Welsh Journals

July 29, 1892. THE WELSH WEEKLY speediest and surest healing comes through oppor¬ tunities of quietly musing on His love for us, and of listening to the music of His peace-giving voice. that all faithful Christians in the town pile their " maledictions " on such unholy practices. EDITORIAL NOTES. We deeply regret our inability to insert a portrait of the late Dr. Thomas this week, but it will appear in our next issue. It is to be hoped that the address which Colonel Senior delivered in Cardiff last week, in aid of the Anglo-Indian Evangelisation Society, will be the means of inducing the going men of Cardiff to take a deeper interest in foreign missions. Mr. Lewis Williams, speaking at the meeting, considered it a sad defect that so few in the town had volunteered for missionary work. We are sorry to find also that Cardiff's contri¬ bution to the Society has fallen from £90 in 1874, to £30 a year or less. The Executive Committee of the Liberation Society has been congratulating itself on the return of 18 of its members to Parliament. They also "regard with great satisfaction the return of a majority committed to the policy of Disestablishment, either throughout the United Kingdom, or in Wales and Scotland." Mr. Illingworth, one of the Society's treasurers, and Mr. Carvell Williams, chairman of its Parliamentary com¬ mittee, are to be specially congratulated on their return, and we may expect that some solid work will be done by them for the cause they have so long and ably championed. Religious people when they go holiday-making are very apt to give a holiday to their religion. But the Holiness Convention just held at Llandrindod Wells shows that it is possible to get the visitors to our fashionable watering-places to take a genuine interest in religious services. The addresses of the veteran evangelist, Rev. W. Haslam, and others were to many a "tonic " of the best kind. We trust the Convention will become an annual institution at Llandrindod, and as it will become more widely known, a larger atten¬ dance will be ensured. The example of the Swansea alderman is quickly taking effect in other places. The Rhondda Chamber of Commerce are moving in the matter of extending the train service on Sunday in the Rhondda. For aught that we have seen, this body of people are allowed to press their cause on the authorities of the Taff Vale Railway without any remonstrance on the part of the religious people of the Rhondda. Sunday travelling in the Rhondda is already a disgrace to our country ; the rowdyism and drunkenness is fearful to witness. It is surely more in the interests of religion in the Rhondda than that of the Chamber of Commerce that the question of Sunday travelling should be dis¬ cussed. At the Grindelwald Conference, one of the chief topics of discussion was '' Ecclesiastical barriers to Reunion." Rev. Mr. Hay Aitkin said that so many in his own communion would accept as a solution of present difficulties, the recognition of all Noncon¬ formist ministers as at present ordained, but that in future a bishop might be present and join in the imposition of hands ; the free interchange of pulpits ; and as a further point of contact, Nonconformists might agree to some such order of Confirmation as the orthodox method of admission into Church fellowship. The chief point of difference seemed to centre on the historic episcopate. Dr. Mackennal made it at once clear that Nonconformists, never could or would con¬ sent to put historical episcopacy on the same level as the sacraments, and asked why the ordination of Non¬ conformist ministers should not be recognised without the presence of a bishop. As Nonconformists they fell back on the prehistoric episcopate, which he held must be the ground of unity. And so all discussions of union in which the clergy of the Established Church take part must end in nothing on account of this historic humbug. . PRESBYTERIAN NOTES. "Rumour hath it that Sunday Marine tripping from Cardiff is shortly to be introduced, in spite of the maledictions of the Rev. John Pugh." In' this style a Cardiff paper announces the progress made by the Sunday desecration movement in the town. Would We are sorry to find that several mistakes crept into our report of the sermons delivered at the opening of East Moors Hall, and we wish to state that Professor Ellis Edwards, M.A., is not responsible for several statements reported, at least as they were reported. About that time we met a ministerial friend who very much doubted the wisdom of inviting such men as Messrs. Edwards and Watters to preach on such an occasion, to such an audience, as they were too " deep." We replied that on such occasions the best preachers appeared at their best, for we remembered an advice once given to students by a worthy divine : "My young friends, it requires all our learning to make things simple." True to this maxim, the discourses of the above named gentlemen highly delighted the East Moors people for lucidity and directness. To write a condensed report of such sermons, however, is very difficult, and we wish our readers to bear that in mind when reading such reports. The statistics for 1891 of the Monmouth, Glam¬ organ, &c, Prebytery have just been published. They show a good year's work. There is an increase recorded of 473 in communicants, 1,813 in adherents, 601 in Sabbath School scholars, and six new churches. There is an increase in total contributions of £2,464 Is. Od. ; average sum collected per member, £3 2s. 5d., Newport leading the way with £9 2s. lOd. per member. These figures are very encouraging. The churches of the Presbytery labour under great disadvantages on account of their isolation, and the difficulty which distance places in the way of con¬ certed action. It is time that all our English within the area mentioned, churches should be united together under one Presbytery. Then district meet¬ ings