Welsh Journals

congeries of new sects and denominations was standing on the threshold of politics. During the revival new religious organisations were formed, new ideas formulated, and new parties born. It was a period of heated contro- versies, of contradictory hypotheses, and incom- patible ideas. It was the age of religious rationalism in Wales, and produced a liberal movement in theology as well as in politics. From this religious welter the political ideas emerged slowly but surely, and the influence of the revival on politics was indirect rather than direct. The Calvinistic doctrines of Methodism, by insisting on the omnipotence and omniscience of a Divine Father, had a depressing effect on human activity. It was closely connected with fatalism, and men, who are taught to believe that some were born for heavenly bliss and others for infernal tor- ment, were given no incentive to work in uplift- ing their own bit of world and to agitate for social reform. The preachers concentrated on the torment or bliss in a world to come rather than on the social injustice of the present. They taught that every- thing was such by Divine decree, and was meant to discipline the mind for a world beyond. So long as men were taught to believe that every- thing was such by divine will, and were imbued with fatalistic ideas, so long would their religious convictions be a bar to human progress. Theo- logical errors may have fatal results for Chris- tianity as a practical force in the world, but intellectual efforts in criticising and correcting such errors may have good though indirect influence on the growth of social ideas as the implications of reconsidered religious doctrines. Slowly but surely the Welsh revivalists saw the ethical construction of religion and its moral implications on human relationships. The Methodists transferred their emphasis from the Cyffes Ffydd to the Sermon on the Mount, while the Anglicans slowly and reluctantly realised that the exhortations of Christ were of greater value than either the Nicene or Athan- asian Creed. The need of a world in torment is to Christianise our politics, and to see the moral implications of political and economic problems. Judged by this standard, many of the Welsh divines stand condemned as bars to social pro- gress. Yet, however fatalistic the Methodists The Directors of the Midland Bank Limited report that, full provision having been made for all bad and doubtful debts, the net profits for the year ended 31st December, 1926, amount to R2,535,730, which, with £ 813,166 brought forward, makes £ 3,348,896 for appropriation as follows: To interim dividend for the half-year ended 30th June last, paid 15th July, and dividend for the half-year ended 31st December and however reactionary the Anglicans, the religious Revival, by producing germs of un- orthodoxy, paved the way for a liberal movement in theology. This in time grew into a Welsh evangelical movement, which had a very bene- ficial influence on political thought in the next century. The social and political value of evan- gelicalism lies on the emphasis it laid on the inestimable value of the human soul. All men were equal in the sight of God, so its was con- sidered as equally important to save the soul of a South Sea cannibal as that of a Cardiganshire Methodist. It was the view of life that produced the agitation for the abolition of slavery, and it was this that proved the great incentive to mission work in foreign lands and made men zealous in the cause of social reform. There was a passion for religious equality and freedom. So long as all Welsh people were of one religious conviction, establishment was not unjust, but with the growth of new sects it became an anomaly. During tI" 19th century politics followed the conscience of Nonconformists as the result of the agitation for religious liberty, and in every political problem in Wales there was the religious issue. The fourth movement is that of the ballads and inter- ludes their perusal is as important as it is neces- sary to steep oneself in the religious literature. They complete the picture of the social conditions. They sang of the signs of the times and exposed the evils of the day. They satirised the sinners in high places: the parson, the steward, and the squire. The desire for freedom and equality became a passion. Establishment was unjust, parsons unwanted, tithes oppressive; rents too high and social conditions too bad. The ballads played the part of red literature, and the propaganda was successful in stirring the masses and in producing a social ferment and a state of mind that proved receptive to the ideas of the French Revolution, which seemed to crystalise into actual fact the desires burning in the hearts of the Welsh people. Wales was ready for the revolutionary ideas of Freedom and Equality in a Fraternity because of the movements that had preceded. Problems in Wales became political because they had first been religious, and conse- quently the Political Thought of Wales in the 19th century can be understood only in the light of her varieties of religious experiences." MIDLAND BANK LIMITED. last, payable 1st February next, each at the rate of 18 per cent. per annum less income tax, 21,823,874; to bank premises redemption fund, £ 500,000; to officers' pension fund, £ 200,000; leaving to be carried forward a balance of £ 825,022. For the year 1925 the dividend was at the same rate, £ 600,000 was placed to bank premises redemption fund, £ 150,000 to officers pension fund, and £ 813,166 was carried forward.