The Cambrian

ITatieiies, &c. M._ J Judge not thy neighbour till thou art in hit situation. —HiLLKL. Be charitable and indulgent to everyone but yourself. —JOLBEKT. Man's grind fault is that he has so many small ones.-F. P. RICUTEK. Take short views, hope for the best, and trust in God.—STDXKV SMITH. If you have knowledge, let others light their Candles at it.—T. FULLER. The world is purified, not by actions, but by nobleness d life.-W. LEWIS. Doing good is the only certainly happy action Of a man's life.—SIB P. SIDNEY. Excellence is never granted to man but as the reward of labour.—S!R J. REYNOLDS. "I heard ye were on shtrike," said Mike to his friend Pat. "I was that," answered Pat. M A shtrike for what, Pat ? For shorter hours, Mike." "An' did ye get them ? "Sure we did, Mike. It's not workin' at all I am now." You are now one," said the minister to the happy pair he had just tied together with a knot they never could undo. Which one asked the bride. "Excuse me. You will have to settle that for yourselves," said the clergyman. Elderly maiden (eut rowing with a possible suitor, to her little sister, who is frightened by the waves): "Theodora, if you are so nervous now, what will yoa be at my age ?" Little Sister (meekly): "Thirty-seven, I supposed' "Tommy," said the teacher, "is there any difference between the words 'suiffcient' and enough' ? "Yes'tn," replied the youngster. Sufficient' is when mother thinks I have eaten enough pie and • enough' is when I think I have eaten sufficient." Ethel: "Jack was kissing me last night, when papa walked into the parlour." Gracie: "What did he say?" "Be said: 'Sir, this is out- rageous And Jack ? "Jack said: Yes, isn't it ? Kindly oblige me by knocking before you enter the next time.' Mrs. Beasley: "I can't understand ;how the Malvins manage to live so well on his income." Mr. Beasley: "I can. I went up to his office to see hiaa yesterday, md twenty-seven men who were waiting in the .viall ericd out in chorus asking what firm I was collecting for." Greathead: "Ha! ha! Burglar broke into our house last night—he he !—and stole my wife's Easter bonnet-ho! ho!" Ascum: "What's so funny about that?" Greathead: "Why, den't you see ? The burglar has got himself into debt. The bonnet hasn't been t>aid fr«'-

THE 64 DEADLY LEAD." NOT THE ONLY DANGER. A TALK IN THE POTTERIES. By Parliament, public platforms, and thepres*, widespread attention has been called to the dis- tressing results affecting the operatives from the use of lead in glaze-1 for china and earthenware. Indeed, so much has been written and ea-id, that a stranger visiting the Potteriea and meeting a pale and palpably weak girl or woman might naturally assume that the delicate person in question was a victim" of the insidious disease. But the odds may be that the stranger would be mistaken. There are treacherous causes of ill- health other than the dreaded lead," says the Staffordshire Sentinel, one of the most influential .newspapers in the Potteries, which prints the -atory of a local girl. This young lady—Miss Mary Underbill, of 26. Peel-street, Dresden, Staffordshire—had lived up to eight months ago in an agricultural district, miles away from a .ehina or earthenware manufactory, and, as she had not entered a pottery, she had made no acquaintance with the load. Still, Miss Underhill was, up to a short time ago, a victim to an ailment as terrible and as fearful in its effects. "About two years ago," said Miss Underhill, I was apprenticed to the dressmaking, but my energy seemed to leave me, and I could take no interest in work. I had headache-, from which I was many times prostrated my appetite was very fickle, sometimes allowing me to take my food and other times not; and to aggrtvate my case my weakness was so bad that I wa< frequently seized with faintil,g fits. My colour left me. and I went about as best I could, looking more like a marble fignre or a waxen model than a living person. Mother took me to several doctors, who I said that anremia 'was the cause of all my I trouble. The doctors had very poor hopes of me. The neighbours said they had never seen a girl looking wor e. If I went upstairs I had to-it down bt-fore I could dress myself. I only went into I the street once, and then I fell down in a faint. My appetite got worse, and if I di I eat, I had acute indigestion, and all the time I was racked with neura!gia." Miss Underhill is now a health;-looking girl, of winsome appearance, and a brisk assistant to her' motliei" "Hotf fame you to obtain <\nçh a remarkable I revolution in your health r was asked. "Well," said Mis Underbill, as her eyes lighted up with the pleasure afforded by the recital of er story, one dav my mother read in the ,SVariordxhire Sentinel of the wonderful results achieved by Dr./Williams' pink pi Is for pale people. We had also heard our friends talk of them thfy bad been recommended to us a. friend said they had done her daughter ranch good. I had been so discouraged, I did not like to see any more doctor, and one da.y I sent for a box of Dr. Williams' pink pills, and t j be quite sure of setting the genuine sent direct to Dr. William Medici! e Company, London. Whon I bad taken half of the second boxful my colour began to comp back, my apatite became better, neuralgia, giddines-, anli he-tdncnehad disappeared, my strength bezan to return, and my spirits were much brighter. And have you kept on ? Oh. yes I had MX b xes. I often say to mother that it feels like being in heaven, because I have been like a different person since I took them. People" ho saw me before and have seen me since, can scarcely believe I am the same person. I can lOW help in tho house an i take an interest in it indeed, I am so well, I think of going back t my dressmaking, and have got a new machine for that pnrpose." This is. of ci urse, only one case among many thousands which Dr. Will ams' pink pills have cured. Tliev include cases "f paralysis, locomotor ataxy, rheumatism, andseiat ca; alsoal! disease* arising from imp vetishm nt of the blood, scrofula, rickets, chronic cry,il elas, consumption of the bowels and lung-, araBmia. pale and sallow complexion, gent ral muscular-we..kness, loss of appetite, palpitation, pain. in the back, nervous headache and neuralaia, early decay, all form, of female weakness, and hys'eria. Inesepuls are a tonic, not a putative. They are genuine ody with the full name, Dr. Williams' pink pills for pale people, and are sold by chemiRt", and by Dr. Williams' Medicine Company, Holborn-viaduct, London, E.C., ar, two and ninepence a box, or six boxes for thirteen and nine. P'lls sold loose or from glass jars are not Dr. Williams pink pills. And substitutes never cured anyone.

