Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser and Cheshire Shropshire and North Wales Register

THE CHURCH CONGRESS. DEACON HOWELL, D.D., AT NORWICH.  wM once (s?ya the Ds<? Chronicle) a eg1fod don, who said something cnicl p. reacher. He said tkere was nothing in to which he had just listened but the dding, quickly, of course, that t!^r £ 1 th?t abundantly and another Oxford [!??\?[?rwards enjoyed in succession two ? ?]..?]om ics, observed that he had heard  -¡;erJnons which contained not enough ^,1 urinous which contained not enough ?'??\,i ej?e the sou l of a titmouse. The b?re ?'?' iicity of 8rmon by eminent preMhers :l..1 ? [? Norwich this week gave suB&cient ex- '? .111rcel,,ctlti g to hear Archdeacon Howell's i;trAj cek'Cting to hear Archdeacon Howell's i:l t? the people in the nave of the Cathedral '?-' nd.?'- H]a presence in the pulpit 01 .;r" fron hig own people gratified the ■ from his own people gratified the • fi-im whom he could have most dozirt-(] to draw his enormous congrega- i', ånd although it did not sound like a Con- ..r"'?' ??? Oxford dons might have a. *P'? ;L1 ..?y about i, the "ommon people ?' .) y?rv ?!??y indeed, with emotions not r juvisible or inaudible. The Dean of ^vch himself read the simple service of ?.!<:J evensong, with which thebe popular *■ ?rvice"—so largely resembling in form n?nunster Abbey special services-begin close. Archdeacon Howell ascended the &L;, about eight o'clock, and preached for ?^jv au hour. His appearance, his voice and strangely recall to mind that most gifted French omtorH, P6re Hacinthe, only the *? ?,r\ twinkle of the eye deceives you. The hold 11, )] the apostle of Wrexham obtains over his r,.u^h people is readily understood. There t much in his sermon, but to the people who .T« it is all pure gold—gold of the old Puritan not the gilt, superfine dross of aver- •(Vingress oratory. He selected as his text ) u-tu j f-niiliar first verses of the last chapter of .tii- Observe (he began) that the text con- :cd ceremonial service with moral character, .•r-Jewish Temple with the temple of the human i jrt- What was the temple to the Jew of this 1 It was the smn of all religious solem- vVv. "f all righteous observance, of all religions It was an object of almost idolatrous fcV"tnitioa and regard and yet this wonderful I h" a,Ui'iiirf was almost as not In in comparison xh-j -upeistructure of the human heart. It lilt man who is •' poor and of contrite spirit, -,r,iiblt:tli aLt my word tli,,tt Jehovah turns 11"¡ his warning and admonition. Just a word „utMu, however, was needed-and it was often /ii-il by the preacher—against disregarding illy serious purpose of Jewish ritualism. Ie Levitical system, properly understood, was alphabet given to us of the nature and t u-'ter of God. How. for instance, could the ..f s in. the holiness of God, the depravity be taught in the early days of the werld through the doctrine of sacrifice ? The (i;i i'Lstamcnt dispensation was, so to speak, the school of the human race—a system of 8 .vt li>ssons, whereby the rudiments of-divine ^TC-I.iti- .ii were taught to the created world. But j;ii. tendency of man. in every age of the world, Vi' 11 materialise religion, and this tendency was jtn.'Ug in the heart of man to-day as it was in til. Jay" "f old, wherever man had not rightly jiUiiit the meaning of rites and ceremonies. Yet, these rites and ceremonies were but s.lk f->r babes, and it was not intended, surely, man should remain in a state of perpetual ibUhooil. Not that the rites and ceremonies f £ .re in themselves materialising worship, but tbev l:aJ become mistaken for the life. Mark the iirlt- irony running through the text, The itiVt:i my throne, and the earth is my foot- Bui." That was to say, What satis- j.;r; n can it be to Almighty God to iuiid temples of mud and stone while the ii:iie:uss of man and the meanness of his i-mld give no response to the greater call ? Y :;r Temple services are only the picture books -J Gospel. Your dispensation is only local umpural. Such was the primary applica- nt IJ £ the text, but it applied to every age. Pi-i:g from the purely negative aspect of the re- Ltt. of man in worship to his Creator, Arch- ie, Howell brought himself up very solemnly positive, affirmative side. The soul, he sub- ] was above all this, independent of all I'ruyer itself, the very nature of prayer, tfamiliar hymn declared, the soul's de- i.;L. ■■ uttered or unexpressed." Be their services or simple, they must be the best of their L::i iiul the best could only be expressed by the motion of the heart. "God is a spirit, ii,. t'.it v that worship Him must worship Him in ii int itiid in truth." Thein outward service could never le too full of solemnity, but it could only be tn., to an end—perfect union in worship ( hri-;t. The essentials of true worship were i of personal self-sacrifice, and an active in the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, sd where these things were not there was and ».uU be no acceptable worship. Observe, again, tiiit the text applied to a period when the Church u, full