eard," said I, "of a man of the name of Rees Pritchard,
who preached within these walls some two hundred years ago?"

"Rees Pritchard, sir! Of course I have--who hasn't heard of the old
vicar--the Welshman's candle? Ah, he was a man indeed! We have some
good men in the Church, very good; but the old vicar--where shall we find
his equal?"

"Is he buried in this church?" said I.

"No, sir, he was buried out abroad in the churchyard, near the wall by
the Towey."

"Can you show me his tomb?" said I. "No, sir, nor can any one; his tomb
was swept away more than a hundred years ago by a dreadful inundation of
the river, which swept away not only tombs but dead bodies out of graves.
But there's his house in the market-place, the old vicarage, which you
should go and see. I would go and show it you myself but I have church
matters just now to attend to--the place of church clerk at Llandovery,
long a sinecure, is anything but that under the present clergyman, who,
though not a Rees Pritchard, is a very zealous Christian, and not
unworthy to preach in the pulpit of the old vicar."

Leaving the church I went to see the old vicarage, but before saying
anything respecting it, a few words about the old vicar.

Rees Pritchard was born at Llandovery, about the year 1575, of
respectable parents. He received the rudiments of a classical education
at the school of the place, and at the age of eighteen was sent to
Oxford, being intended for the clerical profession. At Oxford he did not
distinguish himself in an advantageous manner, being more remarkable for
dissipation and riot than application in the pursuit of learning.
Returning to Wales, he was admitted into the ministry, and after the
lapse of a few years was appointed vicar of Llandovery. His conduct for
a considerable time was not only unbecoming a clergyman, but a human
being in any sphere. Drunkenness was very prevalent in the age in which
he lived, but Rees Pritchard was so inordinately addicted to that vice
that the very worst of his parishioners were scandalized, and said: "Bad
as we may be we are not half so bad as the parson."

He was in the habit of spending the greater part of his time in the
public-house, from which he was generally trundled home in a wheel-barrow
in a state of utter insensibility. God, however, who is aware of what
every man is capable of, had reserved Rees Pritchard for great and noble
things, and brought about his conversion in a very r