Welsh Journals

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS 2. A HOLOGRAPH LETTER OF THE REVEREND JOSHUA THOMAS. A holograph letter of the Reverend Joshua Thomas (171 8/9-1797 D.N.B., lvi, 187-188), Baptist minister of Leominster and author of Hanes y Bedyddwyr, ymhlith y Cymry (Carmarthen, 1778), and A History of the Baptist Association in Wales (London, 1795), is somewhat of a rarity and deserves by reason of its very existence to be noted in the Journal. The Reverend J. R. Jones, Ramoth, in a letter written in 1821 or early in 1822 to Joshua M. Thomas, Cardigan, claims that he possessed no fewer than forty-two such letters, written during the period 1790-17971, but their present whereabouts is not known. The letter which forms the subject of this note was written by Joshua Thomas from Leominster, September 7, 1789, to his nephew the Reverend Benjamin Thomas (1761-1835), Baptist minister of Prescott, Devonshire, and now forms part of the extensive group of Nefydd Papers which the Library acquired in 19302. A portion of the letter is devoted to some family news and to a discussion of spiritual experiences and ministerial responsibilities, but the remainder, extracts from which are printed below, is of a more general and historical interest. It consists briefly of a table of baptisms, restorations, deaths, and exclusions in each of the Baptist churches of the Welsh Associ- ation approximately during the year preceding the annual meeting held at Maesyberllan in June, 1789. This table, which the writer rather loosely describes as minutes,' will be found to contain much more detail than the statistics published in the Association Letter of that year, and it is most unfortunate that similar statistics for other years, which Joshua Thomas is known to have collected, do not appear to have been preserved. Joshua Thomas's comments on his table are also included in the present transcript. The statement that it was originally prepared by his brother the Reverend Zechariah Thomas (1727-1816), Baptist minister of Aberduar, throws additional light on his methods of 1 Seren Gomer, 1822, p. 69 Cofiant J. R. Jones, Ramoth, by D. Williams, p. 660. 3 N.L.W. MS. 7166, No. 355. N.L.W. MS. 1207 ,a group of two hundred and one holo- graph letters and other documents assembled by the Reverend Isaac Mann, contains another holograph letter of the Reverend Joshua Thomas, written from Leominster, September 26, 1788, to the Reverend John Sutcliff, Olney. See The Baptist Quarterly, Vol. VI, pp. 177-178, and N,L.W. MS. 9049, where the contents of the letter are described,