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WELSH MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
WELSH MOUNTAIN SHEEP. BY MORGAN EVANS. (From the Field of August.9th, 3873.) It is quite unnecessary to prove the very ancient origin of the Welsh mountain sheep. Their claim to being an indigenous breed in our island is undisputed. With black cattle, they formed at one time the pjincipal stock of the Celtic race in the mountainous districts of Wales. At one time they must have been the only sheep both on hill and plain, on heather clad mountain and sunny vale, from Anglesea to the Bristol Channel, from the Severn to Cardigan Bay. As the more fertile lowlands became cultivated, and free and undisturbed communi- cation took place between Wales and England, the small ancient breed in these places became crossed with the larger kinds introduced from the adjoining counties, or have been entirely supplanted by them, and at last driven before advanced agriculture into the poor hilly soil and mountain ranges of the Principality where they still linger. Leicesters, Cotswolds, or Downs are still to be found on all fertile and well cultivated farms in the country. On medium and poor soils in ex- posed places a cross of these with the Welsh mountain sheep is commonly seen ;whilst in the realms of gorse and heather, stretches of barren common, and the cottier tenements on the hillside, the ancient breed still holds sway, living on scanty food, rearing hardy lambs, and producing the sweetest mutton known to the palate of the epicurean Englishman. Although there is a slight difference in character in the mountain sheep of separate districts, they were doubtless originally the same breed, and have the same common origin. Attempts have been made to divide them into two distinct classes, but the variations appear to be those only natural to accidental selection or to the effect of soil and climate. A minute description of all the peculiarities of these and the different modes of treatment to which they are subjected is not possible in the space allotted to this article; we must therefore at present be content with a general view, although the Radnors will hereafter have a special notice to themselves. The Welsh mountain sheep are principally white faced, but some have rusty brown faces, some speckled and others grey. The males are horned, the females generally hornless. Sometimes the ewes have very short horns, and occasionally have these appendages large equal in size to those of the rams. The poll is generally clean—but it is not uncommon to find rams. with a tuft on the forehead, and also very woolly on the scrotum. These latter characteristics are considered by some breeders valuable indications of vigour and hardi- hood. As no great care, however, is taken in breeding these sheep, specimens of all the above variations in horn, colour of face, and amount of wool on the fore- head may be found on the same mountain range, and even in the same flock. The head is small, and carried well up; the neck long, and the poll high. The tail is long and the rump high, and the shoulders low; the chest narrow, the girth small, and the ribs flat. They have all the character of a wild, active breed of animals, suited to scanty herbage on rocky slopes and precipitous hillsides. The average weight of the store ewes is about 71b. per quarter They feed slowly, and the wethers, when three years old and fat, weigh from 91b. to lOlb. per quarter. The ewes are not prolific, producing generally but a single lamb on mountain land, where one lamb is enough and two would be too many to nurse properly. Both improved keep and crossing with other sheep are found to increase the number of twins. The average clip of wool is about 21b. The quality is usually fine, but in some districts it is coarse and mixed with long hairs about the neck and along the back of the animal. It is well known that wool is greatly effected by soil and climate. Continued ex- posure to cold and to the most severe winds tends to change wool into hair. The difference in quality of wool appears to be due to position and locality in which the sheep have been bred for generations rather than to any separate origin, for in all other features the Welsh mountain sheep is alike in all localities. Even in the same county, Cardigan, as mentioned by Youatt, the wool in the northern parts differs from that of the more southern parts of the county. The wool on the Pembrokeshire range of mountains adjoining is par- ticularly fine, and in much demand by the local weavers, who formerly were the only purchasers of wool that were known in Wales. The manufacture of flannels and woollen cloths was until recently an importamt branch of the industry of this country. At that time all the woollen goods used were what is called home made." The ordinary rural farmer walked and slept in woollen goods grown on his own sheep; the coat on his back, the blanket on his bed, were the natural produce of the farm. The spin- ning wheel could be heard humming once a year for weeks in his house preparing blankets for his bed, dresses for his wife, or petticoats for his daughters. He knew nothing of English broadcloth. Corduroy and fustian breeches might be indulged in, but all else the good man wore except his boots and hat, were made from the wool of his own sheep. The cloak, gown, iacket skirt of his wife and daughter, were of like material, and there was no dealing in hosiery in the shops for the stockings of the family-black or grey- were spun and knitted in his own house. A weaver with a hand loom lived in every village, or a small Water mill in a glen close by converted the home-spun yarn into flannel or cloths. The dyes used were few- black, blue, or red. Red shawls, or whittles, as they were called, were formerly much in use; and a goodly array of the female peasantry clad in these is said to have dismayed the French when they landed at Pancaer £ r'mrCTbe agricultural tourer and hi. » arms, xne a 200ds. The servant maids at fairs eveTnow bargain for one or two pounds of wool along even now Dargai The wool is converted into with their ftn(j iB generally the only clothes or bedclothes, M magrriage, and these not being made of shoddy, last with care a lifetime, not being made of shcxiay, population being The stockings worn, muCh used for making invariably black, and blackbei g hold a f8W black greys for other purposes in the herd. The sheep are thought an ac^ul^t'°?1 wet black lambs, Welsh mountain sheep occasionay g benefit and a few black ewes are generally kept tor t derived from their to which wool was does seem strange, with all tne fcQ increa8e the put, no effort appears tc ^av^i se of a somewhat weight of fleece^ even at pe uifjite of coarser fibre. Wool, nowever, r the females—at least they had th fam?ly use ot all used in making woollen fabrics for family use. The counsel of the gentler sex, who Dreyaji did not exactly suit their tasifce w0" » f, loca{ It must also be considered that, until y » weavers were the only purchasers of wool known to th? Welsh farmers, and they of course patronised that wool only that made goods of the quality best suited to their limited machinery, and that would make flannels of a kind most called for at the country fairs and markets, where their stalls are invariably found. The Welsh mountain sheep are good nurses, and rear the lambs well. They are often sold from the western counties of Wales to go into some of the English counties for breeding fat lambs, and they succeed well when crossed with larger breeds of sheep. On exposed farms of poor soil in Wales they are frequently used for this purpose, or a cross of these is kept, the mountain ewes forming the original basis of this stock. The sheep are crossed with Downs or Leicesters, or with any large mongrel strain, and again recrossed with the mountain sheep if necessary, all depending on the class of sheep the farm is best suited to carry. The real mountain sheep are sold as wethers at three years old. The cross bred come to earlier maturity, and the produce of these are sold as lambs in the May, June, or July fan-N. In makine the first cross with the mountain ewe, a cross- bred small ram a little bigger than themselves is us^, always selecting males with small heads and hardy constitutions. The rams might be too large and of too good a quality, the consequence being much difficulty in lambing and tender lambs unable to stand the wind, rain and cold A friend of mine, one of whose farms is on high land, writes and says: "I have used the cross- bred mountain ewes, the largest I could get, which when fat would make lllb. to 151b. per quarter. I used them for years, and will go back to them again, I helieve, this winter for lambing. My sheep are too good for my poorest land. These little ewes were by for the best nurses I ever had, and four-fifths of them brought twins by small-headed South Down rams, the lambs weighing from 81b. to lllb. per quarter at the fair on July 10. I exclude almost every horned ewe from the flock. Many of the diminutive little ewes had the lambs by their sides much heavier and bigger than themselves. Ia the winter time, just before lambing commences, the farmers on the mountain side bring the sheep down into their small inclosures, and, in addition to the grass the sheep consume, they are given small quantities of hay or oats. The oats are always given in sheaf; the mountain sheep