| Description | Letter from the Rev. John Williams of Treffos in March 1801 reflects the widespread economical distress of the times; a shipload of barley is ordered from London for distribution among the poor of the county; salted herrings are imported from Liverpool for the like purpose (1195, 1196)
From the same John Williams in August 1801, comes a strong complaint about the increase of sectaries in the county-particularly of Methodists - "an evil of no common magnitude, and which threatens, if not speedily checked, to overwhelm the country with Anarchy and Confusion". Lord Uxbridge is exhorted to lay the matter before the King with a plea that legislation be introduced to confine the activities of Methodists and other secretarian preachers to a certain district, to make them supply testimonials as to their moral life and conduct, and to take a test of allegiance (1197)
It is poaching, on the other hand, that aggravates Sir Robert Williams of Friars; determined to prosecute poachers, he and his colleages mean to enter into a subscription at the 1807 Assizes to carry "this necessary measure" into effect (1207). In testimony to the conty's loyalty throughout these years, three separate addresses go up to the King, congratulating him on his deliverance from the Cato Street conspiracy in 1803 (1202), on the success of his fleet in Trafalgar year (1205), and in 1808 rejoicing in "that spirit of reviving Patrotism which has recently actuated the brave inhabitants of Spain and Portugal to repel the despotism of France" (1211) |