
North Wales in the early part of the nineteenth century provides a striking instance of the way in which a spiritual revolution can change the whole direction of a people and a society. Equally striking was the agency which brought the prevailing religious indifference and lawlessness to an end: it was the preaching of the gospel by men without position or influence like John Elias (1774-1841). Under the preaching of Elias, the outlook of thousands was permanently changed. Here, in days of revival, forty-four chapels were built in forty years. Previously published by the Trust in this form in 1973, the Life and Letters of John Elias is now reckoned among Christian classics.