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Creat Mountain Ash Meeting.

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Creat Mountain Ash Meeting. Churchmen and the Education Bill. A UNITED PROTEST. A mammoth meeting was organised by Churchmen at Mountain Ash on Whit- Tuesday, to protest against the new Edu- cation Bill. It was estimated that there were about 9,000 present. The Pavilion, where the meeting was held, had been comfortably filled. A large platform had been erected to accommodate the speak- ers and a galaxy of prominent Church- men and Churchwomen. The doors were opened long before 5 o'clock, though the meeting, was not timed to start before 6. Excursions ar- rived from all parts of the Diocese early in the afternoon, and Oxford-street was in a terribly congested state for several hours prior to the meeting. The G.W.R. and Rhymney Railway trains brought in over 3,000 people, while the London and •North-Western Company's trains con- veyed a large number from Monmouth- shire. Special T.V.R. trains from Car- diff and intermediaite stations were crammed, and so was every train and motor that left Aberdare between the hours of 3 and 6. The Executive Committee had made splendid provision for the visitors. Large rooms had been engaged in the Work- men's Institute, where refreshments were provided at reasgrabic, prices. During the period of waiting the large audience sang favourite hymns, Welsh and English, Mr. Protheroc, Aberdare, the Welsh, and Rev. Connop Price, the Rector of Caerphilly, the Eng- lish hymns. fr. F. J. Smith, the dio- cesam registrar, presided at the piano. "Dyma Feibl illlwyl Iesu," sung to the tune, "Moriah," seemed to be a great favourite, and was repeated over and ever again. It was also sung at the re- quest of Bishop Owen, after he delivered his speech. Church mottoes and Biblical texts had been inscribed in large letters all round the balcony. Across the wall at the back of the platform were the words, "Defence, not defiance." Other texts were, "One Lord, cne Faith, one Church," "Gair Duw goreu dysg," "Stand fast in th-3 faith," "Our faith for our children," "Fight the good fight," etc. Among prominent local Churchmen present were Revs. C. A. H. Green, M.A., R.D., Aberdare; J. Sinnett Jones, M.A., Mountain Ash; M. Ptowell, B.A., Aber- aman; Joseph Morgan, B.A., Hirwain; R. Jones, Vicar of St. Pagan's; Messrs. F. W. Mander, Aberdare; Thos. Lloyd, Aberdare; W. F. Parry de Winton, Col. D. R. Lewis, Merthyr; Major Morgan, X.P., Mountain Ash; Mr. and Mrs. W. S. liavies, The Poplars; Capt. and Mrs. F. N. Gray; Mr. John Williams, National School, Aberdare; Mr. A. T. Jenkins, Cwmbach; Mr. Trevor Lewis, The Mardy; Mrs. C. A. H. Green; Miss Lewis, The Mardy; Canon Johnson (Warden of St. Michael's College); Mr. A. P. Jones, Aberdare; Mrs. M. Powell, Aberaman, etc, The committee had carried out the ar- rangements in an admirable manner. The brunt of the secretarial duties fell on Mr Ivor Davies, The Poplars, who discharged them with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the committee. Mr. C. R. Vicary, Aberdare, was the ticket secretary. Promptly at 6 o'clock the speakers ap- peared on the platform, and were given a rousing reception. They were the Lord Bishop of Llaiidaff (who presided); Lord Bishop of St. David's; Lord Balcarres, M.P.; Sir Henry Craik, M.P.; and Mr. W. Joynson Hicks. The last-named speaker delivered the most eloquent spceeh, which was fre- quently applauded. So frequent, indeed, was the cheering that he had to appeal to the audience to save up their approbation until the end. That would save time, he said, and time was precious in view of the many speakers that had to follow him. When Bishop Owen commenced speak- ing in Elnglish someone shouted, "Tipyn o Gymraeg" ("A little bit of Welsh"). The speaker retorted: "Yr iaith oreu yn claf" ("The best language last"). His address, which lasted nearly an hour, was listened to throughout with unaJbated in- terest, his Welsh-accent of English words ooinggreatly enjoyed by a good number. Bishop Owen was particularly eloquent when he turned to the Welsh language, and judging by the cheering, the Welsh section of the audience were quite ready to listen to another speech of an hour's duration in Welsh. Someone shouted, "Dyna hi, wada mla'n nawr" ("That's it, go