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. [CONDUCTED BY UNCLE ROBIN. | "Between the dark and the daylight, When the nifrbr is beginning to lower. Comes a pause in the <iav's o'pupations That is fcqpwq a? the Children's Hc.tr." MORE PRIZES. Uncle Robin has pleasure in again offering a beautiful and valuable work-basket to the girl whe sends in the most orders, accompanied by half-penny stamps, for the certiifcates of member- ship also a handsome six-shilling volume. illustrated, to the boy or girl who writes the best letter on home affairs. Ail competitions should reach Uncle Rubin not later than June 30th next. Uncle Robin desires to again thank his little niece Essie. 27. Norfolk-street, for her valuable services on behalf of the Society, She has worked hard, and, as the result, has won no less than three valuable prizes. Essie did not want Andrew Lang's "Animal Fairy Book" (a six- shilling volume)--or rather she thought it should be given someone else, because she had already won two prizes. Uncle R ,bin appreciated her kindness of heart and thought fulness, but felt it would be hardly fair to act upon the suggestion and so he insisted upon awarding her the prize. What have the members of the Society to say to this. 2S, Xorfolk-atre^t, Mount Pleasant, "June 10th, 1899. DHAK UNCJM: ROBIX ,-Once more I beg to thank you for your kindness in sending this lovely prize, which I proudly received this da.y. I really think and feel that this most useful work-basket does mach more than repay me for any -effort of mine in trying to prepare that essay or any little aim at getting fresh members for dear Uncle Robin's Society,' which I am glad to see increasing so rapidly; also trast.ng that our aim might b" to do good and be kind to all God's creatures, that we might please Him — I beg to remain, dear Uncle Robin, your little niece, ESSIE JCHNS." Children, Pictures and Stories for the Little -enes," is the title of a new publication, which is issued at One Penny, weekly. Every Ice of its contents is perfectly harmless, whilst much -amusement and instruction may be gained by the -little ones who peruse the illustrated stories and rhymes. The firat number is dated.June 10th and contaiu-s some capital little stories, amongst' which may be specially mentioaed an interesting, article entitled What the Bees do;" a story in verse Our Adventures in the Holidays;" a serial story The Land of Nursery Rkrme, and a Sunday story "The Good Shepherd." The Chats with Lucie Jack and the pinture paint- ing competition are likely to prove particularly attractive to the little onea, and every page of the paper is brightened with high -class illustra- tions. I he publishers are Marshall and Brookes, Harp-alley, tfarringdon-street, London, E.C., but copies can be obtained to order through any newsagent or bookstall.

CARTER'S LITTLE: LIVER PILLS. EARTER'S TT ITTLE E IVE IVER Fit Fit s t-RLA, Y ELR Purely Cure Torpid Lirrr, P>iV, SAIIOA Completion, And aitfk Headache* promptly: and jure ttaecn an ast0 3'.»y ctnrd. Bhemiwte, la. 14 U. BtAU 1IFUL TEETH i f, r » I »li u-« daiK ».n rl.<- :.110(1 SOZODONT i the plcaaantMt dentifrics ill th-2 world. [ Cleanses the teer.h anil -.pace- bet ween tiiem us nothing elst will. Sound and pearly \s hilt j teeth, rosy lips, and fragran) breath ensured. j Ask for SOZODONT lis. 64

i SWANSEA HARBOUR TURST. TRADE STILL INCREASING. LARGE INCREASES IN SALARIES. The monthly meeting of the Swansea Harbour Trust was held on Monday at the Guildhall. Mr. Griffith Thomas presided, and the members present were the Mayor (Mr. Richard Martin), Mr. C. L. Bath, Mr. F. Cory Yeo, Aid. Fred. Bradford, Mr. Morgan Tutton, Mr. Tlios. Freeman, Mr. Win. Watkins, Mr. R. W. Beor. Mr. F. H. (J.yLin i Puce, Mr. Roger Bock, Col. J. C. Richardson, Mr. Albert Mason, Mr. W. Law (Harbour Superintendent), Mr. A. O. Schenk (Engineer). and Mr. Talfourd Strick (Clerk). THE MONTH'S TRADE. May, 1899..May, 1S98- RE/ENCE. £ 8. d. £ II. d. Shipping Hates 3581 411 1 I Rates on GrooUs ibfcO 7 6 ZJtO 16 i> Wharfage 5tH 15 2 27*) 2 H LOVT Level Kail way 6i 1 11 2 5;>-L 15 a Itents— Railway Companies 1322 10 0 11; 2 10 0 Do. Other Lessees IS 412 19 0 ÙfI. Sundry. 250 5 2 303 2 b I Pressure Water 4i 10 S 47 4 6 Hire of Dredging Plant 0 0 0 271 7 3 Ci-aiiage arid Labour 2972 Hi 9 1*70 10 6 liallast Rates 19039 101 7 10 Sundry Receipts Z03 9 C 305 6 4 ^1^13 6 2 £ 102 32 3 11 EXI'EMdTl'fiE £ S. d. z s. d. Interest. 630000 52,0 0 0 Salaries. 392 IS 4 .8 4 Wages (Ordii.) lilu 16 2 14.1, i, 13 3 Retits, Ltates, lo7 > 14 11 JU1* 14 11 litores 2*4 3 jl 201 7 3 Monthly Bills 10.U 7 1 760 6 2 Wages (Contractor) 19-6 9 2 1123 13 1 Do. (Do. tor Uallast) 51 9 10 W i7 1 12118 19 5 10125 10 1 i Bredging 7s8 1 5 1150 4 2 12807010 1157511 3 £406 4 4 Jil Ai 10 4 Comparative lieTenue aud Expenditure for the years 1S99 ana 13^8 — 1893. 1898. £ s. d. JE s. d. Revenue of -t months 61089 11 10 52721 1 8 Expenditure do. 5i7S6 lo 10 0 0 JE430310 E1141 18 4 Surplus Revenue to the 31st Dec., 1898. £ 23147 0 3 Add burplue to date, as above 4303 1 0 £ 27450 1 3 Mr. A. Mason, in moving the adoption of the minutes of the Finance 'Committee, said he was pleased to say that they had had a very satisfactory month's trading. The imports, it was true, showed a small decrease. on copper ore of 3,400 tons, and pig iron 2,500 tons. But there was an increase in bricks and slates of 2,000 tons, grain 3,600, and sugar 500 tons. The last two items were very satisfactory. But taking the decreases and the there was a decrease of 4 per cent. on the imports, while the exports showed an increase of 51 per cent., which was very satisfactory. The latter was made up with an increase in coal and 'coke of 72,000 tons, and patent fuel 16,000 'tons, castings, &c., 2,000 tons, and tinplates 9,800 tons. The tinplate export was extremely satisfactory. It was 18,889 tons against 9,063 tons for the corresponding month of last year. He was pleased to see that with the past month's export of tinplates, the total for the five months of the year was 75,020 tons against 65,000 for the corresponding five months. In the revenue account there was also a satisfactory increase in shipping rates, rates on goods, wharfage, low level railway, rents, cranage and labour, ballast rates and sundry receipts, amounting to about £3,000 on the month. There was also an increased expenditure, and the item he chiefly referred to was the increase in the wages to the contractor, which was, of course, on account of the larger quantity of tonnage dealt with during the month. The gross revenue for the five months was £8,368, and the net .£5,447 better than it was in the correspond- ing five months of last year. The profit for the month was £406 as against a loss in the same month of last year of £ 1,344. Mr. C. L. Bath seconded, and it was carried. INCREASED SALARIES FOR OFFICIALS. The Clerk read the report of the Executive Committee as follows The Chairman, in moving its adoption, said they had decided upon a new weighing machine and crane at the extension of the Prince of Wales Dock on the south side. It would be of great assistance in dealing with the traffic, because all future traffic intended for the eastward of the Great Western Eail- way and Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway would pass over the machine, and go away direct instead of coming round the west side and causing a large collection of goods on the part of the different railway companies. The new crane would be so arranged that the berth would have three cranes so as to give better dispatch to the steamers discharged there. With regard to the increases in the salaries of the chief officers, they had often congratulated themselves on possessing the service of three gentlemen who took a great interest in the business, and as the business increased it was only fair that their .merit should be recognised. Col. Richardson seconded the adoption of the report. Mr. C. L. Bath supported, and said. with reference to the increased salaries, the Trust had only done what had been in their minds for some time. The port had gone ahead, and it was only fair for the Trust to recognise that it was due, partly, at any rate, to the exertions of their officials. The report was adopted unanimously. NEW PILOTAGE BYE-LAWS. The Clerk laid prints of the new pilotage bye-laws on the table, and said that the Board of Trade had written to say that on the bye- laws being sealed by the Trust they would submit them for confirmation by Her Majesty in Council. Aid. Tutton moved that the seal be affixed to the bye-laws. All the points raised had been submitted to and practically adopted by the Board of Trade, and it was merely a formal matter that remained. All the interests had been carefully considered, and they only hoped all would work well for the advantage of the port. Mr. Glynn Price seconded, and it was carried. This was all the business.

