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 THE 
 
 CASE OF THE CHFRCH IN WALES. 
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. W. L. BEVAX, M.A., 
 
 CANON OF ST. DAVID'S. AND VICAR OF HAT, 
 
 Author of " Letter.'^ to Libkr.^tioxists,"' 
 •'KEpr.Y TO Mr. H. Richard," "Two Essays ox the Chikch is VV.u.e.s." 
 
 PRICE SIXPENCE. 
 
 THE CHURCH DEEEXCE rXSTITUTJOX, 
 9, BRIDGE STREET. WESTMINTSTEK, S.W.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN thu following Essay the Author iias cudeavoured to present in 
 a concise and connected form the substance of former Essays, 
 composed, as occasion arose, on separate topics connected witli tlie 
 past history and. present j)osition of the Church in Wales. He Jias 
 found the task more difficult, and the result less satisfactory, tluin 
 he liad anticipated. Dealino-, as he has proposed, mainly with cljarges 
 of inefficiency brought against the Church by Liberationists, it nuiv 
 very possibly seem to tlif^ friends of the Church that he has given 
 such prominence to this topic as to shut out of view the nuin\- 
 favourable signs of revived energy and success which greet the eye 
 in almost every part of Wales. But unless the Essay had hwu 
 extencknl to greater length, it Avas absolutely impossible to deal satis- 
 factorily with every aspect of the subject, and the Author must hra 
 his readers to bear hi mind the limited scope of his enquiry, Avliich 
 is to expose the fallacies and exaggerations of Liberationist orators 
 in their attempts to depreciate the Church in the eyes of the j)ul)hc. 
 To a certain extent Jie feels liimself relieved of the duty of \in(li- 
 cating the present clmracter of the Church by the admissions of lici- 
 assailants, who, for the most part, are ready to acknowledge the 
 marked revival of life and energy in lier midst, though they (|ua]if\- 
 such admissions with the assertion that nothing comes of it all. We 
 may accept their admission, and leave it to time and observation to 
 show whether life and energy Avill prove to be fruitless. 
 
 March Ut, 1886.

 
 THE CASE 
 
 THE CHURCH IN WALES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sect. 1. Object of this Essay. — Sect. 2. Charges brought against the 
 Chwch. — Sect. 3. The charge of failure as formulated by Mr. 
 Dill-v\^yn. — Sect. 4. Statistical errors in the estimates of Church- 
 men made by Mr. Dillwyn and Dr. Kees. — Sect. 5. Distribution 
 of Nonconformists in Wales. 
 
 Sect. 1, — The object whicli the author of this Essay has in 
 view is not to deny, or even extenuate the shortcomings of the 
 Church in Wales, but to define (as far as may be) their true 
 extent and character, and to refer them to theii' true causes. 
 He does' not address himself to Liberationists : he is willing 
 at the outset to concede to them all that they seem to 
 think requisite to justify their measures against the Church, 
 namely, that it is in a minority as compared with Noncon- 
 formity. His admission of the fact must not be regarded as 
 an admission of the justice of the claim which Liberationists 
 have founded upon it. But a discussion on this point would 
 lead him away from his present object, which is concerned 
 rather Avith the credit, than Avith the property or position of 
 the Church. It is in the hope that there exists outside the 
 circle of Liberationism a body of judicially minded persons, 
 both among Welsh Nonconformists and English Churchmen,
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 who are willing to sift the truth of tlie charges brought 
 agaiijst the Church iu Wales, and to take other matters into 
 consideration beyond the mere fact of its being in a 
 minority, that the author ventures to put forth the following 
 plea. 
 
 Sect. 2. — The charges alleged against the Church in 
 Wales may be summarised under the following three heads : 
 that it is an alien institution ; that it has been negligent 
 and corrupt ; and that it is now a failure. We place these 
 charges in the sequence which they hold in the argument 
 of its assailants, their contention (as we understand it) 
 being that the specific cause of the failure and other defects 
 attributed to the Church, in Wales, is its alien character. 
 As we do not recognise the truth of the sequence, we shall 
 give precedence to the accusation of failure, Avith a view to 
 show that the degree to which it exists has been ^grossly 
 exaggerated, and that the ivealcness (rather than "failure") 
 which we acknowledge to exist is attributable to other 
 causes than those above mentioned. 
 
 Sect. 3. — The charge of failure has been formulated by 
 Mr. Llewellyn Dillwyn, M.P. for Swansea Town, in the 
 following terms, extracted from his Parliamentary motion 
 on the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales : — " That 
 it has failed in its professed object of promoting the 
 interests of the Welsh people, and ministers only to a small 
 minority." We have here two distinct allegations ; one that 
 the Church has failed to promote the interests of the Welsh 
 people, the other that it ministers only to a small minority. 
 These, we say, are distinct allegations, which may be 
 separately discussed and Avhich are not necessarily con- 
 sequent one upon the other. It is clearly- possible that the 
 Church may, according to its means and opportunities, have 
 promoted the interests of the Welsh people, and yet have 
 failed to secure a majority of adherents. But no attention, 
 as far as we know, has been paid to the distinctness of these
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales 
 
 allegations, it "being assumed that no farther evidence of the 
 truth of the first is needed than what is supplied by the 
 second. The effect of this has been to narrow the field of 
 observation, shutting out a great deal that might be said as 
 to various ways in which the Church has promoted the 
 interests of the Welsh people, and basing the whole case 
 against it on the mere question of which is at the present 
 moment the strongest — the Church or Nonconformity. We 
 protest against suchi a restriction, and we request our 
 readers to bear in mind the distinctness of these propo- 
 sitions, while we proceed to follow Mr. Dillwyn in his 
 allegation as to the Church ministering only to a small 
 minority. 
 
 Sect. 4. — Mr. Dillwyn's evidence that the Church ministers 
 only to a small minority was laid before the public in a 
 speech which he delivered at the time of the Liberationist 
 Conference, at Swansea, in 1884. Before detailing that 
 evidence, it may prove serviceable to English readers if we 
 point out an ambiguity attaching to the terms "Wales " and 
 "Welsh," which has led to a considerable amount of con- 
 fusion. Wales proper consists (as everyone knows) of the 
 twelve counties specified in the Act of Henry VIII. ; but 
 in addition to this, the name is popularly used as inclusive 
 of Monmouthshire, which belongs, both ethnogTaphically 
 and geographically, to the same district. These two are 
 included in a single Registration division, as given in the 
 Census Report, but with different areas and populations 
 from those which belong to the counties proper.* The 
 
 * The variety of areas to which we have ahoxe adverted originates 
 in the fact that Wales has no natural boundary on the side of England, 
 in other words, is not a separate country from England. The boun- 
 dary is a purely artificial one, and is frequently unmarked even by a 
 brook. The valleys of the Severn, Wye and Dee open out towards 
 England, and the routes lie open along the northern and southern 
 coasts. The absence of all natural boundary has a bearing on the 
 
 B 2
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 expression " Welsh " similarly applies to various areas 
 according as the topic under discussion may require. The 
 "Welsh Church," for instance, might either be used for the 
 four Welsh dioceses, which include parts of England (viz., 
 Monmouthshire and a portion of Shropshire), but do not 
 include the whole of Wales, inasmuch as portions of 
 Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire belong to the diocese of 
 Hereford ; or again, it may be used as descriptive of that 
 which is distinctive of the Church in Wales, namely, its 
 language, its history and traditions : and so, again, the 
 expression "Welsh people" may be used to designate 
 exclusiveh" the Welsh-speaking people as distinct from the 
 other inhabitants of Wales. Lastly, Ave may notice that 
 Welsh Nonconformity has been introduced into the large 
 towns of England where colonies of Welshmen have settled, 
 and that in some cases the congTcgations are included in the 
 reports of the Nonconformist bodies. It is important to 
 keep these distinctions in view, particularly in connection 
 with Nonconformist statistics. Neither in his motion nor in 
 his statistical statement has Mr. Dillwyn recognised the dis- 
 tinctions marked out in the foregoing sentences. By using 
 the expression "Welsh people" without any explanation, he 
 conveys to the public mind a very exaggerated idea, of the 
 shortcomings of the Church. Unless we are much mistaken, 
 nine out of ten Englishmen would understand by " Welsh 
 people" the population of Wales as a Avhole. But what is Mr. 
 Dillwyn's own explanation as reported in the South Wales 
 Daily Nev:s ? "No doubt the Church pi'omoted the interests of 
 its own communion. But he would ask any one who knew 
 Wales whether, if the rich people left Wales proper, from 
 
 general question of special legislation for Wales. Those who live 
 in proximit}' to the border feel it to be an anomaly that two parishes 
 in all respects of similar character, and maintaining constant inter- 
 'jourse with each other, should be placed under different laws.
 
 The Case of the Church in Walei 
 
 wMcli he e:^cluded the large towns where there was a consi- 
 derable population of English, they believed there would be 
 any Church at all in Wales." These are very large deductions 
 from the population of Wales : and if (as we assume) Mr. 
 Dillwyn would extend his remarks to the English-speaking 
 areas in the border counties and in South Pembrokeshire ; 
 and if we add to these a large number of Welsh-speaking 
 people who receive the ministrations of the Church, it is 
 difficult to say what would be the numerical value of the 
 population which he exempts from his accusation. But of 
 all this there is no inkling whatever in the terms of his 
 motion. Then as to his statistical statement, which was 
 drawn up in a way peculiar to LiberpLlionists by making the 
 number of Churchmen to depend on the number of Non- 
 conformists, the former being represented by the balance 
 left after deducting the latter (together with the non- 
 worshippers) from the gross population, we find most serious 
 deductions made from the number of Churchmen by trans- 
 ferring to Wales proper figures that belong to other areas. 
 Instead of taking the population of Wales proper he has 
 taken that of Wales as a Registration division and has thus 
 reduced Churchmen by 16,000 ; though professing to quote 
 Nonconformist returns applying to Wales alone, he has 
 included 10,570 Cahdnistic Methodists in Monmouthshire, 
 40 congregations of the same body living in the border 
 counties, 7,579 Congregationalists living in various parts of 
 England, and about 25,000 Wesleyans living outside of 
 Wales — these numbers being in each case exclusive of 
 children — and the correction of these errors alone would go 
 far to raise the number of Churchmen some 50 per cent.* 
 
 * Mr. Dillwyn's statement Avas as follows : — " Tlie Congreg-atioualists 
 number 253,016 ; tlie Calvinistic IMcthodists, 250,27'1' ; Jiaptists, 
 144,307 ; Wesleyans, 78,580 ; Primitive Methodists, 17,767 ; other 
 sects, 8,000 5 making a total of 751,944. The population of 'Wales 
 in 1881 was 1,343,227. Deducting the Nonconformists as above,
 
 The Case of the Ghurcli in Wales. 
 
 The same errors (with the exception of the 10,570 Calvinistic 
 Methodists) were made by Dr. E,ees in estimating the 
 number of Churchmen for Wales and Monmouthshire ; and 
 he made a furthei- addition to the Nonconformist side of no 
 less than 24,861 Calvinistic Methodists living in other parts 
 of England, and about 27,000 Baptists to bring them up to 
 the round number of 200,000.* The statements of Mr. 
 Dillwyn and Dr. Rees, though delivered on the same occa- 
 
 268,645 children under four years of age, taken as one-fifth of the 
 population, and, say, 30,000 Roman Catholics and 150,000 of no 
 religion, that left to be accounted for, as belonging to the Church, 
 142,639." It will be observed that on this method of calculation 
 every error in the preceding items affects the number of Churchmen. 
 We have already specifi.ed erroneous additions to the Nonconformists 
 amounting to about 50,000 (allowing 8,000 for the 40 congregations), 
 and we have yet to reduce by a large amount the number of children, 
 so that Mr. Dillwyn should have stated the balance of Churchmen at 
 something like 330,000 without or 370,000 with children. 
 
 * Dr. Rees's computation resembles Mr. Dillwyn' s in its structure, 
 but differs from it both as respects area (Monmouthshire being in- 
 cluded by the former), and also as respects the errors introduced 
 into it. It runs as follows : — " Congregationalists, 276,201 ; Calvinistic 
 Methodists, 274,605 ; Baptists, 200,000 ; Weslcyans, 86,438 ; Primitive 
 Methodists, 19,382 ; other sects, 10,000 ; making a total of 866,626 
 Nonconformist members and hearers. Add children under five above 
 200,000, and this brings the Nonconformist numbers to 1,100,000, leaving 
 a balance of 474,000 from the population. From this subtract 30,000 
 Roman Catholics, and non-religious 224,000. There will be left 220,0u0 
 for Churchmen." It is but fair to state that Sir Hussey Vivian, M.P., 
 denies that Dr. Rees committed any error of the kind imputed to him. 
 In a correspondence which took place in the Western Mail between 
 himself and the author of this Essay, and which has since been pub- 
 lished in pamphlet form, under the title of " Welsh Denominational 
 Statistics," he allows that Dr. Rees included 7,579 Congregationalists 
 and 24,861 Calvinistic Methodists, who were living outside the specified 
 area of the 13 counties, but he somehow finds in this fact evidence 
 that Dr. Rees did not include Welshmen living in England. His 
 words are these: — "In the above-named work (viz., Dr. Rees's "His- 
 tory of Nonconformity") he gives 32,440 as belonging to the Con- 
 gregationalist and Calvinistic Methodist denominations alone. It is, 
 therefore, abundantlv evident that in claiming 1,100,000 as the Non-
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 sion, apply (be it observed) to different areas, and it would 
 appear as tliougli Liberationist leaders had not agreed among 
 themselves as to what is to be inclnded under the Dis- 
 establishment of the Church in Wales — whether it is to be 
 confined to Wales proper (including the parishes now in an 
 English diocese), or whether it is to be extended so as to 
 take in parts of England itself. The errors already noticed 
 conduced, of course, to make the Church a "small" minority, 
 as expressed in the terms of Mr. Dillwyn's motion. There See Appen- 
 
 . "^ (lixA, p. 78. 
 
 are, however, m these calculations other elements which con- 
 tribute to the same result. We refer to the items of the 
 non- worshippers, or irreligious section, and the children. As 
 to the former, their number is a pure matter of conjecture ; 
 consequently the statistician has it in his power to enlarge or 
 diminish it as suits his purpose. Dr. Rees estimated it in 
 his " History of Nonconformity " at " half a million of men p- 465. 
 and women," exclusive (as we supjiose) of children ; but, 
 finding that by so large an estimate he had crowded out the 
 whole body of Churchmen, he felt no difficultT in reducing 
 the number, without a word of explanation, to 224,000, 
 inclusive of children, while Mr. Dillwyn kept him in ct<un- 
 tenance by placing the number at 150,000 for the 12 
 counties, exclusive of children. But Avhat value can possibly 
 attach to statistical statements which admit of such varia- 
 tions as exist between Dr. Rees in his " History "' and 
 Dr. Rees in his speech, though the interval -between them 
 was one of only a few months ? Anything may be jDroved 
 by such a method. A similar latitude was taken in reference 
 to the children : Mr. Dillwyn placed his limit at four years 
 of age and Dr. Rees at five years, while Sir Hussey Vi^dan 
 
 conformist numbers for Wales and Monmouthshire, Dr. Rees did not 
 include Welshmen hving in England." We confess our inability to 
 giasp this argument : the 32,440 were undoubtedly included in the 
 1,100,000, and therefore supply evidence that residents in England 
 were included.
 
 The Ctue of the Church hi Wales. 
 
 (as quoted in the Report on Intermediate Education in 
 Wales), in a speech delivered in the House of Commons on 
 the educational question, advanced it to 10 years. However, 
 it made little difference what age was stated, inasmuch as 
 the proportion assumed to exist between the children and 
 the population did not perceptibly differ in the three cases. 
 Yet it seems singular that the number of children under four 
 should be equal, or nearly so, to the number under 10. We 
 do not, of course, pretend to know where the limit lies at 
 which Nonconformists regard a child as a ''hearer." It pro- 
 bably is a varying' one, according to the judgment of in- 
 dividuals. But why should the number of Churchmen be 
 made to depend on such an element of uncertainty- as this ? 
 And why should not statisticians who choose to state a 
 certain age make their calculations according to that age, 
 instead of putting down at random such a number of chil- 
 dren as suits their purpose ':' Both Mr. Dillwyn and Dr. Bees 
 exaggerated the number enormously, enhancing thereby the 
 strength of ]Sronconformity and diminishiiig to an equal 
 extent the strength of the Church. The impression Avhich 
 the examination of these statistical statements conveys to 
 the mind is (to speak plainly) this — that the conclusion had 
 been fixed before the calculation was entered upon. Dr. Bees 
 had decided that Churchmen were not to be more than one- 
 seventh of the population ; and the items of the account were 
 adjusted to make them appear as such. The same conclu- 
 sion was intended doubtless to be ai'i-ived at by Mr. Dillwyn, 
 but by inadvertence he estimated it at one-ninth instead of 
 one-seventh, not having observed apparently that his balance 
 of Churchmen was exclusive of children. The only result 
 that can in any way be extracted from these statements 
 is that the Nonconformists claim about five-ninths of the 
 population. As to the remaining four-ninths they tell in 
 reality nothing. We neither accept nor reject that estimate ; 
 we merely state the effect of the figures laid before us.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 Sect. 5. — Thus far we have treated the denominational 
 statistics of Wales as a whole : we have shown that the 
 number of IS^onconformists has been exaggerated bj un- 
 warrantable additions of various kinds with a view to crowd 
 out Churchmen, and that when these additions are removed 
 and the statements of Mr. Dillwyn and Dr. Rees are 
 rectified, the proportions between Church and Noncon- 
 formity will be largely altered. It will tend to confirm this 
 conclusion and to elucidate the general question if we look 
 a little closer into these denominational statistics, and 
 observe them by counties, or groups of counties. We may, 
 for instance, compare the border counties with the interior 
 counties. It will be found (if we mistake not) that the great 
 sti^ength of ]S^onconformity lies in the second of these divi- 
 sions. Taking the statistics of the four chief bodies, Congre- 
 gationalists, Calvinistic Methodists, Baptists, and Wesleyans 
 — as given in Dr. Rees's " History," for the two first, in the 
 " Handbook" and "Minutes of Conference " for the two last, we 
 come to the conclusion that while the seven border counties 
 (Monmouth and Glamorgan included) contain two-thirds of 
 the population, they cannot claim much more than half the 
 number of Nonconformists : consequently the remaining half 
 is all concentrated in the one-third of the population which 
 occupies the six interior or western counties. A further 
 conclusion flowing out of this subdivision is this : that in 
 the seven border counties there is a much larger residuum 
 of population outside the pale of Nonconformity than 
 Dr. Rees allows for the whole of Wales — a circumstance 
 which tends to show the fallaciousness of his whole calcu- 
 lation. It is, therefore, quite impossible to say (except in the 
 language of pure hyperbole) of two-thirds of Wales that the 
 inhabitants are a " nation of Nonconformists " ; a moiety of 
 that section of the population are not Nonconformists, 
 whatever else they may be, and there is abundance of room 
 left for strength and vigour in the Chui'ch. This important
 