on now'). But the Bishop was not to be drawn in, and he sat down after speak- ing in Welsh for about five minutes. THE SPEECHES. The Lord Bishop of Llandaff, who was cordially received, said that two months ago he ventured to say on a public oc- casion in this Diocese that he believed that as soon as the terms of the Bill be- came known and understood, it would cause a storm of indignation throughout the length and breadth of the land such as they had never known be- fore. The members of the present Government had not shown any great < readiness to 'accept amendments. But there was a stronger power in the country than the Government. (Applause.) That < .was public opinion, and it was to that J power that Churchmen now appealed. (Applause.) He objected to the Bill as a citizen and as a Churchman. He ob- jected to it as a citizen because he be- lieved the whole tendency and goal that lay before them was Secularism. He ob- jected to it as a Churchman because its terms were unjust and ungenerous to Churchmen, who had spent millions of money to maintain and perpetuate sound religious education in their schools. (Loud applause.) The Lord Bishop then called upon MR. W. JOYNSON HICKS, Mr. Winston Churchill's opponent at the last General Election. Mr. Hicks was re- ceived with tremendous cheering. He said that he wanted to speak of the Bill as a member of the Laity, for it was a layman's question. It was not a ques- tion of the clergy at all, a^di that great gathering gave the lie direct that it was an agitation of the clergy. (Ap- plause.) He wanted to deal with the Nonconformist Conscience. (Voice: "All rot.") He would prove that not ld. of onconformist money had; been used to- wards the cost of education in Church Schools. He challenged any Radical to disprove the contrary. (Loud applause.) OIl the other hand, a great deal of the cost of Board Schools had been borne by Churchmen who were ratepayers. There was no Nonconformist Conscience in oper- ation prior to 1902. (Laughter.) He had no quarrel with the spiritual Noncon- formist, but with the political Noncon- formist. (Voice "What about Mr. Lloyd George?") I will come to Mr. Lloyd George before I finish. (Laughter.) Clause IV. of this Bill showed clearly that the Nonconformist conscience was a vested hypocrisy. Part of Clause IV. was a direct and deliberate attempt to bribe the Roman Catholic Church, or, indeed, the Irish members in the House of Com- mons. All honour to Jim Healy, who was not ashamed to stand before a. cynical audience—the House of Commons—and say that he had a grip upon the real Christ. (Applause.) Lloyd George would, if he were chairman of any local authori- ty, turn aside any applicant for a post as teacher, if he did not know geography properly. But if an applicant said he was an Atheist, he would be passed and told that he would do as a teacher for a Church School. (Appliance.) That was the positive position. Churchmen had made great sacrifices in the past, and he trusted they would not give up their schools without a struggle. (Applause.) Mr. Lloyd George had said that no man should sit in judgment on his neighbour's conscience. They did not want to sit in judgment on their neighbour's con- science. All they desired was equal rights. (Applause.) Mr. Lloyd George wanted to substitute the Sernion on the Mount for the teaching of the Church Catechism Mr. Lloyd George had had an opportunity of learning the Church Catechism, but he (the speaker) felt that from the spirit of his speeches he had never learned ihe Sermcm on the Mount. (Applause.) They must appeal to the House of Lords. He called upon the Lords to do their duty and give thft people a chance of arriving at a decision. He had asked Mr. Lloyd George to come to Lancashire to contest a seat there. To this he had not replied, and he stated in the face of that great multitude that he was a coward. (Loud applause.) BISHOP OWEN. The Lord Bishop of St. David's was the next speaker. He had a great ovation, the people rising to their feet and shouting and waving their handker- chiefs. He said that this great Demon- stration fully proved that Churchmen « ere determined! to do their duty. That looked like rallying round the flag of the Old Church, and taking its part in the united and persistent opposition which the whole Church was bound to offer