Welsh Journals

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Brw^stli SDeaner^ flfoac$a3me* Vol. 2. JULY, 1894. No. 19. Dear Mr. General Secretary, In reading my weekly paper I often come across accounts of Kuri-decanal and other meetings of the clergy in various parts of the country, and the thought has more than once occurred to my mind, why it is no such meetings are held in this neighbourhood. I am a constant reader of the Arwystli Deanery Maga¬ zine, and, unless my memory fails me, have never once seen any account of a Ruri-decanal meeting in its columns. I presume that if such meetings were held. some notice of them would be sent to what appears to be, at any rate on the surface, the official organ of the Church in the Deanery. Now I appeal to you, Mr. General Secretary, and through you to the clergy and leading spirits of the Church generally, is this a time to let the splendid organization of the Church remain unused ? Why is the machinery which is ready to our hand not put in motion ? Is it not a time for Church¬ men, Clergy and Laity alike, to bestir themselves, to take advantage of every opportunity, to bring into action every available force, and to make the voice ot the Church heard, recognized, and felt ? We have a Rural Dean. The mystic letters (R.D.) which appear frequently on the pages of the magazine, if nothing else, would serve to remind us of that fact. Why does he not summon his clergy to meet in conference ? Yes, and there would be no harm done if he were to invite a few laymen now and again, to join them in discussing the many pressing problems, which now, more than ever, obtrude themselves on the attention of every faithful son of the Church. I for one would gladly see prize poems and translations, however excellent, together with eulogistic and congratulatory notices replaced by some more solid and tangible evidences of the Church's activity and alertness in these trying times. I am only a humble but sincere member of our beloved Church, and am far from wishing to dictate to ray betters, or to lay claim to more than an average amount of wisdom and foresight, but I must confess that I should be glad to hear that the clergy are alive to the situation, and should always be willing not only to read with pleasure some account of their deliberations m the Magazine or elsewhere, but to pay resp ctful attention to their counsels. Yours, &c, ARWYSTLI. [" Arwystli " would have saved himself some trouble and possibly loss of temper, though he would have deprived us of an interesting letter if he had not too rashly jumped at conclusions. It is true we never report Ruri-decanal meetings, but that such meetings are regularly held he might easily have learnt by asking the first clergyman he met. The clergy of the d&>e&foj meet in conjunction with their neighbours of Cyfeiliog once a quarter. Why we never report the meetings we cannot explain. We once wrote to the Secretary sug¬ gesting that a report should be sent, and his reply was that he had not been authorized by the clergy to publish the proceedings. We shall be only too glad to publish reports if sent to us. The suggestion that laity should be invited to meet the clergy seems to be an excellent one. We may add that we welcome the letter as show¬ ing an interest in Church matters on the part of our readers, of which we should be glad to see further signs. The only prize poem we have published thoroughly deserved its position, while the insertion of E.O.J.'s translation, as we explained at the time, was due to remissness on the part of our correspondents. Perhaps " Arwystli " will save us from being driven to such shifts, in future.—Gen. Bee,Arwystli D.M.] LLANIDLOES. The Magazine appears this month under the shadow of a great sorrow. The appalling disaster at Cilfynydd has touched our town and neighbourhood heavily with the hand of Death, and has left amongst us fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and children robbed of those near and dear to them. There is a considerable colony of Llanidloes workmen earning their livelihood at Cilfynydd, and the local loss, though it might have been numerically greater had the accident occurred when the regular colliers were working, is indeed very heavy and serious, and has brought grief and desolation to many a home and family among us. The total number of lives lost as estimated at the time of writing is 278. Of these 15, whose names are given below, are from this neighbourhood. On Wednesday, June 27th, the bodies of Joseph Hughes, Richard Owen, and