on the Mount ; found 
 great delight in reading the Evangelists. . . . Foundmuch strengthin 
 secret and family prayer. . . . Enjoyed much liberty in prayer and 
 preaching. Very happy inmy mind. . . . Enjoyed, if I mistake not, 
 much of the presence of the Lord. . . . Enjoyed much pleasure and 
 freedom in speaking, my soul was in a desirable frame. Felt an 
 uncommon degree of concern for the cause at the Tabernacle, my 
 mind activeand inflamed in prayer. . . . Hada -verygoodopportunity, 
 my stony heart was melted in preaching. Experienced a strong 
 desire to do good. Felt a very great pleasure n prayer. My mind 
 more composed than it has been for some time; thanks be to God for 
 this; felt a new desire to be in my Master's vineyard and to be more 
 active, faithful, and zealous in His work. In the strength of grace I 
 intend to pray and study more than I have done and to be more 
 spiritual and watchful than usual. Lord teach me, and Thy name 
 shall have the praise. . . . Hada precious opportunity. We had cause 
 to think that Jesus was present to bless us, it was a time of refreshing 
 from the presence of the Lord. .. . Enjoyed much pleasure in meditating 
 and preaching, and the Word seemed to be powerful in its influence 
 upon the hearts of the people. . . . Administered the Lord’s Supper ; 
 experienced a greater degree of comfort than I had for many 
 Sabbaths. Was taught thereby that great preparation is necessary 
 for solemnising this ordinance. In the evening preached to a large 
 congregation ; received (I hope from the Lord) great power to speak ; 
 felt for the multitude ; moved to tears by my thoughts. Oh! that I 
 could be more spiritual in my mind at all times, when addressing 
 the multitude—his I want, this can be obtained, this, O God, give: 
 me.”” 
 
 He did not confine himself to preaching ; the children 
 engaged his special attention. He was anxious to ground 
 them in Christian truth, and to lead them into the peaceful 
 paths of religion. He believed in catechising, and we have 
 frequent references to his meetings with the English School 
 and with the Welsh School. He writes : “The children are 
 ready to do anything ; and when the school is not flourish- 
 
119 
 
 ing it is the people’s fault. Oh, that I could feel more for 
 the rising generation; may God bless our efforts for their 
 spiritual good.” 
 
 He did not neglect visiting. He had his friends with 
 whom he felt at home; but he bore all the people on his 
 heart, and was very careful to visit those who were in sick- 
 ness and sorrow. He had a high opinion of the poorer 
 people, and wrote concerning them: “ It is very profitable 
 to converse with poor people; generally they have very 
 correct ideas of men.” Among his notes we find: “J. H. 
 has fractured his leg ; may this afflictive event be blessed by 
 God to the everlasting good of his soul. We know not what 
 a day may bring forth. May he soon recover.” Were it 
 not for Caleb Morris’s supreme earnestness we should 
 certainly surmise that there was a touch of playfulness in the 
 above, but probably not, for we find him writing of himself : 
 “T always find affliction doing me good. Oh! that I could 
 be more devoted to God.” 
 
 He was in great request outside his own church, both as 
 preacher and as catechiser of schools. Being a profound 
 believer in religious instruction, he became the means of 
 starting several Sunday-schools in the district. It was a 
 delight and an inspiration to hear him questioning a school. 
 He would make the portion of Scripture under consideration 
 live before the people, and impress its teachings indelibly on 
 their hearts. The details of his labours among the churches at 
 this period must be passed over, but the fact that he preached 
 or catechised schools at Carvan and Templeton, Sardis and 
 Forge, Robeston and Bethesda, Weston and Llawhaden, 
 Henllan and Llandyssilio, Penygroes and Rhosycaerau, 
 Fishguard and Haverfordwest, Milford and Carmarthen, 
 shows his activity in Christian service. He was very 
 frequently at the Tabernacle, Haverfordwest, and found 
 
120 
 
 there some of his life-long friends ; Mr. Lloyd and his family 
 are often mentioncd in his diaries. During one of his visits 
 to Haverfordwest, he notes that he joined in a petition for 
 the abolition of slavery. 
 
 But notwithstanding all his labours and exertions, partly 
 indeed in consequence of them, he had frequent attacks of 
 violent headache, and periods of great mental depression. 
 They came with the suddenness of lightning, and happily 
 left him with equal rapidity. These, together with his lofty 
 standard of conduct and service, caused him to walk much 
 in the deep valley of dark shadows. To us some of his 
 expressions seem exaggerated, but that .may be due to the 
 comparatively low state of the religious life of ourday. In 
 any case the experiences were very real to him, and seem 
 to be inseparable from his moral enthusiasm and spiritual 
 earnestness. 
 
 Sometimes his complaints were occasioned by the religious 
 condition of the community. Ona “fair” day he writes :— 
 
 ‘« Had a good opportunity to learn the as yet superficial effects of 
 Christianity on the country at large. Heard many awful impreca- 
 tions and unchaste expressions, and observed a too striking corres- 
 pondence to the same in the conduct of the generality. How little 
 do men think that Christianity teaches them to speak, to bargain, 
 and to appear in all things better than those who do not bear the © 
 name of Christ. Indeed, this is an evil world, oh, that I could feel 
 for the degeneracy of the age! People are awfully careless about 
 religion in allits parts. O Lord, awake the people! Oh, that I 
 could see a revival among us! I am afraid that many who profess 
 religion know nothing of its influence on the heart. Oh, how the 
 worship of God is criminally neglected and despised. It is a great 
 thing to understand in what true religion consists, but it is a greater 
 thing to feel it. Something must be done that we have not thought of, 
 something to revive real godliness. O God, teach me to know that 
 and to exercise it! Ido not duly value my time. If I do not reform 
 in that, I cannot do much, and it would be a blessing to the world to 
 see my funeral,” 
 
121 
 
 He was greatly troubled if any minister or an aspirant to 
 the sacred office behaved unworthily. He writes :— 
 
 ‘‘ Heard to-day of a minister who has brought dishonour on the 
 ways of Zion. Another warning forme. Lord, cause me to feel the 
 influence of religion on my mind so powerfully as to keep far away 
 all temptation to evil. May I avoid the appearance of evil. O God, 
 keep me from injuring Thy sacred cause; let me rather dic. O hold 
 me by Thine omnipotent arm. Teach me to place my whole trust 
 in Thee, for Thou hast promised to aid Thy people.” 
 
 Again :— 
 
 “‘ Grieved at the improper conduct of a young man who professes 
 an intention to engage in holy offices. Our churches are culpably 
 negligent in not endeavouring to have a more scrutinous and extensive 
 inspection to the moral character of those who enter upon the work of 
 the ministry. Huw can a man of inferior talent, of no religious 
 principles, having no signs of true piety, and of loose character, pretend to 
 be a minister, to instruct the ignorant, to weep for souls, to edify the 
 church which was purchased by the blood of Christ ! 
 
 “A man, without experiencing the work of grace in his soul, has 
 no idea of what a minister of the Gospel ought todo. A minister 
 ought to have general knowledge and a work of grace carried on in 
 his heart before he can be of any consolation to himself or benefit to 
 others. Great importance is attached to a minister's character. 'The 
 church is almost as well acquainted with his domestic conduct as his 
 public sermons. He is the most exposed to observation of all men. 
 
 “‘T am convinced that nothing is better for a minister than to be 
 much alone. Solitude is very good, and without it there is no possi- 
 bility to increase either in knowledge or in holiness. There are but 
 very few persons that do good to the soul by their society. Men are 
 corrupt, and call into exercise my corruption. But God is pure, and 
 every time I converse with Him in secret it checks my corruption, 
 kills my pride, and awakens my purest affections. 
 
 ““The number, the character, and the apparent ends of young 
 people that now take upon them to prepare for the work of the 
 ministry, and the inattention of the churches to these things, are 
 ominous of a great degeneracy among Dissenters. We call for the 
 stroke of Divine displeasure to fall on our hearts; Lord prevent the 
 growing evil, and forbear to strike. Some of our academies are in a 
 
ee 
 
 1 22) 
 
 degenerating state. We blame the tutors and students; but how 
 seldom do we pray for them. I really believe that some means must 
 be adopted for their reformation.”’ 
 
 But though sometimes pained by unworthy ministers and 
 students, generally he was greatly cheered by his brethren.. 
 A large number of them preached at Narberth, and almost 
 invariably he has a word of praise for the sermons, and 
 adds a prayer for the Divine blessing. He also speaks very 
 favourably of students from Carmarthen and from Newtown. 
 
 He was most of all dissatisfied with himself, and his 
 criticism of others was very mild in comparison with his 
 self-incrimination. The diary abounds with expressions of 
 self-depreciation. In reading some of his words, one would 
 think that he was the most worthless of men. That may 
 be due in part to his melancholy moods, but it was also the 
 result of his very high ideal of a Christian minister. He 
 almost exhausts the dictionary in describing his own weak- 
 nesses and failures :— 
 
 **My mind very barren and dry. Felt very dejected, sorry on 
 account of pastneligence and indifference. . . . Quite inshackles, no- 
 freedom to speak, and still worse, but a very languid desire to be the 
 means of doing good ; low in mind and depressed in spirit ; troubled 
 in mind, because not particular in the arrangement and use of my 
 time. . . . A minister has no time to lose ; for if he mis-spend his time, 
 he not only commits a personal crime, but gives a bad example to 
 others. Oh, I am guilty in this particular. May God give me pardon- 
 ing and renewing grace. . . . My mind wandering, my inclinations. 
 unruly, my heart stony. Learnt the great depravity and corruption 
 of my own deceitful heart. Oh, whatisman? ... My mindina very 
 perplexed and agitated state. God seemed to be angry with me. - . 
 
 I have been particularly remiss for many days in my attention to secret 
 duties, study, and religious conversation. O God, pardon me this 
 sin and give me grace to reform! I have lost a great measure of that 
 spirituality of mind which I hoped I possessed. Oh,what a weak, proud,. 
 vain, foolish creature is man! . . . Unwellin body and dejected in 
 mind ; oh, what an awful thing to forget God! , . . Very dark in my 
 
} A) 
 
 123 
 
 mind, my heart like a rock of ice, my affections wandering far and 
 wide from the Lord. I am good for nothing. I cannot pray, though 
 I never stood in greater need of it than at present ; I am not able to 
 shed a tear for my sins, although I am overwhelmed by them. If 
 cannot study, although I have time and opportunity for it. I cannot 
 feel a desire to be useful, although I am in a sphere where I could 
 beso. I don’t feel for the souls of my fellow creatures, although I 
 I have the name of a shepherd. My heart is full of guilt, pollution, 
 pride, hypocrisy, deceit, cruelty, irreligion; O, wretched man that 
 I am—Lord have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me. There is 
 no peace but in the ways of religion. O, for a closer walk with 
 God ! 
 
 “IT have grieved the Spirit of God.. The Lord has a rod 
 for His children, blessed be His name. Painful anxiety is eating 
 up my mind. No delight in personal and family prayer. Afraid 
 that I consult too much with self in religious matters, that I care 
 more for my own name than for the name of God. Lord, pardon 
 this great sin, and teach me to hate sin more than hell, The enemy 
 8 persecuting my soul very hard; the waves are sometimes over 
 my head, I cannot look up. I am wandering in a thorny maze 
 without the light of the Sun of Righteousness. My mind is greatly 
 distressed, darkness of spirit has seized me. Oh, how sad it is 
 when the Lord hides His face. 
 
 “For a long time I have been in a very uncomfortable state, 
 walking in darkness. This world is bad, temptations are numerous, 
 iniquity abounds, and my heart is sad. I am a sinful being, yet 
 the Lord is very kind unto me. Nothing causes me misery but my 
 sins. Oh, that I could live more like Jesus. Nothing can give 
 me comfort but religion. O God, take care of me. I am afraid 
 to trust in myself, 
 
 “*T did no good, I received no good; a day lost! Oh, what shall 
 Ido? My time passes away while I am sleeping in indifference. Lord, 
 pardon my abuse of precious time. My mind is very low, grieved on 
 account of its numerous sins. Troubled with terrific apprehensions, 
 my love to Jesus very weak, my faith in Him counteracted by the 
 power of unbelief, my hope languid. Yet I have none in‘heaven but 
 God; to Him is my desire. I wish no other joy but-that which 
 religion affords. Oh, what a sad, wicked world this is. O Ged, 
 prepare me for heaven. I cast my burden on the Lord. 
 
 “Oh, how difficult it is for us to conduct ourselves in such a 
 
 I, 
 
. peg) Li MW yh - 
 
 1 fy 
 VV A be a 124 
 
 - 
 
 ad 
 
 manner as to be an honour to our sacred calling. I have great cause 
 to weep and to be ashamed for my frequent deviations in thought and 
 practice from religion’s sacred peaceful paths. I feel a desire to 
 come to Jesus myself, and that others also should come to Him. 
 What a blessing that He is so willing to receive sinners, 
 
 ‘“No liberty in prayer, endeavoured to preach. My heart like a 
 stone, wanted to feel, but couldn’t. My manner cold and dead, and 
 my hearers so too.’’ 
 
 Of the next service on the same day he writes :— 
 
 ‘* My passions were greatly moved, my tears prevented my going 
 on, was obliged to stop once. But what was this, considering how I 
 have been wandering from God? I am afraid it was not from Him, 
 the result of} my own /abowrs, and not of grace. However, it was 
 better to be thus than to be hard and callous. 
 
 “T am a poor, ignorant, sinful creature, prone to forget the 
 responsibility of my situation. O God, have merey upon me! Qh, 
 that I could have a spirit to pray. Lord Jesus, help me, keep me! 
 I can do nothing. I leave myself at the footstool of the Throne. 
 The Blood of Christ cleanssth us from all sin—a very sweet doctrine. 
 ‘This is my refuge. I am nothing, I have done nothing but what 
 calls for the displeasure of God.” 
 
 We are not surprised to find him saying: “ Found much 
 pleasure in thinking on the seventh chapter of Romans, and 
 fixed upon the last_tyyo yerdas TOF ToMOHOWE TSE” We 
 have no record of the sermou; but there Gail™beewery little 
 doubt about his interpretation of the chapter. He certainly 
 would not say that it must refer to Paul’s pre-Christian 
 state because the expressions could not be used by a 
 Christian, for he himself had been saying again and again 
 things equally strong against himself, although he had 
 fallen into no outward sin. The foregoing extracts are 
 sufficient proof of this, but let one more be added :— 
 
 ‘‘My soul is enveloped in a deep gloom, my heart is cold and 
 disaffected to religious duties. I know experimentally that it is the 
 seat of all corruption and enmity to God. The power of sin I feel, 
 
 and would weep for it, but I cannot. I view myself the chief of 
 sinners. I am in deep waters. O Lord, leave me not, forsake me 
 
125 
 
 not, O Lord of my salvation! My desire is towards the Lord. I 
 wish to be His. Most merciful and gracious Lord, have pity on me 
 and place my feet on the Rock of Ages. Yet, notwithstanding all 
 my complaint, I was kept from all outward sins. Oh, how indebted 
 I am for my preservation to the God of all grace.”’ 
 
 Having given these indications of his inward experiences> 
 we shall omit the details of his work in 1825, and come to 
 the year 1826. On the Ist of January, he writes : “'This 
 year is of more importance to me than any that is passed ; 
 it places me nearer eternity!” At the close of the first 
 Sunday his entry in the diary is: “Thank God, my mind 
 has been in a very good frame ; may it continue so.” In the 
 Society on the following evening, he spoke of the things 
 “ ready to die,” and named adherence to Scripture doctrine, 
 the exercise of spiritual graces, the observance of private 
 devotions, attendance on public ministrations, and support 
 of the means of grace, and urged his hearers to watchfulness 
 and zeal. He felt the need of humility for a minister of 
 the Gospel and prayed, “ May God give me this grace, and 
 may it always flourish and be conspicuous in my words, my 
 manner, and all my conversation. Deliver me from pride,. 
 O God, for I have no shadow of occasion for this, sinful 
 being as I am.” 
 
 He dedicates himself anew to the service of God, and 
 feels a strong desire to be active in the Master’s vineyard. 
 He writes : ‘‘ Particularly serious in mind, and desirous of 
 doing good. I want to feel more for immortal souls.” He 
 gives himself to study and to the cultivation of all his 
 powers. Two short quotations will show his enthusiasm :— 
 
 ‘Spent most of the day in studying English orthoepy. Every- 
 thing ought to be consecrated to the service of God.’’ ‘‘ Devoted 
 the evening to study, and continued with my books till five o’clock in 
 the morning. I shall sleep long enough in the grave. We must not 
 sacrifice the lame and the blind to God. Ob, no! He deserves the 
 best of everything that we possess.’’ 
 
126 
 
 ~'I do not feel that there is any need to apologise for the 
 somewhat numerous extracts from the diary that I have 
 given in this chapter, for surely the story of a man’s 
 inward life is much more important than a record of 
 external incidents. In these prayers, meditations, and 
 confessions we have revealed to us a very rich, sensitive 
 soul whose experience was marked by much struggle and 
 effort. There were, indeed, intervals of sweet harmony 
 and happy repose, but these were always liable to be dis- 
 turbed by acute discords and violent tempests. Still, amid 
 all the disturbances, Caleb Morris never had any doubt 
 about the way of peace ; he was quite sure that it was to be 
 found in fellowship with God, and in the complete conse- 
 cration of all his powers to the work which God had given 
 him to do. In all his deflections and deviations he ever 
 kept his aim steadfast and his purpose firm. He was 
 unchanging in his desire to be like Christ, and he felt very 
 strongly that he could accomplish this only as he was 
 helped by Divine grace. He often stumbled as he climbed 
 towards the heights, but he fell to rise higher ; and though 
 at times weary and exhausted, he never lost heart, but 
 looked forward with full assurance to complete triumph 
 through the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
IX. 
 
 On the Wing. 
 
 ALEB MORRIS spent most of the month of Septem- 
 ber, 1826, at Llandrindod Wells, and preached there 
 several times. On the 29th we have the entry, “ At 
 
 Narberth, read Dr. Doddridge’s sermon on ‘ The Duty of the 
 Minister to Save Souls’; good tendency in reading such 
 books.” Then suddenly, without any preparation, we come 
 upon the statement—“ Went to London in October. Com- 
 menced my public labours as a supply, at Craven Chapel, on 
 the first Sabbath in November.” 
 
 When the Welsh Edition was published, I had no informa- 
 tion about the steps which led him to supply this historic 
 Chapel, near Regent Street ; but,since that time, I have heard 
 from Mrs. C. B. Adeney, of Clapham, who writes : “My 
 father, Edward Swaine, of Piccadilly, was one of the Rey. Caleb 
 Morris’s most cherished friends, and I believe the means of 
 introducing him to London, having become acquainted with 
 him through travelling together on the top of a stage coach. 
 He first preached at Craven Chapel, Regent Street, where 
 my father was deacon for forty years.” In what part of 
 Wales this meeting took place I do not know, possibly 
 between Narberth and Tenby, for Tenby was even then a 
 favourite seaside resort, or it may have been near Llandrindod 
 Wells. Caleb Morris was a striking figure anywhere, and on 
 
ae 
 Vw wn, 
 128 
 
 the top of a coach he would doubtless be the chief talker, 
 and could not fail to arrest the attention of his fellow- 
 passengers. 
 
 A “ Letter-book ” which has recently come into my hands 
 shows that as early as 1825 he was contemplating a change 
 of sphere. 
 
 On the 28th June, 1825, he wrote a letter to Mr. Lloyd, 
 of Malmesbury, saying that he could not come to preach in 
 July, but offering to come in August or later on. Then he 
 proceeds to discuss the question of settling at Malmesbury, 
 and writes : 
 
 “‘Drarn Sir,—My settling among you is an affair concerning 
 which, at present, no decision can be formed ; the importance of this 
 demands responsive deliberation. That mutual intimacy which ought 
 always to be an antecedent to the formation of such connections has 
 not hitherto subsisted between us. No; to you I am an entire 
 atranger. However, may all our proceedings be influenced by that 
 pious sentiment, ‘ Let the will of the Lord be done.’ 
 
 ‘¢ But lest the uncertainties attached to the idea of my settlement 
 at Malmesbury might in anyway prove prejudicial to the best of 
 causes at that place, allow me first to state the following things : 
 That I should deem it necessary to be among the people for two or 
 three months previous to their giving or my accepting an invitation 
 to become their pastor. Also, that if I were to leave Narberth I should 
 consider myself bound by the laws of prudence and justice to remain 
 with the people at least a few months subsequent to my expressing 
 my determination to leave, so that the cause might not suffer, and 
 that I might have an opportunity to assist them to secure a suitable 
 pastor, for their interest, I trust, isnear to my heart, And lastly, that 
 if you should deem these considerations a sufficient reason for not 
 waiting to see the decisions of Providence towards me, I should wish 
 you to make it known to me as soon as convenient. Now think ~ 
 deliberately of these things. If you should think it advisable to 
 direct your attention to some other person that might come immediately 
 to settle among you, it is my prayer that you may be influenced by 
 Divine wisdom to make choice of a person that will be useful to 
 edify the church and convert those from whom the Gospel is hidden. 
 
129 
 
 “Tn concluding, allow me, respected sir, to express my feelings at 
 this moment. I wish to feel a desire to be more useful the remaining 
 part of my short life! Oh, yes; every successive day increases in 
 importance as it brings us nearer to eternity! Religion is more 
 valuable than all things beside, it answers the demands of our souls ; 
 therefore let it be our enjoyment, occupation, guide, and heaven, 
 and if so, we shall want no more.” 
 
 On July the 19th, he writes to explain why he had not 
 replied to Mr. Lloyd’s letters, and says :— 
 
 ‘¢ T have been lying in bed, under such an affliction as disqualified 
 my mind to dictate, and my hand to write a reply to your communica- 
 tions. Complicated causes produced an inflammation in different 
 parts of the body which required so much bleeding, and the consump- 
 tion of such a quantity of medicine, as necessarily occasioned very 
 great debility. Here I am now—just come out of bed, very weak, 
 but, thanks to God, in a convalescent state. I stood in need of afilic- 
 tions; when the Lord blesses them, they are productive of much good, 
 I fear nothing but sin; oh, for a closer walk with God. If I were 
 more holy, I should be more happy. May God be mine for ever, and 
 T shall want no more. I cannot be with you at the time first pro- 
 posed, but, please God, I expect that by the commencement of the 
 ensuing month, I shall have recruited my health, and anticipate the 
 pleasure of seeing you face to face on the second Sabbath in that 
 month, God bless you.”’ 
 
 In August, he has to write again expressing his inability 
 to come, and says :— 
 
 ‘‘MucH RESPECTED Sir,—When I wrote you last, I thought I 
 should have been by this time quite strong, but, alas! it is quite the 
 reverse. Thanks be to God, symptoms of immediate danger are 
 removed, nevertheless, I am far from being well. I have a constant 
 pain in my side, the violence of which incapacitates me for any con- 
 siderable degree of exertion. Last Lord’s Day I attempted, for the 
 first time since my illness, to speak a few words in public; but I have 
 been convinced since that it was very imprudent, if not presumptuous 
 on my part. 
 
 ‘‘Thus, my dear sir, you perceive that I am inevitably deterred 
 from my intended visit to Malmesbury in the ensuing week. My 
 
 9 
 
130 
 
 medical attendant and my own feelings reprobate a moment’s 
 hesitation on the subject. Thus the hand of Providence has rendered 
 all my projects entirely abortive. I ask myself, ‘What meaneth 
 this?’ and while the whole is enveloped in a mysterious gloom, 
 impenetrable by the feeble efforts of present discernment, I am 
 cheered by the idea ‘ that all things work together for the good of 
 those that love God,’ 
 
 “*T presume I need not tell you that in this affair my views have 
 met a frustration equally severe to me, as it may be unpleasant to 
 you; but since God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, let us bow with 
 submission to His just, wise, and good Providence; let us ¢rust it 
 where we cannot trace it. We may rest assured that the Governor of 
 the Universe doeth all things weil. 
 
 ‘* Relative to your circumstances as a church and congregation, I 
 have nothing to say. I must leave you to be directed by that wisdom 
 which God has promised to all upright souls. While we know that 
 the intercession of Christ in heaven for His church ought not to super- 
 sede our use of those means most adapted to its best interests, yet it 
 it is pleasant, and indeed profitable to reflect on such passages as 
 Ephesians iv. 10-14; Jeremiah xxiii. 4, 5, 15, and many others, In 
 all our ways let us acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths. 
 
 “¢ Am I ever to have the pleasure of seeing you at Malmesbury ? 
 I would not on any account be the means of injuring the cause among 
 you, and therefore, as the people are so very impatient, and averse to 
 supplies (and, I believe, they are right), I conceive you had better 
 look out immediately for some one that may suit you as pastor, 
 
 “ As for myself, I have nothing to do but wait patiently the de- 
 cisions of Providence, humbly serve my Christ in the strength of His 
 spirit and pray for meetness for whatever Heaven has destined me to 
 meet, whether health or sickness, prosperity or adversity, life or 
 death. I wish to be the Lord’s for ever. With my best wishes for 
 your temporal and spiritual interests, | am, much respected Sir, yours 
 in truth, 
 
 ‘Cates Morris,” 
 
 Apparently the church at Malmesbury got tired of wait- 
 ing for him; there is no further reference to the matter in 
 the letter-book or in the diary. At this time he received an 
 invitation from the church at the Tabernacle, Haverford- 
 west, to which he was a frequent visitor during his ministry 
 
: ) _i nes 
 NIN LALLY Th AM, = 
 V 
 
 VY a 
 
 131 
 
 at Narberth. The secretary of this church was Mr. Thomas 
 Lloyd, and he addresses a letter to him in August, 1825 :— 
 
 ‘© To the Church at the Tabernacle, Haverfordwest, 
 
 ‘(My BELOVED BRETHREN IN CaRist,—Permit me to address you 
 these lines as an expression of my sincere gratitude for the kind 
 notice you have taken of my humble services as an unworthy minister 
 of the Gospel —as my acknowledgment that the invitation which 
 you have given me to become your pastor merits my serious attention 
 —and as my pledge that, after deliberation responsive to the im- 
 portance of the subject, I will give you a decisive answer. 
 
 ‘You know that precipitancy in forming our decisions on such 
 subjects is a crime, which, though custom endeavours to palliate, 
 yet Christian prudence and daily observation represent as pregnant 
 with very prejudicial results to the interests of Christianity ; there- 
 fore you cannot but see the propriety that some time should be taken 
 for mutual consideration and solemn prayer respecting this important 
 affair, 
 
 “Now, my dear friends, I recommend you to the care of God, 
 praying that you may be directed in all things by the wisdom that is 
 from above, that our Lord in all things may be glorified, and that 
 the love of God the Father, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the com- 
 munion of the Holy Ghost may remain with you for evermore. I 
 subscribe myself, my beloved brethren in Christ, your affectionate 
 brother and humble servant, 
 
 ‘*Catgs Morais.’ 
 
 There is no record of his final reply to the church, but 
 evidently it was in the negative. In the absence of direct 
 testimony, we could only surmise the reasons ; but whatever 
 they were, the members must have been satisfied of their 
 justice, for Caleb Morris continued to visit the Tabernacle 
 and to preach there almost to the end of his days. 
 
 Leaving the letter-book and returning to the diary, we 
 find that he was in London during the months of November 
 and December in the year 1826, and preached at Craven Chapel 
 for seven Sundays, He also gave an address on Monday 
 
 ge 
 
132 
 
 evenings, and preached on Wednesday evenings. The texts 
 of the twenty-one sermons are preserved in his diary, and the 
 topics of the addresses. He preached also at Fetter Lane, 
 Gate Street Chapel, Surrey Chapel, Crendon Chapel, Poultry 
 Chapel, Guildford Street, and Shadwell. 
 
 Evidently the young preacher from Wales was a favourite 
 in the Metropolis. It is nothing strange for a Welshman 
 to be popular in London now-a-days ; but it was a rare 
 phenomenon at the beginning of the last century. Dr. 
 Thomas, of Liverpool, writes: “In the time of Caleb 
 Morris, with very few exceptions, Welshmen were not known 
 in London, except as collectors for chapel debts, or recipients 
 from charitable funds, and in consequence the English 
 looked down upon them.” It was not because he was a 
 Welshman that he received a hearing in London at the time 
 —his nationality would be against him, but on account of 
 his charm and power as a preacher. 
 
 He left London on Saturday, the 30th of December, andl 
 preached at Banbury three times on the following day. He 
 also preached and spoke several times during the week, and 
 again preached three times on the following Sunday. 
 During this period his diary is mainly a plain record of 
 facts without comment or reflection. A few sentences will 
 sufficiently indicate the disposition of his soul :— 
 
 “*No sermon can be good unless it breathes the spirit of the Gospel. 
 We ought to be more dependent on the Spirit in prayer. . . 
 In our visits to families we can do no good unless we act in abana 
 —holy, humble, affectionate, and kind. . . . It is of great 
 importance to observe punetwality. I shall pay more attention to this 
 henceforth. I intend through grace to be more particular in the 
 observance of time. . - . Attention to the biographies of great 
 and good men is very useful. . . . It is good to aim at great 
 things in the strength of omnipotence. What haveI done? I must 
 read, think, pray, and work more this year than the last. . . . 
 
138 << 
 
 The first Sabbath of the year 1827 is gone! Convinced of the 
 necessity of reading the Bible more frequently. Have not thought 
 enough of the law of God ; it is holy ; must preach more.” 
 
 From the 7th of January to the 5th of April there is no 
 entry in the diary ; but from the letter-book it is evident 
 that his thoughts were in London. 
 
 On February the 7th he writes a letter to Mr, Edward 
 Swaine. It is a treatise on “Friendship” rather than a 
 letter. On reviewing it in later years he was anything but 
 pleased with it. Over one part he writes: ‘“ Nonsense. 
 A.D. 1831.” And at the end of the copy we find written : 
 “ What a formal letter! was I thinking of my friend or of 
 my style (stiff enough) when I wrote it ? Yet its sentiments 
 are very true. February 1, 1831.” 
 
 The central theme of the letter is the impossibility of true 
 friendship without nobility of character. The quotation of 
 a few lines will suffice to indicate its contents and style :— 
 
 “There is not, there cannot exist real friendship without holiness. 
 Sin eradicates every moral quality necessary to the constitution and 
 preservation of real sociability. Satan, who once participated of the 
 pleasures of a most extensive, intimate, and refined friendship, has 
 now no friend in the Universe. Yea, he is at enmity with himself. 
 Sin has done the same for many many men. Oh! what it is to be 
 without a friend! What, but a species of that misery which 
 constitutes hell !”’ 
 
 In the letter-book we find also “the substance of a letter 
 addressed to the Rev. Mr. Geo. Burder, London, on March 
 the 6th, 1827.” Caleb Morris had preached twice at Fetter 
 Lane during his visit to the Metropolis, and this had 
 evidently led the church to think of him as a co-pastor to 
 the Rev. Geo. Burder, and further to ask him to supply the 
 pulpit with a view to the co-pastorate. The letter which he 
 wrote in reply was in substance as follows :— 
 
 “« Rev. and Dear Sir, 
 
 “‘Your very kind communication I received about a week ago. 
 
 ——— 
 
134 
 
 The vast importance of the subject to which it refers, and consequently 
 the necessity of at least afew days for deliberation and prayer to 
 God relative to it, constitute my apology for not sending an earlier 
 reply. And now permit me, dear sir, to offer you and your friends 
 my sincere and respectful acknowledgments for the kind notice which 
 you have taken of me and of my humble services as a young and 
 unworthy minister of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, and for 
 your recent invitation to me to supply for a few Sabbaths at Fetter 
 Lane. There is one circumstance connected with this affair which 
 has made so powerful an impression on my mind as to justify my 
 naming it at this time, and my pleading your indulgence for my 
 doing so—that you, sir, without saying anything which from a 
 stranger and a youngster might be mistaken—that you yourself 
 should address me upon this occasion, and so kindly lay before me 
 some suggestions which observation and experience have enabled you 
 to make, and which I deem to have a powerful claim to my attention, 
 esteem, and gratitude. 
 
 “Now, after serious consideration and frequent application to the 
 Disposer of all events for Divine direction, I do, agreeably to your 
 request, reply to your kind letter by stating that I do accede to your 
 proposal, and shall, D.V., preach at your chapelfora month, But 
 a variety of circumstances preclude the possibility of my coming 
 before the 15th of next month, such as my engagement to preach at 
 the re-opening of the Lammas Street Meeting House, Carmarthen, 
 on the 5th April. Any remarks respecting the specific object of my 
 visit would at this time prove premature. I have placed my cause in 
 the hands of the wise Jehovah.” 
 
 In the diary for Thursday, April the 5th, we find the 
 entry : “Was present at the opening of Lammas Street 
 Meeting House. Preached from Acts iii. 21.” Then 
 follows: “And on the Sabbath from Hzekiel xi. 19, and 
 Acts xviii. 9-10; again on Monday from Prov. iii. 17. 
 Left Carmarthen for London on Thursday morning. 
 Arrived in London on Friday evening, and slept at Mr. 
 Edwards, surgeon.” After this comes a record of the 
 sermons preached and the addresses delivered at Fetter 
 Lane, Kentish Town, and Islington. On the 24th April he 
 
was at Banbury, preaching on the occasion of the ordination 
 of his friend the Rev. Nun Morgan Harry. On the 27th he 
 attended the Bible meeting at the Mansion House. On the 
 29th he heard Mr. Irving preach, and on the 30th he 
 witnessed the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of 
 the London University by the Duke of Sussex, concerning 
 which he remarks ; ‘A laudable undertaking.” On the same 
 day he attended the ordination of Mr. Stevenson at Gate 
 Street Chapel. 
 
 It is strange that there is no reference in his diary to 
 his appearance on the platform of the London Missionary 
 Society at the Annual Meeting, held in Great Queen Street 
 Chapel, on Thursday, the 10th of May, 1827. The Rev. 
 Joseph Fletcher, A.M., of Stepney, had moved one resolution, 
 and the Rey. James Parsons, of York, had seconded another. 
 Caleb Morris was called upon to perform the unenviable 
 task of seconding a vote of thanks to the Chairman, at the 
 close of a long meeting ; and according to the report in the 
 Evangelical Magazine, he spoke to the following“ effect :— 
 
 ‘* Sir, the very able speeches already delivered, viewed in connec- 
 tion with the present late hour, preclude the propriety of my doing 
 anything more than seconding the motion ; but, Sir, we know it is no 
 reflection upon any individual to preside in such a meeting as this. 
 Now what is its character? It is not an assembly of disloyal subjects 
 met to plot against their King and Government, but of Christians 
 actuated by a philanthropic disposition to enrich mortals with the 
 laws of the King of Heaven. It is not to lay a plan to reduce the 
 nations of the world to degradation, misery, and death; but to raise 
 all nations to the enjoyment of liberty, peace, God, and heaven. We 
 are not met to establish laws to be observed by any particular denomi- 
 nation of Christians, but to send missionaries to disseminate our 
 common Christianity in every part of the world. Let us only for a 
 moment contemplate the character of missionary societies ; they have 
 heaven for their origin, and the Lord God of the Universe for their 
 patron. The principle in which they originate is the love of God, the 
 most lovely of all qualities, even in 4 human being; they achieve the 
 
1 ea 
 136 
 
 most laudable actions, they diffuse happiness amongst angels and 
 men, they heal the wounds of sickness, supply the tables of poverty, 
 wipe away the tears of bereavement, erect asylums for the destitute, 
 the widow, the orphan, and the forlorn, It is true, in this 
 cause we have met with opposition ; but, if it is opposed by hell, we 
 know it is countenanced by heaven. And now, allow me as an indivi- 
 dual from the Principality to testify that we feel deep interest in this 
 institution. We have heard of the Thistle, and the Shamrock, and 
 the Rose, and I rise to say we can speak of the Leek also, for from the 
 Principality this institution has received £14,000, and we are deter- 
 mined to proceed. Silver and gold, in some places, we have none; 
 but love for the Society we have, and we feel in this cause like the 
 drummer who, when taken by the enemy and desired to beat a retreat, 
 said he was never taught that lesson. ‘Onward, onward!’ was 
 the only lesson he had been taught; and this we will adopt as our 
 motto.”’ 
 
 The diary is a perfect blank from April to August, but 
 from the copy of a letter which is found in the letter-book, 
 we learn that he received an invitation to be the co-pastor 
 of the Rev. George Burder, of Fetter Lane, to which he 
 replied, as follows :— 
 
 ‘* Narberth, 
 
 June 14th, 1827. —Fh 
 ‘‘ My BELOVED IN THE LorD, 
 
 ‘¢ After mature deliberation and prayer to the Disposer of all 
 events for Divine direction, I now communicate to you, agreeably to 
 your request and my promise, my decisive answer to the invitation 
 which you have given me to unite with the Rey. Mr. Burder in the 
 pastorship of the church. greene me 
 
 ‘« The subject of the present communication excites in my mind a 
 variety of very powerful emotions. I deeply sympathise with your 
 venerable minister in his present circumstances, feeling as he does the 
 pressure of age, debility, and weakness; and also with you on 
 account of the consequent diminution of his affectionate and useful 
 services among you. And while I participate with you and 
 many more in feelings of gratitude to the great Head of the 
 Church for the wisdom, strength, and success with which He has 
 blessed him for so many years, I sincerely pray that if it be the will 
 
i r } 3 | " 
 - , AY f tae, V 
 137 OW 
 
 of Him that doeth all things well, he may again experience such a 
 speedy and perfect restitution of health and strength as his advanced 
 age will allow us to hope for. 
 
 “T must confess that the circumstances which introduced me to 
 your knowledge, and which led to your determination to invite me 
 to come to labour among you as co-pastor with your present aged and 
 much-respected minister, do appear to my mind to afford some 
 striking indications of the Divine Will respecting the sphere of my 
 future ministrations. 
 
 ‘¢ The kind attention which you paid to my humble and unworthy 
 services during the time I was among you, and the subsequent 
 profession of your acceptance of them, produced in my mind emotions 
 of deep humility respecting myself, of devout gratitude to Him in 
 whom is my all-sufficiency, and of sincere attachment to you asa 
 church and congregation. 
 
 ‘‘ When I consider the qualifications which a minister ought to 
 have in order to undertake the pastorship of such a church as Fetter 
 Lane—a church which has been from its formation so blessed with a 
 succession of such pious, learned and able ministers—I may well 
 adopt the language of the prophet with regard to myself, ‘Oh, Lord 
 God! behold, I cannot speak, for I am achild.’ But, on the other 
 hand, I reflect on the spirit of union, peace, candour and prayer 
 which dwells among you, on the character of your present pastor, the 
 ingenuous declaration of his wishes that I should comply with your 
 choice, and the numerous advantages which I may derive from his 
 instruction, counsel, example and prayers, and on the faithfulness of 
 Christ to teach, bless and support the meanest of His servants who 
 honestly, diligently and perseveringly labour for His name’s sake ; 
 consequently I do, in the fear of God, and I trust agreeably to His 
 pleasure, accept your invitation to unite with your present pastor in 
 the ministry of the church, 
 
 “In reference to the amount of services which you require from 
 me I have nothing to say at present, only that I wish to consecrate 
 myself and all I have to the work of the Lord, and shall, by the aid of 
 His Spirit, deem it my duty and privilege to spend and be spent in 
 your service. 
 
 “There is one thiag which I wish to'be particular in stating at 
 this time—namely, that if Divine Providence should enable me to 
 realise my present intention of settling among you, I should have two 
 months, or at least six weeks, to myself in order. to preserve, under 
 
138 
 
 the blessing of God, my health, and to visit other parts of the great 
 vineyard of Christ. I intend to be in town in July, and shall then fix 
 the time for commencing my public labours among you. 
 
 ‘Thus I have stated my views and feelings, and some of the 
 reasons which have induced me to comply with your invitation. May 
 it appear in time and eternity that this is of the Lord! May my love 
 in Christ be with you all.” 
 
 The letter was addressed to. Mr. Joseph Bunnell, one of 
 the deacons of Fetter Lane Church. 
 
 We look forward to his ministry in London with hope, 
 and yet with fear and trembling. Will he succeed? That 
 is our anxious question, and to it we cannot give any con- 
 fident reply, for what is popularly called success is such a 
 fickle thing and depends upon so many extraneous conditions. 
 Nevertheless, if purity of life and earnestness of soul, 
 completeness of consecration and passionate enthusiasm for 
 truth are the determining elements in a successful ministerial 
 career, we may confidently await the issue of the labours in 
 London of the ardent young Welshman from the Prescelly 
 Hills. 
 
XG 
 
 First Months at Fetter Dane. 
 
 FTER a long silence the diary speaks to us again, and 
 begins: ‘‘Supplied at Surrey Chapel during July 
 and part of August. Commenced my public labours at 
 
 Fetter Lane Aucust x11. Text: ‘If Thy presence go not 
 with me, carry us not up hence.’ The congregation very 
 numerous and the sermon very poor.” That is all he 
 wrote at the beginning of his ministry at Fetter Lane, 
 where he laboured for 23 years and won for himself an 
 undying name, The brevity of the entry is quite charac- 
 teristic ; he was impressed not so much by external events 
 as by the movements of his soul, the state of his mind, 
 the emotions of his heart, and the wrestlings of his spirit. 
 But the time will come for him to reflect on this important 
 step in his career. ; 
 
 To those who pay heed to coincidences, it may be of 
 interest to call attention to the prominent part played by the 
 month of August in his history. He was born in August ; 
 in this month also he was received a church member ; 
 August brought him to the Grammar School at Carmarthen ; 
 and in that month he began to keep a diary; now it sees 
 him settle down to his life-work at Fetter Lane. 
 
 Fetter Lane Church has a long and chequered history. 
 The precise date and circumstances of its foundation are not 
 
140 
 
 known. In the time of the Commonwealth there was a 
 chapel or conventicle at Fetter Lane, where Praise-God 
 Barebones occasionally preached ; but the present Fetter 
 Lane Church traces its history back to Dr. Thomas Goodwin, 
 chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and Puritan divine. At the 
 Restoration he was turned out of the Presidency of Magdalen 
 College, Oxford, came to London and gathered a congrega- 
 tion around him. He had been in London in 1640, and had 
 founded a church from which the present City Temple has 
 descended. Whether there was any connection between the 
 earlier and later churches gathered by Dr. Goodwin is not 
 known; nor is it certain where the later church met— 
 probably in private houses, since it was a troublous time 
 for Nonconformists. Dr. Goodwin died in 1679, and then 
 his friend, Thankful Owen, held the pastorate for two years. 
 He was succeeded by Stephen Lobb, who took a leading part 
 in the ecclesiastical controversies of the reign of James II. 
 During his ministry the church took possession of the 
 chapel in Fetter Lane in which Richard Baxter had preached 
 for years. Stephen Lobb was succeeded in the pastorate by 
 Benoni Rowe, who died in 1706. Then came Thomas 
 Bradbury, who fought bravely for civil and religious freedom 
 in the reign of Queen Anne, and was called by her “ Bold 
 Bradbury.” The mob burnt down his chapel in 1710, for 
 he was looked upon as one of the chief leaders of the 
 Dissenters. We must refer the reader to ‘ Memorials of 
 Fetter Lane Congregational Church,” by Mr. Arthur Pye 
 Smith, for fuller particulars concerning the men already 
 mentioned and their successors. 
 
 We now come to an honoured name in the history of 
 religion in England—namely, the Rev. George Burder, to 
 whom Caleb Morris became co-pastor at Fetter Lane. He 
 was the founder and first secretary of the Religious Tract 
 
141 
 
 Society. He became secretary of the London Missionary 
 Society and editor of the Hvangelical Magazine. He was 
 also widely known as the author of “ Village Sermons,” and 
 as the compiler of a supplementary hymn-book, which was 
 used for years along with Watts’ Psalms and Hymns. His 
 family belonged to the church at Fetter Lane, his fatber 
 and brother being among the deacons, and in the year 1804 
 he was induced to accept the pastorate. His fame and 
 his attractive preaching, his earnestness and the sweetness of 
 his disposition, soon told on the congregation, and in 1806 a 
 new gallery was added to the chapel. The church prospered 
 greatly under his ministry, and the congregation towards 
 the close of his life numbered about 500, of whom 300 were 
 members. It was a privilege to be called to labour with a 
 man so highly esteemed for his deep piety, transparent 
 character, and long service. 
 
 Before proceeding to trace Caleb Mborris’s career at 
 Fetter Lane, let us seek to form some idea of the condi- 
 tions under which he worked. The London of 1827 was 
 very different from the London of to-day, and great changes 
 have taken place near Fetter Lane. Then there was no 
 Holborn Viaduct, with its City Temple and other magnifi- 
 cent buildings. Smithfield was famous as the place where 
 the martyrs met their death bravely, rather than for its busy 
 markets. Farringdon Street had not its Memorial Hall, 
 nor Fleet Street its great newspaper offices. Temple Bar 
 was standing, and Lincoln’s Inn Fields did not belie their 
 names as much as they do now, fringed with the huge pile 
 of the Law Courts. Westminster was out of town, the 
 journey towards it was through narrow streets and along 
 shabby shops. There were no lions and monuments at 
 Trafalgar Square and no Charing Cross Station to pass on 
 the way. The present Houses of Parliament were unbuilt, 
 
142 
 
 and the wise men of the nation met to discuss the affairs 
 of the State at St. Stephen’s Chapel. The Thames flowed 
 beneath unadorned and unprotected banks, for the Embank- 
 ment lay then in the far future. Kensington seemed out in 
 the country, and Hampstead was said to be near London. 
 The network of railways on and under the surface, and of 
 telegraph and telephone wires overhead, had not been 
 dreamed of. Even the parks have been transformed since 
 that time ; and only a few places, like the Tower, St. Paul’s 
 Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey, remain substantially as 
 they were seventy years ago. 
 
 The mode of life has changed as much as streets and 
 buildings. Merchants then lived near their shops and ware- 
 houses, and had no long journeys to make night and morn- 
 ing ; they also worshipped on Sundays near the scenes of their 
 business. Even in the City of London there were many 
 happy homes and sweet domestic circles ; it had net become 
 the mere Babel of shops and warehouses, banks and offices, 
 that it is to-day. 
 
 Religiously the times were very different from our own. 
 Nonconformity was very modest and retiring, almost afraid 
 to lift its head or cause its voice to be heard in the streets. 
 The chapels were hidden from view, a relic of the days when 
 men had to defy the law in order to obey the dictates 
 of their conscience in the worship of God. The services 
 were plain and unadorned, like the chapels. The hymns, 
 were slowly sung, unaccompanied, two lines being given out 
 at a time ; the prayer was long, very long; and the sermon 
 seldom lasted less than an hour—at times it ran to two hours or 
 even more, The Sunday-schools were in a very primitive 
 state. There were no Young People’s Guilds, nor any of the 
 numerous organisations that now gather around the church 
 and sometimes threaten to crush it. The week-night engage- 
 
’ 
 
 ¢ 
 
 ue ATTY | 
 Dine Ep 
 
 ENTRANCE TO FETTER LANE CIAPEL, 
 
144 
 
 ments were a prayer-meeting on Monday, and a preaching 
 service on Wednesday or Thursday, with an occasional 
 lecture. There were, of course, church meetings and 
 deacons’ meetings, and now and then a missionary gather- 
 ing varied the monotony of church life. 
 
 All this seems to us very tame and uninteresting, but we 
 must not therefore conclude that it appeared so to the 
 Londoners of the third decade of the last century. It is 
 almost certain that religion brought more real joy to the 
 people of those days than it does to us at the present day, 
 with all our so-called improvements. London was then 
 comparatively quiet on Sundays, and worship was not dis- 
 turbed by the roar of the street traffic, for omnibuses were 
 few and far between. The people also came to the services 
 prepared by devout meditation and family worship, and 
 entered very heartily into the exercises of the sanctuary. And 
 if the chapels were bald and bare, and the singing slow and 
 heavy, there was an impressive dignity over the whole. 
 
 In particular, the preacher was a person of great weight 
 and importance. He was treated with profound reverence, 
 and exerted a deep and widespread influence. The sermons 
 were massive and rhetorical, often brilliant and polished, 
 and sacred oratory reached a very high level. It was 
 the age of Robert Hall and Thomas Chalmers, of Edward 
 Irving and Henry Melvill ; rarely has England been blessed 
 with such pulpit orators. To us their style seems artificial 
 and stilted, but we have to remember that the tastes of 
 our forefathers were different from our own; moreover, we 
 are hardly in a position to pronounce fair judgment, for the 
 verdict on the printed page is very different from what it 
 would have been had we heard and seen for ourselves. And 
 nowadays we are so much in the habit of looking for points 
 and practical suggestions that we are not in a fit state 
 
145 
 
 to appreciate the grandeur and impressiveness of lofty 
 rhetoric. 
 
 The preacher of those days prepared his sermons 
 laboriously, the matter was carefully selected, the words were 
 deliberately chosen, the periods were skilfully constructed, 
 the architecture of the sermon from the learned introduction 
 to the glowing peroration was the outcome of the most care- 
 ful study; and the delivery received great attention, pose 
 and gesture, enunciation and modulation, every detail 
 of the orator’s art was called into requisition. There were, 
 indeed, homely speakers, and simple preachers, but such was 
 not the fashion ; nearly all the leading ministers cultivated 
 and practised the grand style. 
 
 We can only make a passing reference to some of the chief 
 ministers of the period. The Claytons, stately, dignified and 
 Evangelical, had for a long time held a high position 
 among the Independents of London, the father having 
 occupied the pulpit of the Old Weigh House Chapel, and 
 the sons ministering at the Poultry Chapel and at Wal- 
 worth. Rowland Hill was becoming an old man, but he 
 still filled Surrey Chapel with his rugged, humorous, and 
 earnest preaching. Dr. Robert Winter was at the Old 
 Court Chapel, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, learned and ponderous, 
 a true representative of the ancient Puritans. Andrew 
 Reed was doing a great work in Hast London ; he became 
 pastor of the New Road Church, St. George’s-in-the-Hast, in 
 1811, and the church so prospered under his ministry that 
 when Caleb Morris came to London, Wycliffe Chapel, one of 
 largest places of worship of the period, was in course of 
 erection, and in it wonderful scenes of revival were witnessed 
 more than once. Andrew Reed also exerted much inflaence on 
 literature and politics ; but his name must be ever associated 
 first and foremost with the philanthropic institutions which 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 he founded—asylums for orphans, and idiots, and incurables, 
 which at Watford and Wanstead, Earlswood and Reedham, 
 are still living examples of the beneficent effects of Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 Another honoured name well known to the religious 
 world of London at this period was Joseph Fletcher. After 
 a long period of service as minister and theological tutor at 
 Blackburn, he accepted the pastorate of the Old Meeting 
 House at Stepney, in the year 1823. This quaint place of 
 worship, looking like a large suburban dwelling-honse, with 
 huge garrets and picturesque roof, was thronged during the 
 first years ef his London ministry. His musical voice, 
 dignified appearance, and faultless delivery, the tenderness 
 and pathos of his manner, together with the holy sweetness 
 of his character, and his vivid realisation of the spiritual 
 world, made him a great power. 
 
 Dr. Morrison, at Chelsea, editor of the Hwvangelical 
 Magazine; James Stratten, of Paddington, unequalled as a 
 pastor ; Robert Vaughan, of Kensington, thoughtful and 
 cultured ; and Dr. J. Pye Smith, the scientist and theologian, 
 the kind tutor and careful author, the diligent minister and 
 transparent Christian, who laboured assiduously at Homerton 
 and Highbury Colleges, and at the Old Gravel Pit Chapel, 
 were highly esteemed for their sterling worth and helpful 
 ministries, while Dr. Halley, who had become classical and 
 resident tutor at Highbury College in 1826, was rapidly 
 rising in public favour; and if we go outside the Congrega- 
 tional body we are reminded that Edward Irving was 
 filling the Caledonian Church at Hatton Garden, with 
 his unique blending of majesty and pathos, while Henry 
 Melvil] was in the zenith of his popularity, and overwhelm- 
 ing his audiences with torrents of oratory at Camberwell. 
 
 On great occasions, and especially during the month of 
 
147 
 
 May, eloquent country ministers visited the Metropolis. 
 Suffice it to name William Jay, of Bath; James Parsons, of 
 York ; and John Angell James, of Birmingham. The first 
 and the last were favourite supplies at Rowland Hill’s 
 Chapel, while James Parsons paid frequent visits to the 
 Tabernacle, Moorfields, and the Tottenham Court Road 
 Chapel. On such occasions the chapels were crowded an 
 hour or more before the appointed time, and the excitement 
 was intense. 
 
 The silence when James Parsons, with his frail frame and 
 thin, piercing voice, addressed the vast audiences was almost 
 oppressive, and the people gave a. sigh of relief when he came 
 to one of his grand climaxes, and allowed them an oppor- 
 tunity of breathing freely. His power over his hearers was 
 wonderful ; we seem to have nothing like it in our day. 
 
 John Angell James was equally popular. Let his suc- 
 cessor, Dr. Dale, describe one of his appearances in London :— 
 
 «His sermon, in May, 1819, for the London Missionary Society, 
 was long remembered as one of the most remarkable of the great 
 efforts which in those times made the annual sermon at Surrey 
 Chapel the chief attraction of the May week. The sermon was very 
 long. After he had been preaching an hour he sat down in the pulpit, 
 and a hymn was sung; and such was the excitement that during the 
 singing, oranges were thrown to him from the gallery. When the 
 ‘hymn was finished he preached for another hour. Like all his ‘ great 
 sermons ’ preached in his earlier years, it was delivered memoriter, and 
 his brother, who sat in the pulpit with the manuscript in his hand to 
 ‘prompt’ the preacher if for a moment he faltered, has told me that 
 hardly an epithet, a conjunction or a preposition, was forgotten.” 
 
 After this brief general survey we may return to the 
 
 scene of Caleb Morris’s labours. Fetter Lane is a narrow 
 
 thoroughfare between Holborn and Fleet Street. It ig’ 
 
 now occupied in part by small tradesmen, but is becoming 
 
 more and more an appanage of the Law Courts, and of the 
 10* 
 
148 
 
 great printing and publishing establishments of Fleet Street. 
 However, some traces of older London still remain, and 
 among them is the entrance to Fetter Lane Chapel. 
 
 As we go from Holborn to Fleet Street we notice on the 
 
 INTERIOR OF FETTER LIANE @HAPEL, 
 
 right a narrow opening between two pillars. Above are the 
 windows of a dwelling-house, a relic of the time when 
 dissenting places of worship had to hide themselves in the 
 background. Now there is no traffic through the porch, for 
 
 ~ 
 
149 haw 
 
 the chapel has been sold and the church has been removed 
 to Leyton ; but at one time it was the sacred resort of 
 multitudes. As we look upon the neglected pathway we 
 cannot help going back in thought and feeling to the days 
 of Caleb Morris. Through this old porch the great man 
 walked time after time, his mind wrestling with mighty 
 truths, and his heart longing to bless immortal souls. 
 Through this same porch the crowds entered with high 
 expectations, and departed in solemn aspect, pondering over 
 the mysteries of life and death, and meditating upon the 
 glorious things revealed to men by Jesus Christ. 
 
 We pass through the door into the lobby of the chapel 
 as it was twenty years ago and look at the window 
 through which hundreds gazed to see whether their 
 favourite teacher was in the pulpit. We walk on through 
 the left aisle, and feel that we are among the things of the 
 past. The chapel is long and heavy, the pews are narrow 
 and old-fashioned, the gallery is high, and at the eastera 
 
 end there is a second gallery perched aloft. We reach the 
 
 pulpit stairs, and are almost afraid to tread them, for surely 
 
 we are in a sacred place. Many ¢ creat and holy men have 
 
 climbed these stairs to speak in the name of God, At last 
 
 we venture reverently into the pulpit and stand where Caleb 
 Morris often stood. We look around, but all is silent, all is 
 still. He is not here. The audience is no more. All things 
 unite in saying, “The glory is departed.” We descend 
 the pulpit stairs and enter the vestry, the place where he 
 prayed so earnestly for divine help to face the people and 
 teach them the ways of God ; but everything is quiet as the 
 grave. From one of the walls his portrait looks down upon 
 us. We are thrilled by the shadow; what would his real 
 presence have done? But why stay among these outward 
 forms? It is not here that he dwells; but in his words, 
 
 a 
 
a 
 — a 
 
 ete 
 
 150 
 
 in his influence, in the minds enlarged, in the consciences. 
 cleansed, in the hearts fired by his praying and preaching, 
 
 in the spiritual impulse which he imparted to thousands, the 
 
 effects of which still abide. Let us, then, proceed to trace 
 the main features of his holy ministry. 
 Friday evening, the 31st of August, was an important. 
 
 occasion in his history, for on it he was received a member 
 
 of Fetter Lane Church, and recognised as co-pastor. This 
 sounds rather strange to us, for the practice of formally 
 receiving the minister into Church fellowship is almost a 
 thing of the past, so is the recognition of a minister by the 
 church before the public recognition. Caleb Morris shall 
 describe the event in his own words :— 
 
 ‘* Jn the evening attended the church meeting at Fetter Lane; was- 
 formally received a member of the church, and recognised as co-pastor 
 with the Rev. George Burder. A solemn time to me! I was 
 naturally led to take a retrospective view of my past history; and I 
 found much reason for sorrowing, and could not help weeping much. 
 Though through mercy kept from public and presumptuous sins, yet I 
 have been very unholy in the presence of God. Time misspent, 
 opportunities of doing good neglected, evil and vain thoughts 
 indulged, the duties of prayer, watching, and mortification too much 
 overlooked or carelessly performed, pride and self-indulgence too 
 much beloved; these are my sins! Yet the Lord has permitted me to 
 dwell in his vineyard till now. 
 
 “J have much reason to be thankful. No one has more occasion to 
 bless God. My life, health, and strength have been preserved, my 
 intellect kept unimpaired ; my friends and relatives are disposed to 
 be kind towards me. I have been kept from publicly dishonowring the 
 great cause of God. God kept me from the evil which is in the world. 
 Nothing unpleasant occasioned my removal from Narberth. I left the 
 place with emotions of regret, because of my attachment to many of 
 the people, and have reason to think that many of them pray for me. 
 I hope that God has directed me thus far, Felt myself overwhelmed 
 at the idea of becoming a member of Fetter Lane, and by the. kind, 
 affectionate, and fatherly conduct of Mr. Burder. He is a truly good 
 man. The church unanimous in their call. What a blessing! 
 
I. § Chley.0 deltd Ooh U/p 
 zl ‘idle. 
 
 151 
 
 ‘‘Tord, I wish to adore Thee alone! O, Fountain of Goodness! i ¢ 
 To Thee I owe my all. Accept my humble but, I trust, sincere IV/ | 
 gratitude. I give myself to Thee, body, soul, and spirit. May my : 
 
 God never meet a rival in my understanding or affections. God ; 
 claims ai/ my heart, therefore let no vain, idle, or impure thought 
 intrude. Be my guide till I die, O Gop.’’ 
 
 The public recognition service was held on Wednesday, xX 
 
 ; 
 ; 
 
 ‘ 
 Bf 
 
 the 12th of September, concerning which the entry in the 
 diary is as follows :— 
 
 “‘This has been a day long to be remembered—the day of my 
 public settlement at Fetter Lane. In the morning felt rather unwell, 
 my mind stupid, more so than usual. Went down to Fetter Lane; 
 there at half-past ten. Met Mr. Burder and otbers. The Rev. Mr. 
 Burnet, of Cork, read the Scriptures and prayed. The Rev. Joseph 
 Fletcher (Stepney) delivered the introductory discourse, gave a 
 luminous and a powerful description of the principles of Nonconformity. 
 
 Now my soul was alive. Gave a brief statement of my religious ; 
 experience, and of the reasons which induced me to accept the call of : 
 the church at Fetter Lane. The Rev. G. Burder prayed most | 
 earnestly for a divine blessing on me and the church. I trust I felt 4 
 that I could pray also. Afterwards the Rev. Dr. Winter preached i 
 from Colossians i. 7. Finally, the Rev. G. Clayton prayed. Thus 
 
 ended the services, the solemn services of the day, which I highly 
 epjoyed.”’ 
 
 The account in the Hvangelical Magazine for October, | 
 1827, is in harmony with the above; but adds that Mr. 
 Burder declared his cordial approbation of the church’s 
 choice, and that the service was solemn and interesting. 
 
 He took up the work with all the enthusiasm of his ardent 
 nature, and made the cure of souls the great aim of his life. 
 
 The arrangement was that the venerable George Burder 
 should preach on Sunday mornings, and that Caleb Morris 
 should preach in the afternoon and during the week, as well 
 as undertake the general pastoral oversight of the church. 
 There was no Sunday evening service then at Fetter Lane. 
 Several of the chapels in London had started Sunday evening 
 
152 
 
 services, or lectures, as they were called, and Caleb Morris 
 was asked to conduct them in different places. 
 
 Here is a typical entry :— 
 
 ‘‘ Sunday, August 27th.—Rose at seven. Through mercy, my first 
 thoughts were of God. Felt rather unwell, very low in mind. Read 
 and prayed at Fetter Lane. Mr. Burder preached. In theafternoon, 
 preached from Romans i. 16, 17. Liberty in speaking. In the 
 evening, preached at the Union Chapel, Islington, from John xvii. 24. 
 Freedom of spirit. A day on which I enjoyed more of the divine 
 presence than I anticipated. Simplicity and piety are indispensable 
 to a minister.” 
 
 We have also a record of his addressing the children of 
 the Sunday-school on a Sunday evening at Fetter Lane. 
 Eventually he decided to hold three services ab home on 
 the Sunday. This new departure took place on the 14th 
 of October. The entry for this day is :— 
 
 ‘‘Preached in the morning at Fetter Lane, as Mr. Burder was 
 anwell. Enjoyed some liberty. Again in the afternoon to a large 
 congregation. In the evening preached for the first time on a 
 Sabbath evening at Fetter Lane. May this have begun, be carried on, 
 and end in the Lord. If only one soul is saved thereby, it will 
 answer well! Oh, how kind God is to me! Never felt so low in 
 going to the pulpit, afraid that I should not be able to proceed, but 
 God assisted me. I felt grateful to His good name. May I do 
 nothing to offend Him. Oh, God, bless this undertaking! The 
 congregation very large.”’ 
 