of zeal and energy. To what purpose ij the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? I de.iaht not in them. It is iniquity, even tie M'lemn meeting." Now, what was it that these ordinances of God's own appointment t iiAtt-ful to Himself ? It was because they had ko ir.e adulterated, corrupted, spoiled. The best tii u;s when they became corrupted were in- uriably the worst and the best of all things, the love of God, was offered to the poorest. The Archdeacon concluded Oh, then, my brethren, it is indeed a blessed thought, that the very highest attainments in the school ot grace are within the reach of the poorest-not knowledge, I tut love not courage, but humility not worldly wealth, but poverty of spirit not earthly fame, I hut to i'C little in one's sight, to lie low in the ï:}¡¡ uf God. These are the qualifications for the Lttme-t attainments in the school of grace, and ire they Dot within the reach of all ? I ARCHDEACON HOWELL ON THE I FUTURE OF THE CHURCH IN WALES. Speaking at a meeting of the Church Pastoral I lid Society, at the Agricultural Hall, Norwich, so Monday, the Venerable Archdeacon Howell iaid:lv beloved Wales has been much before the publicduring the last two or three years, and Er.tfiir-li Churchmen have been forced to know t rr about the Church in Wales than they ever bew before. The storm of the last three years is i s over and the question of first importance to Ohnhmen in Wales, and hardly less so to I '),iiictn in England, is what the future is to L- I believe it is a law in mechanics that » u and reaction are always equal. After a of great excitement, there is always danger »ludiuereuce and unconcern and I am not a little afraid that Churchmen in England and Wales may be tempted by the results of the rec.t election to compose themselves to sleep, as .1 d danger was over for all time. But nothing certain than that the attack on the Welsh l?. L.' i:k:rta i ii tlan tli. £ :taUi=hment will be renewed, and that with no ;0- vitrour and determination. With a great nu;,v of my countrymen the question of Dis- Mabiishnient is a religious question and a WeUhnuti is not easily daunted where his religion isc'tucxrued. whether it be right or wrong. But ix-thit as it may, the question for us to consider low i-. what use are we, Churchmen, going to ffi '.kc of our present respite ? This is a practical ami should be looked at in a practical itilt, The lease has been renewed, but not v and the sooner the tenant looks to his covenants the better. Some there are who believe thut the Disestablishment question is dead and buried, and who are already snoring away in st-use of happy security. But it should not be for?>.tu-n that the Unionists' majority in Parlia- u-at is far in excess of their majority in the ■Sinutry, as is seen by a comparison of the number sf votes given to the two parties at the recent Miction. Others there are who are in danger of siting the present oppoitunity in academic *ciiemes of impossible Church reform. Now do J;,[ misunderstand me. Reform we need, and -:11r, reform we must have, but I think there ;6 ,me danger in our attempting and expecting much, and so getting nothing at all. rm this point Church reformers may well take wariicfr from temperance reformers. In the !4r 18b6 or 1867, the late Lord Aberdare, who then Home Secretary in Mr Gladstone's Administration, made certain proposals on the druiri question, which were strongly opposed by fae temperance party of those days as being inruieouate and insufficient, and the proposals kad tu be withdrawn. That is now nearly thirty years ago. and we temperance folk are not very Inuch better off than we were then. But if the proposals of those days had beea accepted, if only as a payment on account, how different *T'til,.l have been the condition of the country by tlas time! And I venture to think that the thing applies to Church reformers. The "•iti-li Parliament is very much like the neck of ¡'lJttlt:the more you force into it the less you ;'t out of it. Some of our friends are hot for u-tic measures of Church reform. But whether u is that I am getting more conservative, or less "?'hp..1,. I gd older, it is a fact that I do not ?Itct drastic reforms and what is more, I do ;jt ""leli care for them even if we could get l|}tni. more than I do for drastic medicines, ;}¡:tll sometimes kill the disease and at the same 1 11 kill the patient. In these very progressive ,J-l>vhen most things are done in a hurry, I 11,1 "frilitl I shall appear to some of my younger as a lag-behind old fogey, but I must f -iti-s to you that I prefer seminal to radical and have more faith in evolution ,ill", in revolution where the Cliuiek is con- •'f "lied. But without taking up your time to-day ¡o;ltb the question of new o remedies, let me at r'iieu say that one of the most urgent needs of Wales at the present time is a large extension of the- operations "f the C.P.A.S. Here we are deal- ing with nothing new or untried. Here we stand ou the ground of experience. Here is nothing tJewnding OIl the favour of statesmen, or the will of Parliament. Here