would not know what to make of clean corn, and would not look at it. AH the lambs kept tn stock as ewes or wethers are shorn in July or August, when they are weaned the mothers are milkers for a month or two, and butter is made of the milk, or it is mixed with skim milk to make cheese. Milking sheep, however, is becoming less common evsry day, and where I remember the practice being almost universal twenty years ago* 'it is hardly known at tba present tune. The jnunf Vidih &mmv ecooomieal and- pf small mean* he usually i% lads iki noutaiMtfnKa good bMù for his- future > flook. The-ewee ere bought cheaply in the summer and autumn moaths.sfter tb«r laudJi have been weaned oraold. By otntimkeft-draw- ing Witt* larger atiinttls, heatltet establishes paving if not a fashionable <3** of sheep^wW^Td that are thrifty in ««ekiQg food, a?d which wlwkffled die weU. The improved stram is alwo<* »»v»riaUy commenced and oontiwwd by tin pvokmi lambs. AgedHambs seldom or aewr eWhangahejnds. Lamb mus in Wales,just as yearling b»dism*ftnt«sr. land, are supposed to get more vigorous oiepnng ttean older sires; and twins are said to follow the younger nuns more frequently than those of a riper age. When brought into the inolesures, these sheep are found difficult to keep within bounds. Fences such as are usually found, low stone walls, turf banks, or haw- thorn and hazel hedges, are as nought to these wild creatures. A purchase of ewes at a fair to-day spreads in the direction of the four winds to-morrow, unless extreme precaution be taken, and the secrets of their whereabouts is sometimes found to be the house-tops of neighbouring cottages. To prevent their marauding proclivities—for no professional shepherds are kept— they are bound with fetters—" lonkers," as they are called in some parts—made of woven rush or hempen fillets. These extend from the fore to the hind leg, leaving the extremity of each limb from twelve to eight- teen inches apart. Sometimes an occasional sheep— the ringleader of the flock—has a fetter on each side; and if putting them on in the usual way be not found sufficient to stay the wanderings of the wicked one, both fetters are crossed, from the forefoot on one side to the hind foot on the opposite side—and it is surprising to see how they go about even under these difficulties. Attempts have been made to supersede the sheep in their native mountain homes by Cheviots and other breeds, but the change has not been found to answer. No sheep suit the mountain tops of the country as well as the indigenous breed, and the most profitable on the lower ranges of poor soil and waste lands are a cross with the native stock. Welsh mountain sheep are likely to hold pre-eminent sway in their strongholds at high altitudes for many generations to come, and as long as the geological structure and climatic influences of the country remain unchanged.
RAILWAY PROSPERITY.
RAILWAY PROSPERITY. (From the Echo.) Notwithstanding the unprecedented increase last year in the price of coal and iron—an increase that would naturally be expected to tell heavily against rail- ways—the returns for 1872, which have just been pub- lished, gave an extremely favourable view of their position. It appears, for example, that the net receipts of the several companies of the United Kingdom amounted last year to the enormous sum of £26,957,870. This was an increase of just a million and a quarter on the net receipts, in round numbers, of the previous year, when coal was still cheap and the rise in the price of iron was comparatively moderate. The re- ceipts for 1871 themselves had shown an increase of not far short of two and a half millions on 1870, and the latter year's earnings again exceeded those of 1869 by about a million and a half. Indeed, the increase during the twelve years 1860-72, for which alone the returns exhibit the net receipts, was from £ 14,579,254 to within a few thousands of twenty-seven millions. This affords conclusive evidence of the mighty strides made by the country in material prosperity and com- mercial activity. But, of course, it is hardly necessary to say that many additional miles of railway were built during these twelve years, and that consequently the increased earnings must not be supposed to have been made by the lines alone existing in 1860. Far from it; while the actual net receipts have been nearly doubled in these years, as we have shown, the proportion borne by the receipts to the total paid up capital has only grown from 4'19 per cent. to 4*74 per cent. Now, has the proportionate rise been steady during this period ? No. On the contrary, for half of this space of time the proportion of net receipts to paid-up capital was less than in 1860, falling, in fact, below four per cent. on three out of the twelve years. The explanation is twofold. In the first place, the railway mileage has grown about one-third, or from 10,433 to 15,815 and in the second place, the paid-up capital has been increased in a considerably greater proportion. The entire paid-up capital in 1860 was £348,130,127; on the 31st of December last it amounted to £569.047,346. It appears from these figures that the increase of mileage since 1860 has been about 50 per cent. But this increase was chiefly in single lines. While, in fact, the miles of single lines added to the railway system of the country during twelve years almost equal the number of those existing at the beginning of the period, the increase in the mileage of double lines has been little over 20 per c.3nt. The great cen- tres of trade had, we may infer, already been placed in communication with one another in 1860, and the work of railway construction which then remained to be effected was little more than that of connecting them with less busy and important places. Though this was a task indispensable to the completion of the greater lines, and to developing the resources of the country, it yet ought not to have been a9 costly as that previously done. We find, however, as a fact, that the authorised capital has grown from fonr hundred millions in round numbers to six hundred and forty- four, or over sixty per cent. And even the capital paid up has increased from £348,130,127 to £569,047,346, or more than 63 per cent. Again, we observe that the expenditure per mile constructed was as £35.984, which is very nearly what it was twenty years ago, and which shown an inorease of over £ 2,000 a mile when compared with the returns of 1860. Before railway property can be placed on a satisfactory footing this expenditure must be reduced. The prospects before the owners of railway property seem to be good. It is true, indeed, that on glancing one's eye over these returns, one is astonished at the very large number of lines that pay no dividend at all. But, then, several of these never were expected to pay. They were built to exclude competing companies from a territory which the builders wished to make their own, or simply as connecting links. Others again, have scarcely had time yet to yield a profit, while some have been simply mismanaged. But, taking the whole of the railways of the United Kingdom together, it appears, as we have seen, that they yield a dividend equal to 4 74 per cent. Of course, so many lines yielding no dividend, others must pay very high dividends, and accordingly we find several paying over 7 per cent., a few paying over 8 per cent., one over 10 per cent., one 12; per cent., and one as much as 18| per cent. The actual dividend declared in any given year is an uncertain guide to railway prospects. It is more important to determine by what services the dividend is earned, and whether the working expenses are increasing or decreasing. It appears, then, that the earnings from passengers last year bore the proportion of 41*87 per cent, to the total receipts. Twenty years ago the proportion was aa high as 50*45, and since then it has been steadily declining to the figure we have mentioned. This is not due to any falling off in the number of passengers, who, on the contrary, are now four times as many as they were in 1853, but to the proportionately more rapid growth of the goods tramc, —a class of business decidedly more beneficial to the railways. Provided the price of coal and iron does not continue too high, and the companies do not increase their fares to such an extent as will check industrial pro- gress, this increase in the goods traffic undoubtedly augures very well for the Railway Companies. On the other hand, the working expenditure is increasing. Were this apparent for the nrst time last year, it might be thought to be due only to the rise of prices which took place. But it has been going on ever since the returns have begun to show the proportion borne by this item to the total receipts. This proportion in 1860 was 47 per cent., whereas last year it was as much as 49 per cent. When we bear in mind the great increase which has taken place in the meantime in all commodi- ties, labour included, the rise, it is true, cannot be re- garded as very great. Perhaps, indeed, a more con- siderable outlay would in the long run be found most economical. The most prolific of all the causes of ac- cidents, there cannot be a doubt, is the want of sufficient labour. A more liberal administration, which would remove this cause, and thus reduce one source of ex- pense, compensation, would also save plant to an extent which might be expected to nearly cover the additional outlay.
