AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
SONDANG FAJARYANI KATHY MARINA SIMANJUNTAK
Student Number: 034214134
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
SONDANG FAJARYANI KATHY MARINA SIMANJUNTAK
Student Number: 034214134
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
M azmur 23
TU HAN adalah gembalaku, takkan kekurangan aku.
I a membaringkan aku di padang yang berumput hijau, I a
membimbing aku ke air yang t enang;
I a menyegarkan jiwaku. I a menuntun aku di jalan yang benar
oleh karena nama-Nya.
Sekalipun aku berjalan dalam lembah kekelaman, aku tidak
t akut bahaya, sebab Engkau besert aku; gada-M u dan
t ongkat -M u, itulah yang menghibur aku.
Engkau menyediakan hidangan bagiku, di hadapan lawanku;
Engkau mengurapi kepalaku dengan minyak; pialaku penuh
melimpah.
K ebajikan dan kemurahan belaka akan mengikut i aku, seumur
hidupku; dan aku akan diam dalam rumah TU HAN
for
…
my Beloved Parents
my lovely brothers
my motherly sisters
my late nephew and niece, the twins
my gorgeous Prince W illiam
my friends
and
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata
Dharma:
Nama : Sondang Fajaryani Kathy Marina Simanjuntak
NIM : 034214134
Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma, karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION AND EDUCATION TOWARD MARY JONES’ PERSONALITY AND HER
CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY IN M. E. ROPES’
THE STORY OF MARY JONES AND HER BIBLE
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (jika ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain untuk kepentingan akademis, tanpa perlu ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan yang saya buat dengan sebenar-benarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 31 Maret 2009
Yang menyatakan,
tidak memuat karya atau bagian yang lain kecuali yang telah disebutkan dalam kutipan dan daftar pustaka sebagaimana layaknya karya ilmiah.
Yogyakarta, 31 Maret 2009
tender love and mercy day by day. He always gives me a new chance to stand up
again and again anytime I fall down, and saying “Thank You so much, LORD”
never seems enough. “I’ll never walk alone for You are here, carrying me up,
because once You say to Your children ‘Even to your old age, I am He, and even
to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and
will deliver you’ (Isaiah 46: 4).”
I would also give my grateful thanks to my best family: my parents for
your patience, supports, and prayers; my brothers, Ray and Ryant, and my sisters,
Daisy and Nova, for your supports, advices, and prayers; my cousin, Terry, for
your support and prayers, “Good luck for your thesis too.”
In completing this thesis, I would give my special thanks to: my best
advisor, Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini, M. A., for your guidance, advice, and
point of views, “you always open your arms for me for these almost two years of
guidance, my deepest thanks for that, Bu Enny;” my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna,
S.S., M.Hum., for your suggestions, and point of views; Dr. Novita Dewi, M.S.,
M. A. (Hons), for your guidance and advice at the very beginning of completing
this thesis ; my examiner, Maria Ananta, S. S., M. Ed., for your suggestions and
point of views during my thesis defense; and all the lecturers. Thank you all for
your knowledge you have given to me to be learned during my college study.
My warmest thanks go to my best friends: Ike, for being my ‘twin,’ a very
Intan, Dewi, Agnes, Nani, Leni, Ketut, Tio, Abiet, Ryan, Ginting, Demz,
Daud, Mando, Mudji and the rest who I cannot mention one by one; my best
‘(ex)kost- mates:’ K Reena, for your support; Eling, for your support; Marlin, for
your printer; Elin, for the Internet and other crazy times, “You remind me of my
high school moment”; Yen-yen, for being my ‘love-story-bin;’ my kind-hearted
friends: Askari Addison, for your kindness and the word ‘persevering;’ Elaine
Nicholaesz, for introducing me to David; David Butterworth, for correcting my
grammar and giving me opinions and support; and to the last is Mary Jones,
“Your life story really teaches me many things in my life and I thank God I found
your memoir in the library.” “What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits
toward me? (Psalm 116:12)”
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ... iii
MOTTO PAGE ... iv
DEDICATION PAGE... v
PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
KEASLIAN KARYA ... vii
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW... 8
A. Review of Related Studies ... 8
B. Review of Related Theories... 12
1. Theories on Character and Characterization... 12
2. Theories on Personality ... 13
3. Theories on Setting... 16
4. The Relationship between Character and Setting ... 17
C. Review on the Socio-Historical Background of Wales in 18th and 19th century... 18
B. The Factors that Influence Mary Jones’ Personality... 60
1. Religion... 61
2. Education... 69
Influence of Religion and Education toward Mary Jones’ Personality and Her Contribution to Society in M. E. Ropes’ The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
The literary work chosen for this thesis is a memoir entitled The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible, set in Wales in the eighteenth century through the nineteenth century when Welsh Methodist revival (religion condition) appeared which led to the growth of education in Wales by the existence of Sunday schools (education condition). The memoir tells the story of Mary Jones’ life. The development of Mary Jones’ personality is related to these conditions. Her personality is influenced by the societal conditions and her personality can also influence others as the result of interaction among people in the society.
There are three problems in this thesis. The first problem concerns in Mary Jones personality as it is described in the memoir. The second problem is the factors or conditions in society that influence Mary Jones’ personality. The factors are seen from the religion and education conditions at the time. The reason of choosing these two aspects is because the development of her personality has a connection with the condition of religion and education in Wales at the time. The third problem is the contribution that Mary Jones gave to other people through her persona lity. The objective of this thesis is to prove that there is a relationship between the personality of a person and the conditions in society in which a person lives.
This thesis is undertaken using the library and Internet research. The thesis uses the socio-historical approach because the thesis concerns to personality and conditions in society as a part of history. Moreover, the approach concerns to the condition in society, as a part of history, and points out that literature takes these conditions as its focus.
