Weekly Mail

FIRST DAY. 1 ^tost of the delegates accepted the in vi- sion to he present at the reception |jven at the Park-hall on Monday evening by Robert Bird, J.P., the president of the ■irdiff Free Churches Council. It was an ^fortunate circumstance that Mr. Bird was liable to be present on account of an attack J bronchia;! catarrh. His place was well •^ed by his son. Councillor C. II. Bird. In edition to the delegates there were about a ^usand of their hosts and friends present, t-hat the hall, spacious as it is. was crowded both. balcony and floor. Dr. Parker— the most interesting Free Churchman the king-dam-was not there, although he r!?ed in Cardiff from London in the after- j>°°n. Another notable absentee was the Rev. Price Hughes, who is indisposed. Dr. J^nnness Rogers, one of the founders of the rco Church Council and one of its brightest 01'uaraenta. moved briskly among- the throng. :1nd another venerable figure that attracted attention was that cf the Rev. C. H'. Kelly, the -V.iring president. While the guests were wins formally received by Councillor Bird Mr, J. p. Proud's party sang part songs and "lees with characteristic good taste, and variety was introduced by the selections of the Knott Tronibone Quartette and those of 1fr. A. O. Jones on the great organ. Taking the chair on the platform, Mr. Bird supported on oither hand by the Eev. J. Greenhough (the president-elect), the Eev. II. Kelly. Dr. Guinness Rogers, Mr. Compton ^ieketts. MP., Mr. Alfred Thomas, M.P., Gipsyi ^ith. the Rev. John M'Neill, Dr. Monro 'woo. the Rev..1. H. Jowett, Mr. Lewis lliams. J P-. the Rev. Thomas Law (organi- secretary' and the vic--presidents of the V^iff Council (the Rev. H. M. Hughes and Samuel Bennett). ^voanoill-jr Bird, in weleorainor the Free -iujrcix Council to Cardiff in the name of (,'r8 father. expressed his keen regret that he Robert Bird) could not be present, this a movement in which he took a great <ja interest. They f'Slt honoured in sr-(!¡ff to offcr their hospitality to such a (Applause.) Rev. c. H. Kelly introduced his successor Greeit of pr-eaident. the Rev. J. q TTbo wa-s loudly applauded. f«lt ohl.I>rcs|ident-eicct said that he already te- Pd to Mr' Rirrl and his father and to 8Plendj^D'6 of Cardiff for ha.vinjr given such a t0 what ha hoped wonld be a ) 'H to 8er^€s meetings. They were all 'n Wales. They had come to the ^tli jv l.y with glowing expectations, and J^ttld Ca+ '?pe that their Polar English blood qi j from tho fervour and enthu- hnrt ,r ^rels'1 brethren. He (tho U/1 and not „a,^vays a. profound admira- vlr^lange.) Tf love for the Welsh people. laajrhtp-vTu cou*^ ever be born again— ^ahiaan *fi> would like to be horn an tW w«n £ n!Wed lanShter.) The next son Of t>to 8tart life as a of PoMd»ality, Jor, as they, all knew, Welshmen were a brave, plucky, free, and unconquerable people. (Applause.) They had ail the English virtues—(laughter)—and some littie share of the English vices. They were an imaginative and grandly musical people—he would go fifty miles at any time to hear a Vtol3h congregation sing; and, above all things, they were a religious people. He was glafi they had conie to Wales when Welshmen were suffering from a real grievance, because Welsh- men were always at their'best when they had a real grievance. (Laughter.) He was referring to the Reval Arms and the reasonable demand that Wales should have a place there. This reminded him that the English people also Lad a grievance against the Welsh—the Welsh preachers were over-running their country. They were lika ruthless, determined Boers, and captured their best puipitsA He would certainly change his name to Jones or Llewellyn if he were "gain commencing his ministerial career. (Laughter.) Every Welshman was either a Christmas Ev.ras, or would like to bo which was the same thing, and if he was not a preacher he was a poet. No Englishman wrote poetry after he was eighteen years of age unless he was either a genius or a fool. (Laughter.) A Welshman wa.s born to it; he lisped in verse, and went on all his life gasp- ing it out with his native breath. There was much reason to suppose that Horner was a Welshman, but some ignorant people thought, lie was a Greek, and he (Mr. Greenhough) had a strong suspicion til at Shakspcare was a Wolshman—(laughter)—because whenever he introduced Welshmen into his plays he extolled them to the skies and made them either heroes or saints. If Shak-jpeare was not a Welshman, he ought to have been. (Renewed la-nghter.) Taking these things into consideration Englishmen had no chanoe. But he was of a. forgiving nature, and he trusted they would have grand meetings all through. (Applause.) At the invitation of Mr. Bird, all the people assembled then. adjourned to the lenser-hall, where refreshments were provided by Messrs. Stevens, of the Dorothy. In the afternoon a meeting of the general committee was held, presided over by the Rev. C. H. Kelly. The business was purely formal.