[No title]
THE MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.—ST. PETERSBURG, SATURDAY.—The Czar will leave shortly for a series of military inspections in the Mutmof Russia. His Majesty will subsequently proceed to Livadia, where aU the members of the Imperial family have assraabled to receive the Duke of Edinburgh in the course of next month. His Royal Highness will remain at Iavadte natal October, will then return for » short and will arrive in St. Petersburgh during tbe ^nth of December. The nuptials of his Royal Grand Duchess Mane will be celebrated in St. Meters burg in January, 1874. Th. visitors at Ilfracombe held ther threatened meet- ing on Tuesday, to protest against the defective^bathing arrangements, and lack of any provision for persons from drowning. It seems that ^rearebve-b. relative to the ropes and buoys, but, with unpardoMble stupidity, the members of the Local Board seem to have taken no means to cany them into effect. One or two of these precious gentlemen were at the meeting, ad- mitted their neglect, and listened to a vote of censure nassed upon the Board* It is to be feared that this country is about to P8** through another terrible industrial conRiot. The look. out" threatened by the Ironmasters Association at Man dator and which commences on Saturday next, will ^bablv ertend to nearly every great town in the king- S^r The Points in dispute relate chiefly to piecework navment for overtime, and the men at Manchester ^^Xnflsed to submit them to arbitration, bht to this ^"J^l^wKoVagree. Some of themen are in the wasters the wck-out by a strike.' The work- tT^well prepared for the struggle, for We learn that ^e ^al^matioKiety of Engineers possesses a fund of £ 109,000* .^1 rfoAre. WttMASD mi%tl of ~Wood-street, merch«n executor, the POT- S' Mr. Richard Y. th« S' Mr. Richard Y. th« WaTty beingihrOTome^fc&er.1 *Frodsham, of Change A ^S^arV Ahk Frod- JfetZi Lieachmaa axid Xfcu W. IMWW- The will anA «Mrai of Adamjfairray. <>* the firm of Mess** J^aad. vM<>rley, of Wood-^net, vwirehouse- meh, andotTanorbey-park, Bexley* whodiedat Denton- hall, Carlisle, were proved on the 8th instant, by Mrs. Susannah Rebecca Murray, the widow, the 8UrvtVIDg executor, the personal estate beinelworn under £140,000. —City Prtu.
THE WELSH NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD.
THE WELSH NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD. SPEECH OF MR. GLADSTONE. (From the Times). MOLD, TUESDAY EVENING. The flitting about through High-street at nine o'clock this morning of a gentleman clad in light blue academical gown, with a "mortar board" hat of the same attractive hue, caused a wave of excitement to pass through Mold, and drew a crowd in the direction of Barley-street, whither the light blue gown finally fluttered. Barley- hill is a small piece of enclosed pleasure ground on the outskirts of the town, but, from its distant approach to a resemblance to a Druidical sacrificial hill, has been selected as the scene of the Gorsedd. This, the essential preli- minary to all Eisteddfodau, was this morning conducted under the most discouraging circumstances, as far as the weather could rule them. The Bards, the Ovates in light blue gowns and caps, and the Druids in green, assembled under a shower of ram that might have been attended with direful consequences had the gaily-coloured gowns been made of a material immediately susceptible of the action of the water upon the dye. After braving the shower in the open for a few minutes a move was made for a little waiting-room standing by, where Ovates and Druids, Bards and songless mortals, were huddled to- gether, waiting for the cessation of the rain. In about twenty minutes, just as the atmosphere in the little room was becoming positively suffocating, the heavy downpour ceased, and a somewhat informal procession was made towards the field in which the stones forming the sacred circle had been placed—sixteen stones in all, a dozen forming the circle, one marking the centre, and three outside the eastern arc being the representatives of the Triad. Upon the centre stone the bard Estyn (a gentle- man known in private life as the Rev. T. R. Lloyd) stood and read the proclamation, which was, of course, made in the Welsh language, announcing that "A Gorsedd and High Session of hong Literature and Handicraft was being held in Mold, and lnvrting all there to assemble and compete for degrees, with the comfortable assurance that "No sword should he bared against them," and that there would be present the three primitive bards, Plenydd, Alaw, and Gwron. The showers of rain had become torrents before the bard had got through his hurriedly-read proclamation, and when he came to the final words, "The truth gainst the world," the answering cry of Clywch, Clywch. came with scattered force from the company of bards who, with gowns, green and blue, hastily gathered up, were already scampering to- wards the sheltering hut. The miserably wet weather had a considerable influence upon the members present in the pavilion, where the Eisteddfod was held: and when at twenty minutes past ten Mr. Gladstone entered there were not more than a thousand persons present to welcome him. But what the assembly lacked in comparative numbers they made up in enthusiasm. The president of the day walked to his seat through a lane made in an upstanding throng which seemed as if it would never have done cheering and waving its hats and its handker- chiefs. Mr. Gladstone had driven up to the door of the pavilion, but even in getting out of his carriage and tra- versing a few steps, which landed him under the wooden roof, he found time to get uncomfortable wet, and after going repeatedly from the platform, in acknowledgment of the popular reception, he turned to account the interval of leisure the long cheering afforded by wiping his coat over with a pocket-handkerchief. In this simple action, however, the audience saw fresh cause for enthusiasm, and it was severalmmutes later before the shouting had subsided and the Premier was permitted to take his seat. Here Mr. Kelly, vice-chairman of the Eisteddfod Com- mittee, approached, and read a masterly-worded address to the President, m which reference was made to the diffidence with which the committee had addressed to Mr. Gladstone the request that he would preside to-day, knowing the magnitude of his labours elsewhere, and the present was nominally a penod of rest to those near the platform. Mr. Kelly appeared to acquit himself of his task gracefully and well, but in the rear of the large building his words were almost inaudible, and whilst he was reading the alarm spread that perhaps after all those behind would not be able to hear the President; but when Mr. Gladstone had uttered the words Ladies and gentlemen," a cheer burst out from the back seats. With little more effort than he makes when addressing the House of Commons, the right hon. gentleman's splendid voice filled every corner of the building. Mr. Gladstone said he would not dwell at length on events which had established his connexion with Wales. It gave him unfeigned pleasure that his wife could boast a Welsh patronymic, and he would say Wales had no reason to be ashamed of her. He had taken opportunity in his official career to make himself acquainted with the past and present relations of England and Wales. He had to some extent shared the prejudices of his country- men against the Welsh language and institutions. Those prejudices had been removed, mainly by the admirable letters published by Mr. Richard, M.P. He had been struck by the different treatment experienced by Wales at different periods, and especially by the ample measure of justice dealt out to Wales by Queen Elizabeth and the Sovereigns of the Tudor period. Wales possessed an excel- lent translation of the Bible long before England had one, and at that time Welshmen were the special favourites of the Crown for ecclesiastical appointments; 44 Welshmen were appointed to sees in England and Wales between the reigns of Henry VII. and George L But from an early period of the 18th century no Welshman was appointed to any see