 On Sunday, the 28th, he writes : — 
 
 ‘‘ Awoke with my mind tranquil, and free from bodily pain. Oh, 
 how many are panting for breath, how many in fevers, how many 
 dying, how many entering judgment! Iam well. Preached in the 
 morning. My mind comfortable. In the afternoon preached to a 
 large congregation. In the evening preached to young people; a 
 very large congregation. Oh, God, hear my prayer and bless my 
 message! Felt very desirous to do good. Oh, God, will any soul be 
 
153 
 
 benefited? Thou knowest. Oh, that I could wait and expect the 
 outpouring of the Spirit !”’ 
 
 The aged minister became more and more frail, and his 
 appearance in the pulpit exceptional. Consequently the 
 whole burden of the work fell on Caleb Morris, a burden 
 which was increased by the additional evening service. 
 When one thinks what kind of sermons he preached, one 
 wonders how he could have stood the strain of three in one 
 day. He also spoke at the prayer-meeting on Mondays, and 
 preached at the week-night service. In addition to this he 
 preached or lectured on week evenings at not a few of the 
 London churches. He records visits to Union Chapel, 
 Islington, Mr, Yockney’s Chapel at Islington, Robert Street 
 Chapel, Trevor Chapel, Brompton, Hoxton Chapel, Bucking- 
 ham Chapel, Hackney, and Camden Town. The institution 
 of the evening service and the special sermon to the young 
 show that he was putting new life into this ancient church. 
 Moreover, we find him holding services on Christmas Day, 
 preaching in the morning at Islington, and in the evening 
 at Fetter Lane. 
 
 He did not neglect pastoral work. There are several 
 records of visits to the sick and needy. There was a “ Poor 
 Society ” in connection with the church, in which he took 
 great interest. He was in the vestry periodically to meet 
 inquirers and members. We find him holding frequent 
 converse with the leaders of the church, such as Mr. Edwards 
 and Mr. Bunnell, Mr. Muston and Mr. Ody. Indeed there 
 are signs that he felt the calls on his time to be more than he 
 could afford without prejudicing his work as a preacher, for 
 we have such entries as “ My preparations had not been 
 responsive to the importance of the subject and congrega- 
 tion.” He resolves, more than once, not to fritter away his 
 time in mere social intercourse, and writes: “ Ought not 
 
154 
 
 to leave families without prayer. This means consumption 
 
 of time to no great purpose. Henceforth will (D.V.) always 
 be home to supper.” 
 
 We have records of conversation with friends from Wales 
 and with friends in London. The conversations were always 
 on high and lofty themes, and suggested many short reflec- 
 tions with which the diary abounds at this period, such 
 as :— 
 
 “¢ Had a protracted and warm debate respecting the Book of Job ; 
 the chief question being, whether Job and his friends are real or 
 fictitious characters.” ‘‘ Learnt that the world and religion will 
 never agree... Worldly conformity is the bane of devotion and 
 usefulness.’’ ‘‘A minister ought to be modest, and not too ready to 
 advance his opinion concerning men and things. Let him approve 
 himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.’’ ‘‘ Mystical 
 theology and spurious Calvinism are very dangerous, they make 
 people very conceited, and unfit them to hear the simple truth.” 
 
 ‘‘ Thought of the necessity of pointing out occasionally the comforts 
 of the Gospel, but therein is a great danger of giving occasion to people 
 to sin that grace may abound,”’ 
 
 ‘« Ts there not too little labour to show not only that the Spirit does 
 work, that His work is perfect, that it will be completed, but how He 
 works, that is on man as a rational being, by making him think, 
 believe, love, obey, strive, wrestle, fight ?”’ 
 
 ‘“‘The minister ought to maintain seriousness of disposition and 
 conduct. The want of this simple thing has done much harm. Oh, 
 for more holiness ! ”’ 
 
 ‘‘ Humility and modesty will give a better introduction than polite 
 address, consequential aire, and affected elegance of manners,” 
 
 “Tt is not good that a man is pleased with self. Let me avoid 
 censoriousness. Oh, how imperfect is this world !”’ 
 
 The conversations with Mr. Swaine seem to have been 
 largely on the Old Testament, and in reference to them 
 we read : 
 
 ‘‘Need to be more conversant with the Scriptures. We conversed 
 about the prophecies concerning the Jews and the antiquity of their 
 
 i —— 
 
155 
 
 literature. Do the Jews now stand in any relation to God different 
 from the other nations of the world? If they do, what is the basis of 
 that relation, and what is its nature ?” 
 
 It was in the form of twelve letters to him that Mr. 
 Swaine published, in 1828, his book, “ Objections to Israel’s 
 Future Restoration to Palestine,’ a second edition of 
 which appeared in 1850. 
 
 He wrote many letters to friends, which were treasured 
 by them as precious pearls. Intelligence concerning the 
 illness or death of a friend touched the tenderest chords 
 of his heart, and called forth words of loving sympathy. 
 One night he dreamt that a dear friend of his at Narberth 
 was in great trouble, and he wrote a letter to him without 
 delay. re long he heard that his friend had died on the 
 very night when he had dreamed about him. He writes 
 concerning the occurrence :— 
 
 *‘ When I came home, found a letter from Mr. Thomas, Narberth, 
 containing the mournful intelligence of Mr. William Morgan’s death. 
 He was dead when I was writing to him. My letter he will never 
 receive ; he is gone too far. This news solemnised my foolish mind 
 and fixed my wandering thoughts. We studied together at Car- 
 marthen, slept together, prayed, preached and communed together. 
 He is gone. I, a poor, polluted, proud and worthless creature, lett 
 behind! Little did I think when I parted with him at Narberth that 
 it was the last time! Oh, how soon a flower withereth and dieth ! 
 Stroke after stroke to the church at Narberth. It is time for them 
 to consider! O God, may these warnings be blessed to mortify my 
 corruptions, animate my zeal, and increase my diligence. Thou alone 
 knowest the measure of my days! Oh, fill me with Thy Spirit !”’ 
 
 The references to preaching are very numerous. The 
 following are typical :— 
 
 “Very difficult to maintain in London fervowr and godly simplicity 
 because of the prevailing ambition for intellectual greatness. . ... Good. 
 to pay all possible attention to the cultivation of a refined taste, the 
 acquirement of a pure style and accurate diction as means, but not a 
 
156 
 
 the end, of Christian labour. There is indeed much self-secularity and 
 unwarranted ambition in the best of men. Oh, Christ, teach me to 
 preach. ... Heard Mr. Morrison, of Chelsea, preach at Fetter Lane in 
 the evening. Very good, very useful. That is the best sermon which 
 sanctifies and humbles the soul and animates it with pious zeal. 
 Anything that tends to represent preaching as a Auman art is not 
 good and ought to be avoided, especially by ministers ; it affects them 
 in their ministrations imperceptibly. We ought to be apostolic, not 
 only in our sermons, but also in our conversation respecting them. 
 Did they talk much about their ‘ plans,’ ‘getting up,’ &c.? They 
 formed plans, but principally with a view to save souls. God regards 
 motives. Ifthe Lord were to bless those sermons on/y for the con- 
 version of sinners which have been planned, studied, and preached 
 solely from a view to that, our expectation of conversions must be very 
 moderate,”” 
 
 ‘Smoothness of style and affectation of diction are carefully to be 
 avoided in a sermon, for though they enchant the ear they touch not 
 the heart.”’ 
 
 ‘‘Not so fixed as to my object (to save souls) as I could have 
 wished. Oh, how difficult to keep this before the mind continually ! 
 More grace I need. Oh, what a great work it is to unfold Christ !”’ 
 
 He had a very distinct conviction about the right style of 
 preaching, and was altogether averse to the high-flown 
 orations which were so popular at that period. He refers 
 with warm approval to a preacher whom he had heard, and 
 says of him, “ His Lis style was homely and familiar, his manner 
 unaffected and “earnest, the result of deep piety and wide 
 éxperience- ~~ He showed a sincere desire that his hearers may 
 know and enjoy the truth.” He was equally opposed to dry 
 essays in the pulpit, and writes :— 
 
 ‘‘There is a general tendency among ministers, especially the 
 young, to indulge in an ethical, cold style of preaching, to the disre- 
 gard of some of the most important peculiarities of the Gospel. We 
 ought to give a fair opportunity to sinners to judge for themselves 
 respecting the Saviour.” 
 
 Thomas Binney is generally credited with having wrought 
 a revolution in the preaching of the Independents, both in 
 
157 
 
 matter and manner. I do not wish to take away any of the 
 credit which deservedly belongs to him in this respect, but 
 he was not alone in the service. It is probable that Caleb 
 Morris was equally influential in the same direction, for he 
 and Thomas Binney became the favourite preachers of 
 students preparing for the ministry. In any case Caleb 
 Morris could not have been a disciple of Thomas Binney 
 in this matter, for that great man did not begin his ministry 
 in London till 1829, and years before this Caleb Morris was 
 fully convinced that naturalness was essential for the true 
 preacher. Same rte 
 
 On the whole he was brighter in London than he had 
 been at Narberth. The new sphere with all its varied calls 
 did not allow him much time for silent brooding. He also 
 found many congenial friends, and laboured among people 
 that were thoroughly appreciative. He was not quite free 
 from gloomy moods, but they were rare in comparison. 
 Generally he thoroughly enjoyed his hard work. True he 
 had to write at times: “Spent all day in the study, but not 
 able to do much,” and “In the study all day, but not 
 all day studying. Oh, no! Interrupted by men, the 
 devil, and sin, The Christian life is, indeed, a warfare. 
 I find it so; but I am not willing to lose the day. Fight I 
 will through grace.” There are also complaints about his 
 
 slow progress in divine things, but they are not so numerous. 
 
 as in the preceding years. Still, his health was not strong, 
 and he frequently complains of headaches and nervousness. 
 One entry leads us back to a medical practice that is now 
 almost entirely out of date. “ Very unwell; was cupped 
 in the evening.” There is good reason for thinking that 
 this mode of treatment had a very injurious effect on his 
 ~ constitution. 
 
 Though more hopeful and cheerful than during his 
 
 I] 
 
 i 
 i 
 
158 
 
 ministry at Narberth, he had lost none of his intense 
 earnestness. We have continuous expressions of his deep 
 desire for the salvation of men. A few instances will suffice 
 to show this :— 
 
 ‘* Felt the importance of the endeavour to save souls. . . . A 
 minister ought to be always watching. . . . Hada great desire 
 that souls might be converted. . . . Reservedness is not good, 
 why not speak much about God and eternity.” 
 
 He was encouraged, not only by large congregations and 
 rapt attention, but also by several additions to the church. 
 He writes after a church meeting :— 
 
 ‘«Three members were added to the church; the Lord was pleased 
 to bless my ministry to these when at Surrey Chapel. Oh, the con- 
 descension of God in honouring my poor preaching! This ought to 
 teach me to trust in Him, rely on His power, and give Him all the 
 praise! ”’ 
 
 His recreations were few ; that which he enjoyed the most 
 was conversation with friends. Now and then a friend 
 would take him out to the country. This combined his two 
 favourite occupations, talking and riding. He accompanies 
 his friend Mr. Swaine to Maidenhead and stays there a 
 couple of days. We find him riding to Windsor with his 
 worthy friend Mr. Bunnell. He went to see the Castle and 
 royal apartments, the Eton Library, and other places of 
 interest, but even in the midst of these he cannot escape the 
 reflective mood. He writes :— 
 
 “This is a very eligible scene for taking a view of time and 
 
 eternity. Earthly grandeur and vanity, form of godliness and 
 
 impiety, the beauties of nature and art. I could say after looking at 
 the pomp and parade of the place, ‘ There is nothing like communion 
 with God.’ I preached in the evening at the Rev. Mr. Redford’s chapel. 
 This was the most important hour during my stay at Windsor. Oh, 
 how awful the idea that such a place as this should be so devoid of 
 religion !” 
 
 = 
 
159 
 
 The words written on the last day of the year will fitly 
 close this record of the beginnings of the ministry at Fetter 
 Lane :— 
 
 “‘Monday, December 31st.—The last day of the year! The prayer- 
 meeting at Fetter Lane very well attended. My mind made to feel 
 the importance of religion. Spoke on ‘Redeeming the Time,’ All 
 seemed to have been impressed. Oh, how rapidly time rolls away ! 
 This year, again, is closing; it may be the last! May I be more 
 diligent, holy, humble, useful. I have much work to do; I am 
 bound to do it; the love of God, the work of Christ, the value of 
 souls, the solemn charge which I have undertaken, the scrutiny of the 
 Judgment, bid me be more active. 
 
 “On looking back to the past year I have very great cause for 
 praise. Have enjoyed much health, have suffered very little afflic- 
 tion, no pain comparatively. Have enjoyed the society of many 
 friends; my circle of friendship much enlarged. God bless all my 
 friends. Have not been interrupted in my peace of mind by any sad 
 intelligence from my relations. Death has not been allowed to enter 
 our family. The Lord, I trust, has led me to labour at Fetter Lane. 
 Oh, how unworthy—how unworthy, a poor, blind, selfish, polluted 
 sinner, yet one who wishes to be saved by sovereign mercy, and to 
 be the means of saving others! 
 
 “* Blessed be God who has kept me from falling! His hand has 
 been my guard. Many have disgraced the cause, murdered their 
 usefulness, stabbed their joy, and are now in shame. Oh, to grace 
 how great a debtor! Oh, that I could be more vigorous, resolute, 
 
 and constant in opposing sin, in perfecting holiness. 1827, farewell 
 for ever!” 
 
XI. 
 
 Visit to Wales in 1828. 
 
 N the month of June, 1828, Caleb Morris turned his 
 face towards his native land. He had spent a very 
 busy and prosperous year in London, and no one was 
 
 ever more deserving of a period of rest and recreation. Not 
 only had he earned a holiday, but it had become a necessity, 
 for his health was breaking down under the intense and 
 constant strain. He started in a grateful frame of mind. 
 The ride through the country was delightful; he had an 
 interesting companion ; and he was looking forward with 
 keen expectancy to renewed fellowship with his friends and 
 relatives in the Principality. The first entry in the diary 
 is made at Bath, and even on this holiday journey his 
 meditative mood appears : 
 
 “T am a traveller; it is pleasant to have a prosperous journey 
 through life, but of more consequence to have a safe one; pleasant to 
 have agreeable companions, but of primary importance to be able to 
 commune with mine own fart, and have God for my ever-present 
 friend! No friend like Him, no heart so kind and tender and 
 faithful as His. Christians are not only going to meet friends, but 
 have their principal friend with them on the road, even Christ.”’ 
 
 His next halting place was-at Bristol, where he spent a 
 Sunday, concerning which he writes : ‘‘ Went to hear Robert 
 
161 — 
 
 Hall in the morning, who preached from Psalm iv., ‘ Who 
 will show us any good?’” He was highly pleased with the 
 sermon, and says :— 
 
 ‘Ths sermon was the uupremeditated and unaffected production 
 of a vigorous and imaginative mind, chastened and directed by the 
 discipline of common-sense and judicious criticism. There was no 
 assumption of magisterial superiority, no pompous obeisance to the 
 laws of rhetoric; but the whole was the effusion of a soul equally 
 conversant with the sound maxims of moral philosophy and the great 
 peculiarity of the Gospel of Christ. It was Philosophy herself, taught 
 by Christianity, telling man of the only source of happiness, and 
 directing him to look beyond the narrow limits of time, and to 
 contemplate the sublime mysteries of a future existence. The appea 
 +to the conscienca was very argumentative, scriptural, and pathetic. . 
 The conclusion was abrupt. Good altogether.” 
 
 He heard a sermon by another preacher in the afternoon. 
 He says nothing about the sermon itself; but it suggested 
 several reflections to him. He learnt “that drevity in 
 prayer on the Sabbath afternoon is desirable, and that the 
 sermon in the afternoon should be short, lively, and well 
 studied. Many hear then who have no opportunity to attend 
 any other part of the day, also many strangers are present, 
 who may be prejudiced against the ministry by an inferior 
 sermon.” He also learnt “that affectionate and solemn 
 warning i3 much better than acrimonious reflections or keen 
 and sarcastic reproofs, which are seldom found useful.” 
 
 In the evening he heard a sermon on prophecy in relation 
 to the future restoration of the Jews. After giving an 
 analysis of the sermon, he adds, “ His concluding appeal to 
 the hearers was very good,” and he closes the entry for the 
 day by emphasising the necessity of great preparation for 
 the pulpit by study and prayer,and the need of ‘sympathy 
 and breadth in the public prayer, in order to help all classes 
 -of men into the presence of the Father of Mercies. 
 
 11 
 
162 
 
 He reached Narberth by the mail coach on Tuesday morn- 
 ing, where he writes: “This is the former scene of my 
 ministry ; much attached to many of the people. Oh! what 
 kindness I have enjoyed!” He arrived at Coedcenlas on 
 the Friday, just one week after leaving London, and was 
 delighted to find that his father had become a member of the 
 church at Penygroes. He writes : 
 
 ‘¢ Was very happy to see my dear parents, brother and sisters, in 
 the enjoyment of health and comfort after the absence of nearly 
 one year. No death in the family ; none have been guilty of any 
 outward impropriety so as to merit the reproach of others, or to 
 expose themselves to shame ; no apostasy from religion ; and what is 
 much more, blessed be God, one who is near and dear to my heart, one 
 to whom I owe my warmest thanks for innumerable blessings, he has, 
 since I last saw him, publicly professed Christ and joined His people. 
 Thus prayersto God are heard, advices to relatives are notin vain. Oh, 
 no! God is faithful, and we ought never to despair that we shall 
 see the vilest converted, and the oldest lukewarm moralist seeking a 
 place in the House of God. 
 
 ‘« And thus the Lord has spared me to see the place of my nativity 
 once more. On a retrospective view of my short and insignificant 
 history I feel myself humbled. I have abundant reason for lamenta- 
 tion, repentance, and grief. Nota year, not a day, have I improved 
 as I might; have not been so diligent in reading and study as I 
 ought to have been, not so watchful, holy, and laborious as I might. 
 My great sins have been backwardness in private devotion, negligence in 
 preparing for public ministrations, not cultivating a spiritual temper in 
 social intercourse with strangers, especially when travelling, and ingrati- 
 tude to God. These are my sins! God forgive them, and teach me 
 to hate them and forsake them ! 
 
 ‘¢T have in retrospection great cause for praise and thanksgiving. I 
 ought to be thankful for early education ; this taught me to cultivate 
 a taste for reading, for refined and improving pursuits, for the society 
 of the lovers of literature. 
 
 ‘For my conversion to the truth I owe more than I can express. 
 Eternity sball hear my praise! Providence has wondrously led me 
 from step to step; it is Providence that has done it, for I only followed 
 her in all my steps. I sowght not the sphere in which I now am. 
 
1638 
 
 May I express my gratitude by a holy, active, humble, and faithful 
 life. God accept my thanks.’’ 
 
 During this visit he divided his time between Narberth, 
 Haverfordwest, and the Penygroes neighbourhood. He met 
 several who had been fellow-students with him at Carmar- 
 then as well as other friends, and entered heartily into the 
 social and religious life of the district, and in particular he 
 had long and earnest conversations with his comrade, John 
 Evans, the minister of Penygroes. He received all the 
 benefits which the healthy breezes and the warm hospitality 
 of Pembrokeshire could bestow, and gradually regained 
 strength for another year’s work. But even amid the 
 relaxations of his holiday he could not banish serious 
 thought, and among his notes we find two meditations 
 which penetrate into the very depths of religious experience. 
 They are on the great themes, praying and preaching, and 
 are worthy of serious consideration in an age when formalism 
 threatens the spirituality of worship, and the itching for 
 popularity endangers the supreme object of preaching. 
 
 The first is on aversion to prayer, and was occasioned by 
 deadness of spirit at a prayer-meeting :— 
 
 ‘““T have thought much of the aversion of the human mind, even 
 when renewed, to constant, humble and believing prayer. This is the 
 root of all evil. It produces estrangement from God in all the feelings 
 and movements of life. It is very difficult to bring the prodigal spirit 
 of man to look in the face of God, his despised, insulted, but yet 
 forgiving Father. He is deterred by a consciousness of the impurities 
 which render him adverse to the sanctity and obnoxious to the justice 
 of God, and by the intense feelings, the violent movements of the soul, 
 when, under the eye of Deity, it mourns, repents, almost despairs, 
 yet hopes, believes, and ventures on the mercy of God in Christ. 
 
 “Prayer requires things which the sluggishness of normal security 
 naturally avoids, it demands laborious thought, introspection, con- 
 templation and reflection. Man is naturally thoughtless and hates 
 exertion. He labours to repeat a few sentences, to fall on the knees, 
 
 bis 
 
 YW 
 
 ea 
 
164 : 
 
 but these are only incidents to prayer, not prayer—which is the 
 struggle of mind, the effort of a hidden principle, the invisible 
 meeting of the great God and the human spirit. Prayer is the sole 
 work of mind; and as man is much under the influence of bodily 
 senses and is accustomed to act but little except through them, he 
 finds it difficult to maintain converse with an Invisible Being; hence 
 he wishes to avoid prayer. The mind acts but little in an abstract 
 manner, mostly it moves in dependence on the conditions of the 
 material organ, the bedy to which it is now united, and consequently 
 it rises with difficulty to the realm of spirits. 
 
 ‘¢ Tt is also maimed by sin; in the words of Paul, the carnal mind is 
 enmity against God, and the sinner sometimes feels as much slavish 
 fear to pray as the rustic dreads to be introduced to the court of 
 royalty, or the coward to the field of battle, or the criminal before the 
 tribunal, or the culprit to the place of execution. Oh! how blind 
 man is to his interest! How great the depravity that remains in the 
 Christian. The most ardent flame of hallowed emotion that ever 
 kindled on the altar of a Christian heart is but as the frigid exhala- 
 tion of blighting vapours compared with the pure glow of a cherub’s 
 love. From the holiest deeds of his life you may extract a sufficient 
 quantity of poison to murder all the angels of Heaven, 
 
 ‘¢¢The heart is desperately wicked.’ ” 
 
 The meditation on preaching occurs in connection with 
 the record of a visit to his old pastorate at Narberth. He 
 writes : “ In the morning, Mr. Davies [the Pastor] preached 
 in English, and I repeated the substance of the sermon in 
 Welsh ; the congregation large.” He was very fond of 
 taking up the thoughts of another, and setting them in his 
 own way before the people, and very often the hearers would 
 say at the close: “ We had no idea there was so much in 
 the sermon until Mr. Morris called our attention to it.” 
 
 The diary continues :— 
 
 “« Preached in the evening to a very large congregation. Enjoyed 
 much liberty, but strange! J hardly expected one soul to be converted. 
 I regarded my preaching as a matter of course, and am I to expect 
 to hear of any good done? Felt at the time in the pulpit very 
 
165 
 
 lively, but this might be the natural effect of physical stimulation. 
 Under the influence of animal excitement we must necessarily have a 
 very vivid conception of all the objects which appear to the mind, 
 and so speak warmly of them to others; but the moral character of 
 these feelings often depends on the nature of the subjects which at the 
 time occupy the mind, and not on the real habitual state of the mind 
 itself. The mind which glows in the pulpit with vehement ardour 
 might be capable of doing the same on the stage without the necessity 
 of any change produced on it, and vice versa. Our warmth with religion 
 is no proof of the quality of our religion ; it may be, perhaps, of the 
 quantity of it. 
 
 “« Tf God teaches me to seek earnestly the salvation of a soul, I 
 expect to feel a desire for that object before I begin to preach, before a 
 sense of duty, the influence which an audience naturally has on the 
 mind, warmth of feeling, or the character of my subject, compel me to 
 think of, if not desire that important object. That warrior is not likely 
 to conquer his enemies who had never thought of it till he began 
 fighting on the field. There must be an antecedent preparation, a 
 previous inquiry concerning the number, strength, station, stratagems, 
 and designs of the enemy on the one hand, and the putting on of the 
 panoply, the selecting of the most eligible place and the most ad- 
 vantageous time to make the attack on the other hand. So the great 
 antecedent of success is not only a prepared sermon but a prepared 
 heart, prepared by holy watching, ardent prayer, and an habitual 
 cherishing of pity for the souls of men! God teach me!”’ 
 
 In the letter-book there is a copy of a letter which he 
 wrote to the church at Fetter Lane during his visit to the 
 Principality. It rans :— 
 
 ‘More than eleven months have elapsed since I commenced my 
 ministry amongst you, in connection with our dear and venerable 
 friend the Rev. George Burder. Your fellowship in the Gospel, from 
 the first day until now, draws forth gratitude to God, and makes me 
 to long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 
 
 “‘ Now we are separated for a time; this seems to be consistent 
 with the Divine will. The occasion of it—my bodily indisposition— 
 was to me painful ; the end of it—the removal of that indisposition— 
 is, I trust, in a great measure achieved. The change and its accom- 
 paniments have already proved beneficial. Permit me to invite you to 
 
166 
 
 join with me in thanks to Him whose wisdom and love superintend 
 all our affairs. To feel entire dependence on God, for all good is part 
 of a creature’s heaven. Though I am now absent from you in body 
 I am present with you in spirit, because I have you in my heart! 
 Each day directs my thoughts to you; your prayers are my joy. 
 Ah! we are united in tender bonds. 
 
 “‘ Now I am within the circle of kindred ties. Now I am on the 
 scene of my infancy and childhood. ‘This occasions a glowing revival 
 of many of those early feelings which the varying dispensations of 
 future years in vain endeavour toefface. I feel a natural attachment, 
 of course, to that place where my first tear of sorrow for sin was ever 
 shed—where I made the first attempt to pray, where I made the first 
 vow to serve the Lord for evermore. Oh, yes; I cannot but feel 
 love to that place which once was my home, but which, at present, is 
 no home for me. My home, my only earthly home, is Fetter Lane. 
 My work is there, my hope is there, my heart is there. Oh! may it 
 appear that my joy, my crown, is there ! 
 
 ‘« When feelings of bodily weakness do sometimes make my spirit 
 low, by intimating that London is not friendly to my health; and 
 when old friends daily whisper, ‘ He can’t live long in London !” my 
 agitated mind would address you as a church in spite of all, and say : 
 ‘Thy people shall be my people, thy God my God; where Thou 
 diest will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me 
 and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.’ But, ah! 
 futurity is concealed from mortal eyes! We know not what a day 
 may bring forth. Our anticipations are seldom realised in this world, 
 This is an ever-changing scene. Men, even pious men, change; our 
 views, our friendships, our feelings, all change ; but the heart of God 
 never changes! May we ever remember that all our springs are 
 there. 
 
 ‘¢ When I am, my dear friends, absent from you, it comforts me to 
 think that my venerable colleague, my father in the kingdom and 
 patience of Christ, is present with you. His prayers, services, advice, 
 and example you have had the happiness to enjoy for nearly twenty- 
 five years—a long period. In reference to him I will only say this: 
 ‘I feel thankful to the God who has called me to labour with one to 
 whom my soul is so closely tied. May his health, strength, and use- 
 fulness be long continued ; may God anoint him with fresh oil ; may 
 he yet see many converted to God ere the hour of final parting ; may 
 he see many, yea, all of those whom he dedicated to God in baptism, 
 
167 
 
 ‘seeking the God of their fathers, and may every member of the church 
 obey the words: ‘‘ Remember them which have the rule over you, 
 
 who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, 
 -considering the end of their conversation.”’’ 
 
 “‘ Beloved brethren, I can cordially unite with you in praising God 
 for all the goodaess he hasshown you. The work of faith and labour 
 of love of our good deacons deserve a grateful remembrauce. From 
 the fulness that is in Christ the Spirit hath imparted to them grace 
 ‘to teach them how to behave in the house of God.’ May those of 
 them who feel the presence of old age be caused to know that the 
 Lord is God. In old age may they bring forth fruit to the Divine 
 glory. My beloved, I pray that all of you may abound in grace. 
 May parents and children, masters and servants, ‘ be strong in the 
 Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of 
 God that ye may be able to stand, and, having done all, to stand.’ ”’ 
 
 As he returned to London he passed through Llanddowror 
 and Carmarthen. At Langahoe he was prevented by the 
 rain from proceeding on his journey, and in consequence 
 was led to preach there. In describing the meeting he 
 says :— 
 
 “Tiong ere the sermon was over many of the people cried and wept 
 aloud; their attention was fixed. Apparently they endeavoured to 
 conceal their feelings, but at last indulged their emotion without the 
 least restraint. The circumstance was by no means singular; such 
 .scenes are to be witnessed at almost every meeting in this vicinity. 
 
 There is a revival, a great revival. Thousands in the neighbourhood 
 ‘have been added to the Church this year,’’ 
 
 Caleb Morris now goes to London for the fourth time ; no 
 longer to preach on trial, nor to begin his ministry among 
 ‘strangers, but to resume his work among a people that had 
 learned to love and esteem him, and to whom he was 
 passionately attached. His visit to Pembrokeshire, and the 
 -enthusiastic welcome which he received there, had cheered 
 -and strengthened him, and he went back to the Metropolis 
 more determined than ever to bring men under the saving 
 anfluence of the Gospel of the Grace of God. 
 
XII. 
 
 Sunshine and Shadow. 
 
 ALEB MORRIS took up his work at Fetter Lane by 
 holding a prayer-meeting on the 1st of September to- 
 implore the blessing of God on the church and con- 
 
 gregation. The meeting was well attended, and the evening 
 was a season of refreshing to all who were present. At 
 the church meeting the following night five new members 
 were admitted. The young minister threw himself with 
 ardent zeal into every department of church activity, and 
 his influence continued to grow. He was careful to visit the 
 poor and the sick, and took great interest in a “‘ Beneficent 
 Society for visiting the sick poor at their habitations” which 
 was connected with the church. He visited a member who- 
 was lying very ill in an ungodly family, and was much 
 impressed with the misery of such a situation. He feels the 
 irreligiousness of London, and exclaims : “‘ How few families, 
 comparatively, in London, know God!” 
 
 He took special interest in the young, and arranged classes- 
 for instructing them in Christian truth. He thus planted 
 the principles of true religion in many hearts, and sent forth 
 a large number of talented men and women fitted to serve 
 their generation in the fear and love of God. In connection 
 with the Christian Instruction Society he remarks : “ One 
 great part of a minister's work is to set people to work, and 
 watch over them.” Under his guidance and inspiration 
 
169 
 
 Fetter Lane Church and School became a nursery for train=- 
 ing the young in high thinking and noble living. Naturally 
 Fetter Lane Church was interested in Foreign Mission work,. 
 for its venerable pastor had been for many years Secretary of 
 the London Missionary Society. Soon after his settlement 
 Caleb Morris was made Vice-President of the Fetter Lane 
 Auxiliary Missionary Society, and more than once he 
 preached at its annual meetings. 
 
 Bat while striving thus to encourage and superintend all 
 departments of the work of the church, the pulpit received 
 his first and chief attention; and he spared neither time 
 nor trouble to make his sermons powerful and effective. 
 The standard which he had set himself was very high, 
 and he conscientiously tried to reach it. He was continually 
 thinking and praying about the minister’s responsibilities, 
 and ever lived under the great Taskmaster’s eye. We have 
 already given many of his reflections on this and kindred 
 topics, and we shall here insert another meditation on 
 preaching :— 
 
 ‘*Ts it possible to speak too much of eternity in public? May there 
 not be too frequent allusions to death, heaven, and hell? If it is 
 possible, I believe I am guilty. Yet when I do so in public I do not 
 contradict my feelings in private. I do often peep through the 
 medium of truth to these great realities, and such reflections are 
 potent checks to ambition, love of ease and pleasure, and worldly 
 praise; gender and strengthen inward desires to be holy and prompt, 
 persevering and faithful in the discharge of Christian duties. Oh! 
 the vanity of earth, and of man as long as he breathes its atmo- 
 sphere, and is dazzled with its fading scenes! Oh! God of love, 
 enable me to be more active in mind, more entire in my dependence on 
 Thee, more prompt and spiritual in serving God and man, more single 
 in my aim to glorify God in the salvation of men; and the last thing 
 is very necessary. Tt will assist in the selection of texts, and the style 
 of composition, it will give it perspicwity, cogency, fire, life, and divinity. 
 Howe, Baxter, Saurin, and others are evidences. It will give to all 
 my public ministrations, and especially preaching, the dignity of the 
 
170 
 
 patriarch, the inspiration of the prophet, the confidence of the apostle, 
 the courage of the martyr, the zeal of the cherub, and the sympathy 
 of the Son of God! Without simplicity of aim man can never be 
 onsistent, no, not with himself, any more than an essay or a sermon 
 which has no unity of design. The man who fears God, and always, 
 and supremely, wishes to glorify Him, is the same in the world and 
 the church, ia parlour and palpit, at home and abroad. Lord show 
 me Thy glory! May it be my Polar Star in this ocean of temapests 
 and dangers, Oh! what a work it is to preach !”’ 
 
 After a conversation with a ministerial brother on the 
 mysteries of life, he writes :— 
 
 ‘« Providence is like a meandering river; though it appears tedious 
 to the mariner, its meanderings are useful, it refreshes more meadows, 
 serves more cities, gives more beauty to the whole country through 
 which it passes; so Providence, when slow in the performance of its 
 designs towards individuals, families, and nations.”’ 
 
 In the month of November, 1828, there was a general 
 longing among London ministers for a religious revival, and 
 Caleb Morris assembled with about fifty other ministers at 
 Poultry Chapel to seek God’s grace, and to confer together 
 how to impress men with the supreme importance of religion. 
 Among those present were some that have been alluded to 
 already, such as the Rev. J. Clayton and Dr. Winter. We 
 find also the Rev. H. F. Burder, the son of the Rev. 
 George Burder, who ministered at Hackney ; and Mr. Wells, 
 probably the Rev. Algernon Wells, who became, after this, 
 well known as the Secretary of the Congregational Union. 
 We have seen that a revival had broken out in Wales ; 
 God was also moving the great Metropolis by His spirit. 
 
 After this the diary is very scrappy for months, but 
 towards the summer of 1829 he frequently complains of 
 weakness of body and darkness of mind, indolence of spirit 
 and dissipation of thought; and on the 7th of August we 
 find him on his way to Wales. We know his paths; as 
 
171 
 
 usual he goes to Carmarthen ‘and Narberth, Haverfordwest 
 and Penygroes, and like every Welshman who visits his 
 native land, he must preach. He mentions {Lammas Street, 
 Carmarthen ; the Green Meeting House and the Taberaacle, 
 at Haverfordwest ; as well as Narberth and Penygroes, as 
 places where he coadacted services. ,His intercourse with 
 men, and quick observation as he moves about suggest 
 many reflections to him. Let us quote a few :— 
 
 “ Independence of thought and piety of disposition are seldom wnited. 
 Why? What is real devotion? Way do men of weak minds and 
 contracted information possess (apparently) more of it than the 
 learned ?”’ 
 
 “ Christians ought carefully to avoid boasting of national superiority. 
 It originates in worldly pride ; it is incompatible with good manners ; 
 it generally establishes our own prejudices and those of others. 
 Disputes (unless the parties be very intelligent and pious) generally 
 create personal dislikes ; this ought not to be, but as it is the fact, it 
 should teach us to be very careful to avoid disputes, and, if they are 
 unavoidable, to guard our expressions, spirit, and manner. Warmth 
 is often deemed passion or bad temper by the adversary. It would be 
 always well to humble ourselves—that is the most probable way to 
 teach others humility. We ought, as Christians, especially Christian 
 ministers, to be very particular, lest by any remarks of ours we 
 make impressions on the minds of strangers which will prejudice them 
 against us. We must be very careful not to refer imprudently to their 
 favourive opini ms and paculiarities, as belongiag to different sections 
 of the Christian Church. All have prejudices ; candour and Christian 
 indulgence, connected with sound and humble reasoning, are the best 
 means of removing them, Men will not be driven nor dragged ; and 
 they will not allow others to go much before them. Lead the way to 
 self-denial and humiliation, and you will find that others will soon 
 strive for pre-eminence in these virtues. On this principle Christ acted, 
 on the same His ministers ought to proceed.” 
 
 “The moral law is called: ‘The eternal ‘propriety of things.’ 
 Applied this term to the word law, wherever it is found in the Bible, 
 and found it to answer very well. This application would be of great 
 assistance in reading the Epistles, particularly those to the Romans 
 and Galatians. Where the law will not admit of the term ‘Propriety,’ 
 
172 
 
 some particular law is meant and not the moral, It ought to be 
 remembered that the publication of the moral law made in Sinai was: 
 a part of the ceremonial code, the publication of it by Christ is a part 
 of the Gospel system. The Gospel is not a code of laws as the Jewish 
 dispensation was, but a system of principles, and the principles are. 
 connected with the Atonement of Christ.’’ 
 
 He reached Coedcenlas on Thursday, the 20th of August, 
 and says: ‘‘ Happy to find myself once more at home.” It 
 was the season of harvest, and, alas! a very wet harvest. 
 Few places are more miserable than the Prescelly region 
 during mist and rain; and when it is felt that the incle- 
 ment weather prevents the farmers from gathering the 
 precious fruits of the earth, it is very difficult even for a 
 sanguine disposition to avoid gloomy thoughts. We should 
 not be surprised, therefore, to find Caleb Morris in the 
 depths of distress. But he is fairly cheerful, and apparently 
 triumphs over the depressing influence of the weather by 
 writing about it. 
 
 On Sunday morning he did a very unusual thing, he 
 went to the Parish Church; and in connection with this 
 visit, he sets forth some of his views in reference to the 
 church :-— 
 
 ‘Dissenters have a right to speak their minds respecting the 
 Established Church, for they pay towards it. As long as the church 
 (that is, officers under the Crown, or the King, the head of the 
 church) lets not the Dissenters a/one, but demands jrom them money, 
 the tenth of their property, and cfferings, &c., &c.—though the 
 Jewish economy has been abolished for eighteen centuries—as long 
 as the church lets not Dissenters alone, they ought not surely to 
 complain that Dissenters do not /et them alone. The Dissenters retain 
 the whole authority of using their minds and judgment, and will not 
 give up the tenth of this to any man; they will never submit to pay 
 the tithe of mind or conscience, though compelled to pay the tithe of 
 
 property. 
 “However, the clergyman gave us a good sermon. Most of the 
 congregation were Dissenters. In the Established Church there are 
 
1738 
 
 many intelligent, learned, and spiritual men. God will prosper them, 
 and all liberal and pious Dissenters wish them success. There is truth 
 in the church, and all who love the truth must bid it Godspeed where- 
 ever itisfound. The principles of Nonconformity are now generally 
 disseminated in the church, and the effects will be seen. God teach 
 us all to love truth, and may He deliver the Dissenters from their 
 sectarian pride, their spiritual boasting, their undignified and irreve- 
 rent mode of attending on Divine things, their petty jealousies and 
 internal commotions; and may God give all the spirit of wisdom, 
 patience, love, purity, and Catholicity !”’ 
 
 Let it be borne in mind that the above was written before 
 the abolition of church rates, or the Tractarian Movement, 
 and many years before Edward Miall began his crusade 
 against the Establishment as a national injustice. It surely 
 exhibits real insight and a generous breadth of view. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, he preached at Peny- 
 groes, and after the public sermon he gave a private sermon 
 to some of the leaders :— 
 
 “« Pointed out to a few friends the evil of using false arguments, 
 though apparently valid, to support any doctrine. This does evil both 
 to the vindicator and antagonist, it deceives the former and prejudices 
 the latter against solid arguments. High Calvinists, perhaps, would 
 do well to think of this. Arians, Socinians, and others would have 
 
 then less just cause to smile at the orthodoxy of their opponents, and 
 to boast of their own rationality.” 
 
 The events of that Sunday doubtless formed the chief 
 topic of conversation in the district for days and weeks. 
 Here was a man who thought for himself, and acted from 
 principle, without considering this or that class of objection ; 
 he aimed at truth, and pierced through the fogs and mists 
 of prejudice which conceal it from the common mind. Few 
 probably agreed entirely with the young minister from Lon- 
 don, but all were impressed with his earnestness and con- 
 scientiousness ; and we can see to-day that he was a keen 
 observer and a man ahead of his age. His prayer for the 
 
174 
 
 Nonconformists has been largely answered. Very little 
 remains of the narrowness which was so galling to him, and 
 reverence in the sanctuary is much more customary among 
 Dissenters than it was in his day. It is also true that some 
 of the principles of Nonconformity have found a lodging 
 place in the Established Church, but alongside of this there 
 has been a decided tendency towards Rome. We can, how- 
 ever, heartly agree with him that there is some truth in all 
 the varied sections of the Christian Church, and join 
 earnestly in the prayer for the spread of the spirit of love 
 and true Catholicity. 
 
 The next entry in the diary is dated January 1st, 1830. 
 At 11 o’clock he attended a meeting of ministers convened 
 for prayer and exhortation. Dr. Winter spoke on “ New 
 Year’s Day,” and the spirit of union and devotion was felt 
 by all present. In the evening a special prayer meeting was 
 held at Fetter Lane Chapel, when the body of the chapel 
 was quite full. He says: “ Felt great concern for religion. 
 Oh! that I could infuse the spiritual energy felt on such 
 occasions into all my public work.” From one of his entries, 
 we might infer that some change took place in his style of 
 preaching about this period. He writes: “ Always find 
 much liberty when endeavouring, in my humble method, to 
 preach argumentatively.” It is certain that as he grew 
 older, he moved away from the poetical, emotional, and 
 rhetorical, towards the intellectual and argumentative. 
 
 In connection with a dinner party, he uses very strong 
 expressions concerning arrogant conduct :— 
 
 ‘¢ Felt convinced that kindness is the key to the human heart, and 
 realised the impropriety of dogmatical airs, self-importance, and 
 conceit. Nothing is more unbecoming than a scolding tone of voice— 
 grimaces, ungracious, and ungraceful movements of the arms and 
 body, abruptness and vehemence of behaviour ; these things may be 
 deemed trifling ; but are not so. They may arise com many causes, 
 
175 
 
 such as a weak head and a proud heart, defective education, and un-- 
 conscious imitation (this should be avoided), or nervous irritability. 
 Anything of this kind, when it assumes the power and constancy of 
 habit becomes a serious evil. It is incompatible with the mild, sweet,. 
 and dignified character of Christianity, and is opposed to the maxims 
 of ‘ good breeding.’ Precipitancy of manner often influences the mind 
 and tongue, and gives rise to harsh remarks, discourteous epithets, 
 yulgar airs, in a word to that public nuisance—a disagrecable man.”’ 
 
 There are many evidences in the early part of this year 
 that his health was in a very unsatisfactory state. Here isa 
 Sunday entry :— 
 
 ‘¢Very unwell—rested in bed during the afternoon. Mr. Jupp: 
 preached. Pain in my head and side. Preached in the evening to 
 young people. Very simple. Every soul who heard me must have 
 
 understood my aim, and, Lord, Thou knowest that I wished to be the 
 humble instrument of doing good to the minds of men.”’ 
 
 The next entry is: ‘“‘ Unwell from Monday till Thursday. 
 Preached that evening.” And very soon we found two entries. 
 as follows :— 
 
 “ 13th.—Unwell. 
 
 ‘<14th.—Ali day in bed, determined, through grace, to be more 
 constant and fervent in devout exercises.” 
 
 And thus ends:the second volume of thediary. We must. 
 now do without this valuable aid for thirteen years, but the 
 records that are extant, and which have been quoted at 
 length, are at least sufficient to indicate the movements of 
 his spirit and the ardent yearnings of his soul. I will not 
 try to characterise them, indeed I feel that the work is too 
 difficult and delicate, even had I wished to do it; I simply 
 leave them in all their pathos and passion, tenderness and 
 beauty, to exert their natural influence on the mind and heart 
 of the reader. 
 
 We know that in the year 1830 he was seriously ill, so 
 seriously that his life was despaired of. The sympathy 
 
176 
 
 of the people was so keen, their affection so deep, and the 
 inquiries so numerous, that a daily bulletin was attached to 
 the door of the chapel announcing his condition. He was 
 mercifully restored, but not before his constitution had 
 sustained a lasting injury. When he became strong enough 
 he went down to Pembrokeshire to breathe his native air, 
 and was greatly benefited thereby. He returned in the 
 month of April, 1831, and preached the first sermon after 
 his recovery on Sunday evening, April 10th. The theme 
 of the sermon was, “ Usefulness the Aim of every Evan- 
 gelical Minister,” the text being Philippians i. 19-20. The 
 sermon is found in Zhe Pulpit, Vol. XVII, pages 73—80. 
 One passage in it deals with the uses of affliction, and has 
 evident reference to his recent illness :— 
 
 “Our afflictions may become instruments for magnifying ,Christ. 
 It is necessary that we should enter our closet and shut our door. 
 Sometimes God does this for us. So/vtwde is necessary for ministers. 
 The advice of Christ once to His disciples was, ‘Come ye yourselves 
 apart into a desert place and rest awhile.’ It is thought that Paul’s 
 journey to Arabia, immediately after his conversion, was undertaken, 
 not with a view to preach, but of receiving new revelations. And 
 still the shade, as well as the sunshine, is necessary to the life, the 
 growth, and the fruitfulness of the servant of Christ. 
 
 ‘« The time spent in affliction is not lost. ‘To a man who stands on 
 the margin of eternity, the world appears in its proper light. How 
 vain its pleasures! How worthless its smiles! How absurd its 
 fashions! How trifling its all! You will one day see it as it 
 appeared to some of us a few weeks ago. When we think that the 
 shades of death are gathering around us, how we sink to nothing in 
 our own estimation! Our prayers, our sermons, our holiest feelings 
 vanish out of sight, except, now and then, when they are allowed to 
 rise to view, in order to humble us, and send us as poor, guilty, help- 
 less sinners, to the righteousness of Christ. It is then we iearn the 
 preciousness of saving faith. When, in our own apprehension, we 
 are on the verge of the grave, how infinitely sweet to think of the 
 paternal character of God in Christ! Then His great goodness springs 
 up before the mind in an astonishing manner, then we forget the 
 
 t 
 i 
 
 : 
 
 ! 
 { 
 ; 
 
177 
 
 wealmess of the body, and feel ourselves rising up to power, to 
 dignity, to immortality, to the Throne of God. Never does the better 
 country appear so inviting as when we linger on its borders, expect- 
 ing every hour to plant our feet onits happy soil. The odours wafted 
 from its shores refresh us ere we land. 
 
 “In sickness, too, we learn the nature and importance of our 
 ministry. It is then the souls of men appear of more value than the 
 whole world ; it is then we feel the necessity of persuading men to be 
 reconciled to God, to warn them to flee from the wrath to come, and 
 urge them to trust in the finished work of Christ for salvation ; it is 
 then we tremble lest the blood of souls should be on our heads; 
 it is then we breathe out our souls to God, lest any of our relations, 
 of our domestics, of our hearers, of the young people we have in- 
 structed, of our church members should be lost after all! It is then 
 we begin to feel how sweet it will be to meet our already departed 
 friends, and all the ransomed church of God before the Throne. 
 Brethren, can we venture to say it was good for us that we were 
 afflicted ?”’ 
 
 One other witness to his illness and the recovery there- 
 from is to be found in the lines of his intimate friend, the 
 Rey. William Griffith, Holyhead, which are copied in Caleb 
 Morris’ Common-place Book. They bear the date May 
 25th, 1831, and are as follows :— 
 
 “ON THE REV. CALEB MORRIS’ RECOVERY, 
 
 ‘* Great God! the boundless source of every joy, 
 An angel's tongue fain would I now engage 
 To sing Thy praise; my friend, Thy servant, lives ! 
 Before Thee lives—raised from the gates of death. 
 When flesh and heart had failed, when hope had fled, 
 When ablest skill, when tenderest sympathy, 
 When dearest sighs and tears had flowed in vain, 
 Thou gav’st Thy hand of love to lift him up ; 
 The prayer, the united, ardent, ceaseless prayer 
 Of saints Thou didst approve ; Thy word 
 On mercy’s wing was sent, and he was healed. 
 Accept our humble but sincerest praise ; 
 The tribute to Thy gracious Throne is due ; 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 Accept it, Lord, and while accepting it, 
 
 Deign to prolong the life which Thou hast spared, 
 Long, very long, Like some celestial star, 
 
 In Thy right hand, Almighty, may he shine, 
 
 And guide the wandering feet of multitudes 
 
 To paths of peace, and on the way to heaven ; 
 Then when his course is finished, may he rise, 
 For ever rise, to shine before the Throne of God.”’ 
 
 If these repeated illnesses tended to undermine the young 
 minister’s constitution, they also helped to develop his 
 sympathies, and gave him a deeper insight into revealed 
 truth. In particular they enabled him to see great mean- 
 ings in suffering and death. An illustration of this is found 
 in the words which he spoke over the mortal remains of a 
 ministerial brother. 
 
 In the month of May, 1832, the Rev. Thomas Stevenson, 
 of Gate Street Chapel, a minister of the Countess of Hunt- 
 ingdon’s Connexion, died away from home, at Ramsgate, 
 and was buried there. Oaleb Morris knew him well, for 
 they both lived in Claremont Square, and held him in very 
 high esteem. He went down to Ramsgate to deliver a 
 funeral address at the burial of his friend and neighbour, 
 and this address has been preserved. As it is rich in beauti- 
 ful thoughts and tender feelings, and is in many ways 
 characteristic of the author, I transfer it to these pages 
 from a booklet in the British Museum, omitting one or two 
 short passages which were of merely local interest :— 
 
 “ Sacrificing personal feelings to the call of friendship and of 
 Providence, I rise to address you on a very sorrowful occasion. The 
 presence of mourners—the presence of that coffin—and, above all, the 
 presence of the great God—give solemnity to this hour. We meet 
 this morning at a funeral. How affecting the scene and season. 
 
 ‘‘Tt is the season of parting—of finally parting with our dear 
 
 brother! Already the soul has passed away. It has already broken 
 its connections with flesh and blood; it has already triumphed over 
 
179 
 
 ‘the errors of the world, the sharpness of death and the fear of hell ; 
 it has already risen to light, to freedom, and God ; yea, his soul 
 has already left us—it has left us behind to weep and to wait a little 
 longer; and has entered within the veil, to see and to serve its 
 Redeemer and its God. The labours of that pious soul on earth are 
 over; its prayers are ended, Thisis the season of parling with the 
 poor body only. We now consign it to the grave. Its labours have 
 been numerous ; its services useful; and, for the last ten months, its 
 sufferings great. Now, O grave! we commit it to thee. Give it 
 sweet repose. Receive it as it is—a weak, natural, mortal body ; 
 resign it on the last great day, a spiritual, glorious, immortal body. 
 Till then, precious dust, farewell! Now, let the body go down to 
 the dust as it was, and let us turn from its bed with a song of hope. 
 
 ‘« This is a season of weeping. If it be ever lawful to indulge grief, 
 and to let our tears flow with freedom, it is so when we are standing 
 on the margin of a grave. Insensibility is a calamity and a crime. 
 To shed a tear, on an occasion like the present, is natural, is religious, 
 is useful, It was at a friend’s grave that Jesus once wept; and to feel 
 as the Master felt is the duty and the distinction of His disciples. 
 
 ‘This weeping, parting season is also replete with instruction. 
 It has a tendency to improve the intellect, the feelings, and the 
 character. What means and motives to study our own common 
 nature does this sad hour afford ! 
 
 ‘* Tt is here we feel that our nature is social. The finest principles 
 of our nature are brought to light and to use by the agency of cir- 
 cumstances. The attributes of man, as well as the attributes of God, 
 are explained by Providence. In order to make us thoughtful, pure, 
 and serviceable, Providence employs different modes of instruction. 
 Now we hear her voice as the voice of harpers harping with their 
 harps; then, as the voice of many waters ; another time, as the voice 
 of a great thunder. One day she wraps us in visions of light, the 
 next in visions of darkness and terror. These varied dispensa- 
 tions correspond to the varied elements of our nature, and are 
 designed for their respective development and perfection. Divine 
 Providence, like the light of heaven, which visits the different parts 
 of the earth at different times, penetrates one affection now, then 
 another, after that another, till at last the whole soul is wrought up 
 into harmony with itself, and with the designs of God respecting it 
 “There is a time for every purpose, and for every work in the world 
 within us, as well as the world without.’ ‘There is a time bor ween, 
 
 12 
 
180 
 
 and a time to laugh; a time of war, and a time of peace.’ Such a time 
 as this is highly calculated to rouse and refine our social feelings. Our 
 sociability, like every other principle in us, is in great danger of 
 losing its power and pliancy in this selfish world. We forget to 
 rejoice with those that rejoice ; to weep with those who weep. But the 
 death of a husband, a child, or a minister is often made the instru- 
 ment of touching the heart when all other means have failed; it 
 gives it a new, free, and benevolent action; it damps its levity, 
 kindles its sympathetic and condolent dispositions, and frequently 
 prepares it for the saving impressions of the living God. It is at the 
 grave that the pleasures and pains of affection blend their streams, 
 and break in on the spirit like an overwhelming flood ; it is at the 
 grave that friendship feels its loss, thinks of its past omissions, and 
 pays its last tribute; it is at the grave we are taught to value and 
 desire the communion of heaven, which, unlike that of earth, knows 
 no trials, no changes, no end! 
 
 “Tt is here we learn that our nature is mortal. Death reigned 
 from Adam to Moses, from Moses to Christ, and from Christ to this 
 hour. The generations which have successively moved on the face of 
 the earth, as its proprietors and pride, are now mingled with the 
 dust. The present population is dying. There now stands a line of 
 men, definite in number, between us and death; and one after 
 another is cut down in rapid succession: ove of them, according to 
 calculation, dies every second, sixty every minute, three thousand six 
 hundred every hour, cighty-six thousand four hundred every day, and 
 more than thirty millions every year. Every burying-ground, every 
 funeral, every fit of illness, every beat of the pulse reminds us that 
 we stand on the borders of the dark empire of death; and very soon 
 (sooner far than we may think) we shall be in the heart of it. When 
 we sleep, when we are awake, when we loiter, when we labour, when 
 we rest, and when we roam we are going to the silent grave, where 
 there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom. May the 
 Lord make us ready! May we now be in Christ—for out of Christ, 
 out of heaven. In Christ while on earth, or in misery for eternity ! 
 
 “¢ Tt is here, too, we learn that our nature is sinful. ‘ By one man 
 sin entered into the world, and death by sin’; ‘through the offence 
 of one, many are dead’; ‘the wages of sin is death.’ The grass 
 withereth, the flower fadeth, the beast perisheth, that is natural. 
 Man also dies, but that is «natural. Man was made for immortality- 
 To man was shown the path of life in which he was to move onward 
 
181 
 
 and onward still; for ever gathering fresh energies; for ever dia- 
 covering splendour behind splendourand glory within glory ; for ever 
 leaving dimness and imperfection behind and entering farther and 
 farther into light. But at the Fall, death blocked up the path of life. 
 Now, we must pass through the darkness of the grave in order to 
 regain it. ‘Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.’ Death 
 ought to be considered as an effect and an evidence of man’s rebellion. 
 The effect is felt by all, for all die; but the evidence is felt by few, 
 for few consider. This funeral then impressively reminds us once 
 more that the world we are in is a fallen world. Yes, let us be 
 reminded this dark hour that sin has entered into the world, and, 
 having entered, it has quenched its light, chained its liberty, 
 embittered its enjoyment, ruined its pursuits and prospects. We all 
 know this ; let us all feel it to-day. 
 
 “* But if this dispensation teaches us the socialness, the mortality, 
 and the siafulness of our common nature, it also confirms our faith 
 in the validity and value of our common Christianity. ‘But I would 
 not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concsrning them that are 
 asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope; for 
 if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which 
 sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.’ Let God be praised, this 
 is not a pagan funeral! What a sight is the death of a heathen! 
 There is no minister at hand to soothe the soul—no friends to kneel 
 in prayer around his bed—no Bible to brighten the trying hour. Oh, 
 how desolate should we have been to-day without the Gospel! 
 Human wisdom has no light, human weakness has no hope, human 
 sorrow has no balm, except from the revealed mercy of heaven. 
 Christianity makes the death-chamber a silent sanctuary, and the 
 sepulchre a place of glory. 
 
 “To the grace of the Divine Mediator are we exclusively indebted 
 for the knowledge of the fact that man is to be immortal as to both 
 body and soul, if not for the fact itself. Arguments for the eternity 
 of man’s existence, derived from the immateriality of mind; its 
 adaptation for endless progression ; its instinctive desires for another 
 life ; the concurrent opinions of nearly all men respecting this matter ; 
 and the present mode of the just administration of Jehovah—are not 
 at all fitted to produce popular conviction. Few men have power, 
 fewer still have a disposition, to examine these evidences ; none, per- 
 haps, would be willing to rest his momentous decision upon them. 
 With Christianity, they may be useful for confirmation ; without it, 
 
182 
 
 they are nearly useless for conviction. They may suit the philosopher, 
 but not the peasant; the study, but not the grave. Immortalty is a 
 doctrine in which we are all interested ; its proofs are such as all can 
 comprehend. Why do we hope to live for ever? Bxcause the Bible 
 says we shall. This is one of its cardinal glories. And whatever 
 evidences establish the truth of the Bible as a whole, establish also 
 this doctrine as a part of that whole. ‘I am the resurrection and the 
 life’; Because I live, ye shall live also’ ; ‘Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
 who hath abolished death, hath brought life and immortality to light 
 by the Gospel.’ In Christ we have life sternal—an existence without 
 sin, without misery, without end, We cling to this as a precious. 
 reality. It is not the dream of a speculative philosophy, not the 
 fancy of an ambitious mind, but a fact—a fact which gives Christi- 
 anity its splendour, its force, its worth. Deprive it of this, and it 
 becomes a little earthly thing, without light and without heat; 
 deprive it of this, and its doctrines lose their harmony, its promises. 
 their sweetness, its motives their power, and the blood of its Author 
 all its value. Deprive it of this, and earth is its only sphere, its 
 paradise, and its grave. Jesus is gone to heaven; He will come again, 
 and take us to Himself. Let us comfort one another with these words- 
 The body which is now to be buried shall be raised again. 
 
 “‘ And now let us pray that this event may be blessed to us all. 
 May it be blessed to the widow, who well deserved and fully received 
 the confidence and warm affection of her departed husband. Her 
 friend, her best earthly friend, is gone; her hope is destroyed ; and 
 this day she sits in thick darkness, desponding and alone. To her 
 I would say, Go, heartbroken mourner, to Jesus ; dwell upon His love 
 in the day of your sorrow; imitate His resignation in the hour of 
 grief ; remember the drops of blood in the garden; remember the- 
 cross; remember the last scene through which your sympathising 
 High Priest passed ; catch His temper, grasp His helping hand ; let 
 your tears fall at His feet, and He will sustain you. 
 
 “‘May this event be blessed to the bereaved church. To them, 
 through the medium of one of them now present, one whose piety and. 
 kindness endeared him to his late pastor, and endear him to us all, 
 I would respectfully and affectionately say, Listen to the voice of 
 this dispensation. Again you are without a pastor; the Head of the 
 Church speaks to you in solemn, significant, and piercing tones. 
 
183 
 
 May this trial quicken, mature, and multiply your spiritual 
 excellences. Remember him who had the rule over you, who 
 spoke to you the Word of God; follow his faith, and consider the end 
 of his conversation. Remember him, for an intimate relation once 
 subsisted between him and yourselves; remember him, for that is the 
 only way to derive profit from him after he is gone; remember him, 
 for that will raise your minds to the world where he now is, and 
 where you hope soon to be; remember him, for he and you must soon 
 stand before the same throne. Widowed flock, may the gentle wing 
 
 of heaven be over thee! May the pillar of light direct thy footsteps 
 through the desert ! 
 
 ‘*May this event be blessed to us who labour in the ministry of 
 the Gospel! Soon we must die. Soon we shall preach, and pray, 
 and serve in the sanctuary for the last time! The work is great; 
 he Master is urgent ; the value of souls can never be told; the grave 
 is near; the crowns of eternity are in sight! Let us leave the 
 sepulchre of our brother to-day, determined to study the Gospel, to 
 serve the Church, and to spread light and liberty and peace 
 throughout the earth, with more power, and tenderness, and 
 resolution than we have ever yet done. We now part, never, 
 perhaps, to meet at the same time and place again. May the Spirit 
 of God purify us, and all now present, from sin, and error, and 
 weakness, and, from this hour onward, raise us higher, and higher 
 
 still, towards the light and perfection which for ever burn around the 
 throne of God !’’ 
 
XIIL. 
 The Od Pastor and the Mew. 
 
 URING the years of Caleb Morris’s co-pastorate in 
 Fetter Lane many important political events took 
 place, some of them having a very direct bearing on 
 
 Nonconformity. In 1828 the Corporation and Test Acts 
 were repealed, and in the following year the Catholic 
 Emancipation Bill became law. Soon after this came the 
 great commotion of the Reform Bill. The country was in 
 a state of high excitement, and Harl Grey, Lord Brougham, 
 and Lord John Russell were hailed with enthusiasm as the 
 popular idols. There were also controversies concerning 
 Scriptural education in Ireland, and in reference to the 
 founding of a new Bible Society, called the Trinitarian 
 Bible Society, on account of the swpposed alliance of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society with Arians, Neologians, 
 and Socinians. Leading Nonconformists took part in the 
 discussion of these topics; but we have no record that 
 Caleb Morris gave special attention to them. Nor are we 
 certain that he had any share in the formation of the 
 Congregational Union of England and Wales, under the 
 leadership of Dr. Redford, John Angell James, and other 
 prominent ministers. His youth, the state of his health, 
 and his natural bent for study and meditation rather than 
 
185 
 
 for public affairs, probably kept him outside the inner circle 
 in all such movements. Had we his diary for this period, 
 doubtlessjwe shonld find reference to these matters, but in 
 the absence of reliable information, it is better to confess 
 ignorance than to give reins to the imagination. 
 
