South Wales Daily News

-0_ THE CRYSTAL PALACE CONDUCTOR. Mr Auguste Mtnn," reception by his brother musicians this week, on the occasion of his attaining his seventieth birthd.-iy, w,<?<? a graceful ano nttiiig recogni- tion of a career which has been spent laboriously and well m the ser- vice of Sb. Cecilia. For nearly forty years has Mr Manus wielded the baton at the Crystal Palace, and we believe thab if the attention of Royalty had been called to t the fact that the oti- tbusiastio old con- ductor had attained the Psalmist's span she would, before going to Nice, have conferred a knight- hood on him, as he has many years ago AUG. MANNS. I qualified by naturalisation arid residence for the I honour, and there is no man in the profession more generally beloved by his brother artistes. Mr Oscar Barrett, the second in command at j Sydenham, and Mr Manns' natural successor, is, we understand, mainly responsible for the com- I pliment paid him last Tuesday.

LIVER COMPLAINTS.—Dr, King's Dandelion and Quinine Liver Pills, without Mercury, remove all Liver and Stomach Complaints, Biliousness, Headache, Sick ness, Indigestion, Complaints 1168

HOUSE OF COMMONS. —THURSDAY. The Speaker took the chair at three o'clock. LOANS TO OFFICIAL RECEIVERS. Mr BRYCE, in answer to Mr Gibson Bowles, said it was not the general practice of the official receiver to carry on a business or to borrow money for that purpose except in special cases where it was necessary in order to prevent a forced realisation. Money so borrowed was on the assets of the company, and there was no liability on the part of the official receiver or the State. In the Balfour group of companies the official receiver had from time to time borrowed moneys amounting to :£1,280,000, the amount now out- standing being £ 813,000, interest being paid at the rate of 6 per cent., and there waa to be a commission of 10 per cent. upon any 6uiplus available for distribution among the unsecured creditors or contributors. The money had been borrowed solely on the security of the assets of the various companies, and for the purpose partly of completing pro- perties and rendering them marketable, and partly of paying off prior mortgages. ^These transactions had been entered into only at the express desire of the committee of inspection, and after approval by the court. The official receiver considered that if this course bad not been adopted, there would have been no surplus available for unsecured creditors. LOCAL PETITION. Mr W. MAITLAND presented petitions from Tretower and Beulah (Breconshire) against the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales. GOVERNMENT AND THE MINING COMMITTEE'S REPORT. Mr G. RUSSELL, in answer to Mr S. T. Evans, said the Home Secretary had adopted the recom- mendations of the Committee on Mining and General Statistics, and steps were being taken to carry them into effect. BOERS AND SWAZILAND. Mr BUXTON, in answer to Sir Ellis Ashmead- Bartlett, said a telegram was yesterday received from Sir Henry Loch, containing a summary of the proceedings at the meeting of the South African Republic Commissioners with the King Queen of the Swazis, a large number of Swazis being present, all unarmed. General Joubert taking the King's hand, said the Republic recognised him as the paramount Swazi Chief. There was general satisfaction, and Generals Joubert and Smit started on their return to the Transvaal. Only the escort of the commissioners entered the Swazi territory. He added, in reply to further questions, that the special mission upon which Generals Joubert and Smib were sent was the recognition of the king as paramount chief. There was a Transvaal administrator in the country whose name had been submitted to her Majesty and approved, and there was a British consul. Mr STEWART Therefore the Boer administra- tion practically now exists in Swaziland. THE CHITRAL EXPEDITION. Mr RUSSELL, in the absence of Mr Fowler, replying to Sir W. Wedderbnrn, explained that the force now being organised to proceed to Chitral was in order to effect the release of Dr. Robertson, now in the fort there, surrounded by a force under Umra Khan. The action taken by the Indian Government had the approval of the Secretary of State. AGED POOR COMMISSION. Mr BRYCE informed Mr Bartley that evidence taken before the Royal Commission on the Aged Poor had been laid before the Queen. As soon as it was returned the report would be laid before Parliament. ACCOMMODATION FOR MEMBERS. Mr H. GLADSTONE, replying to Mr Cremer, said he could not undertake to make arrange- ments for increasing the accommodation of members before a now Speaker was appointed, nor, having regard to what had been done during the recess and the amount of money spent, did he think it desirable to re-appoint the committee which sat lasb year. THE ARMENIAN ATROCITIES. Sir E. GREY, replying to Mr Schwann, said the allegations against Baker Pasha of rearresting 150 Armenians at Amassia were being inquired into by our Ambassador at Vmna. Mr SCHWANN asked whether her Majesty's Government had approached the Governments of Russia and France invIting their immediate co-operation with a view to putting an end to barbarous misdeeds, tortures, and murders in Armenia and elsewhere by agents of the Ports. Sir E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT I rise to order. I want to lknow, sir, whether it is in order in a question to attribute to the agents of a friendly Power such charges as the bon. member makes ? The SPEAKER: I think the hon. member had better omit from the question the part which presumed that barbarous outrages had been committed. Mr SCHWANN: I will do so, sir, and say that outrages have been alleged. Sir EDWARD GREY, in reply, said Cases of hardship or ill treatment which have been brought to the notice of her Majesty's Govern- ment by the reports of British consular officers have already formed the subject of separate representations to the Porte. I can assure my non. friend that the Government will spare no effort to promote the effective co-operation of other Powers to secure the introduction of reforms in the government of Armenia; but in our opinion this object would not be attained or helped by making further proposals for inter. national action at this moment. Sir E. ASHMEAD BARTLETT: May I ask whether the Governments of Germany, Austria, and Italy have declined to put anv pressure on the Porte in regard to this matter ? (Oh.) The SPEAKER Order, order. That is nob a question arising oub of the answer of the Under. Secretary. The Established Church (Wales) Bill was then moved for second reading, a report of which appears elsewhere. The House adjourned at 12.10.

LORD SALISBURY ON RELI- GIOUS EDUCATION. Addressing a crowded meeting at the Lime- house Town-hall on Thursday evening, Lord Salisbury delivered an imporbant speech on the question of religious education. The idea which had prevailed, he said, but which now prevailed less, was that the Church school must ultimately give way to the board school; but not only had the Church held her own, but he thought that to those who watched current events it was plain that the board school was losing ground in the affections of the people. He thought that the framers of the Act; of 1870 had not realised that a new and tremendous problem in religious liberty was being presented to them to solve. When they adopted compulsory education they came across the problem, how were they to maintain religious liberty unless they took abundant precaution that every child waseducated ic the religion of its parents ? The authors of the Act of 1870 made an effort to solve that question by a compromise. The Cowper- Temple clause, as it was called, provided that formularies distinctive of any denomination should not be taught in board schools. That compromise was founded upon an error, and was bound in the long run to fail in its effect. The result was that large masses of Church of England members were in a state of apprehension, having no guarantee that in board schools the Christian belief, as they accepted it, would be taught. The Jews had obtained a special clause that that liberty might be extended. His own belief was that that system which would enable each man to pay rates for the teaching of his own religion was the soundest solution of the difficulty. He was anxious, however, to make it clear that he was fully conscious of the enormous difficulties wheh at pre- sent attended the adoption of any snch plan, although many educational authorities he had consulted agreed that it would be the best solution. Any such effort must, how- ever, be based upon a general agreement among the community that it was only by such plan that the principle of truo religious liberty could be attained. In the meantime they had only to sea that the welfare of future generations was not jeopardised by their own faintness of heart and weakness, for it was an intolerable idea that the State should, like the censor of the Russian Government, stamp out parts of their religion.