until her Majesty was pleased, three years ago, to sanction the appointment of the Rev. J. Hughes. While not disguising the great political change which the Revolution bestowed on this country, it did not do fall justice to Wales. A fatal mistake in principle and polioy was made by the Government of William III., that the language, customs, traditions, and affections of the people should DO changed, if not by physical force, at least by moral pressure. The right hon. gentleman then went on to express his belief thit Welshmen have and, perhaps must have, to a certain extent, to pay a considerable price for their patriotism, and continued:—" It is vital to your interests that you should encourage and promote by every means in your power the study of the English language in your schools (applause). I will go one step shools schould not be discouraged at home. It is most im- further and say that that which is encouraged in the portant that the masses of the Welsh people should be acquainted with the English language, because note-s they are, they never will be able to circulate freely thoroughout England and obtain for themselves the fair value of their labour and attainments. I believe the Welshman is perfectly competent to compete with the Englishman or anybody else provided he gets fair play (applause). Therefore I have modified my opinion, and if I have become sensible of the claims which are recognised by an institution such as this, it is not because I have abated in the slightest degree my sense of the value and of the importance to you of cultivating the tongue wiiich is and must be the prevailing tongue of the country, wlHch is going forth over the face of the earth from land to land, and which is at this moment spoken by a greater number ofhuman beings than any o&er tonWfaiown to the civilised nations of the world. But that does not prevent me saying that the fond recollection a nf the Welsh people ought to be respected JS™, is the case with respect to the Welsh languaS' I will make briefly a comparison which I thinTj!? r It seems to me-I know not whether after the great revolution of 1689 the kirn* ment of England wew betrayed by a fX^o^XJ looked at Ireland; they found a people sneati^ Erse they found the people attached to an looked upon it. no Soubt with misled by this false ianalogy they said to tWnselW almost say to 4 drive them into the use of tho abandonment of their native E'Wfd the result. In Scotland the people ^e iXi — Gaelic. There is not a valley in the ffiJhfiSj whSfthS TESFASSAE RFE -ASS* i» mu 800,000 .S, 1S&V5. tongue in spite of all the pressure v. ir t SSTthem; in spite of the KV!^11" Pu* English feefing bwhops. Nottfe day, for I am glad to think that tha bishoP8 of Se n^t day, those of them who are Bneliah uV v speak of what has gone by—l gpeak 1 nate policy which sent Englishmen lnt^YL unfortu- ev^ purpose of civil as will Englishmen came with the idea thioit f*1* ^°?e propagate what I may call AngS' feenng »f the country (hear, hear) Evwrtf Lord, of the p«t, to b» £ § £ £ 5 TEW- Mr. Gladstone, with characteristic «»»» x. commenced the oratory of the Recess i?8 u hardly any solution of continuity betw^^ ij 19 j the Session. On Tuesday he took th« ± Y1? National Eisteddfod, and delivered th« i The effect should be to kindle all the nltt.vS'w the warm Welsh heart in favour* a fc°.tlc meaWry, and so evidently disposed to shoTbiTestemki something more than compliments. Th« with that of the Gaelic >smd iha &se Tbr fwS^n steadily decaying there is not a valley in where it not recede before the Irrlsirtikif SIMAJ Saxon speech. # Ireland there ZZSSfi** ™ £ Twh1 do not understandsEnglUh., The number^f thoM who Me ejeP-acquainted with Iritfh has strangely di!riri*hed. How is it, then, that in Wales a few hundred thousand people should persist in speaking a language different from that of their neighbours, and that thevshould not only speak Welsh, but to so great an extent give them- selves no trouble to acquire English—a language which would not only raise them at home, but enable them to seek their fortunes all over the Anglo-Saxon world ? The phenomenon to which Mr. Gladstone refers is indeed re- markable. Welsh is not only the language in which several hundred thousand inhabitants of the Principality speak .md think, but it is the medium of a literary activity sucli as has belonged to no other branch of Celtic speech in modern times. This is not owing to any preeminent qualities in the language, for Welsh is certainly not su- perior to Irish, nor can it be imagined that Welshmen have more genius and imagination than their Irish brethren. But the tongue of Aneurin and Taliessin is the vehicle of active political and religious controversy in the nineteenth century, while the Irish is becoming extinct. The Welsh language does not require any sentimental antiquarianism to keep it alive, and yet this element is abundantly forthcoming. The Irish has the utmost need of Eisteddfods and the like, but no one troubles himself to organise them. There seems no reason to suppose that the Welsh have a deeper national feeling than Irish- men or Scotchmen; and if antagonism to the Saxon could keep alive a Celtic speech, the Irish ought to flourish more luxuriantly than either of its sisters. The fact, however, is that the Irish is decaying more rapidly than any European speech has decayed in modern times, and before the end of the present century it will probably be confined to a few Bealuded districts. The contrast may well suggest some theory to explain it, and Mr. Gladstone has offered us his own. The English Government and the English Church endeavoured to Anglicize Wales, and the result has been to make it more completely and irrevocably Welsh. Religious teaching has been and still is a most powerful influence in moulding habits and speech, and the Welsh are naturally a religious people. But, though Elizabeth gave the Welsh the Bible in their own language, succeeding Sovereigns and their Governments have taken no account of Celtic tradition and feeling. The Church in Wales has been an English Church in the strictest sense of the word. The Bishops had always been Englishmen until Mr. Gladstone himself, breaking through a tradition of more than two hundred years, appointed Dr. Hughes. Indeed, according to Mr. Gladstone, Welshmen from an early period in the eighteenth century have never been made Bishops even in England- a startling statement, which, has a matter of historical interest, we should like to see examined. The incumbents of Welsh parishes were commonly Englishmen: as a rule they knew no 1 Welsh, and if they did know it they still performed the service in English. All this Mr. Gladstone conceives to have been done with the deliberate purpose of destroy- ing the Welsh language and making the people English- men. The strong sympathies of the Welsh were deeply, unjustly, and even madly thwarted." What a lesson," he exclaims, is that to us for the false policy we have pursued We endeavoured to hector the Welsh people into the abandonment of their language. The conse- quence is they have clung to it with a fidelity absolutely unexampled, because it has not been for them a feeling fer language merely; a feeling of patriotism has been enlisted on the side of the language, and in no portion of the earth is a language confined to the use of a few hundred thousand people cherished with such an extra- ordinary fidelity." On this we must be allowed to remark that the complicated and mysterious problems of the preservation of language are not to be solved by off'hand explanations. In the first place, we doubt the fact that England ever conceived the notion of hectoring" the Welsh people into the abandonment of their language. English Bishops and English Rectors got appointments because the whole ecclesiastical system was lax and careless, not ts say corrupt. If Bishop Watson, of Llandaff, the great champion of orthodoxy in is time, lived in Westmoreland, and never went near his diocese, Irish dignitaries did the same thing, and English Bishops accumulated preferments of which it was physically im- possible for him to perform