WH

I. A MISE.

66

WHEN a prince of Wales visited his Principality a mise was paid by the people. This mise is described in an old law lexicon as an honorary gift or customary present with which the people of Wales are wont to salute every new king or prince of Wales at their entrance into the Principality. It was anciently given in cattle, wine, and corn for the sustentation of the prince's family; but when that dominion was annexed to the English crown, the gift was changed into money."

Its appears that Flintshire paid 2,000 marks as its share of this mise, and the payment was made thrice during the reign of James I., viz., at his accession, and at the creation of Henry and Charles successively as Prince of Wales. Cheshire was also carefully exploited by a similar tax.

It would be interesting to learn if this tax is still levied, and if it was paid last week on the occasion of the royal visit. The probabilities are that the tax has been compromised in some way or other, but I should be glad to have any information on the subject. J. PERCIVAL DAVIES.

Liverpool, July 17.

11. THE STATUTE OF MERTON.

Many besides myself would be glad to know what the real effects of this statute were. Had it any appreciable influence on the history of land in

HE following letter appeared

in the 66

Glasgow Weekly

History," No. 48, about the year 1743. The name of the writer is not inserted, but must have been Edmund Jones, of Pontypool, an Independent minister. The insertion of the letter in the present number of WALES is timely. A very able book called "Y Tadau Methodistaidd" (The Methodist Fathers), written for the most part by the Rev. J. Morgan Jones, of Cardiff, is now coming out of the press. Mr. Jones questions the correctness of the statistics of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Rees in the "History of Nonconformity in Wales." Dr. Rees gives a very favourable view of religious activity in South Wales, before the Methodist revival, especially among the Independents. Dr. Rees took his statistics from a manuscript written by Dr. John Evans about the year 1715, but, according to Mr. J. M. Jones, he did not make a fair use of those

statistics. Mr. Jones takes a very unfavourable view of religious activity at that time, even in South Wales. Edmund Jones takes a middle path between Dr. Rees' opinion and that of Mr. J. M. Jones. For my part, I do not think that Edmund Jones was biased by anything in his description of Wales in 1742. But independently of all this, I think the letter contains facts worthy of the perusal of the readers of WALES. Brynkir.

HENRY HUGHES.

"October 26th, 1742.

"Rev. and dear brother,

"I shall give you some account of religion in the Principality of Wales, both North and South. To begin with North Wales.

"In the Isle of Anglesea* there are no

It seems that the Independents began in Anglesea about the time of the date of this letter. William Prichard, who was an Independent, removed from Glasirynfawr, Carnarvonshire, to Plas Penmynydd, Anglesea, about November, 1742; and it seems that Jenkin Morgan, an Independent minister, went there about the same time. Very soon afterwards an Independent congrega. tion was gathered at Rhos y Meirch, not far from Llangefui.H. H.

Dissenters; and it is the only county in England or Wales that wants one. In Carnarvonshire there is one congregation, -at Pwllheli,-of Dissenters, who are a very devout and zealous people as perhaps any in the kingdom; and three lecture places, all of them on that promontory or narrow neck of land that stretches out into the sea, and is the best inhabited part of the county. The minister is Mr. John Thomas, a humble, meek, serious man, and who preaches well. Mr. Howell Harries and some Methodists, together with Jenkyn Morgan, the schoolmaster, have been made instrumental to awaken and convert many in these parts, but were grievously persecuted; and they have even broke the meeting-house, and committed strange outrages; the devil, their master, being wonderfully nettled at his losing so many souls. In Denbighshire are three congregations of Dissenters, viz., a small one in Denbigh town and two in Wrexham. And I might add one in Oswestry, which, though in Shropshire ground, the people are Welsh, and border on Denbighshire. In Flintshire is a small one. In Merionethshire there is but one, not far from Bala town. Their minister is Mr. Lewis Rees, a very godly man, exceeding well gifted in prayer, and also frequent in it. He preaches in two places in this county, though he lives in Montgomeryshire. In Montgomeryshire there are five congregations, two of which were lately gathered by that excellent minister of Christ, the above-mentioned Mr. Lewis Rees, who preaches in five places in this county, and in two places in Merionethshire, between twenty and thirty miles from his habitation. There are some very devout people belonging to Mr. Rees in this county, as also some in Merionethshire. So far as to So far as to North Wales.