we have an agency, tried, and tested, and proved by results to be the very thing which the Church most urgently needs. And here let me say that if a summary of the Society's operations in Wales for the last fifty-nine years, at a cost of E217,000, and their results, as seen in new churches, new parishes, new congregations, and now developments of Church life and usefulness, were published, it would be one of the brightest pages in the Church history of this nineteenth century. I know of no such vin iication of the Church, I know of no such form of Church defence, as is supplied in the results of this society's operations in Wales during the last fifty-nine years. It has greatly strengthened the Church where it most needed strengthening in its parochial system. Of late years it has been rather the fashion to cry down the parochial system and to try and congregationalise the old Church of England. And this is just like us We speak lightly of it at the very time when our Nonconformist brethren are beginning to imitate it. But what says an outsider, and he an exceptionally keen observer, and one of the profoundest thinkers yet produced by the United States of America—I mean Daniel Webster? Mark his words. Among the many great advantages which the English nation enjoys, the greatest is the parochial system, which i? not only an institution of inestimable value in itself, but that which gives stability to all the rest." But good and excellent as the parochial system may be in itself, it is not its fault if it fails under excep- tional and extraordinary circumstances. The little mountain church, with its accommodation of a hundred sittings, was well enough for its primitive population of two or three hundred inhabitants a century or half a century ago; but what is it and its solitary pastor, as primitive, perhaps, as primitive flock of small farmers and shepherds, when that parish has become the centre of a population of perhaps fifty or sixty thousand, brought together by some great Eng- lish capitalist in the course of ten or a dozen years ? Now what, under such circumstances, is to be done ? Will you say, let the people provide for themselves? NVoll, this they have done, out of their deep poverty, in many instances; and I should be unjust to my Nonconformist fellow- contrymen if I did not willingly and ungrudgingly bear testimony to their zeal and enterprise in pro- viding religious ministrations under such circum- stances. But it must never be forgotten that, while in commerce it is the demand that creates the supply, in religion it is the supply that creates the demand. And here comes in the beneficent help of the C.P.A.S. It supplies the almost over- whelmed incumbent with grants which call forth local and other help, so that instead of the one solitary pastor of former days, there are now often half a dozen or a dozen thoroughly devoted clergymen, whose services are welcomed ou every side. Such has been the work of the C.P.A.S. for nearly sixty years past and in no part of the kingdom has its help been more freely rendered, or its operations more largely blessed, than in the Principality of Wales. And now what about the future ? I am sometimes asked whether I think the Welsh people are recoverable to the Charch ? My answer is that, under God, it depends largely on the Church herself, and her attitude towards the Welsh people. Need I say that the attitude of the Church is only another term forjjthe atti- tude of the clergy ? Is it too much to say that to most people the Church is what the clergy are ? You may say that this is not as it should be, and I grant it but is it not a fact that most people take their estimate of the Church from the character, piety, activity, and usefulness of her clergy ? Given a broad-minded, large-hearted, Christ-loving, and Christ-living clergy—a clergy sympathetic, conciliatory, and devout, true shepherds of souls, men conscious of having a mission and a message from God-give us such men, and I will answer for the return of a fair proportion of my alienated countrymen to the old Mother Church. The Church exists for the people, not the people for the Church. The clergy are the ministers of the Church, and both Church and clergy are the ministers of the people. I believe the Pope's title is The servant of the servants of God." Only let the Church in Wales act in the spirit of this sentiment, and she will find that the most menial is the most royal function of all. Nothing can possibly withstand humility, charity, faith in God, and love to man. I say again that the future of the Church in W, ales under God rests largely with the Church herself. Let her only forget herself in the spirituality of her mission-let her only be true to Reformation principles, and the teaching of her ablest theologians and divines let her only maintain a sympathetic attitude towards those without her pale, many of whom are Dissenters through the ape thy and neglect of the Church herself, and sure I am that there are tens of thousands among my countrymen who, though Nonconformist bv associations, traditions, and