 10 The Case of the Ohurch in Wales, 
 
 feature, however, is disguised by the abnormal returns of the 
 Nonconformists in the other six counties. If the correctness 
 of those returns can be sustained, then it must be allowed 
 that in that part of the country the inhabitants are a nation 
 of Nonconformists ; under any circumstances it must be 
 conceded that Nonconformity is largely predominant there — 
 pre-eminently so in the Counties of Merioneth, Carnarvon 
 and Anglesea, and in a less degree in the three counties of 
 South Wales, where the Church is strong in various districts. 
 But whether the Nonconformist returns can be sustained, is 
 a question on which each person must form his own 
 judgment : and in order to supply some materials foi' such 
 a purpose, we will state the ratios which the "members,'' 
 that is, communicants, of the four leading denominations 
 jointly, bear to the population of each county. They are as 
 follow : — Pembroke 26 per cent., Anglesea 31 per cent., 
 Carmarthen 34 per cent., Carnarvon 32 per cent., Cardigan 
 39 per cent., and Merioneth 34 per cent. Now, let anyone 
 consider what is meant by a percentage, say, of 33 per cent. 
 of communicants to the population. Deducting 37 per 
 cent, from the total population foi- children under the age 
 of membership (say 15), there Avould remain 30 per 
 cent, for non-communicants of those bodies and all other 
 persons over the age of 15. This, it may be said, is not 
 impossible : a population may be so well worked up, that 
 the non-communicants may be reduced to a minim,um 
 or even to nil ; and Nonconformist leaders may claim that 
 they have achieved this in parts of Wales, though in point 
 of fact, they acknowledge an appreciable numbei* of hearers 
 as distinct from members. But what is the case before 
 us ? Not only 33 per cent., but 34 per cent, and even 
 up to 39 per cent, are claimed by four bodies alone, to the 
 exclusion of the minor bodies of Nonconformists, the 
 Church, Roman Catholics, and the non-religious section. 
 Without saying that this is impossible, is it probable ? It
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. .11 
 
 is absurd to say that there are absolutely no Churchmen in 
 those counties : thej are found in considerable force in the 
 neighbourhoods of Carnarvon and Bangor, and along the 
 coast line eastward of the latter place ; thej hold no un- 
 important place in Cardiganshire, from which they are 
 practically excluded by the Nonconformist statistics ; and 
 though in the country parishes of other counties (South 
 Pembrokeshire excluded, where they are present in force) 
 they may be but thinly strewn, yet the aggregate number 
 of these would tell in a percentage. Room must be found 
 for such Churchmen as exist, and we question whether the 
 denominational returns allow of any. Is their existence, 
 then, to be ignored on the evidence of returns which are 
 not open to our inspection ? And are these returns to affect 
 the Church, not only in the localities to which they apply, 
 but throughout the whole of Wales ? We have still to draw 
 the attention of the reader to the fact that, if these returns 
 are correct, there can be no irreligious people in some 
 counties of North Wales. But can this be true ? We 
 fancy that we have heard of their existence from Noncon- 
 formist sources of information : but the returns leave no 
 room for them. However, not to discuss these details, 
 we may assert that the point to which w^e have adverted is 
 one of the greatest importance for a sound judgment on the 
 religious condition of Wales. The proportion of Noncon- 
 formists in the six counties containing one-third of the 
 population is double of that in the seven counties con- 
 taining two-thirds of the population. If the sufficiency 
 of Nonconformity for the wants and aspirations of the 
 people is to form the ground of the Church's condem- 
 nation, the area to which any legislation founded on that 
 condition should extend, ought in justice to be restricted 
 to those districts within which Nonconformity has met with 
 such marked, though possibly exaggerated, success.
 
 12 The Case of the Church in Wcdes. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sect. 1. Linguistic condition of Wales. — Sect. 2. Proportion of Church- 
 men to Dissenters as fixed by Liberationists. — Sect. 3. Libera- 
 tionist estimates tested by indications of Church strength. 
 Sect. 4. Church progress in Wales : comparison with Church in 
 England. — Sect. 5. Distribution of Churchmen in Wales. — 
 Sect. 6. Churches and Church Accommodation. — Sect. 7. Number 
 and Distribution of Clergy, 
 
 Sect. 1. — We may at this point deviate somewhat from 
 our immediate purpose to notice the linguistic condition of 
 Wales, which has formed an important factor in settling the 
 relative positions of Church and Dissent. The leading 
 authority on this subject is Mr. Ravenstein, who read a 
 paper on it before the Statistical Society, w^hich is published 
 in its journal for 1879. Whether there are data sufficient 
 for dealing with so variable an element as bi-lingualism 
 we will not undertake to say. Suffice it that Mr. Raven- 
 stein has done all that could be done. Some misapprehen- 
 sion has gone abroad as to the result of his inquiries. The 
 Report of the Departmental Committee on Intermediate 
 Education quotes it thus: — "Out of a population of 1,426,514 
 in Wales and Monmouthshire no less than 1,006,100 habi- 
 tually speak Welsh." We deem this neither a correct nor a 
 complete version of Mr. Ravenstein's opinion. The number 
 stated includes the Welsh-speaking population living out- 
 side the specified area, and the word " habitually " is an 
 interpolation. The number of "Welsh-speaking people in 
 Wales was given as 934,530, and of these Mr. Ravensteiu 
 estimated that 640,420 spoke both Welsh and English; in
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 13 
 
 what proportions they used either language he did not 
 attempt to define, and it is therefore incorrect to say that all 
 bi-lingualists habitualhj speak Welsh. The mere fact that 
 they can speak English implies that they do speak it, some 
 more, others less, according as occasion calls for its use. 
 The general conclusion to be drawn from Mr. Ravenstein's 
 estimate is this — that in 1879, 20*8 per cent, of the popu- 
 lation spoke only Welsh, 33*8 per cent, only English, and 
 the remaining 45 '4 per cent, both Welsh and English. 
 The distribution of the languages is roughly as follows : — 
 English prevails throughout a band of varying width along 
 the border, including the whole of Radnorshire and the 
 greater part of Monmouthshire ; along the southern sea- 
 board, particularly in Gower and South Pembrokeshire ; and 
 to a considerable extent along the northern seaboard. Welsh 
 is predominant in the six interior counties with such excep- 
 tions as we have noticed. A strong indication of its pre- 
 dominance in these is furnished by Mr. Ravenstein's com- 
 putation that nearly two-thirds of the monoglot Welsh live 
 in them. It will hardly have escaped the observation of the 
 reader that the area of the predominance of Welsh is also the 
 area of the marked predominance of Nonconformity. Another 
 point deserves attention : as the two languages have in 
 certain quarters their separate areas, we may speak of a 
 "border" between them; but we ought in such a case to 
 make it clear in what sense we use the term. Mr. Osborne 
 Morgan seems to us not to have taken this precaution in his 
 recent article in the Nineteenth Century, where he speaks of 
 the churches of Wales as presenting an aspect of emptiness 
 and'desolation " as soon as the border is crossed." By way 
 of illustrating his meaning he supposes a traveller to start 
 fi'om some point on the north coast (which he excludes from 
 his remarks as being occupied by English colonies) and to 
 strike into the interior, where he will find the churches half 
 emjDty. What, then, is the bordei- of which Mr. Morgan is
 
 14 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 speaking ? Evidently the linguistic boi-der, and not the 
 political border between England and Wales. We arrive 
 at this conclusion, not only from the illustration which he 
 has used, but from the undoubted fact that for the greater 
 part of the political border no difference whatever can be 
 discerned in the size of the congregations on the English and 
 Welsh sides ; yet nine i-eaders out of ten would infer that 
 Mr. Morgan intended to represent the whole of Wales as 
 included in his description. Throughout his article he 
 ignores the work of the Church in the districts where it is 
 strongest — in this agreeing with Mr. Dillwyn, who excepts 
 from the " Welsh people," whose interests he accuses the 
 Church of not having promoted, Church adherents in general, 
 and all places in which the English language predominates. 
 We do not recognise the justice of this. The linguistic diffi- 
 culty has been the misfortune, not the fault, of the Church, 
 Avhich is bound to minister to all Avithin the border of Wales, 
 whatever be the language they speak. 
 
 Sect. 2. — Reverting to the subject of Church adherents, 
 we have stated our belief that the proportion which they 
 bear to the population Avas arbitrarily settled long before 
 Mr. Dillwyn or Dr. Rees entered on their calculations. The 
 same may be said as to the proportion they bear to Noncon- 
 formists ; for this is another mode of exhibiting the depres- 
 sion of the Church ; and the two modes are used indifferently, 
 so as to become somewhat puzzling to the public, and even 
 (as it would seem) to Liberationists themselves. The late 
 Dr. Rees, for instance, having in 1884 proved to his own 
 satisfaction that Churchmen formed a seventh part of the 
 population, a few months af tei'wards stated at Bridgwater that 
 Churchmen were to Nonconformists as one in nine, adding 
 that this was a liberal estimate for them. It did not seem 
 to have occurred to him that the two statements ai-e abso- 
 lutely irreconcilable with one another; for if Churchmen 
 are both one-seventh of the population and one-eighth of
 
 The Gcbse of the Church in Wales. 15 
 
 Nonconformists, it follows that IS^onconformists are more 
 than the whole population. But Welsh Liberationists are 
 seldom staggered bj these trifling impossibilities, and they 
 have long since learnt the value of hardy and persistent 
 assertion. At what date these proportions were first decided 
 we are unable to state ; we can trace it back as far as the 
 year 1846, when Mr. (afterwards Sir) Hugh Owen under- 
 took a private census extending over 392 parishes, and 
 announced as the result that the proportion of Churchmen to 
 Dissenters was as one to eight. In 1851 this proportion was 
 decisively, upset by the Religious Census which, in spite of 
 the abnormally high returns on the Dissenting side, showed 
 a proportion of 1 to 3*8 attendants at the most numerously 
 attended services. It might have been supposed that this 
 would have superseded Mr. Owen's proportion, but no sooner 
 was it found that the proportion w^as not in accordance with 
 their wishes than Mr. H. Richard and Dr. Rees agreed to 
 throw it overboard and to revert to the old estimate, 
 Dr. Rees asserting that " the proportion of Dissenters to Richard, 
 
 ^ ^ ^ "Letters 
 
 Churchmen throughout the Principality may be put down as and ^^ 
 one to eight ; but in many of the rural and manufacturing P- !•• 
 districts^ the preponderance of Dissenters is much greater." 
 The only ground alleged to justify this reversal of the 
 verdict of the Census, unsatisfactory as it was to Church- 
 men, was that pressure had been put on dependents and 
 school-children to attend church on that day. We adduce 
 this as an illustration of the manner in which Liberationists 
 deal with any indications of Church strength. Mr. Osborne 
 Morgan furnishes us with a further illustration of the same 
 tendency. Ref errino- to attendance at Church, he savs • — Nineteenth 
 
 'J Century, 
 
 I put aside the large body of people who are dependent on i^^^, 
 the wealthier classes, and who naturally gravitate to the 
 same place of worship. For in Wales, not only are most of 
 the persons whose circumstances enable them to give em- 
 ployment or dispense relief to their poorer neighbours,
 
 IG The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 members of the Cliurcli of England, but the jidministration 
 of local charities is almost exclusively in the hands of the 
 clergy." We say nothing as to the slur cast equally on 
 clergy and laity — the former as bribing, the latter as willing 
 to be bribed — nor again as to the inconsistency of this double 
 accusation with Mr. Morgan's own admission that the doles 
 are "in most cases fairly and impartially distributed" — 
 what we ^^dsh to remark is the determination not to allow 
 the Church credit for any measure of success it may have to 
 show. If any of the labouring class are found inside a 
 church they are stigmatised as "paupers" looking out for 
 the loaves and fishes, and therefore to be set down as nil in 
 the estimate of Church strength. 
 
 Sect. 3. — The plea put forth by Liberationists in apology 
 for their method of settling the number of Churchmen in 
 Wales, is that the Church has not furnished any official 
 statement of its own on the subject. This is perfectly true , 
 and the Church is wise in refraining from doing so, inas- 
 much as it would be impossible to produce statistics that 
 would be conclusive. No doubt, the Chui^ch might furnish 
 lists of communicants, though experience has shown that 
 it is by no means easy to attain correctness even in this 
 particular. But there is a wide step between communicants 
 and adherents : the latter must be to a great extent a 
 matter of computation, and the ratio that the one of these 
 bodies bears to the other is a variable one even in dif- 
 ferent parts of the same religious community, and still 
 more as between different Communities. The outer fringe of 
 occasional ^vorshippers is larger at church than at chapel, 
 and even outside that fringe the Church extends her minis- 
 trations, and can claim credit for the work she does in w^hat 
 is termed the non-religious class. It suits the purpose of 
 Nonconformity in measuring itself against the Church to 
 treat this unfortunate section of oui- countrymen as though 
 it were non-existent. We cannot agree with this view, and
 
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 17 
 
 decline to have the Chiircli's work valued simply by the 
 number wlio habitually worship within the walls of its 
 buildings. But while the Church puts forth no formal 
 estimate of its adherents, it nevertheless furnishes indica- 
 tions which would enable Liberationists to test the sound- 
 ness of the estimates they put forth on its behalf. Mr. 
 Dillwyn, in his speech at Swansea, said that he had exa- 
 mined the charge then recently delivered by the Bishop 
 of St. David's without finding the information he needed. 
 Yet, if he had looked a little more closely he would have 
 found sufficient material for throwing doubt on his own 
 estimate of 142,639 as the number of Church people in Wales 
 proper down to the age of four years. The diocese of St. David's 
 contains more than a third of the population of Wales, 
 and the section of population which would fall to its lot 
 under Mr. Dillwyn's estimate would be about 55,000, or, 
 accepting his exaggerated ratio for children under four, 
 about 62,500. Now the annual number of baptisms that 
 should take place in a population of that amount would 
 be (if we have rightly calculated them) 2,375 ; but the 
 number reported by the Bishop was 4,884. The annual 
 number of confirmation candidates would be 1,250 ; but 
 the number reported by the Bishop was 2,439. The number 
 of communicants taken at 25 per cent, would be 15,625, 
 but the returns of the clergy gave them as 33,560. The 
 number of scholars should not, according to Mr. Dillwyn's 
 estimate, exceed 11,500 ; but the clergy returned the aver- 
 age attendance at 23,108. And while Mr. Dillwyn affirmed 
 that if the rich and the English-speaking people left Wales 
 there would be no Church left in it, the Bishop reported 
 that the highest return of communicants came from the 
 most Welshy county in his diocese — Cardiganshire. Now, 
 unless Mr. Dillwyn is prepared to say that Church I'eturns 
 are worthless, we do not see how he is to evade the con- 
 clusion that he has fully halved the number of Churcli 
 
 c
 
 18 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 adherents in the diocese of St. David's. And in suggesting 
 this correction of his estimate, we do not take into account 
 occasional worshippers or nominal adherents. The value of 
 the returns may undoubtedly vary, and in all cases their 
 effect may be disputed by unfriendly critics. The baptisms 
 are registered ; the confirmation candidates ai'e provided 
 with tickets handed to the Bishop, who may be depended 
 on for correct enumeration of them. As far as the figures 
 go, such returns are indisputable, and their effect can only 
 be modified by assuming that the participants may be 
 members of Dissenting families. This may be possible, 
 though such cases can hardly be so numerous as to mate- 
 rially affect the value of the indication ; and even these 
 may be adduced as evidence that the hereditary attach- 
 ment to the Church's ordinances has not died out among 
 the Nonconformists of Wales. The same interpretation 
 might be, with more reason, put on the returns of mar- 
 riages, the correctness of which is not open to question : 
 four man^iages are solemnised at church for every three at 
 chapel, and for every seven at chapel and register office 
 jointly. Assume that the latter place is frequented only by 
 Nonconformists for that purpose, there still remains a pro- 
 portion on the side of the Church which, if not accepted 
 as an indication of Church strength, must be accepted as 
 an indication of Church attachment on the part of a large 
 number of Nonconformists. The same observation must 
 be made in respect to burials : it may be said that there 
 is an unwillingness on the part of Nonconformists to avail 
 themselves as fully as they might of the Burials Amend- 
 ment Act of 1880 in regard to the old churchyards ; but 
 we should be content to rest our case on the burials in 
 public cemeteries, where no such feeling finds place. We 
 might further refer to the number of scholars in Church 
 schools, and in this respect we should certainly claim for 
 the Church the credit of having '' promoted the interests 
 
 <^''' 8c^
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 19 
 
 of the Welsh people," and of having ministered sound 
 religious knowledge to large numbers who do not other- 
 wise avail themselves of its ministrations. Although the 
 train of events has been unfavourable to the maintenance 
 of voluntary schools in country parishes, the Church still 
 educates about three-eighths* of the whole number now 
 attending public elementary schools in "Wales and Mon- 
 mouthshire ; and though many of these children belong to 
 Nonconformist families, we are not aware of any lack of 
 cordiality between the parents and the managers ; we be- 
 lieve, on the other hand, that gratitude is felt by the 
 majority of them for the stand the Church has made in 
 defence of religious education. With regard to interme- 
 diate education it behoves us to speak with caution when 
 we take the number of scholars as an indication of Church 
 strength. The proportion in the endowed schools is two- 
 thirds Churchmen to one- third Dissenters. But it has been 
 loudly asserted that this proportion would have been greatly 
 modified if the Dissenters were not deterred from frequent- 
 ing these schools by the dread of Church inflaence. We 
 cannot refrain fi^om an expression of regret that the Depart- 
 mental Committee, appointed in 1880 to enquire into the 
 general question and into this allegation in particular, did 
 not take more pains to ascertain what proportion ought to 
 have existed between Churchmen and Nonconformists in 
 these schools. They asked for returns from all intermediate 
 schools, proprietary and private as well as endowed, but 
 they did not apparently press for replies, nor do they refer, 
 in connection with the denominational question, to the effect 
 of the replies they received. The number of scholars of 
 both sexes in respect to whom the religious profession was 
 stated amounted to about 6,000, and of these one-half were 
 Church adherents. A considerable proportion of that 
 
 * 108,245 on the books. 78,483 in average attendance. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 . - 
 
 number belonged to the lower section of the middle class, 
 which is generally admitted to have a greater tendency to 
 Nonconformity than the upper section. If the general ave- 
 rage of Churchmen throughout the whole of the middle 
 class Tvas such as is suggested by these returns, is there 
 anything abnormal in the proportion which existed among 
 the 1,540 boys of the upper middle class attending the 
 endowed schools ? With all deference to the Committee, 
 we think that more attention should have been paid to this 
 See Appen- point, before they accepted, as they have done in their 
 report, an explanation which has been largely prejudicial 
 to the Church. The information which they might have 
 obtained if they had been earnest in seeking for it, would 
 have thrown great light on the subject of this essay. There 
 is yet one criterion of Church strength to which we advert 
 with reluctance and diffidence — with reluctance because, 
 speaking for himself personally, the author has no wish to 
 identify the Church with any political party, and with dif- 
 fidence because the criterion is one that is subject to many 
 qualifying considerations in connection with our subject — 
 we refer to the late general election, and we justify our 
 reference to it on the ground that Liberalism in Wales is 
 identified with and, we may almost say, absorbed in Libe- 
 rationism. Whether the Church is identified with Conser- 
 vatism in an equal degree is a question to which we should 
 hesitate to give an affirmative reply : Church Liberals 
 are probably more numerous in Welsh constituencies than 
 Nonconformist Conservatives. However, without "'oino' 
 into a discussion on this point, we may safely assert that 
 the Liberal party identified themselves ^vitli Liberation in 
 the recent election and identified Conservatism Avith Church 
 Defence. There were contests in 29 out of 33 constituencies 
 in the Welsh counties, and in the contested seats the pro- 
 portion of Conservative to Liberal voters was as two to 
 three. Now we are well aware of the various elements of
 
 The Cane of the Church in- Waip^. 21 
 
 uncertainty wliicli attend any transfer of this proportion to 
 the numbers of Churchmen and IN'onconformists : but after 
 making every allowance for abatements on the score of the 
 four uncontested seats which were very largely Liberal, the 
 absentee voters, the unenfranchised, and the Roman Catholics 
 — all of them unknown quantities, as to which each person 
 must form his own judgment — we still think that the num- 
 ber of votes cast on the two sides is absolutely inconsistent 
 with such a degree of weakness as is attributed to the Church ; 
 and this conclusion appears to have been recognised by Non- 
 conformists themselves, if we may judge by the following 
 passage extracted from a letter in the Welsh Tijst as rej)orted 
 in the Western Mail of January 27 last : — " The number who 
 voted for the Liberal candidates is not what the Noncon- 
 formists expected, and the Tory candidates polled much 
 more than we had given them credit for. We contended 
 before the election that Churchmen numbered only one in 
 seven of the population, some said only one in nine. But 
 if we take the voting returns as proofs of the relative 
 strength of Churchmen and Nonconformists, Churchmen 
 must constitute one-third of the population. How are we 
 to account for it ? I cannot profess to give a satisfactory 
 answer. It cannot be denied that many Nonconformists 
 voted for the Tories — more than we are willing to admit." 
 Yet Mr. Richard, with characteristic persistency, says in his 
 Essay on Disestablishment, published in the " Imperial Par- 
 liament " series since the election : — " It is a moderate esti- 
 mate that makes the average relative proportion as six 
 Dissenters to one Churchman." 
 