The lecture places were at Capel Helig, in the parish of Llangybi, Eifionnydd; near Nanhorou, in Lleyn; and either at Tydweiliog, in Lleyn, or in the town of Carnarvon.

The meeting-house at Pwl hli. Jenkyn Morgan came t Carnarvonshire in 1740, and Howell Harries in 1741. Both were severely treated, especially by the clergy, the foremost among whom were the Rev. John Owen, of Llannor, the Chancellor of Bangor, and the Rev. Edward Nanuey, of Llaugybi.-H. H.

One belonging to the Independents, and the other belonging to the Baptists.-H. H.

At Newmarket. I. II.

§ Very probably at Bala town and at Bron y Clydwr, not far from the town of Towyn.-H. I.

Two of which were at Llanbrynmair and Llanfyllin; another, perhaps, near Newtown; and the other two, it is very probable, in the vicinity of these places.

"In South Wales. In Radnorshire there are six congregations of Dissenters, eight if we reckon the Baptists. One of our six congregations there was gathered lately, partly by the labours of the Methodists, and partly by the zeal of a gentlewoman,a Dissenter, who built a new meetinghouse. In this county lived the Rev. Vavazor Griffith, the master of the Welsh academy, who died lately. He was in every respect the greatest and most excellent man that ever I saw in my life; nor is it in my power to hope that I shall ever see the like again on this side glory. Most of the congregations in this county are but small. In Cardiganshire are nine congregations of the Dissenters, and one of the Anabaptist persuasion. Most of the congregations here are large ones. Here were lately two eminent clergymen,—Mr. David Jenkins, a young man lately dead, and Mr. Daniel Rowland, who had at his church some time ago above 2,000 coinmunicants. Almost all the lower part of the county is become religious since Mr. Howell Harries and the Methodists laboured there. Among the Dissenting ministers Mr. Phylip Pugh is the most noted, both for his uncommon piety, diligence, and success; he hath about 500 communicants, and preaches in five or six places. And beside the above-mentioned congregations, the Dissenters and Methodists have several lecture-places. brokeshire hath been lately mightily roused up, and abundance of people convinced, reformed, and converted, by means of the exhortations of Mr. Howell Harries and other Methodist exhorters; and, contrary to Cardiganshire, 'tis the upper part of Pembrokeshire that hath been roused and reformed, and that almost universally, to a concern about religion. Certainly a very great work has been done there. Among the clergy, Mr. David Jones and Mr. Howell Davies are very eminent, especially the latter, who is a mighty Boanerges, and very industrious in preaching both in churches, houses, and fields. There are in this county six congregations of our Dissenters, some of them not small; and three Anabaptist ones, one of which is large. In Carmarthenshire there are near a score of our Nonconform

Pem

ing congregations,—and two of Anabaptists, -some of which are large. Besides, they Besides, they have many other lecture-places spread spread almost all over the county. Among the ministers noted are Mr. James Lewis, Mr. John Harris, Mr. Owen Rees, and Mr. Henry Palmer, an Apollos in the Scriptures, and very pious. Among the clergy is the famous Mr. Griffith Jones, one of the most excellent preachers in Great Britain, for piety, good sense, diligence, moderation, zeal, a mighty utterance, the like whereof I never heard; he is so catholic-spirited and charitable that he allows his communicants to communicate with Dissente's, and they with him. He hath set up movable Welsh free schools in every county in South Wales, and in some counties in North Wales, to teach the poorer sort to read Welsh, and hath thereby done unspeakable good. In Brecknockshire there are eight congregations of our Dissenters, two of whom I have had the favour, upon the late reformation, to gather and set up, and are yet chiefly under my care. Besides this, there are two or three Anabaptist congregations, and about twenty societies of Methodists, who are reckoned to be converted, and were set up by the labours of Mr. Howell Harries, who was born and lives in this county. Among the clergy, Among the clergy, Mr. William Williams* and Mr. Thomas Lewis are notable, as is also Mr. Penry Baillie; and among the Dissenters Mr.

