The Cambrian

%\xt (fenxbrian. SWANSEA, MAY 18, 1877. THE BATTLE OF THE RESOLUTIONS. THE great debate in the House of Commons on Mr. Gladstoa's Resolutions has ended, as was generally anticipated in the ex-Premier being out- voted. It would have been unreasonable that the result should be otherwise and, all things considered, it is, perhaps, as well that it should be as it is. A vote adverse to the Ministry, however deplorable its policy may have been, would have plunged the country into the mis- fortune of a general election, and left the king- dom without a Parliament in one of the very gravest crises of our Island history. To do this might have involved us in a great calamity and, therefore, under the circumstances, we are in- clined to adopt the maxim that it is better to bear the ills we have than rush to others that we know not of." To leave the country to the manage- ment of Lord Beaoonsfield's Cabinet during the period necessary to commence and conclude a great electoral battle would be to expose it to real peril. It is difficult to conjecture the folly with which it might be chargeable even during so brief a period. The same pen which wrote a despatch to the Porte condemning its brutalities and demanding condign punishment on the most prominent perpetrator of them is supposed to have written the lieply to the Russian Circular, for which the Sultan ostentatiously thanked the English Ambassador at Constantinople, and is said to be sending a special Envoy to thank our Foreign Secretary in London. But it is generally believed that the real writer was not the noble Lord whose signature it bears. Critics assert that there is sufficient internal evidence to sustain this opinion, unless the vir justus et temix propositi has shifted his abode from the camp of the Conserva- tives. However, there is another and perhaps a truer explanation of the facts. The mem- bers of the Government do not see the merits of the Eastern Question through the same spectacles. Lothair views it as a man of the world without a particle of the dis- turbing force which occupies the breast of a pious devotee, and with a Shyiock-like scrupulosity for the letter of the bond as contained in an obsolete treaty but others view it as men possessing English hearts, unable to stop their ears against the cries of distress or the claims of suffer- ing humanity. Consequently, under these circum- stances, the despatch of one day can be easily contradicted by another despatch on the day which succeeds, according to the proclivities of the writer and the views of the majority who ap- prove it. Some people boast of our national Church on account of its tolerance and compre- hensiveness. It is like the sheet descending from Heaven before the rapt gaze of an apostle which contained all manner of fowls and lish and four- footed beasts and creeping things. The "high'' and "low" and "broad" sections of it would give different, if not contradictory, descriptions ef its nature and functions. And this seems to be the ease with her Majesty's Government. Despatch contradicts despatch, and the statements of one member of the Cabinet modifies the statement of another so much that it would be hazardous to commit to them the government of the country during the interregnum which a general election would create. We do not, therefore, regret the vote hich shields the senatorial wisdom of our present rulers, taken, as it has been, without acknowledgment, from the only English Statesman who had the capacity and courage to enunciate the right policy for England respecting the embar- rassments into which the incurable profligacy of our ally, the Turk, has plunged Europe. To hope for a vote in favour of Mr. Gladstone's Resolu- tions would have been absurd. The Scotch Minister who was requested by his Elders to pray for fine weather, replied that lie would but there was no good in it, while the wind continued in the present u dirt." .And this is exactly the case re- garding the mechanical majority in the House of Commons. While it is there, it would manifest extraordinary credulity to expect any departure from its old traditions in resisting human progress, The constituencies must first see the error which they have committed in placing it in power, before the most sanguine can reasonably hope that the political world will move. The time will come for this when, like Tatty's rats, the present political fledglings shall have got a sight of their folly. But in the meantime, it is satisfactory to observe that Mr. Gladstone has gained all, or nearly all, the victory which he can desire. The cares of office are to him a burden. The sweets of po.ver have no allurement for him. Acting as a Christian patriot feeling the burden of responsibilty which he bears regarding the part which England took in the Crimean War, lie presents himself in the great council of the nation, to warn it against repeating the mistake which had been committed by this country when our most sagacious statesmen fancied that the Turkish Government was capable of being revived and improved. Russia was then regarded as an ambitious Conqueror anxious to carry out the bequests of a great Sovereign, whose "Will" was never written except in the ly- ing inventions of designing knaves The trap was cunningly devised, and our rulers of that period took the bait, robbing England of thou- sands of lives and millions of treasure. The mistake has been discovered and confessed by Mr. Gladstone—a mistake, not of