Welsh Journals

the great war poems of his people as lolo Morganwg annotated one of lolo Goch's odes?- Pe dai'r diawl ei hun ai cant, ni allasai ganu yn fwy lladdgar, yn fwy rhyfelgar nag yn fwy anrheithgar." It is surprising to what extent the abstract idea of Peace has been the theme of the poetry of Wales from the days of lolo Morgannwg to our own, and more surprising still is the extent to which it has inspired its public men. Joseph Price, the Quaker from Neath Abbey, was one of the founders of the Peace Society; Henry Richard, the son of the Tregaron manse, became known throughout a continent as the Apostle of Peace, and he stands the equal of Cobden, Lamartine, Liebig, De Tocqueville, and Hugo as a worker in the cause. Two of the greatest journalists of the last century in Wales in their own respective ways were S.R. and Gwilym Hiraethog, and their hearts and souls were devoted to this cause. S.R. (with the assistance of some ten or twelve small struggling churches in Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire) at- tended the Peace Conference at Frankfort in 1850, and came back to tell scores of interested Welsh audiences what progress the mission of Henry Richard and others was making in the world. These are his own words in his delight- ful little Autobiography Cafodd ei hyfforddi Correspondence. ERSKINE CHILDERS. (To the Editor of the "Welsh Outlook." Sir,­I am constrained to ask you to publish the encLosed letter from Mrs. Erskine Childers written only a short time before her husband's arrest and execution. It may at least do something to vindi- cate a name that has been more foully slandered than most names, and to make Welshmen enquire what is the measure of our responsibility for the present anarchy in Ireland through our imposition of a forced oath of allegiance, to which the Irish dele- gates set their names only under the duress of a threat of immediate war. Are we in Wales so lost to spiritual realities as to believe that, having compelled our antagonists to sign our Treaties of Sevres, or of Versailles, or of Ireland, under the dread alternative of continued war, we can expect either the blessings of God or the friendship of man on our handiwork? That there was friendship worth winning in Erskine Childers is evidenced by his last letter to his wife the night before his execution: "If only I can die knowing that my death would ‘somehow­I know not how-save the lives of others "and arrest this policy of executions I die full of "intense love for Ireland I hope one day my good "name will be cleared in England. I felt what "Churchill said about my 'hatred' and 'malice' "against England. How well we know it was not "true.. I die loving England and passionately praying "that she may change completely and finally towards "Ireland." And I who have seen and known these men, loving what was so beautiful in their truthfulness and dauntlessness while deploring that they should resort to the futile weapon of violence to defend their oi febyd yn egwyddorion Cymdeithas Heddwch Bu yn dadleu ac yn deisebu llawer yn erbyn treuliou a llygredigaethau gorthrymus sefydliadau milwraidd. Bu yn y gynhadledd fawr yn Frankfort, a chafodd y fraint o adrodd ei hanes i ugeiniau o gynulleidfaoedd Ceir bron ddau gant a banner o dudalenniau ar y pwnc yn y gyl'rol oi weithiau a gyhoeddwyd ugain mlynedd yn ol." It would be idle to multiply instances there is no doubt that the spirit of peace has entered into the blood of Wales, partly perhaps owing to a political settlement, but mainly through the great religious and spiritual awakenings of the 18th and 19th centuries; and to-day, with that advantage, it is offered an opportunity of becoming a missionary nation. Kari Marx thought the coming of the Revolution for which his spirit longed would be heralded by the crowing of the Gallic cock. The course of history, he thought, indicated it. Human de- velopment has many paradoxes and surprises. It may, perhaps, be given to a small Celtic people, a people which had been merry in its wars and sad in its songs, to become a prophet among the nations in the cause of world peace, and to a people whose ancestors had broken all states and founded none, to show the way to a new international order based on good will and brotherhood. vision-can only associate them with the Llewelyns, and the Glyndwrs and the Rupert Brookes and all those unnumbered gallant ones who have only practiced on the battlefields the doctrine preached by our Welsh Premier at the banquet. "I am not that sort of Christian. As long as I have a sword in my hand and God gives me strength to use it, I will." Who will throw the first stone after reading Mrs. Childers' letter? For "that sort of Christianity" is the best that even the Churches have proclaimed. They have seen no way better than that of violence as a last resort, and they have not announced the Word of Recon- ciliation to the peoples. That is the ultimate tragedy —Mrs. Childers' last sentence. "The word has been withheld even by the Churches." And yet "the Word" was made flesh nineteen cen- turies ago, and the divine way of dealing with en- emies and sinful offenders was made manifest as practical politics to save men from war and worse. Yours faithfully, GEORGE M. LI. DAVIES. COPY OF LETTER FROM MRS. ERSKINE CHILDERS, 19th OCTOBER, 1922. Dear Mr. Davies,-Indeed you have the right to write to me— could you doubt it? Your letter to me and your other letter to the 'Manchester Guardian' brought me the greatest help. All through these terrible months, I have wished for you to come and have longed to be able to lay before you our case. When I say 'our' I speak for all those who contend here—reacting in their different ways to the threat of violence under which the Treaty was imposed I read the British Press carefully and I know that the English people do not know about the threat which has been hardly mentioned save by impli- cation. They feel a great gift was made and are not aware how it was not given but forced, so I hold