Influence of Religion and Education toward Mary Jones’ Personality and Her Contribution to Society in M. E. Ropes’ The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Novel yang dipilih penulis dalam skripsi ini adalah sebuah riwayat singkat yang berjudul The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible, yang berlatar di Wales pada abad kedelapanbelas sampai pada abad kesembilanbelas ketika kebangkitan Welsh Methodist (keadaan agama) muncul yang menuju pada perkembangan pendidikan di Wales dengan adanya Sekolah-sekolah Minggu (keadaan pendidikan). Riwayat singkat ini menceritakan kehidupan Mary Jones. Perkembangan kepribadian Mary Jones memiliki hubungan dengan keadaan-keadaan tersebut. Kepribadiannya dipengaruhi oleh keadaan-keadaan-keadaan-keadaan tersebut dan kepribadiannya juga bisa mempengaruhi orang lain sebagai hasil dari interaksi bersama orang-orang di dalam masyarakat.
Ada tiga persoalan dalam skripsi ini. Persoalan yang pertama adalah sifat-sifat kepribadian Mary Jones yang tergambar di dalam riwayat singkat tersebut. Persoalan kedua adalah penyebab-penyebab atau keadaan-keadaan dalam masyarakat yang mempengaruhi kepribadian Mary Jones. Penyebab-penyebab tersebut dilihat dari keadaan agama dan pendidikan pada masa itu. Alasan memilih dua aspek ini dikarenakan perkembangan kepribadian Mary Jones berhubungan dengan kedua kondisi tersebut. Persoalan ketiga adalah pengaruh kepribadian Mary Jones terhadap orang lain. Tujuan dari skripsi ini untuk membuktikan bahwa ada hubungan antara kepribadian seseorang dengan keadaan masyarakat di tempat orang itu hidup.
Skripsi ini diselesaikan dengan menggunakan penelitian pustaka dan
Internet. Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan sosial-sejarah karena skripsi ini berfokus pada kepribadian dan keadaan masyarakat sebagai bagian dari sejarah. Selain itu, pendekatan ini berfokus pada keadaan dalam masyarakat, sebagai bagian dari sejarah, dan menyatakan bahwa kesusastraan menganggap keadaan dalam masyarakat tersebut sebagai pusat persoalan.
A. Background of the Study
Since Plato’s time, literature has been classified into three large classes or
well known genres of literature, which are poetry, prose, and drama or play
(Abrams, 1993: 76). Poetry usually is bounded or patterned into lines and rhythms
but prose is not bounded or patterned into such patterns, while drama or play is
written to be performed in actions and utterances (Abrams, 1993: 76). Besides
these three genres, over the last four centuries, or since the seventeenth century,
some new forms of literature have been added, such as biography, essay, and
novel.
Dryden, in Abrams’ Glossary of Literary Terms, defines biography in vthe
late in the seventeenth century as “the history of particular men’s lives,” which
then in the eighteenth century became considered as a special literary genre
(Abrams, 1993: 14-15). Biography talks about a person’s life, including the
person’s personality, milieu, activities, and experiences as a fact of the person’s
life (Abrams, 1993: 14). Types of biography are distinguished based on their
content, such as autobiography, which is written by an author talking about his
own life, and memoir, which is written by an author talking about someone else’s
life (Abrams, 1993: 15). In short, a biography tells someone’s factual life, whether
When talking about someone’s factual life, his life must be related to
society as a whole, because a man is not born to be alone, or, in other words, he
needs someone else in his life. In Merrill’s Culture and Society: An Introduction
to Sociology, it is said that people’s existence will never be realized unless they
are involved in society and get constant influence from: the group contacts or
what is called society which can be defined as: the books, magazines, and
newspapers they read; the radio and television programs they enjoy; and the
conversations they are involved in. To quote Merrill’s words, “these social
influences are the most important factors in his life. In one sense, they are his life”
(Merrill, 1952: 19).
Since a person must be involved in society to show his existence, he must
interact with others. His interactions or participation in society produces a
personality through his relationships with others (Merrill, 1952: 125). Merrill also
states that the concept of personality is based upon the conditions under which the
individual participates in society (Merrill, 1952: 127), therefore, since the
conditions in society holds a great effect on someone’s personality development,
it is important for the person to stand his attitude in society because conditions in
society can also cause negative influence besides positive influence,
The literary work entitled The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible, which
to be exact is a memoir, tells its readers the above notion that someone’s
personality is based upon the conditions under which the individual participates in
society. Mary Jones’, the main character, personalities are developed based upon
the conditions in Wales around the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Though conditions at that time can have a bad influence on her, so far, the writer
finds that the conditions in Wales were a good influence on her personality or in
other words it can be said that the conditions in the society were a positive
influence on Mary Jones’ personality.
Since Mary Jones was very young, she was already fond of everything
about God. She would do everything as long as it has relation with God. When
she was eight years old, a farmer-wife told her that in the time she was able to
read and write, she could visit the farmer’s house to read and learn their Bible
because the Jones family did not have one. Mary Jones had to wait for two years
to have an education. When she was ten years old, she decided she wanted her
own Bible. For six years, she had to wait for purchasing a Bible by working to
earn money. Her struggles for having a Bible had touched Reverend Thomas
Charles of Bala’s heart, who finally gave his Bible to her. Since then, Reverend
Thomas Charles of Bala tried to provide all of Wales with Bibles because of Mary
Jones. Today, her Bible is located in the British and Foreign Bible Society’s
Archive in Cambridge University Library (http://www.anngriffiths.cardiff.ac.uk/
Through Mary Jones’ personality, the writer intends to show readers that
Mary Jones’ struggles can be a model to all people for not giving up so easily on
reaching their hopes. Although the story of Mary Jones is usually narrated in
Sunday schools for Christian children in Western countries, it does not lock any
possibility for non-Christian children or adults to appreciate the story of Mary
Jones. It is because the point of The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible is not
totally about the religion, but about someone’s personality, either a child or an
adult, and whether he or she can survive in struggling or motivated him or herself
in the struggle of getting the thing that he or she wants. Through this other reason,
the writer also wants to point out that such religious book is not only for Christian
people but also applicable for non-Christian people viewed through its points.
Through Mary Jones’ personality, which has relation with religion and
education condition, the writer wants to prove that the personality of a person can
really be influenced by the conditions in society in which a person lives.