policy to prevent a great Power from becoming the Dictator of Europe, but of placing any reliance upon a bar- barous ally whose instinct was cruelty and whose practice was plunder. It was then thought that "BritisIl interests" would be protected by the Turk. The independence and territorial in- tegrity" of the Ottoman Empire was then a pass word for popularity, chiefly, because it was thought to safeguard British interests." But Mr. Glad- stone in the bitterness of his experience has found that the Turk is incapable of safeguarding any- thing—not even his own harem—and, if it were otherwise, no British interests can be imperilled by liberating his oppressed subjects from the yoke of slavery which he has placed upon them. All this Mr. Gladstone has spoken in the ear of Eng- land, and though a Tory Government, which has modified its policy by the information he gave it, has whipped" up a majority against him in Par- liament, his speeches in that august assembly has paralyzed the power of Lord Beaconsfield to em- ploy a regiment of the Line, or a ship of war in defence of the most mendacious and rapacious Go- vernment that Providence ever permitted to exist. This is a sufficient triumph for the present. Future honours await him. It is enough just now to note that his comprehensive logic, critical acumen, and Demosthenic eloquence has rarely if ever been excelled in St. Stephens, and the appeal made by him in the peroration of his great speech, in the interests of a noble though subject and down-trodden race, will take its place in the front rank of British Classics.

NATIONALITIES. IT only requires that men of such standing as Mr. Gladstone and Professor Blackie would show the benefits of nationality to prevent the assimilative process by which some misguided philanthropists would place all peoples on the same monotonous level. The rollicking Professor of Greek in Edin- burgh would have the Scotch to retain their dis- tinctive characteristics throughout all the future. c z, He admits the polished Anglo-Saxon to be the highest type of man but yet he would maintain the peculiarities of his countrymen, in work, enter- prise, thinking capacity, practical habits, caution, religion, and humour. Auld lang syne would be a perpetual toast with him. He would not tolerate Scotch domestics to have soft hands, or well- dressed hair, or bonny faces, lest they should become girls of the period. Scotch plaids, Scotch snoods, Scotch oat-cake, because though food for English horses it grows men and brains in the Highlands, and the Scotch language of which he is as fond as the Knight Errant whom Cervantes has sketched was of his dear Dulcinea del Tobosa. This, we think, is an over-strained view of the case but his own high qualities make himself the best illustration of his arguments. Speaking of the physical man it is worthy of observation that few of "us youth" at the age of sixty-eight could skip about as he does, exhibiting the vivacity of a boy, and the elasticity of an acro- bat; and few in any country possess such mental capacity, especially for the acquisition of lan- guages, while his metrical tiansia ion of "Faust, and his Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, and other Poems," show that he is liberally endowed with the divine afflatus necessary to constitute a poet. It is not to be doubted, therefore, that learned men like him. with large warm hearts and strong furbished intellects, are a treasure to the country which is privileged to possess them-all the more valuable 011 account of the distinctive peculiarities and proclivities which lead them enthusiastically to do good work to their kinsmen, their clan, or nation, at the call of patriotism— and work which would not be done, if the incen- tive produced by the feelings of nationality did not exist. Only think of "this learned Theban" persevering for five months to make a sullen moping student laugh He could get Greek into his head, but no joy into his heart, and, there- fore, instead of lectures on the digamma, or the "Accents," he addressed himself to the task of making a happy man out of a wretched misan- thrope. But probably he would not have made the a'tempt, nor would he have known the way to succeed, if the Professor and pupil had not both been Scots. We arc convinced, therefore, that Pr jfessor Blackie talks and acts wisely when he endeavours to preserve the best national pecu- liarities of his countrymen, ridiculing the efforts of political map-makers as he would an attempt of world-builders to rob Ben Xevis of bis diadem, and sink him to the insipid uniformity of a plain. And Mr. Gladstone evidently en- dorses the principle we are illustrating by the splendid encomium which he last week pronounced upon the Welsh nation, specifying some of the qualities in which the Cymry excel. Two of these are their taste for music, and their taste for beauty as developed in the potter s art. Their love for music and the high position which even the uneducated classes have attained in it do not now require enumeration. Behold are they not written in the records of their achievements at the Crystal Palace, where colders and men of like occupation with Tubal-Cain astonished the best judges in the land by their proficiency. If it is true, as Congreve assert-, that music has charms to soothe the savage breast" our countrymen ought to be the most iaw-respecting of all the races contained in the British Empire. And who can show that Congreve was wrong ? Not