* The eminent W. Williams of Pantycelyn.

William William Williams,* Mr. John Watkins, and Mr. John Davies. The Dissenters have above twenty different places in this county to preach in; and there are in it some notable good Christians. In Glamorganshire there are near twenty congregations of our Dissenters, and three of Anabaptists, and several societies of Methodists. Among the Dissenting ministers, the most noted are Mr. James Davies of Merthyr, noted both for his industry and his gifts in preaching and prayer, especially as to the latter; and his congregation is large; Mr. Lewis Jones for his seriousness, popularity, and an excellent utterance, even much resembling Mr. Griffith Jones; and Mr. Henry Davies for devoutness and affectionate piety.And so far as to South Wales.

In Monmouthshire, which is the county I was born and live in, we have seven congregations and about twenty places to preach in; and six Anabaptist congregations; and most of these meetings are in the western side of the county. Here are also several societies of Methodists, who cleave to the Church of England, among whom are some very pious and devout souls. Among the clergy are Mr. John Powel and Mr. Thomas Jones, especially the latter. Besides this, there is a congregation in the Welsh part of Herefordshire, whose whose minister is Mr. William Jenkins."

* W. Williams, of Tredwstan, a place close to Trevecca.

APRIL SHOWER.

THE earth, long labouring with mighty strain
To yield the fatness of her fruitful soil,
Doth reel beneath the heat and constant toil,
And make appeal for succour—not in vain;
In angel guise thou comest, April rain,

With gentler touch than healing balm or oil, And richer treasures than a monarch's spoil, And earth, refreshed and filled, looks glad again.

Even so my soul, when panting in the quest

Of truth and knowledge that are seldom ours, Doth cry to heaven for a potion blest

To slake its thirst and keep its failing powers; Then softly falls upon my fainting breast

A nameless joy of sweet life-giving showers.

R. A. GRIFFITH.

W

HEN the nine

teenth century, so important for its revival of

national feeling

in Wales and elsewhere, is drawing towards its close, we are given the glorious privilege of building colleges and schools for the Welsh generations of the future. The awakened desire for higher things,for knowledge, for technical skill, for power for good,-we have beheld with wonder and hailed with delight. What once Welshmen toiled for and yearned for in vain, we have seen. We have seen the rise of a mighty spirit of inquiry, of national awakening and unrest; it is now asking what all its fetters mean, and what work it is to do. If anyone feels that there is anything worth keeping in the religion of the past; if anyone feels that the awakened spirit,-always, like a child, prone to destruction,-needs guidance; if anyone feels that he would like to influence the future, the opportunity is now offered.

Any student of Welsh history can prophesy that the awakened spirit of Wales, now in its infancy, will soon be a mighty power. Any class that places its privileges or prejudices in the way of its infant growth will be called sternly to account in the day of its power. Any institution that refuses it shelter and guidance will find its own empty walls useless before long. It is slowly, but surely, uniting Wales into one supreme effort for her own good and for the good of the world, and those who regard it with hatred or suspicion will find that no privilege or power can exist unless based on service to one's country and to mankind.

It is our glorious privilege to educate a mighty spirit and to determine what the future is to be. Our time is destined to

have an immortality of renown or of infamy; we are so placed in the course of the development of our national life that one of two things must be said of us,either that we helped the future, or that we wronged it. We hear patriotic speeches at every meeting, we hear a patriotic song wherever we turn; but the time has come for sacrifice, and for patriotic deeds. Schools are to be built,-the new spirit is willing to take the education we are pleased to give it.

