Y Cymro

OWEN REES: OR, A Story of Welsh Life m Liverpool. CHAPTER XV. WHICH DESCRIBES CERTAIN EXTREME SABBATARIAN VIEWS. THERE can be no doubt that the Hen Gorph held, and probably do hold, extremely puritanical Sabbatarian views, and that these views were carried out as strictly as circumstances would per- mit in the family in which Owen Rees was brought up. They had a potent effect in the formation of his character, and as I am more anxious to de- scribe the development of the character of the subject of my story than simply to relate the various incidents of his life, I must allude to them. The book called "The Sabbath on the Rock," though it was not published at the time of which I am now speaking, contains an exact statement of the views of the connexion of which Owen Rees had now become a full member. Owen's friend, Arthur Williams, contended that these views were entirely erroneous, that is, that they were un- scriptural. He held that the writer of the Epistle to the Galatians (and even the broadest school of modern critics have not doubted that the writer was St. Paul) would have condemned these Judaic notions of the Sabbath most strenuously. And I know that Owen Rees was convinced by his friend Williams's arguments, though he would not like to offend his parents by giving utterance to them. They, with the great body of the Calvinistic Methodists, held the fourth commandment to be as obligatory as the eighth, and that all the directions given in the Old Testament as to its keeping, were to be observed as fully as circumstances would permit, subject, of course, to the altered condi- tion of things in the present day. No doubt they felt great difficulty at times in putting their views into practice, but this only acted as an incentive to greater zeal. Dr. Hessey's views, in his excellent and ex- haustive book on Sunday," would have been con- sidered almost rank infidelity by them, and though they gloried in the name of Calvin, they were far from being followers of that great reformer in their views or practices on the Sabbath question. Owen Rees's mother was most strict in this Sabbath observance. She had a code of her own, and Owen might twit her as he liked—which he often did—but he could not cause her to swerve one hair's breadth from it. Her general principle was —no work but what was absolutely necessary. But the application of this principle when acted out in detail, sometimes assumed a very peculiar form. For example When Owen first began to shave, he retired to his bedroom, and stealthily borrowed his father's razor, and was at it busily one Sunday morning, scraping the few stray hairs that darkened his upper lip. His sister ran down, and exclaimed in absolute terror- "Mother, mother, our Owen is shaving on a Sunday!" Poor Mrs. Rees was horrified. "Owen, Owen," she said solemnly, I never thought that you, a church member, would be so lost in your regard for the sanctity of the Lord's Day as to do what might have been done the day before—(if indeed it was really necessary to do it atall). This parenthetical part of the sentence was uttered with a slight touch of sarcasm in order to add pungency to the re- primand. No shoes were ever cleaned on the Sabbath, though it was allowed to brush and remove dust off the coat or trousers whilst on the person, so as to appear in a becoming manner in the Lord's house. On one occasion, whilst brushing the bottom part of his trousers, which had got splashed with mud after the morning service, and had dried, Owen Ventured also to brush his shoes, and gave them a polish whilst they were on his feet; but Mrs. Rees was so shocked that she almost expected a divine visitation. Why the line of demarcation should thus be drawn at the bottom of the trousers, Owen never could understand, nor could his mother explain. She said it was wrong, and he must not do it in her house, and she was astonished that he should presume to do it. In such cases her orders were peremptory. That was not the way she had taught him, and that was not the way she had been taught herself, and she was not going to allow him to begin. In matters of conscience she would allow no argument. To give a further illustration :—After dinner the dishes were put aside, and, of course, they were not washed. Her principle was brought into operation in the case, and she defended herself on the ground of non necessitas. They would not be wanted till Monday. The tea things were, how- ever, invariably washed, but in a quiet unobtrusive manner, and without removing them from the tea table whilst undergoing the operation. The same Principle applied here, though the practice was directly the reverse. The tea things would be wanted again that evening, ergo, &c. You see how logical she was.. Again the hearth stone would sometimes be quietly brushed, if the ashes ventured too far out, but if anyone presumed to lift the fender up and brush a part of the floor that had gathered some litter, or had become soiled, there would be an outcry at once. How her principle applied in this case I have failed to discover. I leave the latter as an exercise for the reader's metaphysical ingenuity, merely remarking that he may safely conclude from the fact of Mrs. Rees's logical mental constitution, that her principle did in some Mysterious way apply in this as well as in other instances. No Pharisee was ever so punctillious as Mrs. Rees was in