The Carmarthen Weekly Reporter

OvKUA IvTH EN UADKK THM SEAKOBLIGHT Dome, come, and fit you down you shall not budge, You shall not go, till I set you up a glass Where you may see the inmost part of you SUAKR.SPXARR. Tinng.s have quieted down to such an ex- tent in Carniai then now that the principal subject of debate during the we'k has been whether our visitors should be called Terri- torial Cyclists or Cycling Territorials. The C'armai then Runl District Council ad- vertised for a Sanitary inspector who should be certificated, and should be aible to talk Welsli. At one fell swoop they disqualified 33 out of the 55 applicants, because they could not speak the veriiatMlar. But when it came to the question of thc> certificate, they. were more tolerant, and despite the fact residue, they appointed an applicant who had that there weie some certificated men in the no certificate. It is refreshing in these days when there is so much fuss made about examinations to find a public 1)(xlyi giving the preference to unqualified men. We hear a gO(.Q deal lately of the evils of the exam- ination system, and if a few puMic bodies only took such an enlightened view of their duties, examinations Avould soon be abolished. • •• With regard to the "bursa,ty" system at the Intermediate Schools, I am informed by some parents that they never knew that such a thing existed. Nothing more is required to show the absolute rottenness of the whole system. Some who are well able to educate their children apply for and receive bursaries whilst others who may really be in need of such assistance never knew that it was to be had at all. Such is the fate of all funds which are supposed to be administered for the benefit of the needy applicants. One goes to the Soup Kitchen and gets his dinner and keeps the chop he bought for his supper: another goes dinnerless because lie has none of his own, and does not know how to "work the oracle" for a free supply. The true solution of the difficulty at the Intermediate Schools is to reduce the fees and to keep the "extras" down to the lowest /possible limit. If tl a year were knocked off the fees, it would benefit everybody equally. The bursary system only benefits some-and those not necessarily the most deserving. Some get assistance because of their need, and some on account of their greed. The true way in which to make Intermediate Education popular is not to give doles to the most importunate, but to cheapen it. In the past, secondary eduoa- tion was intolerably dear. A boy had to get three or four pounds worth of books at the beginning of the terms-and next term they were all changed! The only persons who really benefitted Iby this system were the Educational publishers! «** The modern character of the Intermediate Schools has pretty well killed this vicious system; but the tradition that it exists, still works against the schools. There is no need for any such idea. One "Euclid" and one "Algebra" can last a pupil his whole school life. The classical texts, of course, must be changed, but there is no need to buy the whole works of Virgil because Book 1. of the Aeneid is required, and no need to buy a huge Cicero to study one of the orations. These things are now to be had in parts at a shilling each, or thereabouts. It would be a very good plan, if the County Council could manage to charge each pupil an inclusive fee for which they would get "all found." It is i marvellous how things can be arranged when it is realised that it has to be done for a certain sum. The County Council, too, would be able to get the supplies at a cheaper rate r by buying them in wholesale quantities. **• A recent case at Carmarthen has revealed to the pu'blic the little known fact that a cask of whiskey cannot be moved without a "permit." The day has gone when tra- vellers required a passport, but sometimes an inanimate object requires one. There is nothing of which the British Constitution is so jealous as whiskey. In a sense, it may be said to be source of England's greatness, because our "Dreadnoughts" are built to a great extent on spirit licenses. Hence the movement of whiskey is regarded as a matter of national concern. If a publican had a spare cask and sent it to a fellow- tralesman on the other side of the street, and paid a man to wheel it in a barrow, it is just possible that the two pubiScans and the man with the barrow might each get six months' "hard," if they had not procured a "permit" for the transaction. And yet this is supposed to be a free country. i The object of these regulations is to pie- vent the illicit manufacture of spirits. The possibility is rather a remote one in Carmar- thenshire. Nobody would suspect the exist- ence of a private still down in Llangunnock or up in Trelech. But the danger is a very real one in the Highlands of Scotland and in the West of Ireland. There is plenty of whisky made in Ilossshire and in Donegal, which never pays a penny duty. Enthusiasts declare that it is much superior in quality to the stuff made in modern distilleries; but a candid critic would be fain to confers that it is very poor stuff, and that its chief attrac- tion lies in the circumstance that it is illicit. The very fact that a thing is illegal adds a flavour of enjoyment to it. No boy over six- teen enjoys his legal cigarettes half so much as the fourteen-year-old hoy enjoys the fags which he has managed to get "on the sly." The only effectiv'e check on illicit distilla- tion is the "permit." It is absolutely im- possible for the Excise officers, however vigilant and numerous they are, to overhaul every acre of laud in the United Kingdom. For instance, there is a lak-e and in the lake half a dozen islets. The officers cannot see all that goes on in each of the islands; but anybody in the islands can see