NO MORE MEDICINE. PURGING OR EX- PENSE FOR INVALIDS AND CHILDREN. PERFECT DIGESTION, NERVOUS ENERGY, SOUND SLEEP, AND HEALTH RESTORED by Du BARRY'S DELICIOUS RKVALENTA ARABICA, which cures all disorders of the Stomach and Bowels, the Blood, the Nerves, Lungs, Liver, Bladder, Brain, Voice, and Breath—such as Constipation, Dyspepsia, Indigestion, Con- sumption, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Influenza, Grippe, Acidity, Heartburn, Phlegm, Flatulency, Feverish Breath, Nervous, 'Bilious, Pulmonary Glandular, Kidney and Liver Complaint?, Debility, Cough, Asthma; Scarlet, Gastric, Enteric, Bilious, and Yellow Fevers, Spasms, Nephritis, Impurities and Poverty of the Blood, Ague; Rheumatism, Gout; Nausea and Vomiting after Eating, during Pregnancy, and at Sea Eruptions, Sleeplessness, Noises in the Head and in the Ears, Atrophy, Wasting in Adults and children, 50 years' invariable snceess with old and young, even in the most hopeless cases. 100,000 annual cures, including those of H.I.M. the late Emperor Nicholas of Russia, Mr. H. M. Stanley, the African Explorer, the Marchioness of Brehan, Lord Stuart de Decies, &c. West Bank, Bolton.-A dangerous illness having, left my di- gestive organs too weak to assimilate ordinarj food of any kind sufficient to keep me alive, I owe my pre-ervatii n to Du Barry's Food and Tonic Biscuits, on which I subsisted for months, recover ng a healthy action of the stomach, and strength and muscle, to the astonishment of my- self, my medical adviser, and friends.—EDWARD WOOD." "In Atonic Dyspepsia and Debility, after enteric fever, I have prescribed Du Barry's Food with marked success when everything else was rejected.—T. H. MORRIS, M.B. and C.M., Tylor's Town. near Pontypridd." After suffer- ing for a long time from a gastric complaint and dyspepsia, so severe that I could digest nothing, I decided to tiy Du Barry's Revalenta, which has completely cured me in three months.—ALFRED BERSON, 27, Boulevard duTemple, Paris." Four times more nourishing than meat, and assimilating when all other food is rejected it saves 50 times its cost in medicine. It rears also successfully the most delicate children. Sell.in tins at 2s.; 3s. 6d.: 2Ibs., 6s.; bibs., 14s.; 121bs., 32s.; or about 2d. per meal. Also Du PAKRY'S TONIC REVALENTA BISCUITS remove Nervous Debility and sleeplessness: in tins 3s. 6d. and 6s. All tins carriage tree on receipt of P.O.O. Do BARRY & Co. (Limited), No. 77, Regent Street, London, W.; and at all Stores. torcers and Chemixta everywhere. Sold in Swansea by Yr, Isaac Gale, 18, High-street. THE TEACHING OF TOLSTOI. AN ADDRESS TO SWANSEA SOCIALISTS. (By REV. D. CONNOR, M.A.) PART III. (Concluded from ovr last.) The Rev. D. Connor, of the St. Andrew's ¡ Presbyterian Church, delivered the following address, on a recent Sunday afternoon, at the weekly meeting of the Swansea Socialist Society: — It is impossible to give Tolstoi unmixed praise when we come to his positive teaching, and especially to his interpretation of the teaching of Christ. There is surely a subtle vanity behind his claim to set aside the herit- age of the centuries, and pose, if not as the founder of a new religion, at least as the reformer who has rescued an old religion from the defacement of its scribes and Pharisees. It is a small thing to say that he dismisses the dogmatic accretions of the Greek Church, and reads the New Testament with his own eyes the apostolic writers are treated with scant courtesy, and St. Paul is despatched in a phrase as the preacher of a metaphysico- cabalistic theory entirely foreign to the doctrine of Jesus." Tolstoi explains and allegorizes the gospels after a fashion of his own to extract the spirit of Christ's teach- ing," but in the process much of what we in our simplicity regard as of the very essence of our faith has vanished. The method of interpretation is that favourite one by which anything may be made to mean anything, and an author becomes a mere nose of wax, to be tortured into any shape deemed becom- ing by his ingenious patron. The whole attempt is crude and perverse, and the lessons, though often excellent, are evolved by a process that sometimes reminds one of a rabbinic commentary on the Song of Songs, or a neo-platonic mystification of Homer. The advantage, which remains to the reader of these lucubrations, is that he turns with new delight to the limpid charming pages of the gospels, and realizes how immeasurably they are removed above those arid and laboured moralizings. Tolstoi's equipment in point of scholarship is of the slightest, and when one thinks of the delicate instruments of inter- pretation which have been applied 'to the pvangelic records by two or three generations of modern students, good-humoured tolerance is apt to take on a shade of contempt. It is open to a man to say that the personality and teaching of Jesus are so swathed in mists of legend and tradition that they must be sur- rendered to the domain of unsolved and in- soluble problems; but it is not open to him to pick and choose among the gospel records according to canons of his own invention, to erase or soften or emphasize at his own sweet will, and then call the strange mixture which results "the spirit of Christ's teaching." It were better for Tolstoi to cut himself away altogether from the historic faith of the Church than to maim and impoverish it in this fashion. As a religious teacher he is forcible and convincing enough on his own ground; as an interpreter of Christianity he is, to pat it frankly, a failure, and there are times when his failure has something of folly. The part of our Lord's teaching to which Tolstoi has specially devoted himself is the Sermon on the Mount, and "My Religion" is A somewhat verbose amplification of certain sections -of that great utterance. He insists that our Lord's most exacting words are not a counsel of perfection but a law of life, that they were meant not so much to be admired as to be obeyed, and that they are eminently practical, approving themselves as words of soberness whenever we strive to make them real. So far, so good, only there is nothing novel in this, since all serious Christians of the last generation have been facing their Master's teaching, and trying to make out what exact shape it is to take in their lives. We have grown familiar with the distinction between the teaching of the Church and the teaching of the New Testa- ment, between the teaching of St. Paul and the teaching of our Lord Himself. The dis- tinction is most needful, but our thought cannot rest there; for if the gospels are to be accepted as our guides, they assure us Jesus taught in the most emphatic manner that His own teaching was incomplete, and pointed onwards to new voices of the Spirit of God. Christianity is an ethic, but it is also a dynamic it is a new law, but it means above all a new power to fulfil that law it includes the Sermon on the Mount, but also the epistles to the Romans and Ephesians, and it is the disclosure these make of the gifts of redemption which alone saves us from moral despair. In reducing Christianity to an ethic, Tolstoi is robbing us of what history declares has been the one secret of its influence; he shows it to us austerely winning, but barren and ineffectual. When the waters are with- drawn from a frozen lake, the ice may linger at the edge for a while, but it craoks and dis- appears elsewhere. When the