 Several important additions were made to the Congre- 
 gational ministry in London in this period. Mr. Burnet, 
 of Cork, settled at Camberwell, and became very popular ; 
 John Leifchild removed from Bristol to Craven Chapel, 
 where he drew large audiences by his impassioned oratory. 
 Dr. James Bennett, Tutor of Rotherham College, and, in 
 conjunction with Dr. Boyne, author of “The History of 
 Dissenters,” came in 1828 to take charge of the church in 
 Silver Street, which afterwards removed to Falcon Square. 
 During his residence in London he published many books, 
 and was for some time joint secretary to the London 
 Missionary Society with the Revs. H. Townly and J. 
 Clayton. And of still greater importance was the advent 
 of Thomas Binney to the Weigh House Chapel, where he 
 was ordained on the 29th of July, 1829. He and Caleb 
 Morris were different in several respects, but they had also 
 many qualities in common, and they commenced a new era 
 in the Congregational pulpit of London. We may have 
 occasion to compare them later on; suffice it at present to 
 mention side by side these two young men from the country, 
 who had come to breathe fresh life into the theology and 
 worship of the Independents of the metropolis. 
 
 If there were gains, there were also serious losses. In 
 the years 1832 and 1833 several prominent ministers died, 
 among them Rowland Hill and Dr. Robert Winter. But 
 we have to notice more especially the death of the minister 
 who was so closely associated with the subject of this 
 biography. 
 
186 
 
 On the 29th of May, 1832, the venerable George Burder 
 was called to his reward, after preaching for fifty-five years, 
 and having ministered to the church at Fetter Lane for 
 twenty-nine years. Caleb Morris had worked under him for 
 nearly five years, and looked up to him with filial reverence 
 and love. He had also striven in every way to lighten the 
 burdens and study the wishes and feelings of the aged 
 minister as one infirmity after another, including total loss 
 of sight, crept over him. The congregation was many a 
 time deeply affected as the young preacher, with his dark 
 locks and glistening eye, led the white-haired and blind 
 patriarch up the pulpit stairs and helped him to conduct the 
 service. The veteran minister thoroughly appreciated the 
 thoughtfulness and kindness of his assistant, and ever 
 cherished towards him the fondness of parental affection. 
 Never did the young and the old blend and harmonise more 
 naturally and happily. Had the diary for this period been 
 in our possession we should certainiy have found in it 
 touching tributes to this revered father in Christ. In its 
 absence I can only quote the introduction to the sermon 
 
 which Caleb Morris preached the first Sunday after his 
 death :— 
 
 ‘« Our eyes, this morning, cannot fail to impress our hearts. The 
 emblems of mourning around us speak to us all with a significant, 
 solemn, and piercing voice. These dark symbols signify two things. 
 Firstly, the mortality of our beloved friend and father, the late pastor 
 of this church. The venerable figure that stood up for the last time 
 in this pulpit three months ago is this morning lifeless, cold, and ready 
 for the silent grave. It is to that mortal part, and to that alone, that 
 this gloomy garb refers. If we wanted to typify the present state of 
 his immortal part, the soul, we should have caused this chapel to be 
 hung this day with the most costly white satin, for white is the 
 colour emblematic of immortality. The garments of the angels are 
 white; in white robes they appeared at the grave of Jesus. The 
 
187 
 
 garments of redeemed spirits are white, clothed in white robes they 
 stand before the throne. 
 
 *‘Secondly, these dark symbols signify not only the mortality of 
 our beloved friend, but also the mournfulness of our feelings on that 
 account, We cannot but mourn, for we shallsee him no more; we 
 shall hear him no more. The voice that once instructed, comforted, 
 animated us, is hushed in mortal silence. We cannot but mourn, for 
 we have lost a shepherd, our leader, our father ; we cannot but mourn, 
 and God is not angry with us for mourning. Nature allows it, and 
 Jesus wept. 
 
 “« But sorrow, if not regulated by Christian principle, does no good ; 
 it does harm; it darkens the soul, damps activity, sinks to despond- 
 ency or rises to dissatisfaction ; it cannot profit man ; it cannot please 
 God, Let therefore our sorrow be turned to some profit, and how is 
 that to be done? One way is by cherishing an affectionate remem- 
 brance of our departed friend ; and for this we have a warrant in the 
 text, ‘Remember them which had the rule over you, and who did 
 speak unto you the word of God.’ Let us then consider how we are 
 to remember our departed minister, and why we are to doso!”’ 
 
 Before the interment in Bunhill Fields a funeral service 
 was held in the Wesleyan Chapel, City Road, when Caleb: 
 Morris read the Scriptures and Dr. Winter, soon to follow 
 George Burder, prayed and gave an address. Dr. Fletcher, 
 of Stepney, preached the funeral sermon on the following 
 Sunday evening. 
 
 Thus passed away in a good old age this honoured servant 
 of God, whose mother had been converted under George 
 Whitefield, and who himself had often heard George 
 Whitefield and John Wesley preach; one who had been 
 present at the birth of two of our great religious institu- 
 tions—the Religious Tract Society and the London Missionary: 
 Society—one who as secretary of the London Missionary 
 Society, editor of the Hvangelicat Magazine, author and 
 editor of several books, had rendered great service to his 
 generation ; and one who, above all things, had been a 
 faithful minister of Jesus Christ. It was no easy task to 
 
188 
 
 follow such a man, but there was no doubt in any mind who © 
 was to be his successor—the church and congregation were 
 unanimous for Caleb Morris. The sole responsibility became 
 a fresh impetus to zeal and fidelity. He cultivated diligently 
 all his brilliant talents, and grew continually in spiritual 
 power and popular esteem. People of all grades and classes 
 came to hear him, and among them not a few of the most 
 learned and thoughtful men of the day. 
 
 One proof of his growing influence is to be found in the 
 enlargement of the chapel. It had been enlarged soon after 
 the advent of the Rev. George Burder to the pastorate ; now 
 it was further extended so as to accommodate 300 persons 
 more, at the cost of nearly £1,700. According to the 
 Evangelical Magazine for November, 1833, the enlargement 
 became “ necessary in consequence of the Divine blessing on 
 the labours of the present minister, Caleb Morris.” The re- 
 opening services took place on Wednesday, October 6th, 
 1833, when Dr. Burder, of Hackney, son of the late George 
 Burder, preached in the morning, and the Rev. J. Leifchild, 
 of Craven Chapel, in the evening. 
 
 We have more than once compared Caleb Morris with 
 Thomas Binney, and it is interesting to note that the 
 foundation-stone of the New Weigh House Chapel, which 
 was to seat 1,000 adults and 300 children, was laid in the 
 same month as the re-opening of Fetter Lane Chapel, or, to 
 be more exact, on the 16th of October, 1833. These two 
 young ministers were rapidly becoming religious leaders in 
 the City of London, and preparing the churches for a 
 broader and larger view of their functions and responsibili* 
 ties. Their congregations were large, the enthusiasm among 
 their followers was intense ; a new and vigorous life gave fresh 
 impetus to every department of Christian work. Their 
 sermons appeared in the Pulpit, and the British Preacher, 
 
189 
 
 although Caleb Morris was very much averse to the publica- 
 tion of his sermons, maintaining that he prepared his sermons,. 
 not for the press, but for his hearers. Whether he was wise 
 in this matter is more than doubtful; at the same time, it 
 must be acknowledged that it is impossible to convey an 
 adequate impression of preachers like himself and Thomas 
 Binney by means of the printed page. 
 
 It is a misfortune that his diaries for this period of: his 
 ministry, probably the most fruitful and impressive period, 
 have been lost ; consequently, only a few outstanding events 
 have escaped the destroying influence of time. 
 
 From the Zvangelicul Magazine for this period we learn 
 that a great revival had taken place in Wales, and that in 
 consequence a large number of new chapels had been erected. 
 Wales was then very poor, for its rich mineral resources had 
 scarcely been touched, and the burden of debt well-nigh 
 crushed many churches. A deputation of Welsh ministers 
 came to England, and was very sympathetically received by 
 Congregational leaders like Dr. Fletcher, Dr. Bennett, John 
 Angell James, George Clayton, and Thomas Binney. 
 Naturally Caleb Morris took great interest in the movement ; 
 he used his influence to promote it ; his name also stands for 
 £30, the highest on the list of contributions. Over £3,000 
 were collected, and the Welsh churches were greatly cheered 
 by the generosity of their friends in England. We also find. 
 him joining with Welsh and English brethren to free from 
 debt the chapel built at Newtown, under the inspiration of 
 Dr. George Lewis, the systematic theologian of the Welsh 
 Independents. 
 
 In the year 1835 an Independent Church was founded at 
 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, through the efforts of Dr. Morrison, 
 the Rev. W. Clayton, and the Rev. Caleb Morris. A chapel 
 was erected, and the name of Caleb Morris was on the list of 
 
190 
 
 persons willing to receive donations for the new building. He 
 was also selected along with Dr. Morrison to preach at the 
 opening services, but alas ! before that event he had another 
 serious attack of illness, and for a time his life was 
 despaired of. Through the goodness of God he was again 
 restored, but attack after attack was undermining his con- 
 stitution, and seriously hindering the progress of his ministry. 
 When he had partially recovered, he went to Wales, and 
 from there he wrote a long, wise, and affectionate letter to 
 the church. This letter was printed, and through the kind- 
 ness of the Rev. J. Tegryn Phillips, of Hebron, a copy 
 presented by the author on October 25th, 1835, “To my 
 dear brother, the Reverend John Evans,” is now in my 
 hands. I have found it impossible to satisfy myself in seeking 
 to make selections from it, and therefore have decided to 
 place it unabridged before the reader. It will serve better 
 than any words of mine to give a true idea of what Caleb 
 Morris was as a pastor. It is entitled: “A Pastoral Letter 
 to the Church and Congregation assembling at Fetter Lane 
 Chapel, London. ‘Whether we be afflicted, it is for your 
 consolation and salvation ; or whether we be comforted, it 
 is for your consolation and salvation.’—Paul.” The letter 
 runs :— 
 
 ‘“‘My Dearest Frienps,—This long suspension of my humble 
 ministry among you daily absorbs my mind, and presses on my 
 heart. To myself this dispensation is very painful, on account of my 
 relation, my duty, and my love to you all : that it is so to you also, 
 I cannot doubt, for your kindness, your sympathy, and your prayers 
 abundantly prove it. The mutual affection of a pastor and his flock, 
 if carefully nursed and protected by Christian principles, is one of 
 the most generous, energetic, and productive virtues in the world. 
 It is probable that both ministers and people have yet much to learn 
 respecting its importance. Who can tell its value as a source of 
 moral pleasure, as an incentive to benevolent efforts, and as a sure, 
 though silent, means of bringing the affections of the world home to 
 
191 
 
 the loye of God! The love which subsists between ministers and 
 their people may be often tried, and in this world of faults and 
 frailties how can it be otherwise? In the minister there may be 
 many things to try it ; in the people there may be some things to 
 try it; but this reciprocal love, though in its own nature very deli- 
 cate and sensitive, should always bear its trials with humility, 
 patience, and gentleness. It should glorify itself by making dis- 
 appointments, crosses, and even sore temptations to bend to its 
 power, and in the end to serve its own noble ends. What is true of 
 love as a general principle, is so likewise of that manifestation of it 
 of which I now write. The Bible shows that love is more eloquent 
 than the tongues of men and of angels: stronger than miracles; 
 better than kindness to the poor : that without it martyrdom itself is 
 nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind ; seeketh not her own ; 
 is not easily provoked ; thinketh no evil; beareth all things; hopeth 
 all things; endureth all things. In our hearts, in our churches, 
 throughout the world, may this heavenly temper spread and reign. 
 
 “© You know, my dear Brethren, that to speak of that of which 
 we have a lively consciousness, is quite natural. I experience that 
 this moment. That I should love you and your interests is but just. 
 I hope that I sincerely do so. At this hour, hundreds of miles 
 separate us ; but, of course, I do not—I cannot forget you. Many 
 weeks have already passed since we last parted ; when by prayer 
 and sweet song you kindly committed me to the care of your God and 
 mine ; and when, with feelings which I shall never forget, I tried to 
 deliver you up to the love and protection of the Great Shepherd of 
 souls. Often since has my heart looked back to that day of anxiety, 
 fellowship, and prayer. 
 
 “On that day the mistakes, the failures, and unprofitableness of 
 my ministry at Fetter Lane stood before me, and darkened my soul. 
 On that day I felt ‘ the blood of sprinkling’ which cleanseth from all 
 sin, and therefore from the sins of our holy things, to be very precious. 
 On that day, while looking over my beloved congregation, not know- 
 ing that I should serve it any more, I felt an unusual concern for its 
 sanctification and peace, its growth and efficiency, its welfare and 
 eternal safety. God alone knows what fears, what hopes, what sad- 
 ness, what desires did then divide my heart. But I must refrain 
 myself, or you may think me egotistical, or something worse. Yet 
 may we not under peculiar circumstances avow our feelings? Then to 
 whom can I open my heart, if not to you? Are we not one in faith, 
 
192 
 
 affection, and interest ? However, such as I have just named were 
 my feelings when I left: such are my feelings now. I know that 
 these emotions are now, and always have been, very feeble and 
 fluctuant ; very far, indeed, from being what they ought to be in 
 purity and power ; but I know, too—blessed be God !—that they are 
 sincere and predominant. 
 
 “¢ You will not, dear Friends, wonder that I am a little excited in 
 my present circumstances. Do not all of us find that personal afflic- 
 tion, separation from those we love, and darkened prospects, tend to 
 quicken us, and that too, sometimes, very beneficially? We do. 
 These things promote in us humility, resignation, patience, and a 
 sense of dependence upon God. They teach self-enquiry. self-abase- 
 ment, self-denial. They kindle heavenward tendencies in the 
 bosom. They break the sleep, the dangerous sleep of the heart. 
 They rend the thick veil which this world often throws over the 
 truth, the retributions, and the solemn importance of religion. When 
 our trials produce such effects, all is well; all is glorious. Is it nota 
 glorious thing to feel the living power of godliness spreading itself 
 throughout our souls, and working them up into a fearful conscious- 
 ness of their worth, their perils, and duties—into a holy passion for 
 the salvation of souls—into a burning sympathy with the spirit of 
 the Bible, with God and eternity? But it is seldom that we feel in 
 that manner; is it not? The beat of us are not awake. We give 
 but half our hearts to divine things; to those high interests for 
 which the sun shines, the world endures, the Son of God died and 
 reigns. Grave, deep, anxious thoughts respecting our existence, our 
 relationships, our great work, and our destiny, rarely reign within us. 
 Earthly cares, earthly hopes, earthly friendships, earthly separations, 
 are the things which occupy, almost exclusively, our foolish hearts 
 
 * Oh, God, and shall we ever live at this poor dying rate, 
 Our love so cold, so faint to Thee, and Thine to us so great ! ” 
 
 “We greatly need the Spirit of God in order to purify our prin- 
 ciples, dispositions, and habits. We confess our deficiencies ; promise 
 to improve ; hope for the best; and remain the same. It is good, 
 indeed, to think of our errors ; but best of all to begin at once, by the 
 help of God, to rectify them. Would it be improper in this con- 
 nection briefly to refer to some of our most common defeets? Think 
 not, however, dear Brethren, that I do so from any impression that 
 these evils are more active and visible among you than they are in 
 
193 
 
 -other churches. Thanks be to God! I believe that they are not, 
 But they cling to us all ; and all need be put in remembrance of 
 them in order to overcome them, Let us, therefore, try owrselves. 
 And, indeed, it is only by trying ourselves that we can detect the 
 hidden roots of those common evils, which, if left unchecked, would 
 g00n overspread our churches, and reduce them into a wilderness. 
 Rigid self-examination is at once one of the most difficult, and one of 
 the most profitable exercises of Christian piety. It is the chief 
 means of self-knowledge ; and self-knowledge is a key with which 
 we may unlock ten thousand hearts. Correct, deep, thorough know- 
 ledge of the moral diseases of mankind is to be obtained, chiefly, by 
 personal self-investigation, regulated by the Word and the Spirit of 
 God. Unlike the material anatomist, the Christian must make him- 
 self the subject of examination; he must dissect his own heart ; he 
 must put the introverting power of his mind in resolute exercise. He 
 must draw his knowledge of the evils of human nature, not from 
 slight glances on its mere surface; not from general notions of it as a 
 -eollective whole ; not from a frigid, careless adoption of the theory of 
 the Bible respecting its original fall; not from books of moral 
 philosophy—no, but he must draw it from very different sources. 
 He must look on his race through the medium of his own indi- 
 viduality, and his own consciousness ; he must judge of it by the 
 native errors, deep workings, and general tendencies of his own mind. 
 And he who, taught by ‘the Spirit that searcheth all things,’ thus 
 penetrates into the depth of his own soul, knows himself and knows 
 the world. But I was going to refer to some common defects respect- 
 ing which, dear Friends, we ought to judge ourselves. ‘Search me, 
 O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts ; and 
 see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever- 
 lasting !’ 
 
 “Do we not talk very freely about Christianity, without allowing 
 ourselves, after all, time to consider what it is, and what it is for? 
 Tts peculiar doctrines, facts, influences, and uses must be thought of, 
 or we are baptized to it in vain. Do we make the best of our 
 Sundays, as seasons for teaching, or learning, or in some way for 
 serving religion? Only afew hours of the Sabbath are spent in public 
 worship. Where and how are the rest employed? The laborious 
 -attention which many, very many, give to schools, visits of mercy, 
 and Christian instruction, is a glorious virtue—is a happy symptom : 
 God loves and honours it wonderfully. But still, are there not many 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 in the Christian world (shall I say in the Christian church ?) who: 
 never enter with life and power into the holy benevolence and serene’ 
 joys of that great day? It is important to remember that the 
 Sabbath is the only day which Christianity has consecrated for her 
 own special use. On that account it deserves and demands the careful 
 study of every Christian, Particular events also direct our attention 
 to the Sabbath at the present time. The character and result of 
 recent discussions abont the Sabbath teach the great importance of 
 possessing clear, practical, scriptural views respecting it. Is it not 
 a fact that a vast portion of this nation imagine that the observance 
 of the Sabbath consists in offering a blind, servile, superstitious,. 
 Jewish homage to it, as a positive right, or a civil institution; and 
 not in an intelligent, spontaneous adoption of it as a great moral 
 instrument for regenerating the minds and character of our population? 
 Is it not a fact that many profess great zeal for the sanctity of the 
 Sabbath, without knowing, without considering what it means? Its 
 holiness is not an imaginary something, which lasts only for twenty- 
 four hours, and which can whiten into innocence six days of sin. It 
 is not the calendar that imparts sanctity to Sunday. Its holiness is- 
 not a thing to be measured and regulated by the index of the 
 chronometer. Jesus, the great Lord of that day, intended that it 
 should be—like Himself—the heavenly messenger of light, mercy, and 
 peace to this unhappy world ; but superstition would invest it with 
 the rule of a tyrant, and with the arms of a warrior. Men will never 
 keep the Sabbath unless they Jove it; and men will never love it with- 
 out a moral conviction of its benevolent design. Motive is the only 
 sovereign of wills. But the faith of this great nation in moral power 
 is yet but an infant. May the God of heaven watch its growth ! 
 Perhaps the best thing we can do just now for promoting a better 
 observance of the Sabbath is to try to promote a better understanding of 
 it. Here permit me to say that I am not yet convinced that the 
 principle of those societies which seek only for the legal protection of 
 the Lord’s day is, really, inconsistent with the spirit of these hints. 
 My dear Friends, may God help ws, as a congregation, to sanctify the 
 day of the Lord! You know what its sanctification means. It con- 
 sists in the spiritual, formal, public dedication of ourselves to the 
 great moral facts and principles for the celebration of which the first 
 day of the week was set apart by the apostles of our Lord. The 
 chief of those facts is the resurrection of Jesus. The principal 
 doctrines which that sublime fact reveals and confirms are—the 
 
195 
 
 divinity of Christ and of His religion—the validity and value of His 
 mediation, as the only refuge for lost sinners—the resurrection of the 
 saints—and the life everlasting. These are the themes of our 
 Sabbaths on earth : these will be some of the themes of our Sabbaths 
 in heaven. 
 
 “ Let me submit a few inquiries more. Do we not, in common con- 
 versations, talk much more about Christians than about Christ ? about 
 our relation to particular persons, places, institutions, and usages, 
 than respecting our relation to the great principles, laws, influences, 
 and hopes of our common Christianity ? What models for us are the 
 pure, suggestive, natural conversations of Jesus with His friends ! 
 Let us study them afresh for this, as well as other purposes. Again, 
 are we confidently bent on making society better and happier while we 
 profess to know the way ? Have we not an impression that faith in 
 the agency of man is incompatible with faith in the agency of God ? 
 Such an impression is false and injurious. Whatever tends to destroy 
 human motives, tends also to destroy human actions. Neither the 
 proper work of God nor of man can be done by proxy. God will do 
 His work: let us not trifle abont our own. Are we sufficiently 
 sensible that holy kindness is one of the best means of doing good; 
 and that the want of it is a moral crime? Are we convinced that 
 selfishness is the strongest sin, and the bitterest foe of our social 
 nature ? It was this sin that hurled angels from their ‘ first estate’ 
 and ‘own habitation.’ This is the original sin of our world ; its 
 empire in the human mind is universal and absolute. It dries up all 
 its generous affections, and blunts all its sensibilities. It seduces the 
 heart from its true home and happiness. Selfishness carries man 
 away from his brethren and his God, and shuts him up in himself ; 
 where, as in a dungeon, solitary, cold, and friendless, he ever 
 murmurs against his fate,his race, and his Creator. The selfish man is 
 never happy; nor can he be unless the great laws of the social 
 universe are abolished. That temper which prompts one to seek 
 his own imaginary happiness, against, or apart from, that of others, is, 
 at once, a downright curse to its possessor, an injury to society, and 
 avery hateful thing in the sight of God. Then, let selfish disposi- 
 tions be our constant dread. Let us watch and pray against their 
 insidious, subtle power. They must be subdued, or we shall not see 
 God. It was toarm us with inward power against selfishness, and 
 to redeem us from its guilt, that the Son of God came to the world. 
 Christianity is in itself a great divine argument against selfishness. 
 
 13* 
 
196 
 
 The laws, life, and death of Christ prove that if we are under its 
 domiuion we are not worthy of Him. ‘Christ pleased not Himself’ ; 
 and if we have not the spirit of Christ, we are none of His. ‘ For 
 ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, 
 yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye, through His poverty might 
 be rich.’ Divine generosity! who can think of it and be cold? 
 Jesus had nowhere to lay His head. He had nota field, a house, a 
 lamb, a grave of His own. His wealth was His moral|glory—His Jife ; 
 and that He freely gave for us. My Brethren, itis when we forget 
 Him—His hunger and thirst ; His labours and weariness ; His mid- 
 night watchings and prayers; His fasting and His temptation; His 
 bloody sweat and passion ; His sympathy and tears; Hiscross and His 
 grave ;—it is when we forget these we become conceited, covetous, 
 self-indulgent, unkind, and heedless of our Father’s work. ‘Let 
 this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in 
 the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but 
 made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a 
 servant, and was made in the likeness of men ;—He humbled Himself ; 
 and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.’ 
 
 “ Once more. Are not most of us in great darkness respecting the 
 true nature, uses, and importance of prayer? Do we not, when pro- 
 fessing to pray, suffer a kind of atheism to fetter the proper, free, 
 holy motions of the intellect; to freeze the heart; and to prevent its 
 feelings from going up to God with that unity, that infinitude of 
 reverence, regret and hope ; with that directness which constitute 
 the very essence of prayer? It is thoughts that worship God. It is 
 the inward, silent, invisible feeling that must pray to Him. ‘ He that 
 cometh to God must believe that He is; and that He is a rewarder of 
 them that diligently seek Him.’ ‘For we know not what we should 
 pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us 
 with groanings which cannot be uttered.’ 
 
 “‘ Thus, dear Friends, I have thrown out a few general hints 
 respecting some of the evil principles and evil practices which war 
 against our souls. Multitudes of kindred errors occur to my mind, 
 which I must omit even to name. We dwell in a world of sin, 
 exposures, and warfare; yet we must not despair. Why should we? 
 We are, indeed, weak ; weaker than we have ever yet thought ; but 
 we are saved by hope. Truth is stronger than error. We live under 
 the reign of grace. The strongest Being in the universe is on our 
 side. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. The Spirit — 
 
197 
 
 of God is with us! Christ died for our sins, and reigns for our salva- 
 tion, The covenant of eternal mercy cannot be broken ; mercy shall 
 be built up for ever: Gop 18 LOVE. 
 
 “« Now, my Christian Friends, what more shall I say? Suffer me 
 to suggest a few thoughts respecting the means and importance of 
 personal and social improvement. One of those means, and a very 
 efficient one, is—the reading of good books. 
 
 “ Reading is one of the greatest gifts of God to the human mind; 
 and it is the duty of Christians to value and use this great favour. 
 Let me beseech you all to attend to this. Some there are among you 
 who have little time or means to devote to any books except the 
 Bible. Let sach rejoice that the Holy Writings alone teach all that 
 is essential to their duty and their safety. Here you have the 
 thoughts of Heaven in the language of earth. Give to them as much 
 time as you can. Even jive minutes a day would amount in a year to 
 thirty hours. And is it not better to study for thirty hours than not 
 at all? But might you not, with a little care, spare half an hour, or 
 even an hour each day for this purpose? Try for a month, and 
 your improvement will be certain and surprising. Never make the 
 reading of the Bible, either in the closet or the family, a task; a 
 mechanical drudgery ; a mere ceremony. I fear that is common, 
 Never, never be guilty of such stupefying, degrading, ungodly 
 custom. Do not imagine that your familiarity with the sight and 
 sounds of the Bible is a proof of your spiritual knowledge and love of 
 it. The various beauties of the globe, the wonderful revelations of 
 the heavens at night, the glories of the sun are familiar enough to all ; 
 but it is only a few who look on them with anything like delight, 
 wonder, and devotion ; and smaller still is the number of those who 
 desire to understand them, and strive to study them. So it may be 
 with reference to the Bible. Therefore, take care. Read the Scrip- 
 tures with thoughtfulness, warmth, anxiousness, and prayer. Let 
 your morning and evening prayer be that the Great Spirit of light 
 may open the eye of your soul whenever you take up your Bible. 
 You know that words are but dead signs ; therefore never rest there, 
 but pass onward till you reach the living thoughts to which they 
 point. Dive through every sentence to the depth of its meaning. 
 Judge not of your reading by a false standard. Think not of the 
 number of the chapters which you read; but of the number of clear 
 thoughts and holy feelings which you gather together, and carry 
 along with you wherever you go, asa part of your moral being. 
 
198 
 
 Read until you are, and feel that you are, wiser, better, happier. 
 Read the Word as if on your knees; as if God had just delivered it to 
 you with His cwn hand, and entreated you to accept and peruse it as 
 a token of the donor’s warmest love; read it as if on the bed of 
 death. Again let me say, seek the light of the Spirit of God. 
 
 ‘* But many of you have numerous opportunities and facilities for 
 reading. I entreat you not to neglect your precious privilege. 
 Saffer not your intellectual nature to starve and be lost for the want 
 of nutriment. The food of the mind is truth; one of the fountains 
 of truth is books : go, therefore, and drink there. Our intellect was 
 not made for darkness ; nor our hearts for pleasures of the dust. 
 Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom. The rapid 
 progress of the public mind—the intellectual littleness of the mass of 
 professors—the approaching war of thoughts—the necessity for 
 higher and wider views about religion—your own stability and pro- 
 gceess in the faith—your just debt to society—and your solemn 
 responsibility to the Great Propristor and Judge of minds—all, all 
 bid you, in earnest tones, to give attention to reading and kindred 
 means of mental and holy advancement. There are some good, some 
 active men in our churches, who, though they have leisure and 
 libraries too, seldom or never open a book. But they and their 
 connections suffer for it. Our religion, our system is not, like 
 atheism, a material one, but a collection of thoughts which lived in 
 the Uncreated Mind before matter had a being. And it comes to us, 
 not by the dumb, cold, passive mediation of the physical world, but in 
 
 a Book, which is the living, warm, audible breathing of God Himself. 
 ’ Ours is a Book religion, in a pre-eminent sense. It is the great 
 parent and patron of all good books. Let us, therefore, make it a 
 reading religion. That many of you (especially the young) seem to be 
 bent on the acquisition of general and sacred information, gives me 
 great pleasure and hope. Permit me, most earnestly, to press three 
 things on your consideration. Take care what you read—why you 
 read—and how you read. In the pursuit of knowledge be humbie, 
 docile, prayerful, and very holy in motive and aim. Do not forget 
 God, or all your knowledge will be but a curse to you and others. 
 Knowledge, whether physical or moral, is but vanity, unless it be 
 made the means of improving your moral temper towards God and 
 man; of increasing your motives and capacity of doing good ; of 
 giving you a taste and a longing for the illuminations and exercises 
 vf the world to come. Never forget what an inspired philosopher has 
 
199 
 
 ‘said—‘ Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole 
 duty of man.’ Put, therefore, your mind wholly and for ever under 
 the care of God. Let it live with Him, andfor Him. We are not 
 ourown. These minds of ours are the offspring, the children of the 
 Divine Spirit. Without cause they have rebelled against His dis- 
 cipline and love; but His pity brings them back. Still He loves 
 them ; still He feels a deeper interest in their growth and happiness 
 than they themselves. He loves to teach them, and none can teach 
 like Him. May our minds, then, never neglect parental claims ; 
 never abuse parental indulgence, never lose parental smiles. Again 
 let me say—in all your attempts to cultivate your spiritual nature by 
 books, by observation, by society or reflection, be always and entirely 
 devoted to the light and law, the influence and the praise of your God. 
 If Gol give me health, I hope to be able in some humble measure to 
 help you on in your work. A few months ago we formed a Class for 
 this end. I thought of forming others; but indisposition broke , 
 my plans. Now my hopes and my purposes look to the future. But 
 God alone reigns there. Let His will be done. 
 
 ‘‘T must beg leave to say a word respecting another thing. 
 Fathers and mothers, let me with all humility and love remind you 
 of the vast importance of ‘showing piety at home.’ Make your own 
 homes the nursery of Christian virtues, and then you will find them the 
 abodes of purest happiness. Some of you have but recently entered 
 into the tender relationships of domestic life. I wish you joy. May 
 you ‘prosper and be in health.’ At once consecrate your hearts and 
 your houses to God, if you have not done so. Without the blessing 
 -of your Heavenly Father, you cannot be prosperous and happy. May 
 you be ‘ Heirs together of the grace of life.’ Some of you enjoy the 
 sun-light of worldly prosperity. May nothing rise to darken it! 
 May goodness and mercy follow you all your days. ‘But be not 
 high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, 
 who giveth you richly all things to enjoy.’ The homes of some of 
 you may be the abodes of surrow. Losses, or disappointments, or sick- 
 ness, or bereavement, have spread over you their dark and blasting 
 shadows. My fellow-sufferers, faint not in the day of your adversity. 
 
 * —— crosses from His sovereign hand, 
 Are blessings in disguise.’ 
 ‘ God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above that ye 
 are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, 
 that ye may be able to bear it.” ‘Cast all your care upon Him; for 
 
200 
 
 He careth for you.’ In the cup of earthly comforts the waters of 
 bitterness are mingled. And it is right it should be so. Something 
 is necessary to cherish our tender sympathies; to exercise our passive 
 virtues ; to teach us confidence in Providence, and to raise our aspira- 
 tions to a higher and calmer home. Suffering is a part of the moral 
 discipline of our world. It is the remedy as well as the result of evil. 
 ‘Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and ex- 
 perience hope.’ ‘Blessed is the} man that endureth temptation; for 
 when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord 
 hath promised to them that love Him.’ Christianity is pre-eminently 
 asystem for suffirers. The suffering of its Divine Founder is the 
 price of our redemption. Sufferings like His this world will never 
 see again. The dark hour of His death was the crisis of human 
 anguish ; and it isover for ever. The day on which He left His grave- 
 of sorrow was the happiest the world had ever seen; and ever since 
 its burdens have been lighter, and its hopes have grown. Brighter 
 days are yet to come. Let us, then, remember Jesus the merciful 
 High Priest ; for His heart towards man is as warm asever. He is: 
 able and ready to succour the tempted. Trust His faithfulness, and 
 lean upon His arm. ‘ He will never leave you, nor forsake you.’ 
 
 ‘““Now, my dear Friends, whatever be your circumstances as’ 
 families, whether painful or prosperous, take care to ‘ show piety at 
 home.’ Make home the nursery of self-dsnying kindness, amiable 
 tempers, courteous manners, and above all, of godly affections and 
 habits. Let your houses be preparatory schools for the Church and for 
 Heaven. It the Book, the Day, the Worship, and the Providence 
 of the Great Father be ever reverenced there. At the fireside, in the: 
 nursery, at the table, before the altar, in the chamber of repose, let 
 the holy lights of Christianity be ever burning. Let your household 
 piety be steady, natural, smiling, and perpetual. These things are 
 of high importance. My own observation and reflections for the last 
 few months have taught me something new respecting the value of 
 domestic piety. I see that both its verils and delights are very great. 
 A holy, happy family is an institution of immeasurable worth. Such 
 a family is a public blessing. It widens, deepens, and multiplies the 
 channels through which holiness and happiness flow upon the world, 
 It is an original institution of Heaven, and a sweet moral emblem. 
 of it. 
 
 ‘¢ There were, my beloved People, many other things which I in- 
 tended to introduce, but I must leave them. I frequently hear 
 
201 
 
 of your state by means of the weekly correspondence which I hold 
 with your good Deacons. Their labours, in connection with that of 
 others, in procuring supplies for the pulpit,* and in watching over 
 the Congregation during my long absence, deserves a grateful recogni- 
 tion. For all their kind attentions, both to you and to me, I am very 
 thankful. Till death may God be with them! Since I have been 
 among you, we have lost three Deacons. They served their generation, 
 and now sweetly sleep in Jesus. One of them has only just entered 
 into rest. His simple, serene, kind, and consistent piety we 
 remember with delight. May the God who has called our brethren 
 home, direct us in the appointment of suitable successors. Pray for 
 this thing. Three years have already passed away since the death of 
 your late revered pastor, the Rev. Grorcre BurpER, who ministered 
 in Fetter Lane Chapel for nearly thirty years. ‘Remember them 
 which had the rule over you, and who did speak unto you the word 
 of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conyersa- 
 tion.’ 
 
 “T thought of making some allusion to the subject of pastoras 
 visitation. On this department of my office, Z look with more dis- 
 satisfaction than your considerate and forbearing kindness will suffer 
 you todo. Iam not ignorant of the relation which subsists between 
 the duties of the pulpit and those of the pastoral office. I know that 
 it is real, intimate, important. I am not ignorant that the preacher’s 
 sermons and the pastor’s visits have a happy reciprocal influence. I 
 am not ignorant that, in order to avoid barren generalities, and to 
 speak with adaptedness, particularity, and directness to the whole 
 congregation, notwithstanding its varieties as to education, intel- 
 ligence, temper, and religious experience—that in order to instruct 
 those who are inquisitive for truth ; to guide those who are ready for 
 duty ; to arm those who are struggling with temptation; and to 
 encourage those who are depressed by misfortune, melancholy, or sin 
 —I am not ignorant that, in order to do all these things, frequent and 
 extensive pastoral visitation is exceedingly useful. Who can doubt 
 
 * “Our most affectionate thanks are due to those excellent minicters who 
 at their ‘Fraternal Meeting’ spontaneously agreed among themselves to 
 Supply my pulpit gratuitously for some time. They didiso, as you know, for 
 two months, This instance of disinterested and brotherly kindness towards. 
 you and me,I highly value and gratefully recognise, on account of its sPrRIT. 
 May my revered brethren and their churches abundantly prosper under the- 
 benediction of the God of peace and love.” 
 
202 
 
 it? But the difficulty, or even the practicableness, of it is, I believe, 
 .a subject of deep perplexit¥ to most ministers of the present day. 
 Then location, state of health, age, character of preparations for the 
 pulpit, and so on, may considerably iacrease or diminish the capacity 
 for the good work. Also, public societies and local organisations 
 demand some time and attention from every Christian Minister, 
 especially if made by Providence a partaker in the heavy moral 
 responsibilities of London. Churches in the metropolis ought, and to 
 their praise do, make this a consideration. ‘ Our economical plan is,’ 
 says Dr. Mason, of America, ‘ to make one pastor do the work which 
 ‘was anciently done by three or four, and the very natural consequence 
 follows—the work is badly done, or the workman is sacrificed. If 
 we were to visit as much as our people are good enough to wish, and 
 unreasonable enough to expect, we should not have an hour left for 
 our proper business: we could make no progress in the knowledge of 
 the Scriptures ; and not one would be able to preach a sermon worthy 
 of a sensible man’s hearing,’ Think not that I offer these remarks as 
 an apology for my own omission. I feel, painfully feel, that my 
 failures in this, as well as in every other part of my work, call for 
 humiliation and penitence. One thing, however, I can truly say— 
 that the affections and sympathies of my heart often visit where my 
 feet are seldom seen. I purpose, if God spare me, to adopt a plan of 
 pastoral visitation, which will, I humbly hope, render that work more 
 frequent, easy, and efficient, than it has been since my introduction 
 among you. But our sufficiency is of God. 
 
 ‘‘That the various societies, which are the life and glory of our 
 church, are so prosperous, are served with so much assiduity, 
 affectionateness, and strength, greatly rejoices my heart. ‘ My 
 beloved Brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in 
 the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye krow that your labour is not 
 din vain in the Lord.’ 
 
 “T must conclude. My dearest Friends, accept this Letter as an 
 expression of my affection and solicitude for you all. Often I think of 
 you, and try to pray for you. Are any of you still unconverted to 
 duty, to happiness, and to God? If so, what will you do in the 
 tempests of life ; in the cold, dark flood of death; on the day when 
 you shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air? Think seriously 
 and immediately of this. Give yourselves, just as you are, to the 
 Divine Saviour. Mako His cross your righteousness and His love 
 _your eternal home. May the sun of to-morrow see you obedient at 
 
 21 
 
208 
 
 His feet, and happy in His smiles. Are any of you in the sleep, or 
 in the gall of apostasy? Oh, what a state is yours! Return, 
 return! ~The voice of the Shepherd in whose fold you once felt 
 yourself happy, in tones of care and pity, calls you home. He on 
 whom was laid the iniquity of us all—who came to save the lost, is 
 willing to receive youagain. Run, quickly, to His arms: for the 
 shadows of the night are fast coming on. Are there any among you 
 who love Christ, and yet have not joined His Church? To them I 
 would say—Decide, decide at once and for ever. Follow Jesus. 
 Why do you tarry? Come forward at once. Your delay cannot 
 benefit you; it must injure you. Your comfort, you consistency, 
 your usefulness, and your piety suffer on account of your procrastina- 
 tion. 
 “«* Tf you tarry till you’re better, 
 You will never come at all.’ 
 May those of you who have believed through grace be faithful to 
 the end; and, at no very distant period, the crown will be yours. 
 ‘Finally, brethren, farewell. Bo perfect, be of good comfort, be of 
 one mind, live in peace ; and the God of love and peace shall be with 
 you.’ ‘Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead 
 our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood 
 of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to 
 do His will; working in you that which is well-pleasing in His 
 sight, through Jesus Christ: to whom be glory for ever.’ 
 “«T am, your affectionate Pastor, 
 “Cates Morris, 
 “© Wars, September, 1835.’ 
 
XIV. 
 
 Wales or London? 
 
 URING his visit to Wales, in 1835, Caleb Morris came 
 into close touch with several of the ministers of Pem- 
 brokeshire, and this led in several cases to subsequent 
 
 correspondence. Most of the letters have perished, but the 
 Rev. J. Lloyd James, of March, has been good enough to 
 favour me with copies of two letters which were written to 
 the Rev. J. Davies, of Glandwr. Mr. Davies was pastor 
 over the church made famous by the renowned spiritual 
 teacher, John Griffiths, and was one of the best Biblical 
 scholars of his day. The letters show Caleb Morris’s love for 
 books, and indicate the great stress which he laid on ¢each- 
 ing as an essential part of the minister’s work :— 
 “13, Duncan Trrrace, Lonpon, 
 “ March, vii., 1836. 
 
 ‘* My Dear Brotner,—You have made up your mind that I am 
 one of the most unkind, unfaithful, neglectful, rude, worthless beings. 
 on the face of this wide earth. Well, I ama poor thing. Stiil, Ihave 
 one virtue in my nature—I love worth and truth in others. I sincerely 
 respect and love Brother Davies, of Glandwr. It is so, say what you 
 will, But—the books! Why has not the man sent the books? 
 Why injure a brother by not keeping the commandments? Well, I 
 will not trouble you with apologier, or rather explanations about the 
 matter, only let me just say that some of the books you ordered 
 could not be procured till now. I tried, and failed. My bookeeller 
 
 ma ~ 
 
205 
 
 has succeeded, however, in obtaining most of those which you name. 
 Then, let me confess my sin. I wanted to peep into some of them 
 before their departure. Pardon this liberty. Iam covetous. 
 
 “< Now, allow me tosay that the parcel will be sent off next week, as 
 directed by you. God grant you health and strength to read, study, 
 and teach. 
 
 **T have not been quite well. My voice is improving, however ; 
 and soon I hope to be quite free from infirmity. 
 
 “‘T want more godliness, that is what I chiefly want. Pray for 
 me—will you? Whata character was Jesus! Oh, for more of His 
 spirit! I wish to be His disciple. I hope to be one day perfect. 
 
 ‘Pray, how are you goingon? When are you to begin your 
 new chapel! What is the state of religion at the present time, in 
 Wales? The world is moving on—whither? What do you think of 
 our present state? 
 
 ‘* Give my regards to Mrs. Davies. Is your chest better? Don’t 
 study too much. Will you kindly favour me with a long letter with 
 your notions of R. T. W—-—’s intention, and so on? God bless you! 
 
 ‘¢T am, My Dear Brother, 
 ‘« Yours affectionately, 
 **Canzs Morzis.”’ 
 
 **13, Duncan Terrace, 
 ** January 3rd, 1837. 
 
 “My Dersr Brorner,—Your note astonished me. What! the 
 books not yet received! I sent them hence an age ago—long before 
 the end of last year. The parcel was addressed to yourself, and 
 directed to be left at Rees’s Wagon Office, Carmarthen. Have any 
 inquiries been made at Rees’s respecting it? But I am disposed to 
 think that the books are at Glandwr by this time, and I am disposed to 
 ask—how do you like them? Allow me, however, to confess my sin 
 in not being more punctual. Some of the books are scarce. It took 
 the bookseller a long time to procure some of them. Time passes 
 very swiftly in London. 
 
 “T hope, my dear Brother, that you are well, and that you are doing 
 well. It gave me great pleasure to hear of your prosperity. May 
 God help you to teach the people ! 
 
 “«Do you pay Church rate? What a subject! What do you think 
 of the present crisis? Truth is advancing, isit not? But, oh for 
 
206 
 
 more of the spirit of Christianity. It is the spirit of power, of love, 
 and of a sound mind. 
 
 ‘¢ Since I wrote the above I have been very ill, but I am now quite 
 well. I have detained this letter in order to send it by a private 
 hand. Now Iam almost sorry, fearing you have been anxious. I 
 have sent you the bill in the parcel. I have paid the amount, of 
 course. You pay the money over to my father as soonas convenient. 
 I will write to him to that effect. 
 
 ‘¢ What is become of the Welsh Academy? The Board is just now 
 stationary, because it is undergoing universal examination as to its. 
 funds, &c., but I can’t enter now on that important subject. 
 
 ‘¢ Offer my kind regards to Mrs. Davies and friends. With kind 
 wishes for you and yours, 
 
 ‘“‘T am, My Dear Brother, 
 ** Yours truly, 
 “ CareB Morris.” 
 
 The reference to the Welsh Academy in the letter natur- 
 ally leads us to a very important event in his history, viz., 
 the invitation which he received to the Principalship of the 
 Brecon College. In Wales, as in England, the Noncon- 
 formists had a considerable number of small Academies for 
 training young men looking forward to the Christian 
 ministry. The tutors were also very often pastors, as was 
 the case with Dr. Fletcher, at Blackburn, and Dr. Pye- 
 Smith, at Homerton ; but the feeling was growing in favour 
 of releasing the teachers from regular pastoral charges and 
 thus making the teaching, as it was thought, more efficient. 
 
 Since the split at Carmarthen, in 1755, the Orthodox 
 Academy in Wales had led a wandering existence, and had 
 been wholly supported by the Congregational Fund Board. 
 In the year 1836, the Board determined to discontinue their 
 grant, unless the Congregational Churches of Wales would 
 bear a part of the expense. When the matter was laid 
 before the churches, they readily promised to do their part, 
 and the institution was removed to Brecon. It was a 
 
207 
 
 critical period in the history of the college, and therefore it 
 was of great importance to have a strong man at the helm. 
 The thoughts of Welsh Congregationalists turned as it were 
 instinctively towards Caleb Morris. Here was a great 
 preacher, a clear thinker, and a born teacher ; if he could 
 only be secured for the post, then all would be well. They 
 were not without hope, for kL. had more than once shown 
 his love for his native Jand. He had also repeatedly proved 
 his interest in the training of young men for the Christian 
 ministry, and in the year 1836 had examined the students 
 of Cheshunt College, in company with William Stroud, 
 M.D. Among the few papers of Caleb Morris that have 
 been preserved is the invitation sent to him by his Welsh 
 brethren on this critical occasion, and I am indebted to the 
 Rey. H. Gwion Jones, Bethel, Liandderfel, for lending it 
 to me. 
 
 It is as follows :— 
 
 ‘To the Rev. Caleb Morris, 
 
 ‘«Rey. anp Duar Brotaer,—We, the undersigned ministers, being 
 fully convinced of your qualifications for undertaking the important 
 office of Theological and Resident Tutor of the Academy about to be 
 established at Brecon, do unanimously invite and most earnestly 
 entreat you to accept of the same; and we cheerfully engage to pay 
 you the sum of pounds annually for your services. [The sum 
 is deleted in the MS.] We are fully aware that the sum we are able 
 to offer is but very small when compared with what you probably 
 receive from the Church under your pastoral care, and now enjoying 
 your valuable ministrations ; but knowing that you have the pros- 
 perity of the Redeemer’s Kingdom in Wales much at heart, we 
 anxiously hope and trust you will be prepared to make some personal 
 sacrifice in order to comply with a request which we deem essential 
 to the prosperity of the Institution on which the welfare of after 
 generations so much depends. And we feel persuaded that you will 
 regard the claims of a whole Principality as superior to those of any 
 individual Church. We confidently trust that the great Head of the 
 
208 
 
 ‘Church would provide a successor at Fetter Lane; but should you 
 decline the invitation, we know not where to look for an individual so 
 well adapted for the office, and so unanimously desired.”’ 
 
 Over one hundred signatures are attached to the invi- 
 tation. It was, in short, the almost unanimous request of 
 the Congregational ministers in Wales. 
 
 Our first impression is that he could not—yes, and that he 
 ought not—to decline such an invitation ; but he did decline 
 it, and we cannot believe that he did this without sufficient 
 reasons. What were they ? 
 
 We may dismiss at once the question of salary. He was 
 quite free from the love of money ; and if he had felt that 
 -God was calling him to Brecon, the amount of remuneration 
 offered would not have stopped him from going. In the 
 Welsh edition I suggested several reasons which might have 
 influenced him, such as the uncertainty of his health, his 
 dislike to the routine of the administrative work which 
 necessarily falls upon the head of such an institution, and 
 
 especially his love of freedom of thought on religious — 
 
 themes. He was of an inquiring mind, and dwelt much on 
 the borderland between theology and philosophy. Such 
 men are apt to express their conclusions in language that is 
 at variance with the stereotyped forms of the schools, and 
 thus lay themselves open to the charge of heterodoxy. Caleb 
 Morris did not escape that charge in his later years, though 
 
 | 
 : 
 ; 
 
 no one was ever more loyal to the fundamental teachings © 
 
 of Christianity. But the fact that he was open to new 
 convictions, and refused to speak dogmatically on certain 
 ‘questions, was sufficient to arouse suspicion in narrow minds ; 
 -and may have caused him to hesitate to accept a position 
 in which safe men were regarded as essential. At Fetter 
 
 ——— 
 
 Lane he had perfect freedom to proclaim the truth as it — 
 appealed to his own mind and heart; and to a nature like © 
 
 his, such freedom seemed indispensable. 
 
209 
 
 I see no reason for withdrawing any of those suggestions, 
 but I then admitted that Dr. Thomas, of Stockwell, was right 
 in laying the chief stress on Caleb Morris’s unique devotion 
 to the church at Fetter Lane, and the passionate attachment 
 of the church to him. The Minute Book of the Deacons of 
 Fetter Lane Church, beginning with the year 1838, which 
 Mr. Arthur Pye-Smith has kindly lent me, fully confirms this 
 view. On Monday, the 6th of August, 1838, the deacons 
 held a meeting, and decided to summon a special meeting of 
 the church for Monday evening, August 13th. There was 
 a full attendance of members, and the following address to 
 Mr. Morris was unanimously adopted at the recommendation 
 of the deacons :— 
 
 ‘Rav. anp Dear Sre,—It being generally known that you have 
 received a requisition numerously signed by the ministers of the 
 Independent denomination of the Principality to take the theological 
 chair of a Dissenting College in: Wales (which may have placed your 
 mind in some degree of doubt as to the leadings of Providence), the 
 ‘deacons and members of the Church of Christ at Fetter Lane, under 
 your pastoral care (whose names are hereunto subscribed), venture 
 affectionately and respectfully to offer a few reasons why they deem it 
 your duty to continue your effective and valued services in your 
 present sphere of ministerial usefulness. 
 
 ‘« Tt has pleased God signally to bless the preaching of the Word to 
 the conversion of numerous souls, and to add more members to the 
 -church—during the time you have laboured among them—than at any 
 similar period in the former history of the church. 
 
 ‘« Tn their humble opinion, the limited sphere of operation to which 
 you have been invited will fail to offer the same advantages in point 
 of population and intelligence for the talent of preaching which you 
 possess in an eminent degree, as the Metropolitan field of labour, and 
 ‘therefore your exertions would prove materially less effective. 
 
 “¢ As the present state of your health does not require you to leave 
 London permanently ; it appears incompatible with the united desires 
 of yourself and a grateful and united people for greater usefulness, 
 that you should leave what has hitherto been, and still continues to 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 be, a successful sphere of ministerial labour, for one of a more Jimited,. 
 untried, and uncertain nature. 
 
 ‘‘ Many collateral reasons of a more detailed kind might be offered, 
 such as the Bible and other classes which you have formed for the- 
 moral and spiritual instruction of young persons of this church and 
 congregation, whose characters you have mainly formed, some of. 
 whom are usefully engaged in ministerial stations, and others are- 
 candidates for the ministry ; besides the loss which the body of Dis- 
 senting ministers, and the various important societies and institutions 
 of London would sustain that now avail themselves of your valuable 
 assistance and service. 
 
 ‘¢ The undersigned therefore strenuously urge you not to hesitate, 
 but at once to decline the invitation, as it is hoped that the reasons 
 already stated, and such others as may occur to your own mind, will 
 have satisfied you that it is not the will of the great Head of the 
 Church that you should at present leave the church and people of 
 Fetter Lane, whose prayers at the Throne of Grace will be unceas- 
 ingly offered for an increase of ministerial success, and for your enjoy= 
 ment of every temporal and spiritual blessing.’’ 
 
 Caleb Morris’s reply was read to the church on Sunday 
 evening, the 16th of September :— 
 
 ‘*To the Church and Congregation assembling at Fetter 
 Lane Chapel. 
 
 ‘¢ My pear Frrenps,—Hleven years have passed since my intro- 
 duction to you as your pastor. During that period we have not been: 
 left without some indications that my settlement among you was 
 according to the will of God; our connection has been peaceful, 
 harmonious, and to some, I trust, productive of spiritual good. In- 
 looking back, we discover, it is true, much to humble us; but we also 
 see much to encourage us. God has not turned away His mercy 
 from us. Let us worship His great condescension and love. 
 
 ‘¢Tt is known to you that I recently received an invitation to- 
 become the Theological and Resident Tutor of Brecon College, in 
 Wales. You know also tkat this has been, for some weeks past, the 
 occasion of great anxiety to my heart. I am confident that you do 
 not blame me for having allowed the subject to engage my thoughts. 
 To have declined the invitation at once, without duly examining its: 
 claims, and comparing them with those of my present station, would 
 
211 
 
 not have been right. It would have indicated a sluggish, selfish 
 disregard to the law of Christian usefulness, and the will of Divine 
 Providence. 
 
 ‘¢ Several considerations have rendered it very difficult to find out 
 the path of duty. The office which I have been requested to fill is 
 highly important on account of its essential and accidental relation to 
 religion throughout the whole Principality. I have been invited to it 
 (theugh very undeservedly) by the unanimous desire of nearly all the 
 Congregational ministers of Wales; the office itself offers opportuni- 
 ties and inducements to prosecute studies to which I am strongly and 
 increasingly attached: also on the grounds of natural relationship, 
 friendly connections, and early religious associations, I cannot but 
 feel a peculiar interest in the moral history of Wales. These con- 
 siderations, not to name several subordinate ones, have created pain- 
 ful doubt in my mind relative to my future course. 
 
 ‘« Tn these circumstances, all that I could do was to use all means 
 within my reach in order to ascertain the will of God, I have tried 
 to do so. I have now taken several weeks to deliberate. I have 
 sought and obtained the counsels of some of the most godly and 
 judicious ministers that I know. I have endeavoured to implore the 
 guidance of the God of wisdom and love. I have truly and honestly 
 considered my relation to you in its various aspects, and at last I 
 haye formed my decision, and I am anxious, without loss of time, to 
 make it known to you my beloved friends. J¢ is my opinion that it 
 is the will of God that I should continue as long as God will permit to 
 labour among you as your Teacher and Pastor. 
 
 «« And now, my dear people, I wish to consider myself, and 1 desire 
 you to consider me as beginning my ministry among you. I trust that 
 this trial, for a trial it has been to me, may prove useful to us all. 
 
 ‘* T have made up my mind to remain with you, because I love you. 
 Ican look on every family, and every individual belonging to the 
 congregation with affectionate feelings. If it had not been so, I 
 should have resolved to leave you. I am thankful to God and to you 
 for the testimony of your attachment to me. I am more thankful, 
 however, for the consciousness I have of the reality and strength of 
 my attachment to you. Without this consciousness, I could not 
 hope to be useful to you. 
 
 “‘T trust I can truly say, that my heart’s purpose is to seek your 
 spiritual good. I hope God will help me to instruct your dear children 
 in the great principles of faith and duty; to stimulate and aid the 
 
 14* 
 
212 
 
 young among you in their holy inquiries and efforts ; to turn all your 
 thoughts and hearts to Jesus, as the saviour of the guilty, as the 
 helper of the anxious and broken-hearted, as the inspirer of faith, 
 holiness, and hope in His church; to aid you all by prayer and 
 sympathy in your trials, losses, and bereayements ; to co-operate with 
 you in seeking the redemption of the people around us, and in 
 spreading truth, liberty, godliness, and peace in the world. 
 
 ‘* Through the mercy of God, I possess more strength to work than 
 ever before. My health is perfect. I fully confide in your fidelity, 
 co-operation, and prayers. My past experience permits me to de so 
 Without this, I should be miserable. I feel that our interests are the 
 same. Your peace is my peace; your crosses are my crosses; your 
 friends are my friends ; your children are my children. Go on to 
 pray forme. I do not forget you. 
 
 ‘¢The revolution of eleven years have produced many changes among 
 us. Misfortune and death have often darkened oursky. Many families 
 and individuals, once connected with us, have removed to distant 
 localities. All the churches in the City of London are liable to many 
 vicissitudes. Many of those whom I received to the church have 
 passed to their happy home. We have been left, but we must soon be 
 separated; the connections of life at the longest must be short. . 
 Parents and children and friends, one after another, take leave and 
 depart. While we live, may we live to God. When the conflicts 
 and services of earth are over, may we, through the grace of God, 
 meet to be happy for ever in heaven. I did not intend to trouble you 
 with so many words, My prayer is that God may pour His peace 
 into all your hearts.—I am, my dear friends, with grateful respects 
 and unabated affection, your pastor and servant, 
 
 “Cares Morzis.”’ 
 
 The first. text after the decision had been made known 
 was: “Our heart is enlarged.” He had been in narrow 
 straits between the claims of Wales and of Fetter Lane ; 
 but now that the matter had been decided, he breathed 
 freely once more, and dwelt securely in the affection and 
 love of his people. He and the people devoted themselves 
 to the salvation of souls with fresh zeal, and renewed their 
 consecration on the altar of Christian service. The fiery 
 trials through which they had passed strengthened their 
 
 , 
 
2138 
 
 mutual confidence, and united them together for a holy 
 enterprise. 
 
 On the 24th of September four new deacons were appointed. 
 Dr. Morrison’s address on the occasion was deemed so 
 appropriate that he was asked to publish it. A discussion 
 took place about improving the singing, and it was decided 
 that the deacons in rotation should read the hymns from 
 the desk, that the old plan of reading two lines at a time 
 should be discontinued, and that the clerk should lead the 
 singing from the gallery. Moreover, it was decided to hold a 
 psalmody practice on Monday evenings, after the prayer meet- 
 ing, which was to conclude at nine o’clock, one of the deacons 
 to superintend it in rotation. It was also arranged to hold 
 periodical social gatherings in order to promote more fellow- 
 ship between the members and friends. These gatherings 
 were called pastoral meetings. More attention was paid to 
 the Christian Instruction Society, and a Sunday afternoon 
 service was established in connection with it. 
 
 Month by month new members were admitted into church 
 fellowship. Fifteen were received in January, and more 
 than sixty in the course of the year. The deacons and 
 minister of Fetter Lane held fortnightly meetings on 
 Saturday evenings to prepare their hearts to seek the Lord, 
 and to implore the blessing of God on their work. In con- 
 sequence of the increase in the number of the communicants 
 it was decided to adopt Communion tickets. New trustees 
 were appointed for the almshouses behind the chapel, and the 
 Society for visiting the sick poor was put in a satisfactory 
 position. I have mentioned these details in order to show 
 how new life was infused into every department of the 
 church’s work, in consequence of the crisis through which 
 pastor and people had passed. The church also expressed 
 its sympathy with the Committee of Brecon College in their 
 
214 
 
 difficulties and disappointments, while Caleb Morris con- 
 tinued to take an interest in the affairs of the College, and 
 pleaded successfully with the members of the Congregational 
 Fund Board on its behalf. It is not often that a difficulty 
 ends so happily and produces such beneficent results. 
 
 Special services to revive and diffuse the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity were held in several parts of London during the 
 latter part of 1838 and the first weeks of 1839. Caleb 
 Morris took an exceptional interest in those held at Surrey 
 Chapel, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. J. Sherman, 
 who had succeeded Rowland Hill. On Thursday morning, 
 November 8th, 1838, Thomas Binney opened the meeting 
 with prayer for an outpouring of the Holy Ghost, after which 
 Caleb Morris read the second chapter of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, making important comments as he passed along. 
 [ take the following outline of his address on the occasion 
 from a little book, entitled ‘‘ The Church Awakened,” which 
 is a record of the mission, and I wish to acknowledge my 
 indebtedness to the Rev. John Lewis, of Tenby, for calling 
 my attention to it :— 
 
 ‘« Having concluded his comments, the reverend gentleman claimed 
 the indulgence of the meeting while he offered a few remarks upon a 
 subject closely identified with the object for which they had assembled. 
 That subject was the connection between prayer and the mission of the 
 Holy Ghost. Faith in this Divinely-ordained connection is essential to 
 the success of these services. A mere hereditary, logical, passive faith 
 in this great truth is of little value. A cold admission of it as a 
 theological abstraction is a very different thing from a free and active 
 submission of our intellect, will, affections, and life to its moral 
 influence, to its quickening power. It is faith in the living, warm 
 spirit of this sentiment, and not in the verbal representation of it, 
 that we ought to pant for. The Christian Church, in its infancy, was 
 full of two things—of prayer and of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost 
 was there. It was there not merely as a Divine personality, not 
 merely as a miraculous agency, but also as a moral power, revealing 
 
 . ee 
 
215 
 
 Christianity to the Apostles themselves, and enabling them to reveal 
 uit to the heart and mind of the world. Prayer was there. The deep 
 sense which the Church had then of her weakness and of her high 
 responsibilities often kept her for many days together on her knees. 
 What else could she do? Deprived of the personal presence of her 
 Lord, hated by the world, and pledged to carry on her great work, 
 ‘she continued steadfastly in prayer. 
 
 «‘ Prayer may be viewed in two lights—as a medium of moral 
 government and as a means of grace. Prayer is an ordained fixed law 
 in the economy of man’s salvation. It has its place and uses there, 
 just as the Bible, the Atonement, and the work of the Holy Spirit 
 have their respective places and uses there. The holy writings show 
 that prayer has an influence not only on msn, out also on the feelings 
 and conduct of God Himself as our moral Governor. He hears it. 
 He answers it. All this implies that it affects, that it influences God. 
 Tt is as certain that God loves prayer as that He loves moral excel- 
 ‘lence; it is as certain that He will answer prayer, as that He will 
 graciously reward -holiness. Our notions of prayer, as one of the 
 great laws of God’s moral administration, are vague and confused. 
 The consequence is that our faith in it is feeble and fluctuating. We 
 say, ‘Perhaps God will answer our supplications’; whereas we 
 should say, ‘ We are swre that God will answer our prayers.’ It is 
 the prayers of light only that can be warm, confident, successful. 
 We are as sure that ‘God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek 
 Him,’ as we are of His existence. 
 