if anybody is approaching from the shore and have time to act accordingly. It will be impossirre for the authorities to prevent absolutely the illicit manufacture of spirits; but if the trade In illicit spirits is suppressed, it is luardly woitli anybody's while to go to all the trouible merely to provide for their own private con- sumption. It is true that the proprietor of the private still might give the stuff away; but most people have a conscientious objec- tion to giving away their whiskey. Hence in districts where private stills are known to exist a very close watch is kept on every cart which may contain a cask. And the peasantry naturally enough dearly love to tell stories at the expense of the over- zealous official. Here is one of them. A man who kept a small country public house had been to "town' to buy a cask. For a short cut, he was going along the sea shore in the blazing sun, and carrying the cask on his back. When he had gone a mile of the way, he was overtaken by an official, and the following conversation ensued. "Where are you going with that ca.sk?" "Homo, of course." "Have you a permit?" "A what?" "Come, now, none of your non- sense, show me the permit." "Sure, now, what do ye want to be bothering a poor man for, that's trying to earn his living and never hurting a moital soul." "Give me the cadk, you rascal, and come with me." So the offi- dial shoulders the cask and tIHY tramp four inilei in the sunshine. As they near the village, the publican says, "-May be your I honour would like to read this bit of paper that I had at the distillery." "Why," roared the official "this is a permit. Why did'nt you show me this before?" "Siire, I thought as you were coming my way that ye wanted to give me a hand with the cask." :.t- There will be a Church Parade in the camp at Pontcarreg next Sunday, and numbers of the outside public are very anxious to know whether they can be allowed to attend. It tn would be a pity to stop them if the tiling could be arranged. There is such a large population of the Carmarthen public which never attends Divine Service under normal conditions that it would be a pity if any of them nn-sed the chance. The appointment of Sir James Drummond, Bt., to the Order of the Bath, is one which wi!! give unmitigated satisfaction in Car- lnairthenshire. The honour, coming as it does under a Liberal Government, accentu- ates the fact that it is in no way connected with Party. At the same time it must never be taken for granted in the ease of appointments that party considerations are absolutely supreme. There are evidences that the party game is pretty well played out in the matter of honours. After all theee honours come from the King, and there is plenty of evidence—to those who can read between the lines—that at the present time the Royal Power is no meie effete theoiy, but an absolute fact. Sir James Drummond's politics are no secret. Everybody knows he is a Conservative. But his Conservatism is a comparatively small side of his public life, His public work has in the main been devote J to the good of the county and district at large. There is a distinct tendency at the present j time to eliminate the party element from all appointments except in those cases in which they must be made on party lines. There have been a good many exposures lately of negotiations for peerages in connection with i the payment of a certain sum into the p,a,ity war-chest. It is not much wonder if the King has decided that in future he will exer- cise a good deal more personal supervision over these matters than used to be exercised by the Sovereign. On the other hand. it is to be observed that the present Loud Chan- cellor has absolutely declined to make batches of new Liberal J.P.'s for the sole purpose of levelling up the present Tory balance of the county benches. This attitude has exasperated many Liberals; but after all it is perhaps the best policy for the Liberal Party in the long run. It is impossible to Keep up bitterness unless both sides agree to keep it up. Non- conformists need never fear the Vifar who stands up for true "Church principles," and vho preaches that chapels are shops of sedi- tion and dens of schism and that the salva- tion of Dissenters is highly problematical. That kind of thing gets up the Nonconform- ist back and stiffens it for a fight. But when there comes a Vicar who talks of )111 "Nonconformist brethren," and who patronises Nonconformist bazaars, and depre- cates anything in the nature of ill-feeling, and cultivates amiable relations with the local Nonconformist ministers, then Noncon- formists had better look out. That Vicar is a dangerous opponent. He is going about his work in the very way which will make his principles respected. For ajfter all, the bulk of the population cannot appreciate contro- versy. They are affected by the actions and the conduct of those with whom they come in contact. A man is not respected on account of his principles nowadays. Principles are very often respected on account of the man. A case which came before the Borough magistrates this week may do something to dispel the delusion that a person who keeps a certain number of cattle is entitled to keep a dog without a license. They are only en- titled to keep a dog which is suitable for assisting them with the cattle or sheep. For instance, no number of cattle or sheep would entitFe the owner to claim exemption for a bloodhound or a Borzoi. The authorities might think that a bloodhound was not kept to keep the cattle out of the meadow, and that the Borzoi had some other object in live than to prevent the lambs straying. The dog in the Carmarthen case would appear to have been just on the border line. He was kept for farm-work, but the authorities thought he r;ras so constituted that he