western sun has seemed to plunge into the waves, the beauty of its setting lingers for a little space, but soon the gold must turn to gray, and the gray of twilight to the ebon hue of night. So will it be with the success of the gospel if we suffer men to dwell on it merely as a law of righteousness, and to forget that it is the power of God unto salvation. Tolstoi finds the key to Christ's teaching in the maxim, "Resist not evil," which he applies in an exaggerated way to the life alike of the individual and of the State. The practical upshot is that war and law courts, and the restraint of crime can never be other than sins. It is impossible to discuss this view with adequate fulness in the closing moments of this address, and I must content myself with saying that as an interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount it seems to me absurd, and as an original moral maxim it is visionary and mischievous. The New Testa- ment, of all writings, is not to be understood by isolating a single sentence, and stiffening it till it has the rigidity of a corpse such a mistake is pardonable in the doctors of the Church, but a critic of these doctors might have been expected to escape the reproach, "Physician, heal thyself." The State is far from being that reflection of the righteous- ness of God which, in the divine idea. it was meant to be. If it is an imperfect instrument, we must make the best use of it we can, toil- ing all the time for its improvement. Such as it is, civilization has been won for us by the struggle, and blood, and tears of past 119 generations; without it chaos is at hand. and its gulfs are ready to devour us. Tolstoi is on surer ground when he glorifies the life of I the peasant, because of the bodily health which comes from work amid the sights and sounds of nature, because he can converse freely with all men, and his children are brought up at his aide. Tha life of the wealthy is unwholesome, because it is mostly lazy and unnatural, because in their scorn of the poor they have fellowship only with a narrow circle of associates. The protest against luxury, and the example of a noble voluntary poverty—that is the special teach- ing which we associate with the name of Tolstoi, and if we are grateful to him for his proclamation of an unpalatable truth, we owe a greater debt to his renunciation. He is a voice crying in the wilderness, an ascetic preacher of repentance, who has found in his varied experience that righteousness brings its own rjward—its ways are ways of pleasant- ness, and all its paths are peace,

"bT..H-LTYDS CHURCH, PEMBREY: Its History and its Architecture," by Mr. Edward Roberts and Mr. H. A. Pertwee. Tbi-< is a well-written and reliable work it is profusely illustrate I, and should be in the hands of all intarested in Church history. Order at once 7'riae one shilling.—See advt. CADBURY's COCOA I I'm i 'k.. 1 4 "A Refresher maintains its great superiority as- a •vfri's!i- ing, invigorating drink, and a iititt tio-i, food. It is Cocoa <;>ni ( ocoa only—not a combination of drugs, or a liigii- SoundingalkaliedarticJe. -0- The ¡ifedical Ala,rrni,h: j says: CADBURY's is without question tlift favourite Cocoa of the day. For Strength, for Purity, and for Nourish" seat, fchwew ■otbioK superior to be found."

SWANSEA SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. LLANDDEWI AND THE STOUTHALL STONE CROSS. COL. MORGAN, MR. C. H. GLASCODINE. AND MR A. MOFFAT EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS. On Saturday last, under the auspices of the Swansea Scientific Society, an excursion was made to Llanddewi and the stone cross at Stouthall, Reynoldstone. The weather was beautifully fine, and a most pleasurable and profitable afternoon was spent. The party included Col. Morgan. Mr. C. H. Glascodine, Mr. A. Moffatt, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Seyler, Mr. and Mrs. Suchsland, Mrs. Knill, Miss Wacks, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Bradford, Principal and Mrs. D. Salmon, Miss Dorothy Salmon, Mr. D. Salmon, junr., Miss Eben. Davies, Mr. E. Starbuck Williams, Mr. A. W. Rees (Metropolitan Bank, Wind-street), Mr. Jas. Brown, &c. The party started from the Royal Institution at 1.30, in well-horsed brakes supplied by Mr. J. H. Rosser, Wind- street. Llanddewi Church was reached in fairly good time. The church stands on a good elevation, it is well-built, and in splendid condition; but it is not so old as many of the Gower churches. It was inspected under the guidance of the Rector, the Rev. Mr. Hughes. One of the tablets in the church reads as follows :—" Sacred to the memory of Anne Shaftesbury Pbillips wife of the Rev. Samuel Phillips Vicar of this Parish, eldest daughter of the late Francis Horsley of Little Hallingbury in the county of Essex and niece to the Right Rev. Samuel Horsley D.D., formerly Bishop of this Diocese who died April XXII. M.D.CCC.XXXIII., aged XXXIX years she was a Christian not merely in name but in the truest sense of the word constrained by the love of Him who first loved her she cheerfully denied herself to do His will and to promote His praise in life His obedience unto death was the ground-work of her confidence for acceptance with God and in her last hours fixed on this the Rock she met death not only with calm composure but with exulting joy inspired by a sure and certain hope of a blessed immortality." The Court-House, close by, in the occupation of Mr. Clarke, was next visited. It is a most interesting buildings one of the oldest in Gower, but it is in wonderfully good condition. Mr. Clarke very kindly conducted the party through the house, when all were much struck with the unique staircase. Votes of thanks were passed to Mr. Clarke and the Rev. Mr. Hughes for their kind services, and the party proceeded to the Stone Cross at Stouthall. On the way Mr. Glascodine drew attention to two stone hand-mills in front of the house of a Mr. John Thomas at Knelston. They excited much curiosity, and one of them bore marks of great age. Mr. Thomas said he had dug up the mills in his garden. A consult- ation between Col. Morgan, Mr. Glascodine, and Mr. Moffat resulted in the gallant Colonel purchasing the stones for £2. Mr. Thomas seemed pleased with the bargain, he placed the stones in the brake-by no means a light task-and the party proceeded on the journey. Arrived at Stouthall, the excursionists alighted and entered the picturesque woods, and Mr. Glascodine led the way to the Stone Cross. Unfortunately, the Cross fell down some time ago. An interesting discussion took place, which Mr. Glascodine opened as follows :— This pillar cross stands in a wood, on the ordnance map called Woodlands," on the east side of the road between Reynoldston and the main road from Swansea to Worm's Head. It is in part of the Stouthall grounds, the mansion of that name being to the west on the other side of the road. The pillar stands about two feet above the ground on a raised pediment, of which I will say something presently. It is of old red sandstone, probably local. It is a long, narrow stone, 9 feet 1 inch above ground, varying in width 6 inches, 13, 14, 12;, 10j, and 9 inches in different places, and 7 to 8 inches thick; in its natural shape or form, not cut or tooled, irregular, and rounded on the edges. Since the sculpture upon it was cut, a piece has broken off one of the top corners, and part of the front