SECOND DAY. A nine o'clock sermon by the Rev. C. 11. Kelly, the retiring president, opened Tuesday' proceedings. Early as it was to a fraternity whose wont is not to obey the six o'clock or any other hooter, this, tho first "serious" meeting of I the series, was well attended, all the seats on the ground floor being filled, while there were cilly a few gaps here and there on the balcony. The Rev C. II. IvELLf, (President of ilie Free .hurdi Congresa. 19W-1. 1- Dr. Parker, looking fresh and vigorous, wan early en the scene, and toek Ins seat on the platform with Dr. -JnunnesB Rog:rs, the Rev. 0. G. Greenhough, the Iter. Thomas Law (organising secretary), end Mr. Robert Bird. The preacher's text was, One thing I know that, whereas I was blind, now I see.' Flavoured with more practical thought and suggestion than with mere theo'ogy, the discourse was just of that character calculated to open up the minds of the assemblage for the better or the worse things that were to follow during the day. At the conclusion of the sermon the outgoing president (the Rev. C. H. Kelly) vacated the chair, and formally welcomed the Rev. J. G. Greenhough, M.A.. as his successor to the arreatest honour that the Free Churches Council can bestow upon its best men. Mr. Kelly congratulated his brother upon having attained a position so worthy, and he congratulated the council upon its choice .)f on3 80 eminently fitted for the duties of tbo offi ceo THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Tlia new Pro3hi«nt was loudly applauded upon stepping forward to deliver his address. I~e said that his only regret was that ope who had so worthily tilled the office was vacating it. With a constant flow of fresh, piquant humour, Mr. Greenhough kept. ixie aud;enee in a state of keen and unbroken attenlivene-ss. Some of his thrusts at the Ritualistic; party of the Church of England iu particulur were relished by an audience of so many Dissenters. In this age of clever mediocrity, talent without genius, statesmanship without religious con- Dr. J. MONRO (JIBSOX, M.A., Hon. Secretary of the .National Council. viction, and leaders who wateued the weataer- cock, they inbrht well pray for giants like those mighty men of valour written of in the Book of ChromclM, who.ha-i understanding of the timed to know what Israel ought to do." Some men, iike Erasmus— it was safer not to mention men, like Erasmus— it was safer not to mention modern names—had perspicacity without courage. They knew exactly what ought to be dc no if someone else would do it. The world was beginning to discove-r that it could give chase to a hundred if the hundred would only run. (Laughter.) They knew some things down in Judge a better tLan they did in London and Cardiff to-day. Speaking of present-day tendencies towards co- operation, the president went on to s.ty that it wa3 commonly asserted that they were all Socialists now. Some of them would object to being classed in that way, and yet it mast be admitted that, while the Socialists' "Utopia had gone back into the fantastic dreamland whence it emerged, its practical proposals were sweeping the extreme individualists from the filed. He had no confidence in those huge agglo- merations which they i:l this country called combines, but which Americans, with more humour, called "trusts." (Laughter.) The first "combine" of which they had any mention was recorded in 'he Book cf Exodus, of which a clever Jew was the promoter. In this instance a number of foolish dapes invested their possessions only to produce and worship one golden calf. Aggregation, cohesion, and centripetal action were the dominating fac- The Rev. JOHN M'NEILL. tors of the modern world. Workmen w-crc federated into Trades Unions. Capitalists were joining in huge syndicates. Nations and races were feeling the pulses of a sympathetic one- ness and brotherhood. Great empires were building themselves up out of smaller princi- palities and peoples. Colonies and mother- land were being drawn together in closest bonds of kinship. Men of the same language and desecnt, though divided by Atlantics, were forgetting old enmities and jealousies, and realising all that they had in common. These were but examples of the general trend of events. Needless to say, the movement was not entirely healthy. Size was not always solidity. A head might be expanded by disease as well as enlarged by wisdom. God was great, but magnitude was not necessarily Divine. The trada combinations which created a few millionaires and crushed a thousand smaller tradesmen increased the sum of wealth, but did not hasten the Golden Age. The survival of the .Ii, wa,a sometimes vue oi me unfit. He supposed they were all Imperialists now, though some did not like the word because of its doubtful associations. He meant that they all accepted with gratitude and soberness the expansion which had been forced upon them as a nation and its inevitable burden of responsibility. He did not think that Free Churchmen were more g-uilty than others of the craven fear of being great, and he claimed for all of them the sincerest patriotism, and repudiated with scorn the notion that any political or religious party had a monopoly of that virtue. The Imperialism of the music-hall, with its frothy bravado and jerpetuai twanging on the Jingo guitar, was as far removed from theirs as Heaven was unlike the other place which polite lips never mentioned now. He trusted that when these troubled times were over tha Free Churches would be able to agree on an Imperial policy. It was a consummation for which they might reverently employ prayer. Meanwhile they would have it understood that empire did not mean with them merely or chiefly aggrandisement, ex- tended commerce, and riches ceaseless, but power and opportunity for righteous ends. Referring to the unity of the religious sects, the president went, on to say that Protestant Christiana shook hands where their fathers fought, and he thanked God that they had learnt common-sense in the school of charity. The wi:3B and earnest men in every Church —Free and