the duties. It may occur to the reader of Mr. Gladstone's speech that, if the policy which he attributes to the English Government with respect to Wales has really been consciously at work any- where, it is in Ireland. There can be no doubt that Eng- land has endeavoured, by a variety of strong measures, to Anglicize that country, and that all the ecclesiastical abuses which prevailed in Wales prevailed with tenfold scandal in Ireland. The consequence, or at least the con- comitant, has been a violent national feeling against England, and a belief that English rule is an alien and hostile domination; and yet this feeling has had no effect in keeping alive the Irish language. It may be said that it has never entered into the minds of the Irish people to associate their coveted independence with the preservation of the Celtic speech. Among the minor nationalities or provincialities of the Continent, similar phenomena of the persistence or waning of local speech are to be found, which cannot be explained by any poli- tical causes It is true that the Welsh has been extended and strengthened by having become the medium of religious literature in the Principality, and that this literature is Nonconformist. But in Ireland both the priest and the agitator denounce the Saxon in his own tongue. If the causes of the persistence of the Welsh language be still not quite obvious, there can be little doubt that, so far as it restricts the use of the English language, the reading of English books, and full community of ideas with English people, it is a misfortune. There is much that is captivating in the notion of a people remaining faithful to an ancient language, which is, in Mr. Glad- stone's words, a venerable relic of the past, connected with an ancient history, an ancient music, and an ancient literature. But the indulgence in this feeling may be too dearly purchased. A spirit of nationality which would prevent Welshmen from speaking English, or Belgians from speaking French, would only shut out the people of both countries from almost all the knowledge which can serve them materially or intellectually. It is not diffi- cult to discover how the minor nationalities of the Conti- nent of Europe suffer from the curse of Babel that is still upon mankind. Even vigorous mental types like the Dutch and the Danes find themselves restricted in almost every branch of knowledge, for they have to go to foreign works on almost every subject, and it is a comparatively limited class which has the capacity or opportunity for learning to read a foreign language. As for the chaos of tribes which exists in South-Eastern Europe, recalling more or less the circumstances of Wales, it need not be said that diversities of language form the chief obstacle to their intellectual and social advancement. May we hope, then, that as a real Welsh Bishop has been ap- pointed at last, and as the English Government will 'hector" no more, the Welsh may consider their national honour as satisfied, and consent to learn the language which is necessary to make them well-informed members of society.
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION.
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION. The third report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire with regard to scientific instruction and the ad- vancement of science has just been issued. Taken as a whole, the evidence laid before the Commissioners has convinced them that, although much has been done in the Universities towards the promotion of scientific edu- cation and research, much remains to be done, and that changes, or, at least, extensions of no inconsider- able importance, have now become indispensable, if the work which has been so well begun is to be con- tinued successfully." An important part of the report relates to fellowships, in regard to which the following recommendations are made, and the views of the Com- missioners are stated in the following terms :— "We are decidedly of opinion that the follewships awarded as prizes are excessive in number, if not in value, and that the system ought to be remodelled. We are further of opinion that in any such remodelling a con- siderable proportion of the fellowships should be sup- pressed or consolidated for the purposes of contributing to the general fund of the University, and of endowing, within the colleges and the University, new institutions, or new offices, in aid of education or research. But it must be remembered that, as Professor Jowett has stated, the property of the colleges at Oxford, in some instances at least, is greatly increasing, so that, quite independently of the suppression of fellowships, there will in all proba- bility be considerable sums available for these purposes. In any case, therefore, we are prepared to admit that a great part of the fellowships ought to be retained as fel- lowships, and the problem that haa to be solved is how to employ those which are so retained in the most useful manner possible. The following are the chief purposes to which, in our judgment, the fellowships should be applied:—In the first place, a certain, but not a very large proportion of the fellowships, will be always required, as at present, for the payment of the persons entrusted with the management of the college estates, and with the government and administration of the colleges them- selves. Secondly, a large number of the fellowships is at present employed, and probably a still larger number ought hereafter to be employed, in connection with the instruction given in the colleges. Thirdly, a smaller, but still a considerable number of fellowships ought to be employed as terminable prise fellowships..Fourthly, a certain number of fellowships ought, as we have already said, to he united with professorships in the University; the University professor becoming ex officii a fellow of tbeoollege and a member of ita governing body; Lastly, it is, in our opinion, most important that a pertain number of fellowships should be appropriated to the direct pro- motion of learning and research in various directions. It has been objected to this proposal that the fellowship system, as hitherto administered, has not shown any <Zeat tendency to encourage original research, either in JL, g^d of learning or in that of science that, when an office is created simply and solely with the view of giving man leisure and opportunity for original research, there • jiwaf* the appearanoe, to say the least, of creating a ifnwjure'; and that it is impossible, as Professor Jowett said, to get a man for money who can make a dis- I^very. Bui, though you cannot get a man for money to a <&covery, yon may enable a mail who has Bhown *sneeiai eapaeity for research to exert his powers, and we are^> £ opinion that, unless an effort is made to do IL, one of tho great purposes for which learned bodies una? *un the risk of being wholly lost right of. Scientific discoveries rarely bring any direct profit to their aethers, nor is it desirable that original investigation should be undertaken with a view toiinmedinte pecuniary nsolts." ■ •
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SHOCXBro.EXPEOSK)* noou DnfASaTB.—Mr. Mitchell, the 8olway Hematite Wodcs*M«ryport, was Saturday by an explosion of dynamite, which being u»ed for blasting pnTpoMS. Mr.<Jgitobell and hia asasSant wete removing soma Iran and elag > from the ^edi efi 6muw;«»ier&e 4yeeeiitr nztiBodobetore thev could get out of the AaWthee fcian <*sa «srii- ously injured, and a thi»d man Sndta bey ww« also hurt. The coalowaers of; Booth -"Wslea,; with the view of mnnti-f the combined action of the men in the matter of wages, toit hwve' determined to establish an association of the« own, and sev»j*l conferences have lately taken jjaoewith this object., Alltheae meeting# have been attmded1>y the Leading ironmasters, steam cosflowners, and honsa <Sosi owners tD the Principality, and the feel- ing was unanimous that some steps ought to be taken by the employers of labour for the protection of their intereata. The result of the conferences had been the formation of a gigantic coalowners' union.