Welshmen, certainly. Offences of the deep- est criminality are seldom committed among them, and when they are, they are generally brought home to culprits with whom the Briton is not more closely connected than he is with the Grand Lama of Thibet. Our prison archives supply the proof of this statement. But if .30, any attempt to weaken or undermine such a pleasing support to the happiness of human beings, and so potent a contI ibutor to the best fruits of civilization, would be criminal in the extreme. And if "a thing of beau'.y is a joy for ever," we can only regret that the Cumbrian Pottery," which achieved its highest renown from the educated taste of the late Lewis Weston Dillwyn, Esquire, the accomplished author of "Contributions to a History of Swan- sea," is not now running-a caret* of prosperity, and competing with Minion and Wedgwood for a fame which is world-wide. But tlia, which hath been is that which shall be" said Solomon and, though the potter's wheel has been cast aside for something m re noLy, Mr. Gladstone's praise of the Cambrian Pottery, and its opaque china" and his expressed hope for a revival of the ceramic art in South Wales is sufficient evidence that Welsh originality and taste are equal to the task of competing successfully with the most renowned manufacturers in this department of artistic skill. It is admitted that Wed. wood was a man of great taste and capacity, but his fame did not arise ex- clusively from his own genius. When in London, on one occasion, he met with a lad, John Flax- man, who was helping his father to make plaster casts in New-street. (3ovent Garden. To him he said, I have heard that yu' are a good draughts- at man and a clever designer. I'm a manufacturer of pots. I want you to design some models for me, in tasteful and correct drawing. I'll pay you well. What you design is meant for the eyes of Royalty --mind that." The famous young artist and the enterprising manufacturer were happily met. Wedgwood was suon appointed royal potter" to Queen Charlotte, and his imitation of the cele- brated Portland Vase was in itself sufficient to realize a fortune. The case was different with Mr Dillwyn. So far as we know, his designing genius was unassisted and if men of his taste and culture had continued to guide the Cambrian or Nantyarw works we might now have a different '• royal potter," and see a Welshman enjoying the honour which Minton has deserved, and of which he is proud. Would it be wise to weaken the national idiosyncracies of two such peoples as those of whom we have been speaking ? We at all ev.nts would counteract, by every available method, the iconoclastic process that would cause their aoguage to pe. ish through the Philistinism of commerce or the inanition of neglect; and we would denounce the niggardliness and injustice of any Government which would provide only an English education in English for the Welshman and Highlander, in disparagement of the expressive old tongue which for twenty centuries has awaked the echoes of their native hills. Nor would we lea,, e out in the cold the Scotchman divested of his caution and returned to the Irish stock from which he originated. Paddy's light-hearted fun is an agreeable variation of John Bull's staid solidity. Wo ne-d all our nationalities—best when kept distinct, though welded by the bonds of a common loyalty and a common interest. Aud it is the happiness of the British Isles to possess them The Faugli-a-ballac! s atTalavera, and the Fusiliers, Greys, and Guards at Waterloo, formed theground work for a glorious epic, if seme tuneful Homer h"d risen to work it into verse—not less united because they were distinct, and not less efficient in their dreadful work through the spirit of emulation wdiich distinctive nationalities had infused into them. The same principle was i;lus- trated by the conduct of the Grecian States when, in resisting the hordes of Persia, the Spartans went to hold riiermopyia* or die. It is manifest at present in the desperate valour of the moun- taineers of Montenegro who have rivalled, if they have not eclipsed, the heroic daring of Leonidas and his Three Hundred." And, indeed, it is now seen through mutterings of the thunderstorm which can be heard in all the countries occupied by the Slavonic race, and may burst in fury when the contest between the Russian and the Turk has grown rotter. As a matter of taste, we should not like a garden which grew ouly one sort of flowers, nor a landscape which presented only one kind of scenery, nor a forest in which nothing but one species of tree was grown. As a matter of utility it is well known that different sorts are preferable. But this is true also of nations; and, therefore, the policy of rulers is short-sighted and imprudent which in the equal administration of justice to all the tribes which may be contained in a King- dom or Empire does not give verge and scope and even encouragement to the idiosyncrasies which distinctive nationalities exhibit, when the result is to foster a spirit of healthy rivalry through the various sections of the population, and rouse the intellect and open the heart to the most healthful influences which can be brought to bear upon them. After what Mr. Gladstone has said, we cannot doubt that when an opportunity is pre- sented, he will not fail to use his great influence on behalf of Welsh learning, and especially that sort of it which will preserve those national distinctions of which the Cymru are justly proud.

