Welsh Journals

Books-New and Old. It is one of the signs of our times-and not the least hopeful-that from three of the really young and most vigorous movements of our land should appear, almost simultaneously, studies of the way of Jesus Christ and of Christian living. The Proletarian Gospel of Galilee," by F. Herbert Stead (Labour Publishing Co., 2/-), is yet another Life of Jesus," in which an attempt is made to restore, in vivid vital form, something of the social and political background of His work. An aged minister once startled me by saying that it seemed to him that the chief enemies of the soul (according to Jesus) were pretence and wealth, hypocrisy and mammon, because each in a subtle and dangerous way poisoned human fellow- ship. And Mr. Stead, writing at the close of 27 years' service as warden of Browning Settlement, puts it as strongly Jesus declared with the utmost solemnity that to neglect the poor-the hungry, the thirsty, the ill-clad, the sick, the home- less, the prisoner-was to incur eternal punishment. It was a damnable offence Nothing short of the almighty grace of God can help a rich man into the Kingdom. The difficulties before him are tremendous; the way his wealth comes to him, the easy habit of his life, the continual service and adulation paid to him these things make it very hard for him to feel that he is but a man (as a beggar or a pauper is a man). in the words of Edmund Burke, but a pauper on the bounty of the poor.' From a criticism so fundamental of the social order of His day, it was obvious that His teaching would offend, if not enrage, those whose power and privilege was in reality derived not from God, but from Mars or Mammon- and they were many and respectable. In graphic and sus- tained narrative, Mr. Stead describes the epic contest to its close "He was entirely straight. He lived in a generation which He described as crooked or twisted. He made no compromises. He indulged in no diplomacies. This all meant a complete break with the past, a continuous rupture with the sinful habit of mankind, an utter disregard of the world's standards and conventions and expectations. But this the world could not tolerate, so it rose up and slew Him. His death was the inevitable outcome of His life." A remarkable book, and nowhere more needed than in the Sunday Schools of Wales. The Way Out," by Wilfred Wellock (Labour Publishing Co., 1/-), carries forward this conception of Jesus as a social revolutionary to an attempt to apply His way to industrial and political problems of to-day. Sympathising with the honest realism of the Communist, and with the spirit of the non- political religious revolutionaries, Mrs. Wellock can side with neither, but believes that political and mass coercive action is morally defensible. A thoughtful and searching analysis of political methods, concludes with an appeal for Non-Co- operation (without violence) after the manner of the Indians, Egyptians, and Koreans. He gives an interesting account, as an eye-witness, of the defeat of the Kapp Putsdi in Berlin by means of the Workers' General Strike. But Mrs. Wellock concludes with the need for Prophets, who. under the enthu- siasm of a great ideal, will enthuse other men to endure persecution and break down opposition. Personality and Power." The Adult School Lesson Handbook for 1922 (Headley Bros., 1/3). It has been said that if Socialists had studied human psychology with half the zeal they applied to economics, they would not have been left, in the hour of crisis, impotent to unite men and naked to their enemies. The Adult Schools, with their most catholic attitude to life, have based their quest for education on Fellowship-without frontiers of sect, class, or party. For years past social problems have been discussed and de- bated in the schools to their bare bones. And now their search is being directed to the underlying spirit-to the know- ledge of the needs and aspiration, the weakness and power of human personality itself. The answer to whence come wars and fightings among you?" follows the argument of St. James in citing, not only High Finance," Struggle for Markets," Imperialism," and other abstract fatalisms, but the participation of you and me in the whole horrible business. And it is fitting that the course should conclude with the enquiry for the source of Power and Purpose in per- REVIEWS. sonality without which all our books and understanding are so much weariness to the flesh. The Message of Thomas a Kempis. E. J. Ives. (Student Christian Movement, 2/6). In writing of a classic there is always a danger lest comment should the text obscure," but Mrs Ives gives a long and a perhaps needful, vindication in this bustling age of the inward life of contemplation and prayer. If the call to youth is to face the nightmare of the world's social evil, not alone in the quiet of the cloister, but in the market place and the Sanhedrim, it means The Cross. The watchword of the Reformation, Christ for us, needs for its full perfection another-Christ in us. Men need a Bethlehem and a Calvary within as well as without them. Easter is not a memory it is an experience." It is the way of this Inner Cross that a Kempis knew so well. G. M. Ll. D. Moanshine. By Tomfool. Labour Publishing Co., Ltd. Price, 2/6. There must be many readers of the Daily Herald whose fixed practice it is, when unfolding its pages, to turn, before seeking news of speeches or revolutions, to the gay verse over the signature of" Tomfool," which usually adorns one of its columns. Some of those verses-only too few-are gathered together in this little volume, which is produced with the charm and originality of form which marks all the publications of the Labour Publishing Company. We have seen it sug- gested that Tomfool is a woman," but be that as it may, the names masks one of the most charming writers of light verse of our time. It is a relief to turn from the tortured wordiness of much of the verse that comes the way of a re- viewer to the exquisite Tightness of these poems, and to their revelation of a highly-cultured mind, which has yet kept the passion for justice which breathes through them all, and all the more effectively because of their perfect sense of humour. Where humour, satire, and pathos find such adequate expres- sion, it is difficult to select one poem for quotation, but perhaps none shows the author's gifts to more advantage than the first in the book :­- THE FIRST OF MAY. Loveliest month that fills the ready nest, And in the orchard sets the apple-flower, And brings the crumpled beech-leaf to the crest Of beauty, and in one immortal hour Wakes the first nightingale-O heavenly May, Moving among the meadows like a bride, Not all men's children know how you to-day With songs and blossoms fill the countryside. If I who know and love you might entreat One other bounty, I would bid you come Down every crowded city's meanest street And print its filth with flowers, and in each slum Teach the shy nightingale to build and sing, And in dark areas where pale children play Give also them some cause to know the Spring, And tell each other, It's the First of May." Harlech Festival Programme. The programme of the annual festival has come to hand, brimming over with the best products of Welsh psalmody befitting 1922, the centenary of the two immortals, leuan Gwyllt and Tanymarian. Due prominence has been accorded these twain, and the hotes from eminent pens add interest and value to the words and music. The inclusion of the quaint and melodious "Toriadd y Dydd" and "Y Gwenith Gwyn" will carry a powerful appeal to every Celt, and sung within the walls of the ancient Castle the renderings should gain colour and fire in their glamorous setting. What we particularly welcome about the production is that all the selections are purged of marks of expression, with the exception of two crescendos and one solitary forte. It would even be better without these, as we want to see all mechanical aids to effects eliminated. We are looking forward with unqualified anticipation to the Festival itself on June 22. A law Powys.