THE CHURCH IN WALES BY THE BISHOP OF St. ASAPH. /Xii- ^ ^7- THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES <> "^ ^^^^^^^^ THE '~^ 2 3 IVIAR. ^ b '^^." ^C£ DEP/i, THE A 23 L^" BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 1. — " The Church in Wales," a Paper read at the Church Congress, Manchester. 2.—" Clerical Discipline," 1886. 3. — " Facts and Figures about Church and Dissent in Wales," 1888. 4.—'' The Truth about the Church in Wales," 1889, 5.—*' A Charge at the Primary Visitation," 1890. 6. — " Common Sense Patriotism," 1894. f/j€M*'<' >, > > > • ^f A' '-' V A HAND BOOK ON WELSH CHURCH DEFENCE BY THE BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH. y — — ■•■ SECOND EDITION : December, 1894. In Cloth One Sh'lling. Font free Is. 2d. In Paper Covers Sixpence, Post free 7ld ; From the PRbllshers, C. Cottom jind Co., Denbigh; or The Church Defence Institution Depot, 80, Fiirliaineut Street, S.W. DENJUan: VHINTE3 by C. cottom 4.NI) CO., VALE STREET. 'tec ,c, c INTEODUCTION. ■0 e/3 ^ " The people here know as much about India and gHindnstani as they do about Wales and Welsh," was the •^answer given to me by the A^icar of a great English town whom I had just asked on our way to a Church Defence meeting, what points he wished me to refer to in refer- ee ence to the Church in Wales. Certainly, information § about Wales, and the Church in Wales, is needed at the ^ present time. In the following pages I have endeavoured uj to give some facts bearing upon the Church question in Wales. I give my authority for the facts quoted. I myself, believe that the best defence of the Church in Wales is, that the English public should know the truth, ^j,the whole truth, and nothing but the truth upon this ^subject. I trust that fair-minded opponents also will gwelcome accurate information about the work of tlie Church in Wales. ;iiJi7i)4 CHAPTER I. PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES ON THE WELSH CHURCH. It will be useful to recall at the outset the discussions in Parliament in reference to the Welsh Church question. The first formal resolution in favour of Welsh Disestab- lishment was moved in the House of Commons on May 24, 1870, l)y Mr. Watkiu Williams, afterwards Mr. Justice Watkin V-alliims. That resolution ran thus : (1). " That in the opinion of this House it is right " that the Estabhshment of the Church and its " ITuion with the State should cease to exist in " the said dominion and principality." (2). " That it is just and expedient that the public " endowments enjoyed by the Church Estab- r " lishment shou'd after making provision for " all vested interests be applied to the sui>port " of a national and undenominational system " of education for the said dominion and " principality of AVales." In moving his resolution, Mr. Watkin Williams stated that " the total revenue of this Church is i,'350,000 per annum." Tbi^, I need hardly point out, is a gross exatr£jeratio:i. The net clerical income at the pres3nt time of the Church in Wales is less than i^203,()00* a year. Mr. Watkin Williams estimated the pop'.ilation at 1,220,000, and of that number he gave the Church 208, 888, and Nonconformity 1,0U),0()() : and he also gave Mr. H-r-nry Ihcbard's estimate. Mr. Henry Rich.ird computed Churchmen to be 135,555 and Nonconformists 1,084,444. If either of these estimates * Sec Appendix I. 6 were correct, it is clear that Nonconformity in Wales has declined since 1870 from 89 per cent to 47 ])er cent of the population, which is the present proportion as shown in the official Year Books of the Welsh Nonconformists tjuoted in Appendix A. Mr. W'atkin William!^ stated that " the Church Estahlishment in the Principality of Wales is an ancient and venerable institution, it is not like the Church in Ireland, an alien Cliurch forced upon the people by a conqueror and oi)pressor." In the same debate Mr. (now Sir) George 0. Morgan said "but there was, however, this difference between the two (Ireland and Wales) countries, that whilst Dissent in Wales was a plant of foreign growth — such a thing as a Dissenter having hardly existed there 150 years ago — in Ireland it had existed from time immemorial." (Hansard 3rd Series, Vol. cci). Mr. Henry liichard, on the other hand, asserted some vears later that " the truth is that the Church of England in Wales has been throughout its whole history an alien Church, the Church of the conqueror and invader, and that mark is branded upon it indel'bly." I do not offer to reconcile these contradictions. The next resolution in the House of Commons on the Church in Wales was moved on March 9th, 1886, by Mr. Dillwyn, and ran thus: "That as the Church of England in Wales had failed to fulfil its professed object as a means of promoting the religious interests of the Welsh people, and ministers only to a small minority of the population, its continuance as an Established Church in the Principality is an anomaly and an injustice which ought no longer to exist." Mr. Dillwyn said that " he now proposed to bring this question before the House solely on the ground of the nationality of Wales and of the Welsh Church." It will be observed that Welsh Disestablishment is here claimed because the Church is national and not alien. Mr. Dillwyn gave his estimate of the Church poimlation as 217,000, and the Non- conformists as l,l"25,8'2o, or.t of a population of 1,348,227. In this debate Sir William Hareonrt made this statement : " Tlie Church of England in Wales is so much an integral part ot the l^^stahlished Church of England that it is not mereiy difficult, l)ut I M'ill say, impossible, to raise the question as a separate one — I do not mean by resolution, but practically, in legislation — without involving the other. I thin'-c tliat tliis is a proposition which will command itself to every man's mind. If you raise the question of the Church in Wales you raise the whole question." The next resolution was moved by Mi- IJillwyn on May 14th, 1889, and was identical in terms with that moved in March, 18S(). Mr. Dillwyn said : " I do not wish to go upon the religious ground at all. I wish to put this simply as a National question." In this debate a powerful speech was made by Mr. Byron Heed. The same resolution was again moved on February 20th, 1891, by Mr. Pritchard Morgan, whose inaccuracies, as numerous as his speech was long, were pointed out by Mr. Grladstone, then Prime Minister. The greater part of Mr. Gladstone's speech was devoted to a most powerful and conclusive defence of the Church in Wales. In 1892 the same resolution was proposed by Mr. Sanniel Smith, who went to the beginning of the last century for jiroofs of the Church's shortcomings and to J iverpool and America for proofs of her numerical weakness. Mr. Bryce, M.P. (Chancellor of tlie Duchy of Lancaster), maintained that " the Church in Wales is the legitimate historical succession to tlie Church of St. David." The debate on the introduction of the Suspensory Bill in 1898 will be fresh in the minds of all who have followed this controversy. One tiling must strike those who take the troul)le to read through all these various discussions in Parliament on the Welsh C'hurch, and that is the astounding contradictions in the speeches of those 8 who have advocated Welsh Disestahhshment. One Welsh Liherationist descrihes the Church as alien, another immediately proceeds to descrihe her as national. One describes her as the Cluirch of England thrust upon Wales, forthwith another describes the Church in Wales ■*• as a different and separate Church, having originated at a different time, and from a purer source than the Church of England." Not less remarkable are the estimates given of the numerical strength of the Church in Wales ; of all these estimates there are not two which agree. The estimate of Churchmen given by Liherationist ^^'elsh Members ^aries from one-thirteentli to one-third of the population. Such contradictions do not imply that consistency and identity of statement which characterize a strv^ng and honest case. CHAPTER II. NUMBERS. Throughout this controversy our opponents hav& assarted that the Church in Wales is in a hopeless minority. The relative proportion of nonconformists to Churchmen has heen given as 13 to 1, 12 to 1, 10 to 1, 8 to 1, and 3 to 1. Some have avoided statistical proportions and clothed the assertion in what has now become a stereotyped phrase in the literature and oratory of Welsh I iberationists. ' The W^elsh people are a nation of nonconformists,' is the usual form in which the phrase appears. Mr. Gladstone, the late Prime Minister, in his. si)eech in the House of Commons in Fel)ruary, 1891, reproduced this phrase, but with a significant loop-hole for future repudiation. " It was not very far," he said, " from the truth to say, though I admit there is some element of exaggeration, l)ut only a very limited one, that the nonconformists of Wales are the people of Wales." Does this assertion rest upon any solid basis of fact ? There is reason to doubt this. The authors of this assertion have been most strenuous opjionents of an ofiftcial parliamentary religious census for Wales. When such a census was ])roposed in the House of Commons on July 22nd, 1890, Sir G. 0. Morgan resisted the proposal, and made this remarkable confession : " But I am afraid those who looked at the returns are not observers of human nature, and they would at once conclude that the members of the Church of England were enormously in excess of the members of other denominations." Mr. Stuart Pendel, in su[)port of Sir G. 0. ^lorgan, added that " the Welsh members as a body joined in a vigorous protest against the proposal." This action on the part of the Welsh Liberationist 10 members tells its own tale. They used all their influence to secure the taking of a language census for AYales in 1891, because tney believed that the results of the language census would help on the cause of Welsh Home Piule. I do not think it is unfair to f ssume that they would have welcomed a religious census for Wales quite as readily if they believed that its results would have been satisfactory to the disestablishment cause. But, however this may be, the solid fact remains that those who assert ' the hopeless minority' of the ( hurch in Wales are entirely responsible for oi)posing the one method by wdiicli their assertion could be brought to the test of truth. Welsh Libertionists delight in the machinery of an amateur census. These amateur efforts have been hardy and shameless annuals. Churchmen are prepared to accept the results of an official parliamentary religious census, but they will not accept these amateur census- returns ta^ en in many instances by children of tender years, and in other instances wholly suppressed because they were too favourable to the Church. Fortunately there are some materials for forming an estimate of the accuracy of this assertion about the over- whe ming i)reponderance of nonconformity in Wales. We have the official Year Books of the Welsh nonconformist bodies, and we now have the results of the parliameitary languages census for Wales. With the latter 1 will deal in the next chapter. The official records of the nonconformists bodies in Wales supply the nonconformist estimates of their own strength. I have tested these figures in a large number of individual cases, and I have not found a single instance to lead me to susi)ect that these figures understate the numerical strength of nonconformity. In appendix "A-" I give for every Welsh county these ofiicial nonconformist figures. In studying these figures it is inii)ortant to clearly understand the terms "members" and "adherents." 11 In Welsh nonconformity "member" includes i)ractically all who have been enrolled on the membership list. This enrolment is a loose but permanent tie except in cases of flagrant misconduct. The list of members practically exhausts the numerical strength of a nonconformist denomination with the single exception of the children too young for adult membership. This explains the large proportion borne by members to adlierents. In Appendix "A'^"' it will be seen that the total number of meml)ers claimed by the Welsh Nonconformist bodies is only 881,794. 