Welsh Journals

January 15, 1892. THE WELSH WEEKLY. OUR CELEBRITIES. No. II. THE LATE REY. W. WATKISS, OF CARDIFF. Portrait and Biographical Sketch. Thousands of people, both in and out of Cardiff, were surprised and pained to hear of the sudden death of the much-respected and eminently useful pastor of Wood Street Congregational Church, Cardiff. A brief sketch of his life and work will be, interesting and perhaps inspiring to many who were never privileged either to hear his voice or see his face. He was born in a Shropshire mining village, in 1828. It is not necessary to inform those who knew him that he was not reared in affluence. At the early age of five, he lost his father, who was an honest man, and had been for over 30 years a local preacher in the Wesley an body. When Wm. Watkiss was but a little boy of eight, his mother's straitened circum¬ stances compelled him to contribute towards the limited income of the family by going down to work in a coal pit. How truly did Lord Beaconsfield, in his "Sybil," describe the infant-toilers of the colliery districts of our country half a century ago ! But rough work, and the rougher men, did not spoil the lad's nature, for he soon came under the elevating influences of religion. After his conversion, he threw himself with his accustomed energy into the work of teaching in the Sunday School, and later in life to the preaching of " the gospel of the glory of the blessed God," as a lay preacher. No doubt many of his hard-hearted and stiff-necked comrades went to the services conducted by him to scoff, but so power¬ ful was his preaching, under the Divine influence of the Holy Spirit, and so sweet were the songs sung by him with the magnificent voice with which nature had endowed him, that some of them remained to pray with him. His services as a preacher were so much appreciated that, at the age of 34, he left the coal pit and devoted himself to the work of an Evangelist. In Staffordshire and elsewhere he was warmly welcomed by the masses. During the two years that he acted as an Evangelist, he conducted services in Cardiff on two occasions, and was finally invited to become the pastor of the United Methodist Free Church, of which denomination he was a member. In this chapel he ministered for four years, at the end of which time in consequence of a misunderstanding, he resigned his charge. He was then induced by his friends to hold services in the Circus in Wood Street, which he did with great success. In the course of a few months, however, he found how vain it is to trust in man by a discovery which was made concerning his chief financial supporter. The questions then asked by the people of Cardiff were—"What will become of the popular Evangelist ? Will his services be lost to the town ? Who will help him ? " In his difficulties he went, as many others now living in Cardiff had gone before him, and many since, to that man of God, Bev John Davies, of Hannah Street Congregational Chuich Cardiff, who gave him all possible encouragement, and advised him to purchase the building. This was done for the sum of .£3000, one-half of which was paid down, and the other half remained on mortgage. Of this sum of money £1000 was collected by Mr. Davies, £600 of it being given by Mr. Samuel Morley. William Watkiss was thus the chief means of converting a circus into a place of worship; and in that building he was the means, under God, of converting thousands of colliers from darkness into light, and from the power of Satan into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The first service was held on September 28, 1868. The place was crowded with over 2000 people, and there have been but few, if any, Sunday evening services held since then in which the attendance has not numbered 1500 or 2000, some¬ times even more. The building was several times partly altered and renovated so as to make it more convenient and commodious. He saw many changes both in the edifice and in the Church, but the people clung to him, through weal and woe, to the very last. Mr. Watkiss had solved, in his own sphere of duty, the problem which has been agitating the Christian Church for many years—"How to reach the masses ?" He both reached and retained them. That was the secret of his success. Perhaps the following considerations may explain how he did it. He was a man endowed with many of the natural gifts requisite for the making of a successful and popular Evangelist. The word " evangelist " is used advisedly, because he never professed to minister to the intellectual needs of the classes, but to gain spiritual influence over the masses. He was able to think keenly and clearly, and to express himself in crisp, short, and fiery sentences, which reached the heart of the sinner straight like the arrow from the marksman's bow. He was at fault oftentimes in the manage¬ ment of the aspirates, but, apart from that, his delivery was most powerful and effective. As he proceeded with his sermon, which was never read, but always talked, his handsome presence was a powerful element in his favour. Nature had given him a splendid voice, which would have been to him a fortune had he chosen to use it for that purpose. He often used this gift in order to retain the attention of many of his uncultivated hearers. In the middle of the sermon he would break off into singing one of Sankej 's hymns connected with the subject, and the audience would join in the chorus. A