Welsh Journals

W$t QDIjristiart ^tan&ark Vol. i. No. 5. NOVEMBER, 1891. Price One Penny. PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LATE DAVID DAVIES, ESQ., LLANDINAM. (The Biographical Sketch is compiled from a memoir that has appeared in Y Drysorfa, written by the Rev. D.^Lloyd Jones,-M.A., Llandinam.) RR. DAVIES commenced his career in a small home- sL stead about three-quarters of a mile from the vil- HJf^liL lage of Llandinam. He was the eldest of nine children, and in his youthful days he was a lively, active lad, and ready to do any hard work that would please his mother, and enable her to provide for the family. In these days of service to his family he began to display the courage, the energy, and the perseverance that be- came afterwards prominent features in his character. This was the school in which a direction was given to the course of his life. The only ad¬ vantage he received by way of acquiring an elementary educa¬ tion was by spending a brief period in the day school that was held in the old parish church 60 years ago. But the time was too short, and he was too young for that school to influence bis mind very much. The two circles, therefore, in which he turned, and under the influence of which he grew during the first period of his life, were the family circle and the Sunday School. When the family moved from Draintewion £0 Neuaddfach, the boy obtained a wider cir¬ cle to give exercise to his physical energy and mental skill. They had more land to cultivate, and, in addition to this, the father and his sons had widened their range of business. They were buying timber, which, sawed into boards, Was sold in the various parts of the country as far as the borders of Cardiganshire. The eldest son, when scarcely 20 years of age, worked so hard that neither his father nor his brothers were able to compete with him. There are a few persons still living who remember him 40 years ago, and they assert that he was the hardest worker in the whole country. When about 20 years of age his father died, and this gave him an additional impulse to work. He had now to provide for a widowed mother and eight brothers and sisters. But by performing every work in a thorough and honest manner, be soon won the confidence of all with whom he had to deal. HeJ was accustomed, not only to superintend the work in general, but to attend to details, and by so doing he was able to discover every mistake and prevent every waste. He admired an honest and energetic workman to the end of his life ; and, though he was an abstainer all his life, he would assert that an idler was as hateful in his sight as a a drunkard. At this period of his life he acquired sufficient wealth to undertake the first great commercial enterprise of his life. He often testified that the nar¬ rowest pass in the way to wealth is when the first thousand pounds is being made. After acquiring one, he thought that a shrewd and energetic man could use that as a foundation to build upon. He was never so liberal, considering his circumstances, as during this period. He would give promptly, and it was useless to press him. He appeared to act hastily, under the im¬ pulse of the moment, but in this was one of the chief elements of his success. He pos¬ sessed a kind of in¬ tuition by which he could see by a glance what others could ar¬ rive at only by a long chain of reasoning; and this wonderful, gift, which he dis¬ played in his commer¬ cial enterprises, he used in determining the sum he was to give to religious pur¬ poses. He never won a victory in business without consecrating a large portion of his spoil to the service of religion. In May, 1851, he was married to Miss Margaret Jones, youngest daughter of Mr. Ed¬ ward Jones, Wern, Llanfaircaereinion, and sister to the Rev. Evan Jones, now of Brynhafren, and Mr. Edward Jones, Glanbano]; and it is truth to tell that a matri¬ monial union never had a happier results. Like her husband, the leading feature in Mrs. Davies' character is the liberal spirit which she shows towards the Lord's cause. This she possessed before she knew Mr. Davies, and this feeling con¬ tinues to sway her mind powerfully. Though the liberal spirit was strong in Mr. Davies, it would be impossible for him to continue to give in such a princely manner to such a.