has. apparently, flaked away. The side facing the east is most highly sculptured. At the top is a cross, ap- parently in a circle; but the whole is so rude, and, from the loss of the, piece broken off on one side, so incomplete, that it is not possible to speak positively on this point. The cross consists of two cross lines about half an inch thick-neither horizontal nor perpendicular, nor at right angles with one another—ronghly forked at the ends. The arm to the left is about 5 long, those to the top an,1 bottom about 3 inches; that to the right is incom- plete. Between the arms aie three cris- crosses; the fourth space, the lower left, has none. Round the top, and left and lower left of the cross are markings of a line which I have called a circle. It is absent on the right, owing to the breakage of the stone, and below the cross its place is occu- pied by a ribbon or interlaced ornament. There is not much of this to be seen. The bows, if 1 may so call them, or lines to the right and left at the top are fairly clear, and it is possible also to follow those at the bottom, especially the one to the right; but the lines connecting them, owing to the flaking or wearing away of the stone, cannot 11 be traced definitely. From the top to the bottom is 28 inches, and I have endeavoured to design the figure with which the scraps of lines that are traceable best coincide, but this part of the sculpture is as rough and inartis- tic as the cross above it. All that can be said of it with any certainty is that it is an attempt at a ribbon-pattern ornament, of which our early artists were so fond, and re- specting which Mr. Romilly Allen wrote in Archajologia Cambrensis for January last. Excellent specimens may be seen at Llangennith and Llangyfelach. Below this ribbon-scroll is one other sculptured figure. It is a horizontal line which, at the end to the right, divides and curves up and down into semi-circles. It only extends across the right half of the stone, and looks like a double fish-hook or an archaic anchor; but the surface of the stone to the left has fallen away, and it is possible that the line may have curved in a similar fashion at the other end. If so, it was merely a piece of orna- mentation. The sculpture on this side of the stone is old, probably very old, but whatever its age it was performed by a very unskilful workman. It is a bad copy of a class of work which required an artist and an artisan neither was forthcoming. The pillar has also a cross sculptured on its western side, and only a cross but this is, I should say, the work of a different hand, somewhat less unskilful, probably later. It is fourteen inches from the top of the stone, and is twenty inches long and about fourteen wide. This drawing is the outline of a cross, of which the upper and lower arms are about four inches thick, the right one five and the left six inches. The upper and lower parts, the head and shaft, are about the same length. The only ornamentation or amplification is a figure in the shape of an oblong extending into the right and left arms, from which single lines run up into the head and down into the shaft, the points of departure being made into small circles. This figure is square and better put on the stone than the sculpture on the other side- but it is very rough. The lines of the upper part of the circle round the cross, and part of the ribbon pattern ornament on one side, and the extreme right.and left line of the arms of the cross on the other side, are drawn on the bend of the stone. below the upper surface, which shows that the stone has not worn or altered at these places since the sculpture was put on. The pillar stands on a modern erection or pediment. Immediately under it is a circular stone 4 feet 10 inches across, with a somewhat rounded top, with a hole in the centre into which the pillar has been set. This stone presents all the appearance of an old mill- stone. The central bole was not made for the pillar, and at some distance from the centre is a small square bole which serves no purpose as it is, but had probably to do with turning the stone when used for grinding corn. This stone is supported by a built circular step (which it caps), the upper one of three built above the ground, and which are, respect- ively, 10 feet 6 inches, 7 feet 6. inches and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. The whole .1

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THE BIRDS OF GOWER. R In contributing a few short and general" paragraphs on the birds of Gower, I neediJ m must wish that another hand had taken np S such a pleasurable task. Though naturalist^ jK in this part of the world as in others, are not so common but that advantage must be taken WK of a second-rate specimen coming to hand; yeU there is one—a master, by whose side most ot JB us are but young apprentices—whose peat might deal with this subject in a peculiarly K delightful way. I refer to the author ot ;S Summer Studies of Birds and Books," whose A' essay on birds in Wales was probably the V result of notes collectedin this neighbourhood* fK The bird life of an island must of necessity jK be unusually interesting, because of the JE' problems of migration, local or otherwise# which affect it when compared with the main- land. In France are to be found birds which never cross the seas to our island, and in one red grouse we have a species unknown except in Britain. Of no less than secondary interest is the bird life of a peninsula. From a close study oE jH various local records, it may be readily JK inferred that there is a probability discovering, in such a district as Gower, some rare summer or winter migrant, whose existence there was unsuspected previoual1.. Gower seems to be comparatively unex- plored, inasmuch as a full report of iti m natural history has not yet been compiled. m Of great interest to the naturalist is the fact that the raven and peregrine falcon mk breed among the headlands. In Britain they are growing rarer year by year, and ill Hp* process of time will follow the dodo dt Madagascar and the great auk of the north el* Z islands, into obscurity. It would be quite »n keeping with the best traditions of such scientific society as exists at the Koykl jB. Institution, if a few Gower fishermen were induced to consider themselves auxiliaries in 'BL' the protection of these birds. I hear that the JHr young of the peregrine are taken every spring BP from a certain nest and sold to a Swanse* jT resident. Seeing that this bird is special^ Jfc provided for by recent legislature I co^j^B^ however, hardly deem this informati correct. To the student of literature mention of iM^Bl raven naturally conjures up a bird of ill-om^lBF together with visions of the lost Lenore." Again, to the antiquarian the peregrine falco#^K is always associated with mediaeval history^^B with Mr. Moffat's war-worn Yikings, or witiMH[ Colonel Morgan's grand old Norman bar We can picture the dragons sweeping in&^B Three Cliffs or Oxwich Bay, so that thffl immortal Sweyn (he who, authorities saJi|X gave his name to Swansea) might enjoy day with the herons on Oxwich mere. later years we can see the long train t falconers, jesters, fair ladies and gay squirefr-Bf with hawks on wrist and hounds at heel, troopw down from Pennard Castle on their way to t same celebrated resort. Who knows but t encountering a few fighting Welshmen dof?ijBt from the north, the Viking or Norman turne^BC the hawking party on the marsh at OxwicNK into a veritable Chevy Chase ? |BE A list of Gower birds would be similfttij^K I imagine, to a list of Pembrokeshire speci^^B^ shown in the Tenby guide-books. number of sea-birds would not be so gre because Gower has no such breeding-plaC^^B for them as the Stack Rocks. Oxwich ma might, at intervals, contain the bittern, aOflB possibly the sedge warbler. And, since t buzzard is found in Carmarthenshire, it mig also be met with in Gower. Lying in line of migration, and being so close J^B the sea, this district would probab be found the haunt of certain wioWj^B visitors from the north. Very in late autumn, the woodcock would &^B found, on certain days, extremely numero. Other birds, going south, would halt awbM^B on its shores before crossing the chanW^B The spring migration would be equa^B remarkable.. In short, the birds of Gower would afford wealth of study to the naturalist, for here a land isolated from the busy world, a of murmuring woods and fresh fields, g1 with the solitude of the sea. A. W. REES, Swansea-