might be able to put in his overtime at sport. They thought that he ought to have a license. This is where the dog is inferior to man, A man gets the benefit of the doubt. ••• One of the defendants who got into trouble this week had been driving a phaeton. It is a long time since the first "phaeton" was driven. The sun-cliariot used to be driven by a j enson called Phoebus. There was a gay young apark called Phaeton. He wanted to drive the car. The old man v, as pretty dubious; but Phaeton over-persuaded him. Then, of courAc, the tisuif thing hap- pened. He bad an accident. He got exceed- ing the speed limit and did not know how b manage his petrol and set, a mountain en fire. For this he had to pay divers penalties, and no doubt he had his driving license can- celled. A phaeton nowadays is an open carriage with two horses; but in the light of modern experience, the name had much better be applied to a motor car. The question of a public hall in Carmar- then is going to be a pressing one. The Car- marthen public may take it for granted that the Guildhall will no longer be freely avail- able for public meetings. There is so much oak, and so much red leather in the (irok, Court, and so little sitting accommodation available for the general public, that there is not much likelihood of its being let indis- criminately. One would tremble at the thought of what mght happen if a Church Defence or a Tariff Reform meeting were held in such a place. If the rival factions only tore out their own hair it would not matter; but then they might begin to tear the hair out of the cushions. The Guildhall has ceased to be available for public meetings. It was not very much of a provision at the best of times, but sucli as it is it has ceased to exist. On top of this conies the imperative need for a big hall for the National Eisteddfod. Carmarthen must have a hall. We have a good Park for fine weather. All we want now is a suitable place for trippers in rainy weather. The one is as much a necessity of the town as the other. Moreover a Drill Hall is wanted by the Territorials. **» We thus want (1) a Drill Hall (2) all Eis- teddfod Pavillion and (3) a General Public Hall. There is no reason why we should not all combine our energies and get a hall which would meet the three demands. The Town Council might do something with the Market Place. That is the cheapest scheme, because is is already half carried out. To raise the voluntary subscriptions for Eisteddfodic pur- poses we Avant a huge fete—a great big bazaar. We made £ (500 or t700 by the Fancy Fair. Let us make a tremendous effort, and raise as much or more for the Eisteddfod. We could have the bazaar in 1910, and the Eisteddfod in 1911. ALETHEIA.

S IMTAS FLUID." The great Home Purifier, rapidly destroys all disease .germs. Ward of infection by daily spraying all dwelling rooms with "SANITAS ELUID." Is pint bots. and 5s. gall, "jganitas Sprays," 2s Gd each. OF ALL CHEMISTS.

Church and School. DEMONSTRATION AT THE ASSEMBLY llOOMS. On Thursday and Friday of last week those in ercsted in Sunday School work had -an o) oortunity of Avitnessing a, demonstration of tl s new methods which are beginning to 11- ke headway, and which have in fact been a opted in most of the Nonconformist Sunday S licols cf Carmaittheii. Miss Eleanor G. Y ailis was here for a period of ten days, d .ri,n.g which time she was engaged in con- sulting with teachers and training them thoroughly in the new methods. Thursday a id Friday were devoted to public demon- strations. On Friday, Miss Wallis selected as the R lbjeet of the lesson, the healing of the lame l'aln at the "Beautiful Gate" of the Temple by Peter and John. Some ninety little pupils marched in to the sound of 'a piano, and their teacheis with them. Then Miss Walters, who was superintendent for the nonce, had school opened with the singing of a hymn and prayer. Some of the little pupils came forwards, with bunches of flowers to decorate the teacher's desk. This led on to a talk about the flowers and their different varieties, ,and this led on again to a talk about ummer and the seasons. Then Miss referred to the promise made by God to Noah that as long as "the earth endnreth" we should have the recurrence of the seasons. Then came a turn at the piano, and a little marching, and the teachers took their classes. For a short period, each of the young teachers was engaged in narrating the story to an audience of three or four. Then at a given signal the paper and pencils were pro- duced, and the children were asked to 'draw' the story. Afterwards the drawings were col- lected, and the Supt. used them as a kind of object lesson by which the story was elicited from the class, and the work of the young teachers chectked. One could not but be struck by the happiness of the method which is not only pleasant to the children but actu- ally has the effect of fixing on their minds the Bible narratives much better than they can possibly be fixed by learning a chapter "!by heart." The new method is not only more attractive, but more effectual. It has I also a distinct "educative" value in the best sense of the term, foir a child whose intellect is drawn out in this way may naturally be expected to bring a more receptive and in- telligent mind to ts work outside the Sun- day School. (We may remark that the previous evening the subject of the lesson was the stilling 01 the wiaves in the sea of Galilee, and the little children were provided with plasticine, sand, and pieces of leaves, etc., with which they managed to poirtiiay the scene). At the close, Miss Wallis answered several questions. She said that she thought 25 minutes long enough for the lesson—of which 10 to 15 minutes were given to the story. She pointed out that this was an excolient method of interesting the young people in the work of the Sunday School. It had been stated that only 20 per cent. of the Sunday School scholars went into the congregation. This tremendous leakage was a fact which had to he faced. The office of teacher to the primary department gave the young people something to interest them in the work when they were beginning to feel themselves too old for the Sum day School. Helpers might be only 14 years of age, but she thought 15 I Avias young enough for teachers. Cuhject to the=e limitations, she thought it better to have young teachers, because young persons were more likely to be in sympathy with the children and to fix their attention. She did not approve of anything like learning by heart or of catechetical questions. 