NEW YORK PRICES. fREBTEirS TELEGRAMS.) NEW YORK, Thursday.—Money easy. Sterling Exchange firm. On the Stock Market to day speculation in the share list developed renewed firmness business was fairly active and well distributed on a strong market; there were also dealings in bonds, for which the demand con, tinues active. Cotton declined awhile after the opening, then reacted slictrplyon covering, but afterwards again declined, and closed weak spot quiet. Cotton oil steady-crude, 22c.; yellow, 26o. Petroleum- refined dull and nominal. Lard has ruled generally firm all day cash also firm. Wheat advanced during early dealings, but later fell off on liquidating, and closed weak; spot weak. Flour a quiet market. Corn advanced after opening on large purchases, then declined with wheat, and closed weak; spot firm. Sugar opened firm, and closed steady. Coffee has been generally firm, and closed steady spot quiet. Tin firm. Iron steady, Copper steady. Mar. 21 Mar. SO Caii Money ET.S. Bonds 2 p.a 3 p o Ditto, other Securities 2 p.c 3 p c Exchange on London, 60days sight 4.87% 4.87% Ditto. Cable Transfers i|.89% 4.89VI Exchange Paris, 60 days' siglit 5.17 5.16% Exchange on BerHn Days. 95% 95% Four per Cent. U.8. Funded Loan 112' 312',4 Western Union Telegraph Simres 87% 87% Atchison Topeka, & S. Fo 4% 4V< Do Do. 4 p.c. Mor £ 6" £ 46% Do. Do. 5 p. Income.. 18'4 I 17% Baltimore <fc Ohio 533/i 531/, Canada Southern Shares 49'/2 49% Canadian Pacific 37 38y Central of New Jersey. 93% 92% Central Pacific Shares.. 17 1734 Chesapeake & Ohio Common; 17% 175^ Chicago, Burlington & Quincey.. 73% 72% Chicago <fc North-Western, Ord 91% 9iys CHicagp & N. Western Preferred. 137 37 Cliicago Milwaukee, and St. Paul 57% 56% Chicago <fc North-Western, Ord 91% 9iys CHicagp & N. Western Preferred. 137 37 Cliicago Milwaukee, and St. Paul 57% 56% Chicago & Rock Island 64% 05% Cleveld, C-in., Ch., & gl,, L. OTd. 28% 381, Delaware & Hudson ]27% 123 Delaware Lackawana. 36O !f l% Dc-n-vey & Plo Gi ande Shuxes 1114 10% Denver Preferred" 35% 25Va UlinoisCentral Shares £ 6'a rke Shore & Michigan Southern 137 137 Loniaville & Nashville Shares 50% 50 V, Michigan Central Shares Siy2 Missouri Kansas, and Texas 15 v, ]5 Missouri Pacific 81% 2W. New York, Lake ISrieV& Wosterii 9 vs I 8% ltfco, Second Mortgage Bonds 60 58% ew Yoik Central River 95 947/- New York. Ontario# Western,Or<i ,6% W/. NorthernPacjjic Cowmen 35/« 3%, Northern Pacific, Preferred 16 15% Norfolk & Western Prefe; red 2'/< 13Vi and Mississippi Ord. Shares — — Pennsylvania and Phils delphia 50l/4 50'/i Philadelphia and Beading Shares 8% 10l/8 Phi!adelphia&Beading5p.c.lstTnc 22% 22 rT Do. tlo 4 p.c, M« r 71 70% Oiuon Pacific Siiares 9V. 8% Wabash St Louis, & Pacific 6, I, 5% ;Wa.bash St Louis &i. Prftf. Srs 14 13% CWfTCN AffD PRODUCT1, WiltK: TS. Cotton, day's receipts at U.S.ports ..009, 8..XI', Cotton, day's rec'pts at Gulf ports 1<J,(J i Ootton, day's export to Gt Britain 9,:I;) 0,0): Cotton,day's esnt to Continent.. 20. 3. 11 ii I Cotton future Apl. delivery 620 6.27 Cotton future June Del ory 6,22 6 23 Cotton,middling uplandNewiYorli 6' 6% Cotton, middling NewOrl n 5% 5% PetroJemn, crnda ? New fork 7 00 7.00 Petroleum, sta'dard White N.York 6.8> 6 85 PefcroUimi, st'd white Philadelphia 6 80 6.80 PefcroUimi, st'd white Philadelphia 680 6.80 Petroleum, Pipe Line Certs Apr 112% 113 Spir fca or Turpentine 3672 37 I.anl, Wilcox's Si>ofc 7.2l-2 6.97% 'rELilo,iv, Prixa" C, I t,Y 41\ 4% Su!?ar, fair refining Muuepv;]. os 2to 2to D>. 96 p.c. Centrifugal ..0 3 Corn, New mixed, Wosty'nisp.t.. 56 53% Corn futures, May 51% Comiutures July. 5050% Spring Wneat, No. 1, spot.. 69% 70% Wheat, red winter, on the ayot 61% 62 Wheat,deliv r May 60 60' Whsat.'de ivc*y June 60V* 61% Coii'ee Ric No.?. 16% 16% Coffee, liio, No. V.XiQw "Ord Aprl 15.15 15.10 o ee .ditto Junedaliv 14.95 11.85 Flour, ex Statehiiippiugbrandy.. 2.40 2.40 Iron,No. l.Coltueus.. >0.(0 /0.03 Iron, No.1, Coltne:,8. í 0,( 0 /0.03 Tin,Australian 13.75 14.00 Copper 9.5?1/ 9.50 Steel Bails ^2 ^2 Freight Grain Liverpool is 2%d 2- PreglitlGi-r-insteamcrsL ion I 1 Freight, Cor! an t.» Lirrrpflcl y, KiH'o.- UuIliMii. 61% 61 VVin ui, Ch' o, May delivery. 54% 55$ (Jo m, Chicago, May delivery 46% 47' 5S j 35 (Jo m, Chicago, May delivery 46% 4 7 ,rna', .h'd, j 35

PENARTH. LOCALS SUCCKSS.—At the Cirencester Coursing Meeting Mr W. Williams's (Cogan Hotel) dog Cavalleria, by Herschel- Glonmahra, and Mr W. L. Morris's (Penarth) Molly Hoo, by Herschel- Pride of Ashfield, divided in the principal sbakei thus keeping up their Sully reputation

ABERAVON. TOWN COUNCIL.—The monthly meeting of the town council was held at the council-room on Wednesday, the mayor (Mr Lewis Lewis) in tbg chair. The reports of the various committee-9 were read and adopted. Dr. J. Arnallt Jonef was unanimously appointed medical officer of health at a salary of JB30 per annum. An estimate for a general district rate after the rate of Is 6d in the;g for the ensuing six months was adopted) as also was an estimate for the borough rate iof JB528.

DYNAS POWIS. THE HIGHWAY BOARD.—At the fortnight? meeting of the Cookham District Coundj Maidenhead, Berks, on Wednesd-ty, Mr Fra«J* Laurens, A.M.I.C.E., who has been for t(Tf past three years surveyor to the Dynas Po^1, Highway Board, was appointed to the po3t surveyor. There were 86 applicants for th4 position.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—THURSDAY. The Lord Chancellor took his seat on the wool- sack at a quarter-past four o'clock. Lord HOBHOUSB, in moving the second reading of the Sunday Bill, stated that its object was to amend the Act passed in 1781 preventing certain abuses and profanations on the Lord's Day, called Sunday. He brought the measure forward in consequence of recent litigation arising out of certain lectures delivered at Leeds on Sunday, II and it was intetrdGl to obtain relief for a class of her Majesty's subjects who were engaged in a good work, and who, under the name of the Federated Sunday Societies, were providing inno- cent entertainment for the people without ) encroaching upon the Sunday rest. Lord Onoss qnite agreed that they wanted more time to consider the Bill, which was very crude, and would require a great deal of altera- tion. He would suggest that it would be better to adjourn the discussion sine die, and in that case he would move for the appointment of a Select Committee to consider whatamendmentsit might be advisable to make in the Act of George III. Lord HOBHOUSB had himself felt that it would be inconvenient to have the debate on the second reading so soon, and he readily fell in with the suggestion of the noble lord. The debate was then adjourned. The Land Clauses (Taxation of Costs) Bill and the Documentary Evidence Bill were read a third time and passed. The report of amendments to the Distress Bill was received. The House adjourned at 25 minutes to 6 o'clock.

LORD ROSEBERY'S HEALTH. OPINION OF THE "LANCET." PROBABLE VISIT TO WALMER. Lord Rosebery (the Lancet says) continues to suffer very much from sleeplessness, and this is aggravated by an attempt to attend to public business. While at the Durdans he has been out for drives on the downs to Boxhill and other places in the neighbourhood daily, and has taken short walks in addition, but neither the air nor the exercise has proved quite effica- j cious. But Certainly some of the re- ports of the Premier's condition have been unduly gloomy. Except when wearied and dis- couraged by a particuarly bad night he is cheerful, and has enjoyed the society of the friends who have in turn visited him at Epsom. His fortitude under one of the most trying and wearying con- ditions known to medicine is really remarkable. Throughout his illness he has never said an irritable word to anyone, and even when most sleepless he resolutely and quietly throws off any depression which he may feel in the early morning. The British Medical Journal, referring to Lord Rosebery's health, says :—There are no symptoms of loss of nervous tone, and that he is now always able to get some hours sleep in the early part of the night at least. The journal adds thab he will probably not go to Walmer Castle until he has more confidence of power to sleep. Lord Dufferin has placed Walmer Castle at Lord Rosebery's disposal. The Premier will probably go there shortly, but nob until the insomnia has abated. For the present he is advised that he will be more comfortable in his own house. Thursday's reportfrom Epsom is that Lord Rose- bery's condition remains unaltered. His lordship is still able to attend to a certain amount of pressing business.