Moreover, by analyzing the story further, we can see that the writer shows that an
individual’s personality itself can influence other people as the result of the
interaction among people in the society (Roucek and Warren, 1959: 26, 41) by
analyzing the story further.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to get deeper understanding about the topic of this study, the
problems of this study can be formulated as follows:
2. What are the factors that influence Mary Jones’ personality?
3. What are the contributions of Mary Jones’ personality to other people?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objective of this study is to answer the problems formulated above,
which are meant to limit the writer’s study in the analysis and to help the writer
focus on the topic of the study. The first problem is meant to identify Mary Jones’
personality as it is described in the memoir. The second problem is meant to
identify the factors that influence her personality at the time. The third problem is
meant to show the results of the interaction between Mary Jones and other people
in the society.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding or misconception in terms used in the
title, the writer limits the meanings of terms as follows:
1. Religion
According to Encarta Webster’s College Dictionary, there are five
categories of definition of religion. First category is beliefs and worship, which is
defined as “people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and
worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human
life” (Encarta Webster’s College Dictionary, 2005: 1225). The second is
of beliefs and practices relating to the divine” (Ibid). The third is personal beliefs
or values, which are defined as “a set of strongly- held beliefs, values, and
attitudes that somebody lives by” (Ibid). The fourth is devotion, which is “an
object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or
obsessed by” (Ibid). The last category is monk or nun’s life, which refers to “life
as a monk or a nun, especially in the Roman Catholic Church” (Ibid).
In this study, religion may refer to all definitions of religion excluding the
fifth definition. The writer therefore regards religion as a belief in a deity or
deities and a set of personal values that involves worship. As this is a study of
Mary Jones’ personality and society in Wales in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centur ies, the writer thus uses religion to specifically refer to Protestant
Christianity.
2. Education
According to Encarta Webster’s College Dictionary, education refers to
six categories of definition. First category is educating, which means “the
imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning, especially at
a school or similar institution” (Encarta Webster’s College Dictionary, 2005:
457). The second is knowledge, which is defined as “the knowledge or abilities
gained through being educated” (Ibid). The third is instruction, which means
“training and instruction in a particular subject, e.g., health matters” (Ibid). The
fourth is learning experience, which refers to “an informative experience” (Ibid).
The fifth is study of teaching which means “the study of the theories and practices
system of educating people in a community or society” (Ibid). In the title (study),
the first and second definition would be suitable to the meaning of education used
in the title. To sum up the meaning of education used in the title according to the
first and second definition, education is acquiring or gaining knowledge or
abilities through learning or being educated at school or similar institution.
3. Personality
According to Roucek and Warren’s Sociology: An Introduction,
personality is “the organization of biological, psychological, and sociological
factors which underlie the individual’s behavior…. It is the organization of the
behavior of the individual as it is developed in interaction with other people”
(Roucek and Warren, 1959: 23) or simply “an individual’s unique and relatively
stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions that defines you as a person: how
A. Review of Related Studies
There are many readings of The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible,
however most of them are only opinions about the story from its readers and
seldom talk about Mary Jones’ life. One example of readers’ opinions is written
by Mary Jane Hanson in an online article entitled ‘Harry Potter and Mary Jones’.
In the article, Hanson compares Mary Jones’ story in having a Bible of her own
with today’s children having the Harry Potter book series. She says that today’s
children would save their allowance only for buying Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire and were very exited to read the book, which was a best seller in 2000.
Meanwhile such experience actually ever happened in 1800, in the case of Mary
Jones’ excit ement to have a Bible and to read it, which had ever been a best seller
by the work of Bible Societies. At the end of the article, Hanson thinks that,
today, the Bible could also be a best-seller like Harry Potter books if today’s
children have the same excitement to read Bible like they read Harry Potter, or
quoting Hanson’s words, “If today's children had the same desire to read the Bible
as they do to read the Harry Potter books, then the Bible would be this week's best
seller too” (http://daily.presbycan.ca/devotions/2000/00-07-14.html).
Another review is taken from Elisabeth Williams’ To Bala for a Bible, a
study about Mary Jones’ life. In her study, Williams tells a different version of
tells that Mary Jones’ father, Jacob Jones, was still alive when she went to Bala to
buy a Bible at the age of sixteen, Williams informs us that “before Mary reached
her fifth birthday, her father died, and from then on she and her mother must have
had a hard struggle to make ends meet” (http:// www. evangelical-times. org/
Articles/ Sep05/ Sep05a05.htm).
Another example is Mary Jones’ first meeting with Reverend Thomas
Charles of Bala, a Methodists preacher who sold a Bible to her (further
information about him will be discussed in the Review on the Historical
Background of this chapter). From Williams’ article, it is said that before she went
to Bala to buy a Bible, she had met with Reverend Thomas Charles of Bala, riding
a white horse, on a Monday morning when she was walking to Penybryniau Mawr
(Ibid), R. Evan’s farm, where she usually read Bible before she had her own. At
this first meeting, Reverend Thomas Charles of Bala informed her that he was
expecting Welsh Bibles from London and she could have a Bible if she had
money to buy it in Bala, so that she went to Bala. While according to the memoir,
The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible, their first meeting was when she came to
Bala to buy a Bible and she went there because William Huw of Llechwedd, the
nearest preacher from her cottage, informed her that the nearest Bible was sold in
Bala by Reverend Thomas Charles of Bala (Ropes, 1896: 87).
Although there are many differences in The Story of Mary Jones and Her
Bible with Elisabeth Williams’ To Bala for a Bible, the writer decides to depend
considers Elisabeth Williams’ article as worth-noted additional information about
Mary Jones’ life story.
Similar to Elisabeth Williams’ To Bala for a Bible, E. Wyn James also
informs some similar differences as Williams says in her study, but the interesting
part of James’ article Bala and the Bible: Thomas Charles, Ann Griffiths and
Mary Jones is not in such differences but in the comparisons and contrasts that
James makes about Mary Jones and Ann Griffiths, the late eighteenth-century
hymn-writer from Wales. James compares and contrasts them both because they
were considered as ‘the most famous Welshwoman in the world’ from the
Victorian era (in the case of Ann Griffiths) and from the Victorian and Edwardian
eras (in the case of Mary Jones). They both had relations with Reverend Thomas
Charles of Bala who gave Mary Jones a Bible and whose Communion Sunday and
Methodist Association meetings always be attended by Mary Jones and Ann
Griffiths. Both of these women also made great changes in Welsh culture at their
time (http:// www. anngriffiths. cardiff.ac.uk/bible.html).