 “* Besides this, prayer, as a means of grace, as an instrument of our 
 umprovement, is of unspeakable worth. It is, in its own nature, 
 adapted to raise, expand, purify, and satisfy the mind. It brings 
 the heart to sympathise with the wise, peaceful happy heart of God. 
 It purifies and protects the character; it wonderfully fits us for our 
 varied duties and our heavy burdens, for our great change and our 
 happy home. Prayer, then, is the highest exercise of power that 
 belongs to man; for by it he at once acts on himself and on his God. 
 Oh, that the love of this power were more intense and operative in 
 the Church! But there is one consideration which remarkably shows 
 the importance of prayer. It is this—the Holy Ghost, even when 
 miracles were its attendant signs, was given generally, perhaps 
 salways, to the Christian Church in answer to prayer. We con- 
 fidently state this as an established truth. It deserves and demands 
 smore attention than has been given unto it. 
 
216 
 
 ‘‘There are two different sources whence we derive our proofs of 
 this doctrine :—First, from the reasoning of the New Testament on the 
 subject ; and, secondly, from certain facts in the New Testament. 
 
 ‘¢ The doctrine of Jesus clearly taught the relation between the 
 ascent of the church’s prayer, and the descent of God’s Spirit. Our 
 Lord declared that the Spirit in an extraordinary manner and measure 
 would be sent forth. He declared also that it would be sent forth in 
 answer to prayer—the prayer of Christ in heaven, and the prayer of 
 the disciples on earth. In the discourses of Jesus at the supper, this 
 truth is taught with overwhelming power and pathos. The prayers. 
 of Jesus are this hour offered for this great gift. Oh, that we could 
 with all our hearts join Him ! 
 
 “¢ But let us next look to the facts. A careful induction of these 
 will lead us to the same conclusion respecting this matter «sdo the 
 teachings of the gospels and epistles. If time allowed, I should refer 
 to five or six scriptural facts; I shall notice two or threeonly. Find 
 out and study the rest for yourselves. 
 
 “1. Christ Himself, as the Father and representative of the Church, 
 received the Spirit while praying. ‘Jesus also, being baptized, and 
 PrayinG, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost DESCENDED in 
 a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven,. 
 which said, Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.’ 
 
 ‘‘ Has this fact received the attention it deserves? Blessed Saviour ! 
 What were His thoughts and feelings when about visibly to undertake 
 the government of the human race? Then His great, benevolent, 
 and Divine mind spread itself over the past, the present, the future— 
 over every part and period of the moral universe. Then He saw all 
 the terrible ecenes through which he was to pass, the world of precious 
 souls He was to save, the dreadful resistance He was to encounter, the 
 high bearings of His work on time and eternity, on hell and heaven— 
 then He saw all this in a pure light. And what did Hedo? He 
 PRAYED! "What the prayer was we know not, but we know the 
 onswer. A luminous body—an emblem of Deity—hovered over Him 
 like a dove; it descended upon Him; the Spirit without measure was 
 given; the Father owned Him as His Son. Wonderful! And was. 
 not this intended partly to show that prayer is the ordained means of 
 bringing down the favour and fulness of God to our poor hearts* 
 Let us look to Jordan’s banks till supplication and hope are kindled 
 in our souls. 
 
 ‘©2. The facts of Pentecost establish our doctrine.—Ten days before 
 
217 
 
 Pentecost, Jesus and His disciples met on a mountain in Galilee by 
 special appointment. Oh, it was a solemn hour! Christ opened to 
 them His purposes, made them responsible for the defence and 
 diffusion of His religion, promised by a symbolic act the influence of 
 His Spirit, and commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the fulfil- 
 ment of the promise; blessed them, and then passed out of their sight 
 to His Heavenly Throne. The disciples returned to the metropolis ; 
 spent time in conference, prayer, and expectation of the Holy Ghost. 
 They spent ten days in protracted devotion. After having waited, 
 and waited, and waited (not passively, but actively) for nine days, 
 lo! at nine o’clock on the tenth day, the Spirit was poured out upon 
 them all! On that day three thousand were converted! Think of 
 this. The Apostles spent parts, at least, of ten days in social, humble, 
 expectant prayer! Where are the Churches which, in modern days, 
 have done anything like this? The infant Church prayed Zilli the 
 Spirit came. Oh, that it were in the heart of the Churches to wait 
 —to look out for the Divine Sanctifier ! 
 
 ‘63, Another remarkable proof of the connection between prayer and 
 the donation of the Spirit of grace is to be found in the fourth chapter 
 of the Acts of the Apostles. ‘The whole of this chapter should be 
 frequently read and devotionally studied by Christians, especially by 
 Christian ministers. We have an affecting account of the imprison- 
 ment of the Apostles for preaching Christ, of their self-defence, of 
 their dismission, and of the charge given them not to preach Jesus ; 
 of united prayer to God for help; and, finally, of the remarkable 
 manner in which their prayer was answered. 
 
 “The Scriptural statements and Scriptural narratives which we 
 have briefly noticed furnish undeniable evidences of the truth of the 
 remark which we are anxious to impress on every soul in this 
 assembly—namely, that there is a divinely established connection between 
 prayer and the bestowment of Divine influence.’’ 
 
XY. 
 
 Comradeship. 
 
 ITHERTO we have had nothing beyond occasional 
 glimpses at Caleb Morris as a ministerial comrade, 
 but what we have seen has been of such a kind as 
 
 to make us desirous of knowing more. His repeated 
 references to his dear brother, John Evans, show that he 
 remained faithful to his early friendships after he had risen 
 to fame in the Metropolis; his letters to John Davies, of 
 Glandwr, are evidences that he was not unmindful of his 
 country brethren ; his touching tribute at the funeral of his 
 neighbour, Thomas Stevenson, reveal a large, sympathetic 
 heart, and had it not been for the destructive flood of time 
 we should doubtless have been able to look with delight on 
 many other examples of brotherly kindness. 
 
 That he was a loyal brother is the enthusiastic testimony 
 ‘of those who knew him in his later days. In the obituary 
 notice which appeared in the Patriot for August 17th, 1865, 
 the writer says :—“ Mr. Morris was a faithful and affec- 
 tionate friend, of great personal goodness, amiability, and 
 generosity ; to know him was to love him, and to love him 
 once was to love him always. He was eminently endowed 
 with the love-inspiring qualities which attach men, and 
 which reciprocate every attachment that is worthy.” 
 
 Unfortunately, the diary helps us very little in this matter, 
 
219 
 
 for the volumes written during the greater part of his 
 London ministry have been lost ; and therefore we have to 
 depend on a few stray witnesses to his sociability and help- 
 fulness. 
 
 Two of these belong to that period of his history which 
 we have now reached. One is in the form of a letter toa 
 fellow minister, and the other in the shape of a funeral 
 sermon and a short memoir to one whose life had been very 
 closely linked with his own. 
 
 The letter is addressed to the Rev. John Davies, of 
 Clapton Park, a son of the celebrated David Davies, of 
 Swansea, known throughout Wales as the “ Silver Trumpet.” 
 He was for a time co-pastor with Dr. Pye-Smith, at the old 
 Gravel Pit Chapel, Homerton, and after the death of that 
 learned divine he succeeded him in the pastorate. His 
 people built Clapton Park Chapel, and he became its first 
 pastor. From another very characteristic letter, which 
 will be inserted in its due place in the narrative, we learn 
 that Caleb Morris was much attached to him. The two 
 had lived together for a period of about seven years, up to 
 the time that Mr. Davies was blessed with a home of his 
 own. I am indebted for the letters to the Rev. D. Anthony, 
 B.A., of Brighton, who was good enough to copy them for 
 my use at the kind permission of Mr. Davies’ daughter :— 
 
 ‘€13, Duncan Terrace, 
 “© July 9th, 1840. 
 
 ““My Dear Brotner,—I Imow your kindness will pardon the 
 officiousness of sound, though somewhat inoperative, friendship. 
 Allow me to express my condolence with you and with the 
 wounded friend of your heart on the present occasion. The Divine 
 Saviour, who loves the babe more than does even the fond mother, has 
 taken it to His own besom. A child with Jesus in heaven! Happy 
 child! Honoured mother! But yet you feel, and acutely feel. 
 Jesus will watch and heal the bleeding wounds of your hearts. 
 
220 
 
 ‘This is a strange trial to you both; I pray that it may be more 
 precious than gold purified in the fire. 
 
 ““T doubt not, my dear brother, but you will be able to love 
 the Saviour of your babe more warmly, and preach Him more 
 efficiently after this dark dispensation. I am confident that sweet 
 light will fall on this black hour of grief. 
 
 ‘May I beg that you will offer most respectfully and tenderly my 
 sincere sympathy to Mrs. Davies. The sources of consolation are 
 too well known to you both to need my humble aid to discover them. 
 More deeply than ever I am convinced that nothing will do for us but 
 much, very much, communion with God in prayer in the name of 
 Jesus. May you, my dear friend, and your distressed wife, find 
 relief on your knees before the Father of the family in earth and in 
 heaven. 
 
 “‘T fear that this humble but upright aim to soothe you will only 
 deepen the sadness of your spirits. You will, however, forgive the 
 error of anxious sympathy, wishing that you may be enabled to bless 
 Him who gave and who has taken away. 
 
 ‘‘T am, my dear Brother, 
 ‘* With sound affection, 
 ‘* Yours always, 
 
 ‘© Cares Morais. 
 ‘¢ To the Rev. John Davies.”’ 
 
 The Rev. Nun Morgan Harry, pastor of New Broad 
 Street, and one of the secretaries of the Society for the 
 Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace, was another 
 of his London ministerial friends of whom he was very 
 fond. There were many reasons for this special fondness. 
 They were natives of the same county, for Mr. Harry 
 belonged to the parish of Lampeter Velfrey, near Narberth. 
 We find Caleb Morris at the ordination at Banbury in 
 1827 of Nun Morgan Harry, who had followed a preparatory 
 course at Newport Pagnell Academy. And when the latter 
 removed from Banbury to London, they became very inti- 
 mate companions. They often met for conversation on 
 divine things, and knelt together in prayer unto God. 
 Sometimes they would break forth into their native Welsh. 
 
221 
 
 Only those who have been in similar circumstances can 
 understand the charm of a companion who has been brought 
 up in sight of the same hills, aad to the sound of the same 
 music, amid the same social surroundings, and under the 
 sway of the same religious influences. How frequently they 
 talked over the beauties and glories of Pembrokeshire, and 
 lived over again the delightful days of yore ! 
 
 They often discussed the important work of preaching, 
 and once a month co-operated in the composition of a 
 sermon. On one occasion, at least, this led to a suspicion 
 of plagiarism. The Rev. A. Shadrach, of Pembroke Dock, 
 was spending a Sunday in London, and went to hear Nun 
 Morgan Harry in the morning and Caleb Morris in the 
 evening. Both took the same text, and the sermons were in 
 many respects similar, the chief difference being a few 
 poetical and philosophical touches in Caleb Morris’s sermon, 
 with a greater elegance and copiousness of language. Mr. 
 Shadrach went on at the close of the service to thank Caleb 
 Morris for his sermon, and added, “I heard it, or at least 
 one very much like it, from Nun Morgan Harry in the 
 morning.” “ Ah,” replied Caleb Morris, “ do you think one 
 of us is a thief, or that both of us are robbers? Come with 
 me to supper and you will have an explanation.” During 
 the evening’s conversation Mr. Shadrach was told how they 
 made a conjoint sermon about once a month. When a text 
 had been selected, each of them would express his views 
 about the best method of treating it; and after much 
 discussion and interchange of thoughts they would construct 
 an outline of a sermon, which each one filled up afterwards 
 _ in his own way, and preached on the following Sunday. 
 
 Such was the sermon thas Mr. Shadrach had heard that day. 
 I express no opinion on this method of composing a sermon, 
 beyond saying that probably it was much better than many 
 
222 
 
 that are now in vogue; in any case, it illustrates the com- 
 plete confidence which existed between the two friends. 
 
 But, alas! this close intimacy was interrupted by death, as 
 the friendship between Caleb Morris and Thomas Stevenson 
 had been ten years earlier. Nun Morgan Harry became 
 very ill in the autumn of 1842, and Caleb Morris was his 
 most regular and welcome visitor. He writes :— 
 
 ‘During my last interview with him, only a few hours before his 
 departure, I said, ‘You must not let your mind sink. Remember 
 what we preach about death, the soul, and God.’ ‘Oh, no,’ said he, 
 with a smile and deep emphasis, ‘my mind does not sink.’ I with- 
 drew, but by his request I was soon recalled; then, with an earnest 
 look and tone, he said in his native language, ‘ Dyddenweh fy 
 nghwraig, am plant bychain, gweddiwch drostynt a chyda hwynt’ (Console 
 my wife and little children, pray for them and with them). I 
 signified my assent, and left him with his God. Blessed be God, the 
 trials and tears of His servant are over, the victory is won, thesoul is 
 ascended.”’ 
 
 He died on October 22nd, 1842, and was buried at Abney 
 Park Cemetery on October 31st. The leading ministers of Lon- 
 don took part in the funeral service, among them Dr. Morrison, 
 Dr. Pye-Smith, Rev. J. Clayton, M.A., Rev. Joseph Berry, 
 Rey. Thomas Binney. The funeral sermon was preached by 
 Caleb Morris at New Broad Street Chapel. There are men 
 still living who heard this sermon ; I know two—Dr. W. T. 
 Edwards, Cardiff, and the Rev. F. Fox Thomas, Reigate. 
 The chapel was crowded, and hundreds were unable to obtain 
 admission. Caleb Morris had great difficulty in going 
 through the introductory part, on account of the disturbance 
 at the doors. This tried him sore, for he was very particular: 
 about getting perfect quietness during the devotional part of 
 the service. He did with the sermon preached on this: 
 occasion what he did with no other—that is, he revised 
 it and published it. This was done in order to benefit the 
 
223 
 
 widow and five orphan children that were left. Apparently 
 a goodly sum was thus realised, for the copy in the Free 
 Library, Cardiff, belongs to the sixth thousand. To the 
 sermon a brief memoir of Nun Morgan Harry was attached 
 by his friend, in which his admiration and affection are very 
 evident. A few extracts may be fitly quoted :— 
 
 ‘He who only a few Sundays ago preached in this pulpit is now lying 
 cold and silent in yonder cemetery. You will see him no more, you 
 will hear him no more. I said he sleeps in yonder bed; surely yor 
 cannot mistake my meaning. It is only the earthly, the material 
 part that is there. Not but that we should reverence that, for it was 
 once the house of the soul, and the consecrated temple of its God. 
 The Saviour watches its repose; He will raise it up at the last day 
 and endow it with immortality. But the man, the man as to his 
 essential and indestructible elements, is not there. The spirit reigns 
 in life and breathes perfection. Who will venture to deny that its 
 recollections and care and love of you—you, his sorrowing family and 
 his bereft congregation, still remain? Who will venture to say 
 that its eye is no longer on your path, and that its warm sympathies 
 are no longer round your being? 
 
 ‘< Tt was not his practice to talk much about the vicissitudes of his 
 experience, the winter and summer, the tempests and sunshine that 
 passed over his soul, yet sometimes he would freely open his heart. 
 He often did so tome. Often, very often, did we pray together in 
 secret, But oh! my brother, never again wilt thou kneel by my side 
 to breathe thy kind intercessions for thy friend! Still, I rejoice that 
 thy prayers are ended, that thy songs have begun.” 
 
 The little book closes with a reference to the ministers. 
 that had died during his stay in London, and with an appeal 
 to the ministers that were still permitted to carry on the 
 Master’s work :— 
 
 “Where are Wilks, Hyatt, Waugh, Burder, Rippon, Winter, 
 Orme, Hughes, Ivimey, Rowland Hill, and many others whom we 
 well remember? All are gone, gone to their happy rest. Among- 
 
 them, to-day, is he who on the first Sabbath of the last month 
 joined with you here in commemorating the Saviour’s love. Now he 
 
224 
 
 “sees and serves the Saviour on high. Oh, my brother, thon art not 
 lost, thou livest with the spirits of the perfect and the blessed ; thou 
 art with Christ, which is far better! Our hearts look for the day 
 when we shall meet thee again, and then shall we be ever with the 
 Lord. ‘And now, brethren, being compassed about with so great a 
 -cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which 
 doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is 
 set before us, looking unto Jesus.’ Trusting his faithfulness, leaning 
 on the arm of His might, let us cheerfully tread the way of the desert, 
 ‘for we, too, shall soon be at home.”’ 
 
 The sermon has been reprinted in the “ Homilist” and 
 in “Pulpit Memorials” as a specimen of Caleb Morris’ 
 ‘style of preaching. The selection is probably due to the 
 fact that it is the only sermon revised by the author. The 
 Rey. W. Farrer, B.A., LL.B., writes that he and two other 
 Homerton students acted as amanuenses in preparing it for 
 the press. The sermon is simple and noble in conception, 
 and it contains many fine passages; but personally there 
 are several sermons which I should choose in preference to 
 it, notwithstanding the fact that they were unauthorised 
 versions, and were declared by Caleb Morris himself to be 
 inaccurate and inadequate. 
 
 It is not @ funeral sermon of the old-fashioned kind, for 
 there is only one reference in it to the departed. Basing 
 his remarks on Acts xiii. 36—“ David, after he had served 
 his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep ”—the 
 preacher inquires how men can and why men should serve 
 their own generation. In any collection of Caleb Morris’ 
 sermons it would necessarily occupy a prominent place, but 
 ag it may be seen in the “ Homilist” and in “ Pulpit 
 Memorials” I have decided not to include it in this 
 biography. 
 
 One quotation, however, I feel bound to make, in addition 
 to the quotation which has been already made in the first 
 
2295 
 
 chapter. After describing the age of David, the preacher 
 proceeds :— 
 
 ‘‘ But if it is instructive to look, through the dim shadows of the 
 past, on the age of David, which is now blended with those of 
 eternity, is it not more instructive, more profitable still, to con- 
 template the one in which we live, move, and have our being—our 
 own? If itis useful to think of him over whose grave thousands of 
 years have already rolled, is it not also well to remember the loved 
 one whose spirit has but just put on the white robe ; whose dust was 
 consigned to its long rest only six days ago; whose tones of truth 
 and pathos are still in our ears; and whose presence mysteriously 
 
 _communes with our hearts by day and by night? It is; and the 
 attendance and the tears of this vast multitude prove that they 
 think so. 
 
 “* My belief that your lamented minister had served his generation 
 by the will of God when he fell on sleep led me to the selection of 
 the text. My plan, however, is not to mingle direct references to 
 his history with the illustration of the subject. This would, possibly, 
 be more acceptable, but it would be less useful ; it would embarrass 
 the preacher, break the unity of his remarks, and excite, rather than 
 instruct, the congregation. Detaching the text, then, from all 
 particular relations, I shall proceed to explain and enforce the 
 universal truth which it indicates.” 
 
 The Evangelical Magazine for March, 1843, refers to it in 
 the following terms : 
 
 “*The funeral discourse is distinguished by all those qualities of 
 mind and heart which so eminently characterise the efforts of our 
 esteemed friend and brother. Irrespective of the charitable design of 
 applying the profits arising out of its sale to the benefit of the widow 
 and children, it is eminently deserving of a wide circulation as a 
 composition rich in all those appeals which tend to ameliorate the 
 heart, and to make Christians more fit for the better country beyond 
 the grave.”’ 
 
 This verdict has been endorsed by many, and in some 
 cases in a way which cannot be commended. That Caleb 
 Morris’s sermons were often preached by other men is beyond 
 
 dispute, though the exact form of the stories that are related 
 15 
 
226 
 
 on this matter may not be always correct. There can be 
 no doubt, however, about a remarkable case of plagiarism 
 in connection with this sermon; several who heard the 
 account from Caleb Morris himself have communicated the 
 fact to me. He was staying in the neighbourhood of 
 Cardigan after his retirement from the ministry, and one 
 Sunday morning he felt a strong desire to hear a Welsh 
 sermon, and weat to a chapel where a memorial service was 
 to be held in honour of a local minister who had just passed 
 away. The preacher was thunderstruck as he saw him 
 entering, and went to him and besought him to preach. 
 When he firmly declined, the preacher said, “ Well, Mr. 
 Morris, I have made use of one of your sermons in preparing 
 for the occasion, I hope you will not be angry with me.” 
 “Oh, no,” was the swift reply ; ‘‘ go on, my brother, do your 
 best, and God bless you.” He had thought that the preacher 
 had merely received suggestions from the sermon, but it 
 turned out that he had translated it almost word for word. 
 Naturally he was annoyed at that, for it was dishonest and 
 lazy. He was delighted if other men found his sermons 
 helpful and inspiring, and were moved by them to think and — 
 work for themselves ; but such barefaced stealing as he had 
 witnessed that day deserved the severest condemnation. 
 However, he dealt very tenderly with the offender, believing, 
 probably, that to have been found out was in itself a 
 sufficient punishment. 
 
 This incident has led us away for a moment from the 
 period with which we were dealing; to it we now return. 
 Even among the meagre records that have come down to us 
 there are several things which show the high esteem in 
 which Caleb Morris was held by his brethren. Their 
 readiness to supply his pulpit during his illness, and his 
 election to be one of the trustees of the Evangelical Magazine 
 
227 
 
 may be mentioned. He was also in great request at ordina- 
 tion services. The part generally assigned to him was the 
 ordination prayer. To hear him pray on such occasions 
 was an experience never to be forgotten. It is recorded 
 that he attended an ordination service at Ventnor in July, 
 1839, and at New Court Chapel, Carey Street, in November, 
 1840. In 1842 he preached at the opening of Aldersgate 
 Street Chapel. I have casually come upon these records, 
 doubtless others exist, and many more services are un- 
 recorded. This chapter, indeed, is nothing more than a few 
 scattered fragments to indicate that he was a brother 
 beloved and greatly honoured ; but, as far as I know, no 
 materials exist for a fuller account of this important and 
 fruitful season of his life. 
 
 15* 
 
XV 
 Visit to Wales in 1843. 
 
 DEATHBED AND SANCTUARY, MOORLAND AND SBA. 
 
 NCE more we can avail ourselves of the guidance of 
 
 the diary—and first of all we find a very full account 
 
 of a journey to Pembrokeshire in the year 1843. 
 
 This is the most interesting and pathetic of all his records, 
 
 and the present chapter consists entirely of extracts from his 
 diary, with a few explanatory remarks. 
 
 July 20th. 
 
 ‘« This is on many accounts an important day tome. On it I left 
 my house, 13, Duncan Terrace, which I had held for nearly ten 
 years, and dismissed my servants, Bevan and Mary. Felt guilty that 
 Thad not tried to do them more moral good; think I have not been 
 neglectful of their temporal happiness. Left London for Wales. 
 Reached Bristol about 9. May the mercy of God forgive my faults 
 up to this day, and bless this change to myself and others. 
 
 “ Friday, July 21st. 
 ‘Left Bristol for Swansea. Did no good, received no good. A 
 day lost! 
 “« Saturday, 22nd. 
 
 “ Reached Carmarthen, where I spent nearly seven years at college. 
 The place much altered in its relations to me; many of my old 
 intimate friends—nearly all—gone to the other world; others altered 
 in person, circumstances, and character. Conversed with the Rey. D-. 
 
229 
 
 Davies, Pantteg, the present theological tutor; Lewis, a student in 
 Yorkshire; and Anthony, a student at'Homerton. [The Revs. J. 
 Lewis, Tenby, and D. Anthony, B.A., Brighton.] Began to feel 
 more than usual for the moral state of Wales; but my mind hard and 
 burdened with painful recollections of my past negligence and un- 
 fruitfulness, 7 
 
 “ Sunday, 23rd. 
 
 “* Worshipped twice at Lammas Street Chapel. Heard, with profit, 
 Mr. Jones, Baptist minister, in the morning; in the evening Mr. 
 Davies, Pantteg, preached. He possesses natural talent to do great 
 good to men. How important to /abowr, for it is never in vain. 
 Spent the day with Mr. Lewis, one of the deacons, an amiable and 
 consistent man, Mrs. Thomas, and others. On the whole, got on a 
 little in holy thought, feeling, and desire this day. 
 
 ** Monday, 24th. 
 
 “Called on severa] of my old acquaintances. Especially enjoyed 
 the society of Howells, Jones (deacon), Harries (W. Methodist). 
 Had some conversation with a few friends respecting the desirableness 
 of establishing an English Independent cause at Carmarthen. CanI 
 do anything more in the matter? 
 
 ‘© Tuesday, 25th. 
 
 ** Left Carmarthen at 4 by mail, and reached Cardigan by 10. 
 The aspect of the town somewhat improved. A funeral was one 
 of the first objects that attracted my attention. Found my few 
 friends here well, and received great kindness from them all. Heard 
 that my brother, who had been for some months unwell, was very 
 ill. Left immediately in the hope of seeing him alive. 
 
 ‘« Arrived at Park-yd about 8, and found my poor brother very 
 low, apparently near death. Felt a melancholy pleasure in being 
 permitted to see him in the flesh. Oh, how many thoughts sprang 
 up when I saw him on his bed of death! 
 
 <*26th.—My brother easier, spent most of the day with him. 
 
 “«27th.—Left my brother in his weakness. Went to Cardigan to 
 arrange with Mr. Lloyd for the Sabbath, which I had engaged to 
 spend at the Tabernacle, Haverfordwest. Found him as amiable, 
 pious, and zealous as ever. Oh, it is good to witness the constancy 
 and perseverance of our best people. Returned to Coedcenlas and 
 ‘Park-yd, the scene of affliction.”’ 
 
230 
 
 fe Pachatn it may be well to remind the reader that Park-¥d' 
 ras the birthplace of Caleb Morris. When the father 
 removed to Coedcenlas, his son Jacob remained at Park-jd 
 and worked hard there to rear his young family. He was 
 disposed to be somewhat careless about religion. The 
 
 diary proceeds. 
 ‘© 28th and 29th. 
 
 ‘¢ Still watching and conversing with my brother and our family, 
 Mauch gratified to find him so penitent, anxious, and free n his con~ 
 versation respecting his eternal well being. 
 
 ** Sunday, July 30th. 
 
 ‘* T was permitted onca more to worship at Penygroes, where I aca 
 to hear the Gospel in my childhood ; where I felt first the influence of 
 religious thought and sentiment ; where I made an open profession of 
 religion when fourteen years of age; where I preached my second 
 sermon, with a view to be judged by the Church as to my qualifications 
 to be a preacher; and where I received an unanimous ‘ call’ to 
 exercise my humble gifts in the great work. 
 
 ‘« Blessed be God, who has permitted me hitherto to attempt to 
 serve Him in the Gospel. Oh, how careless, thoughtless, indolent, 
 selfish, vain, and worthless has been my poor life since I gave myself 
 to the holy work of the ministry. I am ashamed, and ought to 
 mourn bitterly before God and men. Time has been wasted, talents 
 have been hidden, self has been too much consulted and served. I 
 feel that I need absolution, divine renewal and strength of will to do- 
 my merciful Master’s work. 
 
 “‘T tried to give an exposition of the second chapter of the Acts of 
 the Apostles: Found my Welsh rather rusty, not having practised it. 
 much during the last twenty years. But what a blessing to be able 
 to speak to my own nation, in its own tongue, of the wonderful works 
 of God ! 
 
 ‘¢Spent the remainder of the day at Coedcenlas with my parents: 
 and relations, being rather indisposed, 
 
 ** Monday, 31st, and following days. 
 ‘Spent this week with my poor, sinking, dying brother.” 
 
 Before coming to the next entry, it seems desirable to 
 
231 
 
 explain a term found in it—namely, “ Rhés.” It is the 
 Welsh for moorland, and is the name for the comparatively 
 
 A 
 
 PRESCELLY RANGE FROM THE RHO. 
 
 level ground at the base of Voeldrigarn and Carnalw (Echo 
 Rock). It is a stony region, with patches of heather and 
 
| ” 
 PM ~ UN) f\ Nury\ 
 WN 
 232 
 
 peat. Several streamlets flow through it, and along these 
 rushes, moss, and watercress grow. The brooke form pools 
 and lakes, where the cattle drink, and in which the sheep 
 are washed in the shearing season. Considerable portions 
 of the “ Rhos” have been enclosed through the diligence of 
 the labourers, many of whom live on the little holdings 
 created by their own industry. In one of these small houses 
 Caleb Morris preached his first sermon. Doubtless he had 
 spent much of his time when a boy on the moorland, and he 
 had often crogsed it on the way to the service at Brynberian. 
 The view shows the “ Rhos” and Echo Rock, with Prescelly 
 in the distance. 
 
 Saturday, August 5th. 
 
 ‘‘Spent the greater part of the day on the ‘Rhdés.’ Revisited the 
 rude grey stones, the pure little springs, the living rivulets, and the 
 little green spots, which kindled the poetry of my boyhood, lost till 
 
 , now, lost for ever. One little purling stream in particular seemed to 
 recognise me, and after a separation of more than thirty years to 
 
 q address me thus: ‘I am as pure, as active, as free, as unostentatious 
 (for seldom does anyone condescend to notice me) as ever; and art 
 thou sot’ Little stream, thou condemnest, thou humblest me, thou 
 makest me weep, though I cannot say exactly why. 
 
 “¢ Oh, how I have enjoyed this solitary, reflective, melancholy walk ! 
 I have felt the reality, the subduing and sanctifying influence of 
 poetry. What are the splendours and beauty of England's scenery, 
 what are the richest specimens of its architecture, what are its proudest 
 monuments of civilisation, science, art, and wealth, to ME, in com- 
 parison with this barren scene, where I began to see, to admire, to 
 hope and to pray? Here the hand of man has done little or nothing ; 
 here the voice of man has seldom been heard—gesticulated speech, 
 never; here the sin of man has found no incentives, has left no out- 
 ward monuments. For thousands of years these bare heaths and 
 yonder ‘cairns’ have remained much the same as I see them to-day. 
 Here I feel as in the silent temple of nature, as in the presence of the 
 Great Eternal. 
 
 “May this hour of early recollections, of sweet associations, moral 
 
233 
 
 sonviction and resolution, prove the effectual means of renewing my 
 being, and making it more pleasing to the God of my life. 
 
 «What is the mysterious influence that this quiet, retired scene has 
 thus spread over all my mental and moral sensibilities? I have felt 
 what I can neither describe nor comprehend. How sacred is nature! 
 How deep and durable are its impressions on the spirit of man! 
 How conducive to goodness are all things! How infinitely great and 
 good is God. I feel that the world was made for man, that man was 
 made for God. 
 
 “Sunday, August 6th.— Morning. 
 
 “¢ Visited the Sunday-school at Penygroes. Very few children pre- 
 sent learning to read, but the number of adult teachers and learners 
 very great. This kind of Sunday-school is unknown in England. 
 It is admirable. The Bible is read in classes, and questions are asked 
 by a teacher or leader, and answers are returned by each member of 
 the class, This plan answers well; it keeps the people from wander- 
 ing and idling under the name of going to ‘ meeting’ to hear sermons, 
 it promotes Biblical knowledge very effectually, it promotes freedom 
 and communication in divine things, it secures an acquaintance with 
 the theological and religious character of the people, and it is directly 
 calculated to produce mutual love and mutual inspection. Any plan 
 that binds men to the Bible and to each other must do good. 
 
 ‘* 7 was delighted to see so many assembled for mutual instruction 
 in this way. Great good has been done in this neighbourhood, How 
 different now from what it was twenty years ago. This is making 
 the church a school, as it should be. 
 
 “< Afternoon. 
 
 “‘ Benjamin James, of Glandwr, preached from ‘ Come, ye blessed 
 of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world.’ There was a second service called ‘ ewrdd 
 bach ’ (little meeting), at which the people were questioned as to 
 what parts of the sermon had impressed their minds and hearts. 
 The design of this was ot to criticise either the preacher or the ser- 
 mon, but to ascertain the devotional state of the people while hearing 
 the discourse. The proper management of such an exercise requires 
 great wisdom, tact, and personal knowledge of the parties interro- 
 gated. The adult school promotes knowledge, the ‘cwrdd bach’ promotes 
 devotion. The Welsh churches do not Jay so much stress on preach- 
 
 —en 
 
234 
 
 ing (exclusively almost) as the English do. Moreover, the religious 
 exercises already mentioned are the best means of bringing people to 
 appreciate and understand sermons. ; 
 
 ‘“T was requested to make some general remarks on the paragraph 
 whence the text was taken (Matt. xxv. 31-46). I tried to do so. 
 Jesus Christ takes a deep interest in hwman misery, and is desirous to 
 abate and extinguish it. Jesus expects His disciples to be occupied 
 in the work. They are to do it for Him. He considers what is done 
 to the miserable as done to Himself. ‘Ye did it to Me.’ Jesus will 
 call His disciples to an account respecting this; yes, aiimen. He will 
 reward the faithful in the work, and punish the unfaithful. Chris- 
 tians think too little of this because preachers think too little of it. In 
 this they are unlike Christ. Let us bear in mind the duty of relieving 
 the miserable, and the sinfulness of neglecting them. The conduct of 
 men in these matters is made the test of character, and the basis 
 of retribution. 
 
 ‘‘ Monday, 7th. 
 
 “Spent the day with my brother. Expected him to die about 12, 
 but he revived from the alarming fit. He expressed his hope in the 
 mercy of God, as he had often done before, and said to me, ‘ Dear 
 Caleb, dear Caleb, dear Caleb, now I see how differently we have 
 spent our lives !’ 
 
 “Oh, that I had spent mine better than Ihave! Felt shame and 
 guilt when I heard his confession. He said, ‘God has saved great 
 sinners like me.’ This, too, is my comfort. 
 
 “¢ Tuesday, 8th. 
 
 ‘“‘The Revs. David Rees, Llanelly; J. Davies, Glandwr; and 
 J. Thomas [afterwards Dr. John Thomas, of Liverpool] dined with 
 me at my father’s house, Mr. Rees said he had been recently called 
 to visit a dying sailor—a native of Newport—who, when talked to. 
 (agreeably to his own request), said, ‘It is of no use to trouble me 
 now about religious matters, it is too late!’ Awial! What is to be 
 thought of such a thing? He soon died! 
 
 ‘¢ Went to Brynberian to the opening of that place of worship. 
 
 “‘Tn the evening, heard an admirable sermon from Mr. Lewis, 
 of Henllan. He Jabours evidently to study and to preach ; and 
 labour in the Gospel—in anything good—is always rewarded! It is- 
 delightful to hear such a minister in Wales. God preserve and 
 bless him ! 
 
| 
 
 we hha av hank 
 
 235 AC Wank \ SAH v, | 
 
 «Had some confidential talk with the Rev. John a ae. 
 his relations and difficulties in connection with his charge at Peny- 
 groes. The prosperity of a church, under God, depends almost 
 entirely on the pastor. I see this. I feel the solemn importance of 
 the truth in its relation to myself. Oh, may God mercifully grant me 
 health of body and of sowi to labour among my own people at Fetter 
 Lane. For several years I have done but very little good, I fear, 
 among them. May the God who knows me, and hag hitherto 
 permitted me—the most unworthy of His servants—to remain in His: 
 work, spareme! I hope that the visit to the healthy air of Wales, 
 and to its pious peuple, will fit me bodily and mentally to serve Christ 
 at Fetter Lane. 
 
 “ Wednesday, 9th. 
 
 “ Attended the ordination of Mr. Lewis at Brynberian. Mr. Rees 
 of Llanelly’s introductory discourse impressed me greatly. Heis an 
 excellent preacher. It is very important to speak freely and boldly, 
 as well as in a kind and devotional spirit, the things of God. I 
 offered the ordination prayer in in the Welsh language. May God hear 
 it, and bless this good young man who is settled over this large 
 church where, in my early days, I used frequently to hear the Word 
 from those who are silent. 
 
 “Took tea at Tyllwyd. I must write to Mr. Davies to try to do 
 him good. I find that he is not a Christian. May God help me to. 
 do what I can to save him.”’ 
 
 Before proceeding to the next entry, we may pause and 
 reflect for a moment, and also obtain another ray of light on 
 the events of the last two days. They were great days for 
 the district ; the chapel at Brynberian was reopened, and a 
 new pastor was ordained over churches where Henry George 
 had laboured so successfully for fifty years. We know 
 to-day that Caleb Morris’ prayer on behalf of the young 
 minister was abundantly answered, for Mr. Lewis proved to 
 be a man of God in the district for over fifty years. Another 
 ordination was to be held at Newport the same week, and 
 in connection with these meetings many of the leaders of the 
 Welsh Independents had come to the quiet district : Lewis, 
 
236 
 
 of Henllan, the saint and philosopher; Rees, of Llanelly, 
 the popular preacher, social reformer, and model pastor ; 
 Davies, of Glandwr, the Biblical scholar; and Mr. John 
 Thomas, whose great work for Wales was yet to come. 
 The presence and words of these men gave a powerful 
 impulse to every good work. 
 
 But let us return to Coedcenlas, and place ourselves near 
 the dinner table, in the raised parlour. There are David 
 Rees and John Davies, John Thomas and Caleb Morris, 
 What is the theme of the conversation ? We have seen from 
 the reference in the diary to the dying sailor that religion 
 and the salvation of sinners was an important matter to 
 those who sat at the table. Let Dr. John Thomas, one of 
 the authors of Hanes Eglwysi Annibynol Cymru, throw addi- 
 tional light on the meeting. He writes, in reference to 
 Caleb Morris : “‘ We remember well that it was at the house 
 of a relative [his father’s house], in the neighbourhood of 
 Penygroes, we saw him for the first time. In the summer of 
 1843 we were accompanying Mr. Rees, of Lianelly, to the 
 ordinations of Mr. E. Lewis, at Brynberian, and of Mr. 8. 
 Thomas, at Newport; and as there was a long-standing 
 friendship between Mr. Rees and Mr. Morris, when Mr. 
 Rees heard that he was at home, he went to see him, and 
 naturally we went also. Mr. Morris was in the house, 
 having just returned from a visit to a sick relative [his 
 brother], who was at death’s door. That relative had not 
 made a public profession of religion, and it was evident that 
 this was a cause of great anxiety to Mr. Morris; but he had 
 obtained much relief from a conversation with him ; and he 
 went on to say: “ You in Wales lay too much stress on 
 church membership, and the result is that many think that 
 to be the sum and substance of religion.” Mr. Rees replied: 
 “And you in England lay too little stress on church member- 
 
237 
 
 ship, and the result is that there is no importance attached 
 to the public profession of religion.” Then there arose a 
 sharp conflict between the two, as to which of the two ex- 
 tremes was the most dangerous, and in connection with 
 something which Mr. Morris said, he referred to some little 
 bubbling spring that he had seen that morning, with the 
 crystal stream flowing from it, and the moss and cress grow- 
 ing along its banks; and as he was describing these, he 
 poured forth such a flood of glowing poetical expressions 
 that we could see everything vividly before us. All his 
 conversation was full of poetry.” [It is scarcely necessary 
 to remind the reader of the Meditation on the Rhos. | 
 
 In reference to the ordination prayer Dr. Thomas 
 writes :— 
 
 “‘We seldom heard anyone praying who so impressed us with the 
 sense of devotion. We shall never forget the solemn prayer which he 
 offered at the ordination of the Rev. E. Lewis, Brynberian. We 
 must say that it was the nearest approach to our ideal of an ordination 
 prayer which we ever heard. There was no noise and tumult, no flow 
 of words, nor any attempt at eloquence, none of those things which 
 are considered essential to catch the popular ear; but he appeared. 
 unto us like a high priest entering into the presence of God on behalf 
 of the congregation, and commending the church and its young 
 minister unto Him. We felt atthe close that, if anyone had ever been 
 properly ordained, Mr. Lewis had certainly been so ordained that 
 morning, and we were told by those who knew Mr. Morris well that 
 there was nothing exceptional in his ministration on that occasion, 
 for his public prayers generally reached that high level.”’ 
 
 After this short excursion, we return to the diary, and 
 come to one of its most pathetic pages :— 
 
 “© Thursday, August 10th. 
 
 ‘* This day my brother died at 5 a.m. at Park-yd, where he, my 
 sisters, and myself were born. This is the first near relative I have. 
 ever lost. What asolemn hour! The sun was pouring in through 
 the opened window its fresh, soft, reviving light; but the spirit of 
 
238 
 
 death was there filling the chamber, and revealing itself in the 
 saddened countenances, the low whispers, the suppressed sobbings, 
 and the anxious watching looks of relatives and sympathising friends. 
 The agonised mother and children were weeping apart, each heart 
 absorbed in its own bitterness, and unconscious for the time of all 
 besides. 
 
 ‘‘ And there was my poor brother, pale, emaciated, ghastly, 
 struggling hard and alone with the last enemy. Already the last 
 word had been uttered, the last look in material things taken, the 
 last salutation given. His breathing was hard, but regular ; his 
 frame became very slightly agitated ; the countenance grew paler; I 
 bent forward to watch the expression of his countenance. My friend, 
 John Picton, said: ‘I believe heis gone.’ He was gone for ever! 
 Oa, my brother! May the impressions and purposes of this hour be 
 as lasting as my passing life. 
 
 ‘¢ My father, who is eighty-one years of age, entered the room, saw 
 the dead, and loudly wept. We all wept. Oh, may all the family 
 meet above! How strong is natural affection! How important to 
 do all in our power in due time to promote the salvation of relatives ! 
 We should speak kindly and perseveringly to them. God blesses, 
 generally, such means. How attentive and affectionate children 
 should be to their aged parents! Let the blessing of God, the Father 
 of all mercies, rest on the widow, Ruth Morris, and on the children, 
 Martha, Anne, Caleb, Mary, Phceebe, Eunice. 
 
 “« Friday, 11th. 
 
 ‘¢Spent most of the day in attempts to improve this visitation. 
 Went in the evening to Penygroes to the ‘Society.’ This day accom- 
 panied my father to select a spot where to deposit the remains of my 
 brother. New work. Someone will do the same for me soon. 
 When? Who? Where? If it please God to take me while in 
 Wales, I should like my poor mortal dust to rest in this ‘ Mynwent’ 
 (burial ground) near my relations. It is now likely that both my 
 father and mother, who cannot be far from death, will sleep in the 
 same enclosure. May we all as a family meet in the world of mind. 
 
 “<< Saturday, 12th. 
 
 “‘ Heddyw Claddwyd fy mrawd (To-day my brother was buried). 
 Spoke of the importance of temperance at the church meeting, when a 
 poor brother was disciplined for excessive drinking. What a curse is 
 
 ri 
 
239 
 
 drunkenness to many in Wales. The temperance movement has 
 done indirectly immense good. May those who are anxious to 
 improve the social and moral habits of the people be encouraged. 
 Mr, Evans is faithful, go is his son. < 
 
 a 
 
 Une S 
 “ Sunday, 13th. WVHA 
 ‘« Spoke at the ‘ Table,’ and at the school in the evening. 
 
 “ Tuesday, 15th. 
 
 ‘t Wrote nine letters, and conversed with poor Ruth and my family. 
 Sad scene! Poor Jacob gone !”’ 
 
 LV 
 
 One or two expressions in these extracts may need a word 
 of explanation. In the course of the week before Com- 
 munion Sunday, two meetings are generally held in Welsh 
 churches. One is usually held on Friday night, and is called 
 the “society.” It is an opportunity for receiving new 
 members, and also for the members to narrate their Christian 
 experience. On Saturday a preparatory meeting is held, at 
 which only church members are present. Cases of discipline 
 are dealt with at this meeting, and the minister generally 
 delivers an address or sermon. During the distribution of 
 the bread and wine on the Sunday the minister addresses 
 the communicants. This is the speaking at the “Table” 
 mentioned in the diary. The reader will observe that his 
 brother’s death and funeral did not prevent Caleb Morris 
 from attending religious meetings and taking part in them. 
 Why should they ? What place more fitting in the darkness 
 of sorrow than a Christian sanctuary, and what influence so 
 healing as Christian service ? 
 
 Nearly a month has elapsed since Caleb Morris left London 
 for renewal of health and strength, but he has had no real 
 rest; on the contrary, his nature has been subject to a 
 constant strain. He must seek something different from 
 this if he is to return to London with a fresh store of energy 
 for the winter’s work. Hence we are pleased to notice that 
 
 7 
 
240 
 
 on Wednesday, the 16th, he leaves for Haverfordwest. He 
 was a great favourite at the Tabernacle, and he had many 
 true friends there ; so he seldom or never came to Wales 
 without visiting the town at which he received part of his 
 education, and where his early religious impressions were 
 deepened and intensified. Having arrived at Haverfordwest, 
 he writes :— 
 
 ‘Was most kindly received by my very dear friends, Mr. Lloyd 
 and his excellent family. Felt grateful that we were permitted once 
 more, after a separation of six years, to meet in health, comfort, and 
 with hearts anxious still to cleave to the Cross and cause of Jesus. 
 This meeting brought to mind my past defections of heart, life, and 
 ministry. Blessed be that patient, long-suffering, forgiving God, 
 who has not cast me out of His Church, His work, His heart. Oh, 
 that I could love much, for I have been much forgiven.” 
 
 © Sunday, August 20th. 
 
 “¢ Preached at the Tabernacle, morning and evening. The congre- 
 gations large and attentive. Oh, what a poor organ of God amI! 
 I am not what I ought to be, might be, nor, I fear, what I was once. 
 I have not cultivated myself for God. My voice, speech, manner, 
 presence, intellect, spirit, are far inferior to what God and men and 
 conscience demand. Iam a barren fig tree, little improved by the 
 culture and care of the Divine proprietor. I feel that I am too prone 
 to leave things as I find them. I forget that I have a mission to 
 every congregation, family, and person to whom Providence intro- 
 duces me. I profess myself to be a reformer under Jesus, and 
 therefore to be wiser and holier than the mass of beings with whom 
 T have todo. Iought to be above them in real excellence as I am 
 above them in name. I ought to govern men’s minds and feelings and 
 doings, and not be governed by every thing and person about me. 
 A minister of Christ should have doldness and decision blended with 
 real humility and love. If he rules not in men’s minds and lives, he 
 is neither what God nor what men expect him to be. It is necessary 
 that a minister should make time, the intercourse and etiquette of 
 friendship, the daily arrangement of business, the body, the will— 
 the inward man and the outward world, obedient to himself as their 
 master. God told man as soon as He had created him that he was to 
 
 ear 
 
241 
 
 rule—rule all around him. Man is destined and constituted to rule 
 for God and by God. He should do nothing in his own name and 
 for hisown name. My thoughts, my words, my looks, my all should 
 be the ministers of my will, My will should be the minister of God.” 
 
 We next find him at Milford, with the Rev. W. Warlow 
 and his family. Together they sail on the magnificent 
 haven, and Caleb Morris writes : “ What a glorious creation 
 is the sea! Its vastness and activity are both the products 
 and emblems of the Great Spirit. The sight and the influ- 
 ence of it kindle the spirit, brace the nerves, and invigorate 
 the whole system of man.” He inspects the largest ship 
 ever built at Milford, and dines with friends, but is much 
 troubled because he left them without social prayer. 
 
 On Sunday, September 3rd, he preaches again at the 
 Tabernacle, Haverfordwest, morning and evening, and also 
 at the Baptist Chapel in the afternoon. Concerning this 
 service he writes: “Many hundreds went away because 
 there was no room for them. The congregation seemed 
 affected. May God cause the service to be of permanent 
 benefit.” 
 
 The following week he receives an invitation from Wm. 
 Rees, Esq., lawyer and magistrate, to spend a few days at 
 his summer residence in Broadhaven, the favourite seaside 
 resort of the people of Haverfordwest. He calls it “an 
 enchanting little place.’ The quietness of the spot, the 
 salubrious air, the grand view of ocean, rocks, and cliffs were 
 to him refreshing and invigorating. The fine stretch of 
 sands—a mile long and half a mile broad—the clear blue 
 sea, into which no fresh water stream or rivulet flows, the 
 sloping hills that shelter it, north, south, and east, together 
 with the quaint old-fashioned whitewashed houses, all com- 
 bined to delight him. He writes:— 
 
 ‘‘ The bathing here seems to agree with my constitution. It gives 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 briskness, vigour, and animation to my whole frame. How very 
 greatly our mental energy and moral activity depend on the presence 
 and influence of material objects. I wonder at my own folly in 
 having so greatly neglected such scenes as this. I have lost much by 
 my neglect of God's works. His seas and His lands were made to be 
 seen, and to be looked upon as signs of His invisible beauty. 
 
 ‘‘T have neither read nor studied much since my arrival here. To 
 the pleasures of conversing with intelligent and kind friends, of 
 bathing in the sea, climbing the rocks, strolling through the fields, 
 lounging on sofas, and looking with half-closed eyes over old news- 
 papers and drawing-room books—to such sensuous pleasures as these 
 I have sacrificed the gratification of severe studies. This is best, 
 perhaps, as I have come hither for recreating the body, and not for 
 informing the soul. Yet it is a dangerous thing to leave the mind to 
 be unemployed, or employed only in the service of the senses for any 
 time and under any pretence whatever. 
 
 The co-activity of body and mind is necessary to the health and 
 vigour of each. The body must be cared for in order that it may 
 serve the spirit; it must have its rights; moderate rest, moderate 
 nourishment, and moderate exercise it must have; but if the body © 
 is to be active in obeying the soul, the soul also must be active in 
 ruling the body.”’ 
 
 As the Sunday approached he became anxious about the 
 Sunday services. The entry for Saturday is important, for it 
 throws light upon his general method of preparation for the 
 pulpit :— 
 
 “ Saturday, 9th. 
 
 ‘« Spent the whole of the day in a state of drowsiness. Tried to 
 prepare my mind and heart for the holy services of the morrow ; but 
 failed. I begin to fancy that I feel indisposed on every Saturday by — 
 the law of periodical influence. On account of hard study on a Satur- 
 day, and the moral anxiety that attendsit, I have for years felt unwell 
 on that day of the week. Perhapsthis habit of body and mind has 
 created the weekly depression to which I am so subject towards the 
 latter part of the week. Little do I understand the complex laws that 
 role my complex system. Resolve to prepare for the Sunday before 
 the Saturday, and to devote the last day of the week to recreation 
 and other exercises which shall tend to invigorate the ‘ natural man,’ 
 i 
 ¢ 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
243 
 
 The soul cannot work unless its organ be ina good condition. Atten- 
 tion should be given to the nerves, spirits, voice, and general tone of 
 the bodily organism.”’ 
 
 I do not know whether he kept the above resolution. It 
 was a great pity he had not formed it and carried it out 
 years earlier ; for it is certain that the weekly strain on 
 Saturday had injured his constitution and deepened his 
 natural gloom. 
 
 His host at the Haven was a Baptist, and on the Sunday 
 he wrote :— 
 
 ‘<Preached in the afternoon at the Baptist place, a neat little 
 building which has been erected at the expense of my friend, Mr. 
 Rees, to a full congregation from ‘Occupy till I come.’ Spoke 
 with freedom and, I trust, with some desire to be the humble means of 
 doing good to the people. . After the sermon, administered the Lord’s 
 Supper to the Baptist Church. Never before, I understand, was such 
 a thing seen in Wales. The absence or the rarity of the practice is 
 not very honourable either to the creed or to the charity of the Welsh 
 Dissenting Churches. It is far otherwise, it is foolish, wicked, 
 injurious, that the Baptists and Independents, instead of helping and 
 Joving one another, should be quarrelling and manifesting a persecuting 
 spirit. I hope, however, that better views and better feelings and 
 practices are about to be introduced among the orthodox denomina- 
 tions, not only in Wales, but all over Christendom. This was the 
 first time for me to enjoy the holy pleasure of administering the 
 supper to a Baptist Church, I hope it will not be the last, for I have 
 experienced great delight in this hour of Christian fellowship. Resolve 
 by the help of Jesus not to allow myself to be tempted by the foolish 
 bigotry of either the ‘immersera’ or the ‘sprinklers’ to feel or act 
 uncharitably towards my Baptist brethren. 
 
 ‘© Tt is love only that can bind and bless the disciples of Jesus. 
 ‘ Meetings for union,’ wherever held, can do but little good. Union 
 must be an intelligent, spontaneous, humble thing, not addicted to 
 self-praise, self-devotion, or self-seeking, It must be the product, 
 expression, and consummation of individual piety—the piety of light 
 and love. The true nature and model of Christian oneness described 
 by Jesus in the 17th chapter of John. It is such a union as subsists 
 between Jesus and His Father. This is not union in faith, worship, or 
 
 ho 
 
244 
 
 mode of operation, but in moral character, will, and design. Real union 
 must and will show itself. Where it is not seen it does not exist. May 
 the Spirit of Jesus fill the hearts of His followers, then shall they be 
 one, asthe Son and the Father are one !”’ 
 
 Caleb Morris was equally pained when he witnessed any 
 signs of narrowness among the Independents. A few Sun- 
 days after this he writes : “Attempted to dissuade the school 
 at Penygroes from having a catechism on Baptism in its 
 polemical bearing. Strange that people should like so much 
 to quarrel! How little is the Spirit of Christ felt and 
 exhibited by His disciples!” Since his day we have moved 
 a little away from these comparative trifles; but, alas! 
 there is yet far too much wrangling over forms and cere- 
 monies while millions are perishing through sin and misery. 
 
 At this time the Rebecca Riots were creating a great stir 
 in Pembrokeshire. They were primarily directed against 
 the exorbitant and vexatious tolls demanded at the turnpike 
 gates. Parties of strong men, disguised in various ways, often 
 in the garb of women, would assemble in the darkness of the 
 night, beat the toll-keeper, take the gate off its hinges and 
 shatter it. So serious did the matter become that the aid of the 
 military had to be invoked, and the county was in danger of 
 being severely punished for rowdyism and rebellion. The 
 ministers of the county met frequently to consider the solemn 
 aspect of affairs. They sympathised with the people, for they 
 knew what hardships were inflicted on them; at the same 
 time, they could not approve of the violent methods adopted 
 for seeking to remove the grievances. 
 
 The following occurrence, narrated by the Rev. F. Fox 
 Thomas, of Reigate, is typical of what often took place :— 
 
 ‘¢ When I was engaged in preparatory studies at Narberth, Rebecca 
 came and smashed one of the toll-gates. This brought soldiers to the 
 town; but Rebecca was not to be daunted by soldiers, and she was 
 determined to smash another gate in spite of them, One dark night 
 
245 
 
 a bonfire was lighted near the workhouse, which stood on a height 
 about one mile away. The cry, ‘ Rebecca is burning down the work- 
 house,’ rang through the town. The soldiers mounted their steeds 
 and galloped off to the scene of the fire. Rebecca laughed, saw 
 her chance, advanced to the gate, tied the hands and legs of the 
 anathematising toll-keeper, deposited him in an adjoining field, 
 shivered the gate, and vanished like mist.”’ 
 
 Caleb Morris was present at a great meeting held in 
 Haverfordwest on the subject, at which all ministers were 
 asked to seek Divine guidance in the matter and exhort 
 their churches. A meeting was held soon after at Penygroes 
 Chapel, at which Caleb Morris spoke for an hour and a half. 
 He sought to dissuade the people from violence, and urged 
 them to struggle for their rights in a Christian spirit. 
 Though he disapproved of the form of the agitation, he 
 evidently sympathised with the people rather than with the 
 authorities, and in reference to the movement he writes : 
 “May this be the beginning of good for Wales.” In 
 connection with these riots he further remarks :— 
 
 “The mental and moral activity of the Welsh people is in advance 
 of their material condition. Their spiritual happiness is greater than 
 their temporal comforts. They have much elasticity of character, and 
 attempts to repress it only increase it. The politics of Wales are 
 aristocratic; its religion is democratic. But now Wales is on the 
 move; itis in a state of expansion. Beccaism, bad though it be, is 
 an expression of inward development. It is a sign that the reign of 
 immobility is passing away. Numbness and inactivity in civil matters 
 are gone. Beccaism has made people of all classes think of their 
 individual and social interests, and a new era has begun. There is 
 
 a power at work—may it be wisely guided and directed to noble ends! 
 There is great need for reform ; let us work and pray for our father- 
 
 land.”’ 
 
 Since that time a wonderful development has taken place 
 in Wales. The Rebecca movement ended in a fiasco, but the 
 people had been aroused, and did not fall back to sleep 
 again. The great national awakening, however, did not 
 
 / 
 
246 
 
 take place until 1868, when the whole Principality was 
 stirred by the proposal to disestablish the Irish Church. 
 Since then Wales has voted solidly for progress and reform, 
 and continues to plead for peace and liberty, educational 
 advancement, and religious equality. 
 
 Caleb Morris’s long visit to his native country is drawing 
 to a close, and once more he turns his face towards the great 
 city. On the Sunday he writes: “ Last Sabbath in Wales! 
 O Lord ! forgive and bless!” And on the following Thurs- 
 day we find the entry :— 
 
 ‘«Teft my home and my dear relations. Felt a good deal. My 
 beloved father accompanied me to Cardigan, where I took the mail for 
 Carmarthen. Shall I ever see my parents again on earth? Lord keep 
 them in the path to heaven. Comfort them in their old age. Dispose 
 me and their servants to be kind to them, Hear my prayers for them, 
 hear theirs forme. Let us all meet at last in our eternal home, for 
 Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.” 
 
XVII. 
 Che Guide and Jnspirer of the Doung. 
 
 S soon as Caleb Morris had been received a church 
 
 member, at the age of fourteen, he began to instruct 
 
 the people in religious truth, While in Wales he worked 
 hard to establish and develop Sunday Schools in the 
 Narberth district, and during his ministry at Fetter Lane 
 he paid special attention to the training of the young. In 
 a report issued in 1844, we read :— 
 
 “The Sunday Schools were never so prosperous as at this time. 
 Theyare chiefly religious in aims and offices, The education of the children 
 of the poor—of all children—should have a religious character. Its 
 aims, materials, administration, and epirit, all should be religious. 
 The love of God should be its fountain, the Bible its law, and nothing 
 lower than the redemption of the soul its ultimate end. It is religious 
 culture that nourishes the intellect, checks youthful passions, builds 
 up conscience, opens the eye of the spirit to duty and devotion, sows 
 the seed of good character, prepares for both worlds, and unites with 
 God the child, the man, the immortal being. 
 
 ‘«The number of children educated on the Sabbath is more than 
 300, under the care of nearly 40 teachers. Your Committee desire to 
 be thankful to God for the great benefits which He has mercifully 
 dispensed through the agency of these schools. Many who now 
 occupy useful and honourable positions in society had little or no 
 instruction but what they received in the Fetter Lane Sunday 
 Schools.”’ 
 
 Caleb Morris took real interest in the Sunday Schools. 
 
248 
 
 He also conducted a Junior and Senior Biblical School for 
 the young, and encouraged the “Christian Instruction 
 Society.” One of the scholars who attended these schools is 
 still living, Mr. Robert Dyer, a time-keeper at Mr. Hudson’s 
 works in Liverpool. The Rev. W. Thomas, of Bootle, 
 Liverpool, has kindly interviewed him, and says of him :— 
 
 ‘< He is now eighty years of age, and has been a total abstainer, an 
 advocate of Disestablishment, and a member of the peace party for 
 over fifty years. He has a good library, and possesses some know- 
 ledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac. He attributes his devotion to 
 these and kindred studies to the impulse received from Caleb Morris.” 
 
 Mr. Dyer writes :— 
 
 «« When I first recollect Caleb Morris, I could not have been more 
 than eight years of age. At that time he used to visit the Sunday- 
 school about once a month. On one occasion my teacher brought 
 him to me in consequence of a question I had asked, a question which 
 he thought above my age. Mr. Morris took me aside and talked with 
 me, and ever afterwards was interested in my progress. 
 
 ‘‘He was in the habit of catechising the scholars in the chapel 
 periodically, and on one occasion, when I was answering rather 
 freely, he asked a difficult question which I was unable to answer. 
 He afterwards told me he was not surprised at my failure, and he 
 advised me strongly to learn to read God’s word in the languages in 
 which it was originally written. To help me along he lent me books 
 from his library, and I used to go on Monday mornings to his house 
 to receive lessons from him, Later on he added that I should also 
 learn German, saying that I should then be fully furnished as a 
 theologian, adding: ‘The English will never write books like the 
 Germans, they are too eager to get money to become a studious 
 nation.’ : 
 
 ‘Tn his preaching he took advantage of what he called the Biblical 
 School, which was a class he conducted as he would a class of college 
 students. In dealing with a subject in the pulpit, he would often 
 say, ‘ We considered that in the Biblical School a few weeks ago, there- 
 fore, I assume that you understand it.’ He expected us to take notes, 
 and used to say that he should like to see all his congregation with 
 paper and pencil, ‘because what was worth hearing was worth 
 
249 
 
 remembering’; and that it was impossible to remember everything 
 which one desired without some aids to memory. 
 
 “As regards his manner of preaching, the pulpit was on a level 
 with the vestry, and was shut off from it by folding doors, which 
 were generally open when he preached. He had ona gown of superior 
 material and make, with very large sleeves, a stiff, upright collar 
 around his neck, with a very broad band falling on his chest. At the 
 beginning of his sermon, he stood near the folding doors, but as he 
 built up his argument, he gradually advanced towards the front of 
 the pulpit; and, then as he brought forward point by point, he took 
 hold of the corner of his handkerchief, and raised or lowered it ac- 
 cording to the course of his thoughts ; and as he approached the climax, 
 he stood erect, showing his full height and stretching out his arms 
 with the large sleeves of the gown. Then he would gradually move 
 back and go on in a more even style, and again rise to a grand climax. 
 He was a strenuous advocate of action in speaking ; and I have never 
 seen such striking and appropriate action as his when in his most 
 powerful and moving moods. As he became stouter he often leaned 
 over the pulpit, and seemed to be addressing especially the people just 
 below. 
 
 “ He was fond of taking a striking phrase as the theme of a sermon, 
 such as ‘The First Sight of the Cross,’ and sometimes he would 
 preach a course of sermons on a subject like ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ 
 In reference to the long prayer, it was really long; but his prayers 
 were the most beautiful, heartfelt, and reverential I ever heard.”’ 
 