EXTENSION OF THE FRANCHISE IN COUNTIES. IT has been remarked that in the lengthened debates which have recently taken place about measures which have precipitated the war in the East, Mr. Bright has been conspicuous by his absence. Two reasons may be suggested for this. First—No man was more villified than Mr. Bright for misrepresenting the feeling of England regard- ing the Turco-Russian dispute, and precipitating the crisis which ended in the capture of Sevastopol and the Treaty of Paris. Then, it is well known that from deep religious conviction the right hon. gentleman is averse to war, so that in the pre- sent crisis his advice would suffer all the disadvan- tages of a foregone conclusion, and would be calculated to embarrass the action of that Party in which he is a most prominent figure, for it has not all the conscientious scruples about the sinfulness of fighting which he undoubtedly pos- sesses.. But he has been doing other work, more congenial to his political and religious tastes, which may exercise a greater influence on his country than the march of armies or the manoeuvres of fleets. He has been presiding at a great repre- sentative meeting in Exeter Hall for assimilating the County to the Borough franchise. Mr. Bright has, throughout a long life and a splendid political career, employed his great abilities in endeavour- ing to widen the basis of the English Constitution by extending the electoral franchise, and increasing the interest which all Englishmen should feel in promoting the prosperity of their country. He must now feel special satisfaction in seeing many of the reforms which he advocated against tre- mendous odds perfectly triumphant, and others of which he was the peerless champion now budding into promise. This is undoubtedly the case with regard to the proposition now made to extend the franchise to agricultural labourers in counties. Why Mr. Snip, in a borough, should have a vote in regulating the affairs of this country, and Master Hodge, in a county, should be deprived of the same privilege, is a difference and disability which "no fellow can under-tand." Can any one tell why the "Compound House- holder "-an auimal as irresponsible and diffi- cult to grapple as the hues of the chameleon -should be accepted as a buttress of the Consti- i tntion, and the suburban householder rejected? Most assuredly the labourer is not less stable, nor loyal, nor uninterested in his country's progress than his brother toiler in the town, and the just inference is that he should have equal privileges, The claim which is now being urged on his be- half ought not to be uuattractive to Liberals. It is sure to be ignored by the Prime Minister till after he has found som? principle' in it. This, if his previous tactics be repeated, will be a bid for the possession or continuvce of power. But by Liberals it might be a po: of re-union round which their disjecta memo .i could be gathered and rallied for another grand effort to I 'I; zii, I advance civilization, and obtain a wider recogni- tion of the rights of man. We shall not fail on our part to contribute to its success.

