A Light Shining in Cornwall

Billy Brey was a Cornish evangelist whose name was a household word among the Bible, Christian Methodists of southwest England during the middle years of the 19th century. Aggressive, eccentric, untutored, yet possessing a singular grace and charm, he was unpredictable. In both his pulpit utterances and methods of labor. Christ and Satan were real entities to him, and his audible conversations with them took on the spirit of fellowship with one and of challenge to the other. Whenever he preached, even standing room was at a premium, and on occasion as many would be listening through the open windows of the chapel, as were seated in the sanctuary. He often irritated the established churchmen and formal religionists of his day, but in face–to–face contention with them, is radiant countenance and unashamed zeal conciliated the most obtrusive.