could be established, and a proper scope provided for the exercise of the administrative talent of the English members. The news of the death of Dr. Llewellyn Ivan Evans, Bala, will create a deep feeling of regret throughout the Principality. Little did we think that the "Wel¬ come Home " which the new professor received at Bala a few days ago was only a prelude to the welcome to the home above. The deepest sympathy will be felt with Mrs. Evans in her bereavement, and the authorities of Bala on the loss of a distinguished Professor. CONGREGATIONAL NOTES. The Rev. J. E. Thomas and Mrs. Thomas have newly returned to Wales on a three months' furlough from the Italian capital. Mr. Thomas, as an old Car¬ marthen student, a former pastor of Glanhafren Church, Mont., and an occasional writer on Sardinian topics to Welsh periodicals, is well known to a wide circle of friends and admirers both in North and South Wales. So is Mrs. Thomas as an accomplished lady who lectured at many a place on Sardinia when she visited our country by herself some six years back. Mr. Thomas has been honoured with six days impri¬ sonment for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ since he visited our country some ten years back, but, yea, a significant but, when his case came to a proper trial his two prosecutors were impri¬ soned for six months each. Both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas look well, and in due time intend to return to their important post in Rome. May God's blessing follow them. seems almost impossible for any of these new move¬ ments to deal fairly with conservative thinkers. The Grindelwald Conference and this Summer College are both open to the objection that nearly all of the men who take a leading part belong pretty much to the same school of theology. It seems to us that it would be far wiser to bring together men of various shades of opi¬ nion to lecture on such occasions, so that those attend¬ ing may have an opportunity to compare the different views presented. This need not in any way result in unfriendly antagonism. Let it be distinctly under¬ stood that the object of the conference or college is to present frankly what may be said on all sides of the great questions at issue. Such a college as this would command the sympathy and respect of a large class of scholars who may not look with much complacency upon the first att mpt to introduce the Chatauquan system into this country. The matter of the insurance of the chapels was put before the quarterly meeting of the English Congrega¬ tional Union, held at Barry last week. It is surpris¬ ing how slow our churches move in this matter. An insurance company has been formed by the Congrega¬ tional Churches, and the shareholders of the company are the leaders and ministers of the denomination, and the profits of the concern would be devoted to the Retiring Pastors' Fund and the Widows and Orphans' Fund. With such deserving objects to support, it is to be hoped that the churches insure their buildings in the Congregational Fire Insurance Company. The Christian Commonwealth, referring to the Sum¬ mer School at Oxford, complains that "the main objection to the programme is its one-sidedness. It Professor Dods, discoursing on '' TIip Teaching of Jesus," "thought A'Kempis's 'Imitation of Christ,' and Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Progress ' laid too much stress, for us in this day, on the individual safety of the soul, and too little on the wider and manifold, unselfish and inter-dependent interests of the kingdom of God. He had been asked to join the Christian Kingdom Society. He could not do it, for he was already in the ampler, all-embracing Kingdom of God." ■ "Tell me," said Dr. Cave, " a man's philosophy of perception, and I will tell you his views of the funda¬ mental positions of theology." Professor Jowett described Southey as " a good man and a good writer of prose, and not a bad poet." We have much pleasure in announcing the safe arrival of Mr. Ernest Hughes in the Congo. The Centenary Thanksgiving Fund has reached the handsome sum of £83,149 3s. 4d. The Centenary Volume is out of the press and is very highly spoken of. The Crystal Palace Festival in connexion with the Centenary will be of a most interesting kind. It is intended mainly for the Sunday Schools in the Metropolis. The price of the Centenary Memorial Volume is 2s. net, but to subscribers it is offered at Is. 6d., exclusive of postage 4id. a copy. We understand that the Rev. J. D. Hughes, Ponty- gwaith, is about to visit America, and has received a certificate of recommendation from the East Glamor¬ ganshire Association. BAPTIST NOTES. The Congo Training Institute is becoming un¬ doubtedly a very live question in Wales. It must be admitted that there is some diversity of opinion as regards the wisdom of it, but it is equally without doubt that by far the majority of the associations and churches are in favour of it. One or two of the asso¬ ciations have declined to pass resolutions favourable, but with those couple of exceptions the voice of the associations has been unanimous in its favour. We have heard that the Baptist and Freeman news¬ papers are boycotting the institute by declining to give publicity to anything favourable, but, on the other hand, being particularly careful to publish any resolu¬ tion unfavourable. This attitude of the denominational press is very unworthy, but it is a kind of thing that we in Wales have always had reason to complain of. Other journals, however, are not so prejudiced, especially secular journals, The Daily Graphic has honoured the institution with an engraving of the president and the inmates, accompanied by a very appreciative article strongly recommending the institu¬ tion on the score of its undoubted adaptation to secure the object contemplated. The Liverpool Daily Courier also gives it a very appreciative notice.