11 Rev E. U. Thomas, in moving a vote of thanks to Miss Wallis, sa,id that he did not know Avhether they all intended adopting these methods or not; but he could recom- mend them to do so. These methods were the adaptation of the Kindergarten system to Sunday School work; they had long ago been introduced by Froebel and Pestalozzi for the work of the day school. Some might object that the method was English. It was English; it was Walsh; it was Chinese; it w'as Japanese. Some of the hymns had been tram-slated by the Rev Waldo Lewis into Welsh, and the translations were if anything better than tlip original. see Mr D. Maurice Jones, iii oiiding, said that they ware gl:aq tp see the phildfen amused and amusing themselves. It was only now that child nature was beginning to be understood; the child is now coming into its birth-right. He had seen these methods in use in infant schools, and he had longed to see them applied to the Sunday Schools. 'f'h vote of thinks 0 Miss Wallis, and to MUs Terry Thomas, tfye aqpompa^ist, was unanimously carried. Miss Wallis, in reply, said that they spent money on Church parl^u^s and organs and npgl opted the phijdrpn. §hig did not see why the schools should stand empty all the week except for one hour on Sunday. It would be better to take the primary class at a different hour to the rest of the school. r. J. Wlieldon (who presided) .said the ciemi lustration wai- a, Wortlly c}i.in>ax to tIle visit they had had from Mr Archibald recent- ly. Mr Archibald had dealt with the subject in the abtsbract. Miss YVallis dealt with it practically. She had carried Mr Archibald's p.rin,Cip.s into practice. For the success of the demonstration they bed to thank the friends of the English Baptist, Zion, ngHstl Congregational, ijnghsh Wesleyan, Penuel, for the use of the appliances, and also to Mrs »»illiams, Oainie Villa, who had introduced the methods into use at the Wesleyan Sun- day School. He .also referred to the great amount of work done by the secretaries (Rev G. A. EdAvards and Mr King).

ENGLISH CONGREGATIONAL ANNIVERSARY. The anniversary services in connection with the English Congregational Sunday School were held on Sunday. The pulpit was occupied morning and evening by the Rev Edward Iiiioli,, of- Port Talhot. In the aftenioon a, meeting of the English Nonconformist Sunday Schools of Carmar- then was held at the schoolroom. Mr Jdris Jones prosiiio4. The Chairman said that they were met under very auspicious circumstances to cele- brate the anniversary of their school. They oould also celebrate a very successful year's AAoiiking of the primary department under the new system. It could be safely said that they had now passed the experimental stage in regard to primary teaching. He did not think that the teachers in any of the primary departments of the schools in the town would hike to revert to the old methods. Certainly Miss Wraters and h»r assistants vjid not wish to return to them. All honour nevertheless to the old methods under which the Sunday Schools of Wales had done such excellent wonk. Thousands of citizens who were doing useful work in the country to-day would acknowledge their indebtedness to the Sun- day Schools which had moulded their char- acters undpr the old system. But of Sunday School' work, it could be well said in the lines of Tennyson I "Our little systems have their day They have their day and cease to be." Under the new system they had foiled a new joy in the work. The woi-k brought a new sense of responsibility. What did all this lavish love for the children mean? It proved that the child had been rediscovered. Christ had set a little child in the midst of them. The Rev Edward Bush gave a very inte- resting address to the children on the swallow and the sparrow in Psalm §4. He pictured the security which they enjoyed in the Temple, and from this lie drew the lesson that we ought to be kind to the birds. They are as fond of life as we are; and we should certainly not like anybody to break into our homes asd to destroy all the beautiful things there. They were all God's Creatures. He was gPad that they did not belong to any particular denomination. The swallow is, perhaps, a bit of a Wesleyan because lie goes about a bit. But after all they were undenom inational and therefore they suited oitlch a service as this. The lives they led' taught UiS. the lesson of Security, Industry, ind Trust. Many young people went astray because they did not realise that there was something for them to do in the way of Chriistilan work. Those Ihrlds teach us to build up our characters. The success of a workman who had made a, fortune out of a cork model1 of Peterborough Cathedral was attributed to "Perseverance, Cork and Glue.5 There is always plenty of cork and lue i available. What is scarce is Perseverance. Mr Williams, Oarne Villa, annotmeed that at the anniversary of the Wesleyan Sunday School on August 22nd, there would be a demonstration on the Book of Acts. -1