BRAVERY REWARDED. A PLUCKY RESCUE OFF NATAL. At a luncheon given on Thursday, on board R.M.S. Norham Castle, in the East India Dock, London, Sir Donald Currie presiding, presenta- tions were made to the captain, officers, and crew of that vessel for their conspicuous bravery in rescuing the captain and 17 of the crew from the sailing ship Fasoadale, which was wrecked off the coast of Natal on the 7th February last. There was a a distinguished company present. Mr Frank Whitehead, chief officer of the Norham Castle, whose exceptional exertions and br&very resulted in the rescues recorded, was presented with the silver medal of the Corporation of Lloyd's, and a silver medal and binocular telescope by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society. Captain Duncan was pre- sented with a medal by the same society. Admiral Sir Anthony Hoskins presented each of the men of the boat's crew with :Cl, and com- plimented them upon the discipline they maintained under circumstances of great peril. On behalf of his company, Sir Donald Currie presented to Captain Duncan £100, Mr White. head L50, Mr Jenkins (second officer) jB25, and to each of the men of the two boats' crews one month's pay and a silver medal. Sir Donald Currie read a letter from the Mercantile Marine Society, Liverpool, highly complimenting the rescuing party.

I CARDIFF. CONCEnT.-An excellent concert was given at the Cathays Wesleyan Schoolroom on Wedues' day by the Cardiff White Sash Choir, under the leadership of Miss Rosina Daw, assisted by Mis2 Waters and Mr Davies. Theduebtsby Misses B« and A. Daw and the banjo duetts by Miss Waters and Mr Davies were deservedly encored. There was a large attendance. ODDFELLOWS LOYAL CAMBRIA'S PBIDE LOOOI. -At the usual fortnightly meet-ing of th6 above lodge held on Tuesday night, a vote of condolence with the widow and family of the late Councillor W. E. Vaughan, Past Provincial Grand Master of the Cardiff District, and trustee of the above lodge, was unanimously carried. This was the first meeting of the lodge since the death of Brother Vaughan, and eloquent testimony was made to his worth as au Oddfel- low, and to the many kindnesses the members of his lodge had received from him during the 38 years he was connected with them. Y.M.C.A. CYCLING CLUB.—The first run of the above club took place on Wednesday, a start being made from the Association-rooms shortly after 3o'clockfor Barry and Porthkorry. ThedockS and island were visited. The next run will be oil Saturday next for Newport and Caerleon. It it intended to have a run every Wednesday and Saturday.

NEWPORT. POLICE PROMOTIONS. — The Newporb Watcfc Committee at their monthly meeting on Thursday morning promoted Inspector Brooks to be deputy head constable, vice Inspector Winmill deceased. They also gave Sergeant Williams, who has been 28 years in the force, and who has held the post of sergeant since 1876. the position of inspector. P.S. Evans, who camS next in seniority, was also promoted to be in* spector, in the room of Detective Inspector Jones, who resigned some time since. P.C.'s Walket and Tooze were promoted to be sergeants. Thel have been respectively 23 and 21 years in the fore&

BARRY. BARRY UNITED CYCLING CLUB.The annual meeting of this club took place a the head' quarters at Barry Dock on Wednesday evening) under the presidency of Mr Tom Jones. Mr W» D. Stradling waa formally presented with a silver medal for the best attendance at the runs during the past season. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as fol I ow.PreA i dent, MrW. If. Burrows vice-president, Mr H. Lloyd captain, Mr Tom Jones vice-captains, Messrs F. Paul] W. Parry, and J. Turner; treasurer, Mr T. Jones; secretary, Mr W. D. Stradling, 5f Byril-road, Barry Dock. An opening run to the Penarth Dock Hotel was decided upon, to take place on Apnl 3rd. A Good Friday run to New< port was also settled.

CAERLEON. FIRE, A fire was discovered early oil Thursday morning on the premises of Mr James, tenant of Penycraig Vawr, about two miles from Caerleon, Mr A. Evans, II neighbour, rode to Newport to obtain assistance, and the fire brigade, under Captain Horace Lyne. turned out and the engine was horsed and pro* ceeded to the spot. The fire originated in one of the barns, and was not extinguished before ø good deal of damage was done.

BEAUFORT. LLANGATTOCK SCHOOL BOA-Etr).-The triennial election of the above school board took place oil Wednesday last. Nine candidates had been nominated for the seven seats. The following is the result of the voting declared by the returning officer, Mr J. Blennerhassett: W. Herbert) coal miner (Lib.), 859 R. Morgan, grocer (Lib.), 828 D. W. Phillips, estate agent (Lib.), 695 I J. Bull, grocer (Lib.), 576 D. J. Llewelyn, vicat (Con.), 525 J. James, checkweigher (Lib.), 465 t D. S. Jones, Baptist minister (Lib.), 384; J- Davies, innkeeper (Lib.), 300; J. J. Watkinsf coal merchant (Lib.), 221.

LLANWNEN. PIGEON SHOOTING.-The Lampeter Gun Olofc held their annual pigeon shooting match this week at Llanwnen in a field.adjoining Castellddu. The match was a perfect success. Mr Rees, LJan- dyssul, brought down his birds in grand style, and took the first prize. The second prize was aburdily contested for by Messrs Jones, Aberyst wyth, and Henry, Llandovery, bub tbe bad in the end to be contented with the award of third prize, Mr Henry taking the second. The following were the officers for the day :-Secre-, taries, Mossrs T. L. Davies and F. Sturdy. Lampeter scorer, Mr S. D. Jones, Lampeter < treasurer, Mr W. George, Neuaddfawr whilst the arduous duties of referee were undertaken by Mr Davies, M.R.C.V.S., Lampeter. A dinuel took place in the evening.

ST. DAVID'S. CHURCH DEFENCE MEETING. On TAESDRF evening D the Town-hall, Canon Lewis presiding* Canon Williams spoke on Church Defence, suf ported by Dr. Propert, Mus. Bac. The fonnet traced the early history of the Church to th" present day, allocation of tithes, the presenb B'" before Parliament, &c. Dr. Properb gave history from the time it became a Stat8 Church." A hearty vote of thanks terminated the meeting, which was not a large one probabij the weather had somewhat to do with this.

BRIDGEND.. DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTION.—A MEETING rJ ratepayers was held at the Town-hall on WednaS' day night to consider what steps should be takejj to fill the vacancy on the district council, caused by the death of Mr T. W. Owen. Mr W. Buckley' chairman of the council, presided, and there was a fairly large attendance. A resolution was pro' posed That no person be adopted as a candidal who was not one who worked for a week11 wage." This was seconded and carried with only two dissentients. Mr C. H. Corbett, plumbed who had previously been adopted at a meetinl of the Labour party, was then proposed as tb candidate, and he was declared almost unani- mously »elected. There is every prospect of contest, and that a lively one. CONSERVATIVE ASSOCI-ITIO. --The annual meelJ ing of the Bridgend branch ot the South Glair-00 gan Conservative Association was held at th' Conservative Club on Wednesday night, Mr S. H. Stookwood presiding. The Earl of Dunrave* was re-elected president, Mr W. McGau* treasurer, and Mr R. C. Griffiths hon. secretary and the vice-presidents, delegates, and committo were appointed. Other minor matters were afto wards dealt with..

GWYNFE (LLANGADOCK). MRS REES, Brynawel, Gwynfe, and Mr Cefn House, the bereaved widow and father .tA the late Mr J. E. Rees, Brynawel, desire ¿ return thanks to the numerous kind friends afl relatives who have sent them letters of sympabbf and consolation in their deep sorrow.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BARRY DOCK. DOMESTIC INFELICITY.—At the Barry D Police court on Thursday, a boatJ11 named John Henry Cunningham v¥,. charged with committing an assault upon his W1,: on the 21st February last. Mr A. Jackson peared for the complainant and Mr W. A. BUBI represented defendant;. The woman said she beaten by defendant because she declined to him where she had hidden his revolver, which he said he would do for her. Superinte i dent Giddings informed the court that defend* had been twice bound over by the Bench similar offences. A separation order was graHt0j defendant to pay 15s a week towards the supP0 of bis wife and live children and to pay a tiiie ob £ 5 for the assault. SHEBEENING. — Jane Stockclale, a ried woman, living at No. 46, GueIt|i street, Barry Dock, was charged selling beer without a licence. P.C. 'P*t?a4 proved that when he entered the house on afternoon last he found five women and e'fec men drinking in the kitcuen. The beer was in a washing-pan, and on the table several jugs and g.ass;>.j, Defendant having sold any beer, tuul said what bad IJHbj found on the premises had been brought there y some of those found on the premises. In the garden was found a ^-gallon cask. The £ eIU fined defendant fb, or -in default one J}1dV imprisonment with hard labour.