Established—were raising and re- sponding to the cry for peace, friendship, and brotherhood. A State-aided clericalism never did and never could have understanding of the time3, and only blindly resisted the incoming tide. But the tide still swept on, though fussy sacerdotalism was busy with besom pushing iL back. Christ, living and breathing in men's hearts, was mightier than surplice and mitre, dusty traditions and fossilised forms. Sensible men were everywhere laugh- ing at clerical assumptions and exclusiveness. Men who said. We arc the Church, the autho- rised teachers, and there are no others," nmst, surely, laugh in secret in each others' faces as the old Roman soothsayers did. They might boast of Apostolic succession and historical continuity, but they were much more likely to be regarded as tn the line of Pharisaical continuity, for they had borrowed far more from the gentlemen who wore phylacteries than from the fishermen whom Christ inspired. Here was the significant fact that while all ether Protestant forces in the land were yield- ing fully and joyfully to thia great Divine [ thought there was one Church which stood alone in obstructing, not because it had no wise minds and understanding hearts, but because when Slate fetters were worn the heart could not follow its sympathies, and the nind distrusted its own light.. The Church of ttie nation had become the prime dissenter of tho nation, the great schismatic. Everywhere else sectarianism was dying; there it survived I in its cold, haughty, unlovely strength. setting up in every town and village its symbol of strife and division, and perpetuating envy, pride, malice, and all uncharitablcness. ceparating fellow-eitizene and fellow-Christians by lines more exasperating than any other which classes parties, or politics knew, refus- ing even a mingling of tears in times of great national mourning, dividing men at birth and wedding, in school and social life. in philan- thropies and charities, pushing them asunder when ill ay knelt at God's feet in prayer, and even following them to the cemetery to thrust their dust apart when Death, the great reconciler, had said its final word of peace. They might, well ask how long a spiritual institution would consent to degrade itself into a root of bitter- ness like this for the sake of secular privilege. The pendulum of thought had slowlv swung from the negative to the positive pole Dot- tracti.ve criticism had fallen from a com- man-ling place to a more modest background Agnosticism was no longer the fashionable philosophy. Its stock phrases had become decidedly threadbare a'td outworn. A little while ago every fie:Idling from the nursery was spreading his wing? to^he tune of "Behold we know not. anything," as if anyone needed to he informed of that. Every puny whipster, frcan trom school, was authoritatively declaiming, There lives more faith in honest doubts, belicFc me, than in half the creoda." They heard these oracular utterance. in the cackling of every goose. That amusing exhibition was a thing of the past. Men no longer cast off the garments of faith and glory in their naked- ness. There was an anxiety to be decently clothed, and the feet which were climbing uowliiiher on clouds were feeling under them a bit of rock again. But the rock, while it, spread itself out lesg, went deeper. The mul- tiplicity of beliefs had been reduced to a smaller number of unshakable certainties. They had cea'ssd'to be sure of everything, but. they were more mightily sure of some things. The intricacies of complicated creeds no longer charmed and puzzled. They were content to leave such human contrivances as the Thirty- nine Articles to the only service for which they were now rescrved-the administering to aspirants for Holy Orders the forty stripes save one. Yet they knew whom they had believed. The Free Chnrchcs parti- cularly were inarching confidently, as the Apost.cs did, to the music of ths words "We know"; they were more securely fixed than ever on the grand evangelical truths; there was no uncertain ring in their testi- mony concerning the incarnate mysteries, the Deity of Our Lord, the saving efficacy of His Calvary, the might of His resurrection, and the regenerating forces of the Holy Ghoat. They all believed substantially the aime; things. They went forth to the canflict united as they had never been before—one army, one watchword, one leader, and one purpose—and in this union around the everlasting verities of Jesus there wa-s strength and assurance of victory. The Church was no longer outeide the world, but in it. Pharisaical separation had given place to Christ's pure consorting with publicans and sinners, and the phylacteries had been put off for the girdle of ministering I love. The question, "What must I do to be saved?" was half forgotten in the nobler question, "What can I do to save the world?" They were sure that wherever the way pointed they would have Him as leader. r_Î!d they simply prayed for light to see and courage to follow, and be men like "those men of valour who had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do." The concluding sentences cf the brilliant and masterly address were hailed with loud and continued applause, and from the beginning to the end there were frequent outbursts of approval. A TRIBUTE TO OANON THOMPSON. Mr. Robert Bird, J.P., was heartily received upon rising to address the gathering. Having expressed his sympathy with the principles underlying the Free Churches Council, Mr. Bird paid a, glowing tribute to the Rev. Canon Thompson as an active, broadmiaded Churchman who had done great work in the town during the past 30 years. As president of the Cardiff Free Church Council he (Mr. Bird) felt it his duty to make this reference I in that great assembly now ihat Canon Thompson was about to leave Cardiff for London. SYMPATHY" FOR THE REV. HUGH PRICE HUGHES. On the suggestion of the Rev. Thomas Law (secretary) the congress unanimously approved of a telegram of sympathy being sent to the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes in his