'Adherents" is explained in the appendix. It will be seen that under the term of " adherents " or " hearers " every man, w^oman, child, and infant that can by any possibility be claimed as a nonconformist is included. Here then we have the nonconformist estimate of their own numerical strength. Here we have this nation of nonconformists publishing their own official census of their own numbers. What is the result ? All the four nonconformist bodies of Wales taken together number, according to their own showing, less than 47 per cent, of the whole population ! CHAPTER III. THE LANGUAGE CENSUS. • The results of the language census for Wales have the most important bearing on the Church question for two reasons. The r^^sults of that census when compared with the amateur estimates framed in recent years of the Welsh-speaking people in Wales by Liberationist members, afford an instructive object-lesson on the vahie of the amateur calculations of the Welsh Lil)era- tionists. Secondly, Welsh nonconformity claims to be essentially Welsh in language, and the predominance of nonconformity is coincident in £ rea with the predomin- ance of the Welsh language. Given then the number of Welsh-speaking people, an estimate of a reliable character mav be formed of the number of Welsh nonconformists. In the report of the Committee to inquire into the condition of intermediate and higher Education in Wales appointed by Mr. Gladstone, and presided over by Lord Aberdare in 1881, the following very important statement is made. " In close connexion with the subject of Welsh nationality are '< the existence ard prevalence of the Welsh language. The question " of language is, and must be for a long time to come, a very im- " portant factor in estimating the condition, both social and " educational, of the people of Wales. To those who are resident in " Wales the prevalence of the AVelsh language is a matter of daily " experience. According to calculations made after the census of '' 1871 by Mr. Ravenstein in his work on the Celtic-speaking- " population of the British Isles, out of a population of 1,42»;,."»14 " in Wales and Monmouthshire no less than 1 ,000,100 habitually spoke " Welsh. It has also been stated that of the Nonconformist bodies of "Wiles 086,220, or including chi'dren under 10 years of^ age " 870,220, use the Welsh language in worship, as against ;30,O0O " who worship in English." Here we have the habitual speakers of Welsh estimated at 1,()0(),100 out of a population of 1,426,514. Others 18 'ventured an ecjiially high estimate of the haljitiial Welsh speakers. The Riglit Honble A. Acland said in the House of Commons on June '21)th, 1888, " he would bear out from his own experience the statement that seven- tinths of the AVelsh people habitually speak AYelsh in their ordinary conversation." That is to say that Mr. Acland states positively from his own experience that those who habitually speak Welsh in Wales number 1, '248, 488 out of a population of 1,776,405. The official <:ensus gives the number of ' inonoglot " or habitual speakers of \\'elsh as 508,086. Mr. Acland's amateur estimate exceeds that of the official census by 785,447 ! Even if the habitual Welsh-s})eakers are added to those who speak both Welsh and English, the total is only ■910,289. So that Mr. xVcland has given an estimate of the habitual Welsh-speakers which is actually 888,104 in excess of the total number of those who know any Welsh at all, as proved by the official census. I stated that the monoglot Welshmen include all those wdio habitually speak AVelsli. I will prove this. Before the census of 1801 w^as taken, the Society for the utilization of the Welsh Language issued an ai)peal in all the Welsh verna- cular newspapers, who backed up the appeal with the strongest editorial articles. In this appeal the Society made these statements. " Is it too xniich to expect that every Welshman that can fill up " his paper in Welsh will do so rather than in English !' We demand " that every public official in Wales shall be able to speak Welsh. '• If a large i)roj)ortion of the inhabitants of Wales till their census ^' pj.pers in English rather than in Welsh, what consistency will '■ there be in our demand for Welsh-speaking officials in Wales. It "will be rank Aiiglo-toadyisni for any Welshman or Welshwomi n *'that can speak tluir mother tongue to deny their language by tilling " up their papers in English. We shall not have such another " chance for 10 years. Let eveiy Welshman and Welshwjuuiu who " read this appeal take care not only to do their duty in tlieir own *' home and family, but to be apostles to others. Make known these " facts to all your acquaintance, and adjure them, as 1 adjure you, in '• the name of a Welshman, of Wales, and of Welsh to be faitliful to ■" your country, your language, and your nation." 14 This appeal was signed by the Secretary of the Society for the iitiHzation of the Welsh Language. This appeal is backed up in the " Baner " with the statement that — " Those who sppak Welsh in the family, even if they know some " English, ought to fill up the paper with the words ' Welsh only.' " In another vernacular paper the appeal is followed by this direction that— "Those whf) could not give their evidenc. in a court of law in " English should enter themselves as Monoglot Welsh, and spec al " attention is asked fi>r this point because by attending to it we shall " hold up the arms of Mr. T. E. Ellis and others when ihey are " fighting for our rights as a n-Jtion in Parliament." The " Genedl Gymreig " in a leading article made this statement — " Don't allow feelings of pride or conceit to impel anyone to " claim a knowledge of English. Remember that the best thing for " us is to swell the number of the monoglot Welsh," And the article concludes with this pregnant sentence. " Don't deny your lantiuage, don't claim a knowledge of English ■" of which you are not masters If you cannot give your evidence ■" in English in a court nf justice write ' Welsh only ' in the language " column. Remember that consequences of immense weight to us as a " nation depend upon the language census taken next Monday. Do " not let anyone's conduct on the occasion be treacherous or un- "palriotic." Every possible political and Nonconformist pressure was exercised to swell the number of the ' monoglot Welsh.' Nonconformist ministers who preach in English, commercial travellers who do all their business in English, schoolmasters who teach in English, even the officials who took the census in some instances returned themselves as monoglot Welsh. I conclude this evidence with the following quotation from the General Eeport of the Census 1891 presented by the Eegistrar-General to Parliament. " This instruction seems clear enough. Nevertheless abundant " evidence was received by us thnt it was either mis-understood, or " set at naught by a large number of those Welshmen who could '• speak both languages, and that the word ' Welsh' was very often " returned when the proper entry would have been 'both;' on the 15 <* ground, it may be presumed, that Welsh was the language spoken '* habitually or preferentially. '' Indeed so desirous do many li()US''holders appear to have been *' to add to the number of monoglot Welshmen, that they not only " returned themselves as speaking Welsh, that is, Welsh only, but *' made similar returns as to infants wlm were only a few months or ** even only a few days old. " Two parishes, one in Carnarvonshin and one in Merioneth- *' shire were selected by us for detailed examination. In these " parishes there were 138 babies under one year of age. and 59 of " these were returned as speaking Welsh. There were also 147 " infants between one and two years of -ige, and 87 of these were " entered as monoglot Welsh Thus, of 28o infants not yet two *' years of age, 1-16, or more than half, were represented as being " able to speak AVelsh, and Welsh only. " Children under two years hare been excluded by us from the '' language tables ; and consequently these strange statements as to *' their power of speech are not of much importance, excepting that " they furnish good grounds for regarding with much suspicion the " trustworthiness of the statements as to persons of riper years. " Thus in these same two parishes there were 1,587 children of from " 5 to 15 years of age, children, therefore, who must have had a ♦' more or less lengthy period of school attendance. In the schools *' of both of these parishes English had been taken as a class subject, "not without success ; yet of these 1,587 children 1,49U or 91 per " cent, were returned as unable to speak English. Whether a person ♦' can be fairly described as unable to speak English will, of course, "depend very greatly upon the standard of proficiency used to '' determine the question. We cannot but think that the standard *' applied must have been unduly high in these parishes. CHAPTER IV FACTS PROVED BY THE CENSUS. •(The parliamentary census 1891 gives the population of Wales and Monjiiouthshire as 1,770, 405, and the number of those who speak only English as 759,416, tiie number of those who speak only Welsh as 508,('3(), the number of those who speak both English and Welsh aL. 402,253, the number of those who were not classitied, (infants &c.) as 10().700). At the risk of repetition I ask the reader to keep the facts q noted above clearly in mind. These facts as I have shown in the previous chapter establish on the authority of a parliamentary census two points viz., that the number of those who speak Welsh hal)itually or preferentially is only 508,036 and that this number is considerably less than half the estimates given before the census by Welsh Liberationists. I wdll now proceed to show the bearing of this language census upon the Church question in Wales. W^e start with the fact established by the parliamentary census that there are in Wales 1,161,669 who speak English, and of that number 759,416 speak only English. What proportion do the nonconformists in Wales claim of this 1.161,069 who speak Enghsh ? In the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Welsh Education ai)i)ointed in 1881 by Mr. Gladstone, it is officially stated that the number of nonconformists in Wales who worship in English is 3G,0()0 and the official report gives as its authority for this statement Sir Hussey Vivian M.I', now Lord Swansea, whom the Earl of Eosebery this year described as "a master of this subject." On the authority of this master of Welsh nonconformist 17 statistics we are informed that out of 1,161, 669 of people who speak English in Wales, Welsh nonconformity claims only 30, 000. It would hardly be right to suspect that " such a master of the sul)ject," as Lord Swansea has been described, would understate the number of non- formists in Wales who worship in English. But even, if we yield to the temptation of this suspicion and treble this estimate quoted in the official report of Lord Al)er- dare's Conmiittee of the nonconformists in Wales, who worship in English, the total we get is only 108,000. The result then is this that, after multiplying by three the number quoted in this official report, we find that there are in Wales 1,053,669 who si)eak English and do not worship in English in nonconformist chapels in Wales, and what is still more striking there are 651,416 people who speak only English who are thus proved be- yond any doul)t not to belong to nonconformity in Wales. The official census states that those who habitually or perferentially speak Welsh presumably entered themselves as monoglot \\ elsh. I am sure that this statement is correct, and from an intimate knowledge of Whales, I have no hesitation in saying that 50S,036 includes all those who by preference speak Welsh while the great majority of the 402,253 entered as bi-linguals speak English habitually or preferentially. Here then we have this. one valuable and incontrovertil)le fact that there are in Wales at least, 1,000,000 English-speaking people of whom nonconformity claims a mere fraction. The Welsh Xation^alists wdio clamoured for a language census were so inebriated by their own fervid estimates of the number of monoglot Welshmen in Wales that they never could have imagined that the resuUs of the Parliamentary census, in spite of ah political {iiid nonconformist pressure, would have shown that the number of hal)itual speakers, of Welsh in Wales was so small, still less did they forsee that the language census for which they asked would finally and authoritatively prove that they have exag- gerated the number of nonconformists in Wales as. 18 grossly as they are now demonstrated to have exagger- ated the nmnher of those who hahitually speak Welsh. The nemesis is comic and complete. It is fair to add that the nonconformists in Wales have for some time realized that the English language is predominant in Wales and that the spread of that language threatens their serious diminution. The Calvinistic Methodists in their official report in 1882 made this statement — '' Wo cannot maintain our linld upon tlie country unless we win " tliL' towns and tliis can only be done llirougli the English hmguage," and in 1883 they state that the weightiest suhject of the day appertaining to the Methodist denomination is the spread of Enghsh throughout Wales and in their official report of their English Chapels in 1889 they state — "That tliere are 600,000 Englisli speaking people who need " the Gospel in English in this Country {i.e. Wales)." In the Baptist year hook for 1878 this statement is made : — " We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that in many districts " (in Wales) the use of the Welsh language is decreasing. Like the " fl )w of the tide, the English language is advancing in the prin- "cipality. If the nonconformists in "Wales will not or cannot "meet the requirements that will follow the change of language, " the power of nonconformity will lie diminished." The Congregational Year Book stated that " a large proportion of the rising generation in Wales are being " transformed into English-speaking people," while the author of the history of Welsh Congregationalism and their official statistics stated in 1891 that " English was greatly gaining ground in their chapels on the borders, "and that the" Welsh languaofe h;id absolutely disappeared from " tlie services of some of tlieir chfipols.' — and in descrihing the only English Independent Chapel, at Bangor, he loudly laments its failure in si)ite of the fact that the chapel is free from deht, that the minister has a fine house, and that this chai)el started hefore all the rest. I will add one more testimony from a different quarter to the prevalence of the English language. In the 10 '• Lal)Our Tribune " January ^Ttli, 1894, a report is given of an interview with Mr. Brace, the ngent of the Miners' Federation. He was asked what about the difficulties of language. This is his answer : — " Well there are but very few uien in the whole of South Wales " who cannot talk and understand the English languai^e. I have " lectured in every part of South Wales and Monmouthshire. I am •'English. I was generally understood. The question of language " is not much of a difficulty. The coming generation are not "learning to talk Welsh, and whatever difficulty exists will "decrease rather than increase in the future. These testimonies all confirm the facts given in the parliamentary language census, as to the predominance of the English language in Wales ; and it is hardly necessary to })oint out that the spread of education means the spread of the English language. An attempt ha^ Iwen made to explain the large numl)er of English-speaking people in Wales by asserting that they are mostly to be found in Glamorganshire. Glamorganshire numbers nearly half the population of Wales, and it is therefore (juite^obvious that the number of English-speaking people in that county will be much larger than in any other Welsh county. ' The futility of the attempt to which I have alluded is proved by the fact that, in the proportion of English-speaking people to the rest of the population, Glamorganshire only stands fourth in the six counties of South Wales. In Breconshire 85 per cent of the people speak English ; in Pembrokeshire 77 per cent; in Radnor- shire 95 per cent ; in Glamorganshire 78 per cent, and, in North Wales, in Montgomeryshire 70 per cent ; in Flint- shire 