 The report already referred to makes mention of the 
 British schools connected with Fetter Lane Church, which 
 were established in the year 1839. The motives which led 
 to their establishment is indicated in the report : “The 
 natural teachers of children, unquestionably, are the parents ; 
 but as thousands of parents in the wider and darker circles 
 of society have themselves neither the time, the talent, nor 
 always the disposition to teach their own offspring, duty, 
 interest, and love call on others to be helpers or substitutes 
 in the work.” Nearly fowrteen hundred children had been 
 admitted into the schools since their formation, and the 
 average attendance in 1844 was 180 boys and 130 girls. 
 
? 
 250 
 
 The cost to the church amounted to about £130 a year, in 
 addition to the heavy outlay at the beginning. For over 
 ten years this educational work was carried on, and thus 
 while many were talking much and doing nothing in the 
 matter of education, the church at Fetter Lane, under the 
 guidance and inspiration of its minister, was taking its 
 share in the important work of developing the intelligence 
 and training the character of the rising generation. 
 
 The preaching of Caleb Morris was also a strong educative 
 and inspiring influence, and had great fascination for the 
 young. Mrs. Adeney, of Clapham (see page 127), writes :— 
 
 ‘¢ T well remember, after his settling at Fetter Lane, how eagerly I 
 assented, when a girl, to an occasional invitation from my father, in 
 the absence of our pastor, Dr. Leifchild, ‘ Would you like to go with 
 me and hear Caleb Morris to-night ?’ and how I used to listen with 
 rapt attention to our friend in the old-fashioned chapel. Though 
 there are so many years since Mr. Morris left London, and thirty- 
 nine years since my father passed away, the name of ‘ Caleb Morris’ 
 is always precious, and any reference to him which I occasionally see 
 in the religious newspapers brings up many sacred memories of both. 
 His portrait hangs up in the same room with my husband and 
 father, and he shares in the love and reverence Lowe to them—all 
 now in glory.” 
 
 Miss Diplock, of Hastings, has kindly granted me the 
 use of two of her mother’s note-books, in which she had 
 preserved portions of the sermons and prayers of her 
 favourite preachers. Caleb Morris was especially precious 
 to her, for she was converted under his ministry at Fetter 
 Lane. Up to the end of her life she would repeat many of 
 his sentences, and often mingled his prayers with her own. 
 She published a little book, “ Fragrant Memories,” in which 
 there are many extracts from Caleb Morris’ prayers and 
 sermons. 
 
 His power over thoughtful young men and students for 
 
 — -. Se, ee Oe ee 
 
 © 
 
PLTNPA 
 
 251 
 
 the ministry was unique. We have already referred to the 
 magnetic influence which he exerted over David Thomas (of 
 Stockwell) at Narberth and in London, and there is abundant 
 evidence that this was nothing exceptional. 
 
 Griffith Hughes, a student of Hackney College, writes in 
 1836 :— 
 
 “Tam enjoying the privileges of the Gospel in all their fulness, 
 purity of doctrine, depth of thought, and riches of eloquence. The 
 chapels are numerous and the opportunities are very many. I gener- 
 ally go to hear the Rev. Caleb Morris, whose ministry I feel to be 
 
 very vital, searching, and solemn, full of the depth of divinity and the Ny 
 riches of the Gospel, which are set forth in all their sweetness and SS 
 glory. Often the congregation breaks forth into tears, and the silence 
 of the audience is very remarkable. THis spirit is so full of heaven en 
 that he often prays for half-an-hour. The last communion Sunday a 
 the service began at half-part ten and lasted till half-past one, and YS 
 yet I did not feel I had been in the chapel half-an-hour. I go to AL 
 
 hear him a distance of four miles, though there are many chapels 
 nearer,”’ 
 
 ~e. 
 The Rev. D. Griffith, of Bethel, Carnarvon, writes to say S 
 that, in the year 1841, he and several other students, including < 
 Thomas Nicholas (afterwards Dr. Nicholas), were present at 
 the ordination in Liverpool of Mr. Appleford, a member of xX 
 Fetter Lane Church, and Caleb Morris offered the ordination ae 
 
 prayer. Other prominent men, such as Dr. Raffles, took part 
 in the services, but none of them impressed these young men as 
 the minister of Fetter Lane did. ‘ He stood erect, under the 
 pulpit, with his coat buttoned and his right hand laid on 
 his breast. His dignified and solemn aspect was most 
 impressive. He prayed for about half-an-hour; it was a 
 very striking and never-to-be-forgotten prayer.” 
 
 Writing from Coward College, on the 23rd of January, 
 1843, Mr. H. R. Reynolds (afterwards Dr. Reynolds, of 
 Cheshunt) says: ‘‘I enjoyed last Sunday extremely. Heard 
 
252 
 
 Caleb Morris preach a divine sermon in the morning, and 
 heard Binney preach in the evening the most intensely 
 glorious sermon that I have ever heard from him.” He and 
 Binney were the ideal preachers of the students of those 
 
 days. The Rev. D. Anthony, B.A., of Brighton, writes to 
 
 say that Thomas Binney and Caleb Morris were the inspira- 
 tion and delight of his student days, and he refers particularly 
 to the wonderful charm of Caleb Morris’s prayers. Professor 
 Burdett, of Haverfordwest Baptist College, once said to the 
 Rev. B. Thomas, of Narberth (Myfyr Emlyn) : “ When I 
 
 was a student in Stepney College, all the students used to go — 
 to hear Caleb Morris, and we were delighted with him. 1 ~ 
 
 seldom heard his equal when he was at his best.” 
 
 Rev. P. W. Darnton, B.A., of Hendon, who was baptized ne 
 Caleb Morris, and whose taper and mother were members 
 of Fetter Lane, writes :— 
 
 ‘¢ When I was a student at Homerton I used to call on Mr. Morris 
 
 and have breakfast with him occasionally ; and I well remember the 
 walks afterwards in the direction of the college and the difficulty I 
 
 had in getting up to time, owing to his habit of standing still (often 
 in the middle of the road) to emphasise some point on which he was 
 insisting. I havenever met aman who so combined intellectual force 
 
 with absolute simplicity and unworldliness, He was a child in all 
 
 worldly matters ; buta sage and a poet in soul.” 
 
 The Rev. J. H. Poulter, of Wimbledon, writes :— 
 
 ‘“« T became a member of Fetter Lane in the early forties. During 
 
 those years, when occasionally in London for a Sunday, it was my ~ 
 
 good fortune to hear him at times; and sometimes it was not my 
 good fortune, as I supposed, to find myself taking part in the service 
 in response to a request from the vestry, On week days I occasion- 
 
 ally spent some time with him, either as his guest at the Terrace, — ¥ 
 
 or as his companion or hesrer in his suburban strellly especially on 
 Hampstead Heath. He was a wonderful talker.” ‘ 
 
 4 ‘Aya \ ah The Rev. John Lewis, of Tenby, writes :— 
 ni 
 
 ‘« Almost from my childhood the name Caleb Morris was a house- 
 
 bey mT dane Thue 
 Ww 
 
 t 
 
2538 
 
 hold word to me. He was one of the model preachers of the age, a 
 preacher specially to preachers, as well as to thoughtful and cultured 
 young men who needed a guide and friend to help them to stand 
 
 against the evils and temptations of their London life. I have myself 
 known some who, through his ministry, were fortified against the 
 dangers of sin and infidelity, and who afterwards became able ministers 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 **T never knew anyone who had such power over young men. If 
 they had any intellectual or moral capacity, it was certain to be 
 developed under the quickening touch of his hand. After listening 
 some hours to his profound and yet versatile talk, one’s whole nature 
 
 was stirred, enlarged, and greatly enriched. In his later years he 
 reminded his friends—by his absorption in his favourite topics, and by 
 the subtle, deep insight into the foundation of things, which rivetted 
 the attention of his silent and admiring listeners—of Samuel Taylor 
 Coleridge as described by his biographers. Whether in public or 
 private, he spoke with an unction and a pathos which, aided by his 
 deep, quivering voice, and an exquisitely tender expression, thrilled 
 those who heard him.”’ 
 
 The Rev. Robert Davey, of Streatham, to whom I am 
 greatly indebted for the great readiness with which he has 
 helped me, writes :— 
 
 ‘“‘T first heard the great preacher in the year 1837 at the opening 
 of a new chapel in a small country town. The sermon was from one 
 of his favourite texts: Romans x. 1-4. It was a never-to-be-for- 
 gotten crisis in my life. The grand and majestic appearance of the 
 preacher in the pulpit—the magnetic tones of his voice, changing 
 with every varying feeling as he unfolded his theme—the countenance 
 beaming with spiritual light which glowed within—are as vivid in 
 my recollection to-day, as when I heard and gazed with delight over 
 sixty yearsago. Five years afterwards I was admitted as a student 
 into Homerton College, and one of my longed-for privileges was to be 
 a frequent hearer of one who had so deeply impressed me. In this 
 I was frequently disappointed, as Mr. Morris’ health began about 
 that time to decline, so that he was often unable to preach. But his 
 powers as a preacher were even then manifest from the numbers of 
 people who would assemble outside the chapel, watching tosee if he 
 entered the pulpit. If he did, there was an inrush for vacant seats. 
 
254 
 
 The people were not attracted by a noble building, for a more dismal 
 structure than Fetter Lane Chapel could not be conceived; nor did 
 the splendour of the music act as a spell to draw, for there was 
 neither instrument nor choir, The sole power was in the preacher. 
 Aud what was the secret of that power? His great personality. 
 That was made up of many elements, matchless powers of thought, 
 feeling and sympathy; and these were woven into the beautiful 
 texture of a Christ-like life. 
 
 ‘A few young men (students) belonged to what might be called 
 an inner circle of disciples, whose affection he won by his untiring 
 
 devotion to guide and quicken their minds and hearts by his fresh and — 
 living thoughts. We took down his sermons as we could, and lent — 
 
 them to each other to copy. To this group belonged the Rey. 
 S. Palmer Davies, B.A.; the Rev. W. Farrer, B.A., LL.B. ; the 
 Rev. T. W. Chignell, of Exeter ; and others, 
 
 “‘These sermons would not be to those who did not know Mr. 
 
 Morris what they are to those who did, for they are like the dried — 
 flower to the living one while full of fragrance. TI can, after fifty — 
 
 years, fill the words and sentences with the very life and soul of the 
 preacher. His whole being was on fire, and that fire was conveyed 
 through every word. 
 
 ‘* He was aseer, He was one of the first to hail the dawn of a 
 new and brighter day.”’ 
 
 Mr. Davey also remarks: ‘ The sermons of all preachers at — 
 
 that time were stiff, formal, and on the lines of theological 
 tradition. Caleb Morris broke through all that, and spoke 
 in language fresh from the divine life within him, and un- 
 encumbered with the forms of scholastic theology. The 
 
 thoughts which are now familiar were regarded with suspicion — 
 
 when first uttered by him. To him largely belongs the merit 
 
 of preparing the minds of his countrymen to receive them.” 
 
 Of the persons mentioned by Mr. Davey, two still remain 
 —one is the Rev. W. Farrer, who is vividly remembered by 
 all New College students for his genial kindness and the 
 transparent sincerity of his Christian character. I regret 
 that, owing to the infirmities of advancing age, he has not 
 
 es ee 
 
255 
 
 been able to write his reminiscences, but he informs me that 
 he acted as one of the amanuenses in preparing the sermon, 
 the “Servant of the Age” for the Press, and says that there are 
 very few persons for whom he had such reverence and esteem 
 as for Caleb Morris. The other is the Rev. T. W. Chignell, 
 who has sent me very interesting reminiscences ; but he 
 emphasises the statement that they are altogether inade- 
 quate to express the hold which the memory of Caleb Morris 
 has on his heart and imagination. He writes :— 
 
 *T entered Old Homerton College when I was eighteen ; that was 
 in 1848, Caleb Morris was on the Committee, and in his dread hands, 
 with the rest, hung the chance of my admission, That was the first 
 sight I had of him. 
 
 “JT suddenly became an ardent admirer of Thomas Binney's 
 preaching; his manliness, his naturalness, his power to paint a 
 picture, his healthy earnestness overmastered me. 
 
 “One Sunday I went to hear Caleb Morris preach at Fetter 
 Lane. His handsome form and face, his head of black hair 
 that curled naturally and overspread his head without any part- 
 ing, made him a striking figure. He prayed extemporaneously, as 
 he always did. ‘The first sentences transported me: ‘He that 
 cometh to Thee must believe that Thou art; how can we doubt that 
 Thou art. Wehear Thee in every wind, we see Thee everywhere.’ 
 And on the prayer flowed as a mountain torrent, I was chained to 
 him from that hour. The music and intensity of the voice, the 
 imaginative power, the poetry, and, above all, the vivid religiousness 
 of that soul, took possession of me, and I soon became an intimate 
 friend. 
 
 “‘T was young and inexperienced, but my affinity for his nature 
 drew me to him, I was always welcome to his house. We often 
 went to Hampstead Heath ; it was his favourite haunt. I never 
 missed a service. After his Monday evening service, I used to walk 
 home with him. He was specially splendid on those Monday evenings. 
 He had one prayer; and then starting from some chapter in the 
 Bible, he allowed his mind to wander into the finest meditations. He 
 was the most eloquent speaker I ever heard. Binney had rugged, 
 picturesque eloquence, exquisitely splendid; but Caleb Morris lost 
 
256: 
 
 himself in the depth of ideas and in a mountain river of passionate, 
 musical, and poetical speech, How often did he carry me off my 
 feet, and made tears stream from my eyes at the pure beauty of his 
 word and thought, his poetic and religious fire. 
 
 ‘‘ Binney and Caleb Morris were religious giants; they were head 
 and shoulders above all the preachers, and they recognised each 
 other's greatness. Binney would meet Caleb Morris on Saturday and 
 say, ‘ Caleb, I have only one subject for to-morrow ; tell me another.’ 
 Then Caleb would suggest one, and tell him how to treat it, until 
 Binney would say, ‘No more, or it won’t be my own.’ ”’ 
 
 In his memoir of Thomas Binney in “ Pulpit Memorials,” 
 Edward White speaks of the sympathy, tenderness, and 
 poetry of the pastor of the Weigh House Chapel, and says : 
 “The effect on numbers of the younger sort was electrical, 
 and not a few writers and preachers of the present generation 
 acknowledge that they owe some of the best life of their lives 
 to the early teaching of Mr. Binney.” 
 
 Similarly it has been said of Caleb Morris, “ His charming 
 personality and his pulpit ministration had a magnetic 
 influence over a large class of thoughtful young persons who 
 were wont to throng Fetter Lane when he was in the prime 
 of his powers.” 
 
 As we read these glowing descriptions we feel aggrieved 
 that so little remains to enable us to appreciate his charm as 
 a preacher. Except the sermon already referred to, he 
 published none of his discourses. Some scores of outlines, 
 transferred from notes taken by his hearers, have appeared 
 in the Homilist and the Preacher’s Lantern, of which a list 
 will be given at the close ; but though these set him before 
 us as a clear and suggestive thinker, they are very defective 
 as examples of his pulpit power. We have the skeleton, but 
 the warm, living soul is absent. I have been much interested 
 in Mrs. Diplock’s note-book, and I feel that the extracts in 
 it bring the great preacher before me more vividly than the 
 
S 
 
 7] 
 
 a7 
 
 t 
 
 published outlines. ‘They are only brief notes, but to the 
 writer they would call up the preacher in all his fascination, 
 just as a few sentences in a note-book will bring before us a 
 grand view upon which we once gazed with delight. They 
 cannot do this for strangers, yet the glimpses they give help 
 us to realise something of the attraction which the preacher 
 had for the earnest souls of his generation. The following 
 selection is fairly typical : 
 
 ‘* My dear young friends,—Are you in earnest about religion? Is it 
 the business of your life? There are some Christians who never 
 appear to be in earnest. They do not show to all around them that 
 they are Christians, and when they come to die, no poor are weeping 
 because they lose a benefactor, and they sink to the grave unbeloved 
 and unlamented, They do rise to heaven, but they are ‘saved so as 
 by fire.’ Oh, my young friends, aim high and seek for the abundant 
 entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ! ”’ 
 
 “‘We have time, we have talents, we have energies, but we want 
 heart. The wpostles gave their hearts to their work. Jesus Christ 
 gives His heart to His work, and the great God Himself gives His 
 heart to His work. Oh, Lord, give us hearts to work for Thee.”’ 
 
 “Our Saviour, after speaking to His people of the fact that the 
 fields were white already to the harvest, beautifully turned the minds 
 of His disciples to the jields of minds that were awaiting moral culture. 
 I would not be presumptuous, but I believe that the great God’s mind 
 and heart and affections are fixed upon this one supreme work—the 
 training of the human mind in this world in order that it may rise 
 and rise and rise to the throne of God Himself.”’ 
 
 ‘‘ When you feel a panting for knowledge, foster it; when you 
 feel anxious for the salvation of the world, cherish it; when you feel 
 an ardent desire for more eminent piety, let it not go; fall down on 
 your knees, take your Bible and pray over it, until your desires grow 
 stronger and stronger.” 
 
 **<T> him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, 
 which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.’ Overcome! My dear 
 friends, are you resisting evil? Are you striving against sin? If 
 you are, remember every time you resist you are overcoming, and 
 rising nearer and nearer to heaven, immortality, and God.” 
 
 “Social religion is nothing but an instrument in the hand of God 
 iI7/ 
 
258 
 
 to promote personal religion. If our minds are not made better by 
 the means of grace, these are of no use to us. Thereis great danger lest 
 we mistake the means for the end, and think that religion consists in 
 joining the church and partaking of the Lord’s Supper, while these 
 are only means tohelp us Godward. Let us devote a part of our time 
 to hold converse with God in secret; until this be seriously and 
 honestly done, it is not likely that men will derive much good from 
 outward institutions.”’ 
 
 “« Never attend here, never come to this sanctuary without first 
 entreating a blessing to fall on the preacher. Pray much for your 
 minister. I sometimes wish that the private Christians in our 
 assemblies would for one Sabbath stand in the place of their pastor ; 
 this I think would show them how much we need the prayers of our 
 people ”’ 
 
 “Do not think that your work is over when you join the church, 
 You are then only coming to school in order to increase in knowledge, 
 in wisdom, and in goodness. A disciple is a learner; if you are not a 
 learner, you are not a Christian.” 
 
 “ Never neglect to pray to God; prayer is our strength, prayeris 
 
 our light, prayer is our guide. It is in prayer that heart meets heart, 
 that the heart meets God.’’ 
 
 ‘* Where does the minister take his sermon? First, to the mercy- 
 seat, to entreat a blessing upon it; next, to the pulpit, to proclaim it 
 to the people ; and then to the fountain, to have it cleansed from ull 
 pollution.” 
 
 ‘< When the believer finds his confidence shaken, let him cast a 
 glance to Calvary.” 
 
 ““Do you doubt Christ’s willingness to save ? Ton may as well 
 doubt that He was a babe in Bethlehem, you may as well doubt that 
 He ever prayed on the mountains of Galilee, you may as well doubt 
 that He sweat great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane, you — 
 may as well doubt that He died of a broken heart on Calvary. I 
 would sooner doubt the kindness of my tenderest friend, I would 
 sooner doubt the affection of my father and my mother, I would sooner 
 doubt my own conversion than doubt Christ’s willingness to save. It 
 is worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save. 
 But to save what? Tosave money? Tosave a nation? Tosavea 
 kingdom? 'To save sinners. Give Christ sinners, and you give gems 
 for the Saviour’s crown.”’ 
 
 “Ts Christ at the head of Europe? Alas! No. Is He at the head 
 
259 
 
 of Britain? We fear not. Is He in the midst of our best scientific 
 justitutions? No. He is, perhaps, in some obscure corner, hid in the 
 heart of some poor disciple. Where is Christ now? In the midst of 
 the throne. Is Hein the Church? Wehope so. But look at some 
 churches; they are shut up and deserted. Why? Because Christ was 
 not in their midst. That man who comes to seek any other object 
 than Christ in the Church has not Christ in his heart. Is Christ in 
 our hearts? That is the question. Oh, it is delightful when we 
 say to men, ‘ What are you come for? What do you want?’ to hear 
 them say, ‘ We would see Jesus; we want to hear His voice.’ ” 
 
 “Tf you are a Christian, wherever you go, Christ goes with you; 
 wherever you are, Christ is.” 
 
 “ Conscience is writing down constantly, and sealing up, and at the 
 Judgment Day the books will be opened. Belshazzar went on sinning 
 against God. Conscience was writing, but did not speak until the 
 handwriting came upon the wall. Then Conscience spoke. Judas 
 was for a long time thinking of selling his Master for a small sum of 
 money. Conscience was writing, but did not speak; and when he 
 hhad betrayed his Master, Conscience spoke to the wretch, and he said: 
 “I cannot bear my life, I must hang myself.’ ’’ 
 
 “Herod caused the death of the best man in the world at that time. 
 ‘Conscience wrote all the circumstances, noticed the evening, the 
 dance, the entertainment, the time, the place ; and when Christ came» 
 Herod was alarmed. Conscience spoke and said: ‘Thisis John. H® 
 is risen from the dead.’ Oh my fellow sinner, my beloved brother, 
 listen to Conscience. What is it that increases the flames of hell? 
 What isit that kindles the heat there? Conscience. Conscience is 
 alive there, and Conscience originates prayer even in perdition. 
 “Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his 
 finger in water and cool my tongue.’ ”’ 
 
 *« A man says he is ashamed of his sins, but he calls them fauits, 
 errors, follies, little sins. Little sins! By those sins he is aiming at 
 ‘God’s throne, at God’s sceptre, at God’s dominion, at God’s very 
 essence.’’ 
 
 ““* Among whom ye shine as lights in the world!’ There is a 
 beautiful allusion in these words to the lights placed at the mouth of 
 the harbour to guide and direct the mariner on the ocean to the 
 desired port. So Christians ought to be lights to those around them. 
 Ah, many who are now playing their golden harps above can look 
 
 AF 
 
260 
 
 down and say : ‘ There is the individual who brought me here. [ was 
 on the ocean, tempest-tossed, almost sinking, but I saw a dim light; ; 
 T followed it, and it grew brighter and brighter, until at last it con- — 
 vinced me, it converted me,tit saved me. It was my mother, who is 
 still in the church on the earth; my father, whom I left a little while 
 ago.’” 
 
 ‘“T pity that Christian whocannot point to one individual and say ; 
 ‘Throughmy feeble light shining that soul was brought to the Saviour.” 
 Mothers, have you told your daughters of Jesus? Fathers, do you 
 ever speak to your children of a Saviour? Sunday-school teachers, are 
 you leading your scholars to the foot of the Cross? Oh, if you have 
 led one soul there, a crown is placed upon your brow of greater value 
 than all earth’s richest treasures. Wear it, wear it. I entreat you 
 to wear it, and by and by you and the soul saved shall together cast 
 your crowns at the feet of the Redeemer’s throne,” 
 
 “¢¢ Tet that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ 
 brethren, what would you think of that person who loved you 
 your wealth and your influence, and thought nothing abont jy 
 mind? And shall we love the Lord Jesus for the influence of His 
 Spirit, and for His death on the Cross, and not think of His mind? — 
 Some Christians speak of the doctrines, the miracles, and the sufferings 
 of Jesus ; but if you say anything to them{of His mind, they do nob 
 listen, and you can never get them to say a word about it.’’ 
 
 ‘The world may glory in its affluence, its influence, and its external — 
 splendours, but we glory in Christ, in His temper, in His mind, in al 
 He said and did and suffered here on earth. We glory in His 
 Peace comes from the cross, He thought of us when on earth. 
 is now in heaven; there He reigns, there He rules, there He thinks 
 us still.”’ 
 
 ‘‘ Look up ! that glorious sun is under the control of Christ. Look 
 down, that grave is subject to His sway. Christ hath the keys of - 
 death, and until He turn the key we cannot die.” 
 
 near me, my father and mother, my brothers and sisters may not be 
 there, but Christ will; my minister, my kind friend, my endeared 
 companion may not be there, but Christ will; the smiles of friendshi, — 
 and the prayers of piety may not be there, but Christ will be present. 
 And He will watch my sleeping ashes and take care of my spirit, 
 trembling, lingering on the brink of an unknown world, fearing, 
 
261 
 
 doubting whether it ever had any interest in Christ, and He will carry 
 it up to the throne of God.” 
 
 ‘To look for ever and ever on the effects of mercy, love, and 
 wisdom constitutes the heaven of the redeemed.’’ 
 
 “ Christians, you all have a cross, but you have not the shame; 
 “Christ had both, and He endured the one and despised the other. ” 
 
 ‘Our religion is valuable, just in proportion as it is intelligent, 
 just in proportion as it takes hold of the soul of man and raises it up 
 ‘to the mind of God.” 
 
 “‘ Are you in the habit of praying? There is no need that you 
 should fall on your kmees, no need to suspend the conversation, no 
 aeed to break off from your vocation, no need to put ona grave and 
 solemn look. The heart of the Christian will de continually panting 
 after God. What is the testimony of your bedrooms, of your houses, 
 of your offices, of the streets through which you pass? Remember, 
 my frieuds, thoughts are words to the great Eternal, feelings are 
 actions in His sight.”’ 
 
 “ When you retire to your closet unseen by mortal eyes, remember 
 “God is here’ ; when you come up to the sanctuary, think ‘ God is here 
 before me’; and when you go iuto the company of the gay and worldly 
 you can look around and say, ‘ God makes one of this company.’ ”’ 
 
 « Amidst all the trials, anxieties, and vicissitudes of this vale of 
 tears, how sweet, how delightful to remember that we have one 
 friend who feels for us and sympathises with us, and that friend is 
 our Father and our God. Yes, Thou art our Father. We are Thy 
 children, we love Thee asour Father; Thou lovest us as Thy children. 
 We have seen God in prayer, we would see Him now. Now, Lord, 
 hear our prayers, accept our praises, and up to this moment may the 
 ‘sins of this whole congregation be blotted out in the blood of Christ; 
 and then Thou wilt take us to Thy throne above where we shall see 
 the Saviour, and through the Saviour we shall see God. Amen.” 
 
 “We have prayed and have been answered. We pray now, and 
 will pray till death, and when we shall be called to part with our 
 ‘relatives and friends, and our dear brothers and sisters in the church, 
 may those who surround our dying bed pray. May they pray 
 when we are going under the cold stream of Jordan, and may we 
 be answered through the prevalent and successful prayers of our 
 ‘Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, who died to save us from 
 -our sins.” 
 
262 
 
 ‘“We would not forget in the presence of God to-day our afflicted 
 friends. Some are tried in their worldly circumstances; some are 
 
 tried in their bodies; some are tried in their spirits; some in their — 
 
 relations and connections; we bring them all to the mercy-seat, we 
 commend them to the God of compassion and love.” 
 
 ‘* Bless those that purpose travelling, who are about to leave usand 
 who have been united with us in church fellowship. Sustain their 
 piety, guard their devotion, and may they receive, and be the 
 instruments of doing great good.”’ 
 
 ‘* Bless our country. Lookin love upon the throne. The king and 
 queen do Thon bless with wisdom from above, and with meetness for 
 eternity ; prepare them for crowns that die not.” 
 
 “Give us a greater spirit of love for other Christians. They are 
 weak, so are we; they have defects, so have we; if they have been 
 unkind to us, oh how unkind we have been to them !”’ 
 
 “Tn retiring to rest, may we lay our heads on our pillows, at peace 
 with God, at peace with conscience, at peace with the world, at peace 
 with all except with sin, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” 
 
 “Be with us, O God, during this day ; be with us in praying ; be 
 with usin singing ; be with us while looking towards the light of Thy 
 truth; and when we meet around Thy table, to remember our dear 
 Redeemer ; give us calm, holy fellowship with each other, through 
 Jesus Christ.”’ 
 
 ‘* We desire to enter into the rest of the Sabbath to-day; we feel 
 
 that we want rest; we want rest for our minds; we want rest for our — 
 
 hearts; and, blessed be Thy name, we know where to look for it, 
 for Thou hast taught us. We know where to seek shelter; we find 
 refuge for our souls in remembering Christ at this table. We leave 
 
 our prayers there; ‘we leave our sorrows and our anxieties with 
 Him.” 
 
 “Oh, our Father, we throw ourselves at Thy feet; our Father, — 
 
 raise us up; forgive us, and permit us to hold fellowship with Thee.” 
 
 ‘* We have been eating together; we are going to drink together. | 
 
 We utter our sorrows, we sing and rejoice together ; we love Christ, 
 and because we love Him we speak of Him. We bless Thee, O God, 
 for Thy promises. These souls of ours shall never die, but shall live 
 for ever. We believe the promise. These spirits of ours which are 
 now defiled shall be purified and raised to life andimmortality. Keep 
 our consciences tender, our hearts right, our affections warm, our 
 spirits pure, for the sake of Jesus Christ Thy Son.” 
 
ae 
 
 263 
 
 “Tis Christ we want, for without Christ we have no hope, and 
 with Christ we have no fear. Oh, give us Christ to be formed in us 
 the hope of eternal glory. Oh, for communion with God; Oh, for 
 fellowship with heaven ; Oh for a taste of the glory that shall be 
 revealed in us.” 
 
 “¢ Infinite God, we cannot be happy without Thy friendship, our 
 home is at Thy feet; our heaven is Thy smile. Spirit of power, 
 Spirit of holiness. Spirit of love, take these hearts, wash them, purify 
 them, and lead them to Thyself.”’ 
 
 ‘“©O God, pardon the imperfections of the service; wash these 
 spirits before Thee in the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanseth from 
 all sin. O God, protect them as they are advancing onward to 
 their home. We lean upon Thee as we journey through the desert ; 
 graciously permit us to lean upon Thine arm when we come to the 
 swellings of death, until we rise to the possession of the inheritance 
 of eternal life.’’ 
 
 “ Let us trust Him, and whatever is dark and mysterious now will 
 soon be light; and we shall find that God is love, and that He has 
 only tried us to perfect our character and bring us to Himself.’’ 
 
XVIII, 
 
 Church and home. 
 
 Ve the year 1843 was passing out of sight, and 
 1844 was dawning, Caleb Morris took up his 
 diary and wrote :— 
 
 “December 31st (20 minutes before 12).—God has crowned this 
 yeat with His loving kindness. My sins of omission and commission 
 have been very great. But where sin hath abounded, grace hath 
 much more abounded. God be thanked that I am in this world of 
 mercies, and not in a state of punishment; that I am in the Church, 
 and not in the seat of the scornful; that I have not given up, and 
 have not been driven from the holy, delightful, responsible office of 
 the Christian ministry ; that it is the desire and purpose of my heart 
 to cleave to the Lord rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin which are 
 only for the moment. The law of life in Christ has made me free—is 
 making me free from the law of sin and death. I feel freedom, 
 inward freedom, to renew my dedication to God, and to His great 
 work. But I have so often found out by bitter experience the 
 weakness, the wickedness of my own heart, that I dare not trust 
 myself. I trust in the living God. 
 
 ‘‘ Blessed be God! I am spared to see the first hour of the year 
 1844, May God hear the poor but sincere prayers I have just tried 
 to offer to Him. May He enable me to forsake my wrong habits of 
 mind and life. What they are He knoweth. May He aid me in my 
 office, and help me to study, to preach, to watch over the flock, and 
 do good to the soulsofmen. I trustin Him, He will not put me to 
 shame. 
 
 ‘*T purpose to be more methodical in my reading (I must read 
 the old divines again), in my preparations for the pulpit, and in my 
 
ie 
 
 265 
 
 pastoral visitations. I must not give up my freedom and indepen- 
 dence in forming my cpinions on public movements and measures, 
 and in aiding or discouraging them as my conscience bidsme. I must 
 be lower before God, and higher beforemen. I must choose my ends, 
 and fearlessly use right means to reach them. My great want is a 
 greater conformity to Jesus. I must study his life and temper more 
 closely than I have hitherto done. I solemnly renew my dedication 
 of my whole self to Him ; may He receive me!” 
 
 After this consecration he set to work with great zeal and 
 determination. The new year began on a Monday, and he 
 Was in a prayer-meeting at Fetter Lane at seven o’clock in 
 the morning, when he delivered an address on secret prayer. 
 He breakfasted with Mr. Muston, one of the deacons, and 
 prayed “with solemnity of mind with the family.” In the 
 course of the day he wrote many letters of commendation, 
 and prepared for the evening service; there was a large 
 attendance, and he spoke on owfward and inward religion. 
 On Tuesday morning he was at another prayer-meeting at 
 seven, when the lecture-room was full. He breakfasted with 
 one of the members, and went on a round of visitations. He 
 records the resignation and cheerfulness which he witnessed 
 in the midst of great suffering, and is grateful for these 
 evidences of the power of religion. He seeks to comfort a 
 sorrowing soul that had lost mother, sister, and brother, and 
 rejoices to find her determined to go on in the ways of God. 
 He meets a questionable character, and speaks to him 
 candidly :— 
 
 ‘Impressed on his mind the importance of straightforwardness, 
 honesty, and plain dealing, in order to secure the blessing of God 
 and the confidence of man. He has been removing from church to 
 church clandestinely, without frankly stating all the truth respecting 
 his mode of life, This will not do. Yet I hope the man will be 
 restored and established in the way of God. But what abominations 
 
 are carried on in London in the name of religion, and by the aid— 
 unintentional aid—of professors ! ”’ 
 
266 
 
 He thinks much on the responsibilities of the minister, 
 and writes :— 
 
 ‘Impressed how the private and public life and habits of ministers 
 are criticised and fully discussed by all kinds and ranks of people. 
 This should teach me to watch and pray—to be holy and exemplary 
 in all things—to be right, and to trust my reputation to God. A 
 bad man bearing the name of minister is one of the most hopeless 
 and wicked characters, Thought, from facts now before me, that 
 attempts to injure God’s ministers never go unpunished. The first 
 false step of M—— was an attempt to injure the minister of G—— 
 
 and divide the Church; ever since he has been wrong in life, mind, 
 and all.’’ 
 
 He spends a day in the lecture hall to converse with the — 
 members of the congregation. He meets the trustees of the — 
 Evangelical Magazine, and spends the time from eleven to — 
 six in their company. Of this he remarks: ‘* Zoo long; — 
 must learn to shorten all my social interviews ; this is very 
 important in many ways.” These facts show that he was 
 attentive to all the branches of the work of the ministry; — 
 but above all things he gave himself to study and preaching. — 
 Yet, however much a minister may desire to give himself “ to 
 
 ; 
 
 prayer and to the ministry of the Word,” he cannot escape — 
 altogether the serving of tables. ; 
 
 In the minutes of the deacons’ meetings there are 
 evidences that Fetter Lane Church was not free from thorny — 
 subjects. The office of chapel-keeper gave considerable 
 trouble to the diaconate ; but the constant source of trouble — 
 was the psalmody. All were agreed that an improvement in 
 this part of the worship was desirable ; to realise the wish 
 was quite a different matter. One precentor after another 
 was appointed ; his place on the gallery was fixed, choir 
 practices were arranged, and deacons were appointed to see 
 that these were properly conducted and closed punctually, 
 but the result was very unsatisfactory. 
 
4 
 67 Ma 
 
 DP Ye Walv tutes 
 Ol Lis be Wu Ae 
 
 Had Caleb Morris’s health been good, this would not have 
 mattered so much, since he had for nearly twenty years 
 drawn crowded audiences without the aid of a bright 
 musical service, but it was becoming increasingly clear that 
 the repeated illnesses, and the constant strain of over twenty 
 years of passionate preaching, had seriously injured his 
 Sensitive constitution. As far back as 1842 we have 
 intimations of his desire to resign the pastorate ; however, 
 the people would not hear of it. After his visit to Wales 
 in 1843, he was able to render several months of unbroken 
 service, but in the year 1845 we find him again the victim 
 of bodily weakness and mental depression. 
 
 As usual, he goes down to Wales for renewal of strength, 
 
 -and visits the old familiar places, the only change being that 
 this time he goes vi@ Liverpool. He arrives at Haverford- 
 west at three o’clock on a Sunday morning, and preaches 
 twice on the same day. He complains of restless nights and 
 disturbing dreams; still he is bent on praying and 
 preaching. He writes: 
 
 “Tt is communion with God that chiefly renders my communion 
 with man sincere, grave, and amiable. What we are with our Father 
 in secret, we become to his children in our public intercourse with 
 them. Secret prayer is both the soul’s health and helmet. What a 
 
 wonder that I spend not more of the passing moments in fellowship 
 with the Infinite—the infinite reality, beauty, life!” 
 
 After returning from a pastoral meeting, he writes: “I 
 mrst preach on the Apocalyptical Churches immediately after 
 my return to my own church.”’ He carried out this resolve, 
 and the sermons made a great impression. There are more 
 notes of them extant than of any of his sermons. Brief 
 outlines of the series have appeared in the “ Homilist,” and 
 very much fuller extracts obtained from the comparison of 
 several MSS. were published in the Welsh volume. Since. 
 
ual 
 
 Wow Sug J 
 AAR 
 
 that time I have obtained more extensive reports still of 
 ‘some of them. 
 
 He refers to an interview which he had with Principal 
 Griffiths, of Brecon. Both in 1844 and in 1846 he visited 
 Brecon College along with Dr. Wm. Smith, of Highbury 
 College, as a deputation from the Congregational Fund 
 Board, and examined the students in Biblical criticism, 
 Mental Philosophy, and Theology. He thus showed that 
 ‘his interest in the College continued, although he had not 
 seen his way to become its Principal. 
 
 He was in great request at ordination services. He 
 records that he attended the ordination of Mr. Lloyd, at 
 Milford, when he offered the ordination prayer. He was 
 present also at the ordination of Mr. Williams, as the 
 pastor of Albany Church, Haverfordwest, and addressed 
 the church from 2 Cor. iii. 21, when he preached an hour 
 and three-quarters, 
 
 He had not lost his love for his first church at Narberth, 
 and during his visit he preached to a large congregation 
 from his old pulpit. Like other preachers, he had his 
 favourite sermons, and these changed with the seasons. On 
 this journey he appears to have been under the spell of three 
 ‘sermons in particular—the sermon referred to already ; 
 another from Hosea vi. 2, “On the Duty of Framing our 
 Doings for Godliness” ; and a third “ On the Commencement 
 of an Active Course for Christ.” After preaching the last 
 ‘sermon, he wrote: “Oh that I could begin anew to work 
 for Christ.” 
 
 The dominant note of his diary remains unchanged, as the 
 following extract will show :— 
 
 3 
 
 268 
 
 “Tt is a great blessing to be conscious that Jove of souls predomi- 
 nates over love of praise in the holy work of preaching. To seek 
 applause in anything fetters the soul. My visit to Narberth reminds 
 
269 
 
 me of the past, and calls me to labour for the future. My day is fast 
 going down!” 
 
 There are not wanting signs that he was becoming very 
 dissatisfied with the religious thought and practices of the 
 time. He is moving forward toward a more spiritual view of 
 religion, and feels the inadequacy of the popular theology.. 
 He sees the folly of relegating the judgment to some distant 
 unknown date, while forgetting that a real judgment is 
 constantly taking place. He writes :— 
 
 ‘* The law of recompense is one of the most certain and solemn 
 
 in the Divine government. The indulgence of criminal habits leads 
 to penury, mental prostration, social disgrace, and moral death.”’ 
 
 He protests against making the Old Testament the 
 standard of Christianity, and writes :-— 
 “‘ The Mosaic institution is the humblest, lowest, that God ever 
 
 instituted, It was a prison, a bondage; and yet this is made the 
 model of Christianity !”’ 
 
 And referring to a conversation with a friend, he says : — 
 
 ** He sees and speaks freely of the defects of our present mode of 
 religionising, but knows not how to reform it.”’ 
 
 It was the period when John Henry Newman seceded to 
 Rome, and when the Evangelical Alliance was formed. 
 Caleb Morris had much sympathy with the intellectual: 
 struggles of Newman, but lamented his weakness in seeking 
 to find rest in the dogmatic authority of a Church that 
 frowned on the sacred rights of reason. He had much in 
 common with the founders of the Evangelical Alliance, but 
 was greatly pained at the narrowness and bigotry displayed 
 by many of its advocates. Thus he stood almost alone. 
 This was doubtless a great trial to him in the time of his. 
 declining strength ; yet his preaching power seems to have 
 remained undiminished. 
 
270 
 
 Were we to judge from the notes of the sermons that have 
 -come down to us, we should say that some of his finest dis- 
 courses belonged to this period. He continued to be in 
 request as a preacher; and we find him preaching at 
 -Orsett and Harlington, Ventnor and Shanklin. He also 
 preached at the opening services of Kingsland Chapel, 
 Islington. But, alas! he often failed to keep his engage- 
 ments, and a substitute had to be obtained at the last 
 moment, at great inconvenience. When able to go, he did 
 not spare himeelf, but astonished the people by his ferti y 
 -of thought and passionate earnestness. 
 
 The Rev. John Lewis, of Tenby, recalling his visit “ 
 Banbury, in the month of May, 1846, says :— 
 
 *¢ On the eve of my leaving Wales for an English College, his a 
 words to me were: ‘Farewell, the Lord be with you; I hope to live 
 to preach at your ordination.’ He did live to realise his hope, and his 
 sermon was long held in remembrance. It was based on the text, 
 ‘ All things are yours.’ My revered tutor, the Rev. Walter Scott, 
 Airedale College, declared that,with one exception—namely, Rok 
 Hall’s great sermon on the text ‘ He that winneth souls is wise’ 
 was the greatest ordination sermon he had ever heard. Not o 
 could he preach grandly himself, but he could also admire the efforts 
 of others. He spoke in very high terms of the charge delivered tome 
 by my venerated tutor, and ‘of the sermon of the Rev. John Morris 
 [afterwards Dr. Morris, the Principal of Brecon College]. It was 
 delightful to see the real brotherhood of these noble souls.” 
 
 While devoting himself to the service of the Church of 
 ‘Christ he did not neglect his duties in the home circle. It 
 is true that he had not entered into the tenderest family 
 relationship, and did not possess a home of his own; yet he 
 always took great interest in family life, and was very 
 affectionate and kind towards his relatives. He always 
 showed a special fondness for his father and mother, a fond- 
 ness which became deeper as the years passed. He was 
 
271 
 
 warmly attached to his sister Mattie, and made her son 
 Caleb Gwion the object of his special care. Indeed, he was 
 a benevolent and generous uncle, a sort of father in fact, to 
 all his nephews and nieces. At the period of his history 
 which we have now reached there are many evidences of his 
 devotion to those who were united to him by ties of natural 
 kinship. How suggestive are the following simple entries 
 which are found in the diary :— 
 
 ‘Went through Fishguard to Coedcenlas. My dear father was 
 waiting for me at Eglwyswrw. Called on my sister Martha on the 
 way ‘home.’ Found my old mother in better health than usual. 
 Slept once more at Coedcenlas. Spent the following day in climbing 
 Voeldrigarn with my nephew, Caleb Gwion, and in conversing with 
 my parents. To them and to mea day of great delight. . . . Left 
 Coedcenlas, my aged parents and relatives once more for London. 
 May God bless with holy, peaceful minds, and with agreeable cir- 
 cumstances, my aged parents! May the spirit of grace and sup- 
 plication rest on them! O God breathe fresh life into their hearts, 
 and make them ready to be gathered into Thy garner.” 
 
 Caleb Gwion, his nephew, the eldest son of his sister 
 Mattie, until he was about twenty-five years of age, was con- 
 tent to remain in his native neighbourhood, joining in its 
 simple life and activities ; but about the year 1842 he felt 
 drawn towards the Christian ministry. Naturally he con- 
 sulted his uncle about such an important matter; but 
 apparently he received no definite guidance from him at 
 first. In November, 1842, the uncle writes: “Go on as 
 well as you can ; we will first think, and then act. May God 
 guide us. Pray much and watch much and think much 
 what you are about—to live properly is the great work.” 
 
 Probably one of the reasons which caused Caleb Morris to 
 hesitate in the matter was the late age at which his nephew 
 was beginning the work, and his defective preliminary 
 training ; but when it was decided that he should prepare for 
 
272 
 
 the ministry he helped him willingly and effectively. Some- 
 times he found fault with him, and he was very exacting 
 about correspondence ; but on the whole he treated him — 
 with great affection and generosity. Mrs. Gwion, of 
 Milford, has kindly permitted me to see and make use of ~ 
 the letters from Caleb Morris to his nephew, which have 
 been preserved. 
 
 It may facilitate the understanding of the following letters 
 if I say that Caleb Gwion went to Cardigan for his pre- 
 paratory studies, and from there to Carmarthen and Brecon. — 
 His father’s name was Henry, and the family lived at — 
 Penralltfach. Caleb Morris’s youngest sister, Hannah, 
 occupied Penrhiw, and the widow of his brother Jacob and 
 her young family remained at Park-yd. His aged father 
 and mother were still at Coedcenlas. 
 
 ‘9, Upper Terrace, Hampstead, nr. London. 
 *“* December 17, 1843. 
 
 ‘‘My prar Carrs,—It is long since I wrote to you, but you should 
 not allow that to occasion you to neglect writing tome. Whether I 
 directly answer you or not, you should write regularly. That would — 
 give you good exercise, teach you the habit of punctuality, afford me 
 great pleasure, and therefore be in itself a good thing, Let me, 
 therefore, beg of you to write me a few lines, either in English or in 
 Welsh, every fortnight. Don’t forget this. Make the resolution, 
 keep to it, and ask God to help you to do little things well. If you 
 cannot write so correctly and so well as you desire, still let not that 
 deter you from attempting to do your best; and if you try to do your ~ 
 best, I shall not—I ought not—to find fault with you. I know the 
 disadvantages under which you have laboured ; I wish you to over- 
 come them as far as possible, and promise not to criticise your 
 correspondence with me. Try to improve every day, and you will 
 soon make astonishing progress. 
 
 ‘With your past efforts I am greatly pleased. You have been 
 diligent and faithful. Continue your exertions, and you will get on; 
 that will gratify me, and what is infinitely more, will please God 
 and secure His merciful blessing. 
 
 a ae 
 
273 
 
 “Now write as soon as you can. Tell me freely what you are 
 doing; what you think of your Tator (which I will keep to myself), 
 and how you like Cardigan. Tell me also all you think desirable for 
 me to know respecting Penralltfach, Park-fd, Penrhiw, and especially 
 Coedcenlas. ‘ 
 
 “*T had a long letter from your brother Morris a few weeks ago, 
 which pleased me greatly. Why don’t you, like him, write Jong 
 letters 2 You always send me short notes. In this you should not 
 imitate me; I have more correspondence than you, and therefore 
 must be short in my communications with some of them. Take a 
 large sheet next time aud fill it. 
 
 ** But oh, my dear Caleb, take care to pray much to God in secret ; 
 watch every day, every hour, every minute of your life. Be 
 particular—very particular—as to your habits, your manner of 
 spending your precious time ; as to the books which you read (don’t 
 read without trying to understand, and to treasure up in your 
 memory what you read), and especially as to the company you keep. 
 
 “Do you belong to the Temperance or the Total Abstinence 
 Society ? Don’t think lightly of these institutions. Young men in 
 Wales should connect themselves with them; and defend them 
 modestly, humbly, and consistently. 
 
 “Be what you think right, and never feel ashamed to declare what 
 youare. Never get into the habit of condemning others, especially 
 ministers. Speak well of all so far as you can do so conscientiously. 
 Don’t make strangers your friends. Keep your secrets to yourself. 
 Yet do not cherish a cold, distant, suspecting, gloomy temper. Rejoice 
 in the Lord. Study the life of Jesus by reading and prayer. Don’t 
 trast yourself. You are weak and sinful. Ask God to help you, 
 daily, or you will fz//, disgrace religion, and ruin yourself for ever 
 
 Write soon. 
 ‘* Yours affectionately, 
 
 ‘© Cates Morerts.”’ 
 
 On February 5th, 1844, he sends a gift to him, at 
 Cardigan, and also to his mother, saying :— 
 
 “The other part you will at once hand over privately to your 
 mother for helping Morris, or whatever she likes, only let it be for 
 educating her children. Vl try to help her again. Get Morris at 
 once to school ; he is losing time. I cannot tell you anything now 
 about your future plans, we must think and pray about it.” 
 
 i8 
 
274 
 
 On November 26th, 1844, he writes :-— 
 
 ‘* Hoping that you will be very careful and good, I send you £5, 
 I can ill spare it just now, but I want you to be encouraged in what 
 is good. You need not take the trouble of spending it very quickly. 
 You must mind to be economical on every account. Take great care 
 of yourself. God bless you. Pray for me. BU ON HN.” 
 
 The following letter was written in Welsh to Caleb Gwion’s 
 mother and Caleb Morris’ favourite sister. It loses some- 
 thing in translation. The epithet “ fach” isa Welsh term 
 of endearment, which I cannot translate. The Simon Evans 
 referred to was the son of John Evans, Caleb Morris’ life- 
 long friend, and had just succeeded his father in the 
 pastorate of Penygroes. Later on he succeeded him as pastor 
 of Hebron and Nebo. He was a zealous moral reformer, and 
 an uncompromising foe to intemperance and impurity. 
 During the early years of his ministry he aroused much 
 opposition by his attacks on popular sins, but long ere his 
 death he was universally honoured as a true and faithful 
 Servant of God. 
 
 «© 99, Claremont-square, Pentonville, 
 “March 24, ’45, 
 
 ‘¢Marrre FacH,—I hope you are better than you were. How is the 
 foot? While we are here we must suffer in some form; we shall soon 
 have clean souls and spiritual bodies. Let us be patient for a short 
 hour. An eternity of peace with Jesus and like Jesus will be our 
 gracious portion before long. You and I are rapidly drawing nigh to 
 the land of eternal bliss. 
 
 ‘‘T thank you for telling me so fully what you think about Caleb. 
 T am glad to hear that he is getting on. May God keep him! Pray 
 much for him. I hope to pray more for him in the future than I have 
 done in the past. I hope to pray more for myself, Oh, pray for me 
 more and more, my dear sister. 
 
 ‘¢ Try to think well and speak well concerning Simon Evans. You 
 will suffer the most if you fail to do this. He is anxious to do good. 
 I understand the young people in the district ; support him, pray for 
 
275 
 
 him, Your own children will be benefited thereby, It is a great evil 
 not to honour everyone who seeks to do good, especially a minister. 
 
 ‘‘Do keep your children at school, I shall still bear you in mind. 
 You have been a good mother, a good wife, a good sister, a good daughter. 
 Keep on, Mattie fuch ! I am enjoying good health and all other good 
 things. Oh, that I could be more grateful to God! I ama sinner ; 
 _ yet religion is my delight, my heaven. Remember me to Henry—the 
 
 people of Coedcenlas, Park-yd, and Penrhiw. I shall be with you 
 erelong. Write very soon. Your letters always do me good. Good 
 night to you, Mattie fach, and to all the family.—C. M.” 
 
 In the autumn of 1845 Caleb Gwion entered Brecon 
 College, and he was to meet his uncle at Carmarthen that 
 they might travel together to Brecon. Through some mis- 
 calculation the nephew was not there when the coach arrived, 
 and Caleb Morris became very angry. He says in his diary 
 that the incident spoiled his temper, rest, and conversation. 
 As he leaves his nephew at Brecon, he prays on his behalf. 
 “May God keep him from sin, pride, falseness, mistakes, 
 and all evil influences; give the spirit, aim, and power of 
 Christ to him, that he may improve in all things and do 
 good in the world.” On the following Monday he writes to 
 him from London, mingling kiudness with reproof, and says, 
 among other things :— 
 
 Tf you will tell me what books you want, perhaps I may he able to 
 get them for you. Tell me all, in perfect confidence, and with unreserved 
 freedom respecting yourself, your work, trials, and success, I shall 
 be always glad to hear fromyou. Do not make writing a burden. 
 
 Any fault I'll forgive and correct. Begin and you will finish ; avoid 
 the sin of putting off present duty.”’ 
 
 The following letters need no explanatory comments :— 
 
 “Claremont Square, Pentonville, 
 ‘6 Jan. 12, ?46. 
 
 “My DEar CatzB,—Two things have hitherto kept me from writing 
 
 to you. First, the supposition that you had left, or were about to 
 L8% 
 
276 
 leave Brecon for the holidays; and, secondly, my own illness. Fo 
 
 rest in bed) by a severe attack of inflammation in my side; but by 
 the skilful and kind treatment of Mr. Edwards, one of my deacons— 
 under the Providence of God—I was restored. 
 
 “© that this sudden and severe visitation may teach me to be 
 more entirely and spiritually dedicated to the welfare of men, 
 work of Christ, and my own purification. Soon must we leave this 
 world of evil, so full of means and motives to produce good. I am 
 now quite well, but feel a little fatigued after the labours of yesterday 
 Where are you? How do you get on? Do you want a little help in 
 the form of money? Tell me by return of post if you can; and I 0 
 write directly again. va pray ! 
 
 ‘Yours affectionately, 
 ‘*Cargp Morris.” 
 
 FACSIMILE OF HANDWRITING IN 1846, ‘ 
 
 ‘* Dear Cates,—Now you begin to beja good boy. Do you no 
 feel already more comfortable ? Determine to write regularly, hoy 
 ever short you may find it necessary to make your letters. Yet 
 care to acquire habits of accuracy in all things ; in the use of langus 
 
277 
 
 sentences, words and /efters. As there are only a few letters in the 
 language, each should be carefully formed. Why do you convert P 
 into a monster. Look at the ugly creature which I enclose for your 
 review. Once before I pointed this error out, did I not ? Don’t 
 imitatemy blunders. You are only beginning, J aman old transgressor, 
 almost, perhaps, beyond the possibility of recovery. Take warning 
 then, and write your letters as they should be written. Yet avoid 
 stiffness and the schoolboy style. Accuracy first, then ease. 
 
 ** A little care will do wonders. Clearness is a great virtue in the 
 use of signs as well as sentiments. Now is your best time to get good 
 habits. You have got on exceedingly well. Fear not, and you will do 
 very wellin future. Trust the powers God has given you, and be 
 cheerful and thankful. 
 
 “Let me know all—good and bad—in relation to the college and 
 yourself ; but pray God to help you to speak kindly (or not at all) and 
 to think kindly of all with whom you havetodo. There is a great 
 deal of envy, jealousy, and unkindness in our sinful, selfish hearts. 
 It is our duty—it is high virtue—‘ to love our neighbours as our- 
 selves.’ You may write your secrets (although the fewer you have 
 the better) in Welsh, 
 
 ‘« Believe me, dear Caleb, 
 ‘« Yours affectionately, 
 “* Cares Morris.” 
 
 ‘* Claremont Square, Sept, 28, 46. 
 
 “My prar CarEes,—I thank you for your last note. I am very 
 pleased that you have learned to say, ‘I have done wrong and confess 
 it.’ Mind, when you commit an error, not to go on defending it, but 
 at once confess it and ask pardon. This is right, ncble, and prevents 
 great evils. Speak truth ; confess your faults. Unless we feel, 
 acknowledge, and resolutely fight against our own faults we shall 
 never get rid of them. 1 Johni. 8-10. But how consoling to you, 
 and to all sinful men like ourselves, is the truth contained in 1 John 
 i 1, 2. 
 
 “ Letter-writing is net pleasant to you, nor is it to me; but, my 
 dear Caleb, we must remember that what is pleasant is often wrong, 
 and what is unpleasant is often right. Pleasure must be renounced. 
 Duty must be reverenced. Self-denial is one of the truest signs and 
 loveliest ornaments of the Christian religion. Write to me, not as 
 to a severe critic, but as to an affectionate relative always glad to hear 
 
278 
 
 from you, and always ready to overlook any errors which you may 
 commit. Considering your past disadvantages, I wonder your attain- 
 ments are so respectable as they are. By patient and persevering 
 efforts you may yet do wonders. You now write better letters than 
 I could have written when a student at Carmarthen. 
 
 ‘“‘T am glad that you have written to your relations. Write to 
 them often. It will comfort them; gratify me; improve yourself; 
 and what is infinitely more, it will honour the worthy name of Him 
 whom we all profess. 4 
 
 ‘¢ What can we do for poor Martha Park-ydr Think and tell me. 
 It is now too late in the season, I fear, for her to try ‘ Newport Bay.” 
 Write family secrets yn Gymraeg (in Welsh) ; other things in Latin, 
 Greek, Hebrew, or English.”’ 
 
 ‘Claremont Square, 
 “© January 29, 1847. 
 
 ‘‘Drar CateB,—Many thanks for your letter. It pleased me 
 greatly. Its fulness, ease, and earliness comforted me. You ha’ 
 got back to your own handwriting too, I see; that is right. Don 
 use more than one style of penmanship, and let that be clear, clean, 
 and spontaneously characteristic. 
 
 “Go on trusting in God and commanding yourself, and you m 
 become a fine specimen of the progressiveness of man. Mind 
 spiritual, It is that which glorifies and saves us. Mind not to 
 up secret prayer till you feel that God is nigh—a kind of i inspiratior D 
 comes upon us when alone with God. Iam stillimproving. Iho 5e 
 to begin to preach about the end of the month. 
 
 “Your affectionate Uncle, 
 “C. Mee 
 
 ‘¢ Claremont Square, 
 ‘“* Feb. 3, 47. 
 
 «‘ My pear Cates,—I will not trouble you now with the causes of 
 my not writing last week ; but it is right that I should refer to it, 
 lest you should think I consider the making of promises and the non 
 fulfilment of promises as matters of little consequence. It is quite 
 the contrary. Ob, yes; and I regret that I was not taught this 
 thing more fully twenty years ago. If I had it would have saved me 
 from much censtre, pain, and guilt. But let my sad experience be, 
 dear Caleb, a warning toyou. If you promise to do anything, fulfil — 
 
279 
 your promise at avy and all costs, or assign a reason, or say that there 
 is a reagon for the apparent inconsistency. Don’t forget this ; oh, no, 
 never ! One of God's most glorious attributes is that He is faithful to 
 His promise. If He does not fulfil His promise, or threatening, He 
 
 gives an adequate reason. I am better, but have not yet preached.” 
 SoC uMe 
 
 The following letter exhibits many of the features of his 
 correspondence with his nephew, and may therefore fitly 
 close this selection : 
 
 ‘¢ My pear Cates,—I reached home comfortably at 5 a.m. yester- 
 day. I have preached to-day twice from Luke vi. 10 and from 
 John ii. 11, 
 
 ‘¢T have been more serious, and, I trust more holy, to-day than I 
 have for along time. Oh, for more of the spirit of God in our hearts, 
 life, and sermons. I have to preach this week three times from home. 
 Pray that I may do some good to men. Our work is tremendously 
 solemn; let us watch, pray, and live in God. 
 
 “« Don’t treat writing to me as a matter of feeling but of duty. It 
 is as much a duty to write a letter when due as to make a sermon. 
 Get into good habits, and resolve to retain them in this tempting, 
 evil world. Send me all news about yourself. Adhere to teetotalism, 
 Take care of your health, bodily and mental. Farewell, my very dear 
 boy. COTE WIG? 
 
XIX, 
 
 Last Wears of his Ministry. 
 
 E have already alluded to the repeated failures of 
 health which were shattering his constitution and 
 paralysing his ministry. As he grew older the attacks 
 became more frequent and persistent, and his power to 
 resist them waxed feebler year by year. But even during 
 the declining years there were wonderful outbursts of pulpit 
 power ; and when unable to preach he became a kind of 
 Socrates, and exerted great influence by his conversations. 
 The writer of the article in the Patriot for August 17th, 
 1865, says of him :— 
 
 “One of his greatest gifts was conversation, and, perhaps more 
 than in any other way, he embodied in his conversations the results 
 of his thinking. His conversational power was very remarkable, 
 almost Coleridgian—a thousand times more valuable than most 
 people’s sermons. To young men especially he would pour out the 
 riches of his thoughtful mind in a rich monologue, helped by 
 an occasional question, and many a minister would testify that an 
 hour’s conversation with Caleb Morris was more beneficial than a 
 day’s reading. It was dangerous to walk with him in the street ; 
 so absorbed would he become in his conversation that every twenty 
 yards he would stop, turn right round upon you, and button-hole you 
 there, utterly oblivious of the passing crowd. Im many men he 
 sowed the seeds of their best fruit, and quickened the impulses of 
 their chief work.’’ 
 
 ‘ 
 
281 
 
 The following extracts from the diary will show how 
 seriously he took this social intercourse :— 
 
 “Every conversation, however short and formal, should have an 
 aim, spirit, and truthfulness. Oh, that I had a more direct, steady, 
 devout, humble aim to get divine good, and do divine good to others 
 in my intercourse with men.” 
 
 “Conversation not satisfactory. It wanted conscious sympathy, 
 unity of matter and aim, and, above all, devoutness of heart.”’ 
 
 “There are some subjects which should not be discussed in the 
 company of even the best of men. They leave a restlessness behind 
 them. It is better not to dwell on the faults of anybody, especially 
 the faults of preachers. Let me not speak about my own sermons, 
 that no one may have occasion to say, ‘ Full of himself.’ ” 
 
 The diary for this period abounds with references to 
 conversations. He names seven persons who had visited 
 him in one day, and mentions the topics of conversation ; 
 and the experience of that day seems to have been nothing 
 - exceptional—sometimes, indeed, the number exceeded a 
 dozen. Occasionally he felt that too much of his energy 
 was spent in this way, and he writes : 
 
 “« Tess time must be devoted to converse, even with those who have 
 something to say. The excitement exhausts, and therefore unfits for 
 vigorous, calm thinking. How very injurious all stimulating 
 alcoholic drinks must be.”’ 
 