few years ago I remem- THB LATE REY. W. WATKISS. ber preaching with him in a wooden chapel in village between Cardiff and St. Fagan's. He was preaching, in a clear and Puritanic style, on Peter walking on the sea. He proceeded to describe the Saviour saving His disciple from a watery grave ; then he left the sermon, and sang the hymn, " I'll stand by you till the morn¬ ing," the chorus being heartily taken up by the rustic congregation. After he had thus made certain of the attention of the people, he proceeded with his discourse. His virtues were greater than his natural gifts. Firmness was a very conspicuous element in his character. The first impression which he gave a stranger was that [he was not a man to be trifled with. He was possessed of strong common sense, as was proved by his ordinary conversation, and also by the part which he took in the discussion of practical matters, both in his own Church and also in the assemblies of his brethren. He was always cheerful and bright. There was more sunshine than shadow in his religion. Many evils had encompassed him, and many enemies had assailed him ; but his heart was not often cast down, nor disquieted within him. He had made the experiences of the Psalmist his own, " The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? " As he walked along the streets, he would usually whistle a tune to himself. The cheer¬ fulness of his heart found vent in song. To use his own expression, " I have had no need of football and soirees, and such rubbish, to make me' happy since I found the Lord." The spirituality of his mind must not be left un- mentioned. He had a vivid realization of the things which are unseen and eternal. God and Christ and Heaven were realities to him. He firmly believed in "the powers of the world to come." His faith in righteousness and its ultimate victory was unbounded. It is therefore easy to understand that his methods of work were spiritual. The prayer-meeting was his great panacea for all the evils of Church life. He was always ready and delighted to break a lance over the Guild movement, or else to laugh at it by calling it " the gulled movement." Christ bad all through life been his best friend, and he owed all that he was to His divine influence. The Gospel of Christ had culti¬ vated his mind, purified his heart, strengthened his character, and guided his actions, and made him a Christian gentleman. On one occasion, as he was walking along one of the streets of Bristol, he was accosted by an old comrade, who said to him: " William Watkiss, be it you ? Why, you are quite a gentleman." He answered: "Why shouldn't I be? I have been in the Master's service for over 30 years, and He makes gentlemen of us all." He was a simple preacher of a simple message to simple men. As a simple preacher he studied to apply the Gospel to the hearts and consciences of his hearers. Though he had not trodden much in the higher walks of literature, he knew two books—the Bible and Human Nature. He was a practical thinker. Metaphysics did not trouble him. Instead of gazing at the stars and dreaming in cloud-land, he studied the things and men that were near him. In this he was wise; for it was once well said, that the man who watches the moving planets may cultivate an exquisitely sublime look, but he is in constant danger of tripping. As a Worker he was in¬ defatigable, both in his pulpit and pastoral duties. But this true servant of God passed from his work to his reward early in the morning of Wednesday, the 5th inst. On Monday, the 11th, he was buried, amid many signs of respect, in the New Cemetery, in Cardiff. " And devout men carried him to his burial, and made great lamentation over him." The warrior is at rest. This valiant soldier of the Cross has laid aside his armour —the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit. His spirit has gone io join " the spirits of just men made perfect" ; to join the heavenly choir, in which his voice will never grow weary with age, to abide in the city of the Heavenly Jerusalem which it was his delight to describe, where death is unknown. - J. A. Jenkins, LECTURES ON CHRISTIANITY, BY THE LATE REY. PRINCIPAL D. CHARLES DAYIES, M.A. {Translated for the Welsh Weekly,) LECTURE 1. {Continued.) To return to our definition of God, it will be seen that we view Christianity according to the deductive and not according to the inductive method. We do not end with our definition as a conclusion drawn from the works of the Most High, but we start with it as a truth from which practical inferences should be drawn. Christianity is not, like Geology, an inductive science to which we can ascend from facts through the operation of our reason ; it is a deductive science in which we start with a proposition that is offered to us as a truth, from which we work downwards to nature and to man. Christians assert that this truth was given to men by super¬ natural revelation ; but it is immaterial to us now how it came ; the point is what is contained in it. Perhaps one reason why able scientists have not at all understood Christianity is that, as scientists, they have been accustomed to draw general in¬ ferences from particular facts perceptible through the bodily senses, and that this custom makes it difficult for them to occupy the standpoint of Christianity which enunciates one great general truth properly applicable to particular circum¬ stances and subjects. While to ascend is the