THE FOURTH CENTENARY OF JOHN CALVIN. At the English Baptist Church on Sunday evening, the Rev Gwilym Davies preached from Homans IX, 21. In the course of his remai ks, he said:—This verse in theological warfare is like a big drawn battle in the his- tory of the nations. Arminian and Calvinist in the days of long ago used to select this particular verse, as one of tlle fields in which to meet for a last struggle which should be decisive. But both armies went back and declared that they had won. They followed one another round the field, discussed the bear- ings of the text in the light of the whole epistle, Avent back to the original Avording in the prophecies from which Paul got his idea, and both were equally satisfied that their interpretation was correct, although they were as far from one another as the North is from the South. The Calvinist maintained that just as the potter had the power over the day to mark one for honour and the other for dishonour, so had God. His sovereign will—and this is the front plank in the creed of Cialvinisiii-was absolute. He fore-ordained eternal life for some, and eter- nal damnation for others. And when the Arminian urged that -the God who could d(, that was not a God of mercy and love. To maim a man from the start was a terrible charge against One whose pity was unlimited: the Calvinist replied at once that God never did create main like that. Alan was created perfect and from that perfection he was fore- ordained by God to fall. Man out of Eden was a palace in ruins: lie had forfeited the right to live lie had no claim upon Gcd. 'Here,' says the Calvinist, 'is the mass of humanity; it has fallen. Now upon that mass God has the power to breathe life into those whom he pleases just as the potter has the power to make a lump of clay into a vessel and that vessel into one of beauty. Here then is the heart- of old-fashioned Cal- vinism. God is wvereigu-his relation to the human race is like the potter to the clay; the clay is nothing, can do nothing, it is abso- lutely in the hands oif the potter who can do with it as lie wills. Some part of the clay might like to be fashioned into a thing of joy, but if the potter does not think so, it cannot be done. The day has no 'word' in the matter, it lias no power, no free-will, it cannot rise of its own accord to better things. I It is no use (blaming the c'.ay—ei'ay it must remain unless the potter determines other- wise; just in the some way every human being must remain damned unlessle Great Master desire that he shall be saved. 'Hath not the potter power over the clay, to make one vesesl to honour and another to dis- honour.' You will agree with me that this is a very grim doctrine, This creed strikes one as 'being cold, rigid, almost repulsive in its logical assertion. There is no emotion here, no sentiment. There is -no hint of the grace like the sunbeam which may come to anyone, to anyone who lifts the curtain of the soul! The creed of the Calvinist, in one of its aspects, has been beautifully enshrined in the hynim with which we shall close our ser- vice, There was a Calvinist Vicair in Devon- shire, named Toplady. He regarded the doctrine preached by the Wesley-s with alarm. Book after 'boo,k, letter after letter, were written denouncing 'loose' preaching of the Wesleys and in his zeal Toplady wrote a hymn which should shatter the Wesleyan teaching. Do you catch the Calvinist note in the vørsø? "Not the labours of my hands Can fulfil Thy law's demands, Could my zpal no respite know, Could my tears for ever now, All for sin could not atone Thou must save and thou alone." But the Wesjeyans seized Toplady's Cal- vinistic hymn, sang it with fervour, and ex- plained it in the light of inexhaustible rches of grace. We know Avhiat England owes to the followers of Welsey, to those who re- fused the hyper-Cavinistic doctrine of pre- destination, to those who believed that God sent his Son that whosoever might believe on him might have life everlasting. But did not England owe as much, if not more, to Calvjnisjm?$nio £ ion carried too fair has a tendency to h.etiome >ffemi^a^5 an easv form of lbelief brings evils in its train which cost a great deal to the individual: and to the community. Calvinism was not easy; it made men think-it was not a form of doc- trine which any lazy man would wirlimdv adopt. The Calvinist grasped from the first that as he was saved, God had marked him out forhonmrr. fJod had singled l|im for distinction Hp could not lie, he could not ao the unclean thing, he could not hrino- dis- honour upon the vessel which God himself had set aside for a vessel of honesty and purity «d light, fo be a PaMnist fn the days when Calvinism was in its power, was to be conscious of the one fact, that God had moulded the clay to some great purpose of his own. This reflected itself in every act of the Calvimst. He hated lies; he hated onr- Jt f^ed3 Pfsgeutipii with o^ly one n» his mind tnat he Avould never yield come what may. A man of iron himself, he had little compassion for Aveakness in others Much has been made of the fact that a Spanash doctor (Servefcus) came to Geneva in thp fim of Calvin to deny the doctrine of the Trimly. The Calvinist got hold of him and carried out the threat which John Calvin had written in a letter to a friend. 