 It is not possible now to identify most of those who took 
 part in these colloquies, for many of the names are only 
 briefly indicated. One of his constant visitors was the Rev. 
 J. Young, M.A., author of “The Christ of History.” The 
 Rey. Robert Davey informs me that this book was very 
 largely suggested by the conversations with Caleb Morris. 
 The following entry corroborates Mr. Davey’s statement :— 
 
 ‘‘T made my first visit this day to 7, Lonsdale Square, the house of 
 
 my friend the Rev. John Young, A.M., of Albion Chapel. Hig 
 attention and his attendance have been those of a brother during the 
 
282 
 
 whole of my illness. He is a Presbyterian, and I am a Congrega- 
 tionalist ; but our communion is most free, confidential, and, I hope, 
 religious. I have none in my own ‘sect’ with whom I do so fully 
 and fearlessly commune. We are one. Oh, may God render my 
 fellowship with him, which death, if nothing else, will soon 
 terminate, a mutual blessing to each of us! This kind of union 
 imposes a solemn responsibility on each. May we help each other in 
 the truth and grace of our Lord. Mr. Young is sincere, warm, and 
 free in his friendship. The duties and defects of friendship are 
 little talked or thought of in the light of Christianity. I now feel 
 the importance of religious friendship more than I ever did.” 
 
 During the whole of one day they talk about Christ, and 
 the conversation moves around “ His Superiority to Human 
 Infirmities,” “‘ His Original Communion with God,” “ His 
 Consciousness of His own Perfections,” “ His Faith in His 
 own Triumphs.” 
 
 Another constant visitor was Mr. J. D. Morell, the author 
 of “The Philosophy of Religion” and of a book on the 
 Philosophy of Europe. It has been said that much of these 
 books was due to Caleb Morris. I think such an assertion 
 is unfair if taken in its literal sense ; but if it simply means 
 that the author derived much help and inspiration from his 
 conversations with Caleb Morris, that is almost certainly in 
 strict accordance with truth. 
 
 One of the visitors named in the diary is the Rey. B. 
 Brown, and among the subjects mentioned in the entry is 
 “Eternal Punishment : Is it believed by the orthodox? Is 
 it taught in the Bible?” Was this the Rev. Baldwin 
 Brown? Mr. Allon—probably the Rev. Henry Allon, of 
 Union Chapel—Mr. Chignell, and Mr. Davies, of Clapton 
 Park, and scores of other names occur in the diary. Evidently 
 his house was a centre for the meeting of brethren. 
 
 More important than the names of the visitors are the 
 subjects discussed. They were very diverse and miscel- 
 
283 
 
 laneous. Some of them bore on themes already familiar to 
 us from his diary, such as :— 
 
 “Ts not letter-writing an instrument as important in religion as in 
 business? A large portion of the New Testament is in the form of 
 letters. Paul was the best letter-writer in the world.” 
 
 ** Discourses, like clothes, if worn long and without change, become 
 to look shabby.”’ 
 
 “‘An improvement in the hearers is the testimonial of ministers, 
 and their joy.’’ 
 
 “As there is no physical wealth without labour, so there can be 
 no mental wealth without industry. ‘In all labour there is profit.’ 
 Two things are required for a good sermon—materials and mechanism, 
 thoughts and form, the collection of matter and construction. Both 
 require patient and persevering labour.’’ 
 
 “Praying is a wonderful work! How little teal praying there is 
 among Christians! Praying is ‘speaking to God.’ It is the meeting 
 of God and man, His child, in a secret place, where no third person 
 can be present, in the holy of holies of the mind. I can, may, am 
 invited to be in God’s company. Oh, what a privilege! Father of 
 my mind, draw me to Thee!” 
 
 “The basis of all the universe is spivit—pure, simple, living 
 perfect; and that spirit is God, God—nature—man; a deep and 
 real analogy pervades all, from the atom to God.”’ 
 
 Sometimes the talk became very discursive. We find 
 entries as follows : 
 
 “Talked a little about medicine, gigs, horse exercise, famine, 
 feyers, sudden death, shortness of life, eternity, and the corn trade.” 
 
 Among the subjects mentioned are :— 
 
 “The Gift of Tongues—Is Neander's theory correct? This subject 
 should be examined thoroughly. Christ’s intercession ; colleges ; 
 theological periodicals; the ignorant hatred of some ministers to 
 philosophy ; the inwardness of religion ; kindness; the blindness of 
 well-meaning but weak-minded friendship ; the dietetic laws of 
 Moses in Leviticus; the badness of our Colonial administration ; 
 the desirableness, difficulty, and duty of acquiring a good style tor 
 the pulpit; heartless love; the greatness of John the Baptist; the 
 
4 
 284 
 
 impropriety of dinners at ordinations—a gross practice; the evils of 
 ostentation in conversation.”’ 
 
 In the years 1846 and 1847 he devoted much time to 
 reading. A list of the books which attracted his attention 
 at this period is preserved in his diary. He calls them 
 “Books recently read, and from which I haye got some 
 good. Some of them have supplied me with strengthening 
 meals and others with healing medicine.” Philosophical 
 books occupy the first place. He mentions and criticises 
 Dugald Stewart’s Philosophical Essays, Sir Thomas Browne’s 
 works, the writings of Jouffroy and Cousin, and Theodore 
 Parker on “ The Religious Elements in Man.” He refers to 
 Kant and Fichte, Schelling and Hegel, Michelet and Comte, 
 Upham and Tappan. He has a note on Thales, and records 
 the reading of lives of Descartes and Leibnitz. He also 
 alludes to the Transcendentalists in America and Great 
 Britain, naming Allcott, Emerson, and Carlyle. Ethics 
 evidently engaged his close attention, for he criticises the 
 divisions of ethics then current, and suggests a fourfold 
 division of general ethics based on the olyects of duties: 
 God, self, society and animals. He also sketches a course of — 
 Six sermons on ethics. 
 
 Other books mentioned are Parsons on Education ; Swaine 
 on Education ; Lives of Augustine, Barrow, and Whiston ; 
 Jeremy Taylor’s works; “The Future Seen Through the 
 Past,” by Alfred Morris, of Holloway, of which he says 
 “very good.” There are many allusions to Harris's 
 ‘¢Preadamite Earth.” 
 
 Mr. Chignell’s references to his studies confirm and 
 supplement the above lists: ‘“ He loved Locke and 
 Bacon, and the newest science. He admired Humboldt 
 and Darwin; this was before Darwin published the 
 ‘Origin of Species.’ Philosophy rather than poetry was 
 
285 
 
 his favourite reading; yet he reverenced Tennyson, and 
 said to me once: ‘ How little has he written, and 
 what an impression he has created; what force he has 
 thrown into a few words.’ But he made fun at times of 
 some of his sentimental lines. He read Mrs. Barrett 
 Browning’s ‘Aurora Leigh’ during one of his holidays 
 on the Welsh mountains, and praised it excessively; but 
 he never quite felt for a poet the reverence he paid to 
 philosophers, to Lord Bacon especially.” 
 
 In his diary for another period there are references to 
 Byron and Wordsworth, and he gives a long list of books 
 on history which he was reading. 
 
 He did not forget his Bible amid his miscellaneous 
 reading. We have such entries as the following : “ Genesis 
 i. and ii. subjects of meditation” ; and there are repeated 
 references to the Gospels :— 
 
 “ Read for my personal good the first part of Mark’s Gospel. New 
 view of the glory of Christ’s divine life. . - . Spent five orsix hours 
 in studying the Gospels. The character of Christ did not open in its 
 divine glories for a Jong time to the disciples—the witnesses of it ; nor 
 will it to us—the readers of it. We must leave a// and follow Him, 
 We must hearken to all His sayings. We must go with Him from 
 town to town and mountain to mountain, or across the sea through 
 all the perils of the tempest. We must, like the twelve, be with Him 
 in order to apprehend and appreciate His glory. Oh, may we know 
 Christ and be conformed to His image !”’ 
 
 Amid all this mental activity his bodily weakness often 
 troubled him. For two months at the beginning of 1847 
 he was confined to his room. After referring gratefully to 
 his recovery, he asks :— 
 
 “Has my soul got on in knowledge, holiness, and joy? Too 
 little. Man is a mysterious being—related to heaven and hell, 
 angels and devils, dead matter and the living God.” 
 
 He preached for the first time after his illness on 
 
286 
 
 February 28th, 1847, on ‘‘The Prayer of Pretence and 
 the Prayer of Reality,” based on Matthew vi. 5-8. At the 
 Monday evening service he delivered an address on “ Life’s 
 Dark Voyages,” based on Mark vi. 47-54. Onthese Monday 
 evenings, as Paxton Hood observes, “treasures of glowing 
 and amazing wealth were unfolded. ‘The attendance was 
 small, and the man was free ; the terrors of the pulpit did 
 not make him afraid ; and students and ministers were wont 
 to find their way into the service, to be refreshed perhaps with 
 as rich a variety of exalted thought and feeling as could have 
 been found anywhere in the British Empire.” On the follow- 
 ing Sunday he preached on “ All True Christians Die with 
 Christ and Rise with Christ.” An outline of the sermon is 
 to be found in the Preachers’ Lantern, Vol. I., pp. 527-531. 
 On Monday evening he spoke on “The Fall of Satan.” 
 He contemplates a course of sermons on “The Emotions 
 of Jesus,” and looks forward to renewed activity in the 
 service of Christ. But, alas! his health was becoming 
 more and more precarious; several Sundays would elapse 
 without a sermon from him ; and those who came from a 
 distance to hear him were frequently disappointed. As a 
 result the congregation dwindled; but a few Sundays of 
 constant preaching would fill again the vacant seats. 
 
 It was probably at this time* that the Rey. A. J. Morris 
 wrote a sketch of a service at Fetter Lane which appeared 
 in the Lnglish Independent, and was incorporated in Dr. 
 Waddington’s Congregational History, Indeed, this sketch, 
 with two sneering remarks—one as prologue and the other 
 as epilogue, is all the author thought fit to insert concerning 
 
 * The sketch appeared, as the Rev. T. G. Crippen, of the Congregational 
 Library, kindly informs me, in the English Independent, of 19th Noyember, 
 1868 -the same number which contains the obituary of the Rey. A. J. Morris, 
 that is nearly twenty years after Caleb Morris had left Fetter Lane. Where it 
 had been in the interval, I do not know. 
 
287 
 
 him. Twenty years of splendid service are entirely ignored, 
 and an unsympathetic account of a Sunday visit to Fetter 
 Lane during the period of Caleb Morris’s ill-health has to do 
 duty for history. If Congregational history is written in 
 this way, is it wonderful that our thoughtful young people 
 have no enthusiasm for Congregationalism ? When shall we 
 have a Congregational history worthy of the name, a history 
 that wiil deal in a broad spirit with all workers, and not be 
 _ the mere mouthpiece of narrow officialism ? 
 
 The sketch as reproduced is as follows :— 
 
 “The building which, like a mystery, could be well seen only 
 from the inside. It is unquestionably modern, yet bas a feeling of 
 antiquity. It is a place of worship, but more fitted to promote the 
 spirit of devotion by the function of a furnace than a fire, by trial 
 than by genial heat. The lower portion of the building is perhaps 
 half filled with persons, mostly men, and in good part ministers in 
 full or partial development, rather strong-minded and stronger- 
 bodied too; no worshippers of any parochial system, for they 
 evidently live not ‘hard by the synagogue,’ but have come afar, as 
 the Queen of Sheba, to ‘hear the wisdom of Solomon,’ and without 
 forgetting either that ‘a greater than Solomon is here.’ You ask of 
 one the preacher’s name, and whether he is expected to preach this 
 morning, to which you receive a somewhat enigmatical reply, in a 
 tone and with a look almost equally expressive of surprise, de- 
 spondency, and fun—suggestive, on the whole, of the unwisdom of 
 uninspired predictions. You wait, and, after sundry anxious peer- 
 ings from the vestry door, and one or two interviews with 
 clerical-looking members of the congregation on the part of 
 deacons in search of a substitute, the pastor enters the pulpit— 
 @ man you would look at a second time wherever seen, with 
 features once handsome, and better than handsome now, and a 
 deep forehead and expressive eye, full of thought and gentleness. 
 The singing over, of which we will only say that—the joke is Bishop 
 Blomfield’s—it might be in fulfilment of the prophecy, ‘ The songs of 
 the temple shall be howlings in that day ’—for our minister has little 
 sense of poetry and less of music, strange to say, considering his 
 reverent devoutness of spirit, fondness for illustration, passionate 
 
288 
 
 sensibility to natural beauty, and that we have seen him burst into 
 tears while gazing on a morning sun—the singing over, a chapter 
 is read, naturally, seriously, chastely; and then a prayer is not 
 ‘offered,’ but prayed. It is not a theological lecture to the Deity, 
 nor, while a supplication in form, a svliloquy in fact, but such as 
 becomes a creature and a child addressing a wise, and holy, and loying 
 Maker and Father. There is no straining for originality, no intro- 
 duction of irrelevant and unsuitable topics, yet it is singularly full 
 and varied. In thought and words it is simple, solemn, and his 
 own. After another illustration of the Prophet Amos, the text is 
 read out. Very probably you never noticed the text before— 
 possibly did not know there was such a text. You soon feel, what- 
 ever other impression is made, that this man takes nothing for — 
 granted. Whatever else he is, he is himself. One of his infirmities 
 is that he must seek real novelty, and hence he is tempted to make it, 
 if he cannot find it. He had a yearning, which grew to be morbid, ~ 
 and in its connections, excessive, for reality and essence, and a 
 corresponding distaste for forms of every kind. For many years he 
 had not preached, perhaps, more than once in two or three of the 
 Sunday services, and, when he has, no one, not he himself, could 
 have predicted it ; and as it has been said of a living potentate that 
 he is such a liar that you cannot believe even the opposite of what he 
 says, so our friend was so irregular you could not depend even on his 
 irregularity. And then he had a morbid shrinking from all the 
 ordinary methods of attracting attention. While most are afraid of 
 failing, he was afraid of succeeding, as some men count success. He 
 was not adapted for the pastorate. He lacked method everywhere, 
 except in thought; and as to Coleridge, it is said that anything 
 became impossible a3 soon as it was presented to him in the shape of 
 a duty, so to our friend, everything that was necessary was out of 
 the question. He was not a man of business, and could not well 
 work with others, except upon conditions not always to be realised. 
 He thought out thoroughly everything that he had to do with; he 
 knew that others did not, and most could not, hence he was ‘imprac- 
 ticable.” Besides which, be it said, his nervous system was too nicely 
 hung to bear the shock of much of the world’s friction. But he 
 could teach as few others. H2 loved it, he was qualified for it, and 
 if he could have been placed in fitting circumstances, and could haye been 
 left entirely free, would have been a prince of teachers.’ 
 
289 
 
 The author of the History closes the notice with the 
 remark :— 
 “With so little of the practical in his nature, it was difficult to 
 
 find the exact position for a genius so peculiar. ‘ The fitting circum- 
 stances,’ at any rate, did not exist in the busy world of London.’’ 
 
 The only sufficient answer to such a description lies in 
 the facts which have been recorded in the preceding pages. 
 The so-called joke about the singing is as unfair as it is 
 clumsy. The readers know that many efforts had been 
 made to improve the psalmody ; apparently they had not 
 been very successful, but is the minister always responsible 
 for the singing? Besides, esthetic persons are always 
 condemning the singing of the Nonconformists. In denying 
 to Caleb Morris the sense of poetry, the writer betrays his 
 lack of insight ; assertions about the difficulty of working 
 with him are very largely imaginary. But granting all his 
 depreciations, which cannot be done without sacrificing 
 truth, Caleb Morris still stands forth as a unique teacher who 
 could draw thinking men to hear him, and to find strength and 
 healing, help and inspiration, in his preaching and praying. 
 In reference to the parting sneer of the historian, it is suffi- 
 cient to say that /ac/s prove that London could appreciate him. 
 He drew larger congregations to Fetter Lane than anyone 
 had ever done before him, and no one has been able to draw 
 like congregations after him. He did this, moreover, not 
 for a brief period, but for over twenty years. The members 
 declared solemnly in 1838 that more members had been 
 added to the church during his ministry than during any 
 corresponding period in the history of the church. Over 
 sixty members were received the following year, and for 
 several years afterwards there were constant accessions to 
 the church, as is proved, not by vague statements, but by 
 
 the detailed records in the deacons’ minutes ; and even after 
 19 
 
290 
 
 his irregularity had become serious owing to bodily and 
 nervous weakness, the church—mindful of his marvellous 
 ministry, and conscious of his unique spiritual power— 
 refused more than once to accept his resignation. Surely 
 members who had worked with him for many years are 
 more reliable witnesses than a casual visitor who is anxious 
 to write a smart sketch, and even than a Congregational 
 historian who thinks he can do justice to a brother by 
 merely inserting such a sketch, adding one or two dis- 
 paraging expressions, and passing over in complete silence 
 the devoted service of twenty years ! 
 
 In the month of July, 1847, he sent in his resignation of 
 the pastorate of the church. On the 22nd of July a special 
 church meeting was held, Mr. Edwards presiding, at which 
 the following three resolutions were unanimously adopted :— 
 
 First resolution, moved by Mr. Muston, and seconded by 
 Mr. Walton :— 
 
 “‘That the resignation of our beloved pastor, the Rev. Caleb 
 Morris, be xot accepted till every effort shall have been made for the 
 re-establishment of his health.’’ 
 
 Second resolution, moved by Mr. Harrison, and seconded 
 by Mr. Spark :— 
 
 “That Mesers. Griffin, Baugh, and one of the deacons be requested 
 to acknowledge the receipt of the resignation tendered by the Rey. 
 Caleb Morris to the charch assembling at Fetter Lane, and to report 
 to him the proceedings of the church thereupon.” 
 
 Third resolution, moved by Mr. Griffin and seconded by 
 Mr. Baugh :— 
 
 ‘That, as an expression of our sympathy with our respected 
 pastor, and of gratitude and affection for his past efficient teaching, 
 it has been recommended by not a few of the members that contribu- 
 
 tions be made for defraying the expenses of his journey on the 
 Continent. ’ 
 
 The last resolution was carried into effect, and the trip to 
 
291 
 
 the Continent was made towards the end of the summer. 
 The notes in the diary on this trip are few in comparison. 
 The first was written at Geneva on September the 17th :— 
 
 “* Geneva ; still no letters from England. Read the English papers. 
 The great subject of the day is the Pope; he is an object of popular 
 ‘sympathy throughout nearly all the States of Europe. This is a new 
 thing in the earth. The orthodox people here complain of the in- 
 tolerance of the rationalistic divines of the Established Church. Since 
 
 the martyrdom of Servetus the tables are turned. A good title for a 
 book would be, ‘ A Liberal Christian in Search of a Liberal Church.’’ 
 
 From Geneva he went by boat to Lausanne, and thence 
 by “diligence” to Yverdon, on the Lake Netichatel, where 
 he visited the schools at which Pestalozzi had taught. He 
 remarks :— 
 
 “Tt is said that his system was a failure, but how can that be when 
 
 his system has been adopted to some extent all over the world? Poor 
 Pestalozzi lived not in vain, but for a great and eternal purpose.” 
 
 He goes thence to Netichatel and Bienne and Basle. Of 
 the latter part of the route he says :— 
 
 “‘The scenery inexpressibly grand and sublime. I felt it more 
 than anything else in Switzerland. I could have wept, or sung, or 
 danced, so great was my excitement; however, I deemed it well to 
 ‘Keep self-possession.”’ 
 
 At Basle he met Baptist Noel and heard him preach. At 
 Geneva he had partaken of the Lord’s Supper with him in 
 the Episcopal Church. Concerning this he writes :— 
 
 “‘T am no member of the Evangelical Alliance, because it is, in 
 My judgment, based on an exclusive, intolerant, uncharitable basis ; 
 but I love heartily all free and godly men, and can unite anywhere 
 
 with such in the worship of God. I had fellowship; I took the 
 Communion with Baptist Noel at the ‘table.’ ”” 
 
 Of Baptist Noel’s sermon at Basle he writes: “It was an 
 admirable sermon—plain, full of high principles, very pious in 
 tendency, and delivered with great beauty and simplicity.” 
 
 19 
 
292 
 
 Of the churches at Basle he remarks : “ The attendance im ~ 
 ‘them all was very small, consisting chiefly of women.” id 
 
 There is no record of the rest of the journey, but there is — 
 a short meditation showing that he was ever mindful of his: 
 work as a minister :— % 
 
 ‘‘ All strength of character depends on moral purity and self- 
 conscious consistency. It is of no use trying to make others holy 
 and happy unless my own life is pre-eminently holy. Ineed and pro- 
 fess to have more knowledge, more love to God and men than ayerag 4 
 people, and unless I am so, what right have I to preach to others? |] 
 look e pene O most Holy and merciful God, for fresh supplies of 
 
 grace.”’ 
 
 There are several stories current about this visit to the 
 Continent. The Rev. J. Lloyd James, of March, says tha 
 Caleb Morris had as his companion an enthusiastic Welsh- 
 man, and that one evening in an hotel on the Rhine they 
 spoke Welsh. A lady took great interest in their conversa- 
 tion, and after a while said to them: “ Excuse me, gentle- 
 men, there are over twenty years since I heard tha 
 language, and I had never expected to hear it again.” 
 was found that the lady was a native of Narberth, and had 
 been received into church membership by Caleb Morris 
 She had removed from Narberth to London, and had there 
 met the German who had become her husband, and who was 
 then the proprietor of the hotel. Naturally her joy was 
 great at seeing the pastor of her early days, and one ¥ 
 could speak nee native tongue. 
 
 Another form of the story is that the lady had fallen i in 
 love with Caleb Morris in her youth, and that the meeti 
 was not of a very pleasant kind. A third story says t 
 Caleb Morris met the daughter of a celebrated London 
 Congregationalist during the journey, and that he almost 
 fell in love with her. A fourth story relates that Caleb 
 Morris noticed a dignified gentleman in a railway train, and 
 
293 
 
 -at last ventured to address him in English, saying that he 
 was not able to speak German. The gentleman replied in 
 -good English, and before the close of the conversation Caleb 
 Morris found that he was one of the University professors, 
 -and that he knew not culy English, but also Welsh. Ido 
 not feel able to decide how many of the above stories are 
 original and how many of them are variants on the same 
 theme. Three of them relate to ladies, and three mention 
 the Welsh language. But the London lady did not speak 
 Welsh, hence it seems necessary to suppose that two ladies 
 ‘were concerned: Possibly one of the stories in which a lady 
 is mentioned may have arisen from a blending of the other 
 two. Then the story in reference to the German professor 
 ‘seems quite distinct. Iam quite aware that, on the tendency 
 theory, it might be asserted that all the references to Welsh 
 are additions made by enthusiastic Welshmen in order to 
 glorify the Welsh language. My faith in tendency theories 
 and the derivation of variants from one common source, in 
 accordance with the canons of the higher criticism, has been 
 much shaken of late, and I have no infallible solution to 
 offer of the problem presented by these stories. 
 
 After his return from the Continent, Caleb Morris went 
 down to Pembrokeshire, as the following letter will show :— 
 
 **To the Rev. J. Davies, Clapton. 
 
 “‘ Coedcenlas Farm, Eglwyswrw, near Cardigan, 
 ** December 9th, 1847. 
 
 “My pear Ferrenn,—That day when we parted at Ramsgate 
 ‘something was said about correspondence, Was it you or I that 
 was to write first? 
 
 ‘<T have made it the rule of my friendship correspondence to write 
 only to those who shall have favoured me first. By yielding this 
 sort of priority to my friends, I give them an opportunity to prove 
 before the world their practical attachment to the voluntary principle 
 an epistolary correspondence as well as in religious institutions. For 
 
294 
 
 I am quite convinced that in most things that principle is the most 
 agreeable, though not always the most energetic. But wise men can 
 distinguish easily enough between the essential nature and the 
 accidental action of any great principle, whether good or bad. But 
 postponing for the present the advocacy of the voluntary principle in 
 things general, I only repeat my admiration of its power when put 
 forth by any correspondent of mine, and that without anything like 
 compulsion on my part. For to ask one to answer me is, in spirit, if 
 not in fact, to put him under the obligation to do so. And what 
 would that be in the eye of sound philosophy but to tempt him to act 
 on the compulsory principle. Such inconsistency would then become 
 a virtual denial of willinghood in epistolary ethics, and would 
 naturally lead to the practical renunciation of willinghood in 
 ecclesiastical ethics. Here, then, as a Dissenter from principle I 
 offer you this free will tribute of respect and love. And if you should 
 be tempted to say, ‘Why, he in a manner compels me, forces me to 
 answer him, and is therefore inconsistent with his own boasted theory 
 of willinghood,’ then, with all due respect to your learning and 
 character, my dear sir, I must say that you are not a fair polemic, 
 and that the sooner we drop the controversy the better for both 
 parties and for the cause. 
 
 ‘Ts not all this nonsense, dear Davies, @ Ja mode of much of the 
 stuff which just now fills the articles and correspondence of some of 
 our religious journals in reference to educational and other matters ? 
 
 ‘‘ Voluntary principle—the word accursed! I was to write some- 
 thing ; my pen ran on without a pause; I finished the article, and 
 said ‘ There.’ 
 
 ‘To be serious, I wish some of our brethren were a little less 
 forward, less noisy, than they are in promoting the cause of Him of 
 whom it was once said, ‘He shall not cry, nor cause his voice to be 
 heard in the street.’ Still I wish to be charitable, for these friends 
 would quote against me, ‘If we held our peace, the very stones would 
 speak.’ My reply to that would be, ‘Then try the experiment.’ 
 Pardon this much ado about nothing, as Mr. Dunn says of Mr. 
 Brock in the Patriot, in a correspondence about Government aid, &e. 
 I had no idea of going on in this way when I began. 
 
 “< Dear Davies, I am now in Wales, after having wandered for nearly 
 four months among strange people in Holland, Belgium, Germany, 
 Switzerland, and other places. It is agreeable enough to see once 
 more the land of our fathers, the scenes of my childhood, and my- 
 
295 
 
 father’s house. My parents, though old in age, one eighty-six, the 
 other only eighty, became rather fresh in feeling at the sight of the 
 returning lad. These aged people are wonderfully well, but feel that 
 the time draws nigh, when they hope to be reborn for another world, 
 a world where evil never enters, where life never fades. Myself, also, 
 am well and hearty. Numberless mercies daily, sometimes un- 
 expectedly, fall on my humble path. Oh that I had strength of 
 heart to turn them to motives for higher service, into instruments of 
 wider usefulness. I know this to be my greatest want ; it is, I trust, 
 my strongest wish. To live, is to live with God ; more and more do I 
 feel this to be true. 
 
 «<< Tam weak, but Thou art mighty, 
 Hold me with Thy powerful hand.’ 
 
 You know Welsh? 
 *<¢Q am ga’l rhodio er ei glod, 
 Ac iddo bellach fyw ; 
 A phob anadliad elo’ ma’s, 
 I ganmol gras fy Nuw.’ 
 
 After preaching in Welsh last Sunday where I first opened my 
 mouth for Christ about thirty years ago, I sang from my heart this 
 prayer ; and it was sweeter to my taste, depend upon it, than the 
 richest chanting in Cologne Cathedral. There is something in 
 Welsh religion that kindles and rekindles one’s piety. JI have 
 declared my intention to recommence my work at Fetter Lane on the 
 first Sunday-in the coming year. My heart is there, my hopes are 
 there ; but the will of God be done. 
 
 ‘< ¢ Mi nesaf atat eto nes, 
 Pa les im’ ddigaloni, 
 Mae son am danat yn mhob man 
 Yn codi'r gwan i fynu.’ 
 
 “ T will not now intrude a sketch of my history on the Continent ; 
 but, when we meet, if encouraged, I'll tell you a little about Geneva, 
 the Sonderbund, the war, Calvin’s pulpit, Mont Blanc, the Jesuits, 
 and the decree of the Canton de Vaud (the Place of Liberty) to put 
 down the Independents. And this would be agreeable enough to 
 me for many reasons, especially as I have been preserved, almost 
 miraculously, from the temptation through which, lamentable to say, 
 
296 
 
 many a dear brother of ours has grievously fal/len—I mean the fiery 
 temptation to publish my ‘ Continental Tour.’ The trial came upon 
 me one day; I manfully resisted, ‘The tempter vanished ; there is to 
 be xo book. 
 
 “T met Baptist Noel many times in Switzerland. He is going to 
 publish a lecture, I see, to young men about the Free Church in the ~ 
 Vaud. Mal apropos, just as the State is going to bind the Free Church. 
 
 ‘«T have troubled you with such a mixture of things, such a heap 
 of circumstances, to which I have made myself the grand centre, that 
 TI begin to feel ashamed. You will never read all this, therefore I shall 
 trouble only myself. And yet, trouble it has not been, but pleasure, 
 to fancy myself in fellowship with one for whom I have sincere and 
 growing affection, especially after so long a separation. 
 
 “Ah! siace we parted in August many, very many, have left the 
 world. Poor Davies, my successor at Narberth! He began there 
 when I began at Fetter Lane ; we were just the same age. His 
 work is ended, perhaps ours soon will be. All things tell us, if we 
 would but listen, that the final law of all is the one supreme will. 
 That will governs all the works of the world for one end—in- 
 expressibly good, overwhelmingly sublime—the raising of the will of 
 humanity into eternal unison with the will of Divinity. 
 
 ‘* Offer my best regards to Mrs. Davies, and my love to all your 
 sweet, precious children ; but they have forgotten me, perhaps. You 
 must, if you please, write me here directly a /etter if you can, or a 
 line if you can’t. 
 
 “« Affectionately yours, 
 “ Cates Morris.” 
 
 I have not attempted to translate the simple Welsh hymns 
 which he quotes. One is a prayer for strength to walk in 
 God’s ways and to live for His glory, so that every breath 
 may proclaim the praises of divine grace. The other is an 
 expression of the heart’s resolve to draw nearer to the God 
 who encourages the despondent, and is known everywhere 
 as the all-helpful One who lifts up the weak. 
 
 The reference to the religious press is in harmony with 
 more than one remark in his Diary. He evidently had no 
 high opinion of the denominational press of his day, 
 
SS 
 
 ar 
 
 297 NG 
 
 especially the cheaper periodicals. He writes on one 
 occasion— h 
 “« What our theological periodicals want is analytical power, logical 
 
 skill, and, above all, a manly fortitude to speak the truth about 
 persons and things, all in love.’’ 
 
 “Speaking trath in love” was not a very strong feature 
 of some of the papers of the day, such as the Christian 
 Banner, under the editorship of Dr. Campbell. This 
 bellicose editor and minister doubtless had many good points, 
 and, according to his light, sought to serve his age and his 
 denomination ; but when one remembers his onslaught on 
 Dr. Samuel Davidson, of Lancashire College, and the 
 part which he took in the “ Rivulet” controversy, the 
 attitude of Caleb Morris towards part of the religious press 
 of the period is not to be wondered at. 
 
 In the beginning of 1848 he returned to London, and for 
 afew months preached with remarkable power. It was an 
 exciting period. The Revolution in France was receiving 
 great attention in England, and Caleb Morris referred to it 
 in his sermons more than once. One of his most striking 
 sermons, “‘ The voice of God in the vicissitudes of humanity,” 
 belongs to this period. It has been said that Frederick 
 William Robertson, of Brighton, heard him preach about 
 this time, and that he was struck with the brilliancy of 
 his thought and the beauty of his eloquence. I mention 
 the rumour, but am not able to confirm it or deny it. 
 
 From the reports of the discourses that have been pre- 
 Served, it is evident that he still retained his wondrous 
 pulpit power; but it was only a Michaelmas summer, the 
 mists of autumn and the storms of winter were drawing 
 nigh. In 1848 he paid another visit to Wales ; and on the 
 29th of May, 1849, he attended the ordination of his nephew, 
 Caleb Gwion, as minister of Plough Chapel, Brecon. 
 
 ne 
 
iy 
 
 | 
 
 “wisdom to plan wisely, Just now I am not well in body or mind, 
 
 298 
 
 There was a very long correspondence between uncle anc 
 nephew before this important event. Caleb Morris did not 
 want to leave London before the May Meetings were over. 
 The Church at Fetter Lane had also decided to give him 
 an assistant, and a minister had come to preach on trial 
 
 down to Wales later on in the summer, and wanted to save 
 
 another journey. But the nephew and the Brecon peo le 
 persisted in adhering to the date which they had chosen, 
 and Caleb Morris, at great inconvenience to himself, w 
 present at the services. A selection from his letters to his 
 nephew on this occasion will make clear his views about the 
 ordination service. 
 ‘«Myddelton Square, : 
 “© May 10th, 1849. 
 “Tt has appeared to me very desirable that you should get some 
 stranger to give you the ‘charge.’ I have always declined this worl 
 I don’t believe in it, and therefore cannot speak. And it seems to” 
 me, dear Caleb, indelicate, wrong, that I should charge you before @ 
 public assembly. T have taken the fullest freedom in giving jy 
 already many a charge, as you know, and I love you so much that 
 am likely to give you some more, but then it must be private. 
 most needful counsels should not be public. This is my feeling, and I 
 have always expressed it. I once thought of breaking the rule 
 im your case. I am driven, however, on reflection, to persevering 
 conformity. 
 “But who will undertake this? Vot tutors, because they are at 
 home, and the Brecon people can get their services on more commor 
 occasions. 
 “T think Mr. Evans (Penygroes), yous pastor, should be the ma a. 
 I suppose he would not object? I should much like this on every 
 account. Will you write to him at once, and press him urgently to 
 comply with your request and my own? Then I would take the ‘ prayer,” 
 and something else, perhaps. Now let me entreat you at once to 
 settle this matter by allowing me to ‘ordain you’ by prayer and 
 imposition of hands. My mind will then be at ease. Let us seek 
 
299 cA 
 
 have an assistant on probation here; I am rather anxious on that: 
 account. Write a line directly about the service to me. 
 ‘* Your affectionate old uncle, 
 ce (38 uM.” 
 
 In subsequent letters he wrote :— 
 
 “* Are you not altogether wrong in thinking so much and making 
 so much of this public service? These public meetings are the 
 Ritualism, the Popery of Dissent. Oh for a more quiet mode of 
 dedicating ourselves to God’s work ! 
 
 “Tf I were to be ordained now I would make it very select, very 
 private, very devotional—i.¢., very conducive to real, inward, lasting 
 good. Oh, my dear Caleb, don’t let these matters of form turn away 
 your heart and thoughts from God! Mind to seek and secure the 
 presence of the Spirit of God for the day. Indeed, this /itt/e trouble 
 should lead you to pray for lisht and power from above. Don’t lean 
 on me, or men ; be humble, be sincere, be good-tempered, be straight- 
 forward, be constant in prayer, watchful in life, faithful to the end.” 
 
 His wishes were carried out; he offered the .Tdination 
 prayer, and also read and prayed at the afternoem service. 
 There he met, for the last time on earth,his friend and 
 
 comrade, John Evans, of Penygroes, who delivered the 
 
 charge to the young minister, whom he had received 
 into church membership and helped towards the Christian 
 ministry. John Evans’s work was almost done, for on 
 the 3rd of October he died suddenly, while attending the 
 ordination of his son-in-law, the Rev. Joseph Morris, at 
 Narberth. Caleb Morris’s public ministry was also drawing 
 to a close, although he was destined to remain many years 
 on the plains of Moab before crossing to the heavenly 
 Canaan. 
 
 The attempt to secure an assistant for Caleb Morris was. 
 not successful, and, as his health did not improve, he felt 
 bound to send in again his resignation. The people clung 
 to him tenaciously, and during the last two years they 
 
 had, at great sacrifice, cleared the whole of the debt that 
 
300 
 
 had accumulated in connection with the day-schools. The 
 wrench was very severe, but it had become inevitable ; and 
 in writing to the church he begged the members not to 
 press him to continue the oversight of the church. The 
 account given in the Patriot for Monday, November 19tb, 
 1849, was as follows :— 
 
 ‘“‘The Rey. Caleb Morris has resigned the pastorate of Fetter Lane 
 Chapel on account of frequent interruptions in his health. On 
 Thursday evening a special meeting was held, when the deacons 
 stated that they had ascertained from their beloved pastor that his 
 determination had not been hastily formed, but had been arrived at in 
 obedience to what he believed to be the will of God, and that, there- 
 ‘fore, his duty was plain not to yield to any effort that might be made 
 ‘in order to induce him to alter his resolution. In these cireumstances, 
 the deacons had prepared a resolution accepting the resignation of a 
 pastor who had faithfully served them for more than twenty-two 
 ‘years, which resolution wasreluctantly, though unanimously, carried, 
 and a committee consisting of the deacons and three other gentlemen 
 was appointed to draw up a suitable and affectionate letter in the 
 name of the church in reply to Mr. Morris's letter of resignation, 
 which reply they will present to him as a deputation, together with 
 the resolution accepting his relinqaishment of the pastoral charge.” 
 
 For the subsequent history of Fetter Lane I must refer the 
 
 reader to the ‘‘Memorials of the Church,” by Mr. Arthur ~ 
 
 Pye-Smith. Finally the chapel was sold, and the Church 
 
 removed to Leyton ; thus it and the other two churches so — 
 
 often mentioned in this volume—Weigh House and Court 
 “Chapel, have left Central London for the larger London 
 which has gathered around the ancient City. May it at 
 Leyton continue the good work done at Fetter Lane under 
 a long succession of noble ministers, not the least of whom 
 ‘was the seer, Caleb Morris. 
 
 After an interval of rest he felt better, and was induced 
 to preach for a few months at Eccleston Chapel, Eccleston 
 Square. This chapel had been built at the sole expense of 
 
301 
 
 Seth Smith, Esq., a member of the church of Dr. Morrison, 
 of Chelsea. It had been opened on the 11th of October, 
 1848, and would accommodate about 1,200 worshippers. 
 
 From his letters to his nephew, it is evident that Caleb 
 Morris was very reluctant to undertake the work. Mr.. 
 Chignell also says that he hesitated long before accepting 
 the charge, saying, “If I go there I must keep in the 
 foreground all that is of least interest to me, and in the 
 background all that to me is most vital and dear.” His 
 ministry at Eccleston was nothing more than a short episode 
 in his history ; but there are still some who remember it 
 with gratitude and reverence. 
 
 Mr. W. L. Lovegrove, for sixty-three years a member, 
 and many years a deacon, of the Hounslow Congregational 
 Church, attended his ministry for a short time at Fetter 
 Lane, and for a longer time at Eccleston Chapel. He took 
 rough notes of his sermons, and says :— 
 
 ‘Tt was not easy to take down his words, for his utterances were 
 gems. Many sentences were complete in themselves, and sparkling 
 with thought. Once, in discussing the right use of time, he stopped 
 suddenly and asked, ‘ Whatistime? It is just one beat of the great 
 pendulum of eternity.’ In describing Christ’s dignity, he spoke of 
 Him ‘as seated on the Throne of universal dominion, the only visible 
 organ of the greatinvisible God.’ 
 
 “Tt was his special attractiveness in setting forth the hidden treasures 
 of thought in the written Word which led me and so many others to 
 find in hima rare teacher. He was without question a profound 
 thinker, and his pulpit expositions were singularly fresh and striking, 
 while his method was simple and natural. Like most great thinkers, 
 there was often a fulness which could not be exhausted, and postpone- 
 ment was inevitable. This seldom created surprise, for the dis- 
 courses were extempore, and the opening thoughts rarely failed to 
 contribute a sermon. 
 
 ‘To estimate his mental acumen, his clear and penetrating vision, 
 the breadth and fulness of his gaze into the boundless expanse of 
 Christian truth was a privilege granted only to those who attended 
 
4 
 
 this ministry. His sermons were marked by an originality of con- 
 struction entirely his own. 
 
 ‘¢ He was in a pre-eminent degree a minister of the New Testa- 
 ment. I believe the vast majority of his discourses were based on 
 passages from that source. He held distinctive thoughts on the 
 fulness of the four Gospels, and their sufficiency for the instruction 
 of the world in Christian truth till the end of time. In the same way 
 he maintained that a Christ-sent minister has but one line to follow, 
 that of revealing Christ’s teaching to the world. ‘If the church,’ he 
 said, ‘owned no more Scripture than the four Gospels, they contain 
 enough to occupy the profoundest student for a lifetime.’ ”’ 
 
 302 
 
 Mr. Lovegrove has asked me to emphasise the stress which 
 he laid on the Gospels. Such an attitude is very common 
 nowadays, at least in theory; but fifty years ago it was 
 rare. Its more exact import I shail discuss in the chapter 
 -on Caleb Morris as a thinker. 
 
 After his retirement from Eccleston Chapel, his admirers 
 came to his private house at Mecklenburg Square on Sundays 
 to listen to his teaching. The Rev. H. Fox Thomas, who 
 has just been called away to his reward, says of these 
 services :— 
 
 nis a epee ele) 
 
 “‘About eighty well-read men and women would attend. The 
 devotional part of the service was conducted by one of the audience. 
 His sermons on these occasions were well thought ont, and delivered 
 with much power. At the close he invited questions or remarks on 
 the text, or on the subject treated. At times he would question the — 
 hearers on past sermons, and if they did not show their knowledge of 
 the same he would preach them over again. He once said to a friend, 
 ‘I must be in the Apostolic Succession, for I preach in a private 
 house.’ The friend playfully replied, ‘That is a mistake; the Apostles — 
 went from house to house, you continue preaching in one and the 
 -same house.’ ” 
 
 The value set on these services is attested by the fact 
 that notes of several of the discourses delivered have been 
 preserved. But this private service eventually proved too 
 
303 
 
 much for him; it drifted to a catechetical exercise or a 
 desultory discussion, and had to be discontinued. His 
 nervous system was completely deranged, and he became 
 more and more the prey of gloomy thoughts. There were, 
 however, bright intervals, and his conversation on such 
 occasions was full of charm and inspiration. 
 
 That such a man was incapacitated so early in life, at a 
 period when there was so much need of spiritual teachers— 
 a period of which Dr. Dale says: “ All faith in religion and 
 philosophy seems to have been lost; there is a loud and 
 earnest cry for some teacher to arise and lead men to a 
 nobler and better way ”—is to us very puzzling. 
 
 Some would blame Caleb Morris severely, and say that he 
 ought to have overcome his despondent moods. It must be 
 granted at once that, had he done so, he would have stood 
 forth as a stronger character ; but it is very unjust to forget 
 the splendid services which he had rendered for nearly thirty 
 years—services which most men would not be able to render 
 in many times that number of years. We should also bear 
 in mind that the failure was bodily and physical, rather 
 than mental and moral, though it is not possible perhaps to 
 Separate these parts of the human personality. The repeated 
 illnesses which he had gone through had undermined his 
 strength; and, at last, he failed to overcome the sad 
 tendencies which he had inherited from his mother. 
 
 It is strange how cold and unsympathetic some people can 
 be towards nervous ailments. If a man is down with a 
 fever, they are keen and warm in their sympathy; but if he 
 is a prey to mental depression, they are inclined to sneer, and 
 say that he is to blame, though he be as helpless as the man 
 who is struck down by a sudden fever. I do not desire to 
 canonise Caleb Morris ; I have sought to set him before 
 the reader as he was, without concealing his defects or 
 
1 
 
 304 
 
 exaggerating his virtues, feeling that he has only to be 
 known in order to be loved and reverenced, and I should — 
 not have made the above observations were it not for the 
 harsh and unfair judgments passed on him by men who 
 have never known anything about nervous weakness and 
 natural timidity. 
 
 Nearly all the notices I have seen concerning him omit 
 altogether the early period of his splendid ministry, and deal 
 only with his declining years. What if his great contempo- 
 rary, Thomas Binney, had been treated in the same way ? 
 Edward White, in his memoir of Thomas Binney, writes :— 
 
 ‘Tt not seldom happens that large growths begin to decay soon, 
 and this is strikingly seen when the growth is both physical and 
 spiritual, and the life that has gone to form it has spent its strength 
 with over intensity in its earlier days. Such was the case with this 
 remarkable man. The latter of the two generations with whom he 
 lived has often silently wondered at the histories told of his early 
 manhood, and has sometimes even complained of his indecision, his 
 timidity, his excessive candour on all sides, his lack of nerye for 
 combat when conflict was necessary; of the loose texture of his 
 thinking, and even of his style ; of the secularity of tone which spread 
 itself here and there over his later writings, and the increasing 
 dominance of peculiarities of address, which took away something 
 from the dignity and authority of his influence over the church and — 
 
 the nation. There was little room for such criticism at the time of 
 the accession of Queen Victoria.” C 
 
 After tracing his influence on politics and religion, 
 Edward White adds :— 
 
 ‘« But men who are enjoying the fruit of arduous toils and sacrifices 
 do not always know who were their benefactors, and thoughtlessly 
 complain of the decayed energy which is the penalty of early and 
 extraordinary self-devotion.”’ 
 
 Wise and just words! Doubtless Caleb Morris also was 
 a victim to the over-intensity and extraordinary devotion of 
 his earlier days; and in his case this was aggravated by a 
 
305 
 
 series of illnesses and an over-sensitive constitution ; but 
 unfortunately little or no allowance for this has been made 
 in the notices which have appeared concerning him. It 
 may have been due to ignorance; but this volume, if 
 it does nothing else, will make it impossible for any fair- 
 minded man to deal with Caleb Morris in the future ag he 
 has been dealt with in Dr. Waddington’s Congregational 
 History. 
 
 The notice in the Patriot for August 17th, 1865, is the 
 most fair and discriminating that I have seen; a few 
 quotations will suffice to indicate its character :— 
 
 *© Had Mr. Morris continued in the full exercise of his Metropolitan 
 ministry, few men would have been more missed or lamented. As 
 thinker, philosopher, and preacher, he was a man of no common 
 order. Endowed with very great gifts, he was also afflicted with that 
 nervous sensibility which is often their accompaniment, and sometimes 
 their cause, and which in him, as in too many, grew to a morbid 
 consciousness that at length disqualified him from preaching. A 
 throat affection gave colour to his nervous apprehension, and the 
 prospect of the Sunday service often so appalled him that he would be 
 up by six o’clock on Sunday morning scouring the Metropolis in search 
 of a substitute, who, of course, had to encounter the disappointed 
 looks of his expectant people and often their rapid disappearance. 
 
 ‘‘ Minds like his are exquisite in their sense of suffering, even 
 when there may be no adequate outward occasion; rougher minds 
 may not interpret their experience. 
 
 ‘Tn many ways men serve their generation, and fulfil their destiny. 
 Let not the man of unresting hand, and hastening step, and un- 
 quivering nerve judge the man of quiet thought, and conversational 
 power, and shrinking sensitiveness. Peace to his noble heart, and 
 blessings on his fragrant memory !”’ 
 
 Dr. Thomas, of Stockwell, writing of his failure to keep 
 his engagements, says :-— 
 
 “‘T have been a victim to his disappointments more than once. It 
 is true that he would always send a substitute, or rather, someone to 
 stand in his place, for he was one of those rare spirits who must 
 
 20 
 
4 
 
 506 
 
 always do their own work. But what was the cause of his enpunctu- 
 ality ? Not any disregard to the morality of engagements; but the 
 conditions of his health and the moods of his soul. He lived in the 
 world of thought; he did not count time by ‘figures on a dial,’ but 
 by succession of ideas. You cannot always get great men to eat, 
 drink, speak, and live by your chronometers.”’ 
 
 Notwithstanding repeated disappointments during the 
 last years of his ministry, his church clung to him with 
 passionate attachment. He was one of those rare souls 
 which exercise an irresistible power over the minds and 
 hearts of men. As I think of him I am often reminded 
 of an experience which my sister and myself had among 
 the mountains of Switzerland. We had climbed, one day, 
 to the summit of the Lauberhorn, in order to obtain a 
 view of the surrounding heights. It was somewhat cloudy, 
 and though we could see many of the grand peaks, we 
 waited hour after hour without having a glimpse of the 
 Jungfrau. We had almost given up in despair when the 
 clouds were suddenly rent asunder, and the glory of that 
 beautiful mountain burst on our enraptured sight. We 
 remember the other heights, but there is a unique charm 
 associated with the memory of the mountain that tried our 
 patience so long. Caleb Morris could not be depended on 
 like the multitude of his less talented brethren, and he 
 often caused sore disappointment to many; but when he 
 did appear, his sermons and prayers opened heaven, and 
 caused the spiritual world to shine forth with a splendour 
 and beauty which thrilled the souls of men, and the memory 
 of such occasions became sources of perpetual inspiration 
 and abiding delight. 
 
XX. 
 Eventide, 
 
 HE closing years of life are often full of temptations, 
 especially to those who have filled public positions 
 and have stood high in the estimation of their 
 
 fellows. When such persons are compelled to retire into 
 comparative obscurity, they are apt to think the world 
 ungrateful, and to fancy, with the Patriarch of old, that all 
 things are against them. Caleb Morris had to exchange 
 the prominent place which he held in London for the retire- 
 ment of a quiet country life, and if he had manifested 
 a little peevishness and bitterness, we should not have been 
 disposed to judge him harshly ; but there is no need for any 
 leniency of judgment in this respect, for the eventide of his 
 life was marked by much tenderness and spiritual beauty. 
 This is all the more remarkable when we think of his 
 natural melancholy, and also of the absence of those family 
 connections which are the sources of so much comfort 
 to many in their declining days. He had no wife to cheer 
 him ; no children in whose interests he could lose himself 
 and find delight; yet there was no murmuring sadness 
 as the night drew nigh. 
 
 Here, perhaps, is the most suitable place to say something 
 about his abstinence from marriage. He has been blamed 
 
 20 
 
308 
 
 by most for this. The writer in the Patriot, already referred 
 to, says :-— 
 ‘‘A wise and affectionate wife, or a family to direct his thoughts 
 
 and demand his care, would no doubt have had a very healthful 
 influence upon him.”’ 
 
 The Rev. P. W. Darnton, B.A., writes :— 
 
 ‘Tt was well for him that he had so good a friend as old Miss 
 Mead, with whom he lived as a son with his mother. It would haye 
 been better if he had a wise and affectionate wife.”’ 
 
 Caleb Morris himself appears to have been of the same 
 opinion. The Rev. T. W. Chignell. represents him as 
 saying on this matter: “I have broken one of God’s great 
 laws, and I must expect to suffer for it.” I have been told 
 that he always advised young ministers to get married 
 before they passed the prime of life; and a reminiscence 
 sent me by Mr. Simon Picton, of Hirwain, sets forth his 
 general views on the subject of marriage. Preaching at 
 Penygroes, in the year 1854, he addressed himself par- 
 ticularly to the young, and said :— 
 
 “Young people, do not trifle with love, for it is a precious feeling 
 implanted by God in the heart of every man and woman. A lady in 
 London asked me one day, ‘ Why don’t you get married, Mr. Morris?’ 
 I replied by asking, ‘ What lady would take me?’ and she said ‘ There 
 is my sister, who drives her carriage and pair; she would willingly 
 share her lot with you.’ ”’ 
 
 Then putting his hand upon his breast, he said :— 
 
 “‘T could not think of it, because I had no love to offer her. TI lost 
 that heavenly spark in my youth, and I can never find it again.”’ 
 
 There is no reliable information about this loss of love. 
 Rumour says that he was crossed in love, and had also the 
 misfortune to be loved by someone whose love he could not 
 reciprocate. Whether he was to blame or not cannot now be 
 
309 
 
 decided ; no one acquainted with his ways could think that 
 he acted dishonourably in the matter. Indeed, he does not 
 accuse himself of this, and the reader knows that he did not 
 spare himself if he had committed the smallest sin. The 
 probability, therefore, is that he had been unfortunate in 
 early life, and did not feel disposed to remedy the misfortune 
 when he had advanced in years. In the Welsh volume I 
 ventured to question the opinion so generally expressed that 
 marriage would have saved him from his despondency and 
 gloom, and I am still fully convinced that the tendency to 
 melancholy was so ingrained in his nature, as it was in his 
 mother’s before him, that no change of conditions would 
 have remedied it, and I cannot conceive that any influence 
 would have long succeeded, where his intense religious con- 
 victions had failed. Moreover, one shudders to think what 
 the result would have been if he had contracted an unsuitable 
 alliance. Caleb Morris was an extraordinary man, and such 
 men are seldom a success in the domestic circle. Doubtless, 
 he was right in warning others against following his 
 example, but, considering all things, I am disposed to think 
 that he was one of the men destined by Providence to go 
 through the world solitary and alone. 
 
 Let it not be thought, however, that he was a stranger to 
 the hallowing influence of womanhood. Quite the contrary. 
 His chivalry towards women is attested by his diary and 
 those who knew him. In one place he designates God 
 as “the Father and lover of holy womanhood,” and among 
 the women of his congregation he found some of his most 
 devoted helpers ; when his health failed, and he was driven 
 from public life, his lonely retirement was illumined by their 
 sympathy and generosity. He had not been very careful in 
 money matters, but he was saved from any pecuniary anxiety by 
 the thoughtfulness of the noble women who had been inspired 
 
310 
 
 by his ministry ; and he had not only enough, but a super- 
 abundance, which enabled him to continue his generosity up 
 to the time of his death, and also to bequeath something 
 to relatives to whom he was devotedly attached. 
 
 The course of his life for a few years after he resigned the 
 ministry cannot be traced in detail ; we know that his aged 
 mother died in the year 1852, when he doubtless visited the 
 old home. The next few years were probably spent in 
 various places, and devoted to reading and conversation. 
 
 The Rev. T. W. Chignell had an important interview with 
 him in 1854, but that will come in more appropriately in 
 the chapter on him as a thinker. Referring to that occa- 
 sion, Mr. Chignell says, “ At the same time he took down a 
 large, prettily-framed portrait of Humboldt, and gave it to 
 me, saying, ‘It will make you think of me and my home.’” 
 Mr. Chignell speaks of him with unbounded enthusiasm :— 
 
 ‘“‘He was a kingly man, the beau ideal of a gentleman, He 
 was sweetness to the child, of handsome chivalry and sensitive 
 reverence towards woman. He had the burning soul of a friend, 
 and loved men and all that belongs to man with a life-long devotion. 
 His whole nature was one flame of beauty, the beauty of mountain 
 and sky, and of passionate love for the happiness and civilisation of 
 every child of man. One day I looked with him on the new 
 Royal Exchange; he stood in awe before it and exclaimed, ‘ One 
 more footprint of civilisation!’ Nothing was base or small in his 
 sight; all the ways of nature and of God were sweet and acceptable 
 unto him. He was boundlessly generous; the bounty of summer 
 was his. He had all his life long the enthusiasm of youth. He was 
 natural and unconventional as a child. He smote every violation 
 of freedom ; intolerance and oppression instantly evoked the lightning 
 flash of his anger. Yet his sympathy was of the keenest, his affection 
 was soft as a mother’s love to her children. His life was a following 
 of his Divine leader Christ; the fulness of God filled him, the vision 
 of God in all things ever attended him. He lived in God—in the 
 bosom of his Father. ‘I in Thee and Thou in me’ expresses his hourly 
 existence.” 
 
At the close of the year 1855 he wrote to his nephew, but 
 the place whence the letter was written is not named : 
 
 “*To C. Gwion. 
 
 ‘The last day ! of 1855. 
 
 “My prarest CatEs,—On special days our human hearts go 
 spontaneously to those who are nearest to us—nearest by natural or 
 by spiritual sympathy. You are by d/ood and by spirit my nearest 
 and dearest relative on earth—as such I love you, care for you, and 
 commune with you, mentally or bodily, all my days. Immediately we 
 cannot meet—you are there and I am here—but mediately (by paper 
 and ink) we can draw our hearts together every month, every week, 
 and even oftener. What a blessing is the postal institution. 
 
 **T am in good fealth, though not in circumstances, either physical 
 or social, peculiarly favourable to health and strength. 
 
 “‘T think to-night (31st December, 1855) of the past, All that I 
 feel can be stated in a few words: J am sinful, but God is merciful. 
 May God be merciful to me asinner! But we are saved by hope, and 
 that is all the future. Let us, dearest Caleb, begin the year, 1856, 
 with a determination to ‘WatcH AND Pray.’ Let it be the dest year 
 should we live it through. 
 
 “* Let us make it a matter of conscience to pray for one another that 
 we—both of us—may spend the year with God and for God. Don’t 
 forget me; I will not forget you. May God in tender mercy re- 
 member us both. 
 
 “To this word, dictated by the return of the season, return a direct 
 reply. 
 
 ‘* Most affectionately yours, 
 ce & M.” 
 
 His last diary, which is very fragmentary, begins :— 
 
 “©1856, March 29th, Saturday.—Left town for Coedcenlas. Dr. 
 Young accompanied me to the train. Remained at Narberth Road 
 Station that night. Visited Narberth. Heard Mr, Morris in the 
 evening, ; 
 
 ‘‘Monday.—Reached Coedcenlas. Found my father weak,” 
 
 The next five Sundays he attended the services at Peny- 
 groes, and preached on three of them, He remarks: 
 
 “Unless preachers can command the senses of the hearers 
 
 ee on 
 Ads i * 1 . 
 
 h i iy { Ron *) 
 
 LMnn an ban fv? F! 
 
7“ 
 
 312 
 
 they cannot command their souls,” and asks, “ How can 
 the bodily devoutness of Catholics be established in Pro- 
 testant, and especially in Nonconformist, Churches.” 
 
 The diary contains several meditations on portions of the 
 Scriptures, and particularly on}the Acts of the Apostles, 
 which was ever a favourite book with him. We find not 
 a few entries indicating the stress which he laid on the 
 harmony of Christianity with reason. He was evidently 
 displeased with the type of worship which prevailed in 
 Nonconformist churches. He writes : ‘‘ Public prayers are 
 often declarations of faith intruded on God. Too long, 
 eloquent, wordy, and criminatory of classes of men.” On 
 Sunday evening, May 11th, he spoke at the prayer-meeting 
 at Penygroes, concerning which he writes: ‘‘ Wished to do 
 good strongly, but felt uncomfortable.” In June he visited 
 the “‘ Cymanfa” at Henllan, and writes :— 
 
 “There were no signs of moral power working in the minds and 
 ministrations of the preachers, so as to move the assembly to listen, 
 believe, and fear. The reverence and zeal which in former times 
 attended such gatherings were almost totally absent. Itis complained 
 
 that there are no ‘Cymanfa’ preachers now in Wales. Why? Is 
 this a sign of good or of evil?”’ 
 
 His brethren endeavoured to induce him to speak at the 
 Conference in Henllan, but he was in no mood for talking, 
 and, on being pressed to say something, replied : “* It is one 
 thing to say something, it is another to have something to 
 say.” 
 
 He visits Newport and receives much kindness, and he 
 writes of one of his brethren: “ Liked his spirit and his 
 views as a minister.” One day he is unusually depressed, 
 and writes: “ Reviewed the past with humiliation and 
 pain.” The next he is bright and hopeful, and writes : 
 “Spent the day in reading and writing. I must now, 
 
313 
 
 having once more full health, begin to work in earnest for 
 the good of men.” 
 
 He feels the need of reform in the method and substance 
 of preaching, and writes :— 
 
 “<The Judgment is preached much in the same way as if men cried 
 over the country, ‘The Judge is coming! the assizes draw nigh; the 
 court will sit. Prepare for it!’ What a motive to social morality ! 
 Why don’t preachers say, ‘The Judgment is come; the Judge is 
 trying your cases; God is judging, in men and about men.’”’ 
 
 He is very severe on what he calls “ manufacturing 
 sermons for shows and exhibitions,” instead of using them 
 as instruments for cultivating the Church, “ the husbandry 
 of God.” 
 
 He is pained at the power exerted in Churches by narrow 
 and persecuting men, who tyrannise over the rights of 
 reason and crush the Divine liberties of men; and longs 
 for a better type of church life. He looks upon church 
 membership as the highest type of friendship, and writes :-— 
 
 “ Friendship, founded on knowledge and elective love, sustained by 
 service and sacrifice, guarded by jealousy and valour, and consecrated 
 by the Holy Spirit to the worship and triumph of truth, love, and 
 beauty, is at once the rarest and strongest power in the world. What 
 
 but this sort of friendship can be the meaning and the essence of 
 church fellowship ?” 
 
 He is greatly impressed with the importance of society. 
 He writes :— 
 
 ‘¢ Man is the creator, and in turn the creation of institutions. Man, 
 and not men, should be our study, and the end of all institutions, civil 
 and sacred. Man cannot live alone—loneliness is the first thing 
 which God pronounced not good. Man’s wants, his perils, his 
 heart’s hopes, and all the laws of his being bind him to society. He 
 instinctively leans on it for support. His infancy requires a nurse, 
 his youth a guide, his old age a comforter. Combination is neces- 
 Sary for men ; it is the shield that guards them from their common 
 
314 
 
 enemies ; it is the source that supplies their common wants ; it is the 
 power that perfects their common bliss. In society there can be no 
 equality. Among the trees of the forest, the beasts of the wilderness, 
 and the stars of heaven there are gradations. This is an universal 
 ordinance.” 
 
 The following letter is interesting as indicating his 
 manner of life at this period :— 
 ‘‘Coedcenlas, July, 1856. 
 
 “« My pEar CatEeB,—I ought to have written sooner. The trueness 
 of my love to you wanted to satisfy itself by writing a letter full of 
 varied materials. The collection of these materials required time. 
 The time for doing so has been from day to day encroached upon— 
 I may say, almost wasted—by little things and little persons, and the 
 consequence has been delay. Here there is, therefore, another lesson 
 for you and for me on the danger and curse of procrastination. 
 Beware ! 
 
 “As an apology for my long silence I might plead, argue, and 
 reason very plausibly, and very logically too. I might say that 
 I had been for weeks busily superintending new buildings, horticul- 
 tural improvements, extensive sewerage, and pavement repairs; that 
 I have been attending the consecration of chapels (Blaenffos), 
 ‘ Cymanfa’r plant’ (the children’s festival), and sundry meetings of all 
 sorts at Penygroes ; that for health, I have been out of doors in the 
 day and in bed (betimes) at night, and, above all, that my professional 
 duties as an eminent doctor from ‘town’ has been occupying a con- 
 siderable portion of my precious time ; and that thus there has been 
 little or no time left for any correspondence except what was absolutely 
 necessary and instantly urgent. 
 
 “‘T might, I say, with such varied materials as these, construct a 
 very respectable apology for my delay. But that would neither 
 satisfy you, nor exculpate me in my conscience; and to write as 
 though I sincerely believed it would do so would only foster the 
 cowardly, base, wicked spirit of falsity in the writer and reader. I 
 will, therefore, with manly humility, confess my fault, and hope that 
 you will, with ‘divine generosity,’ freely forgive it. Let us resolve, 
 for the future, to crush all tendencies to procrastination im the bud. 
 Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well and at once. A clear 
 head, a pure, humble heart, a mighty will, may God grant us!” 
 