BARONESS PATTI-CEDER. STROM'S CHARITY CONCEFR- •ft#' A special meeting of the Concert of the Swansea Hospital was held at the InslLtff tion on Monday afternoon, the Worshipful Mg,iJI. (Mr. K. Martin) presiding. There wera present Mrs. R. Martin, Mis. P. Bradford-Vj, Morgan. Mr. Talfourd Sfrick, Mr. C. C. iff' Miss Dillwyn, Mi-s Wills, Mrs. Cooki Jp Nelson Jones, Mrs. Elswort i, Mr. R. D. Btt' & Mi-, and Mrs. Aeron Thomas, Dr, Jabez TkoSfjj# 'o L Mrs. Morgan B. Williams, Mrs. Freeman, Lindsay, Dr. and Mrs. Eb-nezer Davies. t GoldbRrg, Mrs. John White, Mr. J. R. Ri'0 A and others. At the ontset the Mayor <r the motion of Col. Morg m, elpcted chairB*#* the Concert Committee, an i Mr. Aeron (ex-Mayor) secretary and trea-urer.—Mr. Thomas said he had received a from Baroness Cederstrom in regard to of the concert. She suggested Thursday? A 3. He had inquired at the Albert gif&Z Grand Theatre, and this date would ol these places. The manager of the J$Jl kindly offered the use of the theatre (hear, hear)—but the Albert Hall people„ J zE5 5s. for their building, the Minor Hall fol. given free. He had spoken to several tjj who had expressed a decided prpference Wf *2 theatre, but there were many others whoi concert was held in the theatre, would tickets. Some people had a fpJ objection against visiting a theatre und j consideration, and he believed, d circumstances, it would be hetter to conceit at the Albert Hall. Mr. Aeron in reply to a question, said Ba on s< ^'ect had written on the subject, and said jjijjl to please the public and had no cho'0^ matter. She wished the concert to. fro where the largest number of peoP1, assemble—(hear, hear)—and wherever mittee decided would meet with her Eventually the date of the 3rd of Mp* adopted, and it was decided to use f0C J Hall. It was decided that the concert be as follows .—Area, £ 1 Is., 1" gt^ 7a. 6d. balcony, 15s., 10s. 6d., and 58,' t j.

4n8,3 T> i [488 Uncle Robin s Society now m&iibers dQQ members. An additional list of members will be published next week.

THE WELSH DICKY BIRD SOCIETY. FOUNDED BY UNCLE ROBIN, MARCH, 1899. FOR THE PROMOTION OF KINDNESS TOWARDS BIRDS AND ALL LIVING THINGS. A BRAVE ENGINE-STOKER. The following thrilling story .was told by stoker who saved an express train in .America after the sudden death of the engine-driver What a very brave man this stoker must haVTl been to act as he did! As is customary on maty American locomotives, the driver was in a separate compartment from the stoker, the com. munication between the two being by means oi a running board outside the boiler, with a double handrail for the protection of a person going from one end of the engine to another. "MJ first intimation that something was wrong- J: (said-the stoker, or fireman, as be is called "in the States) "was when the engineer (or driver) failed to blow his whistle or 3low down as we approached a curve on the other s4de of which was a station, where we had to step. He wae eo careful a man that I at once suspected that something was wrong, and that, if my suspicion: were correct, there was not a moment to be lost. The train was going at breakneck speed, and yet, for the life ot me, 1 cannot remember holding on to the hand-rail as 1 ran along the running board. Of course, I must have done so, or I should have fieen thrown off by the swaying locomotive. When I reached the cab -(the com- partment in the Iront part ot the engine) a fresh shock awaited me. I could Fee nothing of the engineer' Only one thing remained—to enter the cab myself and stop the train. Reaching forward to the dcor, I found it was fastened in?ide, and, almost frenziedly, I grasped ti^lit hold of tiie rail, braced myself firmly arid burst in the door, almost falling over the prostrate boly of the engineer as I entered. Yet, strange to say, in my excited state I knew notliin" of this until afterwards. My whole mind was bent on saving the train and its two hundred passengers. Gripping the lever of the brake with my left hand. I swung it clean round, thus applying the full brake power to every wheel on the train. Simultaneously, with my right hand I grasped the throttle and shut off steam. ] doubt whether any of the passengers fully realised what a narrow escape they had. Had I failed to notice that son ething was wrong, or, having noticed it, had I fallen off the engine in my efforts to enter the cab (which might easily have happened in view of the frightful speed at which we were running), the whole train must have been smashed to pieces. I ought to mention that it was discovered afterwards that the pool engineer was killed through leaning too far out of the window of his cab in his anxiety tc examine a portion of the engine. His head came into contact with a bridge, and he fell bad dead ps the train dashed past." THE QUARRELSOME KITTENS. Two little kittens. One stormy night, Began to quarrel, And then to fight. One had a mouse, And the other had none; And that's the way The quarrel begun. "I'll have the mouse," Said the biggest cat. You II have that mouse ? We'll see about that t" "I will have that mouse," Slid the tortoise shell And 'pitting and scratching, On her sister she fell. The old lady took Her sweeping-broom, And swept them both Right out of the room. The ground was covered Thick with snow They h d lost the mouse. And had nowhere to go. So they lay and shivered Beside the doer. Till the old lady finished Sweeping the floor. And then they crept in As quiet as mice, All wet with snow. And cold as ice; And found it much better, That stormy night, To lie by the fire Than quarrel and fight. THE LITTLE MATCH-GIBL. One very cold day a lady and gentleman were standing at the door of a house in a large town. As they stood there, a little girl with a wan face and bare ffet came up to them. "Please, sir, buy some matches," said she; "they aie only a penny a box." "I don't want any," said the gentleman. "Oh, do buj," said the little girl; "I w!U give you two boxes for a penny." To get rid of the child, the gentleman bought some; hut, on finding that he had no change, he said he would have a box the next day. — ^a-a. LuF them to-night* said the entia; "i will run and get you tlie change. Uti, please buy them to-night, for 1am very hungry." So a shilling was handed over, and the little girl ran off. The gentleman waited