'If that man conies here,' he said 'he shall not leave the city alive. And Servetus was iburnt I i+aI! ^°t seen the suggestion .anywhere, but it seems to (be that the burning of Servetus was quite in keeping with the logical deduc- tion rrom tlie strictest Calvinism. After all jteTJf §«rv9t»l? Hp was h^tic, aHd as a heretic, a worthiess piece of clay, already damned. The flames of Geneva Avere onlv preparatory to the flames of the bottomless pit. This burning of Servetus brings us directly to the study of the great Reformed Eurora'» Ti, cm ^he "Moses of Wostem man Sf'+l Jol*a ^lym was a perfect sppeir men of the creed Avhioh he professed. Honest, stra 1 ght-fpnvard, unbendiable-he stands out e t as one of the most striking figures in all his- tory. Born just 400 years ago, lie came from a stock of boatmen on a fiver to the north of Bans. His father was a man of substance rl+l^r Jf 1 m the administration of the Catholic diocese The boy John was sent to the tniversity of Paris Avith the idea of entering the Church; then he gave up the church for the law, and laid down that method of study nhiiil, came so u^hil in he had to argue almost all day a^d .al,l night. Then came his conversion too. His mind took m Protestantism as beinff more consistent than Catholicism- his heart wanned with thp g|ow of a religious truth. Now he saw clearly that lie must approach God—not through a priest but alone. Tlia startling vision came to him that God had got hold of his hand, and that He promised to guide him through life to the gates of death and thence to the regions beyond. Calvin was one of thosQ who cannot believe in a cause without bepomin" its champion, and the Protestant faitli became at once the thing for which he Avould fight. This led to his exile from Paris i*ater on, by accident, he went to Switzer- knd intending to stay night at Geneva. That night ai}d that accident changed the uliolte course of his life. A new Protestant movement was beginning to make its influ- ence felt ip the gay city of the Genevese? and Calvin AArasJust the young man the new move- ment required. He was only 27 when he preached his first sermon in the Cathedral o,f St. Peter's in Geneva. The recoixl in the minutes of the Council speaks of him, not by name but ps ''the Frenchman." Little did they think then that this foreigner of middle height land frail was one day to take a place little lower than St. Augustine. They may have had an inkling of this whn before he entered upon his 29th year lie outlined the Confession of the Reformed Faith, and wlien soon afterwards his grip upon the city was such that their only chance of freedom lav in his exile. Exiled once mora, he went to Strasburg, and Avliile there the Town Council of Geneva practically cai its bended knees prayed him to come back. He did return, after much hesitation, commenced his Feign at 82, and after a dozen years of hard fight- ing lie became the dictator of the city. Calvin s aim was this. He wanted to make Geneva a, city of God. Rules were drawn up to be observed by every citizen. Attendance at the services of the chuiicli was compulsory. A catechism was given to the parents which had to be taught to the children in their own homos. The discipline was of the strictest, and possibly the people of Geneva got to lock upon Calvin as the boys at Rugby are said to have regarded the late Archbishop of canterbury. 'Temple,' they said in their scholar's slang 'was a beast, but he was a just beast.' In all his work at Geneva, Calvin had only one aim to serve—a copy on the earth of the city which is in heaven. Here is one of the differences between Luther and Calvin. When the Church of Rome had got to be thoroughly corrupt, when the Pope of that day sunk so low as to send out travel- lers selling indulgences in order that money might be raked in—Luther burst forth in a blaze of indignation. He preached to the people that justification came by faith. They were to fight Rome with that dogma. Calvin Wlent, further than Luther. The best way to show the hollowness of Rome was not by a theological formulia but by a sanctified Geneva—a while city modelled upon the teaching of the Bible-a city pure, holy-a New Jerusalem. Calvin's experiment was not a compete success. He died worn out at 55, without seeing his dream realized. Jfc Avas too ambitious A scheme for one life- time. But the impetus felt at Geneva vibrated throughout Europe, France, Holland, Hungary, and England all felt the inconung of the new ilfe. Williiam the Silent who founded the Republic of the Seven Provinces was a Calvinist; so were. the Pil- grim Fathers who laid the foundation stones of the United States of America and so was our own O!iver Cromwell. It is said that Cromwell's dying wish was to be certain that he was a Calvinist. 'Is it possible,' said the dying Cromwell, 'to fall from a state of grace when one has been once in it.' o, my lord' replied the minister. 'Well,' said Cromwel, 'I am sure that I was once in a .'vfcate of grace.' So lie died as he had lived a good Calvinist. This much Calvinism did. It frorged men of iron—men after the like- ness of the Reformer. 'Calvin,' said Ernest Renan 'was one of those absolute characters cast in one piece so that one sees the whole of him at a glance. There is no fold in that inflexible soul, who never knew doubt or hesitation." Next week hundreds will be flocking to Geneva to honour Calvin and the nobble lie did for religion and education, !In a ipnbminent plinee, opposite the University, they are going' to erect a. great monument of the Reformation. Calvin will be there, the comrades who stood by him through the heat of the battle; Servitus, John Knox, Cromwell, Luther, and Zwingli. Prominence will be given to the Bible as the Magna Chart a of every Protestant Church. Calvin's name will be in all the newspapers and upon the lips of every man who cares for the wellfare of religion. And it will be an excellent thing if, as the result of this cele- bration, there will spread again over Europe a wave of healthy Protestantism and there wll come upon us, and especially us as young men, a two-fold, portion of the spirit of our fathers who fought to the end against hypo- crisy, deceit and fraud in all forms, who fought in the certain knoAvledge that right. WÛllld triumph over wrong, and the shadows which beset them would when the dawn broke, flee away.