70 per cent, and in Denbighshire 63 per cent. Tn only five counties, viz., those of Anglesey, Carnarvon, Merioneth, Cardigan, and Carmarthen, does the percentage of people who speak English fall below 50 per cent, and the total population of the counties is only 429,537, considerably less than one fourth of the popula- tion of Wales and Monmouthshire. These five counties lie to the west, and owing to their remoteness and, for the greater part, their scattered population, are naturally V / 20 the last to he reached, hy the influence of English thought and speech. To sum up this most important question of the language census, let me point out that nonconformity in Wales claims the merest fraction of the 1,161,669 who speak English. It is under the mark to state that there are 900,000 people in Wales who worship in English. The lowest estimate given of those who worship in Welsh in the Church in Wales is 100,000. I^o I claim the 900,000 as Church})eople ? My reply is that an official parliamentary religious census is the only final and reliable answer to that question. Churchmen demand that Census. The Welsh I iberationists oppose it. AVelsh Radical members describe Wales as a nation of nonconformists, while the Welsh nonconformists in their own oflicial year books only claim 47 per cent, all told, of the population. Added to this comes the official parlia- mentary census, which has proved officially and beyond all question that there are in Wales 1,161,669 who speak English, and1dwi4.of this number not one-tenth are nonconformists. Whatever may be thought of these facts, one thing is certain, that an official parliamentary religious census is demanded by justice and by fair play. CHAPTEK V TWK VOL\nC\L REPRRSENTATION OF WALES. The one argument advanced against the Church in Wales as unanswerahle is the character of the representa- tion of Wales and Monmouthshire. The Chairman of the Welsh Eadical members stated in the House of Commons that the Welsh Disestahlishment Bill was the only measure ever introduced which practically had the unanimous votes of every single member in the district affected. A careful examination of the exajt number of votes recorded on either side in the Welsh con- stituencies on this que-ition offers the best comment on this statement. At the last general election live out of the :U Welsh seats were uncontested, and for these live seats I have added in the votjs polled on either side the last time each seat was contested with the exception of the seat for the Rhondda, where at the last contest one candidate was described as a Labour candidate and the other as a Liberal, and I have therefore added to the Gladstonian total the votes polled by the the Labour candidate, and not added any votes to the Unionist total. This is the exact electoral record in Wales and Monmoutlishire. The number of voters on the register for Wales and Monmouthshire is 314,540. Of this number 145,818 voted for Liberationist or Glad- stonian candidates, and 80,883 for Conservative or Unionist candidates, while the number who did not record their votes was 81,839. The first important point to note is that only 47 per cent, of the registered voters have recorded their votes for the disestablishment candidates 22 This cannot with any truth l)e described as ' practical unanimity.' On the other hand the number of those who recorded their votes for Unionist candidates together ^yith those who did not go to the poll number 53 per cent, of the electorate. The majority therefore of Welsh voters either voted for Unionist candidates or neglected to go to the poll. This fact then remains established, that only 47 per cent, of the registered voters in Wales have recorded their votes for disestabhshment candidates. Is there good reason to suppose that the number of voters in favour of disestablishment will be larger at the next trial of strength ? At the general election of 1892 the Liberationist party in Wales were admirably organised and provided with candidates for every constituency. Nonconformist ministers and deacons in Wales, with very few exceptions, took a most i)rominent part in advocating the Liberationist cause and in exercising to the fullest extent their personal and official influence upon the members of their congregations. I merely record the fact and express no opinion upon the line of action and conduct pursued. It was abundantly clear to those in Wales who followed closely the preparations for and dur- ing the last general election, that the Liberationist party jiolled their full strength ; on the other hand the Unionist cause was unorganised and in many constituencies only su[iplied at the last moment with candidates. In some instances the candidates were entirely unknown to the constituency and found themselves face to face with the task of making themselves known to the electors and of i)iecing together the fragments of organisation, which were all that they found in the constituency. For this work mai.y of them had four weeks. This was a blunder Avhich I trust will not again ])e repeated. With the Welsh Liberationists i)olitics are the very life and breath of then* nostrils, and they carry their political prepossessions irito their religion, their business and their social life. Politics do not seem to enter into the calculations of the Con- t) 23 servative and Unionist party until live or six we?lis before an election. Attack is more exciting than defence, bn^ the enthusiasm and the compactness of the assaulting party, in contrast with a quietness which looks like apathy in those on the defensive, is a misleading index of the relative strength of both parties. Strong positions may be rushed and this has been one of the great dangers against which defenders of the Church in Wales have to be on their guard. I think our opponents have made their ' rush ' a Httle too soon. A small attacking party can only hope for victory when they move as one man. Already there is a revolt in the small band of Welsh Liberationist members. With organisation and system and strong candidates ready to represent the Unionist cause in every Welsh constituency I beheve the political record at the next general election will be very much more favourable to the Unionist cause. But even as it stands at present it seems unreasonable to maintain that 47 per cent of the registered voters in Wales and Monmouthshire are to be allowed not only to disestablish and disendow the Church in Wales but to disintegrate the Church of England. A majority of two-thirds of the ratepayers is to be required for the closing of public-houses, while Parlioment is asked to disestablish and disendow the Church in Wales upon less than a bare majority of the voters. /. 21 FEB.I922 — + CHAPTEK VI. WELSH NONCONFOKMITY. I do not intend to give a detailed history of the rise of nonconformity in Wales, and I shall content myself with stating the facts which estahlish the date and character of its origin. The most powerful nonconformist hody in Wales are the Calvinistic Methodists. They are a distinct Welsh sect, and are not in communion with the Wesleyans or the Presbyterians. I take the Calvinistic Methodists, because until the rise of Methodism in Wales the other nonconforming bodies were numerically and influentially insignificant. The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists seceded from the Church in the year iSll. That secession arose, as the facts prove, from no sort of hostility to the Church, but from these simple causes : — that a number of active, devout lay-churchman, upon whom the evangelical spirit had fallen, formed them- selves into societies of itinerant lay-exhorters or lay- preachers, that their preaching brought about a religious revival in Wales, and that at times, owing to the increased congregations and the wide area of the parishes, there was some difhculty in procuring, when required, the ministrations of episcopally-ordained clergy- men, and it was this difficulty which induced the Methodist leader, Charles of Bala, to consent, after much hesitation, to the ordination of some of these lay-preachers in 1811. The late Bisho]) Hughes of St Asaph stated that there was ])roof that Cliarles of Bala afterwards deeply regretted this action. The following quotation from the rules drawn up by these Methodist Guilds and Societies in l&Ol proves that the original intention of the revival 25 was merely the formation of Guilds or Societies to work within the Church. '• The Cliuivli of Christ is a spiritual society, and transcendently " surpasses all others that ever were, or may be formed all others " will soone'- or later be broken to pieces and consumed, but the " Church shall never be destroyed ; she will stand for ever as fir.u " and lasting as the eternal foundation on which she is built. Be- " hold liow good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in " unity. These considerations gave origin to the private Societies " among the Methodists. They meet together as joint members of " the household of faith, conforming tliemselves with the Apostles, " injunction to warn the unruly, to comfort the feeble-minded, and " to support the wealc. We do n )t designedly dissent or look upon " ourselves as dissenters from tlie Established Cliurch. In doctrine '' ve exactly agi-ee with the articles of the Clmrch of England, and! " preach no other doctrines but wliat are contained and expressed in " them. Our meetings are seldf)m or ever hehl in church hours, " but in union witli the Church we desire the full enjoyuDnt of those " privileges which the laws and constitution of our favoured country "amply afford us of having liberty without restraint to use every '' scriptural means to spread the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ " among poor, ignorant, and perishing sinners. Making a sect or '•' forming a party is not tlie object we are aiming at, God forbid.'' The Constitutional Deed of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, dated August 10th, 1826, confirms the state- ment that the Methodist secession in Wales was not due to any hostility to the Church or to any doctrinal differ- ence. The Constitutional Deed, page 19, states that '•the object of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist connexion liath been " and shall be to promulgate the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour " Jesus Christ as set forth in the doctrinal articles of the Church of " England," and in page 81 the Deed enacts that " no alteration in the confession of faith or the tenets or doctrines to " be taught and maintained bv the said connexion shall be at any *' time allowed or even discussed." Coming to a still later date we find the following record. At an Annual Association of the VVelsh Methodists held at Bala in June, 1834, the following resolution was jiroposed hy Mr. John Elias. of Anglesey, seconded by Mr. William Morris, of reml)roke- 26 shire, and unanimously agreed to by upwards of 500 preachers then present from A'ariv'^us parts of the principaHty, ''that we deeply lament the nature of that agitation now so pre- " valent in this kingdom and whicli avowedly has for its object the " severing of the !N"ationaI Church from the state and other changes in " ecclesiastical matters. We therefore are of opinion that it pertains " not unto us to interfere in such matters, and we therefore stren- " uously enjoin upon every member of our connexion to meddle not " with them that are given to change, but on the contrary to pray *' for the king and for all that are in authority that we may lead a " Cjuiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." I have brought the record down to 1834, within sixty years of the present time, and there is not one syUable of hostihty to the Church to be found either in the writings of the founders of Welsh Methodism or in the Constitutional Deed by the provisions of which the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists of to-day are legally and morally bound. But this is not the spirit of the Welsh Methodists of to-day. No one acquainted with the subject will venture to deny that betw^een the founders of W^elsh Methodism and its leading representatives to-day there is a difference in tone and teaching which is not a development but an absolute contradiction. During the last few weeks I have imposed upon myself the unpleasant task of reading the Welsh " Baner " edited by the Piev. Thomas Gee, the leading minister and spokesman of the Welsh Methodists, and at the same time I have been reading the life and letters of the Kev. Thomas Charles, one of the Methodist founders. The contrast between the Piev. Thomas Gee and the Eev. Thomas Charles is not one of time and circumstance or individual tempera- ment, but the two men are absolutely opposed in spirit, temper, and tenets. I have taken these two gentle- men as types, and the study of both vividly illustrates the marvellous transformation which ^^ elsh Calvinistic Methodism has undergone during the 83 years of its" existence. Enough has been said to establish the fact that the early Welsh Methodists were dee^^ly attached to 27 the Church, and that Welsh Calvinistic Methodism only dates from the year 1811. Before that year the other nonconforming bodies in Wales were scattered and insignificant, so that for all practical purposes Welsh non- conformity may be described as a growth of this century, and forms little more than a fitful and feverish parenthesis in the religious life of Wales. CHAPTER VII. THE NONCONFORMIST MINISTRY. At the present time the Cliurch })roYides in every parish in Wales a resident ministry. The visitation of the sick, the care of the young and poor, and the countless other works of charity and philanthropy, to which a living ministry must devote its activities, can only be provided for by a settled and resident ministry. How far has the voluntary system in Wales made or attempted to make provisions for these most essential duties of the ministerial office ? I have received from 1006 Parishes returns made by the Clergy of the number of nonconformist ministers resident in their several parishes. The result of those returns will be found in the appendix on the resident ministry of nonconformists. From this return it will be found that in nearly half the parishes of Wales nonconformity