CHARACTERS. 



743 



tliosc by whom it is controlled. His 

 own account of this alleged temper 

 was, that h'.' always considered whe- 

 ther any thinjj that was proposed to 

 him, or any principle he was requir- 

 ed to act upon, coincided Avith his 

 own ideas of rectitude. If he 

 found that it did, he firmly persisted 

 in it. His general character was 

 If' that of uncommon resolution and in- 

 flexibility. He was very wild, as it 

 is commonly reported of him, till 

 about eighteen years of age. After 

 that period, he became very steady 

 and sedate. A neighbour instrud-t- 

 ed him a little in arithmetic. About 

 the age of twenty or twenty-one, he 

 undertook the building of a large 

 iron forge at Cardiff, and lodged 

 ■«ith a person named Walter Rosser, 

 a baker, and blind. This man 

 taught English reading. \\'illiam 

 Kdwards was alive to every op])or- 

 tunity of improvement, and rapidly 

 acquired wiiat he eagerly pursued. 

 He seems, indeed, to have possessed 

 a mind, that could not easily be 

 stopped in its progress. To the 

 two languages, however, his at- 

 tainments in literature were confin- 

 ed ; but their application to the va- 

 rious branches of study in w liich he 

 was engaged, afforded constant exer- 

 cise even to his industry and spirit of 

 enquiry. After he had performed 

 his engagements at Carditf, he built 

 many good houses, with several 

 forges and smelting-houses, and was 

 for many years employed at works 

 of this nature by John Morris, of 

 Clasemont, esq. 



Caerphilly castle is in his native 

 parish. Jle has often ))cen heard to 

 «ay, that he would freqiuintly visit 

 that celebrated ruin, and study (he 

 principles of its excellent masonry, 

 with all its various peculiarities, ap- 

 j)cariug in those venerable rcmaius. 



He considered himself to have de- 

 rived more important knowledge 

 from this, than from any other 

 circumstance. Indeed, his princi- 

 ples were formed on those of the 

 Caerphilly castle masonry. He was, 

 what may with sullicient i)ropriety 

 be termed, a mason of the ancient 

 castle, or Gothic school. His man- 

 ner of hewing and dressing his stones 

 was exactly that of the old castle- 

 masons, lie put thenj together in a 

 style of closeness, neatness, and 

 firmness, that is never seen but in 

 those ancient, and, as far as we 

 know, everlasting edifices. His son 

 is perhaps the only workman re- 

 maining, who on any occasion prac- 

 tises the ancient masonry: and in 

 the modern he is equally a proficient. 



The full complement of business, 

 which usually attends a high repu- 

 tation in any line, might be sup- 

 posed to have engrossed all the time 

 and thoughts of a self-taught man. 

 But William Edwards united with 

 his trade the occupation of a far- 

 mer during the whole of his life. . 

 Nor was Sunday, though a sabbith, 

 a day of rest to him ; for then he 

 had clerical functions to exercise. 

 In his religions sentiments he was a 

 dissenter, of the denomination styled 

 Independents. Al)out 1750he was 

 regularly ordained according to thw 

 usage of the sect of which he was a 

 member; and a))Out the same time 

 was chosen minister of the congre- 

 gation meeting at a chapel in his na- 

 tive parish, where he olliciated for 

 forty years, and till he died. He 

 was a Calvinist, but of a very libe- 

 ral description : indeed he carried 

 his charily so far, that many per- 

 sons suspected he had changed his 

 opinions, and for that reason s|)oko 

 very unhandsomely of him. i*'or a 

 length of time during the last yea»» 



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