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THE LATE REV. DAVID HOWELLS.

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THE LATE REV. DAVID HOWELLS. Another link in the chain which unites the Swansea of the present with the past is rent asunder. One by one the old men who have home the burden and heat of the day are fast disappearing from the ranks of life a activities and strug- gles thus, one generation goeth and another cometh. If the broken ranks caused by death are filled up by younger men, years must come and go before they can be expected to fill up satisfactorily the void created by departed worth. To the aged we must ever look for ripened experience and wise and prudent counsel. Beautiful is youth, for then the spirit is free from the cares, the anxieties, the troubles, and the disappointments of life. If we would secure shelter from storms and tempests, we must take our stand fceneath the many-branched oak, and not the puny sapling. So if we want to learn lessons of practical experience—to know the worth and worthlessness of all terrestrial things —we must not go to the yoong, but to the aged—to those whose knowledge has grown from more to more, as Tennyson sings, by contact with men, with the world, and with l;fe presented in sa many forms of human action. It ia men of this class from whose lips droppeth words of wisdom. Youth is beautiful, but old age is far more beautiful. Solomon remarked that the beauty of old men iø the grey head, because it is a crown of glory if fouud in the way of righteousness. They are ripe for the hereafter —for the mystery beyond—for the spirit world. The etd who are wise are taken from us when their judgment is ripest. When they go we feel that there is no one in the church who can supply their place. Hence, when old ministers of the gospel die, the aged of their congregation say, Let us go and die with them for from the young we cannot expect the deep sympathy and words of solace and of comfort which always marked the conversation of the dear departed ones. The pensive sorrow, the deep sighs which welled up from the hearts of the congregation on the day when all tbat was mortal of the deceased was carried to the tomb, spoke more eloquently than words of the love, reverence, and deep affection with which his memory was regarded by his sorrowing flock. The materials for writing a lengthy memoir of the deceased are, we regret to say, exceedingly scanty. We are given to understand that he left a diary which contains a record of the principal events of his life. We presume his family will place this diary in the hands of some writer of ability, who will issue a life of Mr. Howells worthy of the man and of the place he occupied in the church. Mr. Howells was a native of Carmarthenshire, a county which has sent forth more ministers of the gospel than any other county in the Principality. He was bern about the year 1797, at B mkyfelin, a small village situate on the turn- pike-road between the ancient boroughs of St. Clear's and Carmarthen. From this place he removed when very young to Swansea, and for several years he worked as a tailor for Mr. Cadwallader, Castle-square, whose daughter he subsequently married. Having in his youth given evidence of fitness for the Christian ministry, by piety and knowlege, and the ability to convey to others the truths he himself believed and felt, he was allowed by the church to which he belonged to preach. This was in the year 1818. During the six fololwing years he was constantly engaged is the work to which he reeolvJd to devote his life, and at an association held at Llanireitho, in the year 1824, he was erdained. The address on the nature of a Christian Church was delivered by tue Kev. Thomas Richard, of Fishguard, uncle of the honourable member for Merthyr, Mr. Henry Richard, and the charge to the ordained pastors—Mr. Howell, Mr. Morgan Howells, and Mr. Griffiths, of Gower —was delivered by the Rev. Ebenezer Morris, who as a preacher gained a popularity in Wales which but few have surpassed. About the time of the ordination of the deceased in 1824, the Calvicistic body resolved to make a stre- nuous effort to carry on evangelistic work in the county of Radnor—that is, in those parts of the county where the English language was wholly spoken. To one of the stations, namely, Penybont on the Ithon, the Rev. Mr. Howells was appointed. When he eommenced his labours there, there was no chapel, and the deceased used to preach in the shed belonging to a black- smith's shop. On the sabbath, when conducting worship, it is related that persons from the adjoining inn would go and offer him some beer, remarking, You must surely be thirsty." Here Mr. Howells laboured for seven years. He built a chapel on land given by the late Mr. Williaw Thomas, shopkeeper, of Penybont, and the chapel, wheu opened, was soon nearly filled by respectable congrega- tion, who were chietiy well-to-do farmers of the neighbour- hood. The Rev. Ebenezer Williams, a successor to Mr. • Howells, erected three other chapels in the neighbourhood, namely, Forest Hill, Llanfihangel Rhyd I then, and a third in a hamlet situate near the far-famed Gaer in Ihe parish of tlandeur Ystradenny but these causes are traceable to the efforts of the deceased, as the church he formed at Penybont is still regarded as the mother church. At Penybont Mr. Howells won the respect of all, and his memory is still regarded with deep affection. When Mr. Howells left Penybont he returned to Swan- sea, and continued to reside here almost interruptedly until his decease. In 1840 efforts were made to induce him to leave, and settle at Carmarthen. In compliance with the wishes of his Carmarthen friends he acceded to their solicitation, and removed there. He remained, how- ever, at Carmarthen only a few months, and from there he again returned here. About the year 1842 he was induced again to remove from Swansea to Lantwit-Major; but the ties he had formed at Swansea proved too strong, and after a