a long time, but no change was brought. Late that night a ragged little fellow went to the house and asked to see Mr. Curtis. When he was taken into the room he explained that he was the brother of the match-girl. "Are you the gentleman who bought the matches ? said he. "Yes." was the reply. "Well, then," said the boy, "here is fivepence out of your shilling. A cart knocked Cissy down and went over her. She lost her matches and sevenpence of your money. B th her legs are broken, and," with a sob, "the doctor says she will die." The gentleman gave his little visitor some food, and then set out to see the invalid. They were alone in the world, these two mites, and had no one to look after them. They lived in a tiny room, quite at the top of the house, in a narrow, dirty street. Poor Ci-sy was lying on a heap of shavings, and was evidently in great pain, but she recog- nised her visiter at once. "I got the change, sir," said she, "and was coming back. but ti e horse knocked me down, and both my legs are broken." Tears ran down her thin cheeks, for she knew she was dying, and there was no one to take care of Tony, her darling Tony, whom she had promised her father should always be her first care. But her visitor guessed her thoughts. "I will look after your brother," he said. As he spoke. Cissy looked up to thank him, but she was too weak to say another woro, so she could only speak her gratitude and thanks with her eyes. A beauttful smile lit up her face, her biue eyes closed, and the little match-girl was dead. Her last thought had been for her brother. JAPANESE BABIES. The Japanese baby is a funny brown creature, with s) apping black eyes, and a full crop of stiff black hair. That is, he would have a full crop if his mother did not shave his head, some- times as bare as a croquet ball, but oftener into all sorts of fancy patterns. A favourite lashion is to leave two little tufts at the sides, and a larger om about the size of & saucer on the top of his head. He is seldom carried in his mother's arms as an English baby is, but as soon as he is two or three months old he commences his travels in the world "pickaback" on the shoulders of an older brother or sister. Japanese children, as well as the grown people, all wear a loose garment called a "kimono, opened in front, with wide sleeves, very much like a dressing-gown; which, as it has no buttons, is tied on by means of a long sash wound several times round the waist. The kimono is so loose that the baby can be tucked inside and tied on with the sash, and thus he is carried about, peeping curiously with his bright black eyes over bis sister's shoulders at the great new world. Asleep, his poor little shaven head bobs helplessly round, and the glare of the sun beats on his upturned face. His little body is entirely covered by the Irimono, and the children, when they are carry- ing their small brothers and sisters, look as though they were two-headed. But they play tag and prisoner's base, and fly kites, and play bail just the same, whetfeac they carry the baby cr not. And he seems to enjoy it, too, for he hardly ever cries, but when the game is especially lively he will laugh and crow as though he understood it all. As soon as he is able to walk he takes his turn at bringing up the baby next younger than himself. So you see that being a child in Japan is much like an everlasting game of leapfrog, for while the baby at first can ride on the backs of the older children, as soon as he lands on his own feet he must take his tIwA. lod lewd ttis shoulders to the next one in liu, WILUE'S SPIDER-WEB. "There! I can't bother to go to the hall with my hat this time! exclaimed Willie Conant, as he gave it a careless toss. He intended as much as could be to land it in a chair, but instead it rolled out of sight, down behind the sofa. "My! bow good tne dinner smells!" and with boyish haste he rushed for the dining-room, where the family was just sitting down to dineer. Did you bring my medicine asked grandma pleasantly after grace was said. Grandma Conant was suffering from a alight attack of rheumatism, and she nad asked Willie that morning to call at Doctor Brown's, on his way from school, for a new remedy the good doctor had promised to send her. Willie blushed, for he remembered how positively he had promised grandma that morn- ing that be would not forget. "A—a band—an Italian band came along, grandma, just as I got out of class, and they did play so da-ndy-not like most street bands- that—that I forgot." "Never mind, dear," replied grandma sweetly. "Your father is going to town this afternoon,and 'twill take him but a moment to get it." But Willie did "mind," and the potatoes and roast duck weren't nearly so appetising as he fancied they would be. He really did wish to do grandma's errand, but his remember—as mamma called it—somehow would not work often just when it was very important that it should. "All because of carelessness," thought papa. Did you find out how Nellie Ames is to-div ? asked Aunt Sue, before Willie left the table. "Oh. yes," replied Willie quickly. But before he had time to finish his sentence, mamma had inquired Yes—what, dear ? "Yes, ma'am. Excuse me, auntie, I didn't mean to be rude, but I forgot," and Willie hung his head. Will you have time before school to take a note into Mrll. Mason's for me ?" asked mamma, as they left the table. "Yes, indeed. mamma. Certainly." and Willie ran for his hat—but where could it be! He was sure he had left it in a chair in the sitting-room. While looking for it, he chanced to look out of the window, and there in a corner of the veranda, was a tiny spider's web, and in it a captive fly, buzzing in terror and trying vigorously to escape. But all his endeavours were useless. The wily spider had wound a tiny thread about the prisoner's feet, and was just passing another around his body. "0 mamma, come here quick," called Willie. "Poor little thing!" exclaimed Mrs. Conant, as soon as she saw the little fly's struggles. "See how that horrid spider is weaving his coils all around him," cried Willie excitedlj-. After watching it a moment, mamma hurried to the door, and with a small stick she removed the web, and very soon liberated the frightened captive. "My! I'm glad I saw you! exclaimed Willie gladly. "If I hadn't, I guess you'd been a goner soon-but where's my hat I'd like to know." "Forgotten again?" asked mamrca slowly. "I—I—anyway, mamma, I can't find it, so I 8'pose I have." Mrs. Conant drew Willie down on the sofa beside her. "Isn't there a spider weaving a web arouruH my little boy—spider Forget ft'In ess asked mamma, gently. "And if he is allowed to keep on with his work, won't its victim become all tangled up sometime.-i-and nobody knewv whether he can then disentangle himself, as I did the poor little fly. It's very easy to destroy the old spider and its web now, but if he hl' on weaving strand after stran<W»—" "0 msmma," interrupted Willie quickly, "t —I'll step him, see if I don't. I never thought before how it was, but this spider has made it just's plain's can be. I-I know I'll lememler now, for I'll be thinking all the time of that poor captive fly, and how I'd be just like him with that old spider Fcrgetfulness tangling me all up! 011, there's my hat," laughed Willie, glancing down by the sofa. In a moment he had it, and with mamma's good-bye kiss, went whistling down the street towards Mrs. Mason's.