illness. Mr. Law added that Mr. Hugthes was rapidly recovering. The suggestion was also cordially adopted to send a deputation of' three rev. gentlemen, one^of them being the Rev. J. Baillie (Cardifi'), to represent the Free Churches Council at the funeral of the Rev. Urijah Thomas, Bristol. A LOYAL RESOLUTION. The Rev. Thmias Allen. D.D., president of the Wesley an Conference, moved a resolution assuring King Edward VII. of the sincere and hearty loyalty of the Free Churches on the accession of his Majesty to the ancient and illustrious Throne. The resolution also expressed sympathy with the King and Royal Family in the loss of their great Monarch and beloved Sovereign, Queen Victoria, one whose motherhood comprehended all classes and peoples in her vast realm. In his rcmark3 Dr. Allen *&ke of the Queen's fidelity to the principlesBp religious and civil liberty, and added thafif Canterbury had been as reason- able as Windsor the relations between -the Anglican Church and Nonconformity would have been more cordial than they were. Mr. Compton Rykett, M.P., seconded, and was applauded for the witty remark that the Welsh people had given Ul) their Prince of Wales and had eet their hearts on a red dragon. The resolution was carried by all upstand- ing THE FREE CHURCHES OF SCOTLAND. There was a flutter among the vast assem- blage when tho veteran Dr Guinness Rogers was called upon to move the next resolution. It wis one of congratulation upon the union o* the two Free Churches of Scotland. In a speech of great eloquence and force the doctor pointed to the spectacle of their Scotch brethren being linked to- g'ether. They saw that they had the same doctrine, the same discipline, the same form of worship, the same historical traditions, and they presented a magnificent spectacle of a united brotherhood, knowing I no lord but God and no law but the Gospel. He would mention, in justice to the services of one maft in connection with this movement, the name of Principal Rainey. (Loud applause.) Mr. Bamford Slack, B.A.. seconded, and the motion was approved of with a round of applause. Iir. Monro Gibson read a letter from Principal Iiainey, <n which that worthy expressed hia admiration for the remarkable effort by which the Free Churches had been ceiaented together. LORD PEEL'S REPORT. ( Another resolution toucliea upon Lord Peel's ] report, and contained the expression of feel- < ing that the recommendations in that report, ] if embodied in statute law. would tend greatly to diminish the widespread and growing evils 1 of intemperance. | The mover was the Eev. J. Travis, who remarked that the adoption of the report would mean a, reduction of 60.000 public-houses throughout the country, the pro- portion .being- one publio-house to every 700 people in the towns and one to every 400 people in the country. If thj Government 1 turned a deaf ear to the united ClnU"ches and temperance eocieties they deserved to be chucked out of office. The Rev. G. S. Hornby having geoonded, the resolution was carried without dissent, and delegates, officials, and everybody else hurried off to their mid-day meal. ORGANI SI NG SECRETARY'S REPORT. On the agenda for the afternoon there were two important iteme—the reading of the organising secretary's report by the Rev. Thomas Law and of the financial statement by Mr. Evan Snieer. J.P. Mr. Law's report filled a bulky volume of nearly 150 pages of closely printed matter. The report was taken as read.—Mr. Law, who is an optimist to his flnger-tipg .and a genius in the work of organisation, predicted that the Free Church Councils movement would ultimately belt the Churches of the entire English-speaking world. The Simultaneous Mission held a couple of weeks ago embraced no fewer than 5,0C0 centres from Land's End to John o' Groat's. As an example of the progress made during the past year, Mr. Law said that 87 new councils had been formed, and the number of councils through- out the country was now about 700, In a short space of time the whole of England and Wales would be covered with councils. One of the outstanding facts in connection with I this formation of councils was the large number formed in the Principality. Each district was dealt with separately, and in the paragraph given to South Wales it was men- tioned that the prospects of the federation are decidedly bright. South Wales had been divided into two districts, with the centres at Cardiff and Swansea respectively. The Rev. A. Rowland (ex-president of the Congregational Union) moved the adoption of the report, and delivered one of the most scholarly addresses of the day on the unity of the Churches. Mr. Silas it. Hocking, the famous novelist, on the other hand, made himself responsible for the brightest, and most entertaining speech of the day in seconding the motion. Every other sentence sparkled with humour, and Mr. Hock- ing and his audience became so friendlv that few people, if any, regretted the fact that necessity had arisen for him to take the place of Mr. Lloyd-George. M.P. A telegram was read from the Camarvon member stating tion of that statement, remarking that it was of a perfectly satisfactory character. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT. Mr. Evan Spicer (the treasnrer) was not present to read the financial statement, and Dr. Monro Gibson formally moved the adop- tion of that statement, remarking that it was of a. perfectly satisfactory character. The Eev. JOSEPH PARKER, D.D., Preacher of the Council Germon. Mr. Richard Cory seconded, and the meeting approved. FEDERATION IN THE MISSION FIELD. The way was now clear for the Rev. W. H. Findlay, M.A.. a missionary whose face had been browned by the suns of India, to read an important and well-prepared paper on "Fede- ration in the Missiou Field." It was a compliment fully deserved that Dr. Mackennal should have proposed the fuller consideration of the paper by the executive committee of the council, and the Rev. Thomas Law, in seconding, expressed his regret that more attention had not been given to the paper by the delegates, who were streaming out during the reading of it in order to be early at the tcu. tables. Dr. Mackencal's motion was agreed to. This was the end of the afternoon's work. DU. PAREER S SERMON. In many respects it wa3 a privilege to have been at the evening meeting. It was the most < inspiring' of all. The great hall was crowded, i aud it seemed, as one viewed the scene from i the platform, that not another man could < have been squeezed in anywhere. Dr. Parker i was timed to preach at 7.30, but before six i clocli there were hundreds of people t struggling to get near the doors. By 6.30 the ( hall was full, and by seven it was packed, ( Gipsy Smith, who is equal to any emergency 1 on an occasion of this kind, sang some of t Moody and Sankey's melodies, which "caught i en" with the audience, and when the evan- ( list was accompanied by his wife, the effect t being marked to a degree. With organ 1 accompaniment the audience aang "Crown I — —————————————————————————————— ] Mr. EVAN SP1CKK, } Chairman of the National Council Finance "v Committee. c c Committee. ( c Him. Lord of all" again and. again. and the more emotional among j the throng could not easily resist the away of this great outburst, of religious sentiment. As t a prelude in prose to the sermon that every- c body was waiting for. the Rev. Campbell I Morgan, who is shortly going out to America to take up the evangelistic work of the late r D. L. Moody, responded to the repeated calls j. from the audience for a "few words." Mr. t Morgan interpreted these demands a3 a tribute I to the memory of the man whom he was ( going to succeed. The speaker had not been i en his feet many minutes before Dr. Parker g entered, and was received with a respectful round of applause. c After a reading of Psalm xxiii. and 11 prayer by the Rev. J. A. Palmer, Folkestone the pastor of the City Temple took i his place at the little desk fixed on the plat- form. "By the providence of God," he said, "I have never had greater need of your sym- patliy and co-operative hearing than on this L most memorable occasion. I ought not to be j here for reasons of health.. • Aa to being j heard, there will be no difficulty if the man sitting next to you will behave himself." a (Laughter.) Dr. Parker, having referred to the illness of his honoured friend, the Rev t Hugh Price Hughes. said he was shocked t to hear of the death of Urijah Thomas, whom he had known from" his boyhood. The air was full of fare- 0 wells. His departed friend had enough of 0 s Mr. S. W. PERKS. M.P. I ia Welsh perspicacity and penetration when be was fourteen years of age to take an interest in his (Dr. Parker's) ministry. He had known ITrijali on his father's church dooi —hia face a living smile and his eye a bright hope. He had laboured well. He had aieo heard of the death of one of the greatest of Wesleyan ininistei e— the Rev. Wm. Arthur. "All these afflictions and removals," continued the preacher, "make the world so poor to me I am a stranger in my own country. My native town is now a cemetery. It is pitiful to go among the shadows-they would be chilling and utterly distressing if there were not behind them a greater light than the mid-day suo-the hope of resnrrec- tion. There arc some people who would not think what I have to say a sermon if there were not a text, whereas tho thing to take note of is, not the text, but the context. You shall have a text. There are thne or four that suit me admirably. First Corinthians. fourteenth chapter, fourteenth verse—If there come in those that are unlearned; if

WRECKING THE HAPPY HOME. Mr. FOX-DA VIES: "You fraud! You never were an arms, and never will be!"

there come in unhelievers; if there come in one that bclieveth not; if there come in one unlearned.' That would puzzle a National Council of Free Churches." What they wanted in their preaching, said the doctor, was universal human sentiment—the one touch of Nature that made the whole world kin. The things unsaid were the tragedy of the world. He had had a long experience of life, and he had met some really honest and honourable infidels. They did not smile at that. It took a great preacher to preach to one soul. There was only One Who had ever done it with 'i cl, adequate effect. He would like some of them to feel that the world was larger than their chapol. He wanted their hearts to tell them so, It always did good in a, church and it would do good in that hall to break some of the windows. The Church wanted fresh air. Referring to the "learned people," the preacher said, "How I some people are engrossed with the fourth century!" What a pity it ever occurred. Some people would never be happy if they did not water the weeds of the fourth century. He wondered if ho could get anybody to believe t that the ministry was not one of the learned ] professions. That would be a great stride in progre-53. It took a man of some stature to I stoop. If they teoli human experience as their basis t.hejr would be good preachers, and a member of the learned professions if they studied in the school of Christ. Many a learned man was not an educated man. People mistook information for education. He would ask the preachers, "Is there anything in your sermons for the brokenhearted?" There were broken hearts in every congrega- tion. Broken hearts sometimes palpitated under smiling faces, and a man might by a gracious hypocrisy abut out the curious criticism of an unsympathetic public. He wanted to see a great preacher rising who would empty the churches of London. Let them have a reality, and get through the rotten wood to the core of yoke. Sometimes loss was gain. In conclusion. Dr. Parker said: "I have struggled through this discourse; my head is aflame with pain. Yet, on the whole, I am glad I came here a.nd that I have delivered this testimony. You will pardon the shortcomings of a disabled man." 'In a few minutes after the close of the sermon the, hail emptied. An overflow meeting, which was also crowded, 1 was held at Andrews-hall, when the j Rev. J. H. Jowett. of Birmingham, delivered a striking and eloquent sermon.