Another interesting part of James’ article is Reverend Thomas Charles of
Bala’s letter in March 1804 to Joseph Ta rn (another founder of the British and
Foreign Bible Society in 1804 - a foundation which publishes and distributes
Bibles to Wales) that is now kept in the British and Foreign Bible Society’s
Archives in Cambridge University Library as well as Mary Jones’ Bible. In the
letter Reverend Thomas Charles of Bala wrote,
could produce [. . .] I have seen some of them overcome with joy & burst into tears of thankfulness on their obtaining possession of a Bible as their own property & for their free use. Young females in service have walked thirty miles to me with only the bare hopes of obtaining a Bible each; & returned with more joy & thanksgiving than if they had obtained great spoils. We who have half a doz. Bibles by us, & are in circumstances to obtain as many more, know but little of the value those put upon one, who before were hardly permitted to look into a Bible once a week
(http://www.anngriffiths.cardiff.ac.uk/bible.html).
Before the British and Foreign Bible Society was formatted, there was a meeting
in London at the end of 1802 held by the Religious Tract Society, which
formatted the British and Foreign Bible Society. In James’ article, it is said that
Reverend Charles of Bala told the visit of Mary Jones to Bala to buy a Bible and
so is it in The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible. James also says that there is no
evidence pointing to Mary Jones’ walk to Bala story-telling by Reverend Thomas
Charles of Bala in the committee meeting but “there is regular mention that one
girl had made a particular impression on Reverend Thomas Charles of Bala; and
all the evidence suggests that Mary Jones was that girl”
(http://www.anngriffiths.cardiff.ac.uk/bible.html), in which, the writer thinks, one
of the evidences can be Reverend Thomas Charles’ letter as quoted above.
After reading some reviews about The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible,
not one of them talking about Mary Jones’ personality as it was influenced by the
conditions in society at that time, but they speak more to Mary Jones’ role in
inspiring a preacher who then suggested setting up a foundation to publish and
distribute Bibles. However, the writer, in this analysis, would like to complete
existed reviews or studies about Mary Jones in the focus of how the conditions in
society, Mary Jones could influence others, especially Reverend Thomas Charles
of Bala.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
Abrams states two definitions of character. First, character is the name of a
literary genre and, second, character is the person presented in a dramatic or
narrative work in which readers interpret the character as being endowed with
moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities (characteristics) that are expressed in
what he says (dialogue) and by what he does (action) (Abrams, 1993: 23).
Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction also gives two definitions of
character which are, first, not only the individuals who appear in the story, but
also, second, the mixture of interests, desires, emotion, and moral principles
(characteristics) that makes of each different individuals (Stanton, 1965: 17-18).
The importance of using the theories on character lies on the idea that
character shares similar meaning with personality, which Abrams and Stanton
have expressed in their second meaning of character (characteristics). The writer
prefers to use the word personality for the study instead of character in order to
avoid ambiguity that the word character may express like what Abrams and
Stanton have defined.
Holman and Harmon explains that in lyric, essay, and autobiography,
authors reveal aspects of their own character; in biography and history, authors
and narrative poem) authors reveal the characters of imaginary persons. The
creation of the imaginary persons so they exist for reader as lifelike is called
characterization (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81).
According to Rohrberger and Woods, characterization is the process of
creating a character or “the devices by which he makes us believe a character is
the particular type of person he is” (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 180).
According to Murphy, characteristics (personality) of a character can be
seen from nine things. First, it is seen from the personal description of a character
in a literary work by its author so readers can imagine the character. Second, it can
be seen from other character’s point of view in which his/her opinion can give an
explanation about the characteristics of the character to the readers. Third, it is
seen from the character’s speech, which is made by the author. Fourth, it is seen
from the character’s past life in which his/her past events can influence or develop
his/her characteristic. Fifth, it can be seen also through conversation of a character
with another character. Sixth, it can be seen through a character’s reaction, which
shows the character’s way of thinking. Seventh, characteristics of a character can
be seen from direct comments in the beginning of the story by the author. Eighth,
it can be seen also through the information of thought or way of thinking of a
character, which is given by the author. Lastly, it can be seen from the mannerism
of a character by the author (Murphy, 1972: 161-173).
2. Theory on Personality
According to Roucek and Warren’s Sociology: An Introduction,
factors which underlie the individual’s behavior… as it is developed in interaction
with other people” (Roucek and Warren, 1959: 23), or, like Huffman and
Vernoy’s statement that personality is “an individual’s unique and relatively
stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions that defines you as a person: how
you are different from other people” (Huffman and Vernoy, 2000: 464).
Hall and Lindzey, in Theory of Personality, says that to understand human
behavior is only from the study of the whole person in which personality
psychologists insisted that the subject should be viewed from the vantage of the
entire functioning person in his natural habitat in which each of behavioral event
examined and interpreted in relation to the rest of the individual’s behavior.
Moreover, they states that individual’s personality is evaluated by the
effectiveness in which he is able to elicit positive reactions from a variety of
people under different circumstances (Hall and Lindzey, 1957: 6, 7).
Cole, in Psychology of Adolescence, says that individual’s personality is
not fixed by heredity but it grows, sheds some traits, and acquires others. It is
sometimes supported by environmental pressures and warped by them, like
affected by illness, disease, or unusual emotional strain. Moreover, the main point
is more likely than not to remain constant and merely to express itself in different
ways as environmental conditions discourage one manifestation and encourage
another. Therefore, personality is always measured by the manner in which a
person behaves, but, it is always an inference, not a direct observation, although
the inference is based upon numerous direct observation of behavior (Cole, 1956:
Hurlock, in Personality Development, says that human life consists of two
aspects: individual and social aspects. The individual aspect concerns with the
physical changes and individual’s personality development. Individual’s
personality development is usually influenced by two factors, which are
individual’s early experience within his family and the important events that
happened outside the home or the social aspect (Hurlock, 1974: 19-20). In
Hurlock’s Personality Development, Allport says that personality development is
a stage in growth of constantly changing and involving process within an
individual (Hurlock, 1974: 7). Moreover, Allport says, in his Pattern and Growth
in Personality, that the process of becoming into such personality continues one’s
whole life through (Allport, 1970: 82).