SWANSEA BJARD OF GUARDIANS. At the weekly meeting of this Board held yesterday there were present—Me tiS, J. T. D. Lli-wdy-i (chiir- mau) Edward Bath and E. R. Dii iel (vice-chairmen), J. T. Jenkin, Thes. Jones, Thos. Powell, J. 1. Evans (mayor), PlUogei-s. Edward Robeit Wm. Richards, E. Thomas, J Ji'i Davies, U. Smith, J. Naysmit.'i, D. O»en, Wm. Williams, E Maddock, B. Ri.iharos, Tn-imas Har- ries, Tnos. G'a»brook, J-din Le<vis. Richard Richards, and Mr. Birchaia, luspt-c-or of the Local Government B .ard. The minutes of the last meeting were read and adopted. an The Chiurman brought up the report of the Cottage Homes C'.>manttee, which recommended tha' t.Ii; Guar- diatis should app dm the following officers :-A supeiin- tendent and his wi.e (the latter to be matron o. one of the cottages and to have the general supervici <n and management ot the other three); the supennt-iidert to be competent to ke-p the necessary accounts of the four cottages, aud to instruct the boys in general garden work and other industiiai training. TLe salary of the super, iutenaent aud his wife to be t30 ptr annum witli fur- Hi-bed apartments, fuel, and rotions. That thioe other matrons e app .in ■:> d tor the other cottages at a salary of annum, apartments, fuel and rations, The matrons dwuid be capable of instructing the girls in household w.;k, cooking, plain sewing, sua ku-'tting. The prefffen/e should be given to widows without en- cumbranc, if .auy such eu'nild apply for tne post of matron. The eomur.ttee rccommended that advertise- mollis to t'.e above effect be i: serted in the newspapers inviting applications, and that the app jm'un^uc .l1ould commence irom thJ 24th of June next. Mr. Birchthought the alary oi £ 30 nc annum for the suneriutecdeut au<l iiis wife was too suiad to attract a suitable man. The Cua nuiu would le glad to increase ir. The sum had been fixed at £ 30 in accordan e with a 1 rug previously expressed opinion of the committee, when it was in- tended that the Cottage Hones thouid not be so exten- sive a, they now are. Mr. J. I. Evanè (mayor) said the sum named was totally inadequate to remunerate a superinteuden' and n.atron iuch a they wcu.1 ) require. lie moved that the salary should be £ 5J. There were two amendments, namely, that the sum should be £ il) and £ 45. Eventu. ally the report nf the committee w,,s adopied, and the s dary of superintendent and matron fixed at £,)0. Mr. Bircham faded attention to the question of the plan-, for the extension ot the Workhouse, and for which the Guardians had offered a premium of £50. He said the Local Government B->ard would not go through the plans with a view of awarding the premium, but if the Guardians would fix upon the'r architect, then the LD3al G ;vernment Board would &;nd down their own aichitect to confer with him on the site. The Chairman said the Guardians had fixed upon Mr. Blessley. provided the Local Government Board approved of his plans. Eventually Mr. Bi:chmn und- r'ook to ir:attars forward at tLe Central Board. The minutes of the Finance Comtnitt e wpre eon- firmed. Tney contained nothing of much j u import- ance. The following tenders had been received fur the work of cementing or p'a.stenng the cottage homes :—Richards j aud Billings for Aherthaw lime, Is. 53. per squire yard | Portland cement, 2s. G-i. \Vi iiam Williams, 2s. and 3°. Gd William Preece, Is. 5d. and 2s. 10; II >ury Morris and Thomas Jones, Is. 71. and 2s. 7,1 Thomas Brothers, Is. Sd. and 2;. 101. The tender of Ywiliim Pieece was accepted.