has failed to make any provision for a settled ministry. Under the term noncon- formity I include not only the four principal nonconformist bodies in Wales, but all the minor sects, such as the Primitive Methodists, the Unitarians, and the Bible Chr'stians. The return given in appendix "J" shews that the resident ministry of the i)rincii)al nonconformist bodies is placed in the same parishes, and that these bodies do not divide between them the work, but are in competition with each other. It is important to point out, for the information of those not acquainted with Wales, that there is no interconnnunion of worship, or government, or work, between tlie several nonconformist bodies in Wales ; 29 political co-operation there is, but not religious. In appendix " K " I gave the official record, from their own Year Book, of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, whom I select for these reasons. They form the wealthiest, most powerful and aggressive nonconformist body in Wah^s. For many years this denomination has made strenuous efforts to provide a settled pastorate. The results of these efforts ai)pear in appendix " K," which is their own orticial record. That record shows that the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have 1,311 chapels, and that of that number 758 are without a resident pastor. This fact speaks for itself. The Kev. Joseph Evans, the official statistician of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, in the Jlatichester Ouardian, this year, gave 400 as an approximate estimate of the number of parishes in Wales and Monmoutshire in which his denomination had been able to provide a settled pastorate. Here then we have three witnesses. (1). The returns of the Clergy, (appendix " J.") show that, out of 1006 parishes, the Calvinistic Methodists have a resident minister in only 828. (2). The official statistician of the Calvinistic Methodists states that of 1,081 parishes in Wales and Monmouthshire he approximately estimates the number in which his denomination has provided a resident pastor iit 400. (8). Their own official Year Book shows that out of 1,811 Chapels, 758 are without a settled pastor. If we accept the official statistican's own estimate we have the very startling fact that out of 1081 parishes in Wales and Monmouthshire there are 081 parishes in which the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have failed to provide a resident pastor. This statement of the official statistician is confirmed ))y the returns of the clergy and by the official Year ]3()ok of the denomination. The AV^elsh Calvinistic Methodists have frecpiently been described as the national denomination of Wales. The facts quoted above will enal)le my readers to estimate the accuracy of this descri})tion. 30 One other very important fact must be remembered with respect to the settled ministry provided by non- conformity in Wales. The official Year Book gives the total number of Methodist ministers in Wales as 641. Of this number a very large percentage are engaged in secular occupations in combination with their ministry. In the year 1888 the number of Methodist ministers in AVales was 569. Out of that number no less than 191 were shopkeepers, farmers, commercial travellers and agents ; while 12 were engaged in educational work, so that out of the total of 569 ministers only 366 were ministers pure and simple. It is obvious that the very large percentage— probably a third of the total number — of Methodist ministers engaged in secular occupations cannot give their time to pastoral visitation. Moreover, the combination of a secular and ministerial occupation in one man must, especially in small communities, create a situation in which the secular and ministerial interests are, if not irreconcilable, without doubt, mutually hurtful, and the secular will often profit at the cost of the ministerial. I have gone fully into these facts with no wish to minimise the generosity and self-sacrifice of Welsh nonconformists, but to make quite clear the fact, long ago recognised as such by Dr Chalmers and Mr. Spurgeon, that the voluntary system is unable of itself to provide that resident ministry which is indispensable, if the most essential duties of the Christian minister are to be adequately and regularly discharged. The broad fact remains that, if it were not for the Ohurch, there would be out of 1,081 parishes in Wales and Monmouthshire, no less than 081, where the most powerful nonconfoimist body is una^ble to maintain a resident pastor ; while there are about 500 parishes where there is not a single resident nonconformist pastor of any denomination. I need hardly point out how entirely different it was in the case of Ireland, where one homogeneous body had its resident priest in every parish. CHAPTER VIII. THE CARE OF THE POOR AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. In close connection with the qu:stion of a resident ministry come the questions of the care for the poor and provision for the rehgioiis education of the young. The experience of the parish clergy in Wales points to the fact that in trouble and sickness the poor of all denominations turn for help hrst to the clergyman of the parish. The voluntary principle finds its energies and generosity exhausted in the mere maintenance of its organization, and has small time or resources left for the care of the poor. I wish the proofs for this fact to be given by nonconformists themselves. In 1887 the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists in North Wales appointed a committee to report upon the causes of a decrease in their numl)ers. I give from nonconformist papers the accounts given of the report presented by that committee. In the !je)i6cll Symreiy (a Welsh Radical and nonconformist newspaper) of November l()th, 1887, under the heading of " The Llandudno Association," the following appears : — •' The Rev. Thomas Roberta, Jerusalem (Betliesda), presented " the report of the committee which liad been investigating the cause *' of the decrease in the number of chapel memiiers. The decrease •' was contined to North Wales, as South Wales showed increase. " The decrease was attributed in a great measure to migration, and " also totlie fact that many of the chapel oflTicials did not put down " the names of those members who either neglected or were too poor " to contribute their subscriptions towards the ' cause,' and this was " greatly condemned. It was resolved to call the attention of the " chapels to this." 32 In the MeraU Gymraeg (a Welsh Eadical and nonconformist paper) of November 15th, 1887, mider the heading of " The Association of Calvinistic Methodists." the following appears : — " The Rev. Thomns Roberts, Bethesda, read the result of the " inquiry which he and Mr. Samuel Hughes, Bodynfed, Amlwch, " made into the supposed decrease in the number of the members " of the denomination. They found out that no decrease had taken " place in South Wales, but that a little was to be observed in North " Wales. This occurred in some chapel-, while there was an increase •' in others. Oae reason for the decrease was the migration which "took place, especially from Anglesey, Lleyn and Arfon ; but an '• important reason fur the decrease was the negligent manner in " which the lists of some chapels were kept. They knew that poor " members were not always able to contribute, and on this account " some officials left these persons out of the lists, which was to be " greatly condemned. Had it not been for this negligence it was " supposed that the lists would have proved much more numerous " than they app':>ared. It was resolved that this report be inserted " in the minutes of the association, and that the attention of the " chapels be called tc this matter." The (Selt (a Welsh newspaper edited by a noncon- formist minister) on November 18th, 1887, gives the following account of the report presented by the Committee : — " As the church members of the " Corph " (the name given to " Calvinistic Methodists) are fewer in number than they were, a " committee was appointed in the previous meeting to examine into "the matter. Their report was received last week. It is stated " therein that the decrease is in North Wales only, that there is an " increase in South Wales, The decrease in Arvon and Anglesey •< is chietly attributed to migration ; but it is stated that the decrease «' in other districts has been caused by tlie action of the officers of "the "Corph" in striking off the books the names of people too " poor to pay their contributions. No wonder that the committee " condemn this unworthy action. Who would have supposed for a " moment that churches could bo found in Wales whose officers are " unwilling that the poor should l>e members of it ? If the corres- '« pondent of the Times gets hold of this affair, he will liave something "to say about the Voluntary ])rinciple among Nonconformists." In an annual statement made to his congregation in the year 1890, the Eev. T. J. Morgan, statistical secretary for the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, makes this remarkable and candid statement : — 88 " Are we not in perpetual danger of becoming possessed witli. " the idea that the cliurch (i.e. the Welsli Calvinistic Methodists) is "a niacliine for collecting money ? Are we not far too much " inciincil to value the worth of our church members according to ' the amount of their money contributions asd to yearn for additions '' to our numbers in order to meet more easily our pecuniary obli^ '• gations .' The nature of tlie church as a spiritual society and the " aim of the church as a channel for the working in it and thr>ugh " it of divine influences and for preparing unto God a peculiar pei>{)le>. " are being lost sight of by us Much is "being done, but 1 fear that by far the most important thing of all " is being neglected." These extracts speak for themselves. If further- proof is needed of the inahihty of the vohintary system to help on philanthropic and charitable works which lie outside the maintenance of their organization, I would point to these two facts. The nonconformists in Wales have done next to nothing for the elementary education of the poor. In appendix " G " it will be seen that in North Wales the nonconformists contributed to building, &c.,. Hospitals £1,700, while Churchmen in North Wales have given £1)5,800 ; and for the annual maintenance of Hospitals, eVc, in North Wales the nonconformists only- contribute i'820, and Churchmen £5,500 a year. Again I do not mention this as a reproach. The nonconformists in Wales number some of the richest laymen among their members, and yet they are able to do so little for general wor'ks of charity and benevolence. The explanation is to. be found, not in in a lack of generosity on their part, but in the necessities and limitations of the voluntary system. To pass to religious education, tne record in Wales, is, I trust, without a parallel in any otlier ])art of the United Kingdom. According to the J31ue Book return of 1888, out of 800 Board schools in Wales, excluding Monmouthshire, there were 128 schools where the Bible is not read at all, and 111) where it is read without comment. Here we have the startling fact that in Bible- loving Wales there are 242 Board schools, out of a total of 800, where the Bible is not read at all, or read without comment ; and out of the 800 Board schools, 34 there are 290 where there is no examination in religious knowledge. For this deplorable condition of things the responsibility lies wholly and entirely with the non- conformists of Wales. In the Board schools of Denbigh, where the Rev. Thomas Gee resides and guides the policy of the nonconformists, the syllabus provides that the master alone may read a portion of scripture, " and may occasionally make some practical observation on the same, no special doctrines being alluded to, and that the history of the Jews and the Jewish nation, and the geography and naturrl history of ancient as well as modern Palestine, may be taught from the Bible, but that, in any use that may be made of the Bible, it is to be distinctly understood that no reference whatever is to be made to the doctrines taught therein, except in cases of discipline and to enforce moral teaching." Here again comment is unnecessary. I have frequently heard, in visiting the parishes of this Diocese, that the nonconformists find that in their Sunday schools the prizes are carried oft' by the children taught in the Church day schools, and that thev find an alarming ignorance of religious truths in the children taught in the Board schools. It is fair to add that some of the nonconformist ministers, notably, the Rev. T. C. Edwards, the Principal of Bala College, have publicly expressed their regret that the Bible has been excluded from the Board schools of Wales. Their protest has had no effect upon the Welsh political nonconformists who follow the lead of the Rev. Thomas Gee. In the schemes for Welsh intermediate education, drafted by the Welsh county committees, it was actually proposed to forbid all definite religious instruction, not only for day scholars, but also for boarders. It seems almost incredible that such intolerance could be possible at the present time. Churchpeople who send their boys to these schools as boarders are not allowed to have their children taught the doctrines of Christianity, nor in the family worship 35 in the boarding master's house can the formularies of any denomination be used. Parhament has fortunately cancelled this outrageous provision, but the proposal of such a provision remains as a proof of the entire dis- regard for the religious training of the young which is being manifested by the political dissenters in Wales. This tyranny and intolerance is emphasised by the fact that a great part of the rates for the school JBoards in Wales are paid by Churchmen, that to the building of the intermediate schools in Wales churchmen have been the largest subscribers ; and that to the university college of Aberystwyth (practically a nonconformist college) Churchmen gave 38 per cent, of the total contributions, while to the Bangor university college they gave more than half. Summed up, the facts are these. In Wales non- conformity leaves the care of the sick and poor to the