Allport, in Pattern and Growth in Personality, says that cultural ways,
social situation, and individual’s role within social systems plays role in
individual’s development personality. He explains that a child inevitably requires
cultural ways; he grows to accept to accept the roles appropriate to his status
within the family, but later, he finds himself playing many assigned roles within
many social systems. His behavior is modified within limits by every social
situation he encounters (Allport, 1970: 194, 195).
Moreover, Pervin and John, in Personality Theory and Research, mentions
some environmental determinants that influence individual’s personality, which
are culture, social class, family, and peers. They also mention three ways in which
parents influence their children’s behavior. First is, through the parents’ own
frustration leads to aggression. Second is, that parents serve as role models for
identification. Third is, that parents selectively reward behaviors (Pervin and John,
1997: 11-14).
3. Theories on Setting
In A Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams explains that setting is “the
general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action
occurs” (Abrams, 1993: 192) in which locale can simply be understood as setting
of place, historical time as setting of time, and social circumstances as conditions
in society.
In Koesnosoebroto’s The Anatomy of Prose Fiction, Lostracco and
Wilkerson say that setting is used to enrich the meaning of a story. It refers to the
time of story (when the action occurs), the place of the story (where the action
occurs), and the conditions or total environment in which the characters live
(Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 80). Moreover, they say that setting, frequently, supports
or underscores the central idea of a story (Ibid: 81).
According to Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature, they
define setting as “the physical, and sometimes spiritual, background against which
the action of a narrative (novel, drama, short story, poem) takes place” (Holman
and Harmon, 1986: 465).
In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton states that setting directly influences
the characters, exemplifies a theme, and evokes a definite emotional tone or mood
Based on theories of setting above, it can be concluded that setting is the
place where an action occurs, the time when the action occurs, and condition in
society that is used to reveal human relationship. Setting is very important in the
study in order to get illustration of certain conditions or actions which are related
with the discussion of the study, in this case is in Wales in the late eighteenth
century through the early nineteenth century.
4. The Relationship between Character and Setting
According to Murphy’s Understanding Unseen (Murphy, 1972: 141-142),
setting has a great effect (influence) upon personality, actions and way of thinking
of the characters (figure). When the setting changes, the personalities, actions, and
way of thinking of the characters would be different. Moreover, Langland
(Langland, 1984: 9) says that character reveals its perspectives and values by
action, speech, and thoughts through a medium, in which Langland defines the
medium as society. “The society may also be revealed through human
relationships, through characters’ patterned interactions and their common
expectations of one another” (Langland, 1984: 6).
Roucek and Warren say that a character (figure) develops a personality in
interaction among people in society (Roucek and Warren, 1959: 26) and as the
interaction happens among them; the people influence each other’s personality,
Interaction is a process in which the responses of each party become, successively, stimuli for the responses of the other(s). It is a reciprocal process in which one party is influenced by the other’s behavior, responds, and in so doing influences the other’s behavior. People influence each other’s behavior through contact. This contact may be
From the theories above, it can be seen that there is a relationship between
society and character (personality). It can be interpreted that society, which is the
part of setting, is a medium for characters (figures) to represent the personalities,
actions, way of thinking or perspectives, and values, and the conditions that
happened in the society can influence the personalities, actions, way of thinking or
perspectives, and the value.
C. Review of the Socio-Historical Background of Wales in 18th and 19th
Century
It is worth-noted that The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible is taken from
the real life of Mary Jones around the late eighteenth through the middle
nineteenth century in Wales; therefore, what had happened in the memoir around
the time cannot be separated from the real fact of Mary Jones’ life. Since the study
talks about the conditions in society, the writer thinks that it is necessary to review
the socio-historical background at that time, which will be useful in analyzing the
influence of the society to Mary Jones life, because the writer thinks that the
society in the memoir is part of the society in the real life, as a memoir means “the
history of particular men’s lives” (Dryden in Abrams, 1993: 14).
This topic would like to discuss two essential elements of the
socio-historical background around the (late) eighteenth to the (early) nineteenth century
in Wales to The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible which are interrelated to the
that have influenced Mary Jones most. The elements are religion and education
conditions. These subtopics will be discussed separately.
1. Religion
In the first century AD, Britain had two kinds of religious icons. The first
is Pagan gods of the earth, and the second is Roman gods of the sky, but then
Christianity from the east came into Britain. Christianity arrived in Britain when
Roman artisans and traders spreading the story of Jesus along with stories of their
Pagan deities. Unlike the cults of Rome, Christianity demanded exclusive
faithfulness from its followers. It was this intolerance of other gods, and its
secrecy, which rattled the Roman authorities and led to repeated persecutions of
Christians. Christians were forced to meet and worship in secret. However,
Christianity appealed to the Roman Emperor Constantine. He saw that
Christianity could be harnessed to unite his Empire and achieve military success.
From 313 AD onwards, Christian worship was tolerated within the Roman Empire
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
During the fourth century, British Christianity became more visible but it
was still a minority faith among the population who followed the Pagan beliefs.
Moreover, when new invaders arrived: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, after the
departure of the Romans, Paganism might again defeat Christianity. Yet somehow
Christianity survived on the Western edges of Britain, even during the Dark Ages.
Missionary activity continued in Wales and Ireland, and in Western Scotland,
Saint Columba helped to bring a distinctly Irish brand of Christianity to mainland
It could be argued that it was Augustine’s famous mission in 597 AD from
the Pope in Rome to King Aethelbert of Kent that really set up the future course
of Christianity faith in Britain, making a strong alliance between Christianity and
Kingship. Certainly, Venerable Bede wanted to see it this way. For Bede, a
Christian England was part of God’s master plan and it was Providence that the
Anglo-Saxons were destined to become Christians, united in a single Christian
nation (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
Christianity rose from a minor cult to be a major national religion, but had
yet to win the hearts and minds of the population. As Christianity’s rise looked to
be unstoppable, the Viking invasion of Lindisfarne in 871 AD marked the start of
a series of attacks which threatened to destroy the Christian church. Monasteries
and churches were plundered, and priests fled for their lives as if Paganism would
again crush Christianity. Alfred, the Christian King of Wessex, saw the Viking
attacks as punishment from God. When he defeated the Viking warrior Guthrum
at the Battle of Eddington, he started creating a new system of Christianity to
begin to capture the imagination of the ordinary people
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
In the tenth century, lords began to provide small chapels on their lands
where local people could use the services of a priest and this sowed the seeds of
the parish system. When the Norman Conquest appeared, it cemented the power
of the church in England. William the Conqueror implemented a colossal building
project at both monastic and parish level, which then played a central role in
medieval period, Christianity in Britain came to dominate the lives of the ordinary
people. However, at this period on average people would go to church just a few
times a year, usually when there was a real spectacle to take part in, but those who
were not regular churchgoers could not escape regulation by the Church. Every
stage in between, from the beginning of life to the end of life, the Church could be
people’s ally or foe, and ultimately their passport to heaven or hell
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/ uk_1.shtml).
