Welsh Journals

PARISH MAGAZINE JULY, 1909. THE BISHOP OP CHESTER IN HOLY TRINITY CHURCH. SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE CHURCH: EXTENSION WORE. IN LLANDUDNO. The prolonged stay of the Bishop of Chester in Llandudno while his palace in Chester is undergoing- alterations has afforded much gratifi.cation to the resi¬ dents and visitors, but to none so much as to the Church people in the Parish, who greatly appreciated his Lordship's willing assistance to the Clergy of the Parish at St. George's Church and else¬ where. On the evening of the Third Sunday after Trinity, the 27th of last month, the Bishop preached to a crowded congrega¬ tion in Holy Trinity Church, when he made special reference to the work of Church Extension in the Parish. His Lordship's sermon was based on the Gospel for the day in conjunction with the words of our Saviour, "Give not that which is Holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine." The teaching in the two cases is apparently contradictory, but the Bishop explained the clue to the right understanding of this apparent conflict between our Lord's in¬ junction and our Lord's practice by saying that His unfailing method was to address Himself to the best in man so as to call forth the better self. That was also a method which we should strive to cultivate. He remembered, a good many years ago, when the Egyptian army was being organ¬ ised under Sir Evelyn Wood, the first Sirdar, a British officer being asked to go out to command one of the branches of the Egyptian army. The Egyptian sol¬ diers at that time were regarded as almost hopeless. They had been tried again and again in the field of battle, and had con¬ s'stently run away. They were of fairly good physique, but lacked moral strength and courage. That officer, who knew exactly what was thought of the men, said at the time that he intended to make his guiding rule in training and disciplining them to believe in them himself. That was, in fact, the policy which our British officers,, on ma.ny a frontier, dealing with different races, under very different con¬ ditions, had successfully carried out. They believed in their men, and by doing so brought out the better selves which were in the men. The Egyptian army was only one of a number of illustrations of the success of that particular method, and under the patient, firm, sympathetic, consistent hands of our British officers, the Egyptian army came to be a weapoi? which could be relied upon in the day of battle. This great principle of calling out the better selves of the people one had to deal with was a valuable one in all human affairs. It had the stamp of the Saviour upon it, and His great follower, St. Paul, acted upon very much the same method. If one had to administer a rebuke, in the family, in the Church, and in all the de¬ partments of the State, was it not more likely to be received in the right spirit, and to be responded to by the better self of the people or of the individual if it were accompanied by a recognition of all that was good in the person or the people to be ohided—justice, cordial generous jus¬ tice, can best afford to be severe, and the severity which accompanies that kind of treatment is pretty sure to meet with a response, because one tried to get at the man within the man, and to carry him with one in the rebukes or the criticisms which were administered. The connection between this and the matter of Church extension at Llandudno was not very obvious, but without much difficulty he thought it would be seen that there was a connection. We were re¬ minded that the Lord was still the friend of publicans and sinners welcoming all in public and private worship, using the ordinances of His House to do what He Himseilf was doing upon the earth. Was it not most desirable that the Church should go forward making provision for worshippers, making provision for drawing all to Him in various ways in Church and out of Church, through social provision as well as more distinctively religious pro¬ vision, drawing men and women and chil¬ dren, body, soul and spirit, to be with God, to be partakers with Him of holy things, and to be saved from becom¬ ing the victims of their lower selves, and