The London Welshman

WANTED-BETTER COHESION. I trust that you will graciously grant me the privilege of a proportion of the space in your valuable journal with a view to draw attention to a grave defect in our social economy as London Cymry. I feel confident that I shall find the views which I am about to express, heartily sympathised in by many of your readers others there are who will resent them. I merely wish to state that, in either case, I wish only to be regarded as an individual that speaks from observation, and with the keenest desire to promote reform in what he deems to be an existing anachronism. There are two sections of our community with which I choose to deal, and, in discussing either, I shall be enabled to weave the fabric covering the subject of my remarks. In the first place, I will refer to the prosperous men who have migrated into London, and have proved staunch to the faith instilled into them by parental wisdom. Many of this class have early taken the wing from our churches and chapels, and have enriched the composition of English causes. Why ? The answer shall follow. In the next, we have the Lazarenes, who have lost their balance in the eddying streams of London life, and who have been allowed, re- lentlessly, to go their way, without any kindly effort to rescue them, or a friendly solicitude and Samaritanship to replace the errant. Why? I have now an opportunity to furnish the reply to the two interrogatories. It is an unchallengeable proposition that we are utterly negligent of the welfare of young newcomers. It is quite true that the most effusive interest is displayed on Sundays," especially if the new a'rival can "sing well," or he be possessed of some other form of versatility. But this is not sufficient. The manifold attractions of life in London are to many irresistible, and the hour or two of friendly intercourse on the Sabbath—welcome as it may be to the homesick clerk or assistant—is but an inconsiderable compensation for the arduous toil and the commercial routine responsibilities of the week. And the longing desire' for enter- tainment and relaxation easily finds accom- modation at the instigation of companionship innocent of any experience of a mother's prayer, or the prospective force of devotional exercises. Some there are, happily, who are strong enough to resist the temptation, and in their praiseworthy wisdom they join the congregations of English churches and associations, which offer abundant scope for maintaining their interest, in an atmosphere of cordiality and unfeigned heartiness. Herein lies the secret of many empty pews in our churches. It is matter for rejoicing, however, that the seceders have removed their altars to a safe habitation, notwithstanding the reproaches of the faithful." But what of those, less favoured, who have not chosen the better part in t1 eir ne.v sur- roundings ? This i-, a subjjet of intensely pathetic interest, inasmuch as we recognise in the host of human derelicts, populating the doss-houses and casual wards, those who we once knew with the bloom of health suffused in their cheeks, and the sparkle of vitality in their eyes, elasticity in their walking pace, and hope and ambition reflected in their every attitude. They are now the component parts of human flotsam and jetsatii- despised, shunned, and abused. They first found that their needs—'emporal, I mean, not spiritual-were not satisfied. Unlike their more sedate and discriminating brethren, they sought and found entertainment in gaiety and frivolity and their corollary evils. They followed the bent of their own weak volition, and there was no strong power to foil >w and regain them. This, I submit, furnishes the crux to the entire situation. In my opinion, there should be means specially organised in each church to stimulate the development of the tender plant. To replace the corroding influence of the world, I think every care should be taken that church members should give a free hearth and home to these young people, until their sympathies and affection had been thoroughly welded into their associations, retaining them for good and all, and thus adding to the strength of our churches. Through the absence of such a provision, what do we find ? Immediately the chapel door is closed, the chill blast of isolation sweeps young men into the lurid glamour of temptation. They become acclimatised to customs foreign to their nature they become interested, and think they see palliation in the acts of, well-dressed people, which is their sole symbol of respectability. The old story of deterioration and consequent degradation steps in here to adorn the tale. And all this could have been arrested by the simplest efforts. But there is worse to be told of the tragedy of these men's lives. Satiated with their envi- ronments, they have sought reclamation, and, like David of old, have prayed for restoration to the joy of the Lord's salvation. I am in a position to speak with authority upon the result, for I have found many of these poor fellows in their Gethsemane, and the lamentations to which I have had to lend an ear were sufficiently penetrating to split a rock of granite I have been assured that the treatment meted out to them by their better placed compatriots was callous in the extreme. And in many instances I was frankly told, that rather than submit to the humiliation and obloquy which they had once experienced, they would much prefer to remain in the ranks of the submerged, and do the best they could for themselves, as their own would have them not, whilst others, in their own fashion, regarded their wants in a far more appreciative manner. Should this be so? Or should we not rather take a page from the book of the Scots, the Jews, the French, and other alien races whose unostentatious care for their poorer brethren presents a beautiful picture of charity. Charity Why, a few days -ago, a friend of mine, of unblemished character, holding docu- mentary testimony of twenty-five years' con- secutive service, found himself, through no error of omission or of commission, stranded, as any man may be at some period or other of his life. He was advised to state his case to the secretary of an institution exclusively organised to lend the helping hand to distress. With the utmost diffia, nce he adopted the advice, and was confront: (' by the official deputed to yield the doles. The story of the interview is one of the most ravolting I have ever heard in my more than a half-century's pilgrimage. The suppliant was subjected to the most vulgar examination, notwithstanding every evidence of respectability. He was asked the most absurd —I would say impertinent—questions, not the least outrageous of which was the specific one, "Have you ever been in prison?" Imagine the feelings of a Christian and a respectable man upon listening to such a coarse inquiry! The result was that my friend retired, disgusted, humiliated, and crushed. That night he received the joyful news that a berth was at his disposal, with an urgent request that he would undertake the duties offered to him. I should have said that my friend is a commercial traveller, with heavy domestic responsibilities, temporarily brought under the weather by an unfortunate bicycle accident, which resulted in his confine- ment as a hospital patient for a period of nine months. I do not pretend to say that there are not many of our own submerged that are past redemption, and utterly unworthy the esteem of anyone. But to apply the p incipie to every poor fellow out at elbow is wrong and decidedly ungenerous. And I, with many others, woul d be glad to see a better sense prevailing to the tend that a good work of rescue may be inaugura ed, and if the effort should result in nine hundred and ninety-nine failures out of a thousand, who shall say th it the thousandth may not generate an apostleship powerful enough to reach the large majority lost by other means? We certainly lack cohesion, or affinity, or any other virtue one would wish to name, not only in the mat er to which I have called attention, but also to other considerations which need, I feel sure, only to be named to be considered and improved. And, if permission be granted to so poor a pen, I shall feel the utmost gratification in returning to the subject upon other phases which are fraught with interest and eminently worthy of mention. GIRALDUS. 9, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, E.C.