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Reformation in England
was not bound to turn Protestant like its Northern neighbors. In England reformers
were a tiny minority who wanted changes in the medieval Catholicism that had
dominated for centuries. The criticisms to the medieval Catholicism was onto the
rituals that cluttered up the relation between the individual and God, and
corruption and money- making that had distorted the true and simple meaning of
the gospels (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.
shtml).
However, these criticisms were not the cause of England to break from
Rome. At the time, King Henry VIII wanted to divorce and remarry (Catherine of
Aragon) in order to try and secure an heir, but the Pope would not grant him
permission. So Henry broke England from the Pope instead and he endorsed a few
religious changes so that his decision to split from the Catholic Church did not
look too obviously driven by self- interest. He created a new Catholicism called
Anglican – traditional Anglicanism is Calvinistic in doctrine but avoid the
Religious changes under Henry were minimal in comparison to his wanted by
reformers wanted but they made a big difference to the individual believer. Until
then the Bible had been in Latin but suddenly there was to be an English bible in
every Church and the monasteries, an entrenched and influential symbol of
medieval Catholicism, were closed and their lands sold off
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
When Henry’s Protestant educated son, Edward VI, held the throne, he
changed the ritual of the mass, abolished the sacraments of penance and the last
rites of the dead. He declared that Purgatory no longer existed and prayers for the
dead were written off as useless; God alone decided whether someone was saved
or damned. By the end of Edward’s reign, the Reformation was much more than
political since it cut deeply into people’s habits and beliefs and those who
disagreed were punished by death (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
Six years after his coronation, Edward VI died, and his Catholic
half-sister, Mary, set history into reverse. England once again became Catholic and
English Bibles were removed from the churches replaced by Latin Bibles. Henry’s
changes were barely 20 years old so most priests had been trained as Catholics
and the parishioners had been baptized as Catholics. For those who refused to slip
back into Catholic were persecuted and martyred. Under Mary’s orders, hundreds
of Protestants were burned at the stake (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
After five years, Mary died and replaced by her sister Elizabeth who was a
Protestant. The nation once again became Protestant and the Protestant simplicity
of the churches was restored by force. By now, the majority of the population had
only known Protestantism because the generation baptized into Catholicism had
died. Those who remained Catholic were considered as traitors to the nation.
However, Elizabeth refused to abolish bishops but keeping the vast moderate
majority onside and the balancing act was maintained by her successor, James I
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
The King James Bible published and it defined the nation and
encapsulated its religion. From school children to soldiers, each citizen was
expected to know the core of Protestant doctrines by reading them from its custom
designed text, the Bible. Thus, the Reformation has been sold to the English and it
looked like nothing could challenge it (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
In 1625, Charles I held the throne. Church and kingdom were in good
working order and loyalty to the King meant loyalty to the Reformation though
there was still a Catholic minority who worshipping in secret. However, the
Puritans, the Protestant extremists (the followers of Calvinism
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism)), wanted the Reformation to go much
further. When Charles I married to a Catholic, he got into trouble with the
Protestants. He appointed Bishop Laud who was known to be sympathetic to
Catholic interpretation of doctrine. The bishop began to tamper the church
looking for real trouble (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
history/ uk_1.shtml).
Unlike in England, the Scotland Protestantism was more extreme and far
reaching than Protestantism in south of the border. In 1637, Charles insisted that
New Anglican Prayer Book should be extended to Scotland and the Scotland
Reformation should be brought into line with the English. Charles made himself
an enemy of his Scottish people. In order to prove his point, he chose for a force
to Scotland, but the parliament was only prepared to help him raise an army under
certain condition, so then he turned to Catholic Ireland in search of men for his
army (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
The image of antichrist, the Catholics Irish in arms against the Protestant
Scotts, had suddenly appeared. It was because they were acting under the king’s
order. Protestantism was based on prophecy. They believed the battle between
good and evil was always close at hand, and the Puritans saw this moment as
fulfilling the most dramatic prophecy, which is the Day of Judgment. The
religious battle lines had never been so clearly defined and the parliament took up
the Puritan cause. The vast majority of moderate Britons had no alternative but to
take sides which is: back to their Catholic- leaning King or Puritan- leaning
Parliament. Within months the English Civil War or well known England’s War
of Religion had begun (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
history/uk_1.shtml).
English Civil War showed a beginning of pluralism in England. What the
not a must for people to go to just one parish church to worship – there must be a
choice for the people (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/history/
spiritualhistory_1.shtml).
Oliver Cromwell, the general who had emerged triumphant, wanted to
wipe out Catholicism. It took seven years for the king to be defeated and
executed, opening the way for the first and only ‘religious’ government. Cromwell
determined to install nothing less than Assembly of Saints on earth that were
chosen according to the intensity with which they experienced God. Their task
was to institute a program of moral regeneration and education. His armies of
saints were fighting, removing all the traces of Popish idolatry
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
Now, only the utmost simplicity would be tolerated. A New Order was
being established, which is God’s order, but not long before this New Order
resembled, exactly what it had fought to replace is the monarchy. The Assembly
of Saints had decided that religious radicalism needed social conservatism
because it was not the society that needed to be reformed but the sinners within in.
However, by the time Cromwell died, the sinners had not reformed, and when the
new elections were called, people rejected the New Order Cromwell and Charles
II was recalled. Cromwell had failed (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
With the accession of Charles II, the Puritan way of life ended. Festivities
resumed, theaters reopened, Maypoles re-celebrated, and Christmas reappeared on
re-established. However, the Plague, the Fire, and the Dutch War and euphoria
turned to depression. The depression turned to anxiety as the he ir to the throne,
James II, was a fully- fledged Catholic. The old paranoia returned - the papal peril.