"ST. ILLTYD'S CHURCH, FEMBRET Its History and its Architecture," by Mr. Edwarc Roberts and Mr. H. A. Pertwee. This is a well-wiitten and reliable work it is nrofuselv illustrated, and should-be in the bands of all interested in Church history. Order at once. LOCAT. PATENTs.-The following record to June 7th is supplied by Mr. N. Watts, chartered patent agent. 258, Wind-street, Swansea:- Applications for p-iteiits; Henri Piquet and Frank Bradley Smith, Port Talbot, automatic device for closing door>, casements. gates, etc.. No. 11,216. May 30th Reginald Milburn Scott, Cardiff, Imrglar-nroof. self-fastening window-fastener, No. 11,300, May 31st Fredk. Collier and Thomas Carey, Cardiff, protector for preventing breakage of incandescent gas mantles, No. 11,474, June 2nd; Chas. Lillicrap, Swansea, pneumatic tyres pressure guage, No. 10,378, May 17th. Applications to regi»ter trade marks Settlers and Bakers, Cardiff, for poultry food; Spillers Nephews Biscuit Co., Cardiff, for biscuits.

appears to have been surrounded by a circle of trees about 48 feet in diameter, within which the ground was raised in a small hillock, of which the cross on its pediment was the central object. An old man of the neighbourhood told us that like that he had known it all his life- time--60 years-" and possibly he was right, though in all probability there was in the surroundings 60 years ago none of the appear- ance of age that they present to-day. For they are all modern the circle, the clearing, the steps, the pediment, the mill-stone, are all recent, certainly of this century. But as to the pillar stone cross itself, I have no doubt that it is a genuine antiquity, and, being one of the very few that remain to us in this neighbourhood, indeed the only complete cross in Gower, to the best of my knowledge, of very great interest. The recent revival of Catholicism in the Church of England has had the effect of accustoming us to the sign of the cross to an extent undreamt of by our fathers or our- selves fifty years ago. Crosses were not then as now abundant inside and outside our churches. But there are abundant evidences that crosses existed in and about our churches and villages before the Reformation, as they do now in Roman Catholic countries. We have many a socket left in which the cross stood, as at Rhossilly, Penard, Bishopston, I Is ton, and Llangyfelach. What has become of the crosses ? Doubtless many of them were destroyed. But also, no doubt, some of them were saved by loving hands. On Gellionen mountain one was found in a heap of stones at the end of the last century. Unappreciated, it was used as a horse block. Appreeiated by a farmer as a good big stone which would make a gate post, he knocked it about, and having broken it threw the pieces away. One piece, at last appreciated, if only for its artistic or archaeo- logical interest, was built into a chapel wall, where it remains and is safe. So other crosses have been hidden, not destroyed. So they will, from time to time, come to light as this one has done, though how or when we do not know, for the stone has, as far as I can learn, no history. Let us hope that when they do see the light they will fall into the hands of those who value them, and will set them up, even though it be in a lonely country wood, and •• Far from the madding crowd." COLONEL MORGAN REPLIES TO MR. GLASCODINE. Col. Morgan said I am sorry I do not agree with Mr. Glascodine as to the antiquity of this cross. He considers it to be a genuine antique-I believe it to be a modern imitation. There is no dispute as to the date of the base. It is allowed by everyone, that it was made by Mr. Lucas when he built Stouthall, at the end of the last century. The point in question is, was the pillar cross constructed at the same time, or is it an old cross brought from some other site. It is hardly possible that it was visible above ground anywhere in this neighbourhood. Prior to its erection here, as the guide books of that date, whilst they describe the stones at Llan- gavelach and Gellionen, and even the cross at Llanridian, make no mention of this one. It is possible it might have been found buried beneath the service and re-erected about that time, but this theory is adverse to the opinion of older antiquaries. Co!. Francis (who supplied the information to Mr. West- wood for his "Lapidarium Wallife,") evidently did not regard it as genuine, also enumerates all the stcnes in this neighbourhood excepting this one. It is true Westwood states "there is a pillar stone to the southwest as marked on the ordnance maps." Surely there is but one conclusion to be drawn from this. The meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Society in 1861, must have been conducted by men who had good local knowledge of all the antiquities around, yet they drive within 150 yards of this stone, and did not consider it worth stopping to inspect, and at a sub- sequent meeting it was treated with equal indifference. Even the members of this society complained that they had visited everything worth seeing in Gower, and up to a few months ago this stone was not con- sidered worthy of any comment. What other inference can be drawn than that. antiquaries have always regarded the pillar cross as no older than the base. What has induced this sudden phift of opinion as to its date is simply that since that time the storms of fifty winters have swept over it and given it an appearance of genuine antiquity. Also the generation who had heard of its common- place origin has passed away, and as it never created any particular interest on the spot, no record of its erection was preserved, and the present generation are open to receive the wildest theories as to its age. I have often been asked why, if it be such an evident sham, should it ever have been erected. The answer is—that about the date of the building of Stout Hall, it was a common practice all over the country to set up these so-called antiquities, some on account of the bad taste then prevalent, others from a mistaken idea of instructing the mind of the public. There is no reason to suppose they were ever intended to deceive. These monumental shams, as they are, are yet useful as showing the bent of antiquarian thought in those days by the glaring inconsistencies they invariably display. Take for instance the stone circle in these grounds. Here is a stone, facing the east. hollowed into a seat, according to the supposed Druidical origin of such circles. The ruined chapels now found in so many parks show the profound ignorance of Gothic art which existed at the end of the century. The modern date of the Llanridian stone is betrayed by its inconsistencies, and here before us is a Celtic cross placed on a medaeval base. The absence of all documentary evidence leaves room for a doubt whether the stone might not be genuine, brought from some other place. Unfortunately the stone has so crumbled away from the action of weather—that it is no longer possible to decide if it were carved by axe or chisel, which is the great test of the genuine antique. To this I would draw your intention to-day, and ask you to decide, whether the stone does not tell its own tale. Mr. Alex. G. Moffat did not think that the Colonel's theory of the cross being a late forgery was proved. He could not see what pleasure or profit could be derived from a forgery of that kind, therefore he sided with the views expressed by Mr. Glascodine. He called attention to the curious anchor-like mark below the serpentine knot, and remarked that a similar mark was traced on a stone at Clover Hill, Ireland, and also on a stone in Nairnshire, Scotland, known as Sweyno's Pillar. He was inclined to think it indicative j of the Stout Hall stone being a witness to the overlap of heathendom and Christianity, but jokingly remarked that it might be » Sweyn's totem for property owned in thfr North of Scotland and in Sweyn's-ey. Subsequently the party &at down to »H excellent tea in the commodious hall of the King Arthur Hotel, Reynoldston. The catering reflected every credit upon Hostess B Bevan. The excursion was a thorough success.