these matters but in using the word Pharisee let it not be thought that I am doing so by way of reproach. There was a deep religious loyalty to what she considered her duty her Maker actuating Mrs. Rees in all her Sabbatarianism, and I would not, when under her roof, have run counter to it upon any consideration. But Mrs. Rees's conscientiousness in regard to Sabbath observance was sorely tried on one occasion, and as the circumstance also made a deep j^Pression upon her son Owen, and violently shook nis confidence in the correctness of the views held of ^me on ^ie question, I must give an account I have spoken of Saul Hughes as a strict discip- ^narian. I think I have mentioned already that cases of discipline," at that time, always came up *?r consideration at a general meeting of all the ur.ches in the town, and not, as at present, in tke Particular church of which the delinquent was a Member. At one of these church meetings a case of dis- cipline in connection with Sabbath breaking was brought forward, and it is the fact that the delin- quent whose case was to be enquired into, was Owen's uncle, his mother's brother, that makes it im- portant in the progress of our story. The meeting was held in the chapel in which old Saul was chief deacon or p-en blaenor. After cer- tain preliminaries, the rev. gentleman who "led" the meeting, asked as usual if there was any achos (case) to come before the church. Almost every one knew that there was, and were on the tiptoe of expectation. Old Saul got up, and drew his hand over his forehead to draw the hair down, and after adjusting his spectacles he said Well, dear brethren and sisters, I am sorry to say that we have a case, a very serious case, we have a brother amongst ,us who has taken the situation of dock gateman in this town and, as you are aware, he must attend to his work for several hours on Sunday to open and close the gates for vessels to come in and go out. We have ad- monished him and told him he is acting in direct violation of the fourth commandment, and that it is his duty to seek some other employment where he will not be asked to break God's laws, but he is contumacious, and says it is a work of necessity, and refuses to obey, and we have no alternative, therefore, but to bring his case before the church. The brother's name is Jenkin Jones, Robert Rees's brother-in-law. I see he is here, and I should like him to come forward here (pointing to a seat next to the large pew) to be spoken to. Come forward, Jenkin Jones, please." Now Jenkin Jones was a very independent kind of man, had a very strong will of his own, and in one respect bore a very strong contrast to his sister, Mrs Rees; inasmuch as most of the church members considered that he had never really been "convicted of sin," in other words, that he had never really been converted and it was feared, therefore, that though in the fold he was not one of the sheep. He was always too ready to justify himself. He never would acknowledge he was wrong, or as Mrs. Rees once put it in English when telling Mrs. Tomkinson about it, he would not "fall on his fault" (syrthio ar ei fai), thus translating a Welsh idiom literally. It was con- sidered that his accepting the situation of dock gateman because of the little extra remuneration, and the certainty of employment, was only a certain indication that he had not taken up the Cross at first, and made up his mind to serve the Master at all cost. Very few of the best men and women— those who were considered most spiritually-minded amongst them-had much sympathy with Jenkin Jones. Even Mrs. Rees herself often remarked to her husband, that she feared that Jenkin had not had his back bone broken," in other words that the old Adam was still alive in him. All were sorry that one who professed" should so stubbornly cling to his wordly interest" at the cost of his spiritual benefit. Some few of the young people—and I think that Arthur Williams and Owen Rees were amongst them—could not see much harm in attending to the exit of ships from port on Sunday, but they were too young to have much attention paid to their views. Jenkin Jones, on being called, went forward and the minister got up to ymddyddan, or have a talk with him. It went on somewhat in this fashion Well, Jenkin Jones, I am sorry to hear that you persist in working on the Lord's Day. You know the moral law, and the fourth commandment especially as well as any of us." "I do," said Jenkin Jones, but this is a work of necessity." "A work of necessity, my dear Jenkin, the commandment is very explicit. It says,. Thou shalt not do any work,' or as the Prayer Book version has it (and there are some good things even in the Book of Common Prayer) Thou shall not do any manner of work.' You are thus acting, you see, in direct contravention of the command of G(Jenkinwas not so easily put down, however, notwithstanding the prophet-like tone of the venerable old minister, and the profound respect all present had for him, on account of his r acknowledged saintly character. He answered rather boldly and dryly, too boldly to suit the feelings of the best of those present, and much to the horror of old Saul Hughes But, Sir, I must do something for a living. I cannot see my little ones starving. I do not want to work on the Sabbath, if I could avoid it, but as it must be done by some one, I do not see why I should not do it. RHYDDERCH JONES.