However, James believed that once Catholics were allowed to worship publicly
and evangelize openly, hundreds of thousands would surely return to the fait h
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
When his queen gave birth to a son, the horror of dynasty of Catholics
stretched out before the nation’s fevered imagination. James had to go. Anglicans
and Dissenters combined and the next-plausible-and-Protestant heir to the throne,
William of Orange, was in effect, encouraged to invade England. James took
flight, and William assumed the throne (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
In 1689, Act of Toleration granted freedom of religious worship to all
Dissenters – though not to Catholics. The state had surrendered the idea of
imposing one faith on its people, realizing that there was not one faith within the
nation but man. In accepting this, the door from many faiths to no faith had been
opened (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml).
The Methodist Church is the fourth largest Christian Church in Britain,
after the Anglican Churches, Roman Catholic Churches, and the Church of
Scotland. The Methodist Church is traditionally known as non-conformist,
because it does not conform to the rules and authority of the established Church of
England (http:// www.bbc.co.uk/ religion/ religions/ christianity/ subdivisions/
Methodism has its roots in the eighteenth century Anglicanism. Its founder
was a Church of England minister, John Wesley (1703-1791), who sought to
challenge the religious assumptions of the day. During a period and time in
Oxford, he and others met regularly for Bible study and prayer in order to receive
communion and do acts of charity. They became known as ‘The Holy Club’ or
‘Methodists’ because of the methodical way in which they carried out their
Christian faith. Later, Wesley used the term Methodist to mean the methodical
pursuit of biblical holiness (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml).
In 1738, Wesley had a profound spiritual experience that he felt his heart
strangely warmed, and then he felt that he did trust in Christ alone for salvation,
and an assurance was given to him that He had taken away his sins. This
experience transformed Wesley, and inspired him to become one of the greatest
preachers of all time (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml).
In Bristol, in 1739, Wesley began preaching to crowds of working class
men and women in the outdoors. This ‘field preaching’ became a key feature of
the Methodist Revival, when thousands came to hear Wesley preach up and down
the country. Wesley formed local societies of those converted and encouraged
them to meet in smaller groups on a weekly basis. However, he insisted those
converted to attend their local parish church as well as the Methodist meetings.
Every year, Wesley traveled the country visiting the societies and preaching.
were accused in print and from pulpits, his meetings were disrupted and he was
even physically attacked and threatened with death (http://www.bbc.co.uk/
religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml).
Wesley always declared that his movement should remain within the
Anglican Church, but the Church of England was keen to distance itself from him
and his followers, but he still declared that he lived and died a member of the
Church of England. However, in 1784, he set up a structure, the Yearly
Conference of the People called Methodists, to ensure the continuatio n of the
Methodist movement after his death. In the end, the strength and impact of
Methodism made a separate Methodist Church inevitable. Four years after
Wesley’s death, in 1795, Methodists in Britain became legally able to conduct
marriages and perform the sacraments (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
christianity/subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml).
Long before Methodism established by John Wesley and his brother,
Charles Wesley, who was a prolific hymn writer in which his works still sung
today both in Methodist and other churches (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/
religions/christianity/ subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml), there was a theological
system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over
all things. It was developed by some theologians, such as Martin Bucer, Heinrich
Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Huldrych Zwingli, but it bears the name of
the French reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564), because of his preeminent
debates throughout the sixteenth century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Calvinism).
The theological system is known Calvinism, taken from John Calvin last
name. This term also refers to the doctrines and practices of the Reformed
churches of which Calvin was an early leader, and less commonly, refers to the
individual teaching of Calvin himself. The system is best known for its doctrines
of predestination and total depravity. The Reformed churches of Calvin belong to
the second phase of the Protestant Reformation, when evangelical churches began
to form after Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
Calvin was a French exiled in Geneva who had signed the Lutheran Augsburg
Confession as it was revised by Melancthon in 1540. However, his influence was
first felt in the Swiss Reformation, which was not Lutheran, but rather followed
Huldrych Zwingli. When Calvin’s fame was attached to the Reformed churches,
their whole body of doctrine came to be called Calvinism
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism).
Calvin publications spread his idea of a correctly reformed church to many
parts of Europe. Calvinism became the theological system of the majority in
Scotland (which is known Presbyterianism by John Knox), the Netherlands, and
parts of Germany (especially those nearby the Netherlands), and was influential in
France, Hungary, Transylvania, and Poland. Calvinism was popular in
Scandinavia, especially Sweden, but was rejected in favor of Lutheranism after
The Puritans were also Calvinists, as well as the traditional Anglicanism in
doctrine as expressed in the Thirty-Nine Articles, but Anglicanism eschewed the
Regulative Principle of Calvinism. At the time, Calvinism has been known for its
simple, unadorned churches and lifestyle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Calvinism).
However, the name Calvinism is somewhat misleading if taken to imply
that every major feature of the doctrine - of the Calvinist churches or of all
Calvinist movements – could be found in the writings of Calvin, because some
other features were often credited with as much of a final formative influence on
what is now called ‘Calvinism,’ for example Calvin’s successor Theodore Beza,
the Dutch theologian Franciscus Gomarus, the founder of the Presbyterian church,
John Knox, the English Baptist John Bunyan, and the American preacher
Jonathan Edwards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism).
The distinctive issue in Calvinist theology that is often used to represent
the whole is the system’s particular soteriology or the doctrine of salvation.
Soteriology emphasizes that human are incapable of adding anything to obtain
salvation and that God alone is the initiator at every stage of salvation, including
the formation of faith and every decision to follow Christ. This doctrine was
definitively formulated and codified during the Synod of Dort held in Dordrectht,
Holland, in 1618/1619 (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Calvinism).
Calvinism places strong emphasis, not only on the abiding goodness of the
original creation, but also on the total ruin of human accomplishments and the
new work of creation by God rather than an achievement of those who are saved
from sin and death. Calvinism is synonymous with ‘Reformed Protestant’,
encircling the whole body of doctrine taught by the Reformed churches. The
Reformers advocated the preaching of ‘the whole counsel of the Word of God.’ In
addition to maintain the Calvinist soteriology, covenant theology is the
architectural structure of the whole system incorporating all loci of doctrine. In
piety and practice, a primary distinction is the regulative principle of worship
which rejects any form of worship not instituted for the church in the Bible and
which sets Reformed theology apart from Lutheranism, which holds to the
normative principle of worship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism).