It will be the greatest misfortune of our country if we let its spirit of patriotism run wild. We delight in the growth of run wild. culture and of efficiency among the Welsh peasantry, we praise it and we sing rapturously about it. "Let us get up

early to the vineyards, let us see whether the vine hath budded and its blossom be open, and the pomegranates be in flower,"let us do all that with our poets, but what will Wales gain from our sensuous delight? Some are prevented by indolence from serving their country; others, perhaps a whole class, are prevented by an ignorant prejudice. Bitter indeed, as this class will find, will be the fruit of the vine they

refused to dress

It can safely be said that, for the number of years it has been in existence, no institution has served Wales better than its first University College at Aberystwyth. More than anything else, it is at the same time the expression and the guide of our new life. And, for beauty of position and appearance, it is one of the few buildings we can point out to a stranger without an apology for ugliness or poverty. The timely grant of ten thousand pounds out of the Treasury will enable its friends to clear it of all debt, and to offer to the daughters of Wales an education that is not surpassed by that offered in any country. The remainder of the debt is only five thousand pounds,less than the yearly income of many a Welshman,-and, though the effort to pay it will come from an exhausted country,

I should be the last to accuse Wales of want of liberality. In many districts that I know well, the efforts of the peasants to contribute their mite towards a school or a

college are simply pathetic. I know people

who denied themselves the necessaries of life, not the luxuries of life,-in order to contribute towards a theological college; and they did it again for a university college. I know farmers whose contribution towards a school is as carefully thought of as their rent or their taxes. But there are classes and districts in Wales that have not learnt to sacrifice, and these classes and districts are not the least

enlightened in their own opinion. I know men who can show that the religion of Wales is sheer cant, and that its morality is sheer hypocrisy,-and they have never given a red half-penny towards a school or a college. I know men who say publicly that the Welsh peasantry are blindly grasping, and that the basis of politics in Wales is selfishness,-and they have never raised a finger to help Welsh education, neither have they taken the trouble to inquire who is working while they are idly condemning. It is our privilege to live in an age which requires work from us, not criticism. When the force of the

Welsh national spirit is spent, then the time for weaklings to criticise will come. But it is not their day now. It is not the time for Welshmen to sulk in corners now, or to rail. It is the time for work, if there ever was such a time.

There is more than one class in Wales to which a glorious privilege is now being offered. It will make many a country squire very angry, I know, if I tell him that people are beginning to ask what he is good for. But such is, undoubtedly, the case. People are beginning to ask, not

entirely for the purpose of understanding abstract political economy, where the wealth produced from the recesses of yonder mountain, or from the crops of those broad acres, is going to. Why, in spite of all this wealth, is the intermediate school so poverty-stricken? The squire is now given an opportunity of perpetuating the praise of his family, and of showing, as the eighteenth century travellers put it "what an inestimable blessing a resident country gentleman is." He has been in the habit of thinking that the peasant's his political judgment, and he would not study of theology has lamentably warped be surprised to hear that a philosopher direct result of preaching meetings. Now had proved that bad harvests were the he is offered the opportunity of helping to And does he not admire a good farmer, develop agriculture and technical skill.

a

good carpenter, and a good black

smith?

There is an important class in Wales of business life after making a competence. men of leisure, men who have retired from They are generally Nonconformists, but they have a fellow feeling with the squire when they read those wild leaders in the local papers, and when they hear what absurd things that political agitator is saying. I know one of them, at least. He adorns the set fawr on a Sunday, and is very pleased when the preacher praises the virtues of times gone by, the most cowardly way of condemning the present. He attends the seiat regularly, and his utterances are models of grave wisdom. He gives the most excellent advice, which generally means the knocking of all plans on the head. No man ever lost a penny if he consulted him before investing. He is the soul of integrity and of method, and his success in life is thoroughly deserved. And still people are beginning to think what a very respectable funeral they will give him when his lamented departure from this life will take place. They think that his life is tying up a hoard of golden treasure which, if set free, would benefit the world. The most ignorant in the parish, the man who sits in the pew next the door, and who has not a penny in the bank, is wiser than the wise man in some