Welsh Journals

THE WELSH WEEKLY. February 19, 1892. OUR BUSINESS NOTICES. United Kingdom 12 months , • • 6 „ It. 3 „ RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. Post Phee. Abroad, s. d.! 12 months ■ . 3 3 6,, ■ 3 „ . . s. d. India and China, 10s. lOd. per year. TERMS FOR ADVERTISEMENTS. Ordinary Pages, 5s. fper inch; or i lines 2s., and 5d. per line afterwards. Leader Page, 6s. 9d. per inch; or 4 lines 3s., and 8d. per line afterwards. Paragraph Advertisements by Special Contract. A reduction of 10 per cent, is made on six, 15 per cent, on thirteen, 20 per cent, on twenty-six, or 25 per cent, on fifty-two insertions. Small Prepaid Advertisements, Situations, Houses or Apartments, Miscellaneous Wants or Sales, Births, Deaths, Marriages, are inserted at the following exceptionally low terms:—20 words for one shilling and one halfpenny for each additional word. Three con¬ secutive insertions for the price of two. Trade Advertisements not taken at this rate. 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SPECIAL.—The Publishers will be glad to have unsold copies of Nos. $ and 5 (first edition) returned at once. ... a 'i^—— i FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1892. A WORD IN SEASON. The Welsh people are indebted to Mr. Gee, of Denbigh, for many excellent books and pamphlets which he has from time to time published; but nothing ever issued from his office more oppor¬ tune than a small Welsh booklet—the second of the series called " Tracts for the Times "—entitled ". Popery in Disguise in the Established Church; or, Eitualism essentially Popish" (Pabyddiaeth dan orchudd), by the celebrated minister, Dr. Saunders, of Swansea. The pamphlet is every¬ thing that could be desired in matter and style. The author feels his subject intensely ; he writes under deep conviction of its truth and importance. His heart is stirred within them, and his words come forth with energy and warmth. In these days, when we are apt to regard any exhibition of feeling on religious and ecclesiastical questions as signs of fanaticism or bigoted intolerance, it is a positive pleasure to read a pamphlet full of calm, convincing argu¬ ments, driven home with fervent passion. A wail of despondency pervades the tract; the prophet seems to wish that his head were waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears. This feature we deplore, for we are not without hope. He writes more in sorrow than in anger. We trust that the tract will be extensively distributed and generally read. The author begins by defining the real dif¬ ference between the Protestant and the Roman and Romanising Churches. Protestants teach that every man has a right to approach God without the intervention of any earthly priest, church, or sacraments ; while the Romanists main¬ tain that God is inaccessible to men except through ordained priests in the apostolic succession, and the prescribed sacraments. Startling quotations are given from the devotional manuals and the say¬ ings of the High Church party in the Establish¬ ment, which show that the ritualists, as they are called, accept and teach almost all the distinctive doctrines of Romanism. It is a fact, which we cannot ignore, that nearly all the life and energy that exist in the Episcopalian Church in England or Wales is to be found in union with ritualistic practices. There are hundreds, perhaps, of Evangelicals in the English Church, but they are a feeble folk. They do not shine as preachers or authors ; they are as a root out of a dry ground ; they have no leaves, and certainly their fruit is exceedingly scanty. Why should this be so ? Why should one party, and that party nearest to the truth as we conceive it, be so barren of great men and powerful forces ? We think the reason is that the position of the Evangelicals in the Establishment has now become entirely in¬ consistent. The decisions given in favour of the ritualists, and the practical immunity which they enjoy, have proved that the English Church is only Protestant in name ; and even the name is, at present, repudiated with scorn by a large sec¬ tion. The Evangelicals agree with the Noncon¬ formists in doctrine, i.e., they are Protestants, and if they were true to their convictions they would leave the church. But they compromise matters. They stick to the church and to their doctrines. If their view of the subject is correct, the Establishment is in no real sense a church ; it is rather an omnium gatherum of various sects and parties, all bound together by the golden band of the State. For this trifling with principles the Evangelicals are punished with intellectual "feebleness and religious sterility. The causes of the success of the High Church party are not far to seek. Their services appeal to the sensuous part of man's nature ; they soothe the feelings without purifying the conscience. They do away practically—not in theory, we grant—with the yoke and burden of Christ. That is what human nature loves, until, like Luther, it is