THE WELSH REVIVAL AND THE REMARKABLE LEADER WHO HAS SPRUNG FROM THE COLLIERY INTO THE WORLD’S LIMELIGHT.

(Report in The Ram’s Horn.)

A wonderful revival is sweeping over Wales. The whole country, from the city to the colliery underground, is aflame with gospel glory. Police courts are hardly necessary, public houses are being deserted, old debts are being paid to satisfy awakened consciences and definite and unmistakable answers to prayer are recorded.

The leader in this great religious movement is a young man twenty-six years of age, Evan Roberts. He was a collier boy, then an apprentice in a forge, then a student for the ministry. But all his life he has yearned to preach the gospel. He is no orator, he is not widely read. The only book he knows from cover to cover is the Bible. He has in his possession a Bible which he values above anything else he has belonging to him. It is a Bible slightly scorched in a colliery explosion. When the evangelist was working in a colliery he used to take his Bible with him, and while at work would put it away in some convenient hole or nook near his working place, ready to his hand when he could snatch a moment or two to scan its beloved pages. A serious explosion occurred one day. The future Welsh revivalist escaped practically unhurt, but the leaves of his Bible were scorched by the fiery blast. Evan Roberts scorched Bible is a familiar phrase among his friends.

Little more than a month ago Evan Roberts was unknown, studying for one of the Welsh colleges at New-castle-Emlyn, so as to prepare for the Calvinistic Methodist ministry. Then came the summons, and he obeyed. He insists that be has been called to his present work by the direct guidance of the Holy Ghost. At once, without question and without hesitation, he was accepted by the people. Wherever he went hearts were set aflame with the love of God.

Here is a vivid report of one of his meetings, given by a newspaper representative:

The scene was almost indescribable. Tier upon tier of men and women filled every inch of space. Those who could not gain admittance stood outside and listened at the doors. Others rushed to the windows, where almost every word was audible. When, at seven o’clock, the service began, quite 2,000 people must have been present. The enthusiasm was unbounded. Women sang and shouted till the perspiration ran down their faces, and men jumped up one after the other to testify. One told in quivering accents the story of a drunken life, a working collier spoke like a practised orator: and one can imagine what a note the testimony of a converted gipsy woman struck when, dressed in her best, she told of her reformation and repentance. At ten o’clock the meeting had lost none of its ardour. Prayer after prayer went up from those Welsh hearts with almost dreary persistence. Time and again the four ministers who stood in the pulpit attempted to start a hymn, but it was all in vain. The revival has taken hold of the people, and even Mr. Roberts cannot hold it in check. His latest convert is a policeman, who, after complaining that the people had gone mad after religion, so that there was nothing to do, went to see for himself, and bursting into tears, confessed the error of his ways, and repented.

Meetings such as this are being repeated every day, and the enthusiasm is still spreading. While there has been no organisation, no elaborate preparation for this mission, in the ordinary sense of the word, there is a strong belief that it is the direct result of earnest prayer. A prominent member of a Newport Baptist church, who has followed the movement with close interest and deep thankfulness, declared the other day the revival was the result of the praying by the young women who had been engaged in it for some months. Even Roberts had, he said, been praying for thirteen months for that wave to come, and he related how the young man was turned out of his lodgings by his landlady, who thought that in his enthusiasm he was possessed or somewhat mad. He spent hours praying and preaching in his rooms, until the lady became afraid of him, and asked him to leave.

It may be observed that the dominant note of the revival is prayer and praise. Another striking fact is the joyousness and radiant happiness of the evangelist. It has been remarked, that the very essence of his campaign is mirth. To the rank and file of the church ministers this is his most incomprehensible phase They have always regarded religion as something iron-bound, severe, even terrible. Evan Roberts smiles when he prays, laughs when he preaches. Ah, it is a grand life, he cries. I am happy, so happy that I could walk on the air. Tired? Never! God has made me strong. He has given me courage.

He is a leader who preaches victory, and shows how it may be won — victory over the dull depression and gloomy doubt of our time. Is it surprising that followers flock in thousands to his banner? It has long been felt in Wales, as else-where, that the time was ripe for a great religious revival. As the Rev. H. M. Hughes, a Congregational minister in Cardiff, recently pointed out, all efforts, movements, and organisations did not stem the flood of evil or stop the growth or pleasure-seeking and Mammon worship. A generation had risen that had not seen the arm of God working as it had done in 1849 and 1859.

Now, to all appearances, the revival has arrived, and it has many of the marks of previous great awakenings. Strong men are held in its grip; the Spirit of God stirs to their very depths whole neighbourhoods and districts. There is a tumult of emotion, an overpowering influence, and a conviction of sin that can only be attributed to Divine agency. Personal eloquence, magnetism, fervour or mental power do not account for it. The only explanation is the one which the evangelist gives — it is all of God. And it has already done infinite good in places far away from its immediate locality. Men are everywhere thinking, talking, discussing religious topics, and at last God, Christ, and the soul have to some degree come to their own. This is all gain. The revival seems to work especially among young people. Its form, which is that of prayer, praise, and personal testimony, and its absence of method, make it the most methodical expression of the emotions of young hearts aflame with the love of God