Welsh Journals

156 BYE-GONES. Dec, 1880, how that Lampeter College had been founded about fifty years ago by Bishop Burgess, mainly for the purpose of providing ministers for the Church of England. Subse¬ quently the College was granted charters, empowering it to grant B.D. degrees and afterwards B.A. degrees. Though the students at the present time were nearly all intended for the Church of England ministry, there was nothing in the constitution of the College to prevent Non¬ conformists becoming students. He considered that the present means of intermediate education should be improved, and higher education provided for girls, something similar to that which had been provided at Carmarthen; and he was not adverse to the extension of the Lampeter charter, so as to give degrees to students from other colleges examined by an extraneous Board, if due provision were made for the examination of theological students as at Cambridge. He considered the existence of Lampeter necessary for the welfare of the Church, because it was in a position where students could be drawn from Welsh speaking counties. The difficulty was in getting candidates for holy orders with a thorough Welsh education; and for that reason ha deprecated young Welshmen intended for the ministry going to St. Bees. Principal Jayne explained that at present there were 80 students on the books of the College, a very considerable proportion of whom were destined for the ministry in the Church of England, though it was not a denominational college so far as its constitution was concerned. He had been connected with Jesus College for eleven years, and was appointed principal of Lampeter College in 1879. He was agreeably surprised at the standard of preparedness shown by students at the entrance examination, which, he thought, was equal to that of the rank and file of Jesus Col¬ lege. The want of preparation bad been a common com¬ plaint, and he admitted that the preliminary education could be improved. The present deficiency in this respect, he thought, was due to the want of organisation in intermediate schools. There seemed to be no adequate endowment to meet the linguistic diffi¬ culties, and the comparative poverty of the class from which students were drawn. The grammar schools of Wales seemed all to have been attempting to do the same kind of work, whereas, he thought, there should be schools of different grades. Speaking of the general question of higher education, he admitted that local universities were feeders to the older universities, and that the power to grant the B.A. degree had been bene¬ ficial to Lampeter. He, however, expressed his feeling that the Welsh as a nation were not noted for accuracy ; and he thought that accurate knowledge could be better obtained under a tutorial system of instruction than under a professorial system. As a rule, students in Colleges between nineteen and twenty-three years of age intended entering the ministry, and he did not think it would benefit young men of sixteen, intended for the professions, to leave good intermediate schools for colleges where general instruction was given, though he thought it would be beneficial if they could leave for schools established for the teaching of special sciences. He had been told by Oxford examiners that the Lampeter degree was equal to an ordinary Oxford or Cambridge B.A. degree, and he believed it was a fact. If an M.A. degree were established in connection with a Welsh University, he thought it ahould represent advanced merit, like that of London. Principal Jayne concluded by expressing his belief that the establishment of a school of science would be beneficial to South Wales, < and he thought that a knowledge of agricultural chemistry, as well as of general chemistry, would be eminently useful to the theological students of St. David's College. DECEMBER 1, 1880. NOTES. SIR WILLIAM MAURICE OF CLENENNEY. (Nov. 17, 1880). John Lloyd to Sir William Maurice. From the original at Brogyntyn. Right Wor'—After respect of my humble dutie, yo'u shall vnderstand that l'res came hither, ijo dayes past, by a post w'ch menc'oed that my lord pr'aydent would be heare at ludlowe vpon the xviijZ/t of this moneth : and y't is credibly thought that his l'p will travell w'th j S'r ffraunc' Eure (1) throughe all his Circuitt : but i whether he will soe doe or not is not certenly knowne till J his l'ps coming hither—here attendeth of theCouncell, Mr. j Justice, S'r henrie Towneshend, S'r ffrauncis Eure, and i Mr. Justyce overburye—this terme is a reasonable terme : | but I haue knowne many a better ; but for my part I haue j for fyve weeks past byn trobled w'th an Ague, w'ch as yet 1 hangeth vpon me and sore vexeth me, to my litle p'ffytt j this term tyme. S'r Walter Ravvleighe his voyage is quite ou'throwne, to the grete hindrance of many ap'son [a person.] And y't is Credibly reported, That S'r Thomas Brom¬ ley, a Knight borne in the coun' of Salopp sonne & heyre to S'r henry Bromley K'ght decessed, who was ! lycenzed by his Ma'tie to travell, hath Robbed the Kinge ; of Spayne his Tresurie howse, and hath taken millions (yee vnknowne riches and tresures from thence) and now ; he lyeth vpon the Narrow Seas, expectinge his Ma'ties 1 gracious pardon; And y't is also reported that the I Kinge of Spayne sent to his Ma'tie, signifyeinge | the pr'miss's [premises], and request'g restituc'on of the goods & riches by him taken, but I doe not heare of any assent of restituc'on yelded vnto. I haue noe newes other then before to adu'tize yo'r wor' of, And therefore I for this tyme leave to troble yo'u any further, but betake my self to ffeede my quakeinge and burninge Ague, that forgetteth not to visit me, and thus with my daily pr'yers to Almighty god for to blesse yo'u and all yo'rs, and to Contynue his grace & favor towards yo'u, and for the contynuance of yo'r health & p'speritie, I comitt yo'r Wor' to the blessed tuic'on of Almightie god, And rest ever Most redy at yo'r Wor' Comaundement till deathe, ludlow lo Junii 1618 John lloyd Addressed :—" To the right Wor' his verie lovinge and muche respected Wor' frend S'r Wm. Maurice, Knight, d'd theis." A.R.P. (1) " Sir Francis Eure was, I think, at this time Chief Justice of the North Wales Circuit. He married a grand-daughter of Sir Wm. Maurice and his heiress.''—Note by the late W. W. E. Wynne, Esq., of Peniarth. PARISH RECORDS OF TOWYN-MERION- ETH.—A correspondent of the Carnarvon Herald (who unfortunately is not able to decipher the Court-hand) has recently inspected some old parish records of Towyn, and has given several extracts in the paper. Shorn of his notes and comments, which readers of Bye-goncs will scarcely care for, the following are amongst the most interesting entries. I may premise I have only the printed "copy" to follow, my extracts not having been compared with the original. The Vicar of Towyn's share of tyth by.........was not taxed at all to the land tax till a heir of Caethley, upon a vacancy with one Mr. Hughes, Vicar, taxed the tithe corn in Ddauddwffryn at 20th, and the vicar contrived to be taxed at the same rate until! Mr. LI: Edwaryds' of