Church. In elementary education in Wales the nonconformists h-^ve done next to nothing by voluntary efforts, while from the Board schools supported by the rates paid by churchmen and others, the nonconformists have excluded all definite religious teaching. This is not a record of which the voluntary system has any reason to be proud, nor is it a record which promises well for the future, if the attempted spoilation of the Church should unhappily succeed. CHAPTER IX. THE AYELSH DISESTABLISHMENT BILL, 1894- Mr. Asqnith, in introducing the Bill, stated the motive and the spirit ^yith which, so far as the Church is concerned, the Government brought forward this measure. '' We present," he said, " this Bill to Parliament in ' the firm belief ' that if it be carried it will not hinder, but it will rather hel]), the work of the Church in Wales. We think that in this Bill we do no injustice to the Church." An examination of the Bill upon some vital points offers a comment upon Mr. Asquith's declaration. I begin with what I regard as far the most important point— viz., the effect of the Bill, if passed, upon the unity and organic life of the Church. Mr. Asquith again and'^again stated that he was following the Irish precedent. The Irish Church Act " put an end to the establishment of the Church of Ireland and dissolved the union created by Act of Parliament between the Churches of England and Ireland as by law established." The Welsh Church Bill proposes "to terminpte the establishment of the Church of England in Wales and l\[onmouthshire." The Irish Act disestablished a Church recognized as distinct from the Church of England, and only united to the Church of England by Act of Parliament. The Welsh Church Bill avowedly proposes to terminate the establishment of a part of the Church of England. The Welsh Bill cuts out from representation in the Houses of Convocation, in the province of Canterbury, the Bishops and clergv in Wales and Monmouthshire. This ]n-ovision —without any parallel in the Irish Act— deliberately lops 87 off from the organic life of the Church these four dioceses. Again, the Irish Act dissolved the corporation of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland. The Welsh Bill makes minute provisions for interference with the Ecclesiastical Connnissioners of England and Queen Anne's Bounty. The provisions for the chopping and <:hanginu; of properties now vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners illustrate the essential unity of the €hurch of England and Wales and the deliherate character of this attempt to hreak up that unity. Under the Welsh Bill the four seats vacated in the House of Lords are to he filled hy English Bishops. This arrange- ment in itself is a striknig proof that the authors of this Bill are conscious that they are dealing with one and the same Church. To pass to another point. The Irish Act provided that the three Connnissioners were to he members of the Church ; the Welsh Commissioners may he Noncon- formists. Three men, like Mr. Lloyd-Cleorge, clothed with the extraordinary powers given to the Welsh 'Commissioners under this Bill, might prove unequal to stopping those direct incitements to disturbance in order to get rid of the clergymen which Mr. George foresaw in his speech. With regard to the funds of the Church and the vested interests of the clergy Mr. Asquith said : — " Wherever a clergyrnnn, or wherever a person, be l.e clergyman ■** or be he layman, at present enjoys a freehold otfice in the Church, in ■" conpideration ot' tlie ])erformances of service or of duty to the ■" ChufL'h, lie ought, in our opinion, to receive under this measure, ■" depriving him of his office, clianging his status, and disestablishing ■*' the Church, to be placed in the same position pecuniarily as he was *' before Parliament made that change in his status and tiie status of " the Church. . . . We, therefore propose that so long as the " holder of any existing benefice or office performs the duties of the " office wliich he held at the date of disestablisliment, or is only " prevented from so d jing by some cause other than his own wilful "default, he shall be entitled to receive the same emoluments — " neither more nor less — as he would have been if the Church had " not been disendowed." •i:>l794 38 Compare this statement with the actual words of the Bill itself, clause 16, sec. 2 :— " The Welsh Com- missioners shall pay to each person who at the passing of this Act has any existing interest in any such tithe rent-charge, in substitution for, and in satisfaction of, that interest, and as part of the emoluments of his office, the amount payable to them by any county council in respect of the tithe rent-charge." There is not one word in the whole of this clause which provides — (a.) for the performance of the duties of the office held in the Church, nor (h) is there any security that the present holder of the benefice or office will have his vested interests preserved intact. The tithe rent-charge is to be collected by the county council, and, after they have deducted " cost of collection, rates, and other outgoings," is to be handed to the Welsh Commissioners, who are to pay the holders of any existing interest. These deductions are to be " such as the Commissioners will allow," and with the kind of Commissioners that we are likely to have under this Bill, a large demand for deductions that would only trench upon the vested interests of the clergy would be regarded with no unkindly eye. The Irish Act allowed the deduction of " outgoings to which such holder {i.e., of a vested interest) is hable by law." The omission from the Welsh Act of this legal safeguard is significant. Compare again this provision for vested interests with that in the Irish Act. There (Clause 14) the Commissioners were " to ascertain and declare the yearly income " of every vested interest and " to pay each year to the holder of every such vested interest so long as he lives and continues to discharge such duties in respect of his said archl)ishopric, bishopric, benefice, or preferment, as he was accustomed to discharge, or any other spiritul duties in Ireland which may be substitued for them, with his own consent and with the consent of the representative l)ody of the said Church hereinafter mentioned, or if not discharging such duties shall be disabled from doing so by age, 39 sickness, or permanent infirmity, or by any cause other than his own wilful default, an annuity equal to the amount of yearly income so ascertained as aforesaid." Here in the Irish Act two things are clearly and absolutely secured — {CrHlffl,-{t-0 CO ^ CA ■*QCCOt:^Cqt~-00«CCO'#Ot~C5 00 o '3 t^H t~Ot~«3C0'CO'^00(N0CC0C-J lO »o r^ '> O (N 1-1 00 ns" o L~ CO F- O CO IC » -^ "-I W i-H 5^ T-t Ol % ^H a O i-H 00 OS 30 'M CO -H 1-1 i-H O »rt O X -^ C5 O O C>) QO IM t~ O O CD 00 O ^ «j3 -<1< 05 t~ -:f <0 «0 ■<*_ i-H t~ •»*< CO o o 00 , -^ lO -^ QC 1^ t~ tH (— , 00 O L- 00 "O 00 •-• O lO O 1-1 Ci CO 1 t- (» r^ CC O I-l CO 1-1 CD »0 " O CO 3i : iM ^ t- L^ CS CO (M t-^'* X_0 CO iO_ q. ^ ^ _---__ ^ ^ 1^1 Q »0 — O 00 O L- 1-H >n « t~ CO -^ t- CD c? . co CO CO O 'i* O CO O r-l O -^ O O) o O^CO^Ol 00 o o CO lO 1-1 01 1-1 — 1 -rt< "*1 — 1-1 rt -^ ^"^ iM" oo" rH of i-T co' T-H CO i O OC C5 -^ CO CO o Ci 00 i-( X C5 CO 1— ( ^ o O t- lO ^ lO d iH C- C5 Ci CO CO O X y; i-i C3 C^ 1-H 1-1 1-1 CO CO lo o o t~ -^ CO o -4-3 o S a » t~ t~ CD 1-1 T-( lO O O 00 00 1-1 CO x" -5 ^ CO C5 , M- 1^ 30 g "^ 00 1-1 O «0 -^Ji (M t- X 0< CO CO 1-1 CD I-I O i-i P< C) CO CO to o t~ t~ T-< 1-1 O CO O 1-1 »o '-^ CO 0_ O O O iM__ 00 05_ C^ Osl O 1-1 L~ -:f< ^ M-, a > o't^c^'o oo't^- t>^ t-^ of Qo" cT 1-f eq rH O U3 io io o CO 1-H 1— f L— 00 1*1 O X OQ lO c~ . a -H 1-1 1-1 iH O d L-~ 'ZS o o ^ "o 1—) Pm > : : : i : i : to ^ ^ <5 CD CO CO S=U a; f— H (—1 eg 1— 1 ^ 1— 1 • o ■ > OD tH S3 • 05 CO 00 fl • tH © : CQ a CD c3 © : bf) ^ c3 : ' 'w' !3 c3 bJO 1=1 ^ a c3 c3 »— H • «4-4 W O ps M '"^ o -u -♦J » « t< O to t. c« Oj > o c3 CO a c en (i -. -a d -^ o Ph Wj 03 S fcc c 4.2 c SS CO OQ ^ bo TJ c5 , ^ ^ o Oi a> W be c ^ s a o ir' 03 "^ a p 00 W IS %*. O 00 bO S3 cOJ>-'*a>THi-->**eoeooooic c- eO»C-+aso^—lC5G^l'^^co o ,0 CO =i-LC5 lO t- o CO o ts oc I— 1 00 'M -<* -H in «o o lO 00 -* O Ci X ?^ 1— 1 00 in t^ 0-1 OT c^ 'M o o CO T^ K5 M T-H X -H o c; ~ «5 o 00 o iO i>- « o": o r- (i—ii— (?^Oini>-OCOi— I-+I CO CO 0-: o .-( C-. r-H t^ — o c; t^ CO o -:j* ^ CO cc o Ci .— 1 CO CO CO i^ >i f^^ -+ o o^ ■* u~ (MCO.— lOSCOOXt^OOOQO c^ t^ 'M l^ I?-: t^ O GO m ^ l^ fM lO o CM tHi— icocqcortt^r-^,— irt noo^oco-+icou- iz> 0(>»in'*oooX'-f'n — t^t^^ c^i3 to CO ~ o cc o X traxi^oO'— icooo OOOC^OCOX-ti G<4i— ICOi— i'MCX)'MO CO I— I T— I CO 1— I (I^J CO T-H O C5 O -f- ■M L^ O l^ — o i^ Oi ;^^ o CO -— I rH iC t^ CO lO I— I — . 05 (M Ot '^ «0 00 iC 'M O t^ CO C. (M F— it^oo^-iaoc;tot^-(>lOi—((M ■^ (M to 00 »o ^r fM so -* t- n t— o COOX^^G^ >— i->t(C3aOCO00T— lo- I— I T— I I— I > r^ — a, o o o a o rs D O o 3 3 a: -a '-43 a 3 o 3 <1 C^ -»i^ -" o s o • — ' -*J •3 .2 Appenclix: C l I am indebted for the figures in this table to a Return from the ItegiBtrar Gencril's office. Number of Marriages solemnized according, and not according to the Rites of the Estabhshed Church in Monmouthshire and Wales, 1883-92. c3 O Marriages celebrated. CD S-i si O " o o Not according to the Kites of the Established Church. o ] n 0) o Registered S£ buildings. O 03 O to her stian iuatio bO 03 s:si 0) cS u ~' a tn 3 q O" ID /1883 2156 1019 1137 93 348 695 1 1884 2030 951 1079 97 373 606 3 1885 1872 872 1000 110 326 5B1 3 1886 1801 804 997 86 341 566 4 Monmouthshire ..-; 1887 1888 1871 1939 874 905 997 1034 87 60 338 357 570 616 2 1 1889 2289 1067 1222 90 404 726 « 2 1890 2466 1178 1288 114 410 760 4 1891 2471 1167 1304 97 480 720 7 \1892 2208 1075 1133 77 467 586 — 3 /1883 7426 2461 4785 230 1810 2741 4 • 1884 7367 2415 4952 252 1887 2807 6 1885 7164 2397 4767 227 1787 2744 9 / 188G C943 2291 4652 226 1801 2617 1 7 South Wales ...< 1887 7391 2436 4955 235 1785 2924 1 10 1888 7545 2440 5105 247 1906 2945 7 1889 8321 2629 5692 276 2018 3385 13 1890 8983 2943 6040 3U 2079 3630 2 15 1891 9169 306 ■' 6104 279 2195 3616 1 13 \1892 9089 2941 6148 270 2156 3710 — 12 /1883 2852 1088 1764 23 933 808 _ _ 1884 2829 103M 1791 41 949 801 1 1885 2715 1002 1713 31 896 786 — 1886 2638 918 1720 18 919 783 — North Wales -X JggS 2756 280 ;■> 925 964 1131 1842 24 19 935 958 872 865 — il889 2Hr,2 l()4-2 1810 21 969 820 1890 3008 1075 1933 27 1040 866 — 1891 2975 1009 1966 , 29 1067 870 — 1892 3267 1119 2148 33 1191 924 — N.B. — During the last ten years the uuiubir of A arriages solfninizeJ by tfce Clergy of the Welsh Church is .. .. ... .. .. 46,110 And the nUBttbtr by Noncecforinigt Miuisters .. ,, „ 33,125 Appendix C Sir G. Osborne Morgan's Burial Act. Extract from the y isitation Charge of the Bisliop of St. Asaph f 1890. " The total number of Burials in this Diocese by the Clergy of the Church was 3618 last year. Assuming a death-rate of 18 per 1000, the total number of Burials in the Diocese in one year would be 4,824. I have to thank the Clergy for the very complete and accurate re- turns, giving the list of burials under Mr. Osborne Morgan's Act for the last 5 years, for every parish in the Diocese. The number of Burials under Mr. Osborne Morgan's Act in this Diocese was 247 in 1885 ; 21() in 188(5 ; 271 in 1887 ; 245 in 1888 ; 251 in 1889. Deducting the Burials in four parishes, the number of Burials under Mr. Osborne Morgan's Act was 119 in 1885 ; 109 in 1M8() ; 128 in 1887 ; 128 in 1888 ; and 98 in 1889. During the last 5 vears, out of 208 parishes in the Diocese, there are 94 parishes in which there has not been a single burial under Mr. Morgan's Act, while there are 80 parishes with onh' 1, and 18 with only 2. To speak quite plainly, Mr. Osborne Morgan's Act is in this Diocese practically a dead letter." Appendix D. From Editor of Official Year Book Church of England. Statement of Voluntary Offerings devoted to the Maintenance of ChurchDay Schools within the four Welsh Dioceses, during the Year 1893, t.e., the Year ending Easter, 1893. Bangor. — Inclusive of 13G Parishes, leaving 5 unrepresented. £ 8. d. Maintenance of Day Schools ... ... ... 4229 11 5 For Additional School Accommodation ... 1871 10 7 Total ... £6101 2 Llandaff. — Inclusive of 224 Parishes, leaving 10 unrepresented. £ s. d. Maintenance of Day Schools... .. 6941 13 For Additional School Accommodation ... 3557 16 9 Total £10,499 9 9 St. Asaph. — Inclusive of every Parish, £ s. d. For Maintenance of Day Schools 8083 5 10 For Additional Accommodation ... . . 1895 13 Total .. ... £9978 18 10 St. Davids. — Inclusive of 362 Parishes, leaving 15 unrepresented. £ s. d. Day Schools 64G9 5 3 For Additional School Accommodation . . 1093 5 3 Total £7562 10 6 Total Voluntary Offerings to maintenance of the | National Schools in the Four Welsh Dioceses | -P^4- 142 11 for the year 1893 ) ' Appendix E. ST. ASAPH DIOCESE— Population, 270,180. Elementary Schools in the Diocese. (BLUE BOOK, 1893). :n"o. Church 209 Board 82 British, etc. 31 TABLE 1. Accommodation. Average attendance. 34,826 18,571 17,592 10,766 6,672 3,319 The Clmrch Schcxrls in the Diocese are more than double the Board Schools and nearly double all the other schools put together. TABLE II. Voluntary Contributions to the Building and Enlarging of Elementary Schools in the Diocese of St. Asaph during the last -iO years, — supplied from the official documents in possession of the National Society. All Grants from Government have been carefully excluded. Archdeaconry of St. Asaph ... =£50,243 11 9 Archdeaconry of Montgomery .. 34,913 9 9 Archdeaconry of Wrexliam ... 52,260 6 1 Total for tlie wliole Diocese £137,417 7 7 Note A. Note B. This total includes only the Voluntary Contributions of Churchmen to the Building and Enlarging of Voluntary Schools in the Diocese during the last forty years. In addition to this the annual Voluntary Contributions for the maintenance of the National Schools in the Diocese h«8 averaged not less than £6,500 a year, making a total for the forty years of £260,000. Churchmen in the Diocese of St. Asaph have, therefore, voluntarily contributed during the last 40 years to the building And maintenance of National SchooU in the Diocese not less than Appendix F. Statement of Yoluntary Offerings devoted to the support of the Poor in the year 1893, within the four Welsh Dioceses. I. Diocese of Bangoe. i' s. d. Archdeaconry of Bangor .... .... 