The London Welshman

Notes from South Wales. (From our Special Correspondent.) Cosmopolitan Cardiff. Recent public attractions at Cardiff were Lord Hugh Cecil on Church Defence," The Convict Ship" at the Docks, and The Female Swindler at one of the local theatres. Hym! "Sonir yn Mangor am wneyd Arglwydd Penrhyn yn faer y ddinas y flwyddyn nesaf." Hym !—Genedl Gymreig. Straight Truth. I object to pay an unjust rate levied by a Dark Ages rotten Government."—Mr. J. A. Lang, a Cardiff Passive Resister; at Cardiff Police-court. The Smallest DweHing-house. It appears that the smallest dwelling-house in either England or Wales is at Conway, North Wales. A capital photograph of it appeared in a recent issue of the Tatler. leuan Olan Geirionydd. The movement towards erecting a memorial to the Rev. Evan Evans (leuan Glan Geirion- ydd) is one that strongly appeals to Welshmen and Welshwomen. It was leuan Glan Geirionydd who composed some of our sweetest Welsh hymns. The proposed memorial is a monument to be erected at Trefriw, where leuan Glan Geirionydd was born. Welsh Mutton. The demand for Welsh mutton is growing in London. It is interesting to note that a van full of the delicacy is now despatched from a Montgomeryshire railway station each week, consigned to the London market. The Condition of Barry. Just now, things do not appear to be prosper- ing at Barry. To quote the Barry Herald:- It is eloquent testimony of the times, that at an auction sale at Barry Dock last Thursday, out of 24 lots of leasehold property offered, not one was sold Lord Bute's Visit to Cardiff. The most interesting feature of Lord Bute's visit to Cardiff last week, were the newspaper reports. For picturesque imagination they would be hard to beat. But there-business is business. An Excellent Suggestion. Mr. Philip Thomas, of London, has written an appreciative account of a recent visit to Aberystwyth, in the LONDON WELSHMAN, in which he makes the excellent suggestion that a dial should be placed on the north end of the promenade, showing the time of high tide, for the guidance of visitors." -Aberystwyth Observer. A Good Augury. He saw in the passive resistance to the Education Act a good augury for the future, and he looked forward to a better, a fuller, and more glorious Nonconformity as a result. Rev. Elvet Lewis, of London, at the Dowlais Free Church Meeting. London's Welsh Lord Mayor. According to a London Press correspondent, it is the wish of the Lord Mayor-Elect (Mr. Alderman Vaughan Morgan) that the spectacular effects of the Lord Mayor's Show should contain some illustration of the signing of peace between Japan and Russia. Progress at St. David's. Things are evidently looking up at St. David's. A local correspondent, writing to the Pembroke County Guardian, states :—" We are pleased to find that a professional hairdresser has set up business in our little City. Such a boon has long been wanted. We wish the professor success." A Bit Mixed. Whilst passing down a street in a South Wales town the other afternoon, I noticed the printed notice, "Apprentices wanted to the Dress- making," in the window of a butcher's shop, and in the window of a refreshment room in the same town was the notice, Musical instruments repaired here." We shall, probably, soon see grocers selling second-hand clothes, and drapers doing shoemaking. St. David's College, Lampeter. It is worth noting that St. David's College, Lampeter, sends between fifty or sixty men each year to fill curacies in the Welsh Anglican Church. Witnessed the Chartist Riots. Mr. John David Whitaker, who died at New- port recently, at the age of 86 years, witnessed the Chartist riots at that town in 1839, and was personally acquainted with John Frost, Robert Stevenson, and other Chartist leaders. By the way, readers of the LONDON WELSHMAN when at Newport, should not omit a visit to the local museum, where they will see a remarkably interesting collection of relics appertaining to the riots in question. The museum is attached to the Free Library. He Must Have Laughed. In the private seclusion of his castle Lord Bute must have laughed heartily at the adulation and honeyed expressions of the local toadies last week. Whatever may be his shortcomings, this wealthy young man can easily see through that kind of thing at any rate. Brilliant Welsh Boy Pianist. Master Percy Hughes, the Welsh lad of 14 years, who has just won the Liszt scholar- ship at the R.A.M., in London, is remarkably clever. Before proceeding to the R.A.M. this year, Master Hughes had already won between 200 and 300 prizes at Eisteddfodau. I have been looking up all the London illustrated weeklies and leading dailies, and beyond a beggarly four or five line paragraph in an obscure part of a halfpenny morning I have seen neither photo nor article in reference to Master Hughes. If Master Hughes was born in Hungary, Poland, or Germany, and rejoiced in a foreign name —Hans, or Von-something-or-other-ending-with Iski, his portrait would appear in all the leading journals with such headings as Marvellous Boy Prodigy," &c. It is only when they are bound to do so, owing to public opinion, that the majority of the London Press ultimately do justice to Welsh talent. This is not a prejudiced statement, but the result of several years close observation of leading London journals and their peculiarities. Good Words. If every member of the Church of England was as broadminded and tolerant as Lord Tredegar, reunion between that Church and the Nonconformists would not be an impossibility. Lord Tredegar, although a Churchman, admits that the Nonconformists are Christians, and doing excellent work, an admission which a certain school of Anglicans will not agree to. Last week, Lord Tredegar laid one of the foundation stones of a new Calvinistic Methodist Church at Hopkinstown, Glamorgan, and in the course of a speech said:—"The reunion of all the churches was considered an impossibility in our days, at any rate, but, as was pointed out by a clergyman of the Church of England, all of them could do three things: to forbear one to another in love where they most disagreed, to mix with one another wherever possible on common ground, and to vie with one another as to who should do most for the glory of God by winning souls for the Lord Jesus Christ." This is excellent advice. It again shows what a fair- minded Churchman Lord Tredegar is, and it would be well if those Anglicans who still affect a contempt for Nonconformists would show a similar enlightened spirit. As the editor of the Wrexham Advertiser pointed out in a recent article:—" The time has come to end this wretched patronage of Nonconformity by a sister communion." It has. Welsh Societies. The growth of interest in Welsh Societies in South Wales is remarkable. The Newport Cymdeithas Cymraeg is starting well; Lord Tredegar has accepted the presidency, and prominent Welshmen have consented to deliver addresses during the session. At Swansea, what promises to be another excellent Cym- deithas Cymraeg" has been started, and a most attractive sessional programme is being compiled. I might also mention the Aberdare Cymdeithas y Geninen Werdd," which is going strong, and the Merthyr Tvdfil "Cymreigyddion," an equally successful Welsh society. In the district of Swansea the Cymdeithas y Ddraig Goch" is making headway, and at Jerusalem Chapel, Ystalyfera, recently, Professor E. Keri Evans, M.A., delivered a lecture to an exceed- ingly appreciative Welsh audience under the auspices of the same. Such interest in Welsh societies is an excellent move towards—"Godi'r Hen Wlad yn ei hoi."