BATTLE OF FLOWERS AT NICE, NICE, Thursday fiTem^g. The t Flowers took place this afternoon in weather and in the presence of her DlaJes ThO the Queen and Princess Beatrice. Royal party arrived in an open carriage 20 minutes past three, and the ve was placed at the top of the Rue dui C°B £ re £ ^j front of the Royal bo: and commanding g entire length of the Promenade Des Ar.gla's- Queen was welcomed by the Mayor of Nice> presented her Majesty with a blue tn ilo coloured flag, bearing the inscription, Carnival, 1895, Banniore d'Honneur."

CADBURY S COCOA.—"A food alike SUITABLE^ building up the growing body, and for repairi"j» yja waste which is incidental to all the pro —Health. cerlS*" "THKTKIRD VOLUME" is a tional story, wholesome, thrilling, and fun ng,f4f* ment, by Fergus Home. Now appearing in Timts and South Walts Weekly Newt. :4

THE WARWICK VACANCY, FORTHCOMING LIBERAL CAN- DIDATE. The Central News understands that the Liberals intend contesting Warwick on tho retirement of the Speaker. Thecandidate selected wUl ^Ovincsd almosb uftroediately. I

Her national character demonstrated by the Facfr that she has in every parish a resident minister, whereas the Nonconformists ;u a large number of parishes have none. Of the 4,000 Nonconformist churches in Wales ahere is not one among them that 3ver is destitute of a Sunday service. Sometimes the service is held by a minister residing in the parish or by those in adjoining parishes, and sometimes by laymen qualified to preach and conduct the service. In others there are two preaching services and a Sunday school, and in the mass of the churches there is one preaching service, one Sunday school, and one prayer meeting, and there Is not one of those churches where the Sacrament ;s not administered once a month. Let me ask flow is it in so many of the parishes with resident ministers of the Established Church ? It is not necessary to have a resident minister in every parish where there is no congregation. (Laugh- ter.) In the county of Anglesey there are 76 parishes, and of these, 27, or lie ra than a third, are without a vicar, a rector, or a curate. Three parishes have no buildings of any kind for the serviee.9 of the Church. In 27 parishes services are held sometimes once a month, and in two others every alternat.e Sunday. In the 22 other parishes there was one service in the after- aoou, and in one of these churches the service was attended by 11 persons—including the vicar, the sexton, the gamekeeper, and the servants of she squire. (Laughter.) The tithes of those parishes amount to more than £ 7,000 a year. The Nonconformists in the same county have 84- churches, 34 schools, with 11,000 communicants and 21,000 adherents, with 97 ministers and preachers—(hear, hear)—and after this I do not think that we shall hear much more about non-resident Nonconformist ministers. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. member opposite (Sir Michael Hicks-Beach) had stated ihat the reason of the hostility of the Welsh people to the Church was to be found in the fact that they regarded it as a social grievance, but I cannot agree with this view. It arises from the deeply engrained sentiments of a people of strong religious views. who do not regard the Estab- lished Church as the Church of the Welsh. It is not their Church, whatever it might have been in its origin, because after six or seven centuries it has ceased to be the national vehicle for the expression of their sentiments, and ceased to retain a hold upon their religious belief. (Hear, bear.) As I have already explained the proposals of the Bill, I will now deal with some of THE OBJECTIONS TO THE BILL, And especially with those of the right hon. gentle- man (Sir Michael Hicks-Beach), who stated that Disestablishment and Disendowment would place the Welsh Church in a state of anarchy in which the clergy would be no longer amenable to ecclesiastical control, when every clergyman would be a law unto himself and liable to neglect the discharge of his duties. I learnt this with surprise from the right hon. gentleman, because the clergy would still be under a contract to dis- charge their duties, and if they violated these duties there is abundant remedy against this provided by the law. (Hear, hear.) Surely what has happened after the Disestablishmenb of the Church in Ireland and what takes place in the free churches of America and other countries shows us that no practical difficulties of the kind hinted at are likely to arise in Wales. (Cheers.) Then as to the property of the Church, we are accused of dealing with it in a leas generous and liberal spirit than the Irish Church was dealt with. We leave to the Churchpeople of Wales their churches, their parsonages houses, and in the case of the glebes we propose that they be transferred to the parish councils, but in the case of the Irish Church they were sold with right of pre-emption to the tenants. As to the burial grounds, in the case of Ireland, these were handed over to the representative authority, but now we propose that I they should be vested in the parish. The noble viscount who sits for West Edinburgh (Lord Wolmer) spoke sympathetically the other night of the sentiments and feelings which cluster around the burial grounds and the cathedrals, and I quite appreciate his position, but the parish churchyard cannot be regarded as the property of any parti- cular section of the community. Every person who dies in a parish has a common law right to be buried in the parish burial ground. (Hear, hear.) At one time be had to be buried according to the rites of the Church of England, but now the law has been so altered that he has a right to be buried there according to the rights and formulas of his own particular church or religious com- munity. Therefore the burial grounds are not beibg taken away from one class and gtven to another, but the control of them is given eo those who are representatives of the whole people, and in this respect I consider that the common law rights of the whole people should be sedulously preserved. Now as to THE CATHEDRALS OF WALES, they have bean scandalously neglected. A Royal Coma-iission'reported in 1854-of Llandaff Cathedral that there were no record of the duties of the chapter, and that there were no duties assigned W the members, of the chapter there had been no resident clergy, and since 1692 there had been no choral service and no organ. That was 50 years ago. (Hear, hear.) Yes; I know, hon. gentlemen would say, and it is quite true, that the cathedral has been restored-(" Who by from the Opposition benches)-by sub- j scriptions not confined to Churchmen—(hear, hear)—as all the cathedrals in England in whom the people generally take a deep and national interest have been restored, by contributions from all sections of the community. There is no desire to treat the Welsh Church except generously and liberally, and the cathedrals will be repaired by the Commissioners and re-opened for the services of the Church. (Hear, hear.) I agree so far with the leader of tha Opposition, that I believe that the accession of the democracy to supreme authority in this country will not ¡ mean the enthronement of a merely materialist j idol in all social life or the banishment or the weakening oC those great spiritual forces to which the right hon. gentleman referred, which in days gone by coloured the whole fabric of English society. There are needs which we all recognise which are as old and deep as human nature itself, and which no change in the distribution of political power and no rise in the general level of comfort 2an either satisfy or suppress but is it necessary that the standing witness of whom the right hon. gentleman spoke shall be an officer of the State as well a" a minister of the Church ? (Ministerial sheers.) What, sir, if-as is too often the case in Wales-what it his message is unheeded and his church is empty if his mission is futile, not, ba it observed because of apathy or indifference, noc because, the parishioners are torpid or perverse, but because they find satisfaction and stimulus for their religious wants in unconsecrated buildings, and in the service of an nuiuthorised ministry, the people of Wales have shown in days gone by that they can and will provide for their own spiritual means, and it is in the sincere belief that this measure will minister as well to the religious as to the social welfare of the Principality that I ask the House to affirm it to be both politic and just. (Loud Ministerial cheers.) SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH. Sir M. HICKS-BEACH, in moving as an amend- ment that the Bill should be read a second time that day six months, said that the right hon. gentleman had commenced his speech by refer- ring to the question of Disestablishment. He knew that many persons believed that the connection between Church and State was inconsistent with religion. But that view was contrary to the practice of Christendom from the time of Constantine downwards. The Government were attempting to attack the Church of England ander the disguise of yielding to what they called the national demand of Wales. Wales was to be treated in this matter as a separate nationality —(Radical cheers)—contrary to history, contrary to geographical fact, and, he believed, DOt in accordance with any views which her Majesty's Government would be prepared to carry to their legitimate I conclusion. If 31 out of the 34 members for Wales came to the Government and said, "We demand a separate Parliament and Government for Wales," what would be the answer ? Would they grant the demand or would they not ? He was very confident that just at the present 'I moment the Government would decline to comply with a demand which, if made by Brittany upon France, would be simply laughed out of court, He understood the view of the right hon. gentle- man to be that the Establishment of the Church in Wales was in itself unjust because it conferred ascendancy upon what was the Church of the minority, which is oentrary to religious equality. Be demurred altogether to the basis of this argu- inent. He entirely denied that it was based upon any true conception of what Establishment meant. Establishment did not mean that the State had brought a church into existence, nor that it had selected a particular denomination ont of many j denominations to be the Established Church in the country. At any rate, that was not the meaning of the Establishment in England and Wales. What had happened was that the Church and State from the earliest days had grown up together. Circumstances had changed, he admitted. The Welsh people NO LONGER BELONG TO ONE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION. They were