brief residence at Lantwit he came back to Swansea, where he continued to reside until his death. As pastor he was untiring in his devotion to the work, ever ready to give his help to those causes which tended to spread wider the gospel of Christ. But few men devoted so much time to visit the sick, the poor, and helpless, as he. In all matters relating to the interests of the denomination he was looked up to by young and old. On account of the univer- sal respect with which he was held by bis church, he was elected under the new scheme its first Moderator, the .highest office connected with the Calvinistic Method- ist denomination. This election to the Presidential chair was at the general assembly held at Llanidloes in 1867. The deceased was to have taken part at the asso- ciation held at Newcastle on the 5th of this month, but on the previous day he was called away to join a holier assembly, and the tidings of his death created upon the minds of the ministers and delegates there the most profound sorrow and regret. Mr. Howells was twice married. His first wife was Miss Cadwallader, to whom he was married in 1837. In 1842 he married secondly Miss James, youngest sister of the Rev. John James, of Bridgend, who died a few months ago.. The deceased, though a good man-pre-emmently devout-was not regarded as a great preacher, though occasionally he preached with great power and effect. He did not possess the eloquence of John Elias or Pro- fessor Howells. His sermons were not marked by the beautiful imagery and painting for which Jones of Tal- sarn was so widely famed. He was not so profound a thinker as Owen Thomas, nor was his matter so logi- cally arranged, nor was his style so chaste as Henry Rees. He was what we might describe as a solid preacher —but it was the solidity of ruggedness. When in the pulpit expatiating on the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord—themes upon which he delighted to dwell— beholding him standing there, one would be induced' to hum the words of the poet— There stands the Messenger of Truth-there stands the Legate of the skies; More skilled to raise the wretched than to rise." Our Welsh contemporary, the Baner Cymru, thus refers to the deceased:— Wele un etto o golofnau cedyrn Eglwys Dduw wedi •yrthio—"dyn mawr yn Israel," a "Gwr Duw," yn agwir ystyr y gair, oedd y patriarch anwyl Mr. Howells. Cafodd y fraint o ymuno â. chrefydd yn ieuangc, a bu yn anrhydedd iddo hyd ddiwedd ei oes. Hunodd yn yr Iesu, boreu dydd LInn diweddaf, yn 77ain mlwydd o'i oedran, yn ei breswylfod yn Bellevue-street, Abertawe. Gallwn ddywedyd nad oedd un mwy parchus nag ef yn perthyn i Gorph y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd ac nid yn unig yr oedd gair da iddo gan ei frodyr a'i gyfeillion ei bun yn yr enwad hwnw, ond perchid ef yn fawr gan yr holl enwadau ereill y daeth i gyssylltiad a hwynt. Dech- reuodd bregethu pan oddeutu 20 mlwydd oed, yn Aber- tawe, ac ordeiniwyd ef i gyflawn waith y weinidogaeth yn 1824. Efe oedd gweinidog hynaf y cyfundeb. Pan yn wr ieuangc bu yn genhadwr yn sir Faesyfed, lie y mae effeithiau ai lafur i'w canfod hyd heddyw. er fod hanner canrif bellach er hyny. Wedi hyny ymsefydlodd yn Abertawe, a bu mewn cyssylltiad agos a. sir Forganwg, ac yn nellduol yn ei gyssylltiad ag Eglwys Trinity, am y gweddill o'i oes. Bydd hiraeth mawr ar ei ol, drwy yr holl gyfundeb, o Fynwy i Fon, yn amryw drefi Lloegr (lie yr oedd achosion Cymreig), ac hyd yn oed yn America ac Awstralia bell. Yr oedd yn cael ei anwylo a'i barchu fel dyn Duw" lie bynag yr adnabyddid ef ond yn Mor- ganwg yr oedd maes penaf ei lafur, ac O y golled fydd yn y sir hono ar ei ol. Yr oedd yn oracl o ran ei farn, yn gystal ag o ran ei wybodaeth yn egwyddorion mawrion erefydd. Telid sylw manwl i bob peth a ddywedai, fel dyn ag awdurdod ganddo. I'r eglwysi yr oedd yn dad, yn gystal ac yn fugail; ac yr oedd y naws grefyddol oedd yn ei bregethu, a'r bywyd duwiol oedd yo ei dreulio, yn dwyn argraphiadau daionus ar bawb a ddeuent i gyffyrdd- iad ag ef. Yr oedd i fod yn bresennol yn Nghymdeith- asfa Liverpool eleni, lie yr arferai dalu ymweliad, ac y Thoodid croesawiad calonog iddo; ond o herwydd afiechyd methodd fyned yno, ac nid bychan oedd eu siomedigaeth o herwydd hyny. Y mae yn awr yn nghymdeithasfa y saint a berffeithiwyd, yn y ddinas nefol, lie na ddywed neb o'i phreswylwyr claf ydwyf." Gadawodd gyfeillion dirifedi i alaru ar ei oL Hebryngwyd ei weddillion marwol dydd Gwener diweddaf i dy ei hir gartref. Heddwch i lwch y sant hyd ganiad yr udgorn diweddaf, JaD.- Bydd dorau beddau y byd Ar un gair yn agoryd," BRISTOL MUSICAL FESTIVAL.—The arrangements for this festival are proceeding mostsa,ti8factonly. The fine chorus of 300 voices is in active training, three rehearsals a week being held next month tha number will be in- creased to four. Indeed, the festival is berng raised on a scale of magnitude and efficiency which ought to ensure its completeness. The li.ts of soloists is remarkably atrong, and may be said to compose the flower of English vocal talent. Madame Lemmens-Shernngton heads the list, and with her, as chief soprano, 18 found Madame Otto Alvsleben, a German prima donna whohaj made her mark in town this year, and has been proved in all kinds of music. Mr. Patey and Miss Ennquez axe the Principal contralto singers Mr. Sims Beeves, Mr. xJigoy, and Mr. Edward Lloyd (the latter a rising vocalist) are the tenors; while the basses are Mr. Stanley and Mr. wwis Thomas. Mr. Charles Halle will be the conductor; reappointment is justified by his long experience and Perfect management of similar undertaking?, and he will bia well-disciplined band of eighty-four th« programme of performances comprise bv Mr ri A ^rite oratorios, in addition to a new work yT A- Maclarren, entitled St. John the Baptist." Mancheatp^rt'i°i! employed in the iron trade at the first locked out on Saturday. This will be aav thav mn>t a f °f^r8e coercion which the employers

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