THIRD DAY. One of the most brilliant of the many Welsh- men who have stormed and captured the pulpits of the Metropolis—the Rev. J. Morgan Gibbon—-opened the conference on Wednesday with an hour's sermon that was worthy both in subject-matter and in the eloquence of its delivery of the reputation of its author. The wprds of the text were those,employed by Paul in'urging the Romans to be "like-minded unto one another." Full of terse phrases, bright I descriptive sketches, with an occasional flash of humour, the discourse was enjoyed as much for the intensity of its religious fervour as for tho literary merit of its composition. One had no need to, be told that the preacher was a soft of the Principality. The musical cadences of tho Welsh hwyl betrayed his nationality, and Mr. Gibbon's difficulty seemed to be that of keeping within the bounds prescribed by English custom in contrast with the total absence of any limit at all in the less con- ventional Welsh style of preaching. The kernel of the discourse was "the great need cf the world is Christiafo unity on a large scale." At ten o'clock Dr.'Monro Gibson opened the controversial part- of the proceedings with a paper on "The Old Testament in the Sunday school." He would have it laid down as an axiom to start with that only those who firmly believed in the Divine authority of both Old and New Testaments had the right to be Sunday School teachers at all. Those who were themselves wandering in mist and dark- ness were no proper guides for others, least of all for the children. If their doubts touched the great question whether God had really spoken to man and given himself for men's salvation, then must the doubter be silent, or if he must speak let it be under the banner )f infidelity, not under the flag of Christ. The main question was, "How far was a. teacher instilled in bringing before his class what he 3onsidered to be the result of modern invegti- nation? Who could tell what mischief was ionfe in the childhood of the late Professor Huxley by those who succeeded in settling his mind that the Bible must teach science with the rigorous precision of the nineteenth century or be utterly discredited? No one ?ould read intelligently Huxley's writings with- out seeing that his fierce antagonism to Christianity was determined by the fact that he wa-s taug-ht in hia youth to regard aa settled questions which all intelligent Chris- Lians now treateji as open fir is settled in tho apposite way. If only the minds of men like Iluxley and Tyndall had been unsettled on the questiofl of the relation between scienco and inspiration, tiow different might tnj history of Christian thought have been in the last fifty years? tie did not say they world have become Christians—that ,was not the result of an intellectual process, but the work of the ipirit-but they ccrtainly would not have t' spent their strength in sowing broad- i. 3ast the seeds of unbelief; and if they had not accepted Christ themselves they would, at all events, well meaning as they were, have Looked with favour, and not with deadly lostility, on the truth as it was in Jesus. In guiding the steps of the young they should see that they wore leading them up and not down. A discussion followed, in which Dr. J. I Sendel Harris, Cambridge, and the Rev. J. Pandy Williams. Derby, took part. Mr. Howard Evans, London, treated upon mother aspect of the Sunday School question: 'Are our Sunday Schools declining?" lie said hat it was his business to collect facts and tabulate them honestly, even if they told ijraiust his own hopes and opinions. A statistical ostrich was about. the most foolish )f all God's creatures. For the last two jr three years he had had a strc.ng suspicion that the results of Christian vork were not what they ought to be. They nultiplied sittings much faster than they gained and trained Church members; they tontinued to build schools, but the number of diildren and young people inside their schools -vas almost stationary. They found it much sasier to raise large sums of money than to vin souls This applied to all Churches—to the Established Church as well as to the Free Taurches, as anyone knew who had examined -ecent confirmation statistics. The flrst thing that should he borne in mind was that Sunday icholars should be constantly increasing in lumbers, and that unless they did they were lumbers, and that unless they did they were osing ground. Their Sunday school figures vere largely inflated. New scholars were mtered in the books at once; but months )ften elapsed before the na.mes of scholars who lad ceased to attend were struck out. The iev. Jame3 Holmes, cf Gunnersbury, who had laid much attention to Sunday School matters, -eccutly stated in the "Christian World" that .he average Sunday afternoon attendance was ibout two-thirds of the number on the books. iistead of a gain of 37,000 in the year, they had L. loss of 16,003. which was 53,003 on the wrong ¡ ide. Unhappily, the downward tendency was lot confined to England and Wales. Similar eEults were visible in Ireland. The Irish t Ircsbyterian Church showed a decrease of 4,000 1 cholars and 300 teachers. Let them turn to J icotland, where he had included members of < 3iblo classes as Sunday scholars. The Est an- 1 ished Church showed a decrease of 4,000 cholars and 350 teachers; the Free I t church of 4,000 scholars and 300 teachers; it he United Presbyterian Church of 4,000: cholars and 300 teachers. Had he (resented them with a gloomy picture? was confide at they would have a gloomier Ine a year hence. Tweh~o months ago lie had i rave misgivings as to their Sunday Schools, < mt, knowing the danger of hasty conclusions, c le wanted to see whether a new set of figures vould confirm his fears. They had done so. ) le wae confident that they could not hope for 1 setter results when the next two sets of figures 1 zero compiled. What were the causes that < irought about such results? As regards the ¡ t aildren the main causes were probably the iiiwininiiiniLMawnniHiawB^BMM<n i-i—n* indifference cf parents, and the loss of parental control at an earlier age than formerly. As regards elder scholars, to some small extent they were attracted by Pleasant Sunday After- noon Services, so that the loss ia not quite so Kreat as would appear. As regards the failing off in teachers, the chief causes were an in- creased appetite for pleasure—he meant the