The characteristics of Calvinist theology may be stated in a number of
ways, but the best known summary is contained in the five points of Calvinism
(TULIP), though these points identify some differences with other Christians on
the doctrines of salvation rather than summarizing the system as a whole.
However, Calvinism emphasizes the sovereignty or rule of God in all things both
in salvation and in all of life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism).
In Scotland, Calvinist theology is used in Presbyterianism that is found by
John Knox. Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the
Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity. Its hallmarks include
Calvinist theology and the Presbyterian form of church governance. A form of
Calvinism, Presbyterianism evolved primarily in Scotland before the Act of Union
in 1707. Theoretically, there are no bishops in Presbyterianism, but, some groups
typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the necessity of grace through
faith in Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism).
Presbyterian denominations derived their name from the Greek word
presbuteros, which means ‘elder’ like in Acts 14:23, 20:17, and Titus 1:5.
Presbyterianism was first described in detail by Martin Bucer of Strasbourg, who
believed that the earl Christian church implemented Presbyterian polity. The first
modern implementation was by the Geneva church under the leadership of John
Calvin in 1541 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Presbyterianism).
John Knox (1505-1572), a Scot who had spent time studying under Calvin
in Geneva. From Calvin, he gained experience and knowledge of Reformed
theology and Presbyterian polity. When returning to Scotland, he led the
Parliament of Scotland to embrace the Reformation in 1560. The Church of
Scotland was reformed along Presbyterian lines, to become the national,
established Church of Scotland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism).
In Wales, Presbyterianism is represented by the Presbyterian Church of
Wales, which was composed largely of Calvinistic Methodist
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Presbyterianism). It was born out of the Welsh
Methodist revival in the eighteenth century and seceded from the Church of
England in 1811 and formally established as an independent church in 1823 with
the drawing up of its Confession of faith and produced its own monthly periodical
Y Cenhadwr. It is distinguished from the Wesley’s Methodism by the Calvinistic
nature of its theology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Church_of_
It began from Reverend Griffith Jones’ of Llanddowror sympathy for the
poor that led him to set on foot a system circulating charity schools for the
education children. In striking contrast to the general apathy of the clergy of the
period, Griffith Jones’ enthusiasm appealed to the public imagination and his
preaching exercised a widespread influence, making people willing to travel long
distance in order to attend his ministry. Thus, there were many earnest people
dispread throughout the country waiting for the rousing of the parish clergy
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinistic_Methodists).
Reverend Pryce Davies, vicar of Talgarth, made an impressive
announcement of the Easter Communion Service on 30 March 1735. It was the
awakening of Howell Harris (1714-1773) of Trevecca who immediately began to
hold services in his own house. Soon, he was invited to do the same at others’
houses, making him a fiery traveling preacher and exiting every neighborhood he
visited. Griffith Jones found Daniel Rowland (1713-1790), curate of Llanggeitho,
in his audience. Rowland was deeply moved, and became an ardent apostle of the
new movement. Rowland’s new-born enthusiasm gave an edge to his eloquence
and his fame spread abroad. Rowland and Harris met at a service in Devynock
church in the upper part of Breconshire. The acquaintance then formed lasted to
the end of Harris’ life an interval of ten years expected. Harris had been sent to
Oxford in the autumn of 1735. Rowland had never been to a university like
Harris, but he had been well grounded in general knowledge
In 1736, Harris returned to home and then opened a school in which
Griffith Jones supplied him with books from his charity. By far, the most notable
of Harris converts was William Williams of Pantycelyn (1717-1791), a great
hymn-writer of Wales. He was ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1740,
but George Whitefield recommended him to leave his curacies and go into the
highways and hedges (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinistic_Methodists).
On January 1743 at Watford near Caerphily, Glamorgan, George
Whitefield was the chairman of a meeting, which was held to organize their
societies. The other attendances were Rowland, Williams, John Powell of
Llanmartin (clergyman), Harris, John Humpreys, and John Cennick (laymen).
Seven lay exhorters were also present at the meeting, who were questioned to
their spiritual experience and allotted their several spheres. Other matters
pertaining to the new conditions created by the revival were arranged. This is
known as the first Methodist Association which was held eighteenth months
before Wesley’s first conference on June 1744 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Calvinistic_Methodists).
Monthly meetings covering smaller districts were organized to consider
local matters, the transactions of which were: to be reported to the Quarterly
Association, to be confirmed, modified, or rejected. The exhorters were divided
into two groups: public, who were allowed to itinerate as preachers and
superintend a number of societies, and private, who were confined to the charge of
one or two societies. The societies were distinctly understood to be part of the
was sharply reproved, but persecution made their position anomalous. They did
not accept the discipline of the Church of England so the plea of conformity was a
feeble defense. They also had not taken out licenses, so as to claim the protection
of the Act of Toleration. Harris’ ardent loyalty to the Church of England and his
personal contempt for ill- treatment from persecutors (after three refusals to ordain
him) was the only things that prevented separation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Calvinistic_Methodists).
A controversy on a doctrinal point ‘Did God die on Calvary?’ raged for
some time, the principal disputants being Rowland and Harris. In 1751, it ended in
an open rupture that threw the Connexion first into confusion and then into a state
of coma. It made the societies split up into Harrisites and Rowlandites, and it was
only the revival of 1762 that the branch was fairly repaired. This revival is a
landmark in the history of the Connection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Calvinistic_Methodists).
Williams of Pantycelyn had just published a little volume of hymns that
made people enthusiastic. This led the bishop of St. David’s to suspend
Rowland’s license, and Rowland had to confine himself to a meeting- house at
Llangeitho. Having been turned out of other churches, in 1759, he leased a plot of
land in order to anticipate the final withdrawal of his license. In 1763, a large
building was erected to which the people crowded from all parts on Sacrament
Sunday. Thus, Llangeitho became the Jerusalem of Wales, and Rowland’s
popularity never vanished until his physical powers gave away