 Sect. 4. — After all that has been said, it may be objected 
 that we have not stated the number of Churchmen in Wales. 
 We admit it, and plead in excuse that there are no materials 
 at hand for making more than a rough guess, which we are 
 not disposed to do. The only possible method of ascertaining 
 the number either of Churchmen or Dissenters is by an
 
 22 The Case of the Church in Walcf:. 
 
 exhaustive official emimeration of the whole population. 
 As to Dr. Rees's calculation of 1,100,000 Nonconformists, 
 we have shown that it is the outcome, not of enumeration, 
 but of guess-work and palpable errors : and the same may- 
 be said of his calculation of 224,000 Churchmen, which 
 hinges entirely on the correctness of his calculation of 
 ^Nonconformists. If we were called upon to explain to 
 English Churchmen the position of the Church in Wales, we 
 miglit do so by comparison with the Church in England. 
 Going back to the census of 1851, we should show that the 
 Church in Wales was on a level (as far as can be judged by 
 returns of attendance at church) with the Church in that 
 part of England which most closely approximates to it in 
 natural features and in the character of its population, viz. : 
 the Northern counties, comprising Northumberland, Durham 
 (which answers to our coalfield), Cumberland, and West- 
 moreland — that it was above the Church in the great manu- 
 facturing districts of Lancashire and the West Riding of 
 Yorkshire^ — considerably below the Church in the agricul- 
 tural dioceses — and below the general average of the country 
 by about 33 per cent. ; that is to say, that for every three 
 Churchmen in the whole country, there were only two in 
 Wales. Coming to the present time, and taking the returns 
 of confirmations as a point of comparison, it might be shown 
 that Wales is above some of the heavier dioceses ^Man- 
 chester, Durham, and Worcester), on a par with London, 
 very much below the purely agricultural dioceses, and 
 below the general average by the same degree as in 
 1851. At the same time, we should warn our interrogator 
 that the proportions thus ascertained do not serve to fix the 
 positions relative to Nonconformity in the two countries, for 
 the simple reason that the population in Wales is more 
 worked up among the several bodies than in England. The 
 comparison with England may, however, be adduced as 
 evidence that the Church in Wales has made progress
 
 The Case of the Chnrch In Wale>^. 23 
 
 within the last 30 years almost, if not altogether, in an 
 equal degree with her more fortunately situated sister in 
 England. And we draw attention to this feature inasmuch 
 as Mr. Osborne Morgan seems to deny that any progress at 
 all has been made. Such, at all events, is the impression 
 produced by his statements, though he does not say so in so 
 many words. Yet, if our returns are to be trusted, the 
 Church is making rapid progi-ess. Let anyone compare the 
 returns of confirmations for the last 10 or 12 years. We 
 find an increase of 51 per cent, in Bangor diocese in the 
 earlier as compared with the later years, 55 per cent, in 
 St. David's, 28 per cent, in St. Asaph, and 85 per cent, in 
 Llandaff. This remarkable advance is not absolutely in- 
 consistent with Mr. Morgan's statement, that in spite of all 
 the zeal and energy that has been shown, "the relative 
 numbers of Churchmen and Dissenters have not sensibly 
 varied," for it is, of course, possible that Dissent may have 
 progressed pari ]passu with the Church in its inroads on the 
 irreligious section of the community. But we certainly 
 think that the facts we have adduced go far to contradict 
 what Mr. Morgan assumes to be " a fact " — that the clergy 
 "preach for the most part to empty churches and to deaf 
 ears." An ungenerous spirit of studied depreciation per- 
 vades the whole of Mr. Morgan's article. 
 
 Sect. 5. — A further reason for declining to make a 
 numerical statement of the Church strength may be found 
 in the extremely irregular distribution of its forces through- 
 out the Principality. To such an extent does this proceed, 
 that probably Churchmen themselves would not agree to fix 
 on any definite amount ; what would appear too high to one 
 person would appear too low to another, and vice versa, 
 according as each judges by the quarter with which he is 
 best acquainted The census of 1851 may be cited in illus- 
 tration of this. Taking the total attendances as a point o± 
 comparison, it can be shown that one-half of the population
 
 24 The Case of the Church hi Wale?. 
 
 contributed twice the number of attendances that the other 
 did, and that the percentages of attendance to population 
 varied from above 35 to below 5. The percentages further 
 enable us to define, with fair exactness, two great areas of 
 depression in the Church, viz., the coalfield in South Wales, 
 with its dependent sea-ports, and the interior counties of 
 Nortli Wales comprised in the diocese of Bangor. This 
 two-fold depression forms the counterpart of the marked 
 predominance of Dissent in the two divisions of Wales, and 
 in each case the causes that have produced it have been 
 similar, though acting under widely different conditions. 
 The South Wales coalfield presents the difficulty arising 
 out of a rapid aggregation of population in a district where 
 the Church was unprovided with the means, as far as its 
 endowments are concerned, of meeting it. The interior 
 counties of North Wales have suffered in special localities 
 from the same cause, though not to the same extent : other 
 causes have been at work in them, particularly the extreme 
 paucity of clergy in by-gone years as compared generally 
 with the area, 'and occasionally with the population — a 
 paucity accompanied, for the most part, with a corresponding 
 paucity of churches, and which further contributed to 
 neutralise the benefits that should have accrued from the 
 comparative abundance of churches to be found in some 
 quarters. We cannot hero enter into details as regards 
 either of these areas of depression ; but we hope to do so in 
 a subsequent portion of this essay. Our present purpose is 
 to draw attention to the fact, rather than to the explanation 
 of the fact. Liberationists have not failed to avail them- 
 selves of the opening thus afforded them of exhibiting the 
 weakness of the Church in Wales. We have a sample of 
 this in the one-sided attendance censuses which they have 
 forced upon the Church in localities where it is notoriously 
 weak in comparison with Dissent — at Swansea and its 
 adjacent parishes, for instance, where a population exceeding
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 25 
 
 100,000 has gathered in four original parishes, the endow- 
 ments of which a half-century back yielded £716 a-jear — 
 in the Rhondda Yalley, where a population of 55,000 in 
 1881, and now probably mnch larger, has settled on an 
 area within which there existed, in 1831, but the single 
 Church (originally a Chapel-of-ease) of Ystrad-y-fodwg, 
 with an income of £85 a-year, serying for a sparse popula- 
 tion of 1,047 scattered oyer an area of 16 miles in length 
 with a surface of 24,500 acres — and, lastly, in certain groups 
 of country parishes in the interior counties. As regards the 
 two former districts, we are by no means disposed to exone- 
 rate the Church fi'om the charge of tardiness in attempting 
 to meet the emergency that has arisen. The parochial 
 system, admirable as it is in many respects, is too stiff, and 
 the operations of the Church, though solid, too ponderous 
 for such cases. While the Church is making its prepara- 
 tions, Nonconformity steps iu with its free methods, un- 
 hampered by law or traditional usages, and pre-occupies the 
 ground. We commend its readiness, and are perfectly 
 ready to acknowledge its seryices to the cause of religion, 
 morality, and order. But we cannot, on that account, 
 recognise the fairness of the use it has made of its adyan- 
 tages. The whole system of attendance censuses is unfair. 
 Churchmen abhor the idea of conyerting God's house into 
 a polling-booth and God's seryice into the occasion of a 
 political gathering for polemical purposes ; they cannot, there- 
 fore, enter into the spirit of the proceeding with the 
 heartiness which animates Liberationists. The one-sided 
 execution of such a measure is a further source of unfair- 
 ness. Neither at Swansea nor in the Rhondda was the 
 enumeration of the places of worship belonging to the 
 Church complete,* and it was confidently asserted in 
 
 * Early services were not taken into account, an4 at Swansea three 
 places were not visited at all by the enumerators.
 
 26 The Ca.^p of the Church in Walr.^. 
 
 the former case that it was not correct. But the most 
 signal nnfaimess consists in the use made of the figures 
 obtained by means of these censuses. They have been 
 paraded before the country by Liberationist orators in a 
 form which would convey the impression that they were 
 fair samples of the condition of the Church generally. This 
 is done by using vague expressions, such as the following, 
 extracted from the address of the Rev. J. Jones, to the 
 Baptist Union at Swansea : — " In some parishes the propor- 
 tion of Nonconformists to Churchmen is as 13 to 1, in 
 others as 12 to 1, and in other districts as 10 to 1 ;" these 
 proportions apparently referring to the outlying parishes 
 adjacent to Swansea, while no mention is made of the 
 proportion of 3^ to 1 in Swansea proper, with its 60,000 
 inhabitants, nor yet to the proportion of 1^ to 1 in 
 St. Thomas's parish. A still larger degree of unfair- 
 ness attaches to the practice of " surprise " censuses, 
 undertaken by anonymous and irresponsible persons, in 
 localities favourable for such an operation — a proceeding 
 which (it is needless to say) might be retorted with 
 effect by Churchmen, if they were minded to resort to 
 such questionable tactics. The returns so obtained, if 
 extended to chapels as well as churches, show that the 
 " surprise " was one-sided. In no other way can we account 
 for the fact, that in a small parish with a population of 300 
 the Nonconformist attendances reached the imposing amount 
 of 1,055. In another census, a person unknown professes to 
 give a return of attendants at 12 churches morning and 
 evening. In nine cases asterisks occupy the place of the 
 numbers, and these are explained to mean that "the 
 attendance was not ascertained ; in some, services were not 
 held." In two cases the attendance is retui'ned as nil. In 
 only two cases are the attendances at both services recorded, 
 and the oddest part of the thing is, that in one of these the 
 attendance was precisely the same (a round number) at
 
 The Ga^e of the Church in Waley 
 
 hoth. services, the total attendance representing a proportion 
 of 18 per cent, to the population, while the remainder of the 
 gi^onp yields only 2 per cent. It never seems to have 
 occurred to the enumerator that some explanation of this 
 remarkable discrepancy was needed. In yet another case, 
 the writer professes to have ascertained the number of 
 communicants in a group of parishes, and he has reduced 
 them from 62 (an exceptionally small number for the popu- 
 lation) to 10. No doubt there are parishes where the 
 Church has been well-nigh superseded by Nonconformity, 
 and we are not prepared to say that Mr. Morgan's descrip- 
 tion of the state of the churches cannot be verified in some 
 parts of Wales. What we complain of is that such pro- 
 minency should be given to these instances as to convey the 
 impression that they hold good with regard to all Wales. 
 The variations are most strongly marked ; they exist, not 
 only between the border counties and the interior counties, 
 not only between the English-speaking and the Welsh- 
 speaking areas, but also between the town and the country 
 parishes in both of those areas, and between different 
 portions of the Welsh-speaking area. To strike an average 
 between them so as to name the number of Churchmen, we 
 hold to be impossible. 
 
 Sect. 6. — We now turn to another topic which occuj^ies a 
 conspicuous place in Liberationist attacks on the Church, 
 namely, a comparison between the number of chapels and 
 chui'ches in Wales. It will assist the reader in forming a 
 judgment on this matter if we state beforehand the propor- 
 tion which church accommodation ought to bear to the 
 population. It used to be said that there should be sittings 
 for a third of the population, and assuming that the places 
 of worship were conveniently situated and that the sittings 
 were fairly at the ser^ace of the parishioners, such a propor- 
 tion would, under ordinary circumstances, prove sufficient. 
 Large as was the attendance on Census Day in 1S51, the
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 highest percentage of simultaneous presence did not exceed 
 26 per cent, throughout the country at large, nor 35 per 
 cent, even in Wales ; or if we take the higher percentage of 
 the numbers present at the most numerously attended 
 services, the attendance amounted to 36 in the country 
 generally and 52 in Wales. It was, however, estimated by 
 Mr. Horace Mann that 58 per cent, might, as a matter of 
 possibility, be present simultaneously, and it was therefore 
 somewhat unnecessarily assumed that provision should be 
 made for that number, though it is perfectly certain that it 
 would never be actually required, inasmuch as many persons 
 are either irregular worshippers or non-worshippers. But 
 granting that some excess of accommodation above the 
 actual number of attendants is desirable, why should it be a 
 boast of Nonconformists that they have supplied a vast 
 number of sittings that cannot by any possibility be re- 
 quired ? And why should it be constantly cast in the teeth 
 of Churchmen in Wales that they have not committed a 
 similar folly ? The multiplicity of chapels in Wales is a 
 sign, not of the strength, but of the weakness of Dissent. It 
 has its origin in the internal rivalries of the sects, and its 
 effect in the struggle for congregations and in the load of 
 debt which now oppresses Welsh Nonconformity. What 
 the present accommodation in the chapels amounts to w^e are 
 not informed ; but Liberationists never cease to remind the 
 public that in 1851, when the chapels numbered 2,805 for 
 the Welsh counties, they furnished more than 680,000 
 sittings, making, in conjunction with the provision supplied 
 by the Church and the Roman Catholics, a surplusage of 
 cent, per cent, above what was demanded for simultaneous 
 use even on the Census day. The most glaring cases of sur- 
 plusage are given in Table I. (p. 296) of the Census Report, 
 Avhere 25 of the Welsh Registration Districts figure with 
 accommodation varying from 123 per cent, to 92 per cent, 
 of the population. The chapels are now said to number
 
 The Gase of the Ghurch in Wales. 29 
 
 4,361,* some of whicli, however, are located in England : tlie 
 accommodation is not stated, but as the modern chapels are 
 generally built on a larger scale than the earlier ones, we have 
 no difficulty in accepting the statement frequently made that 
 if every church were swept away, there would be plenty of 
 room to accommodate Churchmen in the chapels. How this 
 is to be reconciled with Mr. Osborne Morgan's description of 
 the chapels as filled " to suffocation," we cannot understand. 
 If he is speaking of the counties of Denbigh and Flint, it 
 would be easy to show that as far back as 1851 there was 
 accommodation sufficient for the requirements of the popula- 
 tion as it now stands in 1886, and we presume that chapel- 
 building has not been at a stand-still during those 35 years. 
 Possibly, however, the expression " to suffocation " is only 
 intended to heighten by contrast the desolate condition which 
 he ascribes to the churches. We assume that the accommoda- 
 tion has advanced at no less a ratio than the number of 
 the chapels. However this may be, the comparison now-a- 
 days runs between the number and not the capacity of 
 chapels and churches respectively. We cannot think such a 
 comparison conclusive as a ground of condemnation of the 
 Church. A parish church may offer accommodation equal 
 to two or three chapels jointly, and therefore the capacity as 
 well as the number of buildings should be taken into account. 
 Still more should the question be asked whether the accom- 
 modation furnished by the chapels is really required. If not, 
 the surplusage should be knocked off before any comparison 
 is instituted. Having said thus much in deprecation of the 
 unfair use made of the chapel argument, we are ready to 
 acknowledge that in so far as the Church has failed to pro- 
 vide adequate accommodation, it is open to hostile criticism ; 
 and it has failed to provide it, though not to the extent that 
 
 * The number licensed for marriages is 1,465 for the Welsh Counties 
 Division : the number registered for religious worship is 2,425.
 
 30 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 its opponents would have the world believe. In 1851 its 
 buildings numbered about 1,140, affording accommodation 
 for about 26 per cent, of the popuhition : but this accommo- 
 dation was unequally distributed over the country, some 
 districts being fairly provided for, while others were left in 
 comparative destitution either through the shifting or through 
 the rapid growth of the population ; some of it, again, 
 was wasted through uneconomical arrangement, and some 
 scantily used in consequence of the unreasonable size of 
 the parishes. The deficiency of accommodation as compared 
 with the population was not, however, so baneful as the 
 deficiency of churches as compared with area. Since that 
 time a vast deal has been done to reduce the deficiency : the old 
 churches have been re-arranged and, in numerous cases, 
 enlarged : the buildings (school-churches and licensed school- 
 rooms included) have advanced from 172 to 273 in St. Asaph 
 diocese ; from 198 to 241 in Bangor diocese ; from 282 to 
 397 in Llandaff diocese ; and from 485 to 579 in St. David's 
 diocese. If these additions have not sufficed (and we fear 
 that in many parts they have not) to bring Church accom- 
 modation up to the requirements of the population, they have 
 at all events done wonders towards reducing the areas which 
 each building is designed to serve, and have brought the 
 Church nearer to the homes of the people. Efforts are 
 now being made in Llandaff diocese to increase the supply 
 in the coalfield ; and in St. David's diocese to do the same 
 in the Swansea District, which is its weakest point in 
 this respect. What are the deficiencies still existing, might 
 be ascertained by an examination of each parish ; but a 
 general return would fail to show. Such is the present posi- 
 tion of affairs and, whatever remains to be done in the future, 
 there has been no lack of vigour or liberality in what has 
 been done in the past. Mr. Osborne Morgan refuses to 
 regard such work as any indication of progress. " The 
 churches are built Avith the cheques of the wealthy," and
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 31 
 
 therefore furnisli no evidence of growing popularity towards 
 the Church. We question the truth of his assertion ; and 
 we should be quite willing to accept the use made of the 
 added and restored churches as a criterion of the progress of 
 the Church in Wales. 
 