convictions, will none the less fervently pray for the peace of our Jerusalem, and who, from their heart of hearts will cry—" Peace be within thy wails, and plenteousness within thy palaces For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will wish thee prosperity Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do thee good (Applause.) Several meetings have been held at Norwich pre- liminary to the opening of the Church Congress. One of the meetings, to discuss projects for the re- union of Christendom, was marred by several disorderly scenes. A portion of the audience, indig- nant at the assertion that Protestantism is really outside the Holy Catholic Church, assailed the speakers with protests and abusive epithets, the up- roar barely stopping short of violence. On Tuesday, the Congress was opened at Norwich, the Bishop of the diocese delivering his presidential address. While giving credit to the aspirations towards Christian reunion, he described the project from the 1' pal point of view as hopeless, but wel- comed the awing together of the Church and Non- conformity. Various sectional meetings were held in the afterno; and evening, a wide range of subjects being covere. including Trade Unionism, Socialism, education, ai,J missions. On Wednesday, there was a discussion on the dis- tress existing among many incumbents owing to the agricultural depression. Some speakers urged that there ought to be a union of small benefices, but most support was found for the project of a general sustentation fund, which, if raised to the extent of a million a year, would give a minimum incame of £ 2C0 to all incumbents. One section dealt with the religious problems arising from the progress of religious The Rev. Professor Bonney declared it evident that the earlier Biblical stories were rather allegorical than historical. Other sections were occupied with the archaeological researches in Egypt, Pitlestine, and ChtLIcieLL. and the recently-discovered manuscripts, which were held to support the authority and creditability of the Scriptures, and also with the confirmations given to the Church's ministry, doctrines, and worship by recent research. Still another section discussed education, and agreed upon the necessity of preserving religious instruction in secoudary schools and colleges. In the evening the j Congress was occupied with the duty of the Church to f soldiers and sailors. A working men's meeting was also held. ARCHDEACON HOWELL ON THE PRESENT II WORK OF THE CHURCH IN WALES. Archdeacon Howell read the following paper on Thursday:—M}- subject is the present work of the I Church in Wales. Church work is visible and in- visible. The best, most real, and most durable I Church work is not found in the Year Books," nor can it be tabulated in statistics. The greatest work and the greatest workers are often the least observed. The ten days of united prayer which preceded the Day of Pentecost was a far greater spiritual power than all the ceremonialism of the Jewish Church. This applies to all spiritual work. The most and best of it is unseen by any eye but that of God. What I have to bring before you on this occasion is the present visible work of the Church in Wales. But how imperfect and inadequate a view of that WOrK is it possible to compress into an address of twenty minutes. Moreover, so brief asketeli has the further disadvantage that, in the absence of qualifica- tion and explanation, it gives to what is said an air of optimism, which a fuller statement of :he case might hardly justify, and when what is only true of parts is taken as true of the whole. Not only so, I but of necessity it leaves out of account L ttho'n work which others arc doing, a point of real importance if we are to tat:" a just view of the religious condition 1 of Wales. But without further preface, let me say that the work which the Church is now doing in Wales will bear an all-round comparison with the work of the Church in England. In the number of confirmees and communicants in proportion to the population, in the amount spent in the building and restoration of churches and mission-rooms, in the increase of clergy and the multplication of services- in these and other tokens of Church work and pro- gress, the Church in Wales will bear comparison with the Church in England generally, and a. very favourable comparison with some of the English dioceses. This statement will doubtless be a surprise to some of my hearers. You have been so accustomed to hear the Church in Wales spoken of as a weak Church, that you are rather surprised to be told that you need our sympathy at least as much as we need yours. That I am speaking advisedly will be seen from the fact that, while the percentage of com- municants to the population in England is 5 8 per cent., the percentage in the four Welsh dioceses is 6.7 per cent. In other words, for every five Church communicants in England, there are six in Wales; and it is further worthy of observation that whilst the percentage of communicants in the diocese of Llandaff, which is the most Anglicised of the four Welsh dioceses, is not quite 5-2 per cent.; in the diocese of St. David's it is over 86 per cent.; in the Archdeaconry of Cardigan, the most Welshy Arch- deaconry in that diocese, it exceeds 11 per I cent.; and it is very little under 10 per cent. in the Archdeaconry of Brecon and St. David's. But," you will ask, "if such is the case, how comes it that so considerable a portion of the people of Wales are eager to disestablish the Church The answer is not far to seek. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." The traditions of past generations of ne"l' ct mid mismanagement linger long, and die slowlv. Nothing j is gained by minimising and ignoring the s]ort. comings of the past; but neither is it Üir nor just to the present generation to dwell uudulv upon them. It should not be forgotten that in Wales political fortes are much more active and aggressive than they j are in England that the Church has bee- associated in die minds of the people with the int, ..ests of the ruling classes, and the principles of one political party, tc. a far greater extent in Wales than in Eng- land; that the difference in language, social habits, Eolitical sympathies, and religious ideas between the igher and lower classes in Wales has tended to alienate these classes to an extent hardly known in England. There is also the influence of the verna- cular press, the impression that the Church is un- friendly to Welsh nationality, the political awakening of the last twenty-five years, and, not least, the love of change which has always been a characteristic of the Celtic race from the day when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians to the present day. Modera- tion has little charm to a Welshman, nor does neutrality find a place in his vocabulary. In England aggrieved parishioners mostly drift into indifference in Wales tney promptly provide for themselves, and an irreparible breach is the result. How far the inefficiency, unspirituality, autocracy, and want of j sympathy on the part of us clergy may have contri- buted to the present condition of things, God only knows, and may He graciously forgive! But I must not further detain you with the causes which have led to the present attitude of many of my country- men towards the Church as an. Establishment. Far more agreeable to my feelings is it to dwell on the revived life of the Church, and its manfold activities. The four Welsh diocesses in 1831 contained 843 benefices; at the present time there are more than 1,000; in 1831 there were 683 clergy, in 1895 there are more than 1,500. The average net income of each incumbent is about £ 185; and I need hardly say there must be a considerable number under such value to constitute such an average. The total net clerical income from all sonrees in 1894 was S180,046 45 Id, and the total amount of voluntary contri- butions for Church work was iE240,643 4s 2d. It will thus be seen that the voluntary contributions of Welsh Churchmen exceeded the net clerical incomes by 424,597 Cs Id. The piety of the pocket is not a bad test of religious sincerity, as men are not usually given to pay for what they do not care for. In the matter of elementary education, the Church is doing a truly noble work. In the four Welsh dioceses there are 1,647 elementary schools. Of these 852, or more than one-half of the whole, are voluntary schools, and of these again 703 are Church of England schools. In the year 1846, when the population of Wales was only a little over a million, the Church, without assistance from the State, was edrcating nearly 50,000 children in Walas. The con- tributions of Welsh Churchmen towards elementary education between 1811 and 1892 amounted to nearly two and a quarter millions sterling and at this pre- sent time, while paying their share towards the expenses of School Boards, they contribute about X25,000 a year towards their own schools, in which nearly 75,000 of the poor children of Wales are being •' brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." And here let me say, that to my mind it is hardly possible to over-estimate the importance of religious instruction in our voluntary schools in Wales at the present time. In a Parlifl,mentary paper recently published a return is made of the 2,392 School Boards which existed m England and Wales on April 1st, 1894. Of this number, there were fifty- seven which made no provision for religious reading, teaching, or observilnees of any kind and out of the fifty-seven no less than fifty are in Wales. Now let me say at once that I am not hostile to School Boards in themselves, when and where imperatively required nor am I insensible to the splendid ser- vices rendered to Wales by her Sunday schools and never were those schools carried on with greater zsal and vigour than at the present time. But I should be false to my convictions if I did not declare that I can hardly conceive a graver calamity to a country than fifty School Boards from whose schools the Word of God is excluded. In this I have reason to believe that I am expressing the