1493 4 9 Archdeaconry of Merioneth .... 547 6 8 £-2f)40 11 5 11. Diocese of Llandaff. M s. d. Archdeaconry of Lhandaff 2029 16 3 Archdeaconry of Monmouth .... 1826 16 £3856 12 3 III. Diocese of St. Asaph. M s. d. Archdeaconry of St. Asaph .... 1176 18 7 Archdeaconry of Montgomery .... 1281 14 3 Archdeaconry of Wi'exham ... 1969 4 3 £4427 17 1 IV. Diocese of St. Dayiw'i*. k s. d. Archdeaconry of St. David's .... 731 11 4 Archdeaconry of Brecon 1514 6 10 Archdeaconry of Cardigan 185 6 6 Archdeaconry of Carmarthen .... 1118 14 2 ^3549 18 10 Total for Four Welsh Dioceses, £13,874 19s. 7d. Appendix G. Infirmaries, Hospitals, &c In the following tables the Voluntary Contributions of Churchmen, during the last fifty years, to Hospitals, Infirmaries, and similar Institutions are given. Every possible care has been taken to make these Tables as accurate as possible. The Contributions have been arranged in two Groups, viz. : — Table A.— Contributions to the Founding and Building of such Institutions. Table B.— Contributions for their annual main- tenance. Under the heading " Not Classified " have been put contributions from Works and Companies, Bazaars and Entertainments o ^QJO cc C Pi cc" O • rH GO o C5 H— 1 c8 (-H Ih a; ^ fl cd n:^ • i-H CO fl c^ 00 ^'^ 1—1 ■ cc o CO fl cr> o -^ _ »> • r— 1 T— 1 fc: cc cd o c3 "O ft CD d O cd »o ■~ii"™ CD CP 1 >— 1 (-< '^ -»j •^ (—1 "O « WH^ -t-i o cd k^ >5 o .2 »■ -u a eS o 3 I o ^ H u c £ eS r-l i-H CO O . -t< C 1< C£; ■VO 'O rH <:£ CO -+ . T^l t>- 00 !■- O 'M 00 -^ CO -c St: G, . •£: CO ej »r o o — ( O C5 f3 ■w Ul < m -^ fri • I-H CO CO CO . i:<5 ■^3 (M ;n O Ci O -* ^ OS c^ ;o ^ CO c 1^ > in o c X X n ' C» Ci ri CO i-l t^ !>! tJj C- l^ X -+ ^ O > ^ o O a OS > 03 c: ;3 X (M m 00 O OQ 't-I rH O --H O I-* CD O CI -^ CO iL^ X r-H O '^ lO ri CO -M Xi !rH -1J -(-3 o o c o H H H H • I— I 02 (D 02 ?-l >C ^ C -73 H fin ^ H ""' W O O r^ =" (f rr, t- O '^ s H 5^2 6 £ O C P 1— 1 H O 1-H • 1— 1 t- CI w o o 1-H J^ • • "S ; ; o : ; • t— I P n3 CD o CD >- rO o Si CD a; S > ^ ^ ce rH fl 13 '"* CD -; ^ ■— ■ r-* Oi fl ^ oS §^- ■X) '^ ^ ?-( r-i !> OQ ^ 'QC CD -+3 ^^ CD '^ CQ '-^ O , , --1 s -^ !-H ^ ^ 3 O a a c5 CD 3 -a O O en ^H o cd CI o c3 <1> 03 O cS ^3 eS O -«^ * ^ a a ^ sc t) O 1^ tn r; -^ o :o CO CO 00 o ,0 !^ Ph o ^a ^CMOi-HCO'^t-O^QOOOO'-O o^ T— I t-HrHrH rHr-l t— (CO :^ (0 CO s Q z < il O oe a a ^ t^ CO T-T -Jh' -Jh" cm" O X ^O ■>! C: CO tr- 00 00 -H 30 uo -Tf^ 2 O iO C: C: t- t:^ GO -t O 1— I G5 00 iO ' - ci«^ c:^ 00^ --ti^ O^ C:^ ^^ '^O 10 t- CO o -fH CO '^cm'o c: t— I ct o cd ^D-^-t^io T-Ti^S rHCOCOt^^^^Cqi— ICNtHCO Oi- O C^ IT— I !'^ o o o '-I oa 12 » a a •a a ffi o ^ Eh ■^ a ^ co.a o ■ fS o o ^ rt "^ ti ~^ 5^ «3fq ^ 00 COt-OT— fCtCilOXrHt- CO »0 i-O CO 00 t -fi t^ t- O-l iO 1-1 o CO ^o :CM 00 X C: tH O O -t^ 01 ::0 00 !:0 Tt< o -tH "^ ^ ^ ^„ '^, '^^ t^ '"l, t- O CO CO cd'^»oooDL-^'cqcdiOi-4";:o cd rH o " r G fl rt O C g8 5 oj ;::: r^ o <^pq:jOOQCiHO !«=; (^ o o ^^ d o ° S rS O ^ O L~ . -w i. r-j -j: '^ ''-' r-H a H-ca -i^ 0) o3 o § EP^^-^w 2 ■e 2 2 8 r5 '1^ a_ O -1-^ "P H-. Ci !h a 7: &(!— I w [>) -^ i^ 03 a ^ - 03 a eS -" -w 3a 23 -> 2 c^ ^.' rt - a -.J v; . 1? =i- g ^ ^ o •-• ■< a 03 c>i a I to _ 03 _r PTo ^ 5 3 F-^ H " S =^- ~ o-_ 03 g^ v. -g j3 -N g 2^^M g-^S ^. ^ _3 i— t "' - ^ o d o ^ — > Clj 0> ♦J — o ^ J!: ^. ■'-> C,~ n S o I . 03 05 Q^ a 2 !^^ cj - -^ « ^ O cS 5«?9 u^ ^^2 S 03 -' en 03 o --*, 03 Mi a -^ ta o — i-y Q^ P^ 3 c3 >>-C -3^0)-. c3 5» *3 ;h r. oj IS .s . 33 CS rf d •'' cS tti Oi * ^a "_ 03 ^s cS ^ =5 ^ 2 :;» a S ^"3.2 f 03 " „ -J Ul -^ e3 i, ^ ^ CJ '^ S ^ ti. Oiis y::^ aa -»J ■*^ 1 1. 3 -1; o CO ESTABLI81ED CHORCH (WALES). A BILL TO Terminate to the establishment of the Church of England in Wales and Monmouthshire, and to make provision in respect of the Temporalities thereof. BE it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, £nd by the authority of the same, as follows : DISESTABLISHMENT. 1 . On the FIRST PAY OF JANUARY ONE THOUSAND EIOHT HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX (in this Act referred to as the date of disestablishment), the Church of England, so far as it is established by law in Wales or Monmouthshire (in this Act referred to as the Church in Wales) shall cease to be so established, and save as by this Act provided, no person shall after the passing of this act, be appointed by Her Majesty or any person, by virtue of any existing right of patronage, to any ecclesiastical office in or connected with the Church in Wales. n (1.) On the date of disestablishment every cathedral and ecclesiastical corporation in Wales or Monmouthshire, whether sole or aggregate, shall be dissolved. (2.) After the date of disestablishment no bishop of the Church in Wales shall be summoned to or be qualified to sit in the House of Lords as such. Provided that — (a) every person who is at the passing of this act, a bishop, dean, or archdeacon of the Church in Wales, shall during his life enjoy the same title and precedence as if this Act had not passed ; and (h) writs of summons shall be issued to the bishops not disqualified by this enactment for sitting in the House of Lords as if the bishops so disqualified had vacated their seats. TRANSFER AND DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY. Q. On the date of disestablishment there shall, save as by this Act proTided, be transferred to the Welsh Commissioners hereinafter mentioned : — \ (a) all property vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners or Queen Anne's Bounty which is ascertained as herein-after mentioned to be Welsh ecclesiastical property ; and ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WALEs). (6) all property not so vested which, at tiie passing of this act, belongs to or is appropriated to the me of any ecclesiastical office or cathedral corf-oration in or connected with the church in Wales or the holder of any such office ; subject, in the case of all such property, to all charges and incumbrances affecting the property, and in case of all such property, except tithe rentcharge, to the existing interests of all persons who at the passing of this act hold such offices as aforesaid, and in the case of tithe renlcharge, to the obligation to make such provision as is herein-after mentioned in lieu of their existing interests. 4. — (1.) The Ecclesiastical Commission jrs and Queen Anne's Bounty respectively shall forthwith after the passing of this act ascertain and by order declare what property vested in them respectively at the passing OF this act or under the provisions herein after contained consists of, or issues out of, or is the produce of, or is or has been derived from, property situate in Wales or Moiimouths.iire, in whatever manner the same is applied whether in England or Wales, and that property shall be the Welsh ecclesiastical property for the purposes of this Act. (2) They shall also, by order made before the date of disestablishment, allocate the charges on any fund held by them respectively in such manner that the charges for purposes of the Church in Wales, and in particular for bishops, archdeacons, and cathedral corporations of the Church of Wales, shall be borne by the Welsh ecclesiastical property, so far as it is able to bear them, and that that property shall be exonerated from, and the fund wholly charged with, such of the charges as are not allocated on the Welsh ecclesiastical property. (3.) Orders of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne's Bounty under this section shall be made with the concurrence of the Welsh Commissioners, and in default of such concurrence shall require the approval of Her Majesty the Queen m Council given on the advice of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 5. — (1.) Any property transferred by this Act to the Welsh Commis- sioners, which consists of, or is the produce of, or is or has been derived from, property given by any private person out of his own resources since the year onk thousand skvkn hundred and three, and does not come within the description of a cnurch or ecclesiastical residence for which provision is otherwise made by this Act, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a private benefaction. (2.) The Welsh Commissioners shall ascertain and by order declare what part of the property transferred to them by this Act constitutes private benefactions within the meaning of this Act, and shall on the request of the representative body herein. after mentioaed, vest the same in that body, subject to the charges and incuiabrances and interests saved by this Act. B ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WALEs). g. n.) Subject to the charges and incumbrances and interests saved by this Aet, the Welsh Commissioners shall, save as otherwise provided by this Act, by order vest the property transferred to them by this Act, as follows : — (a.) they shall, on tlie request of the representative body, vest in that body all chu'elies, not being cathedral churches, and all parsonage houses ; (6.) they shall vest the burial ground and glebe of any ecclesiastical parish — (i.) in case of a rural parish, in the parish council of the parish, or, if there is no parish council, in the chairman and overseers of the parish ; and (ii.) in any other case, in the council of any county borough or district comprising the parish ; Provided that where the ecclesiastical parish comprises parts of more than one parish for civil purposes the property shall be vested, as the Welsh Commissioners may direct, in some one or more of the said councils or bodies, or in trustees on behalf of those councils and bodies jointly ; (c) they shall vest any tithe rentcharge in the county council of the county in which the land out of which the tithe rentcharge issues is situate. (2.) Every church, parsonage house, burial ground, and glebe vested under this section siiall be held subject to all existing public and private riglits with respect thereto. y. (1). The Welsh Commissioners shall out of moneys in their hands in pursuance of this Act maintain and keep in proper repair and condition all cathedral churches transferred to them by this Act, and all such churches shall continue to be subject to all existing public and private rio-hts with respect thereto, and shall, if and as long as the representative body so request, continue to be used for the same purposes as heretofore^ (2.) The Welsh Commissioners shall on request by the representative body allow any ecclesiastical residence transferred to the Commissioners by this Act, and not being a parsonage house, to be used in connection with the Church in Wales for the purpose of an ecclesiastical residence, subject to the condition that it be maintained and kept in proper repair and condition by the representative body. Q_ n .) All plate, furniture, and other moveable chattels belonging to any church affected by this Act, or used in connection with the celebra- tion of Divine worship therein, shall vest in the representative body if and when incorporated. (2.) The Welsh Commissioners shall, on the request of the representa- live body, vest in that body, subject to tlie interests saved by this Act, any moveable chattels held and enjoyed by tho imcumbent for the time ESTABLISHED CHURCH (wALES). being of any office, together with or as incident to the occupation of any ecclesiastical residence atTected by this Act. 9,— (I.)— Except as otherwise provided by this Act, the Welsh Com- missioners shall apply the property transferred to them by this Act as follows : — (a) whore the pryporty is attached to a parochial benefice they shall apply it to some one or more of the purposes mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act in accordance with a scheme to be made with their approval by the county council of the county in which the parish is situate, due regard being had to the mterests of the parish ; (6) tliey shall apply all other property in the first instance^ towards payment of the expenses of carrying this Act into execution, and, subject thereto, to some one or more of the purposes mentioned in the sa d schedule in accordance with schemes to be made by them so, however, that not less than two-thirds of such other property sliall be applied towards the oromotion of technical and higher edu- cation including th ; establshment and maintenance of a library, museum, or academy of art for Wales ; and for that purpose any part of the property may be vested in or appropriated to the use of the [Jiiiversity of Wales or any joint committee of the county councils in Wales and Monmouthsliire. WELSH COMMISSIONERS. 10 — (1 ) The following persons, that is to say. shall bo Commissioners under this Act during Her Majesty's pleasure. If any vacancy among them occurs l^y doatli, resignation, incapacity, or otherwise, Her Majesty may, by warrant under Her sign manual, appoint some fit person to fill the vacancy. (2.) The said Commissioners (in this Act leferred to ns the Welsh Commissioners) shall be a body corporate, styled " The Commissioners of Cliurch Temporalties in Wales," wit'i a common seal, and power to hold land for the purpose of this Act without licence in mortmain. (3.) The Welsh Conmiissioners may act by any one of their body, but if any person aggrieved by an order of one Commissioner so requires the order shajl be reconsidered on relioaring l)y the thre-> Commissioners. (4.) There sliall be paid to the cliairman of the Welsh Commissioners such salary, not exceeding fiftkkn hdndrkd pounds a year, and to one other of the Commissioners such salary, not exceeding one thousand POUNDS a year, as the Treasury may direct. D KITABL18HKD CHURCH (wALKs). (5.) The Welsh Commissioners may, with the consent of a Secretary of State, and the consent of the Treasury as to number and remuneration, appoint or employ and renjove a secretary, and such other officers and persons, and with such remuneration, as appears necessary for enabling the Commissioners to carry this Act into effect. (3.) The said salaries and remuneration and all incidental expenses sanctioned by the Treasury of carrying this Act into effect shall be paid by the Commissioners out of moneys in their hands in pursuance of this Act. (7.) The salaries of the Commissioners and the remuneration and number of their officers shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at the expiration of five years from the passing of this Act, and of such subsequent intervals as the Treasury may direct, and the Commissioners and the persons appointed or employed by them shall not have any right to compensation, superannuation, or other allowance on abolition of office or otherwise. (8.) A paid Commissioner or a person appointed or employed by the Commissioners shall not during his continuance in office be capable of being elected to or sitting as a member of the House of Commons. 