divided among many religious vpinioBs. bat the Church still remwped is the L r I position which it bad held throughout. On it fell a duty which it only and no other denomination could possibly perform and if the Church were relieved from that duty no other denomination would perform it. The right hon. gentleman spoke at length on the advantage of resident ministers of the Church in all the parishes in Wales and compared their position with the ministers of other denominations. It was the practice of the Established Church to have a resident minister in every parish, and this was not merely a question of Sunday services, nor week-day service, but of the general ad- ministration to the spiritual and general welfare of the whole people. That was a work which couid not be performed, and would not be performed, by the ministers of any denomination at all if they relieved the Church of the duty which was imposed upon it by the fact of its Establishment. (Hear, hear.) Why were they to make this great change ? It was admitted that for many centuries the Church was not only in theory, but in fact the National Church in Wales. Mr Asquith referred to the Norman period. He (Sir Michael) readily agreed that in the Norman period the Church in Wales was treated as unfairly by the Norman conquerors as the Church in England was treated by the Norman conquerors also-(cheers)-but the righc hon. gentleman did not allude to the fact that the Church revived in Wales under the Tudors and the Stuarts. (Hear.) The Church was persecuted most of all in Wales—to which he never alluded at all-under the Commonwealth. (Opposition cheers.) There were atrocious Acts passed by thePuritansfor distndowingand putting r an end if they coald to theChurch in Wates. But they failed because in all that period the Church in Wales was a national church, and, so far from ins being the fact that there were only intervals during which the Church in Wales was a national church, he contended that, with the exception of the 18h eentury there were only intervals when she was anythingjelse. For 250 years after the Restoration the Church in Wales was a national church, and only in the last 60 years had she ceased to be the Church of Wales in fact as well as in theory. During the last 10 years, by the admission of everybody, she had yearly grown in strong and had shown aggressive vitality which was dis- pleasing to hon. members opposite. Was it not monstrous, having regard to those facts of niscory, ttlat because just at the present moment she might be the Church only of a minority, they should declare by this Bill that she had not only lost all claim at the present moment to be considered the National Church in Wales, but that she would never be in a position to reassert it ? (Opposition cheers.) At this moment, when something like a wave of secularism was passing over the world, he could not conceive how it could be the time when any men believing in Christianity could deprive the State of that connection with religion which formed part of her organic life through so many centuries, and would weaken the most capable antidote for that individual selfishness, which was doing so much injury to the very foundations of our society. (Cheers.) The Home Secretary said that in his belief the CHURCH WAS HINDERED AND FETTERED in her work by the fact of her connection with the State. Hejwa3 sure that the members of the Church in Wales-if they could see that the provisions of this Bill would put an end to bitterness and animosity in Wales, however hurtful they might believe those provisions to be to their own religion-would not object to them. They ought to be better judges of the position and of the needs of their Church than the Home Secretary, and almost unanimously the members of the Church in Wales disagreed with his view. (Cheers.) For consolation they are referred to the results of th-e Disestablishment of the Irish Church. He admitted that it had been an advantage to the Irish Church to secure freedom from interference in the ecclesiastical and spiritual affairs of those who did not belong to the community. But there were matters which Churchmen in Wales might rightly consider even of greater importance than those things. The numbers of the Church in Wales valued, and valued above everything else, their ecclesiastical connection with the rest of the Church of Eng- He was quite sure the rest of the Church of England valued its connection with them, and he entirely demurred to the view expressed by the President of the Board of Trade on the first reading that the Church of England in her ecclesiastical and spiritual life remained untouched and unharmed by the Bill. (Cheers.) They might well believe, and they did believe, that this wicked and cruel disruption-(loud cheers)-w," a far worss thing to them eccle- siastically than any benefits such as bad been gained by the Church of Ireland. They might also view the mihtpp nnl: no (,!h..pnh -9_ "Uu.UUJJ UUli 2*3 members of the Sbate. Disestablishment and Dis- endowment in Ireland had done a great deal of harm to the Skate. The revolution in Ireland began with the Chnrch, and had gone on to the laud. Political differences in Ireland had become more bitter and deeper between Protestants and Catholics than they ever were before since the passing of that Act. All movements for separa- tion or an alteration of the union between Great Bricain and Ireland had certainly gained increased strength. Churchmen in Wales might think what effect the same policy would have upon the State in Wales. They might fairly be guided by the definition given on the first reading of this Bill by Sir George Osborne Morgan. The Church in Wales was called an "alien" Church and why ? Sir G. Osborne Morgan told them the other day that it was because the laity and clergy of that Church were aliens in their attitude towards the great national movement now going on in Wale. and that view had been reaffirmed by the speech of the righc hon. gentle- man (Mr Asquith) that night. Sir G. OSBORNE MORGAN was understood to deny that definition of what he bad said. Sir M. HICKS-BEACH I heard what the right hon. gentleman said, and this is not the first time in which his own recollection has differed from the recollections of o,lhem-(t-,tughter)--but I don't lay stress upon anything he has said. (Renewed laughter.) What he means surely is this The members of the Church in Wales are just as much attached to their country as other people, and are just as PROUD OF THEIR RACE AND HISTORY, but perhaps they are more educated and intellec- tual, and are sensible enough to know that what is called the national movement leads directly to Home Rule and they realise that there could be nothing worse than a separate Government and Parliament for Wales. I can find some confirma- tion of that in the speeches of the hon. member for the Carnarvon Boroughs and others. I think this Bill is supported not so much from religious motives as political motives. (Hear, hear.) The Prime Minister, with reference to the Church in Scotland, made a very remarkable statement some little time ago. He said that in Scotland everyone was the agent of the Liberal party, and that the continuance of the Estabiish. ment with the agency of the Liberal party in Scotland had become inconsistent. Was there no feeling of the same kind on the opposite side of xiouse witn reference to Wales? He was afraid that, as in Ireland so in Wales, both the Dises- I tablishmentand Disendowment of the Church, the manner in which it was proposed to carry it out, and the reasons by which it was justified, would give a distinct impetus to the policy of HomeRule. How did the right hon. gentleman attempt to justify the policy of Disendowment ? He thought that the real justification was singularly absent from his speech. He attempted to justify it on the ground of the attempts which bad been made by Parliament in past generations to legislate I upon matters connected with the government, discipline, and doctrines of the Church, With' the exception of the Irish Church Act, he never quoted a single instance in which Parliament had undertaken legislation depriving the Church of her endowments. He called the endow- ments national property-(hear, hear)—but there was hardly a sentence in the speech which justified that. He asserted that they were the special patrimony of the people enjoyed for a time by the members of a particular religious community. Well, if they had only been enjoyed for a time by the members of a particular religious community, there must have been a time when they belonged t6 the people. Would he tell them when that time was ? (Cheers.) He defied him to prove that there was any such time at all. Take the tithe, which was a main part of the endowments. Did be contend that the tithe ever belonged to the people ? Professor Stubbs said, The tithe never belonged to the nation, and was not the gift of the nation." Professor Freeman said, The Church preached the payment of tithes as a duty, and the State gradually came to enforce that duty by legal enactments." I contend that, with some small exceptions, not one penny of the endowments of Church in England or in Wales ever belonged to the State, but were given by individual donors. They were told that the Church-ought to be main- tained by the voluntary system but the Church was the original founder of the voluntary system, and it has been so maintained for centuries, and up to the present time. The only difference between the mode in which the Church had been maintained and the mode in which the Nonconformist communities were now maintained was, that while in the first case the voluntary system had gone on for centuries, with I the second it bad only gone on for a few genera- tions. Two cases he gave recording the terms of I the bequest, one having reference to an endow- ment of Hay, in Brecon, 11181135, and the other, dated 1640, for the endowment of a church and vicarage in Pembroke. The terms of these requests conclusively show that these were not isolated cases, but that a system of endowment isolated cases, but that a system of endowment prevailed throughout the country. In the latter case the donor, George Barlow, used words :— If any man shall take away from Holy Church any part of the property so by me given—which I hope no man ever will-let his account be without mercy at the dreadful Day of Judgment, when he shall come to receive his doom at the hands of the Judge of every man, to whom I dedicate this same." Of course those who sup. ported the Bill did not think they did that which would bring them WITHIN THE TERMS OF THE DENUNCIATION, but it showed that George Barlow did believe that he was giving his property to God, and surely it showed