 Sect. 7. — One point yet remains to be touched upon, 
 namely, the supply and distribution of the clergy. The 
 number is returned in the Census of 1881 as 1,434, but this 
 applies to the Welsh Counties Division, which has a some- 
 what larger area than the thirteen counties : it also includes 
 retired clergy. The number actually at work in the four 
 dioceses we reckon at 1,336. Comparing this with that 
 of the incumbents and assistant curates in 1831, as given in 
 the Report on Ecclesiastical Revenues, we find the number 
 nearly doubled (700, as nearly as we can ascertain, at 
 the earlier period), and there is a still more gratifying 
 advance in the number who are resident or, if not techni- 
 cally resident, are engaged in attending to their parishes. 
 Non-residence in Wales, as elsewhere, has been reduced to a 
 minimum. The distribution is not so satisfactory. The 
 Bishop of Llandaff illustrates the inequality of the distribu- 
 tion in his own diocese by stating in his primary charge 
 (p. 17) that 200 of his clergy are ministering to 50,000 
 people while the remaining 200 are ministering to 650,000. 
 A further comparison may be instituted between the 
 numbers and distribution of clergy and Nonconformist 
 ministers, the latter numbering 1,862, as compared with the 
 above-mentioned 1,434. The most striking inequality occurs 
 in the Rhondda District, where clergy and ministers number 
 10 and 60 respectively ; then follow Swansea District with 
 20 and 56, and Cardiff District with 23 and 41. In the 
 remainder of Glamorgan the ministers largely predominate, 
 370 to 212 clergy ; so also in Carmarthen, 162 to 94 in 
 Merioneth, 104 to 64 ; in Carnarvon, 188 to 135 ; and In 
 Anglesea, 63 to 40. In Flint, Denbigh, Montgomery, and
 
 32 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 Monmouth tliey are as nearly as possible on an equality. In 
 Radnor, Brecon, and Pembroke the clergy are in a slight 
 majority. The proportions accord with, and to a certain 
 extent help to explain, the varying distribution of the two 
 bodies.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 33 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Sect. 1. Causes of Church depression in Wales. The effects of the 
 bi-lingual difficulty in Church ministrations. — Sect. 2. Collateral 
 effects of the juxtaposition of the Welsh and English languages 
 on the clergy, on the press, &c. — Sect. 3. Inadequacy of Church 
 equipment in men and buildings. — Sect. 4, State of endowments 
 at various periods. — Sect. 5. Unequal distribution of endowments. 
 — Sect 6. Instances of districts exceptionally poor in endowments. 
 — Sect. 7. Subsidiary causes. 
 
 Sect. 1. — The general effect of the long and (we fear) 
 wearisome statistical discussion which has occupied the two 
 preceding chapters, has been to show that the Church's 
 depression has been grossly exaggerated. At the same 
 time, we have never attempted to deny that depression 
 exists in varying degrees throughout the whole of Wales, 
 and especially in two areas — the coalfield of South Wales, 
 and the interior oi' western counties of Xorth Wales. The 
 ardaous task lies before us of attempting to point out the 
 causes which have led to this depression, and to this we now^ 
 address ourselves. It would be a mistake to attribute to it 
 any single cause ; it is really the result of a combination of 
 causes, acting with varying degrees of force in various 
 localities and at various periods of the Church's history. 
 Of these causes two stand forth with great prominence : 
 (I) the inadequacy, at all times and in all parts, cf the 
 Church's equipment, and (2) the linguistic condition of 
 Wales. It is difficult to decide which of these two has been 
 the most influential ; but Ave shall give precedence to the 
 latter, inasmuch as it is the one which has pressed wdth 
 exceptional severity on the Church in Wales. The Church
 
 34 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 in England knows nothing of it ; Nonconformity in Wales 
 has also known little of it hitherto, and has attained its 
 present volume very much, as we believe, through its com- 
 parative immunity from it.* We find it difficult to convey 
 to our English neighbours an adequate impression of the 
 ways in which the linguistic difficulty has worked to the 
 prejudice of the Chui'ch. It is tolerably well known that 
 Welsh is not the fireside language of the native Welsh 
 gentry, and that, in addition to these, there is a considerable 
 sprinkling of English settlers, both of the upper and middle 
 classes, throughout the gi'eater part of Wales. A clergyman 
 is called upon to provide public ministrations for such 
 persons, be their number more oi* less, in the midst of a 
 Welsh-speaking population. His position is a perplexing 
 one. As he cannot multiply himself, he must either incur 
 the obloquy of refusing to minister to the English-speaking 
 section of his parishioners, or he must divide his services as 
 he best can between the two sections. Either alternative is 
 objectionable. If the parishioners were consulted, it may 
 be questioned whether the Welsh-speaking people would 
 approve of a clergyman refusing an English service, inas- 
 much as the consequence might be the removal of a well- 
 to-do family from among theii' midst. Moi-eover, the 
 courtesy'- and genuine friendliness which form such pleasing 
 traits in the Welsh character, would incline them to fall in 
 with the wishes of an influential neighboui'. The upshot of 
 the deliberations has generally been that the clergyman has 
 yielded the point — too readily, perhaps, for the most part, 
 for the clergy are not blameless in the matter. What 
 follows ? The inevitable result of bi-lingualism is to place 
 
 * It was stated a few years since in the House of Commons by Sir 
 Hussey Vivian that only 36,000 Nonconformists in Wales worship in 
 the English language ; and as the bulk of these would be located in 
 the English-speaking districts, there was little cause for bi-liugual 
 services at that time.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 35 
 
 the parishioners on half rations (if we may use the expres- 
 sion) of spiritual nutriment, and no plan has yet been 
 devised, or ever will be devised, by which the practical 
 inconveniences and positive disadvantages attendant on 
 bi-lingual services may be averted. Can it be a matter of 
 wonder that the English portion of the service is irksome to 
 the Welshman who is not touched by the language, even 
 when he understands it, and that on very slight provoca- 
 tion he betakes himself to the Dissenting Chapel close by, 
 where the full complement of preaching can be obtained in 
 the tongue that goes home to his heart as well as to his 
 head ? The Church is, in this respect, heavily handicapped 
 in competition with the Chapel, and the latter acquires a 
 more thoroughly national character in the eyes of the 
 Welsh-speaking population. So far for the practical difficulty. 
 But the matter does not yet rest here : beyond this, there 
 lies the subtle influence which language exercises over the 
 human heart, carrying a man with the force of an undefined 
 but strong current of feeling towards the quarter where his 
 appetite can be most fully gratified. The extent of the 
 trial may be judged of by the fact that, in 1879, no less than 
 one-third (402 out of 1,156) of the churches in Wales were 
 infected with bi-lingualism. As compared with the lin- q^^JJ"®* 
 guistic divisions of the population, this proportion sjeems ^^JpfJ^f^^? 
 by no means excessive, for, the percentage of bi-lingualists P- '^^^• 
 being 45, the percentage of bi-lingual churches is only 34, 
 the remainder of the churches being distributed in the pro- 
 portions of 39 per cent, purely English churches * to 34 per 
 cent. English monoglots, and 27 per cent, purely Welsh 
 churches to 21 per cent. Welsh monoglots. But the true 
 way of looking at the matter is to assume that the great 
 
 * Tlie excess of ijurely English churches (it should be observed) is 
 largely accounted for by the fact that the churches are very numerous 
 in the English-speaking districts of Pembrokeshire, (jlamorgaushire, 
 and Monmouthshire. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 majority of the bi-lingualists are Welsh at heart, and even 
 though they nJay be quite sufficiently versed in English to 
 join in common prayer, or to follow a sermon in that 
 language, they yet acknowledge the sway of Welsh alone as 
 the language of religious and poetical sentiment, and, there- 
 fore, prefer a purely Welsh to an English or a hybrid 
 service. Coupling, then, the bi-lingualists to the purely 
 Welsh for the pui'pose of our enquiry, we conclude that 
 there ought to be 6Q per cent., or two-thirds of the churches 
 sufficiently Welsh to satisfy the aspirations of the Welsh 
 section, and we question whether this condition is fulfilled in 
 the bi-lingual churches. Thus, while the proportions above 
 stated go far to exonerate the clergy from the suspicion of 
 wishing to denationalise the Church, they leave the practical 
 difficulty unabated. The English element is broadly, though 
 not deeply, disseminated over the Welsh-speaking portions 
 of Wales, and the clergy can hardly refuse to recognise it. 
 The only effective remedy for the evil is a double supply of 
 churches and clergy. This is possible in the larger towns, 
 and we believe that separate Welsh churches are satisfac- 
 torily attended ; but it is impossible to furnish a double 
 equipment of churches and clergy in the smaller towns, 
 much less in the rural parishes. The Church in Wales may 
 justlj^ claim sympathy and consideration in respect to the 
 difficulties which have been presented by this insoluble 
 problem. She has been the victim of circumstances over 
 which she can exercise no control. She is bound to offer 
 her ministrations in the language " understanded of the 
 people," and when the language " understanded " by some 
 portion of the people differs from the language " under- 
 standed " by the remainder, she is bound to do her best to 
 meet the wants of the minority as well as of the majority. 
 She has done this, not always in a judicious manner, but still 
 with a good intention. She is now i-ewai-ded for her efforts 
 by being denounced as an " alien " Church, and the " Church 
 
 I
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 37 
 
 of a ricli minoritj," and her deposition from her position as 
 a National Church is demanded on the ground that she has 
 not "promoted the interests of the Welsh people." Not 
 that her worst foe can accuse her of not having promoted 
 the interests of Wales as a whole; for what could possibly 
 be more prejudicial to those interests than to have closed 
 the door against the English-speaking section, whether con- 
 sisting of hereditary Welshmen or of English immigrants, 
 by a refusal, on the part of the Church, to recognise their 
 rights in the parish church ? Nonconformity itself will 
 not, we presume, deny that the Church has rendered a 
 social and economical service to Wales in this matter, and 
 that the advantage that she has thus rendered to the 
 country has been done to her own great disadvantage. The 
 day may come, and that shortly, wh^n Nonconformity will 
 feel the full effect of the linguistic difficulty, of which it has, 
 thus far, only had a foretaste. That it may succeed better 
 than the Church has succeeded in meeting it is very 
 possible. In one important respect its path will be easier ; 
 it will never have to encounter the reproach that has fallen 
 on the Church of being an "alien" and an "English" 
 institution, inasmuch as the preference for the Eno-lish 
 language will have penetrated deeply into the population 
 before the emergency arises. Nonconformists look forward 
 with apprehension to the contingency; they are well aware that 
 their predominance in Wales is bound up with the predomin- 
 ance of the Welsh language. One point we have yet to notice. 
 It may possibly be supposed by some persons that bi-lingualism 
 in Wales is a thing of modern date. This is not the case. 
 It may be traced back as far as Queen Elizabeth's I'eign. 
 "There is never a market- town " (writes John Penry, the "Exhorta- 
 Puritan) "where English is not as rife as Welsh. From *^^°"' ^'^^' 
 Chepstow to Westchester* (the whole compass of our land) 
 
 * Chester, undex* its old title of Waste Chestor.
 
 38 The Caffe of the Church in Wales. 
 
 on the sea-side they all speak English. Where Monmouth and 
 Radnorshire border upon the Marches they all speak English. 
 In Pembrokeshire no great store of Welsh." And in con- 
 firmation of this, we may cite one of the charges preferred 
 against Bishop Ferrai- in Edward VI. 's reign, that he had 
 preached an English sermon at Abergwili, whereas he ought 
 to have preached it at Carmarthen, as being an " English 
 town," the distance between the two places (be it observed) 
 being hardly more than a mile. The distinction between 
 the English and Welsh-speaking sections was, locally 
 speaking, even more sharply drawn in those days than in 
 these. For three centuries bi-lingualism has been the 
 running sore of tlie Welsh Church. 
 
 Sect. 2. — Thus far we have treated the linguistic condition 
 of Wales as it presents itself to our observation within the 
 walls of the parish church. But its prejudicial influence 
 towards the Church by no means ceases there : it has pene- 
 trated deeply into the texture of the social condition, and is 
 perhaps exercising a more potent influence at the present 
 day than at any earlier period. From the days of the 
 Reformation English has been the language of education and 
 higher literature in Wales. In particular, it lias been the 
 language of theological literature. No oiiginal standard 
 treatise on theology has ever emanated from the Welsh 
 press — not from any incapacity on the part of Welshmen to 
 deal with the subject, but for the simple reason that the 
 readers have not been sufficiently numerous to make the 
 composition of such a work remunerative. The clergy and 
 educated laity have found their requirements fully met in 
 the English language, and have had the furtlier advantage 
 of thus enlarging their horiztm and breathing a fresher intel- 
 lectual atmosphere. This must be the inevitable result 
 of the juxtaposition of two languages of unequal strength. 
 It has been through no wish or intention on the part of the 
 Tipper classes to slight their own native language that this
 
 The Ccif^e of the Church in Wales. 39 • 
 
 has happened, but through the force of circumstances. 
 Nevertheless it has operated in various ways to the prejudice 
 of the Church. It has, for instance, tended to produce a 
 weakness in the use of the Welsh language among the ranks 
 of the clergy. This again is of no recent origin. John 
 Penry frequently notices it : he tells us that the second* " Exhort.,' 
 lesson was " most evil read of the reader and not understood 
 of one among ten of the hearers," and as a remedy for this 
 he suggests that: — "Our ministers, though never so igno- 
 rant, yet all understanding English, might easily remedy 
 this by conferring the Englishf with the Welsh translation : 
 and so where they understood not their own tongue, the 
 English might direct them, and thev their hearers. But 
 they are far from taking this small pains. I would some of 
 them in twenty years had learned to read Welsh at first 
 sight." He further asks: — "Why cannot we have preach- "Equity," 
 ing in our own tongue ?" and his reply is : — " Because the 
 minister is not able to utter his mind in Welsh:" and that 
 he was not here speaking of immigTant Englishmen is plain 
 from what follows: — "He may; for we have as many 
 words as in any vulgar tongue, and we might borrow from 
 the Latin," clearly showing that the deficienc}' partly arose 
 from the condition of the language itself, which had not yet 
 acquired its full complement of technical terms and stamped 
 phrases for theological purposes. Preaching in Welsh 
 involved a greater effort than preaching in English. Griffith 
 Jones, about the middle of the last century, inveighs against 
 the lazy parsons who spent their time in idleness rather than 
 in attending to their books, " on which account they are as 
 
 * The New Testament alone had then been published in Welsh. 
 
 t The Act of Elizabeth prescribed that there should be a copy of the 
 English as well as of the Welsh Bible in each chtirch, so that people 
 might acquire the English language. .Tohn Penry, it A\-ill be observed, 
 reverses the process in his suggestion that the clergy might thei'eby 
 learn Welsh.
 
 40 The Cafc of the Chvrrh /'," Walesi. 
 
 ignorant of their mother tongue as of Greek and Hebrew, 
 and on this account read the service and preach in English" : 
 and Howel Harris, about the same time, speaks of the folly 
 of addressing " an English learned discourse to a Welsh 
 illiterate congregation " — a remark which has been supposed 
 to imply the presence of Englishmen, but which was more 
 probably intended for the native Welsh clergy. It may be 
 questioned whether, even at the present day, the tendency 
 does not prevail, among those who are weak in their Welsh, 
 to prefer English to their native tongue. But the matter 
 does not terminate here. The thorough Welshman (meaning 
 thereby one who has been brought up to the use of Welsh 
 as the fireside language of his home) is bound to acquire some 
 knowledge of English before he presents himself for Holy 
 Orders, and he is frequently inspired with a laudable ambition 
 to perfect his knowledge of a language which holds so impor- 
 tant a place in the pi'ofession to which he has devoted him- 
 self : and thus he too, in spite of his strong predilection for 
 his native tongue, shows a readiness to practice his English 
 both inside and outside of the Church, not always to the 
 complete satisfaction even of the English section of his 
 parishioners. Then, further, the Welsh Church loses many 
 of her most promising sons, sometimes through an inability 
 to compass Welsh in a satisfactory manner, more frequently 
 from an ability to acquire English with such perfectness 
 as to place him in a position to compete with Englishmen 
 in their own market. The tendency to exchange the scanty 
 herbage of Wales for the fat pastures of England extends to 
 the clergy as well as the laity of Wales : we find evidence of 
 "Exhort." it. as far as the former are concerned, in Penry's recommen- 
 dation that preachei-s should be compelled to leturn from 
 England to Wales in order that the pulpits might be ade- 
 quately occupied : and so it has continued to the present 
 day in the Church. Nonconformity, on the other hand, has 
 been ITttle troubled with these weaknesses or temptations
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 41 
 
 (call them which you please) which have so seriously 
 affected the Church. Its ministers and people'form a homo- 
 geneous whole : both are predominantly, one might almost 
 say exclusively, Welsh in conversation, in literature, and 
 in the range of their tastes and sj-mpathies. Hence the 
 success and power of its press : the laity read little else 
 than the religious periodicals of the sect to which they 
 happen to belong. "His religion," says Mr. 0. Morgan, 
 with gTeat truth, "constitutes his literature." The ministers 
 are zealous in supplying this literary pabulum : ministers 
 and people are alike satisfied with the quantity and quality 
 thereof. We do not wish to speak disparagingly of it : 
 its power* is undoubted, and therefore it is well suited 
 
 * The success of the Welsh Nonconformist press is constantly 
 addnced in evidence of the numerical weakness of the Church. There 
 is, no doubt, much force in the comparison thus instituted ; jet we 
 cannot but think that the argument is overdriven. Two elements 
 have to be taken into consideration ; one being that the number of 
 separate publications among the Nonconformists is mainly due to the 
 number of separate bodies, each of which requires its own special 
 magazines or newspapers; and the other, that these bodies are, to 
 a great extent, local autonomies with their own party questions to 
 discuss and ther own financial affairs to manage. The true point of 
 comparison between the Church and Nonconformity is not the number 
 of separate publications, but the aggregate number of copies distri- 
 buted. Some four or five j^ublications would be ample for the needs 
 of Wales if it were a ujiited country ; its religious divisions are at the 
 bottom of the activity of its press. Church questions in Wales are, 
 on the other hand, largely identical with Church questions in England, 
 and, therefore, for all English readers the English newspapers are as 
 interesting as the Welsh ones ; and this condition tends to restrict 
 the number of copies sold, just as the former condition restricts the 
 number of separate publications. We sympathise with the managers 
 of the Welsh Church press in the discouragements they have en- 
 countered in the past, and trust that they niay meet with a larger 
 amount of success in the future ; but we do not recognise the validity 
 of the conclusion drawn from the comparison of the Church with the 
 Nonconformist press. The argument leaves out of view the larger 
 number of English readers in the Church than in Nonconformity.
 