1 "I . — (1.) Subject to such appeal as is herein-after mentioned, the "Welsh Commissioners shall have full power to decide all questions, whether of law or of fact, which it may be necessary to decide for the purposes of this Act, and shall not be subject to be restrained in the due execution of their poweis under this let by the order of any court, nor shall any proceedings bofore them be removed by certiorari into any court. (2.) The Welsh Commissioners with respect to — (a.) enforcing the attendance of witnesses, after a tender of their expenses, the examination of witnesses, and the production of deeds, books, papers, and documents ; (6.) issuing any commission for the examination of witnesses ; (c.) punishing persons refusing to give evidence or to produce documents, or guilty of contempt in the presence of the Commissioners or any of them sitting in open court ; and (d.) making or enforcing any order made by them for carrying into effect this Act, shall Lave all such powers, rights, and privileges as are vested ia the High Court for such or the like purposes, and all proceedings before the Commissioners shall in law be judicial proceedings before a court of record. (3.) The Welsh Commissioners may "review and rescind or vary any order or decision previously made by them or any of them ; but save as aforesaid, and as by ibis Act provided, every order or decision of the Welsh Coiiiuiissioners shall be final. (4.) They shall make general rules for regulating the procedure under this Act, and generally for securing the due execution of their powers, and giving effect to this Act. All such general rules shall be submitted X ESTABLISIfED CHURCH (WALES). to Her Majesty the Queen in Council for confirnnation, ami when so confirmed, with or without modifications, shall belaid before both Houses of Parliament, and shall have effect as if enacted by this Act. (5.) They shall in each year maK'e a report to a Secretary of State of their proceedings under this Act, and this report shall be laid before Parliament. 1 2' An appeal shall lie to Her Majesty the Queen in Council asrainst any decision of the Welsh Commissioners with respect to any question as to what onstitutes a private benefaction, or as to what sum should be paid under this Act to any person, and any such appeal shall be referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. ■j 3- — (1-) The power to make any scheme under this Act shall include power to amend or supplement any such scheme. (2.) Every scheme made under tliis Act shall be submitti'd to Her Majesty the Queen in Council for confimation, and when so confirmed, with or without modifications, shall be 1 lid before both Houses of Parlia- ment and sliall have effect as if enacted by this Act. SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS AS TO ECCLESIASTICAL LAW AND OTHER ECCLESIASTICAL MATTtiRS IN WALES. 14- — (!•) As from the date of disestablishment, the present ecclesias- tical law in Wales and Monmouthshire shall cease to exist as law, but that law and the present articles, doctrines, rites, rules, discipline, and ordinances of the Church in Wales (including the present jurisdiction and authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the courts of the arch- bishop), shall, with and subject to such modification or alteration, if any, as after the commencement of this Act may be duly made therei i, accord- ing to the constitution and regulations for the time being of the Church in Wales, be binding on the members for the time being of that Church in the same manner as if they had nmtually agreed to be so bound, and shall be capable of being enforced in the temporal courts in relation to any property which by virtue of thi- Act is held on behnlf of the said Church or any members thereof, in the same manner and to the same extent as if such property had been expressly assured upon trust to be held on behalf of persons who should be so bound. (2.) Provided that — (a.) No ecclesiastical court or person shall have any coercive jurisdiction, and any right of appeal to the Queen in Council from any such court or person shall cease ; and (b.) The said constitution and regulations shall not be enforceable against the Archbishop of Canterbury without his consent, and the Archbishop, with the approval of Her Majesty in Council, may give that consent ; an I p ESTABLISHED CHURCH (^WALES). (c.) No alteration in the articles, doctrines, rites, or, sa^e so far as may be rendered necessary by the passing of this Act. in the formularies of the Church in Wales shall be so far binding on any ecclesiastical person having any existing interest saved by this Act, as to deprive him of that interest, if he, within one month after the making of the alteration, signifies in writing to the representative body his dissent therefrom. (3.) On the date of disestablishment the bishops and clergy of the Church in Wales shall cease to be members of or be represented in the Houses of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, but nothing in this Act shall atfect the powers of those Houses so far as they relate to matters outside Wales and Monmouthshire. 15. — (1.) Nothing in any Act, law, or custom shall prevent the bishops, clergy, and laiiy of the Church in Wales from holding synods or electing representatives thereto, or from framing, either by themselves or by their representatives, elected in such manner as they think fit, constitutions and regulations for the g-^nfral management and good government of tlie Church in Wales and the property and affairs thereof, whether as a wliole or according to dioceses, and the future representation of members thereof in a general synod or in diocesan synods, or otherwise. (2.) If at any time it is shown to the satisfaction of^Her Majesty the Queen that the said bishops, clergy, and laity have appointed any persons so to represent them, and hold property for any of their uses and ])urposes, Her Majesty may by charter incorporate such persons (in this Act referred to as the representative body), with power to hold land without licence in mortmain. SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS AS TO VESTED INTERESTS. 16. — (1) Every county council in whom any tithe rentcharge is vested in pursuance of this Act shall pay to the Welsh Commissioners the annual amount, according to the s<^ptennial average, of the said tithe rentcharge (after deducting the sum allowed by the Commissioners for cost of collection, rates, and other outgoings other than income tax), or such less amount as may be required by the Welsh Commissioners for the payments to be made by them in pursuance of this A.ct, ami the amount wliich any such county council are so liable to pay shall be a debt from the council to the Welsh Commissioners, and a charge on the county fund of che county. (2.) The W^eish Coumiissioners shall i)ay to each person wlio, at the i'ASSiN(i OF THIS ACT has any existing interest in any such tithe rentcharge, in substitution for and in satisfaction of that interest, and as part of the emolumont^ of his office, the amount payable to tliem by any county council in respect of the tithe rentcharge. G ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WALEs). 17. Any person who at the passing of this act holds aa ecclesiastical office affected by this xVct may, it' he thinks fit, with the •consent of tlie representative body, arrange with the Welsh Commissioners to exchange his existing interest in the emoluments of his office arising from the property transferred to the Welsh Commissioners by this Act for a life compensation annuity calculated in accordance with the Second Schedule to this Act, and thereupon shall vacate his office, but the emoluments aforesaid shall during his life rest in the Welsh Commissioners, and they may apply any part thereof not required for the compensation annuity as if he were dead. 18. The Welsh Commissioners, if ap[)lication is made to them within SIX MONTHS after the passing of this Act by or on behalf of any person who is at at that date entitled to any right of patronage to any benefice affected by tliis Act, shall, on the occurrence of any vacancy in that benefice after that date, pay in compensation for the extinction of that right an amount not exceeding one year's emoluments of the benefice taken on an average of the three years immediately before that date, with interest at the rate of three per cent, per annum from that date. Provided as follows : — (1.) Her Majesty shall not, ncn- shall any corporation, sole or aggregate, dissolved by this Act, nor siiall any trustees, officers, or persons acting in a public capacity, be entitled to any payment under this section for or in respect of any right of patronage ; and (2.) Where any person would, but for the provisions of the statutes affecting Ivoman Catholics in reference to conformity to the Established Church, have had at the passing of this act any such right of patronage, he shall be entitled to payment therefor in the same manner as if it were then actually vested in him ; and (3.) A trustee or oilier person occupying a fiduciary position shall tot be bound to make an application under this section. 19- If tlie Welsh Commissioners find that any person who at the PASSING OF this ACT holds any lay office in or in connexion with the church in Wales by freehold tenure or by any tenure which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, is equal to freehold tenure, will be deprived of any emoluments by the operation of this Act, they may pay to that person out of moneys in their hands in pursuance of this Act, such sum by way of compensation, either by a single payment or by a life annuity, as they may, with the consent of the Treasury, determine. 20. (1.) Where a parsonage house is together with other endowments of a benefice subject to a buihling charge, the occupier of the parsonage house shall, as between himself and tlie occujners or persons in possession of the other portions of the endowments, be primarily liable to {layunMit of the charge. (2.) Any money payable on the first vacancy after the passing of this ACT in au ecclesiastical office affected by this Act in respect of dilapidations H ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WALEs). in an ecclesiastical residence shall be paid to the person or body in whom on such Vacancy the residence is vested. 21. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners shall, as soon as may be after the PASSING OF THIS ACT and before the date of disestablishment, ascertain and by order declare what, jirojierty not being vested in them at that date consists of or issues out of, or is the produce of, or is or has been derived from, property situate in Wales or Monmouthshire, and is at that date applied or ap'pliciib'e to any ecclesiastical purpose in England, but not in "Whales or Monmouthshire, and all such property shall as from the date of the order vest in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, subject to the exi.--ting interests therein, and to all cliarges and incumbrances affecting the property, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners shall charge their common fund -with payments ascertained by them to be equal to the net proceeds of the property so vested. Any order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners under this provision shall be subject to the like concurrence or approval as an order for allocation of the charges on their common fund. (2.) An order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners or Queen Anne's Bounty making any allocation under this Act may make any such adjustments, whether of income or of liabilities, as are incidental to the allocation. (3.) As from tlie date of disestablishment, any liability or power of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners o. Queen Anne's Bounty to make payments for any ecclesiastical purpose in or connected with the Church in Wales shall cease. Provided that they shall continue to make such payments as appear to them required for preserving the interests of persons interested in such payments at the pa8sin(j of this act. (4:.) As from the date of disestablishment first fruits in respect of any subsequent appointment to any ecclesiastical office in or connected with the Church in Wales, and tenths in respect of any such office, shall cCaSe to be payable to Queen Anne's Bounty, and any tenths payable by any person who is at that date the holder of any such ofifice shall, during the continuance of his office, be paid to the Welsh Commissioners or as they may direct. SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS (GENERAL). 22. Where any ecclesiastical or cathedral corporation dissolved by this Act holds any property in trust for any charitable purpose, the property shall on the dissolution of the corporation vest in the Welsh Commissioners, and the Commissioners shall, on the request of the representative body, vest the property in that bodyor in persons appointed by them, subject to the trusts affecting the same, and under the same supervision, local, or otherwise, as heretofore, or as near thereto as the circumstances of the case will admit. 23. The Welsh Commissioners and any local authority shall with respect to any property vested in them by or under this Act, have power ESTABLISHED CHURCH (wALKs). to manage the property and, as incidenta' thereto, power to sell or exchangeany part thereof ; but any such power of sale or exchange sliall not be exercised witliout the consent of tiie Local Government Board. 