315 
 
 The kind of life indicated by the above letter is in 
 harmony with the accounts which I have received from my 
 father, and from other persons in the neighbourhood. 
 
 He had paid great attention to the diseases of the human 
 body and to the various remedies proposed for them. In his 
 diary he remarks, “‘ Medical knowledge is useful and 
 ornamental for ministers. In the quiet district of Voeldrigarn 
 there was no resident doctor ; the nearest medical man lived 
 eight miles away, and Caleb Morris was frequently con- 
 sulted in cases of illness. He also took interest in house 
 and lake, farm and garden, and in general lived among his 
 neighbours as a country gentleman. 
 
 He was very generous to the poor and the distressed. One 
 day he went to the house of a poor widow who had a large 
 family. Her son had just come home from service, suffering 
 from weakness. The doctor had ordered him to the seaside, 
 but he had no money, and his mother could not help him. 
 When Caleb Morris understood the position, he sent him off 
 ab once, putting a gold piece into his hand and undertaking 
 to procure all that was necessary for the restoration of his 
 health. This was only one instance of the kindly help 
 which he was constantly rendering. 
 
 He was very fond of encouraging the children to be polite. 
 The good custom then prevailed in Pembrokeshire—and I am 
 glad to think that it has not quite disappeared—for the 
 children, in going to or coming from school, to greet all 
 they met with a “good morning” or a ‘good evening.” 
 Caleb Morris met a group of children one day, and they all 
 greeted him in a becoming manner. As he was giving 
 pennies to them he noticed that the cap of one of the boys 
 was somewhat worn. He asked the boy what he had done 
 to his cap ; the boy blushed for shame; but the other boys 
 said: “He is taking off his cap to everybody, sir.” This 
 
316 
 
 pleased Caleb Morris greatly, and there is no need to say 
 that the lad received an extra gift and an encouraging word. 
 
 His niece, Hannah Gwion, kept house for him at Coedcenlas, 
 and she had orders not to allow any child to leave the place 
 without a copper. My father’s house was then only a field’s 
 breadth from Coedcenlas, and many a penny did I receive 
 from Hannah Gwion. But after a time she noticed that I 
 never took the penny away. She told her uncle, and he 
 said : “* Well, put the pennies aside. I will find out what it 
 means.” When he met my father, he said to him: “ What 
 a strange boy you have, Stephen; he doesn’t like money ! 
 What does it mean?” My father was not in the secret, 
 but one day Caleb Morris came over to my mother, and 
 brought with him the pennies which I had left on the sofa 
 at Coedcenlas. He then found out that I had committed a 
 great crime one day in bringing a small piece of shining 
 anthracite coal from Coedcenlas. Such a thing was not to be 
 found at Park-gwyn, and I was too young to know that I 
 was doing anything wrong in taking it home ; but my dear 
 mother was very angry, made me take it back at once, and 
 warned me not to bring anything from Coedcenlas again. 
 That accounted for my behaviour in reference to the pennies. 
 When he heard the story he was delighted, and, putting his 
 hand on my head, said, “‘I hope, my boy, you will grow up 
 to be as honest as your mother.” 
 
 He took much interest in farming and gardening, and 
 was a close observer of nature ; any violation of nature’s 
 laws he severely condemned. The farmers sometimes 
 induced hens to brood over duck’s eggs ; and one day Caleb 
 Morris observed a hen followed by a troop of ducklings ; 
 eventually the young ducks went into the water, and the hen 
 had to remain, anxious and querulous at the water’s edge 
 until her brood chose to return. As he watched what was 
 
WIITE MARE 
 
 taking place, he cried out impatiently, “ Why will men 
 break nature’s laws ? ” 
 
 He was very fond of riding and mountain climbing. 
 The white mare of Coedcenlas was a familiar sight through- 
 out the district. She knew her master well, and was 
 obedient to his very nod. She would fly along at his 
 bidding, and stop immediately at his command. Other 
 people found her almost unmanageable; but at the sound 
 of his voice she became quiet as a lamb. "eS 
 
 Voeldrigarn was his favourite hill, and he would often f 
 
 ~~ascend its slopes. During his many illnesses he had found : 
 
 renewal of health and hope in its bracing air and broad 
 outlook ; he tried the strength of his voice between its 
 cairns, and if the people below could say that they had 
 heard him he was cheered, for his nervousness always 
 affected his voice, and when that returned to its normal 
 state he was on the way to recovery. It is said that during 
 his holiday visits he would take his long pipes (church- 
 wardens) to the top of the mount and enjoy a smoke as 
 he gazed around, and that his last work before leaving 
 for London was to lay the pipes aside and say, “‘ There, 
 I shall not have another smoke ere I come to Coedcenles 
 again.” 
 
 The pipe provided him with much solace and amusement 
 during his years of retirement ; he walked round the garden 
 thinking and meditating as the smoke ascended, and some 
 of his smartest sayings were uttered as he played with 
 his toy. 
 
 Many stories are told of his abgent-mindedness. One day 
 he went to a railway station, and when he asked for a ticket 
 he found that he had no money in his pocket. The ticket 
 clerk asked him for his name, but he, putting on his most 
 dignified aspect, replied : “If my appearance does not con- 
 
 317 
 
318 
 
 vince you that Iam an honest man, I must returnhome.’ The 
 appeal was irresistible. Many a time he found himself ina 
 similar plight, even in London, but his striking, noble 
 face always carried conviction into the heart of the conduc- 
 ors, and he was very careful never to forfeit the confidence 
 thus called forth. 
 
 He did not neglect the serious occupations of his former 
 life. The notes in the diary about reading show that he had 
 not lost his old love for philosophy. He mentions par- 
 ticularly Butler’s “‘ Philosophy,”’ Maurice’s ‘* Medizeval Philo- 
 sophy,” and Dr. Fleming’s “ Vocabulary of Philosophy.” He 
 interests himself in books on Botany, Geology, and Geo- 
 graphy, and shows his acquaintance with the works of 
 Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. The reformers, 
 especially John Calvin, engaged his attention, and he 
 thought much on Comparative Religion. He read “The 
 Confessions of an Opium-EHater,” by Thomas de Quincey ; 
 “‘ Jane Hyre,” by Charlotte Bronté, and many biographies, 
 among others that of Handel. He followed the educational 
 and political movements of the day at home and abroad. 
 His mind continued fresh and vigorous, and when he was in 
 a bright mood, it was a delight and an inspiration to listen to 
 him ; but suddenly, in a moment as it were, he would be 
 overwhelmed by one of his gloomy attacks. 
 
 His influence on the young was elevating and inspiring. 
 He filled them with enthusiasm for all that was noble and 
 lofty. He warned them seriously against all that was 
 questionable in taste and morality. After listening to a 
 story that bordered on impropriety, he found an opportunity 
 of speaking privately to the one who had narrated it, and 
 said to him, ‘‘ Never tell that story again, I beseech you.” 
 He laid stress on acting from principle in everything, and 
 on looking through the shams and shows of religion to its 
 
319 
 
 heart and essence. This brought him into conflict at times 
 with the current opinions of the religious community. At 
 Penygroes there was at one time great excitement because 
 the daughter of a Unitarian had been received into church 
 membership and had partaken of the Lord’s Supper. Con- 
 cerning the incident he writes : 
 
 ‘* A symbol of friendship, the Lord’s Supper, made the occasion of 
 bitter strife, Children in malice ; men in understanding. So Paul; 
 
 the reverse here—children in understanding ; men in malice. 
 Shame !’” 
 
 His kindness to students was proverbial, and his conver- 
 sations with them were full of wisdom and inspiration. The 
 Welsh theological student has to go round the churches 
 during the summer vacation to collect for his college. This 
 is not always a pleasant experience, and he sometimes meets 
 with rebuffs and disappointments. In after-life he forgets 
 these ; but he ever cherishes the memory of those who 
 helped him cheerfully on such occasions. I must content 
 myself with giving a few instances out of many of Caleb 
 Morris’s treatment of young ministerial students. Dr. Pan 
 Jones, of Mostyn, writes :— 
 
 “*T saw Caleb Morris only once, but that once was enough to 
 endear him to me for ever. I was on a collecting tour on behalf of 
 Bala College, and had come to Penygroes. As I was preaching I 
 noticed a very striking person sitting near the door, and listening 
 attentively. At the close of the service he came forward, shook hands 
 with me, and said, ‘I have not seen you before, but I listened with 
 great pleasure to your sermon.? When I understood that I was 
 speaking to Caleb Morris, I was thunderstruck ; then he took me by 
 the arm and said, ‘ I remember when I was a young preacher like you; 
 take courage and do your best.’ When he understood I intended to 
 go to Germany, he put his hand in his pocket and gave me five 
 shillings, saying, ‘That is all I have with me.’ But he soon sawa 
 chance of borrowing a sovereign, and gave it me instead of the crown 
 piece. When I came to the neighbourhood again he was too ill to be 
 
7" 
 
 320 
 
 seen, but I shall never forget his inspiring words and generous 
 action.” 
 
 The Rev. W. Gilbert Evans, Bridgend, bears witness to the 
 wonderful charm which his conversation had for him when a 
 young student. He was struck with the sublimity and 
 spirituality of his thoughts. He seemed to look into the 
 heart of things, and expressed what he saw in language 
 that was full of poetry and passion. One Sunday morning 
 Mr. Evans was preaching at Penygroes, and at the close of 
 the service Caleb Morris went on to him and began to pour 
 forth his floods of eloquence on preaching and cognate 
 themes. When the farmer who was taking the student 
 to dinner had almost lost his temper, Caleb Morris told the 
 young preacher “Come to Coedcenlas to-morrow.” He 
 went, and walked with him in garden and field; every few 
 yards Caleb Morris would stop in order to emphasise some 
 truth. Even at the table he soon forgot all about the 
 dinner, as he was carried along by the current of his 
 thoughts ; then he would suddenly stop and say, “Oh, dear 
 me, let me help you to something”; but soon again he 
 would be lost in the contemplation and exposition of truth. 
 At the close of the day’s conversation he put his hand in 
 his pocket, and handed a sovereign to the student, with the 
 remark, “ Here is a mite for you to show I am in earnest.” 
 
 Two things never failed to attract his sympathy—viz., 
 intelligence and modesty ; on the other hand, dulness, and, 
 above all things, conceit and pride were intolerable to him. 
 He sought to inspire all students with lofty ideals, but they 
 were at the same time practicable ideals. He urged them to 
 be honest in thought and speech. He impressed upon them 
 the need of having a definite aim in every sermon, and 
 warned them against preaching grand sermons without 
 asking whether they were suited to the needs of the people. 
 
321 
 
 He was not extravagant in his demands upon preachers and 
 teachers. He told Mr. Evans, among other things, “If I 
 have thought or feeling ina sermon I am quite content.” 
 Ministers and students who did not know him trembled at 
 the very mention of his name, but after they had been with 
 him for a few hours they looked upon him as their best 
 friend. 
 _ Two other instances must be mentioned. The Rev. 
 J. M. Prytherch, of Wern, preached one Sunday evening 
 at the Plough Chapel, Brecon, while a student at the Brecon 
 College. He saw Caleb Morris at the service, and felt very 
 uncomfortable. He noticed that he did not go out with the 
 rest, but waited in the aisle for the young preacher, who 
 approached him with fear and trembling ; but there was no 
 need for terror. Caleb Morris invited him to supper, and 
 set before him the importance and glory of the work of the 
 ministry with such power and enthusiasm as to fill him with 
 an intense longing to be a worthy minister of Jesus Christ. 
 In the biography of Dr. Herber Evans, by the Rev. H. Elvet 
 Lewis, we have the story of Herber Evans’ first English 
 sermon, as related by himself : 
 
 «* About the year 1859 we were in Pembrokeshire collecting towards 
 Brecon College. We had never attempted to preach in English till 
 we reached Tenby on that journey; but it was necessary to face the 
 whole service there in the iaith fain [English], as there was no Welsh 
 cause inthe town. We had translated one of our Welsh sermons; 
 but the thought of the devotional service was a heavy load, and we 
 were afraid the sermon might take wings and leave us too. Bat our 
 comfort was that Tenby at the time was without a minister, and our 
 chief fear was the fear of a preacher. When on the lowest step 
 Mounting the pulpit, I could see a portly, striking man coming in 
 and sitting by the door. It did not require much insight to make out 
 that he was somebody, and I was foolish enough to turn back and ask 
 who he was. The deacon replied, not without surprise, ‘Don’t you 
 know who heis? That is the famous Caleb Morris.’ Our feelings 
 
 21 
 
7 
 
 322 
 
 can be imagined—preaching in English for the first time in our life 
 before the prince of London preachers in his day. But at the close 
 of the service he came on to us kindly, and invited us to spend the 
 next day with him in his lodgings; and we shall never forget the 
 feast we enjoyed in his company. He was a man of brilliant genius 
 —one of the greatest preachers that Wales has nursed ; but the greab 
 man is the quickest to recognise the smallest grain of talent in another 
 —he is sure to perceive it and recognise it. . . . The recollection 
 of our experience with Caleb Morris has assisted us often to preach in 
 the hearing of many a great man after him, and we record our 
 experience for the benefit of our younger brethren.”’ 
 
 There was something very remarkable in his conversa- 
 tion. Many adjectives have been applied to it, such as 
 brilliant, chaste, suggestive, soul-subduing, electrifying, 
 magnetic. Its force lay in its manner as well as its matter 
 I have been repeatedly told that he had a marvellous power 
 of expression. The changes of his countenance as he spoke 
 were very striking. Generally his face was like a beautiful 
 placid lake amid hills and trees—the smile that played on 
 it was exquisitely charming ; but when he was moved by ~ 
 anger and indignation his aspect became terrible in its 
 grandeur and majesty. His musical voice was equally at 
 his command, so that apart from the freshness of his ideas 
 it was a pure delight to hear him talk. As Hazlitt said of 
 Coleridge, “ He talked on for ever, and you wished him to 
 talk on for ever.” 
 
 His ideals of the work of the ministry were also grand and 
 lofty, and he impressed upon all aspirants to the sacred office 
 the need of devoting all their energies to the holy work. He 
 warned them against aiming at passing popularity. To the 
 Rev. W. Davies, of Llandilo (then at Cardigan), he said : 
 ‘Preach to the few, and the few will preach to the many.” 
 To the Rey. B. Thomas, of Narberth, Myfyr Emlyn, he said = 
 “Never try to please the crowd. It is better to please and 
 receive the approval of seven wise men than to obtain the 
 
323 
 
 applause of a crowd of seven hundred, for the seven will be 
 right, and in the end they will convert the seven hundred 
 to their way of thinking.” 
 
 It is quite possible to press unduly sayings like the above ; 
 but surely they are more in harmony with the teaching of 
 Christ and His Apostles than the advice which we constantly 
 hear about bringing the Gospel down to the level of the 
 people. Should we not rather demand their best thought, 
 and refuse to pander to their spiritual deadness and 
 indifference ? Nobody left him unmoved, and those who 
 had the privilege to enjoy his company are at a loss to 
 find words to express their admiration. Here are some of 
 the epithets applied to him: “A man of God,” “A 
 glorious 'man,” ‘An angel of a man,” “The best man 
 IT ever knew.” 
 
 Great preachers are often poor listeners, but Caleb Morris 
 was not so. In reading his diaries nothing has struck me 
 more than his appreciation of the services of his brethren. 
 The only kind of preacher that he could not tolerate was the 
 bombastic man, puffed up with conceit, anxious to show him- 
 self, but oblivious of the great aim of preaching. Naturally, 
 he could not expect much that was fresh and new in a 
 quiet country chapel like Penygroes, but more than once he 
 remarks of the sermons preached there “ Very good.” My 
 father once said to him, “Mr. Morris, you must find our 
 Services very dull ; how, then, do you come so regularly ?” 
 and the reply was “ Yes, Stephen, they are sometimes dull, 
 but I generally get a fragment of truth or a glow of feeling, 
 and even if I do not get anything I like to see you all, and 
 to feel that I am worshipping with you.” 
 
 After the service he generally engaged in a long conversa- 
 tion with the most intelligent members of the congregation, 
 and ofttimes he was seen in the graveyard, or on the road, or 
 
 21* 
 
324 
 
 in the field with a group of attentive listeners around him 
 drinking in his wonderful words, and the discourse after 
 leaving the chapel was often more impressive and influential 
 than the sermon from the pulpit. 
 
 I have a vivid recollection of some of the conversations on 
 the road, not that I understood them, but for quite another 
 reason. Between Penygroes and Coedcenlas there is a narrow 
 road with high hedges. My father and Mr. Stephen Rees, 
 Felinuchaf, generally walked with Caleb Morris from the 
 service, as they had to pass Coedcenlas on their way home. 
 They would often spend an hour or more to walk half a mile. 
 Every few steps the great man would stop, lean upon his 
 staff, and tap it against the ground to emphasise his points. 
 Sometimes he would stand erect and whirl his staff in the 
 air with great rapidity and majesty. 1 was only a lad 
 learning my letters, and found the waiting tedious. I tfied — 
 to pass away the time by looking for birds’ nests or picking 
 strawberries and bilberries, or even climbing after nuts and 
 erab-apples. When none of these were to be found I tried 
 to amuse myself with throwing stones. I had a dim con- 
 sciousness that this was not proper work for Sundays, but 
 I was a restless boy, and what was I todo? Caleb Morris — 
 and his companions were too much occupied with their 
 arguments to frown on me; and, when occasionally I ~ 
 ventured to approach father and say, “Oh, come now, 
 father!” I could not always gain their attention. What 
 would I not give now if I were allowed to listen again to 
 those wonderful expositions of truth ! 
 
 Generally he avoided preaching, but occasionally he was 
 induced to take part in the public service, and the more 
 thoughtful souls would have a rare feast. The only 
 inconvenience was that he allowed himself to be bound by 
 no time limit. This sometimes gave rise to awkward 
 
325 
 
 situations; but those who were really anxious to be 
 instructed were glad to make any sacrifice in order to 
 enjoy his spiritual teaching. Mr. Simon Picton says that 
 one Sunday morning he expounded the third chapter of the 
 Acts of the Apostles at Penygroes from nine o’clock to 
 half-past twelve. The majority were delighted, but one 
 man, Owen Twm Griffith, was very indignant. He sat on 
 the gallery, with his three sheep-dogs. He had come not 
 so much to worship and to hear the Word of God, as to 
 announce, after the service, outside the chapel, a public 
 event which was to take place the following week. He was 
 due also at Bethabara, the Baptist chapel in the parish, 
 to make a similar announcement. Caleb Morris’s long 
 exposition had spoiled his plans, and his language after the 
 service was anything but reverent, but the great mass of 
 the people had been lifted into the presence of God, and had 
 received special help and inspiration to take up again life’s 
 duties and cares. 
 
 He would not definitely engage beforehand to preach on 
 any occasion, but there were no special meetings belonging 
 to any denomination in the district which he did not attend, 
 if his health permitted. Often he would not take any part, 
 but sometimes he would consent to read and pray, and 
 whenever he did this those who knew him prepared them 
 selves for a religious feast. The old people still talk about 
 his reading and praying at a Baptist “‘Cymanfa,” held at 
 Bethel. He read the passage concerning Ananias and 
 Sapphira, in the Acts of the Apostles, making comments 
 as he went along. He brought the scenes so vividly before 
 the vast audience, and denounced so terribly the sin of 
 falsehood, especially of religious falsehood—lying to the 
 Holy Ghost, that the people were filled with indignation 
 against untruthfulness, and nothing that was said during 
 
326 
 
 the meetings produced such an impression as that exposition, 
 followed by his wonderful prayer. 
 
 At these meetings he assumed no airs of superiority, but 
 placed himself on a level with his brethren. The Baptist 
 ministers seem to have been specially fond of him, and once 
 at least tried to get the better of him in respect to baptism. 
 He was walking arm-in-arm with one of the leading Baptist 
 ministers at the Blaenyffos Association, and when they came 
 near the platform, where the crowd was very thick, he said 
 to his Baptist friend, ‘“ You go on, they know you, and I will 
 follow. ‘ Will you follow me always ?” his friend asked, 
 hinting at baptism by immersion. “ I will always follow you 
 while you go upwards,” was the reply. 
 
 The people at Penygroes received the greatest share of 
 his religious teaching. On Sunday evenings he would 
 often speak at the prayer-meeting, and bring the 
 treasures of the revealed Word before the people to their 
 astonishment and delight. When he was unable to 
 attend the meetings at Penygroes, he sometimes held 
 a service on Sunday evening at Coedcenlas. People walked 
 a distance of five miles or more to hear him on such 
 occasions. He would stand at the door of the raised 
 parlour with a round table and Bible in front of him. The 
 audience would be behind him and around him in the 
 parlour, in front of him in the large kitchen, and would 
 also throng the porch, staircase, and any side room that was 
 available. On such occasions he would sometimes preach 
 very long—too long for youngsters like myself. Once, at 
 least, I fell asleep, as Eutychus did when Paul prolonged 
 his preaching at Troas, and I fell down over the staircase. 
 Fortunately the place was so crowded with people that I 
 received no hurt. I can only hope that I did nos seriously 
 disturb the meeting. I am afraid I may have spoiled one 
 
 4 
 
pee 15 
 
 of the points of the great preacher, and I cannot remember 
 that I ever asked his forgiveness. However, I do not expect 
 he will be very severe on me for my youthful indifference 
 when we meet in the world beyond. 
 
 He preached at the re-opening services of the chapel at 
 Narberth, which were held on October the 4th and 5th, 
 1859. Mr. D. Meyler, of Swansea, whose father was con- 
 verted under the ministry of Caleb Morris, writes in refer- 
 ence to the sermon preached on that occasion :— 
 
 ‘©Tt was a wonderful discourse. One of its striking passages was 
 in reference to the building not made with hands. He gave a beau- 
 tiful description of man's hand, and what it had done, and then said, 
 ‘ God's work is grander, a building not made with hands.’ The con- 
 gregation was spell-bound. Once or twice during the discourse he 
 stopped, and the people, thinking he was going to finish, cried, ‘ Go 
 on!’ and he spoke for an hour and a-half with marvellous power.” 
 
 Mr. Meyler also mentions the interesting fact that he 
 took the chair when Henry Richard delivered a lecture at 
 Narberth. Henry Richard had not then become widely 
 known as the Apostle of Peace, but evidently Caleb Morris 
 honoured him ; and when the lecturer said at the close that 
 he was afraid that the lecture had been “dry,” “No, not 
 “dey,” but ‘ high,’ ” was the chairman’s remark. 
 
 The chapel at Penygroes was renovated in the years 1859 
 and 1860, and was re-opened on August 21st and 22ad, 
 1860. Caleb Morris took great interest in the work, and 
 contributed liberally towards the cost. That is the first 
 form of the chapel of which I have distinct recollection, 
 and I shall never forget some of the experiences which I had 
 init. The children were in the habit of repeating verses on 
 Sunday evenings; my dear mother had carefully tanght me 
 one during the week, but, alas, whea the time came for 
 telling it on Sunday evening the verse had gone, and even 
 
328 
 
 now I can remember how bitterly I wept. Caleb Morris. 
 was not present, but heard of it, and the next time he saw 
 me he encouraged me to try again, saying that his memory 
 often failed him. 
 
 While the chapel was in course of reconstruction Caleb: 
 Morris’s father passed away at the great age of one hundred, 
 and was buried close to the northern wall of the chapel. 
 When asked to go and see his father laid in the coffin he 
 refused, saying, “I wish to remember my father as he was. 
 when alive.” He had watched over his declining years with 
 exceptional tenderness and sympathy. He loved his mother 
 tenderly, but it was his father that called forth all the 
 reverence and affection of his rich nature. One earthly 
 link after another was broken, and he felt increasingly the 
 loneliness of life. One of his last entries in the diary is on 
 the past and the future :— 
 
 ‘‘Qur fellowship, which was enjoyed for many years, was not 
 buried, but sown in the past. All that was divine and vital both in 
 our social converse and in our public worship is still living, though 
 hidden for a while beneath the surface. The love that first drew 
 each of us to God, and afterwards made us one in Him, will live and 
 abide for ever, and we may be sure that it will abundantly yield the 
 fruits of peace and gladness in the covenanted harvest of the future. 
 Necessity, as well as mercy, hides from mortals the never-ending 
 Future; but since God, whom no one hath seen, nor can see, 
 dwelleth there, that Future is not darkness, but only a ‘light which 
 no man can approach unto.’ By faith let us endure as seeing Him 
 who is invisible. With pious heart and steady step let us walk 
 onward; the clouds and darkness which are now so much dreaded 
 will vanish from our path, we shall see God and reign in fulness. 
 of life.” 
 
 Another entry runs :— 
 
 ‘«The shortness of individual life (in contradistinction to the life of 
 the race) is an evidence and effect of divine benevolence. Sixty years- 
 
329 
 
 on an average in the darkness of earth do men speud; soon ‘I shall 
 know even as I am known.’”’ 
 
 The last leaf in the diary is dated February 9th, 1861, 
 and contains the sketch of a sermon on Phil. i, 9-10 :— 
 
 “< And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more 
 in knowledge and in all judgment ; that ye may approve things that 
 are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day 
 of Christ.” 
 
 He uses the Greek terms, thus showing that his love of 
 the Greek Testament continued to the end. It is probable 
 that the above sermon was prepared for one of the Sunday 
 evening meetings at Coedcenlas. After this the diary gives. 
 us no help, 
 
 From letters to his nephew, Caleb Gwion, who had 
 removed from Brecon to Milford, we learn that he was in 
 Tenby in June, 1861, and was much troubied by his teeth, 
 and the unpunctuality of the dentist, or “ toothman,” as he 
 calls him. He says :— 
 
 ‘«So I have spent another precious Sunday in silence, and I do not 
 now see the least probability of being able to gratify myself by 
 preaching next Sunday for you or to yours.”’ 
 
 The following is an extract from one of his last letters 
 which have come under my notice :— 
 
 “ Coedcenlas, Nov. 5, 1861. 
 
 ‘¢ Dear Canres,—Among the many reasons of the long, long, very 
 long delay, has been the purpose of seeing you face to face at 
 Milford. We have had here three great meetings, at each of which 
 Thad to take a part, and just now I can’t leave home because of the 
 rain and cold. Soon I may yet run down to Milford. It does me 
 good to go about a little—good for soul and body.” 
 
 In 1862 he preached at Merthyr, along with Dr. Thomas, 
 of Stockwell, at the ordination of Mr. Warlow Davies, M.A. ; 
 and the Rev. P. W. Darnton, B.A.; writes: ‘‘ He came to 
 my ordination at Newport in 1862 or 1863, and refused to. 
 
330 
 
 do anything but read the Scriptures, and then began to 
 expound the Scriptures, and continued to do so for an hour, 
 while good Dr. Halley, who was to give the charge, was 
 waiting impatiently for his turn.” 
 
 There are other records of his prolonging his remarks 
 beyond the wishes of the people. Once at Penygroes he 
 spoke on a missionary occasion far beyond the allotted time, 
 and the people were becoming restless, when the Rey. Daniel 
 Davies, of Cardigan, who knew him well, said, ‘‘ Let us 
 pray,” and brought the meeting to a close. 
 
 On another occasion, at Haverfordwest, he quoted a 
 verse of a hymn with great force, and the leader of the 
 singing, either purposely or through inadvertence, arose, 
 struck up the tune, and the sermon was suddenly terminated. 
 
 But, generally, the people were afraid that he would come 
 to an end, and if they saw signs that he was coming to a 
 close they would cry out, “Go on! Goon!” 
 
 In the year 1862 he spent some weeks with the Rey. John 
 Davies, of Libanus, Pontygof, who had been a schoo]master 
 at Penygroes before he devoted himself to the ministry. 
 He would not promise to preach, and, when asked, would 
 always say to the young minister, “You prepare”; but 
 when the Sunday came he would read, pray, and expound, 
 and everybody was delighted. At this time he stayed with 
 Dr. W. T. Edwards, J.P., of Cardiff, nephew of Mr. Edwards, 
 surgeon, to whom we have had repeated references in the 
 diary. Above all things, Dr. Edwards was impressed with 
 his conduct of family prayer. For a long time afterwards 
 even the servants talked about his wonderful prayers. 
 
 Mr. Simon Picton, of Hirwain, writes :— 
 
 ‘‘ In the year 1863 I spent five weeks in my old home at Maesgwyn, 
 
 and Caleb Morris asked me to come up to Coedcenlas to help him to 
 put his library in order. In the library there were two cases of 
 
ee ol 
 
 manuscripts conta Titimag. 
 One day he took them Tiling, 12 | thed 
 them after my death, lest some foo!’ eeu hi tae them and publish 
 them. 299 Z 
 
 The reason for this command is seen in the notes which 
 he has made on thecover. He designates them as imperfect, 
 incomplete, worthless. Imperfect and incomplete they 
 doubtless are, but worthless they are not. They were not 
 burnt. Caleb Gwion preserved them, and the Rey. David 
 Jones, the minister of Penygroes at the time, who became 
 the husband of Joyce, the youngest sister of Caleb Gwion, 
 copied many of them. Some of the volumes in the hand- 
 writing of the ladies, and some of the copies made by the 
 Rev. David Jones, have come into my hands, others have 
 gone astray. JI have not yet shown myself a fool by 
 publishing any of the outlines, but I feel that to publish 
 some of them would not be at all an act of folly, though 
 they would necessarily be very inadequate representations of 
 the sermons as preached. 
 
 Mr. Simon Picton adds :— 
 
 ‘One morning he was very depressed, and would hardly speak to 
 me as I arranged and dusted the books. Presently he turned to 
 me and said, ‘I had a dream last night. I was in a large chapel; in 
 London filled with ladies and gentlemen, among them were several 
 Members of Parliament. We had been singing, then I read a 
 chapter and afterwards prayed, and the effort was so great that I 
 forgot where my text was. They were singing before the sermon, 
 but the text would not come to me, and the strain on my nerves was 
 so great that I awoke and was delighted to find myself in bed at 
 ‘Coedcenlas.’ Then, putting his hands on my shoulders, he said; ‘Tt 
 was only what really happened repeatedly to me in London.’ ”’ 
 
 In 1865 the centenary of the church at Penygroes was 
 celebrated. Caleb Morris was very anxious to be present at 
 the meeting, but was too feeble to go. His strength was 
 
 . > 
 
 ‘‘ 
 
i 
 Y) yy ht Vv F " uj 
 
 a 
 
 fi 
 
 332 
 
 rapidly ebbing away. He had spent much of his time of 
 late at Gwhert, on the Cardigan Bar, where he was destined 
 to breathe his last. It would have seemed fitting for him 
 to have passed away at Coeccenlas, but God had ordained it 
 otherwise. 
 
 The end came suddenly. He was paralysed, and kept to 
 his bed three days only, the last two he was unable to speak, 
 and on Wednesday morning, July 26th, 1865, his great soul 
 left the bounds of time for the realms of eternity. Myfyr 
 Emlyn, who wrote an elegy to him, taunts Cardigan Bar, 
 famous for its rough seas and shipwrecks, with having 
 exceeded all its former cruelties in taking away his beloved 
 teacher Caleb Morris. Then he suddenly changes the key, 
 and says it was not so, for it was on a fair summer’s day, 
 when the sea was smooth and the waves were gently striking 
 the chords of the rocks, that his friend was removed. The 
 music of the sea was but a lullaby to soothe the child of 
 God asleep. He did not sink, but»floated over the ocean to 
 the eternal home of pure and noble souls. I will not spoil 
 the lines by attempting to translate them, but their leading 
 thoughts and the scene of Caleb Morris’s death inevitably 
 call to mind Tennyson’s swan song, “Crossing the Bar.” 
 
 ‘¢ Sunset and evening star, 
 And one clear call for me! 
 And may there be no moaning“of the bar, 
 When I put out to sea, 
 
 But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 
 Too full for sound and foam, 
 When that which drew from out thejboundless deep 
 Turas again home. 
 Twilight and evening bell, 
 And after that the dark! 
 And may there be no sadness of farewell, 
 When I embark; 
 
 | 
 
—— —_—~ 
 
 VIEW OF GQWBERT, ON THE CARDIGAN BAR, 
 
ol OR parva 
 
 304 
 
 For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place 
 The flood may bear me far, 
 
 I hope to see my Pilot face to face 
 When I have crost the bar.” 
 
 His mortal remains were taken to his native parish and 
 buried on Monday, July 31st, near the spot where his father 
 and mother had been laid to rest. The funeral service was 
 conducted by his dear friends and brethren, the Rev. EH. 
 Lewis, Brynberian; the Rev. Simon Evans, Hebron ; the 
 Rey. Daniel Davies, Caniteant and tetas tana Davies, 
 landwr. The address was delivered by the friend who had 
 known him the longest—viz., the Rev. John Davies, 
 Glandwr. There was a great concourse of people, notwith- 
 standing the wet day. According to an opinion which was 
 once very prevalent in the district, a rainy day for a funeral 
 was a token of divine approval—the heavens wept tears of 
 sorrow at the loss of the departed. We may not share in 
 that opinion, but we cannot doubt that Caleb Morris was 
 one of God’s elect, and that he went to the home of eternal 
 love, to which he had been looking forward with such intense 
 longing all his life. A monument was erected over his graye 
 by his admirers, and the inscription on it was written by 
 Mr. Davies, Solicitor, Cardigan, who had known him since 
 they were lads together at the Grammar School, Cardigan. — 
 The epitaph is as follows :— y 
 
 i 
 
 “* Underneath 
 “Rests the body of 
 
 “THE REY. CALEB MORRIS. 
 Born at Park-yd, near Voeldricarn, in 1800. Ordained from the 
 Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, at Narberth, in 1823. Removed 
 
 to London in 1827. Retired to Coedcenlas Isaf in this Parish in 
 ! 1856, and died the 26th of July, 1865. 
 
 ! + 
 
 wi 
 
300 
 
 “Ag A PREACHER 
 
 He was distinguished by natural talents and acquirements rarely 
 equalled. 
 “As a Man 
 
 He was admired and beloved for guileless simplicity of heart and 
 lofty elevation of sentiment ; for a noble ardour in the cause of truth, 
 rendered more impressive by natural gentleness of disposition; for 
 unaffected deference to the worth of others and a modest estimate of 
 himself.” 
 
 MONUMENT OVER THE GRAVE OF CALEB MORRIS IN PENYGROES BURIAL GROUND. 
 al 
 
 On the other side of the monument is found the epitaph 
 of his father and mother :— 
 
 “STEPHEN MORRIS, 
 
 ‘“ Coedcenlas Isaf, 
 “Who died the 14th of March, 1860, Aged 100 years. 
 
336 
 
 ‘““MARY, 
 ‘‘His WIFE, 
 «‘Who died the 12th of December, 1852. Aged 86 years.” 
 
 At his brother's death he had expressed the wish that his 
 ‘body should rest in this enclosure. To him, as to many 
 others, it was a hallowed spot. There he had first felt the 
 powers of the spiritual world; there he had made public 
 profession of the Christian faith; there he had in the 
 solitude of the night frequently poured forth his soul unto 
 God ; there he had been called by the Church of Christ to 
 consecrate himself to the ministry of the Gospel ; there he 
 had joined again and again with the simple, pious people 
 around in plaintive song and passionate prayer ; there he had 
 taken bread and wine in memory of his Lord ; there he had 
 witnessed the consecration of children in baptism ; there he 
 had listened to the vow of love made in the presence of 
 God and men; there he had wept beside the coffins of 
 father, mother, and brother; there he had looked into the 
 cold grave and, by the eye of faith, had seen in it the lamp 
 of hope kindled by Him who brought life and incorruption 
 into light through the Gospel ; there he, too, must rest after 
 all his toil and labour, his struggling and striving, after all 
 his sorrows and raptures, his trials and triumphs. Yes; 
 but as he himself taught us, only the mortal part remains 
 there ; the soul is risen, the spirit has ascended to heayen, 
 immortality, and God. 
 
XXI. 
 
 The Student and Thinker. 
 
 N the foregoing chapters the main incidents in Caleb 
 Morris’s history have been recorded, and the quotations 
 from the diary have revealed the character of his inner 
 
 experiences ; it therefore seems unnecessary to add anything 
 more on these matters. The reader can draw his own con- 
 clusions about him as a man and a Christian, as a minister 
 and pastor, without any further guidance from the writer 
 of this biography. 
 
 But there are two important aspects of his life which 
 have received very inadequate treatment ; at most we have 
 had only occasional glimpses at them, and it appears to me 
 very desirable to deal with them more fully in the con- 
 cluding chapters of the volume. Hence I propose in this 
 chapter to indicate his position as a thinker, and in the 
 next to set forth his characteristics as a preacher. 
 
 All are agreed that these were the provinces in which 
 he was pre-eminent, and it would be impossible to form a 
 true picture of him without a clear idea of his distinctive 
 features as a thinker and preacher. Dr. David Thomas calls 
 him the unrivalled thinker and preacher of his age. All 
 may not feel disposed to endorse that estimate, and it is 
 quite possible that the fascination which Caleb Morris 
 had for him from the days of his youth may have 
 led him to over-estimate somewhat his achievements 
 and excellences; still the corroborative evidence is so 
 strong that we cannot for a moment doubt that he 
 was in both respects an extraordinary man. After 
 chronicling the chief incidents of his life, Dr. David 
 
 22 
 
338 
 
 Thomas asks, “ Who shall chronicle the facts of his mental 
 life ? The biography of his mind, could it be written, 
 would be of priceless value to all earnest thinkers.” 
 
 But the task would be one of extreme difficulty in the case 
 of one who wrote so little. He himself remarks, “ How 
 little we can know of the hearts of our fellow-men!” Yet 
 I think the preceding pages have given a fairly full account 
 of the movements of his inner life. To trace the develop- 
 ment of his thinking, from the narrow Calvinism in which 
 he was reared, to the liberal views of his later days, is, 
 however, impossible; but perhaps some indication of the 
 character of his mind may be given. ‘This is surely very 
 desirable, for as Thomas Jones, of Swansea, used to say, “ We 
 cannot know a man by reading the incidents of his life; we 
 must come in contact with the power of his thoughts.” And 
 Caleb Morris himself said : “ It is impossible to understand 
 the external history of any rational being without a know- 
 ledge of the history of his mind.” He also says: “The mind 
 of man has its favourite walks and ways,” and some of these 
 we may perhaps be able to trace. 
 
 I have designated the chapter “The Student and 
 Thinker ” in order to suggest that he did not disregard what 
 other people had thought before him. He was not so 
 foolish as to suppose that true originality consists in 
 ignorance of other people’s opinions. Such originality is 
 generally of very little value. We are stimulated to think 
 our best thoughts by coming in contact with great thinkers, 
 and the labours of others should form the starting-point for 
 a further advance. We have already seen that Caleb Morris 
 was a wide reader, and that his favourite studies were philo- 
 sophy and science, history and biography, and, above all 
 things, the Bible, especially the New Testament. 
 
 The Rev. T. W. Chignell says of him: “He served his 
 age asa great thinker. Nothing new, nothing deep, nothing 
 
339 
 
 veal in the religious thinking of his time ever escaped his 
 attention or failed to awake his sympathy. He saluted the 
 coming of a new time. He feared not to fall on sleep; he 
 caught the radiance of the rising morn of the new age. 
 
 “* His excess of religiousness made him in sympathy with 
 all the religions of the world, but the books of the Bible 
 stood at the top, and were mountains in his eyes. He was 
 very fond of the 139th Psalm; ‘ Whither shall I go from 
 Thy spirit’ expressed his whole soul. The Greek of the 
 New Testament was always in his hand. When I parted 
 from him for the last time, as he was bidding adieu to 
 England, he gave me a Greek Testament (a copy I knew 
 well), and said, ‘ This will remind you of me.’ There was 
 not a saying, a thought, in the New Testament, he had not 
 brooded over in loving fashion. Christ was his central sun ; 
 not the Christ of theologians, but the Christ of the Gospels. 
 The face, the form, the voice of the Master, all His wondrous 
 speech, every glimpse of Him recorded in history, occupied 
 his mind and filled his soul all his lifetime. He was ever 
 finding some new phase of Him. The great sayings of 
 Christ were to him breakings forth of the profoundest ideas 
 and of the most moving sentiments and passions which can 
 thrill the human soul. Once he said to me, ‘I should like, 
 when I die, that on my breast, as I lie in my coffin,a New 
 Testament should be laid.’” 
 
 The Rey. J. Morlais Jones writes :—“I had the privilege 
 of being ordained at Narberth, and had many a talk with 
 some of those who were young people when Caleb Morris 
 was ordained there. One of them, John Morris, a carman, 
 told me that he once heard him saying to himself whilst 
 walking backwards and forwards under a hedge not far 
 from the old chapel, ‘God helping me, I will master the 
 New Testament.’ That is just what he did, and that to a 
 reat extent was the secret of his power.” 
 
 99% 
 
340 
 
 His commonplace book confirms the above statements. 
 It abounds with references to all kinds of books, but a 
 prominent feature is the number of critical and exegetical 
 studies contained in it. He has, for instance, careful notes. 
 on the “Bloody sweat,” “The Sermon on the Mount,” 
 “The Daily Bread,” “ Paradise,” ‘The Lord’s Prayer,” 
 “The Mercy-seat,” “The Logos,” in which he shows his- 
 acquaintance with the best commentators and thinkers of 
 his day. But though he pondered over the truths of the 
 Bible, he did not confine himself to them; indeed, he 
 seemed ever anxious to correlate them with the teachings of 
 philosophy and science, history, and human experience. 
 
 He has been compared as a thinker with Horace Bush- 
 nell, chiefly on account of the similarity of their views on 
 the leading doctrines of morals and religion. Others have 
 likened him to John Foster. In the “ Congregational Year 
 Book” for 1866 it is said :— 
 
 “Mr. Morris was a man of very great intellectual power. 
 If not a profound thinker in the degree in which John 
 Foster was one, he was a thinker of the same order— 
 vigorous, introspective, patient, and subtle.” 
 
 Others have expressed similar views. I do not wish to 
 dispute that there was a considerable likeness between him 
 and those two great thinkers, but in one point at least he 
 distinctly differed from them. Bushnell and Foster do 
 not strike me at all as being intense; there is a kind of 
 coldness about their thinking, it does not glow and burn ; 
 while Caleb Morris causes you to feel that he is ever 
 near the furnace, and that his heart largely shapes his 
 thoughts. This difference may have been due in part to 
 their manner of working. Bushnell and Foster were writers 
 rather than speakers. Caleb Morris, on the other hand, 
 seldom wrote, his thoughts were ever expressed in living 
 speech. 
 
341 
 
 Dr. David Thomas has compared him with Bishop 
 Wilberforce, and says : “ Both had intellects of remarkable 
 ‘subtlety, penetration, and sweep. The Bishop had, per- 
 haps, the finer imagination, and could excel in the 
 embellishments of rhetoric; but the intuitions of Caleb 
 Morris were the sharper and more vigorous.” 
 
 If I ventured to make a suggestion, I should say that 
 Caleb Morris was still more like Samuel Taylor Coleridge 
 in the build of his nature and the structure of his mental 
 constitution. They had in common great sensitiveness of 
 soul, brilliant flashes of thought, a penetrating vision into the 
 glorious realities of the spiritual world, and a marvellous 
 power to develop and unfold their ideas in thrilling words. 
 
 More important, perhaps, than the attempt to compare 
 ‘him with individual teachers is the fixing of the school of 
 thought to which he belonged. He had great reverence for 
 Locke, and especially for Bacon. He was a firm believer in 
 Bacon’s inductive method of seeking after truth; perhaps it 
 would be more accurate to say in the combination cf the 
 inductive and deductive methods called in recent times the 
 ‘Scientific method. His note-books bear witness to the 
 diligence and care with which he tabulated and compared 
 the teaching of different portions of the Bible on important 
 themes. 
 
 In 1848 he published a little book of selections of 
 Scriptural texts referring to the poor, without note or 
 comment, under four headings : I. The Doctrine of Christ ; 
 IL. On the Trials of the Poor; III. The Poor Laws of the 
 Bible ; IY. The Poor have the Gospel Preached to Them. 
 The introduction sets forth his views about the Bible and 
 the best mode of studying it :— 
 
 “The Bible is a collection of tracts, written originally in 
 different languages, countries, and ages, by different men, 
 who were moved by the one spirit of the ever-living God. 
 
342 
 
 “The teachings of the Bible respecting the material and 
 spiritual affairs of men were given in various forms, such 
 as doctrine, law, and history, suited to the progressive: 
 conditions of the race. 
 
 “The principles embodied in these forms were designed 
 for the permanent guidance and government of the world. 
 
 “The inductive method of getting at truth may be, and 
 ought to be, more frequently and faithfully applied to the 
 Bible than it hitherto has been by its professed ex- 
 pounders. 
 
 “The following collection of texts relating to the same 
 subject—a state of social life—is an exemplification of one, 
 at least, of the first steps in the application of that method 
 to the Word of God. 
 
 “While this little book contains solemn lessons, in the 
 very words of Scripture, respecting the mutual rights and 
 mutual duties of classes, its principal design is to teach the 
 poor man that, however hard his lot, there is one Being who- 
 knows his wants, feels his sorrows, and judges his cause— 
 the God of the Bible.” 
 
 The stress laid on abiding principles, as distinguished 
 from the forms in which these are embedded, is one of his 
 constantly recurring thoughts. He dreaded, above all 
 things, the slavery of words, and made very strong remarks. 
 concerning it. One instance must suffice. “Many pro- 
 fessors seem to live and move and have their being in a 
 world of words ; the heaven of ideas has never been opened. 
 to them.” He was ever seeking after reality, and even 
 Lessing was not more eager in the pursuit after truth. He 
 writes : “ God delights in that man who opens his eyes—the 
 eyes of his mind, seeking truth, who stretches out his 
 wings, panting and soaring in the pursuit of truth. God 
 says, ‘ That mind is the image of My activity. I made it so, 
 it is inquiring after truth,” He writes also: “ Truth is God, 
 
348 
 
 and God is truth. Truth is not to be had anywhere gratis ; 
 it must be paid for. Buy the truth!” 
 
 We have unfortunately no written monument of his 
 investigations, for he shrank from writing with a kind of 
 horror, and it is difficult to obtain from the records of con- 
 versations, especially after the lapse of nearly fifty years, 
 anything like a full and satisfactory example of his treat- 
 ment of any great religious theme. In the course of the 
 chapter I shall give a few suggestive extracts from the 
 Rev. Robert Davey’s notes, but before doing that, a short 
 account of the method and contents of ‘‘ The Christ of 
 History,” by the Rev. J. Young, LL.D., will fitly introduce 
 us to his ways of thinking. That book was first published 
 in 1855, and the fifth edition appeared in 1869. Before 
 its first issae Caleb Morris had been in constant intercourse 
 with its author for ten years, and he did not leave London 
 till 1856, the year after its publication. Dr. Young 
 accompanied him to the station when he finally left the 
 Metropolis, a fact which shows that their intimate friend- 
 ship continued to the end; and the Rev. Robert Davey 
 informs me that the views expressed in “‘The Christ of 
 History ” may be taken to represent Caleb Morris’s matured 
 convictions. 
 
 The Preface and Introduction are important as indicating 
 the method and spirit of the book. It “appeals to those 
 who are prepared to treat, with dispassionate criticism, one 
 of the gravest subjects of human inquiry.” 
 
 The argument is cumulative, and starts, not from the 
 formularies of dogmatic theology, logic, and metaphysics, 
 but from the facts of Christ’s history as recorded in the 
 Gospels. There is no attempt to disparage the methods of 
 exposition stereotyped by the custom of the ages, it is simply 
 asserted that they have lost their freshness and are not 
 adapted to the peculiar intellectual culture of the period. 
 
B44 
 
 The point of view adopted may not be the best, yeb in a 
 particular stage of mental development it may be the most 
 effective. “It is sometimes wise to take not the very 
 highest ground which it is possible to maintain, but the 
 lowest ; and if, on this lowest ground, we can succeed in 
 producing an unlooked-for amount of materials, the feeling 
 of surprise conciliates the heart, and assists instead of 
 obstructing the mental process which issues in conviction. 
 Perhaps the life of Jesus, apart from subtle criticism and 
 from systematic metaphysical theology, may be found to 
 offer original and extraordinary evidences of His Divinity— 
 evidences which, by their number, their harmony, and their 
 form, shall amount to positive proof of this great mystery.” 
 ‘“‘ A temperate and conciliatory spirit is demanded towards 
 those to whom we present the claims of religion, and the 
 exhibition of such a spirit cannot injure or endanger 
 Christianity. With perfect safety we may forego, for the 
 time, the inheritance of evidence and of argument bequeathed 
 from the past by the researches and the erudition of en- 
 lightened men. Demanding nothing more than the simple 
 humanity of Jesus of Nazareth, we shall venture from this 
 platform to assert and expound His true divinity.” 
 
 Another sacrifice still is made in the interest of concilia- 
 tion. The writer believed in the inspiration of the Christian 
 records, but the inspiration of the New Testament as that is 
 popularly understood “ shall not be insisted on in the present 
 argument; and it shall suffice for us if this Book be 
 allowed to stand only not lower than other equally ancient 
 productions. Whatever abatement from its historical 
 validity can be plausibly demanded on account of the 
 remoteness of the period, the character of the age, or the 
 position of the writers, shall be conceded. For the sake of 
 argument, though only for this, it shall be granted that the 
 Evangelists were not secured against mistakes, and that, 
 
345 
 
 therefore, the justice of all their sentiments and the accuracy 
 of all their details are not unquestionable.” 
 
 Another sacrifice still is made. ‘“ We go farther : let all 
 in these sacred records which belongs to the sphere of the 
 miraculous be ascribed, for the present, to the habit of the 
 Jewish mind, to the influence of their national history, or 
 to the common tendency to exaggeration. We assume 
 nothing more than this, that the Gospels, in a broad and 
 general sense, are historical and veritable ; and this, in point 
 of fact, is virtually granted by all.” This last admission is 
 qualified by a protest against Strauss’s attempt, at the 
 beginning of his “Life of Christ,” to create a prejudice, 
 or at least a pre-judgment, against miracles, which is rightly 
 characterised as unscientific and unphilosophical. 
 
 Whether it is wise to concede so much for the sake of 
 argument is a very debatable question which I cannot now 
 discuss; but let it be distinctly understood that the con- 
 cessions are only made temporarily, with a view to establish- 
 ing the main truths of Christianity without insisting at the 
 start on the supernatural and the miraculous. It is a 
 question of method, and not of truth. 
 
 The first part of the book deals with the outer conditions 
 of the life of Christ. His lowly origin, His poverty, the 
 lack of education and patronage are dwelt on, and it is 
 maintained that ‘‘ His entire social circumstances pronounce 
 the impossibility, in human judgment, of His elevation to 
 power and glory.” Attention is next called to the short 
 duration of His ministry and to His early death, resulting 
 from the world’s intolerance and His owa unconquerable 
 will. He had no opportunity for maturing anything, no 
 time to construct and organise, “ He left behind Him a 
 few spoken truths—not a line or word written—and a 
 certain spirit incarnated in His principles and breathed out 
 from His life; and then He died.” And the question is 
 
346 
 
 asked : ‘“‘ Is there an instance, not of a man acquiring fame 
 in youth and preserving it in old age, but of a man who 
 died in youth, gaining vast influence of a purely spiritual 
 kind, not by force of arms, and not by secular aid in any 
 form, but simply and only by his principles and his life ; 
 of such a man transmitting that influence through successive 
 generations, and after two thousand years retaining it in all 
 its freshness, and continuing at that distance of time to 
 establish himself and to reign almighty in the minds and 
 hearts of myriads of human beings?” And the answer is: 
 “There is not such an example in the whole history of the 
 world except Jesus Christ.” 
 
 After alluding to the narrowness and intolerance of the 
 Jewish society in which He was reared, and the degradation 
 and pollution of life in Judea and Galilee, and especially at 
 Nazareth, which certainly did not tend to produce such a 
 character as Jesus, the author shows how such facts are 
 fatal to the mythical theory: ‘‘The outer conditions of 
 Christ’s life were not only not in harmony with the Messi- 
 anic ideas of the Jews at that time, or, indeed, at any time ; 
 they were diametrically opposed to them. We make bold to 
 maintain that they were the very last things which a Jew 
 would ever have dreamed of connecting with the life of his 
 Messiah. They are not Messianic; the most unscrupulous 
 ingenuity can never construe them into myths, or make 
 them harmonise with national and traditionary fancies.” 
 
 The second part of the book deals with the work of Christ 
 among men. His own idea of His work, of His Messiah- 
 ship, is declared to be not temporal, but spiritual; not 
 national, but universal ; and this was completely at variance 
 with the ideas of His age, His country, and the world. He 
 had to begin by rebuking and seeking to reform the nation ; 
 and, in the course of His ministry, combined in a wonderful 
 way severity, tenderness, simplicity, and authority. Would 
 
347 
 
 all this have been possible if He was no more than a young 
 man just taken from the carpenter’s workshop—uneducated, 
 inexperienced, and friendless ? 
 
 His teaching is next dealt with. It centres round the 
 Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. “It is the 
 reign of God in men, when the Father shall be known, loved, 
 and revered by His children. It is the reign of righteous- 
 ness, purity, truth, love, and peace, the universal reception 
 and dominion among men of all true, just, holy, generous 
 and divine principles.” This doctrine of a universal 
 spiritual reign brings us into conflict with sin. The horror of 
 sin, and the possibility of forgiveness, are clearly set forth in 
 the Gospels. By accepting forgiveness man is re-united with 
 God, and lives the life of trust and prayer, and receives. 
 impulses for growth in all moral and spiritual excellence. The 
 reality and greatness of the soul, its accountability and 
 immortality, as taught by Christ, are dealt with at length, as 
 well as the spirituality, unity, perfection, and paternity of 
 God. The Fatherhood of God is declared to be the moving 
 power in the universe. It is, however, no feeble Fatherhood, 
 as it has been set forth by some in modern times, but 
 includes authority, rectitude, wisdom, and power, as well 
 as love. The essence of sin is departure from the Divine 
 Father, and the reconciliation of human souls to God is the 
 great end of Christ’s mediation, His life, and His death. 
 “The whole ministry of Christ, and not the tragical close of 
 it only, was a ministry of reconciliation. His life, as well 
 as His death, was sacrificial and atoning.” 
 
 The teaching of Christ is compared with the teachings of 
 all the great religious leaders and philosophers, and declared 
 to be incomparably above them all. How can this unique 
 phenomenon be accounted for? It is impossible to connect 
 the teaching of Christ with the outer conditions of His life. 
 The facts are in direct contradiction to all other psycho- 
 
348 
 
 logical experiences and to all ascertained psychological laws, 
 Therefore “ there is no choice left to us but to believe in an 
 organic, an essential, a constitutional difference between Him 
 and all men, in an incarnation, in this unparalleled instance 
 of divinity in humanity.” 
 
 The third part of the book deals with the spiritual 
 individuality of Christ, and calls attention to His constant 
 communion with God; His unique consciousness—the 
 absence of the sense of sin, the distinct sense of personal 
 perfection and official authority. These could not have 
 originated in vanity and conceit, ambition and enthusiasm ; 
 they create an impassable distinction between Him and all 
 men. They were not due to some temporary endowment, 
 He did everything with perfect ease, without any sense of 
 effort ; His extraordinary achievements were but the natural 
 workings of His unique nature. His utter unselfishness, His 
 perfect assurance of triumph through suffering, and His 
 calm confidence in the presence of death—yea, the death of 
 the Cross, mark Him out as distinct from all other men. 
 He stands alone, and His solitariness leads inevitably to 
 the conclusion that humanity in Him must have existed 
 under conditions essentially distinct from those which 
 belong to the universal humanity of the world. Incar- 
 nation, and incarnation alone, helps us to the solution of 
 the overwhelming difficulties of the case. Incarnation has 
 its deep mysteries, but they are mysteries that lead towards 
 the light, while the attempt to account for the teaching, 
 character, and influence of Jesus on the ground of His 
 humanity alone leaves us in complete confusion and utter 
 chaos. 
 
 This conclusion having been reached from an ample and 
 impartial induction of facts, a flood of light is thrown over 
 the Christian records. Miracles are no longer incredible ; 
 they were simply becoming and natural to such a unique 
 
 Ss 7°. ee 
 
349 
 
 person. The virgin birth is in harmony with His super- 
 natural character ; the works of power which He wrought 
 were but the overflowing of His wonderful personality ; and 
 the resurrection from the dead was the crowning evidence 
 of His Divinity. 
 
 Such an argument is a commonplace of modern apologetics ; 
 but it was very different fifty years ago. Then stress was 
 laid on the inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures. 
 Miracles and the fulfilment of prophecy were put in the 
 forefront, while the teaching and character of Jesus were- 
 kept in the background ; and the strongest testimony to the 
 value of the argument in “ The Christ of History” lies in 
 the fact that after fifty years of almost unparalleled changes. 
 in religious thought, it remains in substance and essence the 
 chief argument of the modern Christian apologist. 
 
 It is possible that some will think too-much space has 
 been given to a book which is now almost forgotten ; but it 
 seemed the fairest way of setting forth the attitude of Caleb 
 Morris toward the great problems of modern theology. I 
 do not think fora moment that the book fully reflects the 
 genius of Caleb Morris, and he may not have acquiesced in 
 all its details ; bat there can be no reasonable doubt that he 
 cordially endorsed its main arguments. 
 
 This is, perhaps, the most fitting place to introduce an 
 incident in the relationship between Caleb Morris and the 
 Rey. T. W. Chignell. I mentioned it in the Welsh edition, but 
 then I had only an incomplete version of it from a Welsh 
 source, now I am able to give itin Mr. Chignell’s own words, 
 and also by means of a letter from Caleb Morris which 
 Mr. Chignell has kindly lent me, to deny authoritatively 
 some of the inferences which have been drawn from it. 
 Mr. Chignell writes: “ At the end of 1854 I gave up my 
 pulpit at Portsmouth, and ceased to be a Congregationalist. 
 For six months I did not preach at all, and during those 
 
350 
 
 months of silence I was constantly with Mr. Morris. On 
 Easter Sunday of that year I went to spend a Sunday with 
 him. I fancy he must have given up Fetter Lane by that 
 time. JI went early in the morning, and he said, ‘Go and 
 hear Binney, and come straight back, and after dinner we 
 will discuss the sermon.’ I was in darkest mood. I had 
 given up belief in miracle, and despaired of ever finding 
 again any sphere as a preacher. Binney’s chapel was 
 crowded. He was in splendid form, at the summit of 
 his powers. He began his sermon, almost chanting the 
 phrase three times, ‘Christ is risen,’ ‘This,’ said he, ‘is 
 re-echoed to-day all over the Christian world.’ He then 
 imagined some modern mind unable to believe in the 
 physical fact of the Resurrection, and after a long delinea- 
 tion of the doubter’s thoughts, he said at last, with all the 
 satire and scorn of which he was such a master, drawing 
 himself up to his full height and stretching out his right 
 arm with all his might, ‘ Well, you may be a poet, you may 
 be a philosopher, but a Christian you can never be!’ I had 
 immense reverence for him, and this utterance smote me 
 with despair. 
 
 “‘T went away in the depths of gloom. When Mr. Morris 
 saw me so depressed, he pitied me, and sought to comfort me, 
 and in the course of his conversation he said, ‘ This saying 
 means that you cannot be a member of my church nor of my 
 Baptist neighbour’s opposite ; but a member of the Universe, 
 with Christ for your Brother, and God for your Father, you 
 can be.’ No human voice ever comforted me more in all 
 my lite than did his when he uttered that saying to me.” 
 
 With reference to the narrative, Caleb Morris had left 
 Fetter Lane over five years before this time, and by “my 
 church” I suppose he must have meant any Congregational 
 church. In the Welsh volume I remarked, in connection 
 with this incident : ‘‘ It shows Caleb Morris’s large-hearted- 
 
351 
 
 ness. He did not wish to banish anyone from the Church 
 of Christ on account of honest doubt ; he remembered that 
 Thomas, one of the twelve, was once a disbeliever in the 
 resurrection. But it would be quite unfair to infer from 
 his behaviour towards his friend on this occasion that he 
 laid no stress on the great fact of the resurrection. His 
 sermons show that he considered the resurrection of Christ 
 of supreme importance to the Christian faith; but he was 
 too wise and too kind to seek to thrust the truth on one 
 who was in anxiety and mental distraction; and he well 
 knew that such treatment was not calculated to bring Mr. 
 Chignell to receive the truth. He had come to see that the 
 miracles were manifestations of the unique personality of 
 Christ, and he felt that if a man could be kept in the 
 companionship of Christ, his doubts would gradually dis- 
 appear, and he would come to believe in the miracles which 
 are inseparable from the great message of the Gospel, for 
 to him the resurrection of Christ was the natural result of 
 the divinity of his nature and the perfection of his character 
 and work.” 
 
 When I wrote the above I had not read “ The Christ of 
 History,” and did not know Caleb Morris’s intimate con- 
 nection with the book. It was an inference from the 
 general estimate which I had formed of his mental attitude ; 
 but the reading of “The Christ of History” has fully 
 confirmed the justice of my remarks, as the reader may see 
 from the sketch given of it in the preceding pages. I am 
 glad to find that Mr. Chignell confirms my view of the 
 matter, for he writes in his last letter: “ 1 know how tenderly 
 sacred to him was the belief that the Christian was risen with 
 Christ. I did not mean to touch this belief of his in my 
 account of Binney’s sermon, but only to show that he 
 distinguished between the letter and the spirit of the belief. 
 I did not mean to say that he had parted with the letter in 
 
352 
 
 this instance, any more than with the spirit; but that he 
 did not sever himself from another whose science had caused 
 him to deny the letter.” 
 
