Houses in the neighbourhood were taken during the summer season by those who wished to enjoy the benefit of his ministry and society, while his preaching appeared to be made useful to some, and really was so to others in the higher circles. A close intimacy also was formed between him and some few clergymen of Evangelical views who had come into the neighbourhood, and they frequently met for prayer and conference.

His Rector, however, whose sentiments were entirely opposed to those held by Mr. Evans, was much annoyed by the representations made to him by individuals who liked not the doctrines nor the practice which condemned them, and he, in the spring of 1815, gave him notice to quit the curacy in six months; but before that period had elapsed, that great change took place in Mr. Evans's views upon the subject of a national establishment, which led to his withdrawment from its communion. He always looked back upon this time as one of the deepest trial and struggle to his mind. He did not take the step lightly, but after much thought, consideration, and prayer, and seeking advice from elder brethren in the ministry, who might, he hoped, be able to resolve his doubts, and lead him to view the subjects on which he was distressed in some different aspect, that would permit him to remain in a communion on the side of which all his earliest feelings and strongest predilections lay. But it was in vain; the baptism of infants, the union of the Church with the State, and what he considered to be the consequent absence of holy discipline in that Church, were the points on which his judgment was convinced and his conscience pressed, and which constrained him, with some few other clergymen, to secede. In those days this was far less common than

afterwards, and the sensation produced by it was great. The world suspected their motives, the minds of the Evangelical clergy were deeply pained, they were accused of schism, and shunned by many with whom they had formerly walked as friends; and, as might be expected, both Mr. Evans's relations and those of his wife were greatly displeased and wounded. All this was extremely painful to his sensitive and retiring mind: he loved the shade, and did not willingly come forward into notice; but it was a step which he never regretted having taken. Whatever changes may have occurred in his views in the course of his after-life, he never wavered upon this; and it becomes the more important that this statement should be distinctly made, as it was very generally believed some years since, that he was desirous of returning to the Establishment, and that it was only the three years' silence which had been imposed upon other clergymen who had seceded and desired to return, which deterred him. Some circumstances in his domestic life may have given rise to the idea, as also the love and confidence that existed between him and very many in the Established Church; for wherever he saw the image of Christ, whether in Churchman or Dissenter, he loved it. He frequently was heard to declare that he was not conscious of the smallest increase of love towards those who held the views that he did, over others who saw differently. All his connexions, and most of his personal friends, were in the Church of England, but he was a conscientious Nonconformist to the close of his life.

We would not, however, attempt to disguise the fact, that while Mr. Evans was upright and simple in his aim, he was not at this period walking softly and with a humbled spirit before his God. Probably the success

which had attended his ministry had been a snare to him, and the attentions he received from some of the rich and great of this world may have contributed to produce the same effect. He and those who seceded with him felt they had made no small sacrifice for conscience' sake, and they were lifted up by it, and to this state of mind Mr. Evans, in a considerable degree, traced back the errors into which he subsequently fell. Neither was his preaching at this time, nor for some years afterwards, of that strictly searching and practical nature which characterized it in the latter years of his life. He himself subsequently described his own state of mind at this period in a small work, afterwards referred to in this volume; and as no one could possibly so accurately define it, we cannot forbear introducing the following extract:

"The doctrine of justification, or the believer's pardon and entire acceptance in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, was the principal subject which occupied my mind; and as I felt so I preached ;-acceptance was the principal subject which occupied my pulpit. The sanctification of a believer was not denied: it was maintained, it was pressed, and insisted on; but I am free to confess that it did not take that prominent standing, nor assume that prominent feature in my ministry, which it maintains in the Bible. Truth had not its due proportion. Nor is this all. While I was in this state of mind, unguarded unscriptural assertions were, I doubt not, made by me from time to time. The evidence of a state of salvation was too exclusively (though it was never absolutely, as has been said) confined to the first actings of faith in coming to the Saviour, and some texts which set forth the believer's sanctification were applied

to his justification, and expressions might have been used which were unsanctifying in their principle and unholy in their effect. But in the midst of all this, I yet maintain that the sanctification of the child of God, an actual change of principle and practice wrought by the Holy Ghost in the believer, was really held by me. I never should have esteemed any one, however accurate his creed and decent his outward deportment, a real Christian without it. I desired to experience more of it in my own soul, earnestly longed to see it more plainly exhibited in those who professed the Gospel of the Son of God, and at times earnestly preached it; and that I did not preach it more than I then did, arose not from indifference to the subject, but from a mistake, and I have reason to fear not a very uncommon mistake, that if we take care of principles in religion, holy practice is sure to follow, and that the believer needs not to be continually and minutely urged to holiness of motive and unreserved obedience of life."

In January, 1816, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, with two infant children, quitted Milford, which had been the scene of such marked events in their lives, and went to Walford House, near Taunton, then occupied by the Rev. G. Bone of those who had seceded with them. Here they were baptized by immersion, and remained on a visit of some months, Mr. Evans preaching in the neighbouring towns and villages, conferring with those who had left the Church with him, and seeking to form plans for the future, -for they had seceded upon the impulse of conscience, without having any predetermined mode of operation. He, however, did not leave the little flock at Milford unprovided for; and we may state here, though it carries us on some years forward in his history, that he built a

chapel, partly at his own cost, and partly by contributions from his friends, formed a Church, and sought out a pastor who might feed and watch over it. The Lord raised up a man after His own heart,-the late James Turquand,-who laboured there with singular diligence, fidelity, and spirituality, for twenty-one years, and under his ministry the work of conversion was carried on. As one generation passed away, their children stood up in their place, a seed to serve the Lord.

In the year 1836, Mr. Turquand was cut off by typhus fever, in the prime of life and usefulness, and Mr. Evans still manifested his unwavering love to the people of his early charge, by counsel and assistance in supplying the loss of their pastor. They were too poor to support a minister wholly from their own resources. He engaged, therefore, to raise 50%. a-year towards this object, and preached from that time an annual sermon in his own chapel, stating their need, and laying their case before his people, which was willingly on their part responded to. He was also in the habit of visiting the place occasionally, and deeply interesting was it to witness these meetings. Many who had in former years received the Gospel from his lips, now, with their children and grandchildren, and in some instances those of the fourth generation, walking with them in the fear of the Lord, welcomed him amongst them with delight and holy joy, while he, on his part, felt the warmest interest in, and tender love for, those to whom, in the springtime of his ministerial life, God had made him so great a blessing.

Towards the close of the year 1816, Mr. Evans, with his family, removed to London, as his friends urged him strongly to exercise his ministry in the metropolis. Here he preached for some months in l'Eglise Suisse, St.

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