that many others acted in the same belief. What right had Parliament to take away property so given to the Church in Wales in 1640 any more than it had a right to take away property given to any Nonconformist community last week? (Cheers.) They were told that in the early days there was only one Church to which persons could give gifts; but could they argue that those who gave those gifts did not believe iu the Church to which they gave them ? Ib was said thab the property of the Church was transferred at the Reforma- tion, but the right bOD. gentleman and his colleague (Mr Bryce) agreed with him in holding that that view was absolutely erroneous. He hoped they would impress their opinion upon the Prime Minister, because the Prime Minister used t theM words at Qardiff in January Uwft.; We -U [ remember what the State did once with endow- ments. How it took them at the time of the Reformation from the old Church. It is not ) wise for the defenders of the Establishment to rest too much on the right of property, I because the right of the Church to endowments rests with the Roman Catholic Church." There is, he knew, a small part of the endowments of the Church in Wales given by Parliament in the early part of the century. Parliament made a grant of one and a half million towards building churches, and eleven hundred thousand pound 's towards aiding Queen Anne's Bounty, but there was a print also made to Maynootb, and Non- conformist communities iu England in those days received grants for purposes of their com- munities, and he was sure no members of the House would be so mean as to ask the Church in Wales to give any of the £ 9,000 or £ 10,000 re- ceived in building grants when it was remembered that :durrng the last 50 years tChurcbmen in Wales had spent 92,216,000 in build- ing and restoring cbnrelies. (Hear, hear.) All that Queen Anne did was to restore to the Church property which previously belonged to it, but of which the Church had been despoiled of, first by Pope3 and then by Kings. With the slight exceptions to which he had alluded, all the endowments of the Church in Wales were as abso- lutely the property of that Church as the endow- ments of any relgious community in the kingdom. The House had no more moral right to take a penny of these endowments than it had to take the property of any corporation, any Trades Union, any society in the country. (Oh.) True, these endowments were an accident; they were not the essence of the Church, and, these taken away, THI CHUBOH WOULD STILL EXIST. They Werelm all, in amount and be calculated tbat, with the depreciated value of tithe and of land, the annual value of the endowments this Bill would take away was not more than £ 157,000, and of that sum £7,000 will have to be expended in salaries and costs of the Welsh Commissioners, so that there would remain for the benefit of Welshmen who were not members of the Church £ 150,000. It is said the Church can afford to lose this, and that it will be sup- plied with new endowments, but it was for those who took away these endowments, and at the same time professed the desire that the work of the Church in Wales should be efficiently carried on, to show how this could be done. It was said the Church bad grown mainly in the large towns and the -populous districts, and that :the Church was supported only by the voluntary system. That was not correct. The gross endowments of the Church in Glamorgan was £ 26,327 a year, and the net value £ 15,000. The Chuich in Glamorgan also received as grant to incumbents from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners £ 13,119. So, then, in this, the most populous county in Wales, there was a substantial nucleus around which voluntary efforts gatheted. They were told that in the Colonies the voluntary system is successful. There the churches were given grants of Crown land?, and those thus situated had become of very considerable value. The Australian Government gave to the Church complete powers of government, and they never touched those endowments, which were State endowments, if any ever were. Take again the case of Ireland. After Disestablishment the Church of Ireland was left an annual income of rather less than a million. That had been considerably increased by the voluntary contributions of her members and the able management of her financial advisers, but in spite of that churches had been closed, large parishes had been thrown together, and stipends had been reduced. But he admitted that her general condition was certainly not unsatisfactory -(hear, hear)—from the financial point of view for a disendowed Church. But why ? Because Parliament dealt with her fairly. Parliament was not generous to the Irish Church ib was just. This Bill was NOT JUST TO THE CHURCH IN WALES. It is simply mean. (Opposition cheers.) There is no provision in this Bill as there was in the Irish Act for the commutation of life interests, and they made even the commutation of life in- terest on resignation impossible, because the uncertainty of the amount of life interest would be so great that no life insurance eompany could possibly undertake the transaction. If that was mean, what was meaner was the treatment of the curates. They refused to recogmse them as entitled to any compensation at all when they lost thair curacies. But what is the meanest of all was the treatment of Churchmen in Wales with respecb to their cathedrals, and their churches. (Cheers.) The right hon. gentleman attempted to excuse this, and even to justify it. The right hon. gentleman bad not the courage of his opinion. He had not the grace of liberality. (Hear, hear.) He did not take them away completely—Churchmen would have the right to use them. They were vested in commissioners, who would keep them in repair and resist future claims of other religious bodies. With regard to the churchyards, they were taking away something infinitely more to the Church 'than what they proposed to give to anybody else. There was an important debate in Parliament on the Dissenters Act, 1844, when it was proposed, and rightly, that the titles of certain Unitarian congregations should be con- firmed. He should like to quote a sentence from the speech of Lord Macaulay on that occasion. He said with regard to the opposition to allowing these congregations to retain these chapels. you are robbing us of what we consider invaluable to bestow it in a quarter where it can have no other value than as a trophy of a most inglorious war, and as evidence of the humiliation of those from whom this property has been wrested." (Opposi- tion cheerg.) The spirit which had dictated the proposals of the Bill with regard to the cathedrals and churchyards was not the spirit of generosity. It was the spirit of persecution. (Opposition cheers.) Persecution sprang from fear. He did not know whether her Majesty's Government was AFRAID OF THE CHURCH IN WALES. He did know they were afraid of the Church in England. (Loud Opposition cheers.) What they desired to do was to establish a precedent for England. What was the purpose to which this endowment of £ 157,000 a year was to be devoted by this Bill ? He had no doubt this had been, and would be, the most difficult part of the right hon. gentleman's task. He observed that on Wednes- day night, addressing another audience, he said "raa someth ing with regard to this matter which deserved notice. He drew a picture of a small Nonconformist freeholder in Wales, who, having to maintain his own chapel, was compelled to pay tithe issuing out of his own land to a Church to which he did nob belong. Ho (the speaker) admitted that if he was in the same position he should feel it some. what of a hardship, but then let the right hon. gentleman have the courage of his opinions. What was to be the change which he would irake by his proposal ? The great bulk of the tithe in Wales was paid, not by the small Nonconformist freeholders but by the landlords, who were members of the Church. (Opposition cheers.) They willingly paid this tithe to the maintenance of their Church; and they were going to give them a grievance instead of the small Nonconformist freeholders, because they were going to compel them to maintain their Church and to pay their endowments to something else. And how about tbe small were going to compel them to maintain their Church and to pay their endowments to something else. And how about the small I -1 N onconformisb freeholder? If he was sufficiently honest, and he had no doubt he was as honest as the landlord, he would feel that be ought not to put this tithe into his own pooket but apply it to the mamtainance of his chapel. (Cries of "Oh, no.") But there would be a grievance that be could not apply it to the maintenance of his own chapel. In 1869 lie voted-when it was clear that the Irish Church would be disestablished and U I disendowed—that the funds should be given by way of concurrent endowment. If he thought it was clear-btit it is not clear—that the country had made up its mind that the Church in Wales should be disestablished and disendowed, be should hold the same opinion still, and he chal- lenged the right hon. gentleman to carry his argument to its logical conclusion, and, instead of devoting the tithes of the small Nonconformist freeholders to hos- pitala,infirmaries, museums, andhigher education, for which he did not care one single button— (loud cries of Oh ")-well, he went rather too far there—(hear, hear)—which, at any rate, he did not think so absolutely necessary, he chal- lenged him to allow the small Nonconformist s freeholder to devote his tithe in future to the purposes to which the Nonconformist freeholder desired to devote ib, viz,, to the maintenance of his own religion. There would be LITTLE OR NOTHING FOR A LONG TIME TO COME to be paid from the central fund for an academy of arts, museums, or higher education. He referred mainly to the parochial, revenues, those revenues which were derived from the tithes, and were now the property of the parochiahncumbents. These tithes are to be allocated by the Bill to the county council. Those parochial tithes would fall in separately, and they would be absolutely inadequate in some parishes for general purposes; and the county council could not retain them. Let the hon. member think of the enormous tenacity with which the people clung to parish endowments, and could it be imagined that it would be possible for the county council, with the tithes pouring in at intervals, to do other than apply them to the parishes from which they came ? The impropriated tithes would still continue to be payable to the laymen. In some casea they would have an incumbent living 50 years, while in another parish the tithes might faU in at once, and the