Welsh Journals

That, despite all shortcomings in its practical application, was the political philosophy of the Wales of the early Middle Ages. That was the basis upon which the embryonic institutions of the land were built. Little Tales. By T. Hughes Jones. I. "IN the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Our Sunday School class had already spent eight Sundays with this one verse. The first thirty-six chapters of the book of Genesis had been assigned as our field of study for twelve months, and it did not seem probable that we could accomplish the task at that rate. It was especially dis- concerting to those of us who had bought new text-books to be faced with the probability of a year's sojourn in the first chapter. A couple of Sundays, as was inevitable, had been spent in discussing preliminaries, like the questions of authorship and date and when they had been disposed of, in a way which was by no means conclusive, we came to the first verse, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Some of us thought even then that this verse was never meant to be debated and dissected. We felt that it was great poetry designed to be wedded to great music,-an idea calling to be accompanied by organ harmonies, and to be embodied in majestic melodies,-a theme to be chanted bv mighty choirs in the presence of vast assemblies standing in reverence before the ineffable mystery of Creation. But the class insisted on explanation. Sunday after Sunday we rang the changes on every theory and view, hackneyed and worn-out as most of them were; we talked about the reconciliation of science and religion with only the haziest idea at the best about the cause of the quarrel; we plunged into the infinite morass of the beginning of all things, and wandered in bewilderment through the un- charted regions of the young universe. Dai Lewis, the blacksmith, was the chief obstruction. His views were distinctly modern, and his presentation was forceful and persistent. At last the teacher, getting impatient, determined to move on; one member had already stayed away and another was threatening to bring the heresies of the class to the notice of the Cwrdd Misol. But on the eighth Sunday Dai Lewis announced that a cousin of his was going to spend the next week-end with him-" a cousin with a degree in science," he told the class,- and he successfully appealed for an extra Sunday to give his cousin "with a degree in science an opportunity of settling the dispute. The political tragedy of Wales has been that those embryonic institutions, and the principles upon which they were founded, were swept away or obscured in the years that followed. To those years we will come next. And so we came to the ninth Sunday. We were all in our places very early; and as we were charged with so much excitement we thought that old Ellis the deacon was unduly long with his opening prayer. We felt that there was no need, on this Sunday above all, to acquaint Divine omniscience with so many things that were commonplaces even to us. But old Ellis was not aware of our great occasion. At last, however, the way was clear. My cousin," said Dai Lewis, indicating the B.Sc. with the air of a referee introducing a champion in a match for a world's title. And we're very glad to see you," observed the teacher, and straightway the performance began. We were all anxious that the B.Sc. should expound his views, and have fair play to do so. Dai Lewis had informed him that he must pro- duce a universe without any outside aid,-nothing less than that would do; and right valiantly did he grapple with his task. In a spirit of high adventure he led us along the Milky Way to bind the sweet influences of Pleiades and to loose the bands of Orion; he took us through geo- logic periods and aeons incalculable, past worlds in collision, flaming suns, and immeasur- able nebulae; and he ladled out new worlds from a crucible of fiery mists. And then to show how everything had been built up he swept them all aside with a gesture, took us right to the heart of things, and held before our minds an atom. To such a pitch had our imagination been raised during our celestial wanderings that we all saw ourselves huddled together on that one atom in illimitable space,-seven members of Peniel Sunday School pressing together for warmth and foothold. And now," said the B.Sc., and the voice sounded hollow and impersonal, to break up the atom and closer still we huddled to escape being precipitated into the void. THUD! It sounded like a thunderclap. THUD! And this second time we realised that it was the Superintendent thumping the seat with a book,-his usual w. y of announcing the end of the Sunday School hour. He always had to do it twice to call the attention of our class, but that Sunday it was quite unnecessary, for we were all silent like men that had looked de- struction in the face and had been caught back from the edge of the precipice. And the tenth Sunday we went on to the second verse.