Welsh Journals

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THE WELSH OUTLOOK NOTES OF THE MONTH 283 SIR WATKIN LEWES. KNIGHT 286 THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION 292 NOVEMBER, 1926 THE RESIGNATION of the Leader of the Liberal Party would, a few years ago, have been regarded universally in Wales as an event of capital import- ance; one which no journal making the slightest pretence to reflect, or to guide, public opinion, would dream of passing over in silence. Wales was then fairly united in solid support of the Liberal Party, and the attitude of the Leader of that party towards the formulated demands of the Welsh people was a matter of vital concern. Things are now, however, very different. For us who believe that Wales owes much to the work of British Liberalism in the last fifty years, and particularly to the individual efforts of Lord Oxford, it would be churlish in the extreme to refrain from making comment upon the resignation of that great man. He was not cast in the same mould as the majority of men who have won the heart of Wales; for he was unemotional, cool, and, in the best sense of the word, calculating. But although he differed so profoundly from us in tem- perament, we always could, and did, admire his magnificent qualities of mind and heart. His firm hold on principle, his undeviating adherence to Liberalism, his splendid loyalty, his studious avoidance of vulgar self-advertisement, his veracity, his matchless eloquence, and his calm judgement, all combine to place him, without rival, in the first place among living British statesmen. Where there is no vision the people perish. CONTENTS: PAGE IRISH FREE STATE COM- MISSION ON THE IRISH LANGUAGE 295 THE FUTURE OF THE DRAMA IN WALES 297 THE WELSH PIONEERS OF PATAGONIA 298 Annual Sabtcription. 7/6 NOTES OF THE MONTH PAQB PAGE TOLD BY THE COBBLER OF LLANSIONYN 300 WELSHWOMEN AND THE STUDY OF SPANISH 301 ON THE EDITOR'S TABLE 302 CORRESPONDENCE 307 Half Year, 3/9 (poet free). OUR ADMIRATION of Lord Oxford would be the same whether or not we agreed with him in his political opinions; and it must be confessed that a large, and an ever-increasing, pro- portion of Welsh people no longer hold the Liberal faith. It is for that reason that we said that the resignation of the Liberal leader has not the same significance as it would have had some years ago. It is useless, we believe, to expect that Wales will, in the near future at least, give any- thing like unanimous support to one political party. Facts must be faced; and it seems to us perfectly evident that, for many years to come, true lovers of Wales will be found in the ranks of all parties, just as lovers of Christian truth are to be found impartially in all churches. THE CONSERVATIVE Party cannot, we think, make much headway in Wales. The Welshman is, un- doubtedly, of a conservative temper- ament; but it is equally certain that, like the Irishman, he allows his views of the present to be deeply coloured by his memories of the past. On the whole, this is a pernicious thing; it has been the curse of Ireland; but it is a fact with which we must reckon. Now the memory of the Welshman tells him that Toryism has been ever associated in Wales with the social and economic claims of an English- speaking squirearchy, and with the ecclesi- astical claims of an alien church. His