On my expressing a desire to know something of his history, he told me that he was the son of a small farmer, who resided at some distance from Llangollen; that he lost his father at an early age, and was obliged to work hard, even when a child, in order to assist his mother who had some difficulty, after the death of his father, in keeping things together; that though he was obliged to work hard he had been fond of study, and used to pore over Welsh and English books by the glimmering light of the turf fire at night, for that his mother could not afford to allow him anything in the shape of a candle to read by; that at his mother's death he left rural labour, and coming to Llangollen, commenced business in the little shop in which he was at present; that he had been married, and had children, but that his wife and family were dead; that the young woman whom I had seen in the shop, and who took care of his house, was a relation of his wife; that though he had always been attentive to business, he had never abandoned study; that he had mastered his own language, of which he was passionately fond, and had acquired a good knowledge of English and of some other languages. That his fondness for literature had shortly after his arrival at Llangollen attracted the notice of some of the people, who encouraged him in his studies, and assisted him by giving him books; that the two celebrated ladies of Llangollen had particularly noticed him; that he held the situation of church clerk for upwards of forty years, and that it was chiefly owing to the recommendation of the "great ladies" that he had obtained it.
He then added with a sigh, that about ten years ago he was obliged to give it up, owing to something the matter with his eyesight, which prevented him from reading, and, that his being obliged to give it up was a source of bitter grief to him, as he had always considered it a high honour to be permitted to assist in the service of the Church of England, in the principles of which he had been bred, and in whose doctrines he firmly believed.
Here shaking him by the hand, I said that I too had been bred up in the principles of the Church of England; that I too firmly believed in its doctrines, and would maintain with my blood, if necessary, that there was not such another church in the world.
"So would I," said the old gentleman; "where is there a church in whose liturgy there is so much Scripture as in that of the Church of England?""Pity," said I, "that so many traitors have lately sprung up in its ministry.""If it be so," said the old church clerk, "they have not yet shown themselves in the pulpit at Llangollen. All the clergymen who have held the living in my time have been excellent. The present incumbent is a model of a Church-of-England clergyman. Oh, how Iregret that the state of my eyes prevents me from officiating as clerk beneath him."I told him that I should never from the appearance of his eyes have imagined that they were not excellent ones.
"I can see to walk about with them, and to distinguish objects,"said the old gentleman; "but see to read with them I cannot. Even with the help of the most powerful glasses I cannot distinguish a letter. I believe I strained my eyes at a very early age, when striving to read at night by the glimmer of the turf fire in my poor mother's chimney corner. Oh what an affliction is this state of my eyes! I can't turn my books to any account, nor read the newspapers; but I repeat that I chiefly lament it because it prevents me from officiating as under-preacher."He showed me his books. Seeing amongst them "The Fables of Yriarte" in Spanish, I asked how they came into his possession.
"They were presented to me," said he, "by one of the ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler.""Have you ever read them?" said I.
"No," he replied; "I do not understand a word of Spanish; but Isuppose her ladyship, knowing I was fond of languages, thought that I might one day set about learning Spanish, and that then they might be useful to me."He then asked me if I knew Spanish, and on my telling him that Ihad some knowledge of that language, he asked me to translate some of the fables. I translated two of them, which pleased him much.
I then asked if he had ever heard of a collection of Welsh fables compiled about the year thirteen hundred. He said that he had not, and inquired whether they had ever been printed. I told him that some had appeared in the old Welsh magazine called "The Greal.""I wish you would repeat one of them," said the old clerk.
"Here is one," said I, "which particularly struck me:-"It is the custom of the eagle, when his young are sufficiently old, to raise them up above his nest in the direction of the sun;and the bird which has strength enough of eye to look right in the direction of the sun, he keeps and nourishes, but the one which has not, he casts down into the gulf to its destruction. So does the Lord deal with His children in the Catholic Church Militant: those whom He sees worthy to serve Him in godliness and spiritual goodness He keeps with Him and nourishes, but those who are not worthy from being addicted to earthly things, He casts out into utter darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth."The old gentleman, after a moment's reflection, said it was a clever fable, but an unpleasant one. It was hard for poor birds to be flung into a gulf, for not having power of eye sufficient to look full in the face of the sun, and likewise hard that poor human creatures should be lost for ever, for not doing that which they had no power to do.
"Perhaps," said I, "the eagle does not deal with his chicks, or the Lord with His creatures as the fable represents.""Let us hope at any rate," said the old gentleman, "that the Lord does not.""Have you ever seen this book?" said he, and put Smith's "Sean Dana" into my hand.