 42 The Case of the Church in Wale,. 
 
 to its purpose. At the same time its tendency is to contract 
 the interests and views into a single narrow groove, within 
 which zeal rushes the more impetuously by reason of the 
 contraction. The public life of a thorough-going Welsh 
 Dissenter centres in his chapel, which serves to him far wider 
 purposes than the church does to the Churchman, being his 
 political,* and to a certain extent his social, club as well 
 as his place of -worship. In all these respects Noncon- 
 formity has a distinct advantage over the Church in Wales. 
 Whether the advantage is one of a healthy character, is 
 another question: there are many who think that the 
 
 * Lest it should be supposed that we are taking a prejudiced view 
 of Welsh Nonconformists as politicians, we will quote the language of 
 a supporter of their cause who, under the title of " Welsh Spectator," 
 addressed a letter to the Times, under date April 4, 1885 : — " Wales 
 has not evinced in the past and probably does not possess any purely- 
 political genius ; its politics ai'e dominated by its religious institutions ; 
 its Liberalism and its Conservatism follow with wonderful fidelity the 
 line of the deep fissure which religiously and socially separates Church 
 and Dissent. Its genius, if not religious, is certainly sectarian and 
 not political." While recognising the faithfulness of this description 
 as applicable to Nonconformists, we demur to it in respect to Church- 
 men. We deem it to bo beyond all doubt that Churchmen take a 
 broader look-out, and are more largely interested in imperial, as 
 distinct from local, politics than Nonconformists. We have no wish 
 that it should be otherwise ; but undoubtedly it is a disadvantage to 
 the Church from an electioneering point of view. While Nonconformist 
 ministers are the busiest and most successful of canvassers, and their 
 chapels the focuses of political jDropagandism, the clergy, with rare 
 exceptions, hold aloof from canvassing, and with still rarer exceptions from 
 converting their pulpits into political platforms. The uproar that was 
 raised against the clergy during the recent election for deviating ever 
 so slightly from their usual posture under the exceptional issues raised 
 affecting the interests of the Church, is at once evidence of the radical 
 difference between the Church and Nonconformity in this particular. 
 The letter of " Welsh Spectator " is candid almost to cynicism, its 
 object being to demand of the Government a grateful recogni- 
 tion of the services rendei-ed by Welsh Nonconformists, in a 
 way that accords with the local and sectarian character of their 
 politics.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 43 
 
 violent political rancour of Welsh J)issent is eating into the 
 entrails of its religious life. This, however, is not the point 
 before us. What we contend for is that much of the 
 dejDression of the Church is due to the linguistic condition 
 of Wales — that the Church has been compelled to bear 
 the brunt of the difficulty which that condition has imposed 
 upon the country — that though it has been outdone by 
 the greater solidarity and homogeneity of Dissent, it 
 has nevertheless rendered to Wales a service which Dissent 
 could not have rendered — and that therefore the Church 
 deserves the sympathy and consideration of every true lover 
 of the country. Liberationists will sneer at such a sug- 
 gestion, and will fall back on the simple, and to their minds 
 clenching, argument, "You are in a minority." Our reply 
 is that even a minority is entitled to justice, and we see no 
 justice whatever in a judgment which shuts out of view 
 all the circumstances which have led to its being in a 
 minority. 
 
 Sect. 3. — We pass on to consider the other leading- 
 difficulty which the Chui^ch in Wales has encountered, 
 namely, the inadequacy of its means for the accomplishment 
 of its mission. We are, of course, aware of the kind of 
 greeting which the mere mention of this topic will receive 
 from Liberationists. " Look (it will be said) at what Non- 
 conformity has done ! Look at the chapels it has built, the 
 ministry it sustains, the large funds which it collects 
 annually, and let us hear no more of your plea of poverty." 
 Ear be it from us to deny to Nonconformity the meed of 
 liberality. But when its achievements in this department 
 of duty are adduced to throw discredit on the Church, it 
 seems to us a somewhat one-sided contrast, because, while 
 it exhibits the effects of voluntaryism in Nonconformity, it 
 leaves out of view the extent of voluntaryism in the Church. 
 It is true that this omission is unavoidable, for the simple 
 reason that Welsh Churchmen have never attempted to
 
 The Cafe uf the Church in Wales. 
 
 compute, in pounds sterling, the value of Church volun- 
 taryism. It may be possible to ascertain what has been 
 spent in brick and mortar for the erection of churches, 
 schools, and parsonages : the capitalized value of endow- 
 ments might also be added, and the sums annually ex- 
 pended on the maintenance of fabrics and services, on 
 schools, and missions, and poor. But who is to estimate 
 the amounts which the clergy bring into the Church's 
 treasury by providing, oftentimes partially, sometimes 
 wholly, for their own maintenance and that of their families 
 out of their private fortunes ? We have not the wish, 
 even if we had the power, to strike a balance between the 
 liberality* of the Church and that of Nonconformity. We 
 
 * The annual revenue of Nonconformit}^ iu Wales is roughly stated 
 p. 760, ^t £300,000, as to which Mr. Osborne Morgan observes, that " this large 
 
 sum, exceeding considerably the whole revenue of the Church in Wales, 
 is drawn mainly from the poorest class of a very poor country." This 
 statement I'equires modification. By "the whole revenue," Mr. Morgan 
 must mean the endowments (amounting to about £250,000 a year for 
 the parochial clergy) to the omission of the voluntary contributions. 
 But is it fair to omit these latter from the ''whole revenue," and thus 
 represent the Church as leaning wholly on its endowments ? It has 
 been recently stated, on the high authority of the Committee of the 
 " Official Year Book," that the Church in Wales contributed £107,000 
 in the single department of Church extension for the year 1884, and 
 if to this were added what is done in the ordinary support of buildings 
 and services, maintenance of schools, societies and charitable institu- 
 tions, and in the supplementing of deficient endowments by private 
 incomes, would it be out of the way to surmise that the voluntary 
 contributions of Churchmen (few as they are said to be) equal, if not 
 exceed, those of Nonconformists ? But theii Liberationists cut away 
 from the Church all credit for its voluntaryism by retorting, " You are 
 the wealthy, whereas we are the poorest class of a very poor country." 
 We doubt whether this contrast is a just one. Nonconformity numbers 
 among its adherents a very large proportion of the money-making, as 
 distinct fi'om the land-owning, class ; no class is better able or more 
 disposed to be liberal than this, and it is a numerous one in Wales as 
 compared with the landed proprietors or the independent gentry. 
 Mr. Morgan indeed states that the wealthy tradesman almost always
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales, 45 
 
 will allow Nonconformists all the . credit tliey claim, and we 
 will accept the taunt too often levelled against us for not 
 ha-\dng done more than we have done in making up out of 
 our own pockets the full deficiency of Church endowments. 
 But our present object is to ascertain how far the short- 
 comings of the Church are due to a misuse or non-use of the 
 funds entrusted to her charge by the donors of the endow- 
 ments, and how far, therefore, she deserves to be deprived 
 of those funds, as having proved an unworthy steward. 
 
 Sect. 4. — The patrimony of the Church in Wales must 
 necessarily have been small as compared with the area of 
 the country, for the simple reason that Wales contains a 
 large amount of uncultivable land. The effect of this is 
 shown in the number of unsizable parishes to be found in 
 Wales even at the present day. It is needless to point out 
 that the Church's work is much impeded wherever the popu- 
 lation, however small, is widely scattered, and the difficulty 
 is more than doubled if to large area is added a large, or 
 even a comparatively large population. This has been the 
 case in many parts of Wales. Church accommodation seems 
 to have been adequate to the requirements of the population 
 down to the middle of the last century. Then came a con- 
 siderable increase of population, for which the existing 
 accommodation was insufficient, and this, superadded to the 
 previous insufficiency as compared with the area, and to the 
 insufficiency of clergy, as will be presently shown, as com- 
 pared both with area and population, proved too much for 
 
 goes to church, while the small farmer and the village shopkeeper 
 almost always go to chapel. We doubt whether this holds good. A 
 large num.ber of the upper, as well as the lower, middle-class attend 
 chapel, and form the financial backbone of Dissent. We admit that 
 Nonconformity is liberal, and we wish that Churchmen were equally 
 so; it should be remembered, however, that the aggressiveness of 
 Nonconformity has hitherto suiDplied a stimulus which Chm'chmen 
 have not felt in a similar degree, and that the day may come when 
 that stimulus may lose much of its present force.
 
 46 
 
 The Case of the Church in [Vales. 
 
 the Church's then resources. Perhaps we may best exhibit 
 the scantiness of those resources by a comparison with the 
 Church in England. Lincolnshire had, in 1851, double the 
 number of churches, as compared with area and population, that 
 North Wales had (a church for each 550 people and 2,700 acres 
 in the former, 1,130 people and 5,500 acres in the latter) : and it 
 may be presumed that its patrimony was also doubly as great. 
 At the Religious Worship Census of 1851, North Wales sup- 
 plied as many worshippers, church for church, as Lincoln- 
 shire, but, having only half the number of churches, its 
 worshippers were also half as numerous. We shall pre- 
 sently have to i-efer to the effects of this combination of 
 population and area in connection with the South Wales 
 coalfield. The patrimony of the Church in Wales being 
 thus naturally meagre, was largely reduced by the diversion 
 •of the parochial endowments to monasteries, colleges, col- 
 legiate churches, cathedrals, and other purposes. South 
 Wales suffered, perhaps, more than North Wales from these 
 causes. To witness the full effect of this system, we must 
 go back to the beginning of last century. The diocese of 
 St. David's, which covers five out of the six counties of 
 South Wales, and penetrates into the sixth in the neighbour- 
 hood of Swansea, had no more than about £10,000 a year to 
 distribute between its parochial clergy. The condition of the 
 diocese at this period is vividly depicted by Dr. Saunders in 
 his ''View of the Diocese of St. David's." Anything more 
 lamentable than the state of the clergy, the churches, and 
 the services, it is dijBBcult to conceive. The condition of 
 Llandaff was not much better. The two northern dioceses 
 were not so impoverished as regards the individual clergy- 
 men ; but this was due, not so much to a larger revenue as 
 compared either with the area or the population, as to the 
 fact that it was divided between a smaller number of 
 clergy. 
 
 Sect. 5. — No great improvement in the finances of the
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 47 
 
 Churcli took place during the earlier half of the last century. 
 Queen Anne's Bounty Fund subsequently rendered great 
 service to the most impoverished benefices and chapelries of 
 South Wales and vvas, no doubt, the means of saving many 
 of the chapels fi'om falling into ruins. In 1831, we find the 
 revenue of the parochial clergy valued at £155,000 for the 
 four Welsh dioceses, the average value of the benefices in 
 St. David's being about £137, in Llandaff £177, in St. 
 Asaph £271, and in Bangor £252. Great as is the improve- 
 ment thus marked, the amount was still wholly inadequate to 
 the requirements of the Church At the modest rate of 
 £200 a-year, it would have provided a supply of 775 clergy- 
 men for an area of 5,000,000 acres, and a population of 
 904,400. The total number of clergy at that time seems to 
 have been about 700, divided into the two classes of 635 
 incumbents and 65 assistant curates.* As the benefices 
 numbered 847, there was a considerable amount of plurality ; 
 but it was, to a great extent, confined to the poorest livings, 
 and was, thus far, a matter of necessity- rather than of 
 greed; nevertheless, its effect was highly prejudicial. 
 Passing on a half century, to 1881, the income had grown, 
 partly through the beneficial action of the Ecclesiastical 
 Commission, and partly thi'ough individual liberality, with 
 the further aid of the Bounty Fund, to £232,748, as 
 estimated in the " Financial Reform Almanack." In 
 addition to this, the Welsh dioceses receive grants in aid of 
 curates' stipends in mining districts from the Ecclesiastical 
 Commissioners, to the amount of about £9,000, making a total 
 of (say) £242,000. We omit grants from societies as being 
 not in any sense the product of endowments. If v/e were 
 again to assume an equal division of this income between 
 
 * There may, however, have been an additional number of curates 
 in sole charge ; but these only took the place of non-resident incum- 
 bents.
 
 48 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 the clergy at the rate of £200 per annum, it would suffice 
 for a staff of 1,210. The number, in point of fact, now 
 working in the four dioceses exceeds this, being in all 1,336. 
 But meanwhile the population has advanced from 904,401 
 in 1831 to 1,571,000 in 1881, and therefore, though the 
 public has received the full benefit of the increased funds 
 (for the average receipts of the individual clergyman are 
 less than they were at the earlier period), there is still a 
 large deficiency of working power in the Church. Church- 
 men might, no doubt, supply this deficiency by increased 
 liberality, but they cannot be compelled to give, and 
 we are at a loss to see why the Church should be made 
 responsible at the bar of the nation for any other funds than 
 those which she actually has at her command. We might 
 again recur to a comparison with England, in order to show 
 the present position of the Church in Wales in point of 
 equipment. It appears that, while a Welsh clergyman 
 has on the average very nearly the same number of people to 
 minister to, these people are dispersed over more than double 
 the amount of area ; and this means, in the long run, that 
 the people have far less opportunity of conveniently attend- 
 ing church than in England. And this paucity of clergy 
 arises from a paucity of funds which is strictly in the pro- 
 portion we have already indicated. Of course, all such 
 calculations must be rough, and are liable to various adjust- 
 ments. Whatw^e desire to insist upon is the extent to which 
 area has affected the position of the Church in Wales — a 
 point which is apt to be overlooked in favour of making 
 population the test of the adequacy or inadequacy of Church 
 equipment. Add to this another most material difference 
 between England and Wales, namely, bi-lingualism, which 
 reduces the value of ministrations by one-half in many 
 parishes, and we think it no exaggeration to say that 
 Wales is 50 per cent, below England in ]ioint of material 
 resources.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 49 
 
 Sect. 6. — Thas far we have spoken of tlie total revenue 
 and its proportion to the area and population of the whole 
 country. But the distribution of Church revenues is, we 
 all know, far from being equable : and in order to form 
 a just idea of the difficulties of the Church in Wales, it 
 would be necessary to study the numerous cases in which 
 the incomes of single parishes and groups of parishes fall 
 below the average. The South Wales coalfield presents 
 an illustration of this on a large scale. The general 
 character of this district in its physical and industrial 
 aspects is pretty well known to the world at large : its 
 ecclesiastical history is known to few who live outside 
 its limits. Much of its area consists of mountain top, 
 formerly tenanted by a sparse population of hill farmers : 
 churches were few and far between, and many of them 
 small and very scantily endowed. If, taking Merthyr 
 Tydvil as a centre, one were to strike a circle with a 
 radius of 10 miles, it would only embrace four original 
 parish churches, and of these only two, Merthyi* Tydvil 
 itself and Grelligaer, fall within the limits of the coalfield. 
 The other churches existing in that portion of the coalfield 
 at the beginning of the present century — Aberdare, Bed- 
 wellty, Llanwonno, Ystrad-y-fodwg, Aberystruth — were 
 originally chapels-of-ease to mother churches Ipng in the 
 lower lands, which had been converted into Perpetual 
 Curacies under the regulations of the Bounty Board. The 
 aggregate income of the five churches we have just mentioned 
 amounted in 1831 to £7^7. This country now forms the 
 heart of the coal and iron industries, and is occupied by 
 a teeming population. But let us now enlarge our area 
 so as to take in the whole of the field, together with the 
 seaports which are dependent on it for their business — 
 Cardiff, Swansea, NeT\^ort, and Llanelly. We can select 
 out of this district some 20 parishes, averaging l<3,00l) acres 
 in size, which together with the four seaports already men- 
 
 E
 
 50 Tlie Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 tioned, now have ca population of about half a million, and 
 for which there was no other provision in 1831 than an 
 endowment of £5,000 a yeai- to be divided between 32 
 clergymen who were ministering in an equal number of 
 churches and chapels. AA'e have already referred to one 
 group of parishes within this area at Swansea, having a 
 present population of 100,000 inhabitants concentrated in 
 four parishes, which in 1831 possessed five churches and 
 an aggregate income of £716 a year. We have just men- 
 tioned another group of parishes with a slightly larger 
 income {£766) now having a population of 143,000. No 
 one, Ave presume, will contend that these endowments are 
 adequate to the pi-esent cii'cumstances of those parishes ; 
 nor, indeed, were they adequate to theii* circumstances 
 50 years back, when population had already been accumu- 
 lating for more than half a century. We justify our com- 
 parison of the present population with the endowments 
 as they stood in 1831 on the ground that it is foi- the 
 use or abuse of those endowments that the Church in Wales 
 is primarily i-esponsible at the bar of the nation, and we 
 conceive that no verdict of malversation would be pro- 
 nounced in reference to these funds. There is a responsi- 
 bility to a higher coui-t than that of the nation, and would 
 that we could appeal with equal confidence to its judgment ! 
 But we cannot pretend that Churchmen are blameless for 
 the spiritual destitution in which this important district 
 was long left as fai' as they were concerned — whether the 
 cause lay in the defective organisation of the Church, in 
 the rigidity of her parochial system, oi- in the want of 
 liberality in her individual members. Nonconformity is 
 undoubtedly entitled to the credit of having supplied 
 ministrations which the Church had failed to supply : yet 
 we again say that its successes form no justification for the use 
 which Liberationists are now making of them as a ground- 
 work of attack upon the Church. Turning, however, to
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 51 
 
 what has been done, the record is by no means a con- 
 temptible one. The 32 churches and chapels, to which 
 we have referred as being found in 24 of the parishes in 
 1831, have gro-^ii into 165 places of worship, and there 
 is no ground whatever for believing that the clergy are 
 "preaching to empty churches and to deaf ears." Two 
 of the districts were selected, as we have already observed, 
 for the operations of hostile censuses on the part of 
 Liberationists. The localities were favourable for the 
 purpose, inasmuch as church accommodation is wholly in- 
 adequate to the population. At Swansea and the adjacent 
 parishes 23 places of worship were reported as open for 
 a population of 100,000 : in the Rhondda Valley 13 for a 
 population of 55,000 : in neither case was the enumeration 
 complete. In the Parish of Ystrad-y-f odwg alone, which com- 
 prises about 45,000 of the above-mentioned population, the 
 single church we have already mentioned has multiplied 
 into 14 places of worship, viz. : eight stone churches (in- 
 cluding two in building), two iron churches, throe school 
 churches, and one a mission room. In neither case were 
 the churches badly attended ; * but they were few, and the 
 results of an attendance census proved satisfactory to 
 Liberationists as furnishing a weapon for attacking the 
 Church. We have instanced a case of difficulty on a 
 large scale, arising out of the insufficiency of endowments. 
 We might extend our inquiry to other parts of Wales, with a 
 view to show that the same difficulty has presented itself 
 on a smaller scale in various agricultural districts. We 
 might cite, for instance, the disaster which has befallen 
 a gi'oup of parishes in North Cardiganshire, all of them 
 comprised in the ancient Parish of Llanbadarn-fawr, which 
 had an area exceeding 150,000 acres (about two-thirds the 
 
 * The attendances in the Swansea district were returned at 1U,690 
 in the Rhondda at 3,1 10. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 size of the County of Rutland), and now contains a popula- 
 tion of 28,000: the whole tithe from this area was swept 
 away in Edward I.'s reign to enrich the Abbey of Vale 
 Royal in Cheshire, and nothing has ever been received for 
 the support of the churches beyond a paltry pittance of 
 £20 a year to the vicar of the mother church. Further 
 illustrations might be found in the parishes which supplied 
 the prebends in the collegiate churches of Llanddewi Brefi 
 and Abergwili — those of the former situated in Cardigan- 
 shire, and of the latter in Carmarthenshire, Breconshire, 
 and Radnorshire : the Church has sustained a total loss of 
 the former through the scandalous seizure of the collegiate 
 estate in Queen Elizabeth's time : the latter have , been 
 happily retained and have already been in pai-t restored 
 to the parishes whence they were taken. Some notice should 
 also be taken of the deficiency in bygone years of ministra- 
 tions in the interior counties of North Wales, arising, not 
 only from the scantiness of churches in refei'ence to area, 
 See Appen- b^^^t in a still greater degree from the scantiness of clergy 
 in respect to churches, there being in 1831 less than two 
 clergymen for every three chui'ches in the Counties of 
 Merioneth, Carnarvon, and Anglesea. It should be observed 
 that any excess in the number of churches over that of 
 the clergy means disorganisation and an inadequate supply 
 of public ministrations ; and these defects would go far 
 to account for the predominance of Dissent in this part 
 of Wales. In the census of 1851 there was a marked 
 contrast in the percentages of Church attendances between 
 the border counties of North Wales on the one hand, and 
 the interior counties on the other ; and this contrast runs 
 parallel with contrasts that might be instituted between 
 them as to the supply of clergy, the area, the proportion 
 of clergy to churches, and the revenue. But, whatever 
 the explanation, the fact remains that the attendance in 
 1851 was very low in the interior counties. They are
 
 The Caf^e of the Chvrrh in Wales. 
 
 n.ovr the great strongholds of Dissent in Wales, and supply 
 the abnormal number of communicants which we have 
 had occasion to notice in a previous part of this Essay. 
 Mr. Osborne Morgan's description of " empty churches and 
 deaf ears " may be literally true of many a parish in these 
 parts, in spite of the zeal of the clergy and the general 
 improvement in the organisation of the Church. It can 
 hardly be a matter of wonder, if it be so : it is far easier 
 to scatter than to re-gather what has been scattered. 
 