OPENING OF THE HOLYHEAD HARBOUR.
OPENING OF THE HOLYHEAD HARBOUR. HOLYHEAD, TUESDAY. The Royal yacht steamed into the Roadstead soon after one o'clock this morning, and the ironclads in harbour were illuminated in honour of her arrival Early to bed being a maxim of very general accepta- tion in Anglesea, few people saw what was really a pretty night scene, as the Victoria and Albert passed slowly by the fleet, each huge mass being suddenly lighted up and its outline disclosed in the gloom. Out of regard for the slumbers of the townsfolk, no other token was then given of the Royal presence, but at 8 a. m a Royal salute told all who had ears to hear that the Prince of Wales had arrived. By that time, of course, the yacht had taken up her appointed position in the inner anchorage, and soon it became known that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh had accompanied his brother to visit the great national work just completed, and take part in the}simple ceremonial proper to the occasion. As Master of the Trinity house, the Duke of Edinburgh would naturally be interested in the completion of one of the largest Breakwaters yet formed upon the English coast, and a work of such great importance to the English mercantile marine. His presence here to-day was, therefore, in every way appropriate as well as welcome. At half-past 11 the President of the Board of Trade, the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P., proceeded on board the Victoria and Albert, and introduced to their Royal Highnesses the Harbour Master, Admiral Schomberg, the superintending engineer of the Breakwater, Mr. Hawkshaw, F.R.S., with Mr. H. Calcraft, private secre- tary to the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Farrer, permanent secretary, and Mr. Cecil Trevor, secretary of the Harbour Department. The scene then shifted to Soldier's Point, the shore end of the Breakwater, which had been fixed for the landing-place of the Prince. Here the President and officers of the Board of Trade were assembled to receive their Royal Highnesses. At noon the lowering of the Royal Standard from the Victoria and Albert showed that the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh were on their way to the shore. The Royal barge was soon seen making rapid progress towards the landing-place, passing through a lane of boats from the squadron, which were anchored between the Royal yacht and the shore. The blue-jackets in their boats saluted as the Royal barge passed by, standing up uncovered, and at the same time the yards of the whole squadron were manned. Along the mile and a half of broad and solid stonework which now juts into the sea there was standing-room for the whole population of Anglesea, not to say of North Wales, and nearly the whole length was open without restriction, but the sight- seers there could have hardly exceeded a thousand, and the Holyhead people preferred to gratify their loyal curiosity in their own streets, when the Princes afterwards passed through the town. The Royal party, who were accom- panied by the Prince of Leiningen, Captain of the Royal yacht, halted at the top of the landing stairs, where addresses were presented to the Prince of Wales by the High Sheriff on the part of the county of Anglesea, and by the chairman of the Local Board. Having taken their seats in the waggons, the Princes, attended by Mr. For- tescue and most of the other visitors, were carried at a fair speed upon the tramway, which runs to the head of the breakwater. In their progress the Prince and the Duke of Edinburgh could see the plan and form of the colossal work which Mr. Rendel began and Mr. Hawk- shaw had happily ended they could see something of the immense rubble mound which first of all was flung into the sea, and which in some parts of its course is no less than 55 feet high, and 400 feet wide at the base. It was easier to see tke massive masonry raised upon this mound when it became consolidated by the action of the waves and had itself to be excavated for the foundation of the superstructure. At the sea face of the breakwater is a solid wall carried up to a height of nearly 39 feet above low water mark, upon which is a handsome pro- menade, protected on the sea side by a parapet. Then on the harbour side, at a much lower level, is a terrace, or quay, 40 feet wide, traversed by the tramway already mentioned. At intervals, upon the wall flanking the terrace were hung single flags which relieved the long line of stone and made the Breakwater gay enough without interposing any petty display to break the grandeur of so great a work. I must not omit to mention the goat, which opposite the landing place was hoisted upon a small platform surrounded by evergreens, a national emblem, meant probably to remind the Prince that he was now in the land which gives him his title, though hereabouts it certainly does not speak his tongue. Puffing vigorously, the little locomotiva soon carried its Royal freight to the head of the pier, a massive structure 150 feet long and 50 feet wide, upon which stands a lighthouse. Here 70 or 80 blue jackets from the Agincourt and Northumberland lined the steps ap which the Prince and the Duke passed to the terrace above. Here also was stationed a second guard of honour, composed of Royal Marine Artillerymen from the squadron, under the command of Captain Burchier, of the Hercules, so that the two Services were represented at the two ends of the breakwater. Upon the terrace, under the shelter of the lighthouse, a dais was erected, over which hung a canopy of fligs, a very graceful and pretty design by Admiral Schomberg, a sort of naval baldacchino, which no body is likely to resist as an inno- vation, for it is a great inprovement upon the old bell- tent. The Prince and the Duke of Edinburgh having taken their stand on the dais, Mr. Fortescue read to the Prince of Wales the following short account of the Holy- head works:— "I