to this Bill. The opposition was but begin- ning, and the more the Bill would be understood the more it would be opposed. His pet aversion was Section VI. of the Bill. He maintained that this section gave Secularists all they wanted. He ventured to say that if the House of Lords amended this Bill and rendered it more in accord with. the national welfare and national justice', they would be backed by the people who loved fair deal- ing and fair-play. (Loud applause.) The Churchmen in the Diocese of Llandaff had faith that moral force would triumph in the long run. Faith in the people was all very well, but faith in the Lord was a thousand times better. Turning to Welsh, Bishop Owen said that thousands of children would never hear of the blessed Saviour if they abol- ished religion in day schools. That would be a serious thing in a Christian! country. To confine "religious" teaching to simply the ethical, historical, and literary use of the Bible was only tampering with souls. (Applause.) LORD BALCARRES, M.P. The next speaker, Lord Balcarres, said he rejoiced to think that the Church was united in the present crisis. They now stood upon common ground; they had forgotten their differences, and had thrust aside their politics, because they were proud of their church and of their schools, and were determined to continue the good work done in the past. (Ap- > plause.) The clauses in the Bill giving facilities for religious instruction were worthless, for it all depended on the local authority. They were told that. the Bill 1 was introduced because of the religious difficulty. He maintained there was no 1 religious difficulty. The difficulty was only in Parliament, the platform, and the J Press. But this Bill was calculated to ] introduce it into the Schools, the Town ] Council, and the Urban Council. So far < a a Pai-liamant was concerned, Wales was unanimous in favour of this Bill. ("No, no.") But they must remember that 85,000 people in Wales had recorded their votes against the present Government, and he felt certain that if the people were appealed to now the opponents of the Education Bill would poll 150,000. (Ap- plause.) SIR HENRY CRAIK, M.P. Sir Henry Craik said that that vast audience was an inspiring Right, and must give an impetus to them to go on fighting against the unjust Education Bill. It was false and deceitful, cunning- ly contrived to undermine religious teach- ing in their schools. Their religious edu- cation, instead of being the foundation and basis of character which was worth all the rest of education put together, would become a casual appendix, and in time only a faint memory and tradition. When he spoke on the subject in the House of Commons he had attempted to lay before the ministerialists the result of Secularism in Franca ar cl the United States. But Mr. Birreill forbade them to look abroad for examples. The Principal of Columbia University had said that the intelligence of American children had been stunted in its growth owing to aboli- tion of religious education. Even the poems of Longfellow, where there were references to God and to prayer, were excluded in some schools there. It was from France that Lloyd George borrowed that phrase, "ClericaJlism is the enemy." Did the people, of Wales regard Clericals as the enemy? ("No.") Could Lloyd George not find words more fitting to ac- company the act of filching from the Church a great part of her best work, than the words of Atheist statesmen of France. (Applause.) The following resolution was moved by the Venerable W. C. Bruce, Archdeacon of Monmouth, seconded by Major Morgan, J.P., Mountain Ash: — "That the united force of the Church must offer determined opposition to the Government Education Bill, 1906, and to any Education Bill which, directly or indirectly, secularises national edu- cation, violates the wishes of parents, confiscates the property of the Church in her schools, and deals preferentially with different religious bodies." The resolution was put and carried unanimously.

Aberdare I.L.P.

Aberaman English Wesleyans.

Death of Aid. J. W. Evans,…

[No title]

|Found in River Bed at Abecynon.

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--------------Mountain Ash…

Funeral of Mr Jno. Evans,…

Death of Mr Percy Morgan,…

" Agatha." ---3---

Death of Aid. J. W. Evans,…