The hurchcs. NEW CHANCELLOR OF THE DIOCESE OF ST. DAVID'S. The Bishop of St. David's has appointed Mr Manilay Samson to be Chancellor of the diocese of St. David's in place of the late Mr Arthur Lewis, Mr Man-lay Samson is well known and highly esteemed by Churchmen in Wales. He acted as counsel for the Welsh Church at the Royal Commision, and in that capacity ren- dered efficient and aealous service. Born in 1869. ,JIr Marlay Samson is the second son of Mr Lewis- Samson, J.P., D.L., of Scotchwell, Haverfordwest, and grandson of the late Admiral John Lort Stokes, R.N. He was educated at Hanor and Trinity College, Oxford, graduating in 1891 with second-class honours in the Modern History school.. He represensted his University at Association Irootball and lawn tennis. Called to the Bar in 1893 as a member of the Inner Temple, Mr Marlay Samson read in the cliembers of the present Mr Justice Bray, and joined the South Wa,les circuit in 1894, For some years Samson's chambers were at 3, Paper*- IVOinple, but lie has recently TtI. moved them to Bank-buildings, Swansea, and is, therefore, resident in the diocese. He is vice-chairman of the Court of Quarter Ses- sions for the town and connty of Haverford. Av-est, of which the late Mr Arthur Wis was chairman.

A Call to the Churches. Never since Juvenal lashed the vices of the decadent Romans has a more scathing in- dictment been penned by any man concerning his own countrymen's faults than. the Rev Gnvilym Davies, of Oaimarthen, has produced in his pamphlet on the "Moral Condition of Wales," which has now been issued in English. But it lack-s the satire of Juvenal; there is a grim earnestness about it which shows tba, the writer has consciously or un- consciously been swayed by the model of the Hebrew prophets. He wants to see Wales become the leader of the nations, and as a preliminary step lie wishes Wales to realise its own shortcomings. Perhaps, after all, something of the sort was required. In the past Wales was given to self-depreciation. "One chance for an Englishman, two for a Welshman" was a popular proverb. The Welshman in the past was too conscious of his own short-comings, indeed over-con- scious. To-day lie has ccms to the front with such rapidity that lie is apt to look down on the Englishman as a type of an inferior race; Self-depreciation has been followed by self- glorification, and the Rov Gwilym Davies's desire is to reduce the present enlargement of the bump off self-esteem and to Fpt his countrymen to work to put their houses in order. At the outset, he deals with the Housing Problem. He shows the wretched dwellings gs in which the poor live, and he points out the undoubted fact that many of these houses are owned by pious members of Christian churches, who live by exploiting their unfor- tuflrate brethren. Such conduct he thinks calls fen" action on the part of the churches.. Here he has mpntiojfed the most difficult problem for all. In may Christian phphes to-day, the albility to make moi^ey is i^garded as a proof of the Divine Blessing, Wfjpn^ver an effort is made to convert the itjiregl- i erate, where do Christians go? To the back streets. In this country it is accepted as an axiom that poor people have missed the gr#ce of God. At certain meetings I have heard converts speaking of their former rags and poverty, but mentioning witty 3. trium- phant note that now thpy are saved am} jhaivp got good furniture and plenty of clothes. None of these pious people would ever think of trying to coovprt anybody who kept a motor earl Poor people are often regarded as ipso facto unregenerate, wealthy people are always "respectable"—and the Churches too often strive after respectability, I wish Mr DaAries every success in his task of has not tlip i-iglit to drive a good bargain. trying to dispel to idea that a good Christian had not the right to drivt* 4 gflof] bargain. "Why," I heard some churchgoer say ''Busi- ness is business." So it is. I fancy some of them believe that that is a quotation from the Biblo, glthough they are unable to put their finger 011 th{t pxacjb place! You can God and Mamm&n po-fiay. The modern Christian has to realise WIt only that it is not laudable to drive a g<K t} bargain, but that it is often criminal. (-M course a man need not work for small -w,agbs and he need not pay a high rent for a hove!. A traveller who has a pistol presented at his h#.d need not hand over his purse. He may resist and be The poor man stands with the pistol at ttil- hpad. The rich Chris- tian argues that if he accepts I'llio pr pays the rent it is his own look out. It is the look out of the defenceless traveller whether he gives in quietly or not. When Christians realise that the Ten Command- ments amd. the New Commandment are not suspended during business hours, we shall perhaps reconcile the masses of H popl to Christianity, But too often in 0Ur t&iristian Churches they 8e the places of honour occu- pied by their oppressors. Perhaps this accounts for th lJ.ine Sabbatarianism pf some pious people. Thoy crww4 t-hç Aveek's religion into one day., If they had less Sun- day religion and a little more religion for work day use, it would be much better. But your British Pharisee puts off his religion with his Sunday coat. We Avant a good hard Avearing tvery flgy religion, and perhaps Mr Da vies will help us to gt ii The question of immorality is touched upon very trenchantly by Mr Davies. "Pa: titans may argue as they like as to the meaning of the