sentiments of an increasing number of Nonconformists, who feel that, at a time when nearly one-third of the whole population of the Principality is said to be outside all religious minis- trations, there are far greater issues involved, to the welfare of society and the future of Wales, than the differences of Church and Dissent. My countrymen are not unreasonable when reasonably dealt with, and I cannot but believe that, if this matter were placed fairly before them, they would not be slow to remove what I cannot but regard as a terrible reproach to what is unquestionably one of the most Bible-loving nations in the world. A question which has to a considerable extent been already solved in the School Boards of the great towns and cities of England, cannot surely be insoluble in such a country as Wales. Sirs, ye are brethren." The Church Extension work of the Church in Wales demands special mention. About the middle of the present century,, or nearly fifty years ago, the Church in Wales found herself beset by almost unexampled difficulties. Her cathedrals, if not in ruins, were in a state of deplorable dilapidation. Her parish churches by hundreds were only too true pictures cf her moral and spiritual decay. The wretched little deal communion tables were such as would hardly have found a place in the poorest cottages; while the dirty and moth-eaten altar cloths would have found a place in few, if any, human dwellings. Roofs full of holes, seats rotten, grass growing in the porches. shovels, spades, planks, and biers exposed common basins used for fonts cele- brations, such as they were, few and far between the services irreverently gabbled over no responses, except by the clerk, who was not always the most reputable person in the parish often no singing and the preaching, as a matter of course, in character with all besides. All this I have personally seen and known in the latter years of the first half of the present century, and that when Welsh Noncon- j formity was in the full tide of its spiritual vigour, when it revelled in the gifts of some of the greatest preachers that Wales, or indeed any other country, has produced since Apostolic times, and when to be a Churchman was to bear a stigma and a reproach in many parishes throughout Wales. Is it any wonder that an intensely religious, emotional, and enthusiastic people should have become alienated under such circumstances ? But even then God did not leave Himself without witness in the old Mother Church of Wales. It would not be difficult to name a considerable number of clergy in North and South Wales, who, between 1820 and 1860, were men of eminent saintliness and rare devotedness, who still fed the sacred fire on the old altar, or, in other words, were the salt that kept the mass from putrefaction. But what is remarkable is this, that during the lowest ebb of the Church's spiritual life, no attack was made on her position or possesions. It was only with the returning flow of vitality and activity, that organised opposition showed itself. But what I have described constituted only a part of the Church's difficulties. While in that condition the population in some parts of Wales was increasing at a greater ratio than in any other part of the kingdom, with the exception of London and the county of Durham. There was also the poverty of her endowments, the enormous size of many of her parishes, the non- residence of not a few of her incumbents, the exist- ence of two living languages side by side among the same people, with other harassing and embarrassing circumstances, which time will not allow me now to enter into. But it was at that time, when the old Church of Wales was apparently in almost a hopeless condition, that the returning tide ef life and power began to throb within her. One of the first signs of Church revival in South Wales was the establishment of the Llandaff Church Extension Society in 1851, a Society which has since spent iC69,922 in home mission operations in that diocese, calling forth at least as much again from local and other sources. Not only so, but in 1883 the present Bishop of Han- daff started what is known as the Bishop of Llan- daiif's Fund," which in twelve years has spent X10,794 16s lOd in the support of additional clergy, calling forth X33,000 from other sources and a further sum of £ 16,856 Is in the erection of churches and mission rooms, calling forth £ 123.899. with 113,589 still in hand in all £ 41,312 6s Id. Time will not enable me to bring before you the Church Extension operations of the three other Welsh dioceses, and what I have said of the diocese of Llandaff is imperfect and in- comalete. But I am tempted to give you two ex- amples of parochial work and progress—one an English parish, that of Roath, in tne suburbs of Cardiff; the other a bilingnal parish, that of Ystrad, in the mining district of thk Rhondda the former worked on what is conventionally known as High Church lines, the latter on "Evangelical" lines, and both inclusive of the work of all the existing incumbents. Take first the parish of Roath. ROATH. In 18 £ 1.