SWANSEA POLICE COURT. THUXirSiJAY. [Before the Stipendiary and Mr. J. Clarke Richardson.J DESERTION OF WIFE AND FAMILY.—Amos Burgess, a robust young fellow, was brought up in custody charged with deserting his wife and familyof two children, thereby leaving them chargeable to the common fund of the Swan.-ea Union. P.C. Thomas ^mith proved appre- hending the prisoner at Marshfield on the previous day. Defendant said he could not live wPh his wife, because his mother-in-law treated him unkindly. He was now a labourer, having been discharged from the army. A letter was handed in to the Bench, which had been sent by defendant to his wife, stating that he (defendant) was about to marry again. The Bench sentenced him to two months' imprisonment. ADJOURNMENT.—On the application of Mr. H. D. Woodward, solicitor, who appeared for the defendant, the summons against Edward Hughes, gentleman. Pout- ardulais," for drunkenness and disorderly conduct in High-street, on the 9th inst., was adjourned for a week in order to admit of the attendance of some witnesses. THE HOTEL DE PARIS. -Mr. H. D. Woodward applied that the licence of the Hotel de Paris, Exchange Build- ings, be transferred to M. Emile Martin. The Bench granted an extended temporary transfer, for the purpose of allowing the applicant to procure certain refeiences. A CARELESS DRIVER. — William G'over, a cabmau, was summoned on the information of P. C..John" (47) for being at such a distance from his horse and cab as to have no control over it. Dismissed with a caution. DRUNKENNESS.—William Rogers was proved to have been drunk and disorderly in Well-street, Greenhill, on Friday night last. P.C. 21 deposed that he took pri- soner into custody, but be was rescued by the crowd. Fined 20s. and costs, or 14 days*, imprisonment. Ann Kerr, an unfortunate woman, was proved to h ive been drunk and behaving riotously in Back-street. The Bench concluded that defendant was a person of bad character, and sentenced her to one month's imprisonment with hard labour. John Hopkins was proved by P.C. 32 to have been drunk in the streets, and was fined 5s. and costs.

WAUNARLWYDD.—The depression of trade has assumed a serious aspect in this neighbourhood. Until very re- cently the whole of the collieries were kept open, en iblinT the men to earn a little every week but now three have ceased working. All the plant connected witu Caer- gynydd Collieiy has been sold. Brynmawr has changed hands. The limited liability company owning the Bish- well Colliery is not in a very prosperous condition. It is rumoured they intend to put the matter in a lawyer's hands." The men at Mynydd Bach Colliery are work'ng under a reduction. The Cefyngorwydd Colliery is the only one that is kept going with any regularity, but it cannot find room for half the men who are out of em- ployment. It is said many families were without any bread in their house last Sunday. REV. JOHX ROBERTS (IELAN GWYLLTj, FRON, CAR- NARVON. — This gentleman, a Calvinistic Methodist Minister, commenced a tour on the 1st of this mouth for the purpose of promoting congregational singing through the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Carmarthen- shires. Unfortuately he was taken seriously iil on Thursday, May 10th, and was obliged to return home, and he died Tuesday last. The improvement in the con- gregational singing of North and South Wales must be attributed to the exertions of Mr. J. Roberts for the last 20 years. He was a splendid critic, a composer of sacred music, and the compiler of the Psalm Tune Book, iu use in almost every Welsh Chapel through Wales, England, and America. THE GLAMORGAN ARTILLERY MiLmA.—The regiment have now nearly concluded their annual period of train- ing. As the townsfolk cannot but be aware fr <m the frequent marchings through the town during the last few weeks, the regiment is a fine and well-looking one, and the evolutions of the men evince careful training. There are ten officers, namely. Col. Boillard commanding; Capts. Hughes, and Ballantine; Lieutenants A. H. Richardson, Mansfield, and Bill; Sub-Lieutenants Arrowsmith and Richards Captain and Aajatant Little and Surgeon Paddon. There are 16 sergeants, 12 corporals, 1 trumpet- major, 3 trumpeters, 3 boys, and 26G rank and file. Yesterday the regiment was exercised in heavy gun practice before Col. Davies, Y. C., the Inspecting Officer, and to-day they will be inspected in marching order, &c, preparatory to their dismissal on Saturday. CRICKET.—We notice in the Melbourne Daily Telegraph of March 20th that a cricket match between the English professionals, who went out last autumn, and the Australians, ha.s resulted in the defeat of the English team by 47 runs. The description of the match con- cludes with these words: "Emmett then played the first of Kindall's next over on to his wickets, and the Australians became the champions of the world." The score is given as follows :—Australia, first innings, 245 second do., 104 ;.total, 349. All England, first innings, 196; second do., 106; total, 302. Grand totals—Aus- tralia, 349 England, 302. Won by 47. We hope our Swansea cricketers will make a good match this season against some of the best players of England, and we should be further pleased to observe an Australian team defeat the best All England Tle\ un on Lords' Ground,

TO CORRESPONDENTS. ggT Several letters to the Editor will be found in our third page. Igg" Our Second Article on "The Swansea Sunday Schools" will be found in our third page.