He had preached for the Calvinistic Methodists and, in 1829, was accepted as a regular preacher by the Calvinistic Methodist congregation at Llangeitho. In 1830 he was accepted for study at the Seceders' College, Belfast, but chose instead to study in London, at a college which later became University College London. After one year in London he became a minister and schoolteacher in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire. in 1833 he went to Edinburgh University, where he studied under Thomas Chalmers and Christopher North. By a special dispensation he graduated after three years instead of the usual four, obtaining an MA with honours. He was awarded an honorary D.D. by the University of Edinburgh in 1865.