have the honour to present to your Royal Highness a short account of the extensive public works at Holy- head, at the formal completion of which you have this day been graciously pleased to be present. Between the years 1835 and 1847 the attention of the Government was directed to the importance of providing improved harbour accommodation on the Coast of North Wales for the sake of the packet service between England and Ireland, so essential to the interests of the United Kingdom, and during the investigation that followed the desirability of combining with any such project a harbour of refuge received mach consideration. From its situation, Holyhead was doubtless the most natural place to select for the establishment of the packet station, but during the earlier history of the inquiry it was believed by some that the railway access to Holyhead would never be achieved. When, however, the bridging of the Menai Straits by the Chester and Holyhead Rail- way Company became no longer a matter of doubt, it was easy to determine that Holyhead was in every respect the most suitable place, not only for the packet service, but also for a harbour of refuge, and it was selected accord- ingly. Of the several schemes proposed for that place to ac- complish the required end, the plan suggested by the late Mr. Rendel was accepted in 1845, and the first contract for this great work was made on the 24th of December, 1867. The works thus commenced more than 25 years ago have been completed during the present year. "The harbour is 267 acres in extent, and there is (in addition) a roadstead of 400 acres of deep water sheltered by the extended arm of the breakwater. The cost of the whole of the works has been nearly £1,500,000. This cost includes not only the outlay on the North Breakwater, 7,860ft. in length, on the end of which we now stand, but also the provision of the accommodation for tht; Irish postal service in the Old Harbour, and other miscellaneous works. Although the expenditure has been large, the value of the harbour is beyond a doubt, and it has become an im- portant national undertaking. It is used to a very large extent, and when it is stated that on an average about 3,500 ships seek refuge within it in the course of a year, it will be seen that it affords great protection to life and property. Few harbours possess greater facilities of in- gress and egress, and the holding ground is very good. The harbour is entirely free to the vessels of all nations resorting to it for the purposes of shelter. The late Mr. James Meadows Rendel was engineer-in- chief from the commencement of the works until his death at the end of 1856, when Mr. John Hawkshaw succeeded him, and under that gentleman's superin- tendence the works have been brought to a successful completion. Mr. George C. Dobson has been resident engineer from the commencement, and Messrs. J. and C. Rigby were the contractors. I have now to request that your Royal Highness will be graciously pleased to declare the Breakwater complete, and the Harbour of Refuge open." The Prince, in reply, said, "Inow declare this break- water complete, ana the Harbour of Refuge open." At these words, by a preconcerted signal, the yards of the squadron were again manned with the wonted spring and will which English bluejackets throw into their duty, and the ironclads fired a Royal salute, beginning when the Agincourt had fired her second gun. The Devastation was anchored nearest the Breakwater head, and looked like some ungainly sea spider, small but exceedingly precious. She alone remained silent, the rule being that Boyal salutes are oonfined to vessels carrying ten guns and upwards. When the short ceremony at the dais was ended the Prince of Wales was conducted to a point seaward of the Lighthouse, at which the stonework was covered in by a Union Jack. His Royal Highness being asked to re- move the flag, did so, and thus uncovered a gunmetal plate bearing the following inscription :— THIS BEEAKWATER was commenced in 1845, and on August 19,1873, ALBBBT BDWABD PJUNCB OF WALES Declared the work complete Superintending Engineers:— Junes Meadows Rendel 1845-1856. John Hawkshaw 1857-1873. G. C. Dobson, J. and C. Rigby, Reddent Engineer. Contractors. I Then the Royal party were taken into the Iighthouse, as yet unused, though all preparations were made for lighting it this awanng, In all the lighthouses a Visitors. Book is kept, and the Prince of Walesa, the Duke of Edin- burgh, the rrin<^ of Lwiningea; and Mr. Fortescue were thefirp to sign the new volume started here, their example being of eeurse fallowed by most of the other visitors. The return journey to the shore end of the Breakwater was performed in the train «s before, and the Princes and the suites at once re-embarked at Soldier's Point for the Royal yMht. Aiter a short interval they landed again near the life-boat station, where they were received V the W ^^n^Mr. Chichester F«rtescue,' andtheofficers of tte Boardof Trade, and drove toPenrhos. the seat of Mr. Stanley. There they had luncheon and afterwards WW" ata garden party gm»i j* the taeas^iUgrouiw of^ruirhpa. Theli^Royal Highndwes in the pveqwig fiiterfcpvod a. large party to dinner on. board Wed fey a loy»l, de»«a- fireworks on tbe monu- ment hill, and at sftnset th* light in the Lighthouse was Bhown to mariners for the first time, and the charge of maintaining it in future was formally intrusted to a Committee of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House. It is a red revel zing dioptric light of the third order. It was understood during the proceedings of the day that Her Majesty graciously intends to confer upon Mc. Hawkshaw, F.R.S., the Superintendent Engint er of the Breakwater, the honour of knighthood. This deserved recognition of tried services and ability closes pleasantly the record of a ceremony well arranged and carried onfc with equal precision and good taste.
"MODERN PILGRIMS.