fact that the illegitimacy rate in some Welsh counties is nearly double the hv&rogo rate for the Kingdom, and nearly treble that of Ireland. The interpretation to be placed on the fact may afford room for argument; of the fact itself there can be no douibt. Where the figures are low much immorality may exist. Where they are high much im- morality must pxisi. b A good deal is made by Mr Davies of the figures regaiding drunkenness. The certi- I fied cause of death is absolutely no criterion. People Avho drink themselves to death may be certified as dying from -"pneumonia"—or a dozen other complaints. I Ipvo known at least twenty people who drank themselves to death-hut there Avag no hint of chink on the certificate. There is usually some immediate canse to be recorded. The argument from con victions for drunkenness is utterly fallacious. Convictions bear no fixed proportion to the aef-ual nunitber of offences. In little Welsh tOW,113 perhaps every drunkard is run in. In London, perhaps not one drunkard in twenty is interfered with by the police. After all, Wales is not nearly so black as Mr Davies has been led by his righteous hatred of all evil to. believe. But there is plenty of blackness nevertheless, and it is perhaps better to exaggerate than to mini- mise it, and all iovers of Progress and Humanity will wish him Gcd-speed in his effort to whiten the black spots, AIJETHEIA. '#

*—* 1 J JU) SOUTH WALES UNITARIANS. The annual meetings of the South Wales Unitarian Association, held at Capel-y-Bryn, Cardiganshire, concluded on Wednesday might the 23rd ult. Mr J. R. Thomas, Pont- shan, the out-going president, read an in- structive paper on "The Church and its, duties." Tribute was paid to the two oldest ministers of the association, the Revs Rees Jones, Albdrdare, and John Davies, Allty- placoa, for their great services. On the motion of the Rev T. A. Thomas, Llandyssuf, a vote of congratulation was sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer upon his Budget, which was characterised'as fair and just, 'I"hb Rev Lewis Williams, jRliandir- mwyn, is president for the ensuing year, and the Rev 1). G. Rees, Bridgend. vice-presi- dent, Next year's meetings will be held at Lampeter. The preachers at the various meetings we're the Revs E. O. Jenikins, LlwynrhydoAven; Lewis Williams, Rhydv- gwin E. Ceredig Jones, M.A., formerly of Bradford; Rees Jones, Aberdare; Morgan Cfydach; and D. G. Rees, Bridgend. L.

Will of Mr, J. 8. Tregoning. Mr John Simmons Tregoning, of Landoe, I-ezant, Laonceston, Cornwall, of Bryn Hafod' Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, and of Trefela, West' Derby. t!i.erpol, DtL., J P. for Cornwall, and high Sheriff in 1894, formerly head of the Motfa Tinplate Works, Llanelly, a former chairman of the Carmarthenshird, County Council, and of its Finance Committee, of the Llanelly School Board, the Llanelly District Council, and the Llanelly and Burry Port Harbour Commissioners, unsuccessful Conservative candidate in 1885 for the horotighrf of Carmarthen and Llanelly, who died in a Great Western Railway train neu Wolverhampton on the 17th February last, aged 67 yeara, only son of the late Mr John Simmons Tregoning, of Landue, left estate of thf gross value of 372.268 168 Id, of which the net personalty has been sworn at £ 223.448 6s 3d. Probate of hia will, dated ..uUa March 1000, has been granted to hia wideaw. Mrs Sophia Tregoning (daughter of the late Mr E, Norria. of Liverpool), his daughter, Miss Sophia Elizabeth Tregoning, his son, Mr John Simmons Tregoning, m Landue, Lezant, and his son, Mr Wm. Edward Cecil Tregoning, of Warboroijgh, Llanelly. The testator left to his wife, Mra Sophia Tregoning, £2000 and the use during" idcwhood of one of his homes either at Lezant, or Llanelly, or Liverpool, cr another suitable house suitably furnished, and during widowhood an annuity of £ 1,500, or in the event of her re-marriage a life annuity of £ 500. He confirmed the gift of X2000 to each of his BOBS, John Simmons Tregoning and Wm. Edward (fecil Tregoning, and he left 42,000, free of doty, to each of his children, Sophia Elizabeth Tregoning and Dorothea Trelloning. and also on attaining the age of 26 years to each of his AreryeiT*egoni^re^ ^orr*8 Tregoning and Edgar He also left 200 to the Launce6ton Infirmary and Rowe Dispensary, £ 2QQ to the Llanelly Hospital, Ylot) to the vicar and churchwarnena of Leant for the upkeep of monument or tombs of his fondly, 4|100 to the vicar and churchwardens of Gwennap, Cornwall, for like purposes in that pariah, X-10 to each of his in or outdoor servants at Landue or Bryn Hafod of fi" years' service, 4)5 to each snch servant of botween two and fire years' service slild mourning for each of his servants, The residue of his property h kft to his children in equal shares, giving his ion John, or other the successor to the real eatate of Landue settled by his father,the option of the purchase of other properties in the distrust. He directed that hia funeral should be of a simple character, and that anv monument that his children might wish to erect to his memory should be of a useful character and reminding them that the best mdnument to his memory would be that they should try in their lives to maintain the character for industry and integritr that his father had gained and that he had tried to maintain in his life. CABMAflTHjiN: Printed and Published by the Proprietress M. LAWRENCE at her Offices 3 Blue-street, FBIDAY, July 2nd, 1909 J