county council would have to decide how they should be allocated. This would be the caues of envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitable- ness "—(laughter)—between the lucky and the unlucky parishes. The Honrs Secretary stated on introducing the Bill that ho was in a dilemma with regard to the funds. Parts of a large county like Glamorgan would derive great benefit over other parishes, and it will be found that the money would be frittered away when it was most needed. The Home Secretary said he was bound to take the funds, because they ware national funds, for the people of Wales. There was an alternative he wou'd suggest to the right hon. gentleman. Supposing he dropped his plan altogether. Hospitals and nursing institutions were excellent things, if placed where they were wanted, but these always flourished and flowered best among a people with a permanent religious belief, and the effect of this Bill would be to destroy such a state of things. (Hear, bear.) It had been said that if this Bill passed into law ib would be a great blow to the Church. It would not pass into law because it was not seriously intended. (Minis- terial cries of Oh !") If it were seriously intended her Majesty's Government would have pressed it forward last year. If they had been defeated here or in another place they would have dissolved, and then, if unhappily the country had been in its favour, like the Irish Church Bill, it -Aould have became law. But they had not dared to take tbi3 course, because they knew that the proposal was losing ground, even in Wales itself, and the people were regarding it as hostile to their best interests. This Bill was a mere feint against the Church. It was a move- and a feeble move-in a half-hearted game of attack against the House of Lords, but the real object of it was to delay tbe diwolation of Parliament until such a time as might seem more convenient for their purpose. In history there was only ono serious attempt made to root up a Church for a political object, and that was the case of Jeroboam the son of Nebab — (laugbber)-and that was not a case which ought to be imitated in these days. AGevernmentmain- tained in office by a. majority ranging from 12 to 15, was incapable of altering the Constitu- tion of such a country as this so as to break up the relations betweeu Church and State. He believed that the English people would never permit their Church—for the Church in Wales belonged to them as well as to the Welsh people —to be despoiled of the means by which it did so much good. For it was the leiigion of the Church, connected with the State as It is, which had made this country not only a great colonising State, but the great Christianising influence among the nations of the world. (Cheers.) MR HERBERT ROBERTS. Mr HERBERT ROBERTS said no one could deny the fact that Disestablishment in Wales had been supported by the Welsh people during the last 20 or 25 years, and that the Bill before the House was heartily supported by every Welsh member. Disestablishment had been the ruling factor in Welsh politics for Ithat length of time, notwithstanding the allusion of Mr Griffith Boscawen to an election address issued in the Principality during the general election. That hon. gentleman, who sat for the Tunbridge Division, looking at the question from the Kentish standpoint—(laughter)—stated thab in most election addresses the question of Home Rule was put first. Well, that was not the opinion of the representatives of Wales in that House. When he (Mr H. Roberts) first entered the House it was to give effect to the views of the Welsh upon Disestablishment, and a few days after he came there he heard Mr Goschen say that the success of the Government in Wales was owing to the magic of Disestablish- ment. (Hear, hear.) Lord Salisbury, writing in a monthly, had said the same thing-that the Gladstonian successes were due to the aversion of the Welsh people to the Church, and to clench the matter, the opinion of Mr Chamberlain might be cited for using classic language, he said that Disestablishment was a burning question" in the Principality. It was very curious to note how the Welsh elections turned on this very question. In 1880 there were 29 members pledged to the Disestablishment and four against. In 1885 there were 30 members for Disestablish- ment and four against. In 1886. 29 for and five against, and in 1892 no fewer than 31 were returned pledged to Disestablishment and only three against. The figures of the Welsh poll at the last general election showed 145,898 in favour of Disestablishment, and only 86.883 against. That practically meant a majority of 59,000 votes. What was the majority of the whole electorate of the United Kingdom which the Conservatives obtained in 1886? It was only 82,000 votes and if the Conservatives then thought they were justified in carrying through the strong coercive Irish policy upon the majority of 82,000 votes, how much more were the Welsh members justified in asking the House of Commons to sanction the Bill now undar discussion, and with a majority at its back of close upon 60,000 votes. (Cheers.) The right hon. baronet had elected to take a prominent part in the opposition to the Bill. Although they could not agree with his opinions or his argument, they appreciated to the full that they had in him a fair and an honourable and an able opponent. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. baronet said that whatever his opinions on the principle of this Bill might be there was a feeling that the country knew and recognised to the full the unreality of the proceedings in which they were engaged. He must respectfully and strongly join issue with the right hon. gentleman in that statement. So far as Wales was concerned there never had been a more real issue than this in the House of Commons. (Cheers.) This question of Disestab. lishment had made the Welsh Parliamentary party. It might be said that that was true as regarded Wales, but it was not true with regard to England. He did not allow that any distinction could be made on a question of this kind between the view of England and the view of the whole country. It was not England, as such, who had to decide upon the question of legislation such as this, but it was the whole of the United Kingdom—(cheers)—and ihat House of Commons had already emphatically sanctioned the principle of the Bill by a majority of over 50 votes on the former occasion. What was the unreality of these proceedings if unreality there be ? It consisted in the fact that there was not a single representative for Wales who had either the inclination or the courage to stand up in the defence of the Church. (Hear, hear.) fcMR PENROSE FITZGERALD. Mr PENROSE FITZGERALD said that nearly all the previous speakers had alluded to the former Established Church in Ireland as being more or less in attraight line with the present-Church in Wales. He remembered well when the Bill was brought in for the Disestablishment and Disendowment of the Church in Ireland, and the three strongest reasons given in this House and the country in favour of the measure were theseIt was said, rightly or wrongly, that the Church in Ireland was an alien Church, a badge of conquest, and (with absolute truth) that it was the Church of the minority, and in many districts of a very small minority. Were any of these three points the case with regard to the Church of Wales? Unless we could dis- prove all history, the Church in Wales conld not be called an alien Church. It existed before there was any conquest or annexation of Wales, and it was only play upon words to say that it was in any sense alien to the country or people. Was the Church in Wales a badge of conquest ? Ib was nob imposed on a conquered nation by the conquering nation. It was there before any such conquest took place. Whether it was or not the church of the minority, there were no definite means of finding out, for they had been refused the only possible means of find- ing out, viz., a religious census. There had been no inquiries by commission such as had preceded the Irish Act, and there was not the official informa- tion the House ought to have before attempting to handle the atiestien. I MR T. P. PRICE. Mr T. PHILLIPS PRICE said although he verv seldom addressed the House, yet he felt con- strained to do so on the present occasion because this was a question on which his constituents felt more deeply than perhaps on any other question. (Hear, bear.) This, too, although they did not belong to any one of the twelve Welsh counties. There was no doubt very great irritation existed in Wales upon this question, and it was not likely to diminish in force until this matter was settled. This was a genuine people's question. He did not believe it had reached its present I position by reason of agitation. The demand for Disendowment had come spontaneously from the farmers and artisans and labourers of Wales. It was they who had forced this question on. It had not been brought about by any arti- ficial means. (Hear, bear.) How had this demand for Disestablishment been met ? He recollected some years ago the late Mr Raikes, on being put up to reply to the case, met it by denying the nationality of the Welsh people. He said the Welsh were not a nation because they were numerically small. That was an absurd reason to give. For the same reason it might be said that Greece, Denmark, or Mcntenegro were not distinct nationalities. The Welsh had all the marks which differentiated nations. Above all, they had a distinct language, and, unlike the Irish and the Gaelic language, it was gaining ground year by year. England in the past bad treated Wales as she had treated Ireland, and not considered the wishes of the people at all. Spiritual governors weresent to govern thepeople, but they governed without theconsentof thepeople. Why was it that the Scotch people preferred Preabyterianism to Roman Catholicism, and that: the English people were more or less Anglican ? The reason waa thab one nation and one race pre- ferred one religion to another. He did not believe it was for the general good that all these active and distinct spiritual forces should be crushed into one dead level of uniformity, In conclusion he might say they admitted England's power to deai with this question, but respectfully asked her to listen to the demands of a nation which, though small and comparatively poor, had national feelings and aspirations. MR GERALD LODER. Mr GERALD LODER considered that 100 years ago, or 50 years ago, there would have been far more reason for the introduction of a Bill of this sort than to-day, when an extra- ordinary revival of the spiritual life of the Established Church in Wales was being