roused from its apathy by the Holy Spirit. A luxurious and ease-loving generation is not likely to be much troubled by prickings of heart, especially if it regularly attends ritualistic services, and is constantly reminded of the saving virtues of the Church and the sin of schism. High Church teaching has also a great hold on people because it contains so much positive doctrine. The ritualists are as strong on the Incarnation and the Atonement as Mr. Spurge on himself was. They don't hesitate and mince matters. They have no doubts, their language is : " God sent His Son to die for the world, and we are the only authorised dispensers of the blessings of salvation." The undoubted truth of the first part of their creed, and the vehemence with which the latter portion is affirmed, help timid souls to swallow the lie contained in the state¬ ment. Hence many a coward mind, besides Newman, has taken refuge in Rome or Romish teaching rather than face and solve the in¬ tellectual and moral difficulties of faith by patience and prayer. The High Church party are wonderfully active among the poor, and the practical mind of John Bull is impressed by this going about and doing good ; so he lets them have their own way, and he will support them with his presence and his money. Things have not yet proceeded far enough. No crying scandals have occurred, but priestcraft, such as that we see in disguise around us, cannot stop half-way. The confessional, which is quietly advocated and established, will ere long begin to arrogate authority and control over family life and political movements, and that is what Englishmen will never tolerate. " Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." The end is not yet. Some¬ thing must happen to open people's eyes, and then a tremendous reaction will take place. We do not despair of the condition of the English Church, in spite of its Romanising ten¬ dency. It bears in its bosom its own destroyer and purifier. Though it does not encourage the reading of the Bible, still it has not buried the Word of God in an unknown tongue. It forms part of its liturgy. The Bible itself, if it is only read, refutes all such errors. The open Bible will yet overthrow ritualism, but we must wait a little, we fear. Romanism is in every form essentially a state of bondage, and freedom-loving Britons will not tolerate bondage once they recognise its real nature. EDITORIAL NOTES. One of the first to send us a word of cheer, and who took a very keen interest in the Welsh Weekly, was the late Principal Lewis, of Bala-Bangor Independent College. Now comes the sad news of his unexpected death in a foreign land. We extend our heartfelt sympathy with the bereaved widow and the students, who feel the loss intensely. We hope to be able to present our readers next week with a portrait and an interesting biographical sketch of the late Principal. Our article on " A Problem for the Churches " has called forth a number of indignant rejoinders. As our space is limited and the contributions sent in on the subject are very much alike, characterised, more or less, with an asperity utterly unwarranted, we have inserted only the letter of "x + y." We can assure our correspondents that the article was written in sober earnestness, not with a view of casting any reflection on the class of students now in our Colleges, but of rousing the Churches to a due sense of their obligations to make adequate provisions for the maintenance of the ministry. What was true of the ministry in the time of Matthew Henry, when he declared that " a scandalous maintenance makes a scandalous ministry," is still true in our own day, and the indifference of the Churches goes far to account for the state of things brought vividly to light by the recent remark of Principal Charles Edwards, that the Welsh pulpit is "out of touch with an increasing section of the people, who know more, think more than the preachers themselves." A correspondent has written to us disputing the statement we made last week about the popularity of the translation of the late Dr. L. Edwards' work on " The Atonement." He states that the book is not used as a text-book in Yale Theological Seminary, because there is no text-book of any kind used on the subject. He admits that " it is quite possible that Dr. Harris may have referred to Dr. Edwards as a modern advo¬ cate of the old Anselmic theory of the Atonement." As our correspondent does not seem to be very clear on the matter, we still believe the statement in ques¬ tion was circulated a few years ago in the papers. The book was most favourably received, and has sold as well as translations of theological works generally do, e.g., those from the German. It seems to us absurd to compare the circulation of works which in form and matter are intended to be popular with that of works essentially technical. It is equally misleading to compare men by the number of copies of their books sold. How many editions of " Paradise Lost " were called for during