 Sect. 7. — Having dwelt with some particularity on what 
 we consider to be the two leading causes of Church de- 
 pression in Wales, it remains for us to point out some 
 subsidiary causes which have operated in the same direction. 
 We may mention among these, first of all, the strong feeling 
 which has been roused in some parts of the country through 
 the long-continued appointment of English bishops to Welsh 
 sees, which has been construed as an act of hostility on 
 the part of the Government tov^-ards the language and 
 nationality of Wales. Whether it was so intended is a 
 point to which we shall hereafter advert : we now simply 
 notice the fact that the impression has of late years been 
 largely diffused, and that it has been a formidable weapon 
 in the hands of the Church's adversaries. Apart from the 
 question of national sentiment (which cannot wisely be 
 disregarded in the province of religion) there has been 
 a considerable loss of influence through the inability of 
 such bishops to minister in the language of the country. 
 To a warm-hearted people like the Welsh the effect of 
 administering the rite of 'Confirmation through an inter- 
 preter must have been chilling in the extreme ; and in 
 the rare cases where Englishmen have acquired a fair 
 facility in the use of the language, there is an absence of 
 the true ring in the delivery which alone can make 
 their utterances acceptable to a Welsh ear. A second point 
 of some interest may be noticed in connection with the
 
 54 The Case of the Churc/i in Wales. 
 
 history of Welsh Methodism. Readers on the other side 
 of the border may perhaps not be aware that the 
 true Methodism of Wales is that of Whitefield and not 
 of Wesley. We do not attribute this to any innate predis- 
 position of the Welsh towards Calvinism, but t(j the 
 accidental circumstance that the founders of Methodism, 
 Howel Harris and Daniel Rowlands, favoured the former 
 of those famous leaders. Whitefield was an Evangelist 
 pure and simple, and did not possess the faculty of orga- 
 nisation which Avas so strong in his compeer. He founded 
 no sect, and in consequence of this the Welsh Methodists 
 remained within the pale of the Church for a much longer 
 period than Wesley's followers in England. Theii' formal 
 secession, by the institution of an independent ministry, 
 did not take place until 1811. Thus for more than 50 
 years Methodism had been regarded by its own adherents, 
 and was to a great extent regarded by the clergy, as an 
 Evangelical movement within the Church, and it gathered 
 strength and consistency through its long association with 
 the Church. No feeling of antagonism dwelt in the breast 
 of the early Methodist ; he clung with tenacity to the Church 
 of his baptism ; and even at this day there are those (a 
 decreasing number, we regret to think) who have not for- 
 gotten "the rock w^hence they are hewn and the hole of the 
 pit whence they are digged." How far the circumstance to 
 which we have adverted has contributed to increase the 
 strength of Dissent, and to impair in an equal degree the 
 strength of the Chui-ch, we must leave to the judgment of 
 oui' i-eaders. Lastly, we are bound to make the painful 
 admission that a cei'tain amount of the Church's weakness 
 is due to the baneful influence of inefficient and unworthy 
 men in the ranks of her ministry. We shall revert to this 
 topic hereafter. Our only object in mentioning it here is 
 lest it be thought that we were anxious to screen the Church 
 by omitting to mention it among the causes which have led 
 to the depression of the Church in Wales.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sect. 1. Charge of alienism brouglit against the Church in Wales. — 
 Sect. 2. Mr. Eichard's evidence in support of the charge, as derived 
 from the Norman period. — Sect. 3. From the Saxon period. — 
 Sect. 4. From the absence of a specific title. — Sect. 5. From the 
 English episcopate. — Sect. 6. From the parochial appointments. — 
 Sect. 7. Alien in the sense of estranged. 
 
 Sect. 1. — The second allegation brought against the 
 Church in Wales is that it is an " alien " institution. It 
 may be difficult for the English public to appreciate the full 
 effect of this argument in arousing the prejudices of the 
 Welsh-speaking population against the Church. Suffice it 
 to say, that it tells with great force on those who cherish a 
 distorted and fanatical sentiment of patriotism, and that it 
 serves as a stone ever at hand to throw at the Church in the 
 absence of more solid accusations. It would be interesting 
 to know when this charge of alienism was first introduced 
 into the controversy. Considering that the Welsh are 
 credited with a firm attachment to the Church down to the 
 commencement of the pi'esent century, we hardly think that 
 such a chai'ge could have been successfully employed until 
 quite recent times. But now that a large secession has 
 taken place, the discovery has been made that the Church 
 not only is not at the present time, but never has been, the 
 Church of the Welsh people, and that it has been imposed 
 on them from without as a consequence and token of political 
 subjection. A heavy responsibility attaches to those who, 
 for mere party purposes, seek to kindle the passions of what 
 has hitherto been a loyal and contented people, by the use
 
 56 Tlce Case of the CluwcU in Wales. 
 
 Letters 
 
 of arguments which really tell against other institutions 
 besides the Church. If the Church be alien, the courts of 
 law, the law itself, and the whole administration of public 
 affairs, not to speak of some of the Nonconformist sects, 
 are likewise alien. The taunt, in short, cuts at the root of the 
 whole connection between England and Wales. Even if 
 the elements of alienism were more substantial than they 
 happen to be, it would seem to be more consistent with true 
 patriotism to acquiesce in accomplished facts, than to 
 unearth from the gi'ave of the past bitter memories of 
 national disasters. 
 
 Sect. 2. — Mr. H. Richard is the leading exponent of the 
 " alien " character of the Church in Wales. His arguments 
 will be found in his re-published " Letters and Essays," and, 
 in a more concise form, in a letter addressed to the Daily 
 News, in the early part of last year. The compiler of the 
 " Case for Disestablishment " refers (p. 107) to him for an 
 exhaustive treatment of the subject, and proceeds to give 
 a resume of the argument. It appears from this writer,* 
 
 * Though we are chiefly concerned with the liistorical statements in 
 the " Case for Disestablishment," we venture to suggest to the author 
 that in future editions it would be as well to revise the statistical 
 stateme]its. Why should he pronounce the total number of separate 
 attendants at all the services of the Church in 1851 to be 126,471 when 
 the census pronounces the number at the single service to have been 
 132,940 ? Is it not highly probable, if not absolutely certain, that the 
 number of individual attendants present at the three services exceeded 
 the number present at one service ? It is true that the compiler has 
 the high authority of Mr. Richard for this style of computation : for 
 while Mr. Richard states that the Nonconformists present at the single 
 service were 490,543 (which, by the way, is a misquotation, if by Non- 
 conformir-ts he means " Protestant Dissentei's"), he calculates the total 
 and number of Nonconformist attendants at all the services as 13,000 
 
 pf isf^' fewer ; thus, if we mistake not, reversing the generally received axiom 
 that the whole is greater than its part. It is strange that Mr. Richard 
 should not have detected so palpable an error in the twenty years that 
 have elapsed between the two editions of his '" Letters." We may take 
 the opportunity of further noticing a discrepancy between the number
 
 Tie Case of the Church in Wales. 57 
 
 that the Church became an alien institution from the time 
 of Edward I.'s reig-n do^^^lwa^ds. "Edward the First," he 
 sajs, ""compelled the people to submit, and I^orman barons 
 became the lords of the soil. The usual result followed. 
 IS'orman bishops and priests accompanied the Norman 
 barons, and the British Church, like the Saxon, became 
 the spoil of the conquerors. All differences between the 
 Churches of the two countries disappeared, and the 
 Church of England became established in Wales." We 
 should have been inclined to surmise that some typo- 
 graphical error had crept into the text of this remarkable 
 account of the first appearance of Norman bishops in Wales. 
 But the compiler has carefully barred the way against such 
 a charitable supposition by having previously stated that 
 the event occurred after the contest between Norman and 
 Welshman had already gone on for some centuries. It seems, 
 indeed, somewhat inconsistent with this view that the com- 
 piler should proceed to illustrate the abject condition of 
 the Church after Edward I.'s reign, by quoting the well- 
 known petition of the Welsh Princes to Pope Innocent III., 
 about the end of the twelfth, or rather the beginning of 
 
 of Churcliinen at the single service as given by Mr. Richard in his 
 "Letters and Essays," and in his new essay on "Disestablishment" 
 (p. 63), which is explained by the fact that he has transferred the 
 computed number for all the services to the number at the single 
 service. But to return to the Liberation Society's publication. Why 
 should the compiler quote the Church attendants at the evening service 
 as 39,662 on p. 113, and 30,662 on p. 114 ? An error of the press, it 
 may be suggested ; but not so, for in each case the figures are worked 
 into a computation. We would further suggest that figures ought to be 
 correctly quoted, whether the variations are of importance or not. 
 Carelessness is the pervading characteristic of Liberationist statistics. 
 If anyone thinks well to meddle with the Religious Census of 1851, 
 he should take the trouble to go through the calculations necessary for 
 completeness. No returns were received from 89 out of 1,180 churches 
 in the Welsh counties as regards sittings, and 58 as regards attend- 
 ance. Credit should have been given for this latter omission in calcu- 
 lating the number of Church attendants.
 
 58 The Casr „f fhc Chnrrh !„ Wah's. 
 
 the thirteenth century, in which complaint is made of 
 English bishops having been sent into Wales. But the 
 compiler saw no incongruity whatever in the two parts of 
 his statement. He probably had good ground for anti- 
 cipating that his Liberationist readers would not be parti- 
 cular as to dates, so long as Kis statement was sufficiently 
 pungent. In one respect we can commend the compiler 
 above his authority, Mr. H. Richard. He states that what 
 befell the British Church also befell the Saxon Church, 
 Mr. Richard has omitted this important consideration, and 
 for the following very good reason, that if he had informed 
 his Welsh readers that the Saxon Church was treated in 
 the same way as the Welsh Church, the sting of the 
 grievance would have been largely neutralised. What the 
 average Welshman believes is, that the Saxons were the 
 first to impose alien bishops on Wales ; and Mr. Richard 
 rather favours this idea when he speaks in his letter of the 
 " masterful Teuton temper " having tried to subdue the 
 Welsh under Norman rule, and that, when they succeeded, 
 ^'English bishops were forced upon the Welsh Church." If 
 he had said that Norman bishops had been forced alike on 
 the Saxon Church and the Welsh Church, the evidence of 
 alienism would have fallen fiat on Welsh ears ; for what 
 constitutes the gist of the Welsh grievance, is that it is 
 supposed to be an exclusively Welsh one : a grievance in 
 common with the English Church would very much cease 
 to be a grievance to Welshmen. If the compiler is correct 
 in his assertion that "the British Church, like the Saxon, 
 became the spoil of the conquerors," we do not see how he is 
 to evade the conclusion that the Church in England is just 
 as much an alien institution as the Church in Wales. As 
 to the petition of the Welsh Princes to the Pope, its value, 
 as an historical document, must be measured by the fact that 
 the presenter of the petition, Giraldus Cambrensis, was, in 
 all essential points, a Norman, and that the object of the
 
 The Case <>/ the Church in Wales. 69 
 
 petition was to get himself appointed to the see of St. 
 David's. In his efforts to attain this object, he was not 
 orer particular as to the representations he made, and he 
 therefore endoi'ses the complaint of the princes that the 
 bishops sent from England could not talk Welsh, though he 
 himself was equally deficient in that qualification. In 
 advancing these criticisms on Mr. Richard's history, we 
 must not be supposed to be approving of the high-handed 
 proceedings of the ISTorman kings towards the Church in 
 Wales : we simply assert that these proceedings do not 
 constitute the Church in Wales an "alien" institution. 
 Norman bishops and Norman abbots were forced upon the 
 Church both in England and Wales, and they were no more 
 able to talk English than to talk Welsh. War and conquest 
 generally carry unpleasant consequences in their train, and 
 among such we may include (what was a very general 
 custom of those days) the claim of the conqueror to nominate 
 bishops whom he could trust to preside over the dioceses of 
 a newly conquered district — a dubious proceeding for the 
 spiritual interests of the people, but not altogether a matter 
 of wonder, considering the important position occupied by 
 high ecclesiastics in the councils of the nation during the 
 Middle Ages. 
 
 Sect. 3. — Mr. Richard, however, is not satisfied with 
 tracing back the alien character of the Church for so limited 
 a period as seven centuries ; he invites us to follow him into 
 the Norman period, and informs us in his letter to the 
 Daily JSlews, that the " Anglo-Saxons imposed their own 
 version of Christianity on the Welsh, and, when the British 
 Church declined their dictation, they enforced it by fire and 
 sword." Ecclesiastical disjDutes were, no doubt, settled after 
 a roughish fashion in those times, the more so as they were 
 frequently mixed up with political and territorial interests. 
 There is, therefore, no antecedent improbability in such an 
 event occurring as Mr. Richard has stated. But did it
 
 60 The Caf!C of the Church in Wales. 
 
 really occur ? or lias Mr. Richard correctly stated the Tvay 
 in which it occurred ? Let it be remembered that the 
 British and Saxon Churches were agi'eed on matters of 
 doctrine and Church polity ; they differed only on points of 
 ritual, and especially as to the right mode of calculating the 
 date of Easter. Whether this can be properly called a 
 different version of Christianity we leave to the judgment of 
 our readers. However, the question was hotly discussed, 
 because it carried with it the possible fusion of the two 
 neighbouring Churches into a single Church. The Saxon, 
 or Roman Easter, was first accepted in North Wales by 
 Elvod, Bishop of Bangor (a.d. 755 or 768), while South 
 Wales held out for the old method. It was in connection 
 with this internal dispute between Welshman and Welshman 
 that the Saxons are said to have invaded South Wales. 
 But it is an absurdity to suppose that this incident goes to 
 prove the " alien " character of the Church. Mr. Richard 
 evidently deems it impossible that the union or fusion of the 
 Saxon and British Churches could have resulted from any 
 other cause than brute force. The whole idea of ecclesias- 
 tical unity lies outside the range of his sympathy. It is, 
 therefore, not a matter of surprise that he should have left 
 this important factor out of consideration : otherwise, he 
 might have assumed the possibility of the same process 
 having taken place between the Churches of Wales and 
 England as actually took place between the several branches 
 of the English Church, namely, that ecclesiastical unity 
 preceded and paved the way for political unity. We do not 
 say that events actually took this course in regard to Wales. 
 Unfortunately the history of the Welsh Church is well-nigh 
 a blank during the long period of three centuries that inter- 
 vened bet^'veen the acceptance of ritual conformity with the 
 Saxon Church and the first appearance of Norman Lords- 
 Marchers in South Wales. During this period much might 
 have happened, and probably did happen, towards an
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 61 
 
 approximation of the two Churclies ; but whether this 
 approximation developed into nnitj is a question which we 
 cannot venture to determine. 
 
 Sect. 4. — In one important particular Mr. Richard carries 
 the question back even into pre- Saxon times. His most 
 effective proof of alienism consists in the presence of a com- 
 mon title for the modern representatives of the British 
 and Saxon Churches, or (perhaps one might better say) 
 in the absence of a distinctive title for the Church in Wales 
 as distinct from the Church in England — both being portions 
 of a single body called the Church of England. This argu- 
 ment is skilfully used to rouse the passions of the ultra- 
 patriotic Welshman. Mr. Richard urges it in its most 
 pronounced f oitq : he states in his "Letter" that the title 
 " Church of England " imports to the minds of the present 
 generation "traditions of repugnance and hatred from the 
 past when England was the deadly enemy of Welsh freedom 
 and independence " — words which strike us as being some- 
 what out of harmony with the wholesome advice he had 
 a few months before given to his countrymen to " lay aside 
 suspicions and prejudices begotten of old memories, and 
 unite with England in heart and purpose to pursue the 
 conquests of Christianity and civilisation." We regard the 
 argument as a signally unfair one, because nothing is known 
 as to the time when, or the circumstances under which, the 
 title was extended into Wales. Possibly Mr. Richard might 
 have discovered this much for himself if he had gone on 
 to suggest what distinctive title the Church in Wales ought 
 to have, or could have, consistently with historical truth. 
 It certainly could not have been " Church of Wales," because 
 " Wales " is not a Welsh, but a Saxon word ; nor yet 
 " Church of Britam,'' considering that the Welsh had ceased 
 to occupy any more than a fraction of Britain ; nor is it 
 by any means likely that it called itself by any such title 
 as " Eglwys Cymru " : in short, as Wales was not a political
 
 62 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 unit, we cannot conceive the jiossibility of iis Clinrcli having 
 had any collective name, and we fall back on the supposition 
 that each diocese formed a separate unit named after its 
 Bishop's see. If this were the case, nothing would be more 
 natural than that the title " Church of England " should 
 extend over Wales as it had gradually extended over 
 England, not as the result or sign of political subjection, 
 but rather as the result and sign of ecclesiastical unity. 
 We submit this explanation with great deference. Mr. 
 Richard may possibly be right in his historical view, but 
 we hold him to be morally wa^ong in even suggesting that 
 the Welsh people are inspired with thoughts of " repugnance 
 and hatred " at the nam.e of England, in whatever connection 
 it may be mentioned. We may, in conclusion, observe that 
 the argument is one that may cut both w^ays : the ISToncon- 
 formist sects are equally alien in their titles, which are 
 all derived from England, and infinitely more alien in their 
 origin than the Church. 
 
 Sect. 5. — From first to last Mr. Richard can find no re- 
 deeming feature in the connection that has probably existed 
 for a thousand years between the Church in Wales and the 
 Church in England: — "Its influence, whethei' hostile or 
 friendly, whether in Catholic or Protestant times, has been 
 "Letters uniformly disastrous." The policy of the State (according 
 to him) has been directed to the extinction of the language 
 and nationality of Wales through the instrumentality of the 
 Church. He finds increasing evidence of this as time rolls 
 on, and points to a marked change which he states in his 
 "Letter " to have occurred at the Revolution, and which was 
 manifested in the appointment of English Bishops to Welsh 
 sees. Ml-. Richard has adopted without enquiry the crude 
 theory devised by the late Mr. Johnes on this subject, w^hich 
 w^as to the following effect : that in consequence of the Ja- 
 cobite proclivities of the Welsh, William III. or George I. 
 (it does not exactly appear which of the two) sent English 
 
 p. 133.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 63 
 
 bishops into Wales both as a punishment and as a safeguard. 
 This theory, hoAvever, leaves out of sight the important fact 
 that a considerable number of English bishops had been sent 
 to fill Welsh sees from the time of Elizabeth downwards, so 
 that in the large diocese* of St. David's there had hardly 
 been any Welsh ones. It maybe further showTi that William 
 III.'s reign was rather distinguished by the circumstance that 
 the vacancies were filled up exclusively with Welsh bishops. 
 Evidence may also be produced to show that the Welsh were 
 by no means conspicuously Jacobite ; so far from it, there was 
 a large and influential party favourable to the Hanoverianf 
 dynasty. The whole theory of hostile intent on the part of 
 the English Government in this matter collapses under these 
 plain facts, and it remains an open question why English 
 bishops were sent into Wales. Circumstantial evidence 
 points to the following solution — that in South Wales the 
 incomes of the sees were so attenuated from the Reformation 
 downwards as to require to be supplemented by English 
 preferments, and this arrangement remained in force within 
 the memory of many persons yet living, Llandaff being com- 
 bined with the Deanery of St. Paul's, and St. David's with 
 the Deanery of Durham ; in North Wales, on the other hand, 
 the Welsh Episcopate died out, through the operation of two 
 
 * Bishop Davies (1561-1582) was an undoubted Welshman, and so 
 was William Thomas (1678-1683) in all respects except the place of 
 his birth (Bristol). Thomas Young (1560-1561) may well have been 
 connected with a family of that name settled at Nevern ; but there is 
 no evidence that this was the case. Marmaduke Middleton (1582- 
 1594) has been reputed to be a native of Cardiganshire, but Lewis Dunn 
 pronounces him a Yorkshire man. John Lloyd (1686) held the see 
 only for a few months. Including the doubtful cases, the see of St. 
 David's was occupied forty years by Welshmen from the beginning of 
 Elizabeth's reign down to the aiDpointment of the present incumbent. 
 
 f The annals of the " Society of Ancient Britons," located in London, 
 bear testimony to this fact. The Society was founded in 1715 in 
 loyalty to the House of Hanover as expressly mentioned in their 
 minutes.
 