24. The Welsh Commissioners siall have power to decide any question arising under this Act between different local authorities. Mid to make any adjustment of rights or liabilities incidental to the distribution of propenj under this Act among such local authorities. 25. A county council shall not, by reason of being entitled to or i-eceiving any tithe rentcharge under this Act, be liable for the repair of any ecclesiastical building. 26. — (1.) All books and documents relating to any of the property vested in the Welsh Commissioners by this Act, an^^ not in the possession or under the control of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners or of Queen Anne's Bour.ty, shall, within thkee months next after the date of disestablishment, be delivered up to the Welsh Commissioners b} the respective registrars of the diocesan or other registries, or the other officers then having the custody or possession of tlie same respectively, on getting receipts therefor from the Welsh Commissioners. (2.) The Welsh Commissioners shall preserve the said books and documents, and shall permit reasonable access to the same, and shall hand over to the representative body such of them, if any, as relate exclusively to property to which that body become entitled' and certified copies of such of them as relate to that property jointly with other property. (3.) The Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne's Bounty respectively shall deliver to the Welsh Commissioners any books or documents relating e.xciusively to the property transferred to the Welsh Commissioners by this Act, and shall permit the Welsh Commissioners and any local auth(^rity in whom any such property is vested in pursuance of this Act to have reasonable access to, and i») take copies of or extracts from, any books or documents retained by the Ecclesiastical Com- missioners or Queen Anne's Bounty, and relating to any property vested in the Welsh Commissioners or in any such local authority. (4.) The Welsh Commissioners shall loilge in the Public Record Office in London such of the books and documents received by them under this section, and not handed over to the representative body, as may not be required by the Commissioners for the execution of their duties under this Act. 27. Every order of the Welsh Commissioners operating as a conveyance or mortgage of any property shall be deemed to be a conveyance or mortgage within the meaning of the Acts relating to stamps, and sh dl be chargeable with stamp duty accordingly. 28. — (1.) The Welsh Commissioners may, with the consent of the Treasury, borrow such sums of money as they may think expedient for carrying into effect any provision of this Act, and may give as security J ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WA.LEs)t for the repayment of any sums so borrowed, and the interest tliereon, the whole or any part of the property transferred to them by tliis Act. (2.) The National Debt Commissioners, if they think fit, with the approval of th:; Treasury, may, out of any money in their hands under the Acts relating to savings banks, advance to the Welsh Commissioners, with such guaraniee as is by this Act authorised (but not otherwise), any money which by this Act the Welsh Commissioners are authorised to borrow. (8.) The Treasury may, if they think fit, guarantee the payment of the principal and i iterest of all or any part of any money borrowed, by the Welsh Commissioners. (4.) Any security given by the Welsh Commissioners in pursuance of this Act shall be in such form, and may contsin such powers of sale or otlierwise, as the Treasury approve, and there shall be certified thereon, in such form and manner as the Treasury direct, any guarantee given by the Treasury. (5 ) For giving effect to the guarantee aforesaid, the Treasury, in aid of any money applicable under this Act for payment of principal and interest for the time being accrued due in respect of any money borrowed by the Welsh Commissioners in pursuance of this Act, may cause to be issued out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, or the growing produce thereof, such sums as may be necessary for payment of the said principal and interest, or any part thereof respectively. (0.) If any money is at any time issued out of the Consolidated Fund in pursuance of the guarantee aforesaid, the Treasuey shall cause the same to be repaid to the Consolidated Fund out of the funds in the hands of the Welsh Commissioners. 29- — (1-) AH money payable to tlie Welsh Commissioners under or by reason of this Act shall be paid into such bank and be invested in such manner as the Treasury direct. (2.) At the end of every financial year accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Welsh Commissioners, both of capital and of income, shall be made up in such form and with such particulars as the Treasury iiuxy direct, and shall be audited by the Controller and Auditor General as pul)lic accounts in accordance witli such regulations as the Treasury may make, and shall be laid before Parliament, together with his report thereu[)on. (a.) The expense of such audit shall be part or the expenses of carrying this Act into execution, and be del rayed by the Welsh Commissioners accordingly. 30- — (1.) '-'he Welsh Commissioners shall, with respect to any ecclesi- astical parisli part only whereof is situate in Wales or Monmouthshire, determine by order with reference to the population of that part, and the situation of the parish church, and ilie other circumstances of the case, K ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WALEs). whetlipr the parish is to be treated as being wholly within or wholly with- out Wales or Monmouthshire, and the parisli shall for the purpose of this Act be treated accordingly, but any parishioner of the parish may appeal against any such order to Her Majesty the Qreea in Council, and any such appeal shall be referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. (2.) The Ecclpsiastical Commissioners shall attach to an English diocese any ecclesiastical parish which at the passixc of this Act is situate in a Welsh diocese, but not in Wales or Monmouthshire, and any eccelsi- astical parish which under this section is to be treated as being wholly without Wales or Monmouthshire, and may make any provisions necessary or incidental to such attachment. (3.) Any ecclesiastical parish which is at the passing of this Act situate wholly in Wales. or^Monmouthshire, or is for the purposes of this Act to be treated as so situate, shall, as from the date of disestablish- ment cease to be part of an English diocese, but save as by this section provided nothing in this Act shall affect any English diocese. 31. — If any vacancy occurs in any ecclesiastical office in or connected with the Churcli in Wales, between the passing of this Act and trie date of disestablishment — (1.) Her Majesty the Queen may in the ease of a vacant bishopric, on the petition of the Archbishop of Canterbury, or oi any three Welsh bishops, fill the vacancy ; but any bishop so appointed shall not be summoned to or be qualified to sit in the House of Lords, and shall be subject to the provisions hei'einafter mentioned : (2.) Any other vacancy may be filled by the same person as if this Act had not passed, l)ut the person so appointed shall be subject to the provisions hereinafter mentioned. (3.) A person appointed to any office in pursuance of this section shall not be liable to pay any first fruits in respect of appointment to the office, or any tentlis in respect of the office, but his interest shall not be an existing interest within the meaning of this Act. 32- — I'^ ^^''^ '^^^ unless the context otherwise requires, — The expression " ecclesiastical office " means any bishopric, ecclesiastical dignity, or preferment within the meaning of the Ciiurch Discipline Aet, 1840, and includes any lay office in connexion therewith : The expression " ecclesiastical person " means a bishop and the holder of any ecclasiastical office who is in holy orders : The expression '■ riglit of patronage" includes any auvowson, right of presentation, or right of nomination to an ecclesiastical office : The expression " synod " includes any assembly or convention : The expression " property " includes all property, real and personal, including things in action and rights of action ; and where any property is held in trust for or for the benefit of the holder of any ecclesiastical office, or for any cathedral or ecclesiastical corporation,. ESTABLISHED CHURCH (WALES) or that property shall be deemed for the purpoes of this Act to balon to that office or corporation : The expression " house " includes any cartilage or garden appurtenant to the house : The expression " ecclesiastical residence " means any parsonage house and any house of residence of any bishop or member of a cathedral corporation : The expression "cathedral corporation" means any ^ean and chapter, and also any corporation of minor canons, or vicars choral, or any other subordinate corporation of or belonging to or connected with any cathedral or collegiate church in Wales. 33.— Tliis Act may be cited as the AVelsh Church Act, 1894. FIRST SCHEDULE. The erection or support of cottage or other hospitals, or dispensaries, or convalescent homes. The provision of trained nurses for the sick poor. The foundation and maintenance of public parish or district halls, institutes, and libraries. The provision of labourers' dwellings to be let at reasonable rents, and allotments. Technical and higher education, including the establishment and maintenance of a library, museum, or academy of art for Wales. Any other public purpose of local or general utility for which provision is not made by Statute out of public rates. SECOND SCHEDULE. BULES AS TO COMPEXSATION ANN , ITY. Where the compensated holder is at the time of application of the age of FIFTY YEARS or upwards the compensation annuity shall not exceed THREE-FOURTHS of the average net emoluments of his ofifice arising from property transferred to the Welsh Commissioners by this Act during the SEVEN YEARS immediately preceding tlie application. ■ Where the compensated holder is less than fifty years of age a deduction of one fiftieth shall be made from the said three-fourths for every year that is wanting to make up his age to fifty years. DENBIGH : PRINTED BY C. COTTOM AND CO., VALE STREET, les in the 1080 Parishes. I in voluntary gifts on her Z ^ales, has more than doubled. ^B building, founding, and is an advancing Cliurch, an I, rising from elevation to e of its aspects, as a Catholic, agency for any goo>l work, R. Stubbs, Bishop of Oxford. at C o m si" . ^ CO crt- 3r ct J " Well, undoubtetlly ; I am aware that tlie Kstablished Church in Wales is an advancing Chnrcli, an active Church, a living Church, and I hope very distinctly a rising Church, rising from elevation to elevation." — The Right Hon-. W."E. Olaostonk, M.P. (ISni). F»ONDKR. IT (2). The Church in Wales. Fifty Years' Work, 1844—1894. CLERGY AND CHURCUES. (1). Id the last 60 veais the Church has doubled the number of tier Clergy. She h&^ Qow 1500 Clergy for lOUO Parishes, aod tlie average annual income of each is less thftu £200 a year. (3). During the last 50 years. Churchmen in Wales have buUt, re-built, or restored 1228 Churches, (3). upon each of which more than £500 has beeo i spent. (4), During the last 50 years more than £.<,0 10,000 lias been epent on Church Building, a sum [i)- eijual to the capital value of all tlie titho paid to Parochial Incambeots. I EDUCATION. (1). During the last fiO years the Church in Wales has done twenty times as much as all the other religious bodies taken together for Elementary Education in Wales. (2). During the last 40 years in the Diocese of St. As3.ph alone, the Churchmen of that Diocese have spent £;-tO7,O0L) on their National Schools. In the same Diocese during the last 20 years, the number of Scholars in the Nations! Schools has doubled, and is now double the number iu all the Board Schools iu the Diocese. During the last 50 years the uumber of Scholars in the Church Sunday Schools in Wales has increased nearly sixfold. INFIRMARIES and HOSPITALS. (1). Durmg the last 50 years Churchmen in Wales have given £251,0110 towtirds founding Hos- pitals aad similar luititutioiis, and the Noncanformiata have given £2i,000. (2). Of the £24,000 given by Noucoutormists, £16,430 was given in Llandafl Dioce-ie, whore a great part of the wealth belongs to Noaconformists (3), In North Wales the Noucontormists contributed £1,700 to building. Ac, Hospitals, while the Churchmen in North Wales have given £95.300. (4). For the anuuil miintsnanco of Hospitals, &c., Churchmen in North Wales have contributed £5,500 a yeav, aod the Nonconformist £820. (5). During the last 51 years Churchmen in Walei have contributed to the building, founding, aud maintenance of Hospitals, &c., in Wales, £751,000. SUmilVIARY. During the last CO j'oars the Church in Wales iias doubh^d the number of her Clergy. During the last 60 years the Church in Wales has spent more than ^^3,000,000 on Church Building. During the last 50 years the Church in Wales has built or restored 1228 Churches in the 1080 Parishes. Din-ing the last 50 years the Church iu Wales has spent more than ^1,000,000 in voluntary gifts on her National Schools. During the last 50 years the number of Children in the National Schools, in Wales, has more than doubled. During the last 50 years the Cliurch in Wales has snent ^£750, 000 upon the building, founding, aud maintenance of Hospitals, Infirmaries, aud similar Institutions. Was not Mr. Gladstone right when he said that "the Estabhshed Church in Wales is an advancing Church, an active Church, a living Church, and I hope very distinctly a rising Church, rising from elevation to elevation " ? CD B ■^B I I o K " The attack on the Church in Wales is an attacli on the Church of England iu every one of its aspects, as a Catholic, national, historic Church, as a spiritual body, and as an established institution ; aud as au agency for any good work, moral, intellectual, social, or political, not to say religious, missionary, aud educational." — Da. Siubbs, Bishop of Oxford. -^ /&> /^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. m. x:ju. ••»'-*•'• 5103 A handbook on defence. UC sniJTHPRf^ REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 701 394 9 BX 5103 E26h ^'* '1 i^ t{r^' '*V^j I i