 I fully endorse the remarks which Mr. Chignell makes in 
 the same letter : “ Caleb Morris was essentially constructive 
 and not destructive; an aflirmer, and not a denier; his 
 attitude towards the religion of the Bible was one of 
 sympathy, faith, and delight.” 
 
 Some have concluded, from this and similar occurrences, 
 that Caleb Morris was a Unitarian and even an Agnostic. 
 The extracts from the letters and diary for the last period 
 of his life prove clearly that he remained deeply religious to 
 the end, and in the following letter Caleb Morris distinctly 
 says that he was not a Unitarian. It was written on the 
 occasion of Mr. Chignell’s settlement at Exeter, and is one 
 of the last letters that have been preserved : 
 
 **Co’dcenlas, Eglwyswrw, 
 “ February 28tb, 1862. 
 “To Mr. Norrington. 
 
 “Dear Srr,—On my return home, after many weeks of 
 absence, I find, among others, an interesting letter from 
 you. Intending to return much sooner I left no orders to 
 forward my letters, as my correspondence for the present is 
 greatly narrowed. This—my long absence—must be my chief 
 apology for my long silence. And now, my dear sir, first 
 of all allow me to say that the affecting reference which you 
 make to your departed brother deeply, tenderly moves me. 
 How blessed the thought of an eternal life with Christ 
 in God. 
 
 “ Now a word—but a word at present—concerning Mr. 
 Chignell. It is with great gratification that I offer my 
 humble testimony to his high worth, personal and social. 
 I have known him long and intimately, and have much 
 loved him as a great and good man. 
 
359 
 
 “ But it is right, in every way, that I should distinctly state 
 that of Mr. Chignell’s views of Christianity, of his ‘creed,’ 
 at the present time, I know nothing atall. It is clear that 
 his ‘belief’ has considerably changed since his college 
 days, but of the nature and extent of that change I am 
 quite ignorant. For years we have seldom met, and when 
 meeting we felt that our respective ‘creeds’ were things 
 too sacred to be made mutual ‘ confessions of faith.’ 
 
 ““T am not myself an ‘ Unitarian’ (though a freeman). 
 Differing in my ‘articles of faith’ very widely, I presume, 
 from those of Mr. Chignell and your Church, I cannot 
 venture to intrude one word as to the special fitness of 
 Mr. Chignell to be the teacher and pastor of the Unitarian 
 Church at Exeter. That is a matter to be decided by the 
 congregation only and alone. 
 
 “‘ May the wisdom that is from above guide you all ! 
 
 “Tt is hardly necessary to tell you, dear sir, who have 
 yourself communed with Mr. Chignell, that he is no common 
 man. His mind, naturally strong, active, original, is highly 
 enriched and refined both by formal education and con- 
 tinued self-culture. He has a great heart. His affections 
 are uncommonly deep, discriminating, and devcted. In 
 spirit he is meditative, tender, reverential, worshipful, yet 
 free, fearless, and independent. From long observation, I 
 believe his character to be pure, lovely, and of good report. 
 
 “ Instead of these few hasty words respecting Mr. Chignell, 
 I could with holy recollections write as many pages. But 
 to save post I must conclude. May the spirit of truth, 
 life, and love guide us all always. 
 
 ** Believe me, dear Sir, 
 “* Most truly yours, 
 “ CaLEB MorRIs. 
 
 “P.S,—Will you kindly favour me with a line in reply ? ” 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 The above letter shows us that whatever changes had 
 come over his religious creed, he had not lost faith in the 
 incarnation ; and with this naturally follows faith in the 
 miracles and the resurrection. The doubts about Caleb 
 Morris’s orthodoxy, even about his religious faith, indicate 
 how large-hearted, sympathetic men are liable to be mis- 
 interpreted. Both extremes are prone to think that they 
 have advanced further than is really the case. Doubtless 
 Caleb Morris was ever moving forward, and he was pro- 
 foundly dissatisfied with the popular theology that prevailed 
 during the last period of his life ; so would even the orthodox 
 men of to-day be. But he never lost his hold of the great 
 central truths of Christianity, though he might not express 
 them in the stereotyped phrases of the schools, 
 
 The Rev. Robert Davey, who, like Mr. Chignell, came 
 into close contact with him in London, writes : 
 
 “Tt is difficult to speak of him as a thinker merely, 
 for he could not think without feeling, or feel without 
 thinking. I shall, therefore, not attempt to analyse 
 his power as a thinker. Nor is it necessary, for a 
 thinker is best known by his thoughts. But these, again, 
 must be considered in their relation to contemporary 
 thought. Mr. Morris’s thoughts would not be fairly esti- 
 mated by comparison with those with which we are familiar 
 to-day, But when they were uttered fifty years ago they 
 were new, startling, and received in some quarters with sus- 
 picion. The fact is, Mr. Morris was a seer, a prophet. His 
 mind did not work upon the common stock of thought em- 
 ‘bodied in creeds and systems of theology. He looked with 
 his own eyes into the sources of religious truth, into the 
 records of Christ’s life, for it was there alone he could dis- 
 cover the mind of Christ. He once said, ‘ If you wish for a 
 clear and definite knowledge of yourselves, of everything 
 pertaining to salvation, study the mind of Christ.’ ‘ This 
 
355 
 
 wonderful Being, in perfect union with the Father, was the 
 Instructor and Inspirer of holy men, who spoke in His 
 name, so that the mind of Peter or of Paul was the mind of 
 Christ. Christ was the Fountain ; the Apostles and holy 
 writers were the streams.’ And again, ‘When I read the 
 Gospels, warring against the influence of habit, associations, 
 and familiarity, I feel that I am in the presence of a Being 
 who tells me things entirely new and original, whose ideas 
 are boundless.” He gives as illustrations Christ’s ideas of 
 the soul of man, ‘ What shall it profit a man if he gain the 
 whole world and lose his own soul ? ’—his proper self, the 
 original and primitive man, the spiritual power within. 
 Again, ‘Christ, instead of representing God as Creator, 
 Judge, Preserver, and Punisher of evil, spoke of Him as the 
 Father.’ He did not say He was like a father, but He was 
 the real Father, Friend, and Educator of the human soul. 
 One of his sayings was, ‘We have only begun to study 
 Christianity because we have only begun to study Christ.’ 
 “Tt must be remembered that these utterances belong toa 
 period when references to the Fatherhood of God were made 
 timidly, lest they should conflict with the ideas of God as a 
 sovereign on which most systems of theology had been built 
 up. Mr. Morris exerted a great influence towards making 
 the Fatherhood of God, as revealed by Christ, the central 
 truth in Christian theology. According to him, the root or 
 germ out of which historical Christianity grew, was the 
 teaching in connection with this wonderful Personality. 
 This living germ was planted first in Jewish, then in Hellenic, 
 and finally in Roman soil. The difference of soil deter- 
 mined the character of the product, as seen in the Greek 
 and Roman Churches. These are but the body, the 
 soul is Christ. These were in harmony with the state of 
 culture in bygone ages; but they are out of harmony 
 with the twentieth century. Mr. Morris endeavoured to 
 23* 
 
306 
 
 bring in the Christianity that is to be by planting the germ 
 as ib exists in the teaching and wonderful Personality of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that there may spring up a Christianity 
 in harmony with the great changes which have taken place 
 in all other branches of knowledge. Many of the best 
 thinkers and scholars of the present day are working toward 
 the same end, and good progress has been already made, 
 In his theology Mr. Morris was half a century before his 
 time, and for this reason he is entitled to the name of seer.” 
 
 The following abstract of his views on the soul and on 
 the Book of Revelation, kindly sent to me by Mr. Davey, — 
 will help to make clearer still his position as a thinker : 
 
 “THE SouL. 
 
 “God made suns and stars; but, strictly speaking, He 
 never made a soul. It is ‘ His offspring,’ a mysterious 
 emanation from God Himself. But I have no words— 
 and, I must confess, no wise and definite ideas—on this ~ 
 subject. A soul—what is Nature compared with that! — 
 ‘When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, — 
 the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what 
 is man, that Thou art mindful of him?’ In magnitude, in — 
 splendour and force of action, what is he compared with 
 the beautiful stars and planets? He is nothing. But in 
 soul he is made only ‘a little lower than the angels.’ He — 
 is able to interpret the starry heavens, to appropriate them 
 and convert them into temples of glory for the great God 
 Himself. This material structure is of the earth, and will 
 soon be sleeping in the grave. Through it I am a slave 
 to what is evil, low, and degrading to my spiritual nature, — 
 But there is something in me which I cannot describe, — 
 which is from above, from the Creator Himself directly, — 
 and not from the creation. Blessed be God for such a ~ 
 constitution! What are all things else to this? We talk 
 
357 
 
 of education, civilisation, British Constitution, organisations 
 for good. Let that be done, provided it be done intelligently 
 and meekly. But let us talk of our nature, of its Divine 
 constitution—the immortal soul, which is to survive the 
 death of all created nature. 
 
 “Don’t mistake the capacity of man for the extent to 
 which that capacity may be developed and cultivated—man 
 as he was made and meant to be for man as he is. I speak 
 of man’s nature, not of his present state. We are very 
 nearly related to God. How near to the Creator is yonder 
 moon, that great sun, the material universe with all its 
 beauty ? There is no kinship between my soul and the 
 things I perceive through my senses; but there is that in 
 my nature which is closely related to God. True, He is 
 infinite and [ am finite; but He is a Spirit, and my spirit 
 is the child of that Spirit. He is the Father of all the 
 light, purity, and happiness that spirits can have. Thus 
 man has his root in God, and it is no more possible to 
 destroy the moral constitution of man than to shake the 
 throne of God and quench His Being. We say we are an 
 emanation from God; but, no, we never came out of God. 
 We were not cut off from Him. Wearein God. God isa 
 personal Being, and man is a personal spirit, begotten by 
 Him. But there is that in man which the Godhead Himself 
 (reverently I say it) could not have created—a fitness for 
 truth, for justice, for beauty, and immortality.” 
 
 “Tor Book or REVELATION. 
 
 “This book is to be regarded as a book of principles, not 
 of facts; of doctrines, not events. Facts are things done. 
 Principles are things that are, eternal, immutable. Prin- 
 ciples, by their very nature, are universal and unchangeable. 
 Events are the creatures of time and therefore transitory. 
 There may be new facts, but no new principles ; old events, 
 
358 
 
 but no obsolete principles. All the facts of the world’s 
 history are only so many changes to bring out, to expound, 
 to glorify the universal principles of truth. The history of 
 the world is but one long, loud harmonious utterance of the 
 spiritual providence of God. 
 
 “The key to the whole book of Revelation is in the con- 
 sideration, that it is a book of Christian principies, the 
 natural history of the principles of the Kingdom of Christ, 
 from its commencement to its consummation—in their 
 power, their progress, their conflicts, their triumphs and 
 glorious intentions. To study this book as a book of facts, 
 it would be necessary to be acquainted with history, with 
 languages, with Oriental learning, with the literature of 
 Judaism and paganism. Now to the mass of mankind such 
 a book would not bea book of revelation, but of obscura- 
 tion, But if we look at it as a book of principles there is 
 no difficulty. The simplest man may become acquainted 
 with the principles of God’s government revealed in the 
 soul, in the Bible, in the Church, in Christ. Again, the 
 study of this book as one of facts is unsatisfactory. Of all 
 the expositors who have endeavoured so to interpret it, 
 hardly two have agreed. But let the book be studied as one 
 of principles, it is then calculated to excite, to sustain and 
 perfect the most pure and lofty devotion.” 
 
 Unfortunately we have no full consecutive statement of 
 his views on any of the great Christian doctrines, but we 
 can trace with fair accuracy his trend of thought. We 
 must content ourselves with references to the doctrine of the 
 Atonement and the doctrine of Holy Scripture. One of his 
 notes runs: “The Atonement does not change the proper 
 nature of God, of man, of moral obligation, of sin; but 
 reveals them all in their true character. The ‘ Atonement’ 
 has two sides, divine and human. What it is manwards is 
 revealed in Scripture so far as the infinite wisdom of God 
 
309 
 
 deemed necessary for salvation. What the Atonement is 
 Godwards is very dimly revealed to poor, blind, fallen man 
 on the earth, that aspect of it is reserved for the revelations of 
 the world to come.” ‘ The blood of Christ has two significa- 
 tions in the New Testament. The Jews held that the life 
 was in the blood, hence the blood of Christ means His 
 spiritual, divine life (John xii.). Blood also means shed, 
 spilt blood—blood devoid of life, that is death ; hence the 
 blood of Christ means the death, which was the development, 
 exposition, and highest authentication of His life. Thus 
 the blood of Christ has two relations to us; it is the means 
 of justification and the means of sanctification. It is at 
 once a public and a personal atonement. It is our reconcilia- 
 tion with God in Jaw and in character. By it we become 
 living in our legal relations to the moral government of the 
 universe, and /iving in our personal nature. It is an atone- 
 ment for us, and an atonement in us. This is the doctrine 
 of the New Testament. Blessed be God.” 
 
 In his sermon on the Christian dying with Christ and 
 rising with Christ, he is evidently moving towards that 
 theory which lays stress on the organic union of Christ with 
 the human race ; but his chief concern is with the dynamic 
 aspect of the death of Christ: its power to bring men into 
 their true relationship with the Father of Spirits. 
 
 His views of the Bible would now be considered almost 
 conservative, but to the great mass of the Christian people 
 of his day they were rank heresy, Here is a note on 
 inspiration : “Inspiration: Its end is not to teach any- 
 thing that man might learn without it by the use of his 
 natural powers—such as science, philosophy, literature—but. 
 to impart moral principles or truths which are supernatural,, 
 and which ere essential to man’s salvation. The means : 
 Inspiration does not preclude the use of natural means, but 
 guards from all errors that would defeat the end.” 
 
360 
 
 Another note runs: “ All the truth of the Bible is in 
 God, and is also in us, if we have God in us. It is God 
 that puts truth in the Scripture and in the soul. Things 
 are not true because they are in the Bible, but they are in 
 the Bible because they are true.” 
 
 In a sermon on the Parable of the Sower, he deals with 
 the divinity of the seed, and asks, “ What is the seed ?’’ 
 And he answers, “ By it we mean either the sign, or the 
 thing signified. The thing signified is the thought of God 
 concerning us, the sign is the book in which it is recorded. 
 This distinction is often overlooked, and people call the 
 mere book, the ink and paper contained between two covers, 
 the Word of God. But there is a difference between the 
 truth in God and the record of the truth. 
 
 “ (1) The truth in God is a living thing, the record is 
 but a dead letter. Hence when vitality is 
 attributed to the word, the word in God is 
 always meant. 
 
 “ (2) The word as a thought in God is eternal, but the 
 word as a record is a product in time. 
 
 ‘* (3) The word as truth in God is absolutely divine, but 
 the word as a record is the work of man. The 
 language and composition are human. The 
 men were moved by the spirit of God, but their 
 individual characteristics were only sanctified, 
 not destroyed. Their diversities are evident in 
 the style, diction, &c. 
 
 ‘“* (4) The word as truth in God is indestructible, but the 
 record is composed of destructible material, 
 liable to accidents, and may be burnt, but the 
 word of God cannot be destroyed. 
 
 “ This distinction is important, for it will prevent abuses 
 of the Bible. 
 
 — 
 
361 
 
 “ (a) It will enable us to estimate it rightly. We shall 
 not over-value it by substituting it for God, and 
 attributing to it a power which does not belong 
 to it. We shall not undervalue it, for it is an 
 utterance of God’s thoughts. 
 
 “ (6) It will teach us how to use it. The mere reading 
 and remembering of it can do no good. The 
 study, criticism, translation, and exposition of 
 it are of no use unless we get at the divine 
 thoughts contained in it. 
 
 * (c) It will show us how to teach it. To tell people to 
 read, and remember, and repeat it verbally 
 without impressing upon them the necessity 
 of searching for its spiritual meaning is 
 injurious, for if promotes pride, superstition, 
 irreligion.” 
 
 He was constantly emphasising the danger of resting 
 with the mere words of the Bible. The Rev. Nun Morgan 
 Harry’s method of using the Bible won his entire approval. 
 Of him he writes : “ God’s word was his habitual study and 
 delight. He made it the guide of his mind and life. He 
 was conversant with its letter, but he was also acquainted 
 with its spirit, and had a clear perception of its living 
 realities. He went to the Bible not zith a creed, but for a 
 ereed.” On the other hand, he condemns those “ expositors 
 who are more anxious to get in their own thoughts, than to 
 get out God’s thoughts.” 
 
 I do not for a moment suppose that Caleb Morris had 
 solved all the difficulties connected with the inspiration of 
 the Bible. Who has? But I believe he had reached the 
 right point of view. He distinctly recognised the human as 
 well as the divine element in Scripture, and thus, on the one 
 hand, found room for reasonable criticism, and on the other 
 
362 
 
 hand insisted on the worthlessness of all criticism and 
 scholarship that do not help men to realise the divine 
 thoughts contained in the sacred Word. 
 
 How are we to distinguish the divine from the human ? 
 I have no doubt that he would say, “ You must start with 
 the centre of revelation, Jesus Christ, and estimate all the 
 other parts by reference to this standard.” He looked upon 
 the Old Testament as a progression towards Christ, and 
 accepted the New Testament as the revelation of the Divine 
 Son. But in the New Testament he made a distinction 
 which has become very common—the distinction between - 
 the Gospels and the Epistles. He shall make it in his own 
 words :-— 
 
 “The study of the Gospels is the study of Christ, for He 
 appears there more prominently than His biographers. This 
 is a remarkable peculiarity. In the Gospels we have a Christ 
 living, speaking, working, suffering, and actualising all about 
 Him ; in the Epistles we have a system of truth respecting 
 Him. In the Gospels, facts, events, history ; in the Epistles, 
 principles, doctrines, philosophy.” 
 
 Did he then insist on the infallibility of the Gospels? If 
 we accept “The Christ of History” as representing his 
 views, the answer must be in the negative. All that he 
 would claim for them would be that they represented cor- 
 rectly the main features of the character and teaching of 
 Christ. This is in harmony with one of his remarks on 
 faith : ‘Faith in history is not the faith that saves. Faith 
 in Christ is not faith in His history—that is faith in His 
 biographers.” 
 
 He evidently recognises the difference between faith in 
 Christ and faith in the records of His earthly ministry. Is 
 he not thus entering upon very dangerous ground, and 
 running the risk of losing Christ altogether? He did not 
 think so, for he was convinced that no errors in the details 
 
365 
 
 of the Gospels could affect the main features of the person- 
 ality and teaching of the Christ pourtrayed therein. He 
 was well acquainted with the attempts to account for the 
 Gospel narratives on mythical and legendary grounds; but 
 considered such theories utterly incredible as far as the 
 main contents of the Gospel records were concerned. 
 He maintained with repeated emphasis that nothing but a 
 real original could have enabled the Evangelists to construct 
 their story. Any other supposition leads to impossible 
 absurdities. He did not pay much heed to the literary 
 problem which occupies such a large portion of the attention 
 of modern minds, for he felt that whatever the final solution 
 of that would be, it could not affect in any appreciable 
 degree the reality of the person and character, the teaching 
 and work of Jesus the Christ. 
 
 He did not confine himself to the study of the Gospels, 
 but found evidence of the unique. personality of Christ also 
 in the history of the Church from the Pentecost down to his 
 own day. Hedid not speak disparagingly of the Epistles 
 and of the Church as do many of those who, in modern 
 times, are constantly calling on us to go back to the Christ 
 of the Gospels. As we have seen, he recognised the 
 difference between these classes of writings, and expressed 
 it admirably. He felt that the Gospels brought him into 
 living contact with the great personality of Christ as the 
 Epistles did not and were never intended to do, for they 
 relate how the influence of Christ worked in the minds and 
 hearts and lives of those who believed in Him ; but he was 
 too careful a thinker to conclude that this influence of 
 Christ on His followers was a matter of trifling importance. 
 It is true that men have abused the Epistles by making the 
 doctrine and practices of the Apostolic Church the one 
 uniform type of Christianity from which there can be no 
 deviating, forgetting that in a different soil the development 
 
364 
 
 might be somewhat different, as in fact we know it to have 
 
 been in Grecian, Roman, and African soil; but that early 
 manifestation of the principles and life of Christ is of eternal 
 significance, and is in many ways the best commentary 
 we have on the Gospels. And we know from the sermons 
 of Caleb Morris during the last years of his ministry that 
 he gave much thought to the Epistles of Paul, and to the 
 aspect of Christ which is set forth in the Epistles to the 
 seven Churches. To him the Gospels were unspeakably 
 
 precious as starting points, but his Christ did not end with 
 
 the Gospels. He was the guide and ruler of His Church, 
 the living Lord in heaven that controlled and governed the 
 events of history, and ever worked for the realisation of the 
 glorious purposes of Divine love. Too often the ery “ Let 
 us go back to Christ” has ended in the elimination of 
 all that is supernatural from the Gospels: the miracles 
 have to go, the Incarnation and Resurrection become vague 
 symbols of spiritual processes, and, according to the latest 
 criticism, even the teaching of Christ is reduced to a few 
 colourless aphorisms. Caleb Morris would have no sympathy 
 with such going back to Christ. 
 
 The modern trend of the Higher Criticism of the Gospels 
 is pushing to a very awkward corner those who disparage 
 
 the Church and the Epistles and appeal to the Gospels, for 
 
 it is becoming more and more clear that the Christ of the 
 
 Gospels is Christ as He appeared to the early Church ; that 
 
 we have no historic Christ except the Christ reflected by 
 
 primitive Christianity. What then? It simply comes to — 
 
 this, that, unless the Apostolic Churches had a substantially 
 
 correct view of the person and work of Christ, we have no 
 
 Christ at all beyond a shadowy figure that ever changes 
 according to the caprices and fancies of critics and com- 
 mentators. The attempt to exalt the Gospels at the expense 
 of the Epistles is suicidal. 
 
365 
 
 Unless I altogether mistake Caleb Morris’s position, he 
 was guilty of no such folly, though he clearly saw the 
 different functions of the Gospels and the Epistles. He was 
 constantly co-ordinating the Bible, the Church, Christ, and 
 the soul as revelations of God. And in this he showed the 
 sanity of his judgment. He was free from the modern 
 tendency to exalt any one of these severed from the rest 
 into a standard. They are organically connected, and 
 cannot be torn asunder without producing disaster. No 
 Protestant. would think of resting upon an_ infallible 
 Church. Few, in comparison, now rest their faith on an 
 infallible Bible. What have we, then, to lean on ? 
 Shall we lean on Christ ? Certainly. But where do we find 
 our Christ ? What Christ have we apart from the testimony 
 of the Bible and the Church? The easy way in which men 
 will let go their faith in the Bible, in the Church, and in 
 any definite teaching, and still comfort themselves with the 
 assurance that they still have Christ, is simply astounding. 
 I know that appeal is made to the renewed life of the 
 regenerated soul, and I fully admit the importance of its 
 testimony ; butit is too subjective and intangible to convince 
 the mass of mankind. And this very subjective state is 
 dependent on some objective reality ; and where do we find 
 that but in the Bible and the Church? How long would 
 the spiritual experience survive the destruction of the 
 environment provided for it by revelation, and the fellowship 
 of those who believe in that revelation? We must not 
 separate the things which God hath joined. To quote the 
 words of Caleb Morris, ‘‘ The Bible and experience, experience 
 and the Bible, not the Bible without experience, nor 
 experience without the Bible. Experience illumines and 
 confirms the Bible, and experience is established and 
 enlightened by the Bible.” 
 
 Conversion was to him very largely the influence of 
 
366 
 
 truth upon the mind and heart. He says in one place, “ The 
 work of the minister is to explain truth and to reform men— 
 to explain in order to reform” ; and in another place, “‘ The 
 principal thoughts of revelation are inspired into the soul 
 of every converted man.” He laid the greatest stress on 
 the necessity of having “ clean and clear ideas,” but he was 
 equally emphatic in proclaiming that this inward experience 
 was impossible without the co-operation of external forces ; 
 the soul of itself could not grow into it, and the chief 
 force, according to his view, was the truth of God as made 
 known in the Bible, and, above all, in the teaching, person, 
 and work of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In order to see this truth in all its beauty and glory, he 
 studied the Gospels incessantly, and urged others to do the 
 same. But he did not stop there; he also traced carefully 
 the influence of Christ on the course of human history, 
 and, according to him, one of the great evidences of the 
 Divinity of Christianity was the profound influence which 
 it had exerted, and was exerting, on human progress and 
 development. He never severed the ideal from the practi- 
 cal. One of his favourite sayings was, “Things spiritual 
 become real as we act upon them,” and his faith in 
 Christianity was not based simply on the declarations of the 
 Bible, nor even upon the Christ of the Gospels, but also 
 upon their soul-transforming power in every land and age. 
 A mere historic Christ who once lived in Palestine could not 
 satisfy him—that was but the beginning of a manifestation 
 which is ever advancing, just as “ our sphere of existence is 
 ever widening, our capacity for moral action is ever becom- 
 ing stronger and stronger, and our sensitiveness to happiness 
 is ever growing more intense.” 
 
 The illustrations already given will have aalte it clear 
 that the chief value of his mental activity consisted not so 
 much in the definite conclusions to which he had come as in 
 
367 
 
 his power tu suggest, stimulate, and inspire, and many 
 would join Dr. David Thomas in calling him a “ mental 
 father.” Still there was no vagueness in his thinking. 
 Though a master of generalisation, and rising naturally 
 and majestically from the simplest incidents and events 
 to the widest circles of abstract truth, he never lost himself 
 in the clouds. 
 
 On what he held to be the indisputable principles of 
 morality and religion he was firm as a rock, and it was to 
 these that he devoted his strength. I have read scores of 
 his outlines, and there is scarcely one of them which I 
 should call obsolete or old-fashioned. He lived in the 
 realms of the eternal truths which never grow old, and 
 made it the business of his life to proclaim them to his 
 fellow men. He dwelt not in the regions of controversy and 
 disputation, but in the land of spiritual realities; and 
 whatever clouds might gather around his religious path, he 
 never lost sight of those unchangeable verities. 
 
 Since his days the theory of development and the higher 
 criticism of the books of the Bible have produced a profound 
 change in religious thought ; but were he to return to-day he 
 would have very little to unlearn, and not much to learn. 
 
 He was quite familiar with the idea of development, and 
 would have no difficulty in adopting a spiritual doctrine of 
 evolution ; but a materialistic evolution would find in him a 
 determined and uncompromising opponent. 
 
 He never laid stress on the mere details of Scripture: he 
 was always insisting that the Bible was a book of principles, 
 and one of the great charms of his preaching was that it 
 brought forth the abiding truths which are contained in 
 Scripture under the garb of history and incident, parable 
 and symbol. The movement from the material to the 
 spiritual in the Old Testament was a commonplace thought 
 to him, and he would not be much concerned if he had to 
 
368 
 
 alter some parts of his Biblical chronology; but he would 
 be the stalwart foe of any criticism that would seek to rob 
 the Bible of its supremacy, and would make it a mere 
 chronicle of the hopes and fears, the surmises and conjec- 
 tures of men. 
 
 And if he came he would have not a few things to teach 
 us. He would remind us of the folly of narrowness—the 
 narrowness of heterodoxy, as well as the narrowness of 
 orthodoxy ; and, indeed, there is much more danger of the 
 former than of the latter in the present day. He would 
 urge us to beware of pinning our faith to great names, 
 whether in criticism or science, philosophy or theology. He 
 would warn us against vagueness and shallowness of thought, 
 the use of words and terms without definite meaning, and 
 against the sounding of grandiloquent phrases to hide our 
 ignorance, or cloaking over the poverty of thought with fine 
 sentiments. He would condemn as dishonest the employ- 
 ment of old forms of speech, when the ideas generally 
 associated with them had become obsolete, and he would press 
 us above all things to be sincere and true in our thinking. 
 He would point out the perils of paying undue attention to 
 the literary and historical criticism of the Bible, and to the 
 evolution of religious doctrine, lest thereby we should miss 
 the living soul; and he would emphatically insist on the 
 necessity of proclaiming the supremacy of the spiritual in 
 every province of human activity, and especially in morality 
 and religion. God is a spirit, and we draw nigh unto Him 
 as we become spiritual. ‘To be carnally minded is death ; 
 but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” 
 
 a 
 
XXII. 
 
 The Preacher. 
 
 F all the chapters in the book, this is to me the most 
 difficult to write. Who can worthily describe any- 
 thing great and glorious? No one has yet been 
 
 able to pourtray perfectly the sublime and lofty in nature 
 or in human life; and I cannot hope even to approach 
 perfection in delineating Caleb Morris as a preacher. Yet 
 the attempt must be made; and I console myself with the 
 assurance that those who are the most competent to estimate 
 the difficulty of the work will be the readiest to overlook 
 the shortcomings in its execution. 
 
 I cannot say anything from personal experience of his 
 preaching ability, for when I heard him, I was much too 
 young to form any opinion of his pulpit power. I have, 
 therefore, to depend entirely on the testimony of others, and 
 I have used freely all the helps that are available, in order 
 to set him before the reader as he appeared to the men who 
 had. the privilege of coming under the spell of his fascinating 
 eloquence. The sketches of Dr. David Thomas in the 
 “ Homilist”” and in “ Pulpit Memorials,” and of Paxton 
 Hood in the “ Preachers’ Lantern,” are very valuable, and 
 this chapter is largely based on them. The writers of those 
 
 24 
 
370 
 
 sketches had many qualifications for giving a true picture 
 of him; they were intimately acquainted with him, and had 
 often heard him preach; they were also men who took 
 exceptional interest in preachers and preaching, and hence 
 were peculiarly fitted to set forth his characteristics as a 
 religious teacher and sacred orator. 
 
 All are agreed in declaring that he was an incomparable 
 preacher. He possessed a wonderful charm, and his 
 influence over his hearers was irresistible and indelible. 
 His words fell on the ear like enchanting music, spiritual 
 light flashed from his piercing eyes, and a tender, soul- 
 subduing wave of religious power flowed from him, filling 
 the mind and conscience, the heart and soul of the hearers 
 with thoughts and feelings which cannot find adequate 
 expression in words. 
 
 I asked Alderman Daniel Lewis, J.P., of Cardiff, if he 
 remembered Caleb Morris ; and I had scarcely uttered the 
 name ere his countenance glowed with delight, and, lifting 
 up his hands, he related with deep feeling passages from his 
 sermons which he had heard over forty years ago. He also 
 told me that Edward Miall was once asked, when visiting 
 Haverfordwest : “ Who is the greatest preacher of the day ?” 
 and that he answered unhesitatingly : “Caleb Morris, Caleb 
 Morris! There is no other like him. I would walk a score 
 of miles to hear him.” 
 
 “The opinion of the Rev. Walter Scott, Principal of 
 Airedale College, has been already quoted on page 270 ; and 
 the testimony of Professor Burditt, of Haverfordwest Baptist 
 College; Dr. Reynolds, of Cheshunt College; the Rev. 
 Robert Davey, the Rev. T. W. Chignell, and others, will be 
 found in Chapter XVII. 
 
 Dr. Dale refers to him in his “ Lectures on Preaching” 
 as ‘‘one of the ablest and most fascinating preachers among 
 
371 
 
 the English Congregationalists,” and Paxton Hood mentions 
 him in his volume on Christmas Evans as one who finely 
 illustrates the essential attributes of the cultured Welsh 
 preacher, “ blending 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.” 
 
 Dr. David Thomas, of Stockwell, considered him to be 
 the prince of preachers. He writes : “I have heard some of 
 the greatest preachers of this century; I have listened to 
 ‘Chalmers, with his rushing eloquence, like the ‘voice of 
 many waters’; I have heard Irving, I have seen him stand 
 in attitudes of wild majesty, with eyes of mystic fire fixed on 
 the invisible, while from his lips there rolled in melodious 
 tones sentences measured and solemn as the tread of an 
 angel ; sentences with which he flung his terrible thoughts 
 into the midst of his wondering audience; I have heard 
 John Harris, with his high-wrought discourses delivered in 
 sweet cadences; and I have heard Melville, with the voice, 
 elocution, and bearing of a consummate orator, preaching in 
 argumentative rhetoric under grand old gothic arches—but 
 J have never heard one who could approach Caleb Morris in 
 power to work upon tke whole soul in the entirety of its 
 wondrous susceptibilities and powers, and to make the 
 Bible a real and living revelation to existing humanity.” 
 He also refers to Horace Bushnell’s testimony. “* He once 
 said to me, when Caleb Morris was in in the zenith of his 
 power, that ‘ Fetter Lane pulpit was nearly the only one in 
 the City that he considered up to the mark.” 
 
 If there were any need of more testimony, we might 
 refer to Rowland Hill’s high opinion of him, who, it is said, 
 expressed the wish that he should become his co-pastor 
 at Surrey Chapel; to the exalted estimate which the young 
 
 24* 
 
 ——— ~ aaa 
 
INtTELLZCT Consune Ate 
 IMAGAN Ato N a PE UY Ge 
 
 ministers who associated with him during his years of retire- 
 ment formed of his preaching power; among others may be 
 named the Rev. B. Thomas, Myfyr Emlyn ; and the Rev. 
 W. Davies, of Llandilo. The simple folk of his native 
 parish also bear witness to his remarkable power as @ 
 preacher, not in words, for they cannot find words to express 
 their feelings, but by the attitude of grateful astonishment 
 which the very mention of his name calls forth, and the 
 delightful smile which passes over their faces as they think 
 of him. We might also fitly refer to the loving care with 
 which many of his hearers transferred his words to their 
 note-books, treasured them as precious pearls, and pondered 
 over them to obtain patience and strength and inspiration 
 for the manifold trials, temptations, and duties of life. 
 
 There is no doubt, therefore, about the place to be 
 assigned to Caleb Morris asa preacher. He clearly belongs 
 to the first rank, and occupies an honourable position among 
 the foremost sacred orators. 
 
 We naturally ask how he attained to this pinnacle of 
 fame. It seems to me that the true answer is: “ By a rare 
 combination of powers.” Dr. David Thomas refers to his 
 “‘ power to work upon the whole soul,’ and that is what I 
 feel on reading the imperfect sketches of bis sermons which 
 have been preserved. Some preachers appeal to the intellect, 
 others to the imagination, others to the feelings, and others 
 to the conscience. Caleb Morris appealed to them all. His 
 most characteristic sermons touch all the elements of human 
 nature. It is true that he was, in his later years, a preacher 
 to the intellect and conscience rather than to the imagina- 
 tion and the feelings ; but when at his best, he knocked at 
 every door of our complex constitution, and his wondrous 
 power was the cumulative effect of his rich and many-sided 
 personality. 
 
373 
 
 The physical counts for much in the making of a preacher, 
 and in this respect Caleb Morris was highly favoured. 
 Seldom has the world seen a more handsome and attractive 
 bodily organism. Beauty was impressed upon every form 
 and feature, and the whole was blended together in such 
 symmetry and proportion as to make a perfect whole. When 
 Myfyr Emlyn first saw him, the words of the Hebrew poet 
 rushed into his memory: ‘“‘ Chief among ten thousand and 
 altogether lovely.” He was not tall, but his broad shoulders 
 and large head gave him an imposing appearance. Dr. 
 Thomas says of him: ‘“‘ His head showed plenty of room for 
 the play of every high emotion and of every class of thought. 
 It had ample space for the wing of the poet, and the 
 plumet of the metaphysician. It was thickly covered with 
 hair, which hung in raven curls. His eyes were full of light 
 and melting sympathy. They were to me most remarkable 
 —not large, but lustrous balls of diamonds—which seemed 
 to swim in a sea of sensibility. Their glance would thrill 
 you, not with terror, but with love. My own spirit has 
 heaved under it in younger days, and with its memory I 
 feel its impulse still. There was always a shade of 
 melancholy playing upon his countenance.” 
 
 I have heard repeated references to his wonderful power 
 of expression. His countenance changed in a moment 
 from a pathetic smile to an aspect of terrible grandeur 
 The rapidity of the movement of his eyes was also very 
 remarkable. They were like lightning in their speed and 
 penetrating brightness. His voice was deep, clear, and 
 sweet, and had, when he was moved, a pervasive tone which 
 stirred the soul to its very depths. It is no wonder, then, 
 that he was called a king among men, and a prince of 
 orators ? 
 
 I have already quoted Mr. Dyer’s description of his 
 
374 
 
 manner of preaching (see page 249). Here I quote from 
 ‘Hanes Eglwysi Annibynol Cymru,” the best description 
 which I have seen of his pulpit manner : 
 
 “He began his sermon in a low key, but spoke distinctly 
 and clearly, so that he could be heard by all. His voice 
 was sad and solemn, with a peculiar plaintive intonation. 
 He generally leaned on the pulpit, keeping his eyes fixed om 
 his hearers ; and as surely as his eyes were upon them, he 
 would also win the steady gaze of their expectant eyes. He 
 held them by his penetrating glance, and while his piercing 
 eye influenced them, their eager looks also made a strong 
 impression upon him. He did not seek to excite his hearers. 
 by bodily gestures, but rather avoided this, as if he were 
 afraid that such movements would withdraw their attention 
 from the truth which he was setting before them, and cause 
 him to lose his hold on them. He moved his right hand 
 gently to emphasise his points, and occasionally stretched 
 out his right arm; that would include all his gestures 
 during the first part of the sermon. As he got into his 
 subject, he turned to the right and to the left, and ere long 
 stood erect in the pulpit, with both arms extended ont in the 
 form of a semi-circle, his dark eyes flashed like lightning, 
 his countenance shone with the glow of his spirit, and for a 
 few seconds the words would flow with great swing and 
 power ; but he did not let himself go, and permit the flood 
 to rush forth; this restraint kept him from becoming the 
 most effective orator of his day. If he had allowed the 
 forces pent within him to burst forth unrestrained, and at 
 the same time kept the perfect self-control which he had 
 over himself, he would, doubtless, have been*one of the 
 most eloquent and irresistible preachers which our nation 
 ever produced.” 
 
 On comparing this description with that of Mr. Dyer, it. 
 
375 
 
 is evident that it belongs to the later period of his ministry ; 
 in the earlier period, that “irresistible rush ” for which the 
 writer craved was not infrequent. 
 
 After the above picture of him in the pulpit, ib is 
 scarcely necessary to say that he was eloquent. It will be 
 remembered that the Rev. T. W. Chignell says that he was 
 the most eloquent speaker he ever heard, yet Dr. David 
 Thomas says he was not fluent. At the beginning of his 
 sermon he often seemed hampered, and one of the constant 
 expressions in his diary is “no freedom.” This makes it 
 evident at once that he was no glib and voluble talker, no 
 rhetorician following elaborate rules, but a natural speaker 
 telling the deep experiences of his own soul. His passionate 
 speech was reasoning set on fire, and sometimes the fire 
 would not burn. He was averse to all the studied tricks of 
 the orator; he did not indulge in artificial tropes and 
 figures arranged beforehand; his was the eloquence of 
 thought and passion, the eloquence of truth and soul. 
 Very rarely did he prepare his words, but he prepared 
 carefully his thoughts and his heart, and came before men 
 having his great soul ablaze with enthusiasm kindled by 
 truth ; and this manifested itself in all his looks, movements, 
 and words. When powerfully moved, his influence on the 
 audience was marvellous; no single comparison can set it 
 forth ; it was like the lightning and the thunder, like the 
 rain and the dew, like the light and the wind, “a kind of 
 spiritual electricity,’ mysterious, thrilling, captivating, 
 soul-subduing. Alderman Daniel Lewis, J.P., of Cardiff, 
 says that once at the Tabernacle, Haverfordwest, he 
 uttered the words “Be a man and nota thing,” with such 
 power as to be the starting point of a new life for several 
 young men. Dr. David Thomas says of him : “ After calmly 
 following out some short line of argument—and every sermon 
 
376 
 
 of his abounded with such lines—he would, with arms 
 extended, and with looks of unutterable sensibility and 
 significance, proclaim his conclusions in bursts of eloquence 
 which I have never heard excelled in the grandest speci- 
 mens of human oratory.” 
 
 If I had to attach descriptive epithets to his eloquence, 
 I should be disposed to say that it was marked, above all 
 things, by dignity and tenderness. Every movement, every 
 tone, every gesture was dignified, and this was the natural 
 expression of his lofty thought and elevated feeling. He 
 was quite incapable of anything base or mean, his refine- 
 ment of soul was mirrored in every phrase and attitude, 
 “ His graceful movements, combined with the grandeur of 
 his thoughts, the rhythm of his sentences, the thrilling 
 modulation of his musical voice, and the lofty enthusiam 
 that seemed to bear him away as in a chariot of fire, gave to 
 the Fetter Lane pulpit a dignity seldom seen elsewhere.” 
 His eloquence was also overwhelming in its tenderness. 
 The stillness of the congregation was deep and solemn, and 
 the intensity of the preacher’s thought and feeling often 
 opened the fountains of tears. No one was ever farther 
 from attempting to make a sensation; but the heart-stirring 
 tones of his voice, the passionate earnestness of his appeals, 
 and the mysterious influence that stood behind all, compelled 
 the people to weep in spite of themselves. 
 
 So far we have dealt chiefly with the manner of his 
 preaching ; but however important that may be, there is 
 something still more important, that is the matter. Some 
 preachers depend for their popularity almost entirely upon 
 the manner in which they deliver their message. Caleb 
 Morris did not belong to this class, for even apart from the 
 charm of his delivery, his sermons were truly great. 
 
 All are agreed about the freshness and fulness of his 
 
377 
 
 thought. He did not repeat platitudes. He saw truth 
 with his own eyes, and felt it with his own heart ; this gave 
 an aspect of originality to all his utterances. He was not 
 content to use the stereotyped phraseology of the pulpit, 
 but searched the Bible, the teachings of science and 
 philosophy, as well as his own heart, and then proclaimed to 
 others the truths which he had verified in his own experience. 
 Every man may be original in this sense, but given a nature 
 like that of Caleb Morris, richly endowed with intellectual 
 gifts, imaginative powers, and tender susceptibilities, a 
 nature, moreover, under the deep and abiding influence of 
 the religious spirit, and old truths will be clothed with the 
 freshness of spring and the beauty of early summer. 
 
 He had great fulness as well as freshness of thought. He 
 always gave his hearers the impression of an inexhaustible 
 reserve of power. Very rarely did he complete his theme in 
 one sermon. (Generally the morning text also sufficed for 
 the evening, and often it was taken up again on Monday 
 
 -evening. His mind was stored with vast treasures of 
 religious truth, and out of the fulness of his heart he 
 brought forth a wealth of thought and feeling which sur- 
 prised and charmed his hearers. One evening he was 
 preaching at Milford Haven; he had been preaching for 
 about an hour and was drawing to a close when a country 
 minister came in and begged him to give them another half- 
 hour, as he had been quite unable to come earlier. There- 
 upon he opened the Bible again and went on for another 
 hour, delighting all with the abundance and brilliancy of his 
 ideas. 
 
 This kind of preaching is not necessarily popular, it makes 
 too much demand on the hearer to please the crowd, and 
 even on the intelligent the effect is sometimes bewildering. 
 ‘There was enough in one of Caleb Morris’s sermons for three 
 
378 
 
 or four ordinary discourses, and towards the close of his 
 ministry this great fulness of thought tended to distract the 
 mind, instead of concentrating it on a few points. The 
 popular preacher aims at setting forth one idea in all its 
 forms and aspects, he brings all his powers and resources to. 
 the elucidation of one theme; Caleb Morris did not belong 
 to this order of preachers; every truth suggested to him 
 correlated truths, and there stood before him an endless 
 panorama of thought. All that he did was to give the 
 hearer glimpses of the beautiful and glorious temple of truth. 
 
 Hence his preaching was very suggestive. Dr. David 
 Thomas, says: “In this respect, Caleb Morris had, perhaps, 
 no equal. He broke the monotony of mind, touched the 
 springs of intellect, and set the wheels of thought a-going. 
 Those who formed his congregation became religious. 
 thinkers. No minister of his day made more preachers, 
 philosophers, men of science and letters than he.” Con- 
 sequently, though he wrote little himself, he kindled in 
 many the passion for writing ; and his influence on all 
 preachers who came in contact with him was inspiring and 
 fertilising. Myfyr Emlyn was once asked : “ Did Caleb Morris. 
 help you to compose that sermon?” ‘No, not directly,” 
 was the reply ; ‘‘ but I do not know how much he has helped 
 me indirectly ; for I am one of his great admirers, and his 
 conversation overflows with suggestiveness.” This quality 
 is only too rare in pulpit orators, and when a man possessed 
 it in such a degree as Caleb Morris, it was not surprising 
 that thoughtful men crowded to hear him. 
 
 The freshness and fulness of thought to which allusion. 
 has been made were very evident in his treatment of the 
 Scriptures. Many of his sermons were expository, and he 
 brought all the results of his reading and thinking, as well 
 as his rich spiritual experience, to the elucidation of the- 
 
379 
 
 Sacred Book. He sought not so much to expound the 
 words of Scripture, as to find out the underlying truths. 
 He looked upon the Bible as a book of principles, and its- 
 chief glory in his sight was the clear and effective way in 
 which it sets forth the principles of God’s moral govern- 
 ment and of man’s spiritual nature. He made the Bible a 
 living book to his hearers. They saw in it a description of 
 their own faults and failures, doubts and fears, hopes and 
 joys, and heard the response of God to all the movements of 
 their souls. To them the Bible at the close of a sermon 
 was no mere external revelation, but an inward revelation: 
 in their hearts and minds. The things of religion had 
 become glorious realities unto them, and they felt not that 
 they had heard about the spiritual world, but that they had 
 been in it, in the midst of its greatness, and beauty, and 
 glory. This is the spiritual teacher’s supreme gift, the- 
 power to make the Word of God a living force in the hearts 
 of men; and few have possessed this unique power to the 
 -same degree as Caleb Morris. 
 
 But his eloquence and dignity, his freshness and fulness. 
 of thought, are not sufficient to explain his wondrous charm 
 as a preacher. One other element can certainly be mentioned 
 —viz., his passion for souls. This has been characteristic 
 of all the greatest preachers, and Caleb Morris possessed 
 a large share of it. We have found constant references to it 
 in his diaries. He seemed to be ever anxious not to lose 
 this supreme qualification of the Christian preacher. With- 
 out it a man may be an able philosopher, an eloquent 
 speaker, a suggestive expounder, and a profound teacher, 
 but unless to all these be added love for souls, and an 
 intense desire to rescue them from sin and misery, and to. 
 develop them in truth, purity, and beauty, he cannot be 
 called a great preacher. 
 
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 It was this passionate zeal for the salvation of souls which 
 kept his preaching from being swamped by philosophy. 
 He was by nature a keen and subtle thinker, and he had 
 cultivated with rare assiduity his reasoning powers. This 
 
 bent of his mind is seen in all his sermons, especially in the 
 
 introduction, but he never allowed the contemplation and 
 exposition of truth to draw him away from the proclamation 
 of God’s grace. He ever remembered that he was a preacher 
 to sinners, and not a teacher of thinkers; and while he 
 
 nourished the thoughtful with his rich and brilliant ideas, 
 
 the illiterate also were fed by his ministry. Much has 
 been said about the number of ministers and students, 
 literary men and leaders of thought who went to hear him, 
 and it is all true and important in estimating his influence ; 
 but there were also many poor people attending Fetter Lane 
 
 ‘Chapel, and they received rich blessings under his preach- 
 
 ing. He was especially proud of a costermonger woman 
 who sought church membership at Fetter Lane. She 
 seemed out of place amid the thoughtful and educated 
 congregation, and great was the surprise when she expressed 
 a desire to jointhe church. Caleb Morris was delighted, and 
 received her with great joy. It was to him a sure token 
 that God was blessing his ministry. She could not follow 
 the grand sweep of his thoughts, nor trace the steps of his 
 
 -arguments, but she felt the passion of his soul, and was 
 
 helped by him towards Christ the Saviour of the world. 
 This feature of his preaching was one of the chief sources 
 of his popularity. He lacked many of the marks of the 
 popular preacher. The style of his sermons was severe and 
 lofty, and his illustrations were few in comparison. ‘There 
 were not many appeals to the imagination, and anything in 
 the form of sensationalism was carefully avoided ; and yet 
 the crowds came to hear him, yearning for his teaching, 
 
 se RQ. NomAN 
 
 pt. PASS) OME 
 
 4 
 
 : 
 
fiys tills 
 
 381 
 
 which was to them as bread of life from heaven and living 
 waters. They felt that a man of God spoke to them, who 
 was intensely concerned about their highest welfare ; a man 
 who cared little or nothing for popularity and praise, but who 
 was supremely anxious to be an instrument for doing good 
 to the souls of men. And in this respect all may imitate 
 him. Few possess his grasp of thought and penetration of 
 vision ; his gifts of speech and eloquence are not granted to- 
 most preachers, but all may share his great longing for the 
 salvation of souls. 
 
 I feel that there is another aspect of his preaching which 
 I have not yet named—perhaps it might be called his 
 mysticism. The spiritual world was to him a living 
 experience ; and he seemed to dwell among its personalities 
 and powers. God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, heaven, 
 hell, and judgment, were not mere words or ideas to him, 
 but solemn realities which moved and strengthened his. 
 thought and life. He seemed to see the invisible, and he 
 was able to transfer this vision to his hearers. At times he 
 opened heaven to them, and they gazed with rapture and 
 awe on the wonders of the unseen world. The Rev. F, Fox 
 Thomas wrote two years ago: “I consider him to be one of 
 the most magnetic preachers of this century. I have heard 
 him preach at Fetter Lane when a mystic cloud seemed to 
 fall on the audience, which folded us in its embrace, and 
 bore us above the world.” 
 
 Like other preachers, he had his low moods in the pulpit. 
 Perhaps he could not say with Thomas Binney that he was 
 capable of preaching the poorest sermon of any minister 
 in London, still there were occasions when he fell far below 
 his average level. Dr. Winter Hamilton, of Leeds, once 
 went to hear him with very high expectations, but that day 
 he was in one cf his most ineffective moods, and the Doctor 
 
382 
 
 was moved to say: “ Art thou become weak as we, art thou 
 become like unto us?” But, notwithstanding occasions like 
 this, his usual pulpit ministrations were of a very high 
 order, though it was only rarely that he reached the highest 
 points of his power. 
 
 His prayers were as striking and influential as his 
 ‘sermons. Perhaps there is no portion of the Nonconformist 
 service so defective as the devotional. Some of us dread 
 the thought of leading the devotions of the people more 
 than of addressing them on the great themes of morality and 
 religion, and yet worship is the highest service in which 
 man can engage, and unless we help men in this supreme 
 duty, we fail in the most important part of our ministry. 
 My dear mother used to say that if the prayer was good, the 
 sermon also was sure to be good; and I have heard my 
 father remark again and again that he does not like preachers 
 to preach when they pray, but that he is quite willing for 
 them to pray when they preach. Caleb Morris was great in 
 secret prayer, and also in family prayer, and his public 
 prayers were models of devotion and filial trust. No one 
 could accuse him of preaching while praying ; with reverence 
 and deep humility he presented the prayers and petitions of 
 the congregation before the throne of heavenly grace. We 
 are growing wiser, and no longer look on the devotional 
 parts of the service as mere preliminaries to the sermon, but 
 still there is room for improvement. It is primarily a 
 question not of liturgy or no liturgy, for a liturgy can 
 become a mere mechanism, offensive to God and a snare to 
 man, and apart from a liturgy our public prayers may 
 become cold, formal, and lifeless. What we need is the 
 devotional spirit, and this is a growth which has to be 
 fostered by continual cultivation. 
 
 We have already made several references to Caleb Morris’s 
 
383 
 
 public prayers; but the subject is so important and so 
 closely associated with the preacher’s office that we cannot 
 refrain from making two more quotations. 
 
 The author of “ Hanes Eglwysi Annnibynol Cymru” says: 
 “One who frequently heard Caleb Morris at Fetter Lane 
 told us that he often wished, at the close of the prayer, that 
 the service might then come to an end. The reading of 
 the Scriptures had been so happy, and the exposition so full 
 and the prayer so solemn and heartfelt, that he trembled 
 lest the sermon should not be on the same high level; but 
 that, after listening to the sermon, he felt glad that his wish 
 had not been granted, for the sermon was the fitting crown 
 of the whole service.” 
 
 Dr. Thomas, of Stockwell, writing on the same theme, says: 
 “His public prayers, were natural, fresh, serious, stirring, 
 and inspiring. I see him now, as I did some thirty-five 
 years ago, enter his pulpit on Sabbath morning. He reads 
 some portion of Scripture, passing expository remarks as he 
 proceeds, remarks which seem to cleave obscuring clouds, 
 and throw new and suggestive light on the text. Then 
 comes the prayer, and what a prayer! His hands are 
 clasped, and resting on the Holy Book ; his face is upturned 
 to heaven, changing in expression with every passing 
 thought and feeling, and his whole attitude is fixed and 
 motionless, as if enchained by some mystic spirit. His 
 voice is subdued, its tones are tremulous, rising and falling 
 with the tides of a heart heaving under the eye of God. 
 Mingled sentiments of gratitude, reverence, adoration, 
 entreaty, in tones and words simple, but instinct with life, 
 fall on our spirit like an incense, fragrant with odours wafted 
 from a higher world. You feel that there is, at any rate, 
 one man on this earth prayiny—praying before you ; that in 
 his person you have a true priest appearing before God on 
 
s 384 
 
 your behalf. All your little cares and troubles are lost for a 
 time in higher and holier thoughts. I have never heard 
 any prayers from the pulpit approaching his, They seemed 
 to bear the audience upward as in a noiseless chariot, and, 
 as you ascended into the calm, bright realm of devotion, the 
 world appeared to roll beneath you as a dissolving cloud.” 
 
 We must now bid farewell to this noble servant of God, 
 and how can we do this more suitably than in the words of 
 his lifelong friend and disciple, Dr. David Thomas :— 
 “ Adieu, great soul! I have never seen or heard thy like. 
 In my little world there has appeared but one Caleb Morris. 
 Thou hast been from childhood’s dawn to this hour the 
 brightest human star in my mental hemisphere, breaking 
 often through my clouds of ignorance and doubt and guiding 
 me in the night hours of thought. Death has taken thee 
 from our bodily vision, but I hold thee still in memory. In 
 the sphere within me thou art imperishable. Thy rays, 
 undimmed, shall beam on me, until we meet in higher 
 worlds. Peace to that grave of thine, well chosen in old 
 Cambria, our fatherland; and a thousand beatitudes on 
 that great soul of thine, which chased sorrow from many an 
 aching heart, argued scepticism from many a doubting 
 intellect, and led many a wandering brother home to the 
 loving Father of us all!” 
 
Appendit. 
 
 CALEB MORRIS’ SERMONS. 
 
 T has been repeatedly said in the Biography that Caleb 
 Morris did not write his sermons. At most, he wrote 
 no more than bare outlines. The only sermon which he 
 
 prepared for the press was written by amanuenses. Still, a 
 few of his sermons, and a large number of outlines, have 
 appeared in print. The sermons were probably from short- 
 hand notes, but he refused to acknowledge their accuracy. 
 The outlines have come from those who took notes of his 
 sermons. A large number did this, and a fair representa- 
 tion of the truths which he proclaimed may be gathered 
 from these records. But the fascination and glow have not 
 been preserved. 
 
 Dr. David Thomas, in a footnote to the memoir in 
 “ Pulpit Memorials,” said: ‘‘ I intend soon publishing some 
 thirty or forty sermons of his in an abridged form. A 
 gentleman, now deceased, left with me some time ago four- 
 teen volumes of his discourses in MS. This gentleman was 
 a member of his church from the beginning to the close 
 of his ministry, and he carefully wrote down almost every 
 word he spoke. I have gone through the volumes, and 
 made an abridgment of those which I considered most 
 suggestive and characteristic.” 
 
 The volume never appeared, and the Rev. Urijah Thomas 
 informed me, when I inquired of him about two years ago, 
 that the volumes of MS. were not to be found. 
 
 I have several outlines in my possession which have not 
 been published. I should like to publish a volume of selec- 
 tions from those already published, and from the MSS. that 
 have been lent to me ; but whether the wish can be realised 
 
 depends on many things. All I can do at present is to give 
 25 
 
386 
 
 a list of those sermons and outlines which have been printed. 
 I shall be glad to have any errors corrected, or omissions 
 supplied, also to find a copy of a sermon on the “Superiority 
 of Revealed over Natural Religion,” which appeared in the 
 “Penny Pulpit,” No. 5, but which I have sought for in 
 vain, 
 SERMONS. 
 
 In “ Punpit MEmoRIALS,” p. 399— 
 
 “ The Servant of the Age.” 
 In “THE Puupit ”— 
 
 ‘“‘ Usefulness the Aim of every Evangelical Minister.” 
 
 Vol. xvii., 73. ’ 
 “ Harly Piety and Impiety.” Vol. xxv., 207. 
 “Spiritual Diligence a Source of Happiness.” Vol. 
 XXVii., 283. 
 
 In “THE PREACHER” (BRITISH)— 
 
 “The Reign of Righteousness.” Vol. iii., 84. 
 
 “The Goodness of God producing Fear.” Vol. v., 135. 
 In “THE Homrust,” Tarrp SERIEs— 
 
 “The Servant of the Age.” Vol. vi., 241. 
 
 “Simeon.” Vol. ix., 241. 
 
 OUTLINES. 
 “Tue Homiuist,” THirD SERIES— 
 “The Victory of Christ over Thought.” Vol. vi., 216. 
 
 cc Spe Diligence a Source of Hepes Vol. 
 , o44, 
 
 . The ‘Medistotial System.” Vol. vii., 26. 
 
 “The Right Use of Property.” Vol. x., 346. 
 “Tae Homiuist,’ FourtH SERIEs— 
 
 “The Power of Youthful Piety.” Vol. i. 42. 
 
 “Elder Brother.” Vol. i., 115. 
 
 ‘* Religious Enquiry.” Vol. i., 140. 
 
 “The Infancy of Moses.” Vol. i., 304. 
 
387 . 
 
 “Tse Homiuist,” FourtH Sertes—Continued. 
 “Heart Expansion.” Vol. i., 352. 
 “The Letters to the Seven Churches (General).” 
 Vol. iii. 17, 
 “ To the Church at Ephesus.” Vol. iii., 93. 
 “To the Church at Smyrna.” Vol. iii, 154. 
 “ Tothe Church at Pergamos.” Vol. iii., 216. 
 “To the Church at Thyatira.” Vol. ili., 276. 
 “To the Church at Sardis.” Vol. iv., 21. 
 “To the Church at Philadelphia.” Vol. iv., 86. 
 “Tue Homiuist,” Poputar SERIES— 
 “The Bearing of Christianity on the Emotions.” Vol. 
 1, 47. 
 “A Moral Duel.” Vol. i., 48. 
 “The True Aristocracy.” Vol. i., 51. 
 “Sowing and Reaping.” Vol. ii, 418. 
 “ Praise.” Vol. iv., 187. 
 “Tuer Homiiist,” Epitor’s SERIES— 
 “‘ Sermons to Sunday-school Teachers.” Vol. iii., 30. 
 “The Visions of Paul.” Vol. iii., 79, 148, 215, 277, 341. 
 “Truths Respecting Human Nature and Christianity.” 
 Vol. iv., 24. 
 “The Apostolicism of the New Testament.” Vol. iv., 88. 
 “The Peacemaker.” Vol. iv., 216. 
 ‘* The Purpose, Calling, and Love of God.” Vol. iv., 285. 
 ‘“* Mutual Consultation.” Vol. v., 29. 
 “The Eye and Hand.” Vol. v., 90. 
 “God and the Church.” Vol. v., 282. 
 “ Practical Christianity.” Vol. v., 284. 
 ** Moral Conquest.” Vol. vi., 27. 
 “The Plan of Providence.” Vol. vi., 94. 
 “Christ Interceding.”’ Vol. vi., 155. 
 “The Voice of God in the Vicissitudes of Humanity.” 
 Vol. vi., 353. . 
 
424 Ta 
 tatalaee scaced’ 
 
 388 " 
 
 “THe Homiuist,” Eprror’s Serres—Continued. 
 
 “* Certainties and Uncertainties.” Vol. vii., 165. 
 “Spiritual Joy.” Vol. vii., 222. 
 “Personal Responsibility.” Vol. vii., 344. 
 “ The ee Seat.” Vol. viii., 30. 
 “ Greatness.” Vol. viii. De ahs 
 “The Voice of God in the Vicissitudes of Humanity, i: 
 Vol. ix., 104. 
 OUTLINES IN “ Tae PREACHER’S iui 7 
 
 “Spiritual Diligence a Source of Happiness.” Vol. 
 1, 519. 
 
 “ The Barly Death of Christ.” Vol. i., 523. 
 
 “ Believers Dying with Christ.” Vol. i., 527. 
 
 “True Prayer.” Vol. ii., 56. 
 
 *‘God’s Thoughts and Man’s Thoughts.” Vol. ii., 60. 
 
 “Christ and the Woman of Samaria.” Vol. ii., 295. 
 
 “Living Epistles.” Vol. ii., 298. 
 
 “The Blood of Christ and Conscience.” Vol. ii., 300. 
 
 “God Has No Needs.” Vol. ii., 369. 
 
 “ Providence.” Vol. ii., 620. 
 
 “Suffering the Path to Glory.” Vol. iii., 47. 
 
 “The Temptation of our Lord.” Vol. iii, 109, 177. 
 
 “The New Jerusalem.” Vol. iii., 234. 
 
 “Soul Culture.” Vol. iii., 303. 
 
 “ The First Christian Society.” Vol. iii., 440. 
 
 “The Law and Motive of the Christian Life.” Vol. 
 iii., 503. 
 
 “ The Christian, a Temple of God.” Vol. iii., 563. 
 
 “ Christ Fulfilling the Law.” Vol. iii., 688. 
 
 “ Self-Improvement and Social Beneficence.” Vol. 
 iii,, 694. 
 
 “Temptations.” Vol. iii., 737. 
 
 VERSES ON “ Hourness.” Vol. ii., 574. 
 
 ALBxanDik & SREPHEARD, I11p., Printers, Norwich &t E.C. 
 
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