innocent pleasures of cycling and week-end eXOrlrs ions-a:1d the deplorable low ideas of Christian service which prevailed among many of their yonnger Church members. as Sull another paper on a further phase of the The Rev. J. CLIFFORD, M.A., D.D. seme subject was read by Mr. Robert Whyte, a sound, hard-headed Scotchman. "The Sun- day School in the New Century" was his theme, and his address, which was long and exhaus- tive, wa-3 full of suggested reforms, not the least important of them being an improvement in build ng accommodation for Sunday School classes. But the chief advantage they hoped for was an improvement in the quality of the teachen No thoughtful person would desire that the surrender to Christ should he made under the influence of emotion only. If in England the masses were to be won for Christ the battle must be fought and the victory won in the Sunday Schools. The Hev. F Ballard having spoken, the presi- dent called on the name of Mr. Albert Spicir, ex-M.P. for the Monmouth Boroughs, who said that his apology for coming forward was that he had been preparing the Sunday School he had been preparing the Sunday School leseon for 36 years. There was lacking, he con- tended. in the work of the Sunday School the leadership of the ministers of the Churches and of their most prominent laymen. To whom could they look but those who from their training and daily work were able to take a broad view of the work that was required to be done. Practically, all the children of this country paflsed thr-ovifih the ranks of the Sunday School, and every Hooligan they met in the street! was a lost Sunday School scholar? Why were thoy deploring to-day that the Sunday School was not making the progress it should? He believed it was largely owing to the lack of statesmanship and leadership that could rise above the needs of the individual school and look at the needs of a district. It was in this way tlicy could best overcome some Dr. MACKENNAL. of tlisir difficulties. They had to face a state of things which did not exist even in their fathers' time. The young people became wage. earners at. a much earlie" period than tiev used to in the days gone by. This had brought) 1 with it a greater sense of independence, and < with that sense came a dislike cf the term scholar." They mu3t have more elasticity and adaptation in their work of dealing with the young people. Mr.' T. Gardner (Buxton) and Mr. George: White, M.P. (Norwich), also spokeion the sub- i jeet, the latter hon. gentleman 'pointing to the superiority of the system in vogue in the Sunday Schools of America. Miss Jennie Street, of the Sunday School Sunday Schools of America. Miss Jennie Street, of the Sunday School Union, also spoke, and was warmly appla-udod J for he:' pluck in coming forward. "The Relation of the Free Church Council 1 to Public Inatitutions" was the subject of an ably-written paper by the Rev. J. Scott-Lidget. M.A., whose main contention was that the Church would neither be t-ecularised nor s divided by contact with earthly concerns if < the men within it were what they ought to j bs. It seemed to him that the whole relation j cf the Free Church Council to public institu- I tlons must be settled at. each moment by the practical spirit of Christian wisdom, strongly grasping the main conditions, and lfot by any "a priori" theory either in favour of or J against Church interference with public co 2erns. íFhen they united to promote tempe ] ranee reforms, or the housing of the poor, or — The Rev. C. SILVESTER HORNE, M.A.. t he enforcement of just conditions of life ans I abour, and insisted that the forces of adllli- 1 listration should be directed to secure these j i ) ejects, they were asking either for the pro- j i tection of Christian virtue from overwhelm- c ing temptation or for the realisa- ,io)i of those conditions without, which s the Christian life in its fullest- sense t iiot b lived. The speaker continued — i 'J There may be emergencies in local life when C the Free Church Council, in its loose yet real t relations with the Churches as such, and E gathering together men representative alike of j c Dhristian and public life, may have to take t leliberate action even on political lines r igaiust social iniquity. If, for example, the <j local institutions of any city were to fall under cl :he control of some immoral interest, and if Ie that control were weakly acquiesced in by the r jrdinary political parties as such, either b through cowardice or through corruption, it A Bright be the duty of the Free Church Council, C ignoring all risk and throwing to tire winds all a priori considerations, to drive forth by political action such, corrupting elements in the name and by the power of Him who purged the Temple with His scourge of email cords." The Rev. P. Hirst Hollowell, in a powerful, impassioned address, spoke on some of the points contained in the paper. He said that he did not think it was the duty of the Free Church Council to run a candidate for Par- liament, but if there was a good man in the running of the Free Church Council to recom- mend him to the electorate. He knew there there were some candidates they ought not to recommend. It was all very well. under the Roman Empire, to abstain from citizen action because there was no citizenship, but the moment every adult inhabitant, of the country was part of the Constitution, public action was the right of every Christian organisation. Let them look at education. Did not the pre- sent education laws of England insult every Free Church Council? They had 13,000 schools receiving five millions of public money every year, and yet in those 13,000 schools it was a disqualification for a teacher to belong to the Free Churches. ("Shame.") While they were at that moment encountering one of the severest educational crises the country bad ever seen the Government would shortly bring forward a measure to compel the county coun- cils to endow from the local rates the eeoon- dary schools of Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Every Free Church Council ought to spring to its fee,. and close with the Govern- ment of the day in a struggle for freedom and liberty. There were 40 training colleges in this country, and from 30 of those Noncon- formists were excluded. In America they had 160 training colleges, and every one of them had its doors open to children of all