—1 Parish-RoELth. In 1895. 3 Parishoci- Boath, St. German's, St. Saviour's. 1881.—6 Clergy. 1895.—13 Clergy. 1881.-1 Pernianent Church. 1895. 6 Permanent Churches. 1 Iron Church. 1 Iron Church. 2 Schoolrooms for 3 Mission Kooms. Services. 1881.-301 Baptisms. 1891.-755 Baptisms. 1831.—115 Confirmed. 1891.-157 Confirmed. 1895.-200 and over Con- firmed. 1881.-498 EMter Day Com- 1891.-1,431 Easter Day muuicants. Communicants. 1895.-1,700 E?ter Day Communicants. In the three parishes there are 5,200 Sunday Scho, ] I teachers and scholars, and there is a daily celebration iu each parish. PABISH OF YSTRADYYODWG. I 1869. 1895. 1 Incumbent, 3 Curates—4 5 Incumbcuts.16 Assistant Clergy. Clergy-21 Clergy. 1 Parish. 5 Parishes. 2 Churches. 13 Permanent Churches. 1 Cottage Mission. 1 Iron Church. 1 School Church. 3 Mi-sion Itooins. 2 Hired School Board Rooms for Service. 2 Rooms under Church. All free and unappro- priated. 2 Churches have Baptis tries for immersion. 2 Sunday Schools (2.) 20 Sunday Schools. Bible Classes. Bands of Hope. Prayer and Temperance Meetings. Church Lads'Brigade. G.F.S. 2 more Churches approach- ing completion. A third Church Founda- tion Stone laid. Extension since 1892.-Appeal for £ 8,000. Work Doize.Niother Church enlarged; Treorlty Church, 400 sittings Ynysfeino Church, 350 sittings.—1 enlargement, 3 building and built. Work Doing.—Ystrad Rhondda Church, 450. lVorl; Wanted.—Gelli lioad Pant Rhondda. N.B.—Full and regular services throughout. The parish itself is increasing 2,500 per annum 63,000 at last census half still in mother parish. I hope I need hardly say that I do not wish it to be inferred, that such instances of Church work and pro- gress are general throughout Wales, though some other equally remarkable examples of activity and zeal might be adduced, such as those of Llanelly and Swansea, in the Diocess of St. David's; but I have brought forward these two cases as instances of pro- gress under widely different circumstances, and in the face of many and peculiar difficulties. And here let me remind you. that, in forty-one years, the sum of £ 117,949 was expended in the restoration of the four Welsh Cathedrals and that between the years 1840 and 1S91, IZ,216,723 was spent in the restoration of churches in Wales, exclusive of sums under X500. In the ten yea.rs ending in 1892. 103 churches were built in Wales, and 185 restored. In the one year, 1892, X90,042 were voluntarily given for this purpose. In the year 1893, 11.540 were confirmed and the num ber of .Sunday School attendants rose from 92.000 in 1885, to 130,000 in 1S93. In three successive periods of three years, candidates for confirmation in the diocese of Llandaff increasad from 7.200 to 10,300; and from 10,300 to 12,400. From 1848 to 1894, the Additional Curates' Society made grants 1894, Wales of £14.461, and the Church Pastoral Aid Society in like manner, from 1840 to 1895, S,217,069 nor should it be forgotten that each grant not only represented some additional Church agency, but in many, if not in most, in- stances, a proportionate amount was called forth from local and other sonrces. But, deeply gratifying as is the evidence of quickened zeal and activity among Welsh Churchmen, it should not be forgotten that the Church in Wales numbers among her ad- herents a large proportion of the wealthier members oi the community, and that she has also the further advantage of her endowments, inadequate as they are for her ever-increasing needs. Moreover, what I have said refers only to what has been done, but takes no account of what has been left undone. Ground for devout thankfulness and encouragement we have; but not for boastfulness or self-com- placency for if Church history teaches us anything at all, it warns us that, side by side with much out- ward activity, there may exist a lack of that higher motive power and spiritual energy, without which Church work is only so much machinery. No amount of organisation will produce life, but life will pro- dace organisation. Not that the Church in Wales is over-organised. On the contrary, there are things which she urgently needs, and must have, if she is to carry out her great mission with efficiency and suc- cess. For one thing, she wants a great Evangelistic agency, a band of holy men, trained and tested, entirely detached from all' other aims and duties, and possessed by the one passion of awakening, quicken- ing, and converting human souls. Such men Wales had in the earlier years of the present century, and may have again by waiting e upon God. Think of Williams, of Pantycelyn, the prince of Welsh Hymn- ologists. travelling on foot or on horseback on an average 3.000 miles a year for more than fifty years. Is it possible to speak too warmly of the amazing self-denial of such men, men who lit their torches at the altar of the old Mother Church ? We also want a revival of the ancient ordinance of catechising in the primitive sense, to include, if possible-and why not possible ?