One more bit of Thomas Lewis

Again loosely translated

His first wife was a Miss Harris, from Wales. They had several children, many of whom died in infancy. In the year 1765 he buried his wife and three of his children. That was a devastating blow to sustain in just a few weeks. His second wife was Miss Wallis, who outlived him. They had ten children, but only three survived him.

The chapel was being extended for the fourth time when its minister died. Francis composed an elegy on his deathbed to his friend who had died just before him, the seraphic Samuel Pearce, of Birmingham. Francis was a very pious man. Thomas Flint says that shortly before he died he said

“O how glad I am to belong to Christ. I love his name, his ordinances, his people, his servants, his service, and his praise; and I do not expect to go to hell. No, the kingdom of Satan is not for me. I cannot blaspheme God; I cannot unite with evil men and be among them; I cannot have anything to do with such, with pleasure, but rather I want to love and praise my dear Jesus. If I'm not owned by the Lord” he said “I do not know to whom I can go!”

He had his Welsh Bible with him in the bed; he read Psalm 23 in the Bible, clutched it to his bosom, then said, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me, etc”. He was buried in the chapel at Shortwood, December 20th, 1779. It was Dr. Ryland who came at the end of the week and delivered the funeral sermon, which was printed.

More from Thomas Lewis

Another section from the article in Seren Gomer translates loosely thus

BENJAMIN FRANCIS was the youngest son of the famous Rev. Enoch Francis, who died Feb 4th, 1740, aged 51, and was buried in Cilfowyr. Francis was born in 1734 so he was only about 6 years old when he lost his beloved father having buried his mother when he was five years old. There was a love for God and a fear of sin in Francis from the time he was seven years old. He was baptised when he was 15 years old, and he began to preach when 19. He became a member of the church of the Rev David Griffith, in Swansea. He went to Broadmead in 1753, and remained at the college until 1756. He went to Horsley in 1757, and was ordained there in the autumn of the year following. Number of members 66; the salary per year £20. The field was not very promising; for there were few people in the area and the chapel was on a hillside at the head of a wooded valley. However, the church grew and prospered and the chapel was extended in 1760. Francis went to London to raise funds at one point and was called to Devonshire Square but declined. Some 12 years later, he was called to the church where Dr Gill served, but he remained with his dear people. He was a great preacher and a popular one. Says his son-in-law, Mr. Flint: “He obtained, not only a thoro' grammatical knowledge of our language, but such a fluency of utterance, and so agreeable a delivery, that very few of the most popular English preachers excelled, or indeed equalled him, in these respects while he still retained the same ready command of his mother tongue." Because the church grew quite quickly, it was necessary to add ancillary rooms and to extend the chapel in 1764. In 1765, he started a chapel in Minchin-Hampton, three miles from Horsley. The cost was £400 but this was soon paid. The good man continued to go there twice a month for 35 years. In 1774, the Horsley chapel was extended a third time. Members and hearers came from 15 different parishes, and worshipped together so that some lived 30 miles from each other. He baptised 450 in his time and the membership was 262 by the time he died. He was also successful in his work in the surrounding counties. He would begin on a Monday and return late in the day guided by the stars. He preached in the following places

Horsley 4000

Cheltenham 130

Tewksbury 136

Pershore 137

Upton-on-Severn 180

Malmesbury 232

Christian-Malford 84

Melksham 90

Frome 90

Trowbridge 90

Bradford [on Avon] 90

Wootton-on-Edge 394

Uley 350

Hampton 802

Broadmead 101 [Bristol]

Pithay 28 [Bristol]

Portsmouth 22

Plymouth 22

Cornwall 20

Travelling frequently to Wales, he preached in many association meetings. He also visited Ireland in 1791, where he preached 30 times. He preached too in London. Although Francis had little in this world, he was generous with what he had. He was once in business and lost £500.