Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

3 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

íOPENINGj I OF THE UNIVERSITY…

THE CEREMONY OF INAUGURATION.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

THE CEREMONY OF INAUGURATION. The inaugural address in connection with the Comge was announced to be given at the new Cardiff Public-hali, Queen-street, at eleven o'clock. The greatest interest was manifested in this meet- ing, as shown by the fact that soon after ten o'clock the hall was pretty nearly full of the elite of the town and neighbourhood, and a considerable crowd had assembled outside the building in Crockherbtown. The new hall had certainly a very elegant appea- rance, considering that its construction had been pushed forward so quickly, and that it was hardly finished on the morning of the ceremony. The platform was decorated with large plants in pots while on the wall in its background was placed a very handsome trophy of flags. This had a large represantation of the Red Dragon of Wales in the centre, with the Welsh motto, Y Ddraig Goch a ddyry gychwyn" ("The Red Dragon gives a start ") in large letters on its borders." The arches and pillars running up each side of the room, and which carry the light span roof, were also bedecked with strings of flags of England and of various other nations, while four large flags hung from the top of the roof. Add to this the newness of the decorations appertaining to the hall itself, and it will be under- stood that the idea of completing the hall in time for the ceremony was considered a complete success, and the College authorities and the public were to b. congratulated on their good luck in procuring such a building. It was thought fit to formally open the hall on this auspicious occasion, and before the actual proceedings conimeoced, there- fore, Mr. Jenkins, the chairman of the Cardiff Public Hall Company, stepped forward on the platform, and said he had been requested by the company to declare that hall open from that day. The company also, he said, wished to return their thanks to Messrs. James, Seward, and Thomas, the architects, and Messrs. fcymonds and Norton, the builders, for their efforts to get the building ready in time for that ceremony. A cheer was given for the company by the audience. By about eleven o'clock the hall was completely filled, while the platform bid fair to be crowded out by the large number of illustrious visitors, ladies, authorities of the College, &c. The Mayor of Cardiff, who arrived with several other mayors of different towns, in bis official robes, and tccompanied by the mace bearers, &c., took the chair, and was supported on the right by Lord Carlingford, Sir Hussey Vivian, M P., Mr. Lewis Morris, and the worshipful the Mayors of Brecon, Haverfordwest, Newport, and Cardigan. On the left were seated the professors of the Col- lege as follow:—Professor Seth, Professor Wardale, Professor Roberts, Professor Parker, Professor Thompson, Professor Ker, Dr. Miiller, and Mons. Barbier, and Messrs. C. Templeton, and Thomas Powell. Among the others present were the following ladies :-Lady Aberdare, the Hon. Miss A. M. Bruce, the Hon. Miss Lily Bruce, the Hon. Miss S. N. Bruce, Miss Pamela Bruce, Miss C. L. Bruce, Mrs. Henry Richard, Mrs. Viriamu Jones, Mrs. rempleton, Mrs. W F. Richards, Mrs. Griffiths, Neath; Mrs. A. Tilly and Miss H. Tilly, Mrs. Evans. Mrs. Dillwvn Llewelyn, Miss Gr. Dillwyn Llewelyn, fee., and the following gentlemen, Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., Mr.C. H. Jamas, M.P., Sir George Elliot, M.P., Mr. W. T. Lewis, the Very Rev. Dean Vaughan. the Ven. Yrchdeacon Griffiths, Messrs. J. T. D. Llewelyn, Penllergare; J. C. Fowler, the Hill, Swansea; D. Davis, Maesyffynon; Frank James, Merthyr; Dr. Talfourd Jones, Brecon; W. Brown, Newport; G. C. Thompson, W. L. Daniel, Merthyr; John Cory, Richard Cory, J. D. Burnie, Swansea; J. A. le Boulanger, Ivor James (registrar). J. L. Wheatley, town-clerk, of Cardiff John Thomas, town-clerk, of Swansea Dr. E. Davies, medical ,)fficer of health, Swansea G. H. Wiliiams, deputy town-clerk, Brecon W. F. Richards, F. T. Bircham, Local Government Inspector of Schools; E. Sidney Hartland, Swansea; Dr. Rees, Swansea; Revs. C. J. Thompson, Cardiff; Samuel Davies, Bangor; Aaron Davies, Gelligaer J. R. Buckley, Llandaff; Messrs. Lewis Williams, Lascelles Carr, John Duncan, F. Sonley Johnstone, Revs. W. Conway, Pontypool; J. D. Watters; D. Evans, B.A., Whit- church J. Waite, B.A. (members of the College Council), &c. The CHAIRMAN, in introducing Lord Aberdare, ..aid the noble lord was so highly respected, and so thoroughly well known to all present, that he felt it was quite unnecessary to do more than formally introduce him. The mayor then called upon Lord Aberdare to deliver THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. Lord ABWRDABE said: It is with feelings of no ordinary interest that I rise