"MODERN PILGRIMS. The Echo writing on this subject says:— Some quarter of a century ago the fashionable world was much amused by the Eglinton Tournament. It was thought the quaintest and most original idea for nusttt and squires of the Nineteenth Century to don the armour of their forefathers, and play at jousts and tilting" be- fore a Queen of Love and Beauty. All the gossip of the day was about the Knight of St. John's Wood," their prowess and discomfitures. Ingoldsby writes one of his best ballads on the Knights of the Rose and the Knight of the Dragon, Who, the newspapers tell UII, did little to brag on, Unless, may be perchance, at the' prog' in the waggon," and the few illustrated journals which flourished at the period, made a fortune out of a gala which nearly coat one to the splendid host. EalintoD Tournament that we should live to see another great practice of the Middle Ages revived im England, and that, not in sport, but in most serioue earnest—we should behold English noblemen conduct- ing a Pilgrimage to a miracle-working shrine precisely iu the same matter-of-fact way such things were done nt the days of Ohaucer-we should assuredly have laughed. and said that at least the world had grown too old foe such things was irretrievably gone by. Foreign Catho- lics of the lower orders might troop to visit the Holy Ceat at Treves, but everywhere the educated classes of every creed laughed at such legends and pretensions, and in England Romish priests would be too sensible te allow their flocks to offer the spectacle of childish crodn- ulity to Protestant ridicule, even were there to be fo«tn} among the Irish immigrants any so stupid as to under- take them. Only far away in Lough Derry, in desolate Donegal, we knew lay an island, in That dim lake Where sinful souls their farewell take .« Of this sad world" a shrine which Calderon had celebrated; and there a few hundred poor peasants annually resorted to perform countless gyrations barefooted over the shingle, round and round "stations" of time-worn stones. Now we find that all these notions of the progress of the age are singularly falsified. A practice which had fallen into entire disuse for some three or four centuries is revived just as it we were still living under the Plantagenets, or rather as if the old Greek myth were true, and the ,e world's great Age" ran round ix never-ceasing circles, bringing us back always to the spot whence we departed. The Duke of Norfolk (by curious irony of fate the premier duke, and head uf eke English nobility), with Lord Walter Kerr and hundred persons of various ranks are actually stilting forth on a Pilgrimage of the old, old kind, and under the benediction of the Archbishop of Westminster--2 Pilgrimage, not to Jerusalem and Calvary—not eveE. to Rome and the feet of the Pope—but to Paray Le Monial and the shrine of the poor hysterical estasiatm (imposter or maniac who shall say r), Maria Alacoque! with all the conveniences ofmodren travel, and with ac few of the hardships which dignified old Pilgrimage as can be avoided by our starting—as a contemporary contemptuously describes it—a Cook's self-conducted party on an Excursion towards Paradise." And whiie this is doing in England the leaders of the French Pilgrimages have prepared ac Address to the Pope, to be signed by all pilgrims of 1873, which gives expression to the sentiments supposed to animate them, in a form which Protestants cannot but read with amazement, being as nearly in the shape of £ Prayer to Pius IX. as if he were indeed Our Lord God the Pope." Very few words would need to be changed in this address if, after beginning with Moct Holy Father," the name of the Almighty W2.-S inserted while one passage reads precisely like a parody of the prophetic phrase usually applied oy Protestants ta Jesus Christ: Our crimes are the cause of you sufferings, and our misfortunes are bound up witfc yours. Your trumph will be our triumph. You aloae can show us the road to victory. Continue to eft- lighten our course by your infallible teaching. P; esent France to the Immaculate Mary. To yas belong our hearts, our minds, the power of our coun- try, the blood of our children." To those who watch such signs of the times as these, and compare the state of the public mind at intervals sufficiently distant for the charge to be easily observed, it seems clear enough that the disintegration of opinion is dwelt together, blended in various pro- portions in particular sections of the community, b8t;. still co-existing, illogically enough, almost every- where. Few people set Authority wholly at nought, still fewer were found to reject the testimony of Science, or deny the right of private inrestigaEton, and if they were often practically "seated o:. two stools they scarcely perceived that such was the case. Now for some years it has seemed as if two magnets were applied to the disorderly mass of thought. aed the ideas, hitherto jumbled, are obeying one or the other attraction, and ranging orderly fashion 011 ome side or the other. The essentially Catholic, and the essentially Protestant principle are exercising that opposing influences more powerfully than they Iwe done since the great Reformation, the Catholic neces- sarily carying back its followers from every puintte which they had advanced, the Protestants equally necessarily pushing forward its adherents to yet mccE advanced positions and more logical developctnemt- It is impassible to view such a division, becoming every day more pronounced, opening, indeed, into aa immense chasm beneath our feet, without feelings 01 grave anxiety and solemnity. But, happilly, the fiaai Lsues of such great struggles are not doubtful, and tbe duty which it behoves each man to fulfil as regards them is by no means obscure. That may he summed up Tery easily in two rules — to be perfectly truthful as regards our own conviction, and perfectly charitable as regards those of others. It is the want of honesty and simple eo%- spokeness which is the peril of the Churek of England at this crisis, and it is the same want whicb entails on thousands among us the guilt of depriving those around us of all the help, guidance, and support which human souls need so sorely in their pursuit of truth, aad which are often supplied by the mere know- ledge of what another thinks, and is. And as to the charity of the case, though we have at last abandoned the insolent phrase of toleration" regarding <Mtr neighbour's religious opinions, we still need to learn how to show him respect and friendliness, even while sincerity and the truest regard for him, as well «s others, compel us to use our best skill in confuting them. Not long ago, a journal, professedly of the religious" order, spoke of a great man recently deceased as that deal infidel, while another, which spoke with Christian hope- fulness of the same great man's state in the Eternal World, was attacked with the utmost virluenoe by s whole shoal of provincial papers for presuming to sup- pose he might have escaped eternal condemnation. For one such bitter things as this which oomes actually te the surface, and is printed in the public journals, there are, of course, hundreds spoken in pulpits, and thou- sands in our homes and tbe streets, and it is these, and all-such-like violent and bigoted words and sentiments* which it behoves us sternly to repress if we would not have the great Schism, which inevitably looms before 118 in the near future, became a period of cruel hate and vindictiveDess such as, by every religion, stands utterly condemned.
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In the last seven months the number of horses exported was 1,320, of which 543 went to France. The value was 1:11,025. In the same period last year the number was) 1,888, and the value £104:, 913. In seven months of 1871 as many &8 4,104 horses were exported te France. BBEACH OF PBOXZSX BY A BAFTBST MxxisTza.—Jkt Haverfordwest, on Tuesday, the Deputy-Sheriff lac Pembrokeshire and a special fury ss& to assess the damages in as actum brought by Miss Margaret Williams, of Treginnon, against the Rev. T. M. Boas, formerly a student at the Baptist College, Haverfordwest. Pro- ceedings were oommeaced at the Pembrokeshire Summer Assize, when the defendant let judgment go by default. The evidence of plaintiff revealed the grossest conduct on the part of the defendant, as she had not only ben deceived, but seduced; and was now enceinte by hiat. She also stated that defendant had told her that he was possessed of £600, aad had aooepted the pastorale oi charch at C100 a-yeac Several letter* froasderaada^ were read, showing the attachment he professed to enter- tain fer the plaintiff up, the very date of his marriage to another person. Defendant w aot appear, and tbe jury awarded £300- cIaID8pI. BARNSTAPLE AND IURACQKBJS RAILWAY COKPAKT.— On Wednesday aftertoou the half-yeariy general meetiag of the shareh«Uers apd di»cto*» of tbe above compear was held at thToffioe» in ParliaJiiMt^to^WMtminster; for the transaction of the fenem blislnces of the eoat- pany. Mr. Thbmas Pain, the chairman, presided, aad there was a limited attendaaee other directors and proprietor* iathe undertaking. "aid be was tbi to conatructian wegs, upon the wholfr in^a very advaaoed st»ga: and on tbf at the heartjol dbeetoni he would havV W I* W able te wmie that the Iim weald be eped *n tfce wtwo «C the present jeac m had been aniieifftjpdi but the contractor had not IT oeedtd £ «*» Tapidl^S the term? ol hi* ^STdu^tope^half^eat powers of the company to unu* shortly afterward* aepaiJSl the