Blair Collection > Rhys Lewis, minister of Bethel

378 RHYS LEWIS.
It was not tlie only sovereign I had from Hm whilst at Bala.
After a pressing invitation to Williams to come and spend a
week at the Tump, Thomas went home to relate the history of
Bala and the college. And such a history ! After that visit,
Thomas, of course, knew all about the students. I could tell
from his question, " What have you on foot to-morrow
night?" that he thought the scene he "saw with his own
eyes" on that Monday evening in college, was a specimen of
what took place there daily. Little did he know that a
"trial" of the kind I have described, happened only once iu
two or three years, and that what he had termed " the most
miserable thing on the face of the earth " was our regular
employment. The long hours and hard labour, the fear and
vexation of spirit, of which every student knows something,
never crossed his innocent soul.
Thomas Bartley, more the pity, is not the only one who
entertains an erroneous impression of a collegiate life. I have
gathered, from observations heard in divers parts of the
country, that some people who should know better, cherish
opinions quite as foolish in kind, if not in degree.
CHAPTER XXXYni.
FORTUNATE ENCOUNTER.
As far as learning was concerned, I believe I was as
" disinterested" as almost any one who ever attended college.
During the four years I was at Bala, I allowed the other boys
to take all the prizes. Not being particularly talented, and
tlie " start" I got in Soldier Eobin's school being none of the
best, I speedily found it was no easy task to compete with
young fellows who had been well educated previously.
Besides, preaching was a necessity, for my stay at college
depended upon it. If I ceased preaching, I must also ceasa
eating ; and, at the time, I could not see my way clear to do
either the one thing or the other. The Sabbath journeys were