Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

THE present outbreak of religious fervour in Cardigan, Loughor, and Tre- cynon. has been aptly described as a ] fire." However, there are fires and i fires, and many of the so-called re- ] vivals may be fitly termed chimney j fires." A chimney fire does not warm < the hearth, but the flue. It generally t succeeds in drawing a crowd of sight- ] seeing neighbours, it is sometimes 1 destructive, and it always ends in ( smoke. The moral is obvious. We j t have no wish to disparage—much less J < deride—any propaganda which has for 1 its end the betterment of the world. + But it is only fair that one should apply i bo the present revival the touch-stone )f utility, and try to find out whether it 1 leaves the scenes of its visits better than it found them. If it does, it deserves encouragement; if not, it is a terrible waste of energy. Is Lougbor really such a paradise as it is represented to )e now ? And will it remain so ? Will he falling off in the revenue of the [ jublicans continue? Later in the season viil religious topics still occupy in the i ninds and conservations of young 1 Loughorites, the place once held by foot- ball thoughts and gossip? Will the town be able to dispose of its consta- bulary ? Will the steel workers dispense for ever with their swear vocabulary ? The movement is a wave of emotio- nalism sweeping over the land. When the inevitable reaction follows the action —when the ebb succeeds the tide- will the track of the receding current be barren sands or fertile fields ? A contemporary, which has made great capital out of the sensational phase of this movement, says: The proceedings everywhere are marked by a decorum which gives it a dignity and does some- thing to testify to the sincerity of those who take the lead and play their part in the strange scenes which are en- acted." Perhaps our sense of decorum is somewhat too subtle, but we must say that the meetings at Trecynon did not appeal to us as being of a highly decorous character. Order, we are told, is the first law of heaven, and when people pretend to draw heaven down to the earth they should bring with it some of the celestial order to substi- tute our terrestrial chaos. With regard to the sincerity of those who take the lead and play their part in this drama, we never doubt their bona- fides; but the sincerity of a missioner is no test of the merit of his mission. lanatics are always conscientious to a fault. Our chief objection to the present revival is that it is a forced one. Moral and spiritual progress is a growth, and, like the growth of a tree, far from accelerating it, abnormal heat may j r'r""o.. re cam it. The old revivals of decades and centuries ago may have constituted a factor in the development of the reli- gious world. So did the spinning wheel and hand flail once in the industrial world, but now they are obsolete. To- day genuine reform is wrought not by hysterical sensationalists, but by silent, assiduous workers, who toil steadily week in week out, and appeal to a man's intellect as much as to his emotion. Why those forced "confessions" at the Trecynon meetings ? If it is neces- sary for a man to make a public declara- tion of his religious feelings, let it be deliberate and spontaneous. But then, in the "reckoning of heads," every convert, forced or otherwise, counts a unit, and helps to swell the list. Again we doubt the reforming tendency of a movement that keeps people huddled together in chapels for from 6 to 10 aours at a stretch. Would it not be oeijter for them to follow their avoca- jions by day, and steady their over- .1 strained nerves with a little sleep at light, so as to be able to bring their religious sentiments to bear on their wery-day life ? Evidently the imagina- iive plays a very large part in the I experiences of these evangelists. When a man says that he sees a vision, ibat means, we presume, that he magines that he sees something which ie does not really see. Let our prayer )e, 0 God, make no more revival jiants, but elevate the race."

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"Revival" at Trecynon.

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THE NEW INSURANCE.

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