-all ages and all classes. It is hardly credible the ignoranee of Holy Scripture, and of the great distinctive truths of Christianity, which not seldom exists amongst those who have been familiar with the services of the Church from their childhood; and this is trne of what are called the upper as much as of the lower classes. At a time when the tide of secularism, materialism, worldliness, and scepticism is coming in like a flood unon us, nothing bat intelli- gent, definite, well-grounded convictions can with- stand and overcome it, and for this there is no instru- ment like the ancient order of catechising. It is too much to say that the Welsh revival of the last century would, humanly speaking, hardly have been possible if it had not been for the catechising labours of tha.t most illustrious Welsh Churchman of the eighteenth century, Griffith Jones, of Llauddowior, whose great work on the Church Catechism will bear comparison with any work of the kind in any age of the world, and who was the means, under God, of teaching 150,000 of his fellow-countrymen to read the Word of God. Another urgent want of the Church in Wales, in my humble judgment, is that of the special train- ing of candidates for Holy Orders. We want a better system of selecting and tiaining our candi- dates, and some means of testing and developing their spiritual life and experience, as well as their aptitude for the work of the ministry, before they are set apart for that work. Our existing institutions are doing an excellent work; but they cannot do all that is needed during the short time in which the candidates are under their care. There are few Welsh incumbents more indebted to St. David's College than I am, if only for the devoted yokefellows I had from there during my two incumbencies of Cardiff and Wrexham. At the same time I should not be sorry to see the appliances of that most useful institution devoted mainly, if not exclusively, to the special and practical training of our future Welsh clergy, leaving their general education to the three University Colleges, now sub- sidised by the State to the extent of E12,000 year. And from this there naturally follows another need, that of a far higher standard of pulpit efficiency. In Wales, preaching holds a very different place in public estimation to what it seems to hold in Eng- land. What, for instance, would English folk think of a parish of people leaving their cornfields in the height of harvest to attend a service at the parish church at twelve o'clock in the day ? This I have seen again and again. Far greater stress than formerly is now laid on the pastoral functions of the ministry, and very rightly so; but effective preaching is still the key to a Welshman's heart. And let me here say, that I tliould be glad to see a revival of the old clerical meetings, which for more than a century were a great institution in the Church in Wales, and were often greatly blessed by both clergy and people. By clerical meetings is not meant meetings of the clergy only, as the term is understood in England, but meetings of the clergy and laity, sometimes for mutual conference, but more frequently for a succes- sion of sermons, beginning in the evening of one day, and continued morning, afternoon, and evening of the next day, with two sermons at each service. And on those occasions, let me tell you, sermons meant sermons. They were none of your English sermonettes, but honest discourses of the good old- fasliioncd type, with the orthodox introduction, divisions, and a rousing application at the close. If I may judge by what I have heard and read of late years, I rather fancy that English congregations have no love for sermons with very pointed applications to them whereas my countrymen rather enjoy a somewhat energetic pulpit flagellation. But whatever may be the case in England, it is certain that the people of Wales will never put up with the food for infants which some pious dyspeptics on this side of Offa s Dyke =able to their enfeebled digestion. No, no, my brethren; my countrymen love to have strong meat from the pulpit; and if the Church in Wales is as wise as she should be, she will leave nothing undone to raise the standard of efficiency among her clergy, and to make her pulpit both a spiritual and an intellectual power throughout my native land. A closing word as to the future of the Church in Wales. That future, under God, rests largely with the Church herself. What Wales needs is not religious discussions, but a living Christianity not criticism, but a dogmatic faith not seeking after truth, but a bold, faithful, and unfaltering presenta- tion of Him who is the Truth." The contests of the future in Wales must not be who shall be the greatest," but who shall dive the deepest into the depths of human misery and sin, and who shall make the greatest sacrifices to win for Christ the 500,000 souls who are now as sheep having no shepherd." The lowliest are ever the strongest; and the Church of the future in Wales will be the Church which shall conquer by love, and which shall drink deepest into the Spirit of Him who said, The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."