denomi- nations. When politics ceased to interfere with their Free Churchmanship and the laws of their country ceased to interfere with the laws of religious liberty, they, as Free Church- men. might retire to a quiet place, much as it would be against the grain of some of them to take the ground of neutrality. Dr. Townsend and Mr. William Crossfleld (Liverpool) having spoken, the morning session ended. AFTERNOON MEETING. In the afternoon the hall was crowded, and the proceedings took a devotional turn that was hardly expected when the opepimr hymn was sung. The fine, eloquent address of the Rev. J. H. Jowett, the successor of the late Dc. Dale in Birmingham, was responsible for this, the thrilling effect of it sweeping over the congregation like a great wave. The meeting opened with no less prosaic a. busi- ness than the election of fifteen members on the executive committee. It ended in a spon- taneous outburst of prayer. After the usual devotional exercises in open- ing the meeting, Miss Herne was called upon to move a resolution in favour of forming a society which would have as members Free Church girls. It was not intended, said Miss Herne, that these societies should inter- fere with the work of the Girls' Friendly Society or any other kindred institution. Dr. Townsend seconded the desolation, which was carried with acclamation. The Rev. Hugh Price Hughes was down on lhe programmes to read a paper on "Is our Preaching as Effective as it Ought to Be?" [llncss prevented Mr. Hughes fulfilling his engagement in person, but he did the next best thiug by sending on his paper with the request that the Rev. Thomas LaLW should read it to the congress. This request was complied with. In answering the question. "Is our preaching as effective as it ought to he?" Mr. Hughes confessed to a long-atand- ing conviction that very often it was not, and he believed its comparative failure in effec- tiveness was due to the fact that some among them as preachers confounded theologisinsr and commentating with preaching. It was possible to be a theologian and a com- mentator without being a preacher. The main difficulty of the pulpit in England \Vas not to convince people of the truth of the Christian religion, but to convince them of the necessity of submitting to the personal authority of Christ. He believed that in days to come they would preach less abstract doc- trine and more personal devotion to the jtarter. The only real antidote to that strange conception of the hurch which had gradually led to the dogma, of the infallibility of the Pope of Rome was such a constant preaching )f Christ Himself as would teach all men that ,'tisre was an infallible Pope, but that His name tvas JesiLs Christ, and that there was no need ind no room for anyone to act as His vicar. The Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A., followed with in address on the same subject which stirred the whole congregation by its earnestness and powerful delivery. The two exfremes to the series of a preacher's functions were preaching and saving. The ultimate aim of preaching was the salvation of men from sin. from hell. from n.oral Ltuntednesss, and from arrested growth in Divine life. Was not their preaching too uniformly severe? They wanted more ten- iernes'3 and less scolding, more constraint and les3 compulsion. The Rev. John M'Neill and the Rev. Campbell ilorgau having spoken, the meeting closed with prayer by the Rev. C. H. Kelly and Gipsy Smith. THE EVENING MEETINGS. The fame and reputation of the Rev. H. Elvet Lewis and the Rev. John Williams (Liverpool) as two eloquent pulpit orators attracted a arge congregation to Andrews-hall, in Queen- street. The service was conducted entirely in Welsh, and the preachers succeeded in creating 111 impression that was profound in a real sense. Ministers of Welsh Churches in most )f tha towns in South Wales had seats on the platform, and a feature of the service was the magnificent- singing of some of the incom- parable Welsh hymns. YOUNG PEOPLE'S DEMONSTRATION. In the evening also a "Young People's Demonstration" was held in the Park-hall, vhieh was crowded in every part. Mr. R. W. i'evks. M P., occupied the chair, and, after referring to her late Majesty and the progress nade during her reign upon the lines of reli- gious liberty, he said they were determined lot to have any legislation contrary to the Constitutional Declaration that the Monarch nust always be a Protestant. (Cheers.) In the iharter he laid down he emphasised the im- Jortanee in the first place of ejecting the rushops from the House of Lords. (Cheers.) Is next argued that they should agitate to emancipate the schools from priestly control, vhich, in the interests of education, would be lomething to accomplish.. His third conten- ion was that the alliance between Church md State was an unholy alliance. (Cheers.) rhey should never forget their paramount luty as Free Churchmen to emancipate reli- ;ion from the thraldom of State control, and o secure for the people that liberty of con- icience which all the Colonies enjoyed, so that. vith no Established Church and no more lominant clergy, they might have that for vhich they lived and worked, viz., a. free Church in a free State. (Cheers.) The Rev. J. D. Jones, M.A., B.D. (Bourne- nouth), in an eloquent address, gave a series if reasons why they should be proud of Non- lonformity without taking the scornful and lupercilious view that Churchmen were apt o take of them. The Rev. Dinsdale T. Young (Londorj) em- jhasised the watchword, "Back to Christ. mt to no other Christ than that of Paul md the Apostles. The speaker denounced n strong terms the arrogant encroachments >f the Papacy, especially in its illicit and ilest form in the Church of England, and aid that to them. as Protestant Christians. he Bible was the sole standard of reference. Phey did not un-Church the Roman ■atholics. as the Roman Catholics m-Churchod them. Some of them, be aid. might learn of them of the things if Christ. They admitted the saints of he Roma.n Catholic Church; they even espected the Pope in many ways as an indivi- lual. They had no doubt that he was a eceut. well-meaning sort of old gentleman— Laughter)—but in his official capacity they eprobated him with holy warmth. He might Ie Christian in spirit, but officially he was intiehrist. The superiority of the free churches, be pointed out, waa seen in the