witnessed. It was sufficient for his purpose to show that the numbers of the members of the Church of England were larger than the numbers of any other religious sect or body in Wales. Besides, being the most ancient, the Church of England was the religion which had done more than any other for the people of Wales. He believed the real grounds on which this Bill ought to be opposed was that the Church had risen spontaneously, and had grown up and entwined its roots round the foundations and con- stitution of that country, and it had, on the whole, answered to the wants and temperaments I of the majority of the people of the country. To his mind, Disestablishment would be a national disaster, and Disendowment nothing less than a national crime. (Cheers.) I MR A. SPICER. Mr SPICER interposed in this debate because he was not only a representative of a district included in the scope of the Bill, but had for many years given a great deal of his spare time to the interests of the free churches of this country. He could not help expressing the hope that they might abstain from imputing evil motives to each other in connection with this great question. (Hear, hear.) He could readily understand those' who had been brought up in the Church of England feeling displeasure with those who took the Non- '1 coafonairt view of., tb, matter. b^t-tho oouTic. tions of the latter were not based on jealousy of the work of the Chnrch of England. They appre- ciated thoroughly the work it had done in many parts of this country, and the men it had produced, but at the same time Non- conformists had their opinions as to what con- stitutes a church. It had been said that the growth of this Disestablishment movement in Wales had been contemporaneous to the growth of the good work of the Chnrch cf England. So far from being the case, he could produce evidence that so far back as 1652 there were movements in the churches in Wales with regard to Disestablishment. As to what the Church had done, he quite admitted that in recent y-ars it, had been trying to do, and had done, a great deal of good, but after all, the progress that Noncon- formity had made in the same time was most marvellous. As one instance, he mentioned the great Rbondda Valley. In 1879 the Church of England had seven churches, and the Nonconformists 30 in 1884 the Church had 16 and the Nonconformists 115. The attendances at the various churches and chapels were still more startling. The average attendance at thp 16 churches was 3,200, whiie the average at- tendance at the 115 chapels was 57,000. (Cheers.) So that in whatever way they looked at it Nonconformity in Wales had nothing to dread by a full exposure of the figures with regard to the attendances at its different churches, He listened with great interest to the speech by which this debate was opened from the other side by Sir Michael Hicks Beach. During the whole of that speech the right hon. gentleman ubterly failed to realise not only the intensity of the feeling with regard to this question amongst Welsh Nonconformists, but even the state of the case in Wales, and had not tried to understand the Nonconformists' side of the question. The right hon. gentleman referred, for instance, to some of the early endow- ments of the sixteenth century, and argued that it was extremely improper—almost wicked-to attempt to touch those endowments at the present day, but he forgot the progress made in this country on the question how far the dead man's hand was to control the future. A few years ago in one of the parishes of the City of London, although a Nonconformist, he (Mr Spicer) was invited to occupy the position of churchwarden. In connection with that office he had to administer in charities the funds of an endowment which was originally left for the hummer of hftr«fcir>s en t-.ha.ti if mhn was administering the endowments had lived in the days when the endowment was fixed he should have been burned himself. (Laughter.) They must realisa, therefore, that public opinon had progressed in these matters. (Cheers.) Hon. members on the other side had utterly decline to recognise any principle of nationality in this matter of Disestablishment. The Duke ot Devonshire stated very clearly his views with regard to the national sentiment on this question. He thought the Opposi- tion were making a mistake in not recog- nising Welsh nationality in this matter. If the Opposition said Liberal-, are not entitled to urge this question on figures because they were unwilling to accept a religious census, they were unwilling to accept the ordinary census because they believed it would be a sham. A few years ago, while paying a very complete visit throughout the whole of the county of Essex to all the Nonconformist places of worship, he happened to be passing through Chelmsford, and visiting the county goal he was very much surprised to notice that with one exception the whole of the inmates of that insti- tution had described themselves as members of the Church of England, with one exception, that of the case of a man who described himself as a member of one of the free churches. That illustration was not used to show that the Church had all the black sheep and the Nonconformists none, but to show that all those who belonged to the Church, all those who belonged to no church, all those who have no religion and who did nothing in support of the Church, described themselves when it came to a matter of census in a country which had an establishment, as a members of the Church of England, therefore, lie said such a census as they were taunted with not accepting would be a complete sham. Any genuine census would be honour- ably recognised by the Welsh Nonconformists. The Church of England to whom tbe ancient endowments were given was not the same Church as it was to-day. The Church of England prior to the reign of Henry VIII. was not the same Church that it was to-day. The Church of that time was subject to the Church of Rome. (No.) The Pope was the supreme head of the Church of England at that time. (No.) On all questions of State he admitted the Crown was the supreme head, but so far as the Church ibself was concerned the Pope was the bead. If the endowments of the Church of England had been held in a similar way to the endowments of the Nonconformist bodies, they could nob have held them after the Reformation. The motives of the Nonconformists had been criticised by different members on the other side of the House, but after all the whole Disestablishment question had been pushed into its present position by a deep religious conviction on the sub- jecb of what constituted a Church. Then, again, they held their views on this t' question because the Church of England in the past had shown its utter neglect of the religious wants of the people. Let them look at his own constituency. The Church at Newport, the chief town, had a very small endowment, yet there Were few towns where the work of the Church of England was better and more effectually done than in the town of Newportat the present time, and so far as he could gather, the Church, which has no endowment whatever, was working to the greatest advantage to the town. This, he thought, would be found to be the general experience. He honestly believed that instead of being a disadvantage, Disestablishment in Wales would give a new impetus, motive power, and meaning to Church wcrk, and instead of work being done from outside and by the importation of funds, those who were interested in the work would throw their heart, whole energy, and strength into it, and the work of the Church would be more powerful, and the Church would hold a grander position than it at present occupied. He had not the slightest hesitation in supporting this Bill. Mr L. WALTON denied that there was any injustice in depriving the Church of endowments which were not given to her as a Church, but were appropriated to the religious uses of the nation as a whole. As soon as the endowments so appro- priated could 110 longer be administered for the benefit of the nation by a particular church, they might fairly be diverted from her and devoted for sectarian purposes to those in which the whole nation could participate. Lord CBANBOBNE hoped that no members of the Liberal party who disapproved of this Bill weuld vote for it on the ground that no harm would be done by its passing, because it was sure to be thrown out in another place. (Hear, bear.) He did not admit that the Church in Wales had failed in its duties to the Welsh people. No doubt there was a time I when, like the Church of England, she was comparatively inactive, but those times I had passed away, and tbe friends of the Welsh Church did not at present appear as supplicants on her behalf. They main- tained that she was now discharging her duties splendidly, and was contributing f.nl f.Ko wan r»f frho Walcsk to:"l' v. "0; people as no other religious body could do. Mr PAUL asked, did the member for Bristol think it possible at tbs present day to make the State subordinate to the Church ? No the only alternative was that the Church must be made subordinate to the State. The grievance in respect of tithes was that Nonconformists had to pay them towards the maintenance of a Church to which they did not belong. (Cries of Oh.") As to some of the language which was used in this controversy, such as references to the property of God and robbing the Deity," he could only describe such phrases as blasphemous imbecilities. He supported the Bill on the principle of religious equMity-on the principle that the State ought to be absolutely impartial and neutral between all the religious bodies in the land. (Hear, hear.) Sir R. TEMPLE said that no interesting foreigner who heard the Home Secretary's speech would have dreamt that it was all an attempt to make out a case for sacrilege. He asserted that if the Church was left alone for a few generations more she would win over the vast majority of the people to her fold. This was a most inopportune time to attempt to disestablish her when she was gaining ground in all directions. If she were left to herself, he repeated, she would speedily regain the position she held in former centuries. The Church was a corporation, and as such could hold property, and the proposal was to disestablish her and rob her of her property. To take that property was nothing less than legal legislative robbery, and to rob sacred property was sacrilege. He urged that every man who would vote for Disestablishment was brought to the poli, while these who were for leaving things alone-the easy-going—stayed at home, declining to take the trouble to go to the poll. The hon. gentleman was still speaking when, at midnight, the debate stood adjourned.