 64 The Case of tire Church in Wales. 
 
 causes, namely, the promotion of the Welsh bishojDS to 
 English sees, and the transfer, in the early part of the last 
 century, of the selection of bishops from the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury to the Prime Minister, who utilized his patronage 
 for the promotion of party interests. Under the action of 
 these combined causes the Welsh episcopate became thoroughly 
 assimilated to the English. We do not undertake to justify 
 the policy : it was a bad system for the Church whether in 
 England or in Wales, but it was more felt in the latter coun- 
 try in consequence of the presence of the Welsh language. 
 We cannot, nevertheless, honestly discover -any traces of 
 hostile design on the part of the English Government: as 
 far as South Wales is concerned we find evidence of the very 
 opposite intention; we therefore do .not believe that the 
 Church derived an " alien " character in the eyes of the peo- 
 ple from this cause, until it was suggested some half century 
 back that there was a deeply laid plot at the bottom of it for 
 the extinction of the language and nationality of Wales. 
 This is what Mr. Richard still believes and what he certainly 
 has not proved. No Prime Minister ever avowed a motive 
 of policy, and no Bishop ever accepted a Welsh see with the 
 understanding that it was part of his office to throw a damper 
 on Welsh nationality. The party interests taken into con- 
 sideration in their selection were simply those of Whig versus 
 Tory, and not of England versus Wales. The English bishops 
 in Wales never constituted themselves leaders of an English 
 party after the fashion of Irish bishops of the Archbishop 
 Boulter type. Nor did they so far neglect their respon- 
 sibilities as to oppose the use of the Welsh language in 
 Church ministrations. We might cite the names of Bull, 
 Beveridge, Fleetwood, Warren and Thirlwall, in refutation of 
 such a charge ; and possibly the list might be enlarged, if we 
 knew more of the doings of the bishops in past times. It i.s no 
 part of our business, however, to discuss this point fai'ther than 
 as it elucidates the question of the motive of their appointment
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 65 
 
 Sect. 6. — Mr. Bicliard would donbtless point to the conduct 
 of the English bishops as justifying the worst construction that 
 can be placed on their appointment. "They inundated the *'L. and 
 Principality," he says, "with English clergymen." N'ow, un- Mr. R.' 
 doubtedly, if this were literally or even approximately true, the 
 Church in Wales might have contracted an " alien " character 
 in the eyes of the Welsh -speaking people. But it is simply 
 untrue. The number of English clergymen holding Welsh- 
 speaking livings during the last 150 years has been so small 
 as to justify us in pronouncing such cases to be quite excep- 
 tional : the great bulk of the clergy have been unmistakably 
 Welsh. We are speaking (be it observed) of the loarochial 
 clergy; and Mr.- Richard must be held to refer to these, 
 inasmuch as he quotes in condemnation of the practice the 
 26th Article, which forbids ministrations "in a tongue not 
 understanded of the people." It cannot be denied that the 
 clergy have frequently been weak in their Welsh, so weak, 
 indeed, as to be sometimes unfit for their posts ; but it would 
 be a mistake to conclude that these were necessarily English- 
 men : we have already remarked that this has been a not 
 uncommon failing of the native Welsh clergy. This, how- 
 ever, is not the gist of Mr. Richard's accusation. What he 
 asserted in his letter to the Daikj Neivs, and reiterates in his 
 essay on " Disestablishment," is that the English Bishops 
 inundated VYales with their English friends and relations. 
 His assertion was challenged by the present author in his 
 " Reply to Mr. Richard," published immediately after the 
 " Letter." It was pointed out that in the large diocese of St. 
 David's the family name of a Bishop was not introduced into 
 the roll of the clergy for the 150 years succeeding 1700, and 
 that only two collateral relations had been detected as holding 
 parochial preferment, one of whom was located on the 
 English border, while the other may have been in Wales befoi'e 
 the Bishop. The Bishops of Llandaff had but two livings to 
 dispose of in their own diocese, and we are not aware that
 
 60 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 they have ever been cluirged Avith nepotism in respect to 
 either of them. In Bangor we may notice the presence of 
 Dean Cotton, who, by virtue of his deanery, had parochial 
 duties, and Mr. Majendie — both of them related to a Bishop, 
 and neither of them sufficiently trained in the Welsh tongue 
 to satisfy a Welsh ear. Setting aside these two, we must go 
 back a hundred years to find any instance of an English 
 clergyman having been even nominated to a benefice, and the 
 man to whom we refer as then nominated, Dr. Bowles, 
 appears never to have been actually appointed, as his name is 
 not found either in the diocesan register as having been 
 instituted, nor yet in the parochial register as having 
 officiated — the explanation being that on appeal to the Court 
 of Arches the presentation was cancelled. Further back 
 than this, to the beginning of the 18th century, we find some 
 English names, but in no case a Bishop's family name ; and 
 we have been unable at this distance of time to ascertain 
 whether the bearers of those names which do occur were 
 natives of Wales or not. Coming to St. Asaph, it cannot, unfor- 
 tunately, be denied that there was at one period a scandalous 
 display of nepotism, the particulars of which we shall detail 
 in the next chapter : but here again the facts do not warrant 
 Mr. Richard's sweeping accusation as to the inundation of 
 Welsh benefices by incumbents ignorant of the language 
 " understanded by the people." Mr. Johnes, who criticised 
 the appointments with great severity, specifies two such 
 cases ; but in neither of these cases were the incumbents 
 related to a Bishop, and one of them was not promoted by a 
 Bishop. Other cases there were of English incumbents, 
 relations of Bishops, appointed to parochial benefices in the 
 diocese ; but these were located in the border parishes, where 
 English was the predominating language ; and though it is 
 very probable that there was a minority of Welsh-speaking 
 people who were entitled to more consideration than they 
 actually received, there was no very glaring impropriety in
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 67 
 
 the appointments on linguistic grounds. We form our 
 opinion, not on personal knowledge of the localities, but 
 from the statements in Mr. Johnes' " Essay." 
 
 Sect. 7. — Whether any fui'ther elements of alienism are 
 attributed to the Church in Wales in addition to those vre 
 have noticed, we are not fully aware. Mr. Osborne Morgan 
 speaks of its being to the Welsh Nonconformists an alien p, 755. 
 Church ; but so might he speak of the Church in England 
 as being alien to the English Nonconformists. We question 
 whether the term alien is properly used in such a case. He 
 states, indeed, that the " Welsh Celt, like his Cornish cousin, see Appen- 
 is by nature predisposed to be a Nonconformist ; " but this is ^ ' ^' 
 hardly consistent with the fact that Welsh Methodism 
 originally sprang out of the Church, and adhered to the 
 Church much longer than did Methodism in England. If 
 "alien" merely means that the Nonconformists of the 
 present day are estranged from the Church, we must accept 
 the statement, certainly as regards the - Congi'egationalists 
 and Baptists, and, in a measui'e, the Calvinistic-Methodists. 
 If, on the other hand, what is meant is that Welsh Non- 
 conformists regard the Church as alien in the sense of 
 being devoted to English interests, we most emphatically 
 protest against the imputation as in the highest degree 
 unjust. We have already expressed our conviction that the 
 Church has suffered severely from the double duty imposed 
 upon her of providing for both the Welsh and English 
 elements of the population, and she is entitled to generous 
 consideration in this respect for the difficulties she has had 
 to meet with in this respect. We make no doubt that it 
 has contributed to give to the Church an alien liuc in the 
 eyes of the monoglot Welshman : but it does not follow that 
 the imputation is deserved. 
 
 F 2
 
 (38 The Case of the Cliurch in Wales. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Sect. 1. Charges of cori'uption and negligence brought against the 
 Church in Wales. Bishop Hughes and his sixteen livings. — Sect. 2. 
 The Bishops of St. Asaph and their relations. — Sect. 3. Corrup- 
 tion of the clergy. — Sect. 4, Charge of negligence in publishing 
 the Welsh version of the Bible. — Sect. 5. Concluding remarks. 
 
 Sect. 1.^ — It remains for us to advert to the charges 
 of negligence and corruption alleged against the Church 
 in Wales. It would argue badly for our standard of duty 
 if we were to assert that such charges are altogether 
 without foundation. Where, indeed, is the Church, estab- 
 lished or unestablished, which could or would pronounce 
 itself faultless ? Even Nonconformity is not perfect, though 
 Liberationists do not hesitate to cast the first stone at the 
 guilty. As regards the Church in Wales we do not pretend 
 to present a coulettr de rose description of her doings : we 
 acknowledge a long tale of f^^ults and shortcomings. All 
 that we propose to do is to ask whether our assailants have 
 been fair either in their statements of facts oi- in the 
 deductions they have drawn from those facts. The charge 
 of corruption i.s closely attached, in the argument of oui- 
 assailants, to the charge of alienism, the contention being 
 that the Bishops have been corrupt because they have been 
 alien, and alien because the Church has been established. 
 Thus, for instance, the compiler of the " Case for Dis- 
 establishment" introduces his sketch of the post- Reformation 
 period in the following words : — " The Church of England in 
 the Principality continued to be the Church of the stranger.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 69 
 
 Its chief shepherds cared little for the native flock of the 
 ecclesiastical fold, bnt they showed themselves intent on 
 securing as much as possible of the fleece. In 1587 it tran- 
 spired that the Bishop of Bangor held sixteen rich livings in 
 commendam.'' This instance of corruption is one of the 
 stock topics in Liberationist utterances : Ave find it adduced 
 in Dr. Bees's "History," in Dr. Bees's address at Swansea 
 in 1884, in Mr. Bichard's " Letters and Essays," and in his 
 recently published handbook on " Disestablishment." We 
 have two questions to ask on the subject of this and similar 
 statements — the first being whether it is fair to reproduce 
 scandals which occun^ed some two or three hundred years 
 since with a view to rouse popular indignation against the 
 Chui'ch of the present da}^ — the other whether it is not 
 the bounden duty of those who choose to adopt this unfair 
 mode of attack, to use the most scrupulous caution in laying 
 the case fully* and fairly before the public by stating the facts 
 correctly and b}^ placing it in a position to judge of the value 
 of the facts by describing the character and circumstances of 
 the period in which they occurred. We do not for a moment 
 contend that such topics should be excluded from the pages 
 of history. The first qiialification of a historian is that he 
 should be faithful in his description of the times with which 
 he is dealing; but it does not follow that such subjects 
 should be introduced into platform addresses for the un- 
 worthy purpose of rousing passion and prejudice against 
 present institutions. And, to take our second question, we 
 
 * Mr. Richard does not apparently think it needful to be prepared 
 with particulars to prove his assertions even as to events which he 
 alleges to have occurred within the last few years. He may recall to 
 his naemory a story that he recounted at DoAvlais publicly on Nov. 12, 
 1885, about a Nonconformist graveyard and a clergyman's conduct 
 relating to it, which he was called upon to substantiate, but could give 
 his interrogator no particulars whatever as to place, person, or deno- 
 mination. "^Ve submit that he should yet furnish the information with 
 such fidness as would enable a person to vei*if.r the statement.
 
 70 'Jlie Case of the Church in Wiiles, 
 
 contend that the most rigid care should be used to sift the 
 exact character of every fact recorded and every statement 
 made. AVe will illustrate our meaning by reference to the 
 case above referred to. The Bishop in question was a 
 thorough-going Welshman, William Hughes, not of Bangor, 
 but of St. Asaph. Strype records, no doubt, that he held 
 sixteen li-vdngs ; but he also gives some particulars as to 
 these livings, and those particulars ought, in our opinion, to 
 have been mentioned. In the present day, when we hear of 
 a clergyman holding a living, we think of him as having a 
 rectory or vicarage, Avith duties attaching to the post ; but in 
 past times there was another class of livings, called sinecures, 
 which did not involve such duties ; and these were often 
 applied to supply funds for the maintenance of the higher 
 officers in the Church, such as Bishops and Archdeacons. 
 Now, Strype tells us that ten out of the sixteen "livings" were 
 sinecures, and Mr. Richard ought to have mentioned this. 
 Still, it may be said that the Bishop had no right to derive 
 his income from these ten sinecures, much less from the six 
 livings with cure of souls which he held. On this head it 
 should be explained that in consequence of the then poverty 
 of the see (valued at £187 a year). Archbishop Parker had 
 authorised the Bishop to hold in oommendam the Archdeaconry 
 of St. Asaph, the Rectory of Llysfaen, which he had held 
 before his elevation to the see, and other benefices to the 
 value of £150 per annum. The Archdeacon's revenue arose 
 out of three livings with cure, and four sinecures ; and the 
 Bishop further took two benefices with cure, and four sine- 
 cui-e rectories with two chapelries attached, in satisfaction 
 of the £150 a year. We have thus accounted for the sixteen 
 livings in a very different way from what nine-tenths of Mr. 
 Richard's readers would understand it, and we maintain 
 that he should have taken some pains to understand it 
 himself and to expound it to others. That the system was a 
 bad one we freely grant ; and that the Bishop created a
 
 The Case of tin- Chnrvl, in Wales. 71 
 
 scandal may also be taken for granted, tlie scandal consisting 
 partly in this, that lie shifted from time to time the benefices 
 which he took in comrnendam, and that the livings he took 
 exceeded in value the stipulated £150, iinless this latter sum 
 be understood as representing the value in the King's books. 
 We have no wish whatever to whitewash Bishop Hughes's 
 character, but we equally have no wish that the guilt of his 
 misdoings should be transferred to the now existing Church ; 
 and, whatever that guilt may amount to, it does not prove 
 that the Church was " the Church of the stranger." 
 
 Sect. 2. — From Bishop Hughes and his sixteen livings, we 
 descend to more recent times and find the English Bishops 
 depicted by Mr. Richard in his '' Letter "" as uniformly and uni- 
 versally corrupt: — ''They displayed the most rapacious spirit: 
 a system of nepotism, plurality and non-residence of the most 
 shameful character prevailed. The highest appointments — 
 deaneries, canonries, and some of the richest livings were 
 bestowed by the Bishops on their own relations and friends.'* 
 The importance of this charge may bo judged from the fact 
 that it lias more than once supplied materials for assaults on 
 the Welsh Church in the House of Commons, notably so in 
 1871, when the late Justice (then Mr.) Watkin Williams 
 founded his motion for the Disestablishment of the Church in 
 Wales mainly on these grounds. The authority on which both 
 Mr. Richard and Mr. Watkin Williams relied for their state- 
 ments is Johnes' Essay on the "Causes of Dissent in Wales," 
 published in 1832. Mr. Johnes lived at a time when nepotism 
 had attained an unfortunate notoriety in the diocese of St. 
 Asaph, within the borders of which he lived. There was 
 ample ground for complaint as far as that diocese was con- 
 cerned, but there can be no question that the language he 
 used was likely to mislead cursory readers of his Essay as to 
 the extent, both in area and time, to which the grievance 
 had extended ; he conveyed the impression that the mal- 
 practices prevailed thi'oughout the whole of Wales and in
 
 T/iP Caf-o of flip C']iv7rJi in Wdlf's. 
 
 respect to all classes of preferments that were worth having. 
 Even as regards St. Asaph diocese his statements are too 
 highly coloured, while as regards the rest of Wales they do 
 not apply in any marked degree. Mr. Watkin Williams 
 cited to the House in 1871 the terms of a petition presented 
 to it some 40 years before, which evidently emanated from 
 the diocese of St. Asaph, but which was represented as apply- 
 ing to the whole of the country. Great injustice has thus 
 been done to the Church in Wales and to the memories of the 
 Bishops as a body. As far as South Wales is concerned, 
 there is no ground whatever for the charge ; it may be said, 
 of course, that the charge applies only to valuable appoint- 
 ments, and that there are none such in South Wales : this is 
 not far from the truth, but then it surely should have been 
 made clear that the larger division of Wales was unaffected 
 by the abuse. The Bishops of St. DaWd's* however, had not 
 bad opportunities of promoting their friends to the higher 
 posts which they had to dispose of : but for the century and 
 half that preceded 1850 we can detect the family name of a 
 Bishop among the highei' appointments only once, in the 
 person of Archdeacon Warren, nor have we been able after 
 diligent search to discover more than one other collateral 
 relation of a Bishop as holding a post of this kind, namely 
 Archdeacon Stevens, son-in-law of Bishop Bull. The Bishops 
 of Llandaff had (as already stated) hardly any parochial 
 preferment at their disposal and the cathedral appointments 
 were little else than honorary. Such as they were, they 
 might very possibly have been more judiciously disposed of, 
 but they certainly furnished no oppoHunity for the exercise 
 of "rapacity." In Bangor diocese the relations of bishops 
 
 * It may not be amiss to I'emark that in I'eviewing the names of the 
 holders of higher appointments at the disposal of Bishops, allowance 
 must be made for "options" and Crown appointments sede vacante. 
 In St. David's, where the succession of Bitsliops was very rapid, such 
 cases were numerous.
 
 The Case of the Chv.rcli in Wales. 78 
 
 were not unknown. The names of Dean Warren, Dean 
 Cotton, and Mr. Majendie have been already mentioned, and 
 to these we may add the names of Henry Warren (1797), 
 Henry Egerton (1758), and Egerton Leigh (1759), the two 
 latter of which suggest connection with Bishop Egerton 
 (1756-1769). Here onr list of Bishops' relations (as far as 
 we are able to identify them) comes to an end for a period 
 of 180 years. It was only in St. Asaph that nepotism pre- 
 vailed, and, without offering the slightest palliation for the 
 offence, we wish, nevertheless, to state the facts of the 
 case. The chief occasion for its exercise arose out of 
 a dozen sinecure rectories, which, as having no parochial 
 duties attached to them, might be held by persons living 
 in England or elsewhere. These were largely distributed 
 among the friends of the Bishops as shown by Mr. Johnes 
 (p. 140), and the only complaint we have to make of his 
 comments on these appointments is that he frequently mixes 
 them up with the parochial cures under the common term 
 "benefice"; whereas we think it somewhat essential to a 
 true estimate of the effects of the appointments that they 
 should be described as sinecures. Then, further, the Deanery 
 was held by five relations of Bishops for 150 years, and very 
 much the same may be said of the more valuable of the 
 prebends. Lastly, four successive Bishops had left behind 
 them relations to the number of 11, holding between them 
 15 parochial benefices, and these persons happened to be 
 holding these benefices simultaneously when Mr. Johnes 
 wrote, so that though the number of individuals preferred 
 by each Bishop was not excessive, the aggregate number 
 was certainly so, and the state of the diocese was deservedly 
 the object of much adverse criticism. We offer no defence 
 for the conduct of Bishop Luxmoore and his predecessors. 
 But we still maintain that it is a gross exaggeration to say 
 of the Welsh prelates generally that they " preferred their 
 inefficient sons, nephews and cousins to the fourth and fifth
 
 74 TJit^ Case of the Chn/rh in Wales. 
 
 generation" (Johnes, p. 137), or that they "inundated" the 
 Principality "with English clergymen. The actual number 
 whose positions necessarily imposed upon them intercourse 
 with the Welsh-speaking population, probably does not 
 exceed a couple of dozen for a couple of hundred years. 
 
 Sect, 3. — Mr. Richard carries on his attack from the Bishops 
 to the parochial clergy, whom he describes as " a most de- 
 generate class, utterly indifferent to their office, and many of 
 them leading scandalous and immoral lives." It is difficult to 
 deal with a vague and sweeping accusation of this sort. We 
 have already allowed that there have been, and still are, clergy- 
 men whose characters unfit them for their office. We are not 
 in a position to deny that the number of such has been pro- 
 portionately larger in Wales than in England. If there be any 
 truth in the assertion that "a scandalous maintenance makes a 
 scandalous ministry " (and we believe that this is accepted as 
 an axiom by Nonconformists equally with Churchmen), there is 
 good reason for anticipating, though not for justifying, a lower 
 standard in Wales than in England. Add to this the chilling 
 efiects of isolation to which the Welsh clergyman is exposed in 
 many a remote mountain parish, and we shall still less wonder 
 at what has frequently happened, though it ought not to have 
 been so. The effect of such cases is felt widely in point of 
 area and long in point of time, while the memories of worthy 
 and faithful pastors are buried in oblivion. Kever was the 
 saying more true than in respect to the clergy, that — 
 
 " The evil that men do fives after them, 
 The good is oft interred with their bones." 
 
 L, and And thus it comes to pass that Mr. Eichard is enabled to quote 
 from the presentments to Bishop Baily, of Bangor, in 1623, 
 such statements as that the Vicar of Aberdaron was on a cer- 
 tain occasion "overseen by drinke," while nothing can be 
 placed on the jjer contra side of the account in the absence of 
 all record. 
 
 E.," p, 144
 
 The Case of the Chnrch in Wales. 75 
 
 One further observation we have to make on this subject. 
 It is frequently assumed that the rise of Methodism, both 
 in Wales and in England, was due to notorious misconduct on 
 the part of the clergy. Mr. Kichard, in his " Letter,'* does not 
 omit to avail himself of Bishop Kyle's assertion that at the 
 time when Daniel Rowlands' license was revoked, " scores of J*Ser8!"^ 
 Welsh clergymen were shamefully neglecting their duties, and ^' ^^^' 
 too often were drunkards, gamblers, sportsmen, if not worse." 
 We are as little able to disprove, as we imagine that Bishop 
 Ryle is to prove, this vague charge. But we conceive it to be 
 a mistake to regard this as the root of the success of Methodism. 
 Methodism was rather a recoil from the dry, hard tone which 
 had prevailed in theology, in the pulpit, and in the general 
 religious tone of the day, to an excess of warmth and excite- 
 ment — a violent swing of the pendulum from the intellectual 
 to the emotional side of religion. But the dryness and hard- 
 ness were quite compatible with morality and a certain kind of 
 earnestness : and we believe that the clergy were by no means 
 held in contempt in the early part of the last century. 
 Methodism, after all, sprang out of the bosom of the Church — 
 Griffith Jones, Daniel Rowlands, and many other Methodist 
 leaders being clergymen. Howel Harris, who shares with 
 Daniel Rowlands the fame of having founded Welsh Methodism, 
 was a layman ; but he attributed his first religious impressions 
 to the ministrations of his parish priest, and he remained an 
 attached member of the Church to the end of his life.* We do 
 not find these early readers of Methodism inveighing against 
 
 * These interesting facts are alluded to in the inscription on the tablet 
 to Harris's memory in Talgarth Church : — " Njar the Communion Table 
 lie the remains of Howel Harris, Esq. Here where his body hes, he 
 was convinced of sin, had his pardon sealed, and felt the power of 
 Christ's precious blood, at the Holy Communion" ; and the same in- 
 scription records that he remained a "faithful member of the Church 
 of England unto his end."
 
 76 The Case of the Chnrch in Wales. 
 
 the lives of the clergy as the occasion of the movement they set 
 on foot. 
 
 Sect, 4. — Negligence of a flagrant character is also alleged 
 against the Church in Wales. The topic generally selected to 
 support this charge is the delay that occurred in publishing a 
 Welsh version of the Bible. The facts are as follow :~ Queen 
 Elizabeth ordered (a.d. 1563) the Welsh Bishops (Hereford 
 included) fco prepare a Welsh version of the Bible, and to get 
 the same printed and published within three years, under the 
 heavy penalty, in default, of £40 each. Not only was the 
 time absurdly short for such a task (as may be readily con- 
 cluded from the time occupied even in the revision of the 
 English Bible, both in James I.'s reign and in our own time), 
 but it was in the highest degree unreasonable to impose on the 
 Bishops, whose incomes were insufficient for their own main- 
 tenance, the great expense of carrying such a work through the 
 press in London : for (it must be remembered) the Queen, in 
 ordering them to do this, never offered to find them the money 
 wherewith to do it. The version of the New Testament was 
 brought out in 1567; but the Old Testament nob until 20 years 
 later, and then through the assistance rendered to the translator 
 (Morgan) by Archbishop Whitgift and Dean Goodman. The 
 version is one of which Welshmen are jnstly proud ; and 
 nothing can be more ungenerous than Mr. Bichard's observa- 
 tions on this subject in his " Letter," dilating (as he does) on the 
 neglect, without mentioning the difficulties of the case. 
 
 Sect. 5. — Much more might we say of the treatment, at 
 once unjust and ungenerous, which the Church in Wales has 
 received at the hands of those who profess to be animated with 
 the most friendly feelings towards her, and exhibit their 
 friendliness by exposing her shortcomings without explaining 
 the causes of them, and by raking up all sorts of charges 
 against her from the events of the last thousand years. Her 
 history has, no doubt, been largely involved in and influenced 
 by the political and social history of the country : it was im-
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 7*7 
 
 possible that it could be otherwise. Her adversaries have 
 skilfully chosen their ground for depreciating her through this 
 inevitable connection. Because she has been an integral portion 
 of the Church of England — because she has shared the fortunes 
 of that Church for good and for evil — because she has been 
 almost exclusively responsible for the English element in the 
 "Welsh-speaking districts — and because her efficiency has been 
 in various ways impaired by the juxtaposition of the English 
 and Welsh languages — for these reasons she is denounced as an 
 alien institution, and no longer worthy to be regarded as the 
 Church of the people of Wales. We appeal to the judgment 
 of the public, both inside and outside of Wales, to decide 
 whether the shortcomings of the Church in Wales have not 
 been grossly exaggerated, and her position unduly depreciated 
 by persistent misrepresentation.
 
 78 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Mr. Dillwyn has himself illustrated the fallaciousness of 
 his statement of 1883 by his recent statement in the House 
 of Commons, in which he reduced the proportion of children 
 to population from one-fifth to one-sixth, and also reduced 
 the non-religious section from 150,000 to 100,000 (children 
 in each case excluded). The amount thus gained he has 
 distributed between Church people and Roman Catholics, 
 the former being raised from 142,639 to 217,400, and the 
 latter from 30,000 to 50,000 — all these figures being exclusive 
 of children. But the true way to compare Mr. Dillwyn's 
 two statements is by including the children, and it will be 
 found that they stand thus : — Nonconformists are reduced 
 from 939,930 as stated in 1883 to 902,330 as stated in 1886, 
 and non-religious from 187,500 to 120,000; but Roman 
 Catholics are increased from .37,500 to 60,000 ; leaving the 
 balance for Churchmen increased from 178,300 to 260,900 — 
 the total population in each case being the same, 1,343,320. 
 Sundry questions are suggested by this comparison. In the 
 first place, how does Mr. Dillwyn make oat the proportion 
 of Churchmen to population as one-eighth, which was 
 what he stated to the House P It is clearly one-fifth, 
 as any one may observe by comparing the two amounts last 
 mentioned. Mr. Dillwyn made a similar miscalculation in
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 79 
 
 1883 when he stated the proportion as one-ninth thongh 
 his figures showed one-seventh. Unless he can offer some 
 explanation of these discrepancies, he is certainly open to 
 the charge of culpable mis-representation. Then, further, 
 how does he account for the changes he has introduced 
 into the later as compared with the earlier estimate ? He 
 has advanced Churchmen to the extent of 82,600 of the 
 population, about 50 per cent, of their former number, and 
 Roman Catholics 22,500 or 60 per cent., and he has 
 diminished the children by 44,800, and the non-religious 
 by 67,500. Does he mean to say that such changes have 
 actually taken place within these sections during the last 
 two years ? or does he acknowledge that one of his state- 
 ments is wrong and, if so, which ? Meanwhile it is observ- 
 able that he retains the number of x^onconformists members 
 and hearers at the same amount as before, though it has 
 been pointed out more than once that he has mis-quoted 
 the returns and thus enhanced their number to the extent 
 of about 50,000. These mistakes he certainly ought to have 
 rectified, with the result that the proportion of Chui'chmen 
 to population would have been raised from one-fifth to one- 
 fourth, and even higher than this if he had further modified 
 his calculation as to the children. Even thus his whole 
 statement would labour under the radical defect of being 
 constructed on a fallacious basis : it is simply monstrous 
 that the number of Churchmen should be made to depend 
 on Nonconformist returns which are not open to public 
 inspection — yet more monstrous that it should be made to 
 depend on arbitrary assumptions and arithmetical blunders.
 
 80 
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 The explanation suggested by the Departmental Com- 
 mittee has obtained more ready acceptance at the hands of 
 the public in consequence of the exaggerated estimate put 
 forth by them as to the number of scholars that ought 
 to be receiving intermediate education. Mention is made 
 in their R(3port (p. 16) of 16 boys per 1,000 of the population 
 as being a fair proportion, and the idea has somehow got 
 abroad that this number is actually found in the endowed 
 schools of England. This impression receives confirmation 
 from their proposal to make provision for the reduced 
 number of 10 per 1,000, "on account of the exceptional con- 
 ditions of Wales." The contrast between those proportions 
 and the one per 1,000 actually found in the schools has 
 naturally engendered the suspicion that there must be some- 
 thing radically wrong in the management of the schools 
 in order to account for the extreme paucity of scholars in 
 Wales. If the Committee had stated that the number in 
 the endowed schools of England was, a few years since, 
 only at the rate of two per thousand, or if they had made 
 it clear that proprietary and private schools should be taken 
 into account in estimating the total number receiving inter- 
 mediate education, and that, as regards Wales, particular 
 inquiry should be made as to the number of boys receiving 
 such education in England, then a very different reception 
 would have been given to their explanation, which receives 
 no confirmation, but rather the reverse, from the condition 
 of such of the endowed schools as are not under the manage- 
 ment of Churchmen. We are glad to be able to fortify 
 our view by quoting the testimony of one who can speak 
 with the authority of a large expeiience — the Rev. A. G. 
 Edwards, for 11 years master of a school, Llandovery, which
 
 I 
 
 The Ca$e of the Church in Wales. 81 
 
 Has been mncli frequented by Nonconformist boys. Address- 
 ing the Cambrian Society of South Wales and Monmouth- 
 sbire at Cardiff, March 9, 1886, he says: — "I affirm posi- 
 tively that the statement that existing First Grade Schools 
 are viewed Tvith mistrust by parents on account of the 
 religious views of those who preside over them, is a state- 
 ment which does not rest on any basis of fact." And he 
 proceeds to state that the paucity of scholars in Wales is 
 rather due to the preference which parents show for having 
 their sons educated in England whenever they can afford 
 the expense. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 The paucity of clergy as compared with churches has 
 been in past times most conspicuous in Anglesea and the 
 peninsula of Lleyn in Carnarvonshire. In these districts 
 old churches are far more numerous than in other parts 
 of North Wales : whether this is due to the superior fertility 
 of the soil or to ecclesiastical conditions we are not aware. 
 
 In Anglesea there were, in 1831, as many as 75 churches 
 and chapels-of-ease ; in Lleyn (or, more exactly, the Registra- 
 tion District of Pwllheli) 31 churches and chapels. These 
 106 buildings were divided amongst 56 benefices, so that 
 there were nearly two churches for each benefice. This 
 disproportion arose from two causes, one being the 
 numerous chapels-of-ease which remained attached to the 
 mother churches, and the other the consolidations that had 
 taken place in consequence of insufficiency of income. The 
 areas which the chapels-of-ease served had in many cases 
 become recognised as civil parishes, and hence there was 
 
 G
 
 82 The Case of the Church in Wales. 
 
 all the appearance of a large amount of plurality ; but 
 plurality must be measured by the number of benefices 
 and not by the number of churches. There were, indeed, 
 some cases of plurality in 1831 : we could mention about 
 ten, five of which might be justified by the porerty of the 
 benefices, while the remaining five cannot be justified on 
 that ground. These latter cases would come under the 
 head of abuse or mal-administration. But setting these 
 aside, the number of incumbents could hardly exceed 50 
 under any circumstances. Curates might, of course, be 
 added if funds permitted : but there were no more than 
 six assistant curates in 1831. It is clearly impossible that 
 50 clergy can supply the full complement of services requi- 
 site for the satisfactory working of 106 churches ; this 
 would have been the case even if all the benefices had been 
 filled with active resident clergy, and iiTespective of the 
 abuses of non-residence and negligence which undoubtedly 
 prevailed at that period. The general effect of the de- 
 ficiencies of one kind and another is told in the low per- 
 centages which are shown by the census returns of 1851, 
 the total attendances numbering only 7*8 per cent, of the 
 population in Lleyn and 10*5 in Anglesea. We may particu- 
 larly notice the meagre attendance in the evening, which 
 shows that the churches were for the most part closed just 
 when they would have had the best chance of being filled. 
 Turning to other portions of these western counties, we find 
 that in the Registration District of Carnarvon (excluding 
 that portion of it which lies in Anglesea) there were in 
 1831 but 12 churches and chapels and 10 benefices for 
 an area of about 95,000 acres : the percentage of attendances 
 in 1851 stood at 8*2 for a population of about 30,000. In 
 Festiniog there was again a disproportion of clergy to 
 churches, there beiug in 1831 bat nine benefices for 15 
 churches and chapels on an area of 140,000 acres : the 
 percentage stood at 8*2 for a population of about 30,000. 
 
 I
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 83 
 
 In Bala there were only five clmrches and four clergymen 
 for an area of 60,000 acres ; the percentage stood at 7'3. 
 In Dolgelley 11 benefices and 13 buildings for an area 
 of 145,000 acres : tlie percentage stood at 8' 9 for a popula- 
 tion of 13,000. In Corwen clergy and cburclies bad attained 
 an equilibrium, there being 15 of each for an area of 124,000 
 acres : the percentage of attendance was 9*2 for a population 
 of 15,400. There can be no question (one would think) as 
 to the inadequacy of the Church's equipment both in men 
 and buildings — in men more particularly, for no good can 
 come of buildings without a proportionate supply of 
 ministers, the only effect of disproportion being that no 
 churches are adequately served, and that the population 
 slips away to places where they can obtain more numerous 
 opportunities of worshipping. 
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 I 
 
 Mr. Osborne Morgan's assertion that the Welsh have a 
 natural antipathy to the doctrines and order of the Church 
 of England is gainsay ed by the fact that the Church is 
 strong in many parts of Welsh Wales. We cite below, in 
 illustration of this, some groups of contiguous parishes 
 with agricultural populations in the most decidedly Welshy 
 portions of St. David's Diocese. We might extend the list 
 if it were necessary. The three groups cited lie apart from 
 each other at considerable intervals, and we believe that 
 the intermediate parishes would exhibit no very dissimilar 
 result. These groups supply evidence that the parishes 
 selected for the so-called censuses of the Liberationists 
 would not (even if they had not been mis-represented) be 
 fair samples of the several condition of the Chuvcb in the
 
 84 The Case of the Church in Wales 
 
 conntry parishes generally. We again assert that the 
 variations in the condition of the Church are strongly 
 marked, and tliat what is true of one district is untrue of 
 another. But when Mr. Morgan draws the conclusion that 
 paucity of attendance is evidence that there is au innate 
 prejudice against the Church, might not the same argument 
 be extended to the Nonconformist bodies, which exhibit a 
 similar tendency to unequal distribution in various parts 
 of Wales. In the western counties of North Wales, for 
 instance, Baptists are comparatively few ; in Pembrokeshire 
 they are very numerous. In the former districts Calvinistic 
 Methodism is gveatly in the ascendant ; in South Wales 
 Congregationalism holds that position. Might it. not be 
 argued that there was something in the doctrines of the 
 Baptists which rendered them *' alien " to the inhabitants 
 of Carnarvonshire, and something in the tenets of the Cal- 
 vinistic Methodists "alien" to the Pembrokeshire people, 
 and, in short, something *' alien " to the inhabitants of every 
 county of Wales in all the religious systems except the 
 one which happens to be predominant in that county ? The 
 geographical distribution of the Nonconformist bodies is 
 well worthy of observation, as showing that the predomin- 
 ance of any one body is due to other causes than an a priori 
 tendency of mind for a certain kind of doctrine or Church 
 polity. There is, at all events, no greater evidence of 
 " alienism " as regards the Church than as regards Non- 
 conformity ; and w^e believe this to be evidenced by the 
 condition of the Church in the following groups of parishosi 
 as shown in the proportion which the comm^iiicants bear 
 to the population : — 
 
 Group 1. — Six adjacent benefices on the mid-course of 
 the Tivy, viz. : — Llanfihangel-ar-Arth, Llandyssil, Llangeleri 
 Bangor with Henllan, Llanwenog, and Llanllwni with 
 Llanfihangel-Bhos-y-corn — 1,216 communicants to a popu- 
 lation of 9,213, or 13 per cent.
 
 The Case of the Church in Wales. 86 
 
 Group 2. — Six adjacent benefices on the course of the 
 Tow J between Carmarthen and Llandilo, viz. : — Abergwili, 
 Llangunnor, Llanegwad, Llanarthney, Llangathen, and 
 Llanfihangel-Aberbythick — 894 communicants to a popula- 
 tion of 7,489, or 12 per cent. 
 
 Group 3. — Six adjacent benefices in North Cardiganshire, 
 viz. : — Llanrhystid, Llansantffraed, Liang wyryf on, Llan- 
 ddeiniol, Llanjchaiarn, and Llanilar with Rhostie — 875 
 communicants to a population of 5,061, or 17 per cent. 
 
 One point of interest yet remains to be noticed. There exists 
 a record of the number of communicants in Cardiganshire 
 in 1804 as returned on the occasion of Bishop Burgess's 
 primary visitation. This (be it observed) was before the 
 secession of the Methodists from the Church in 1811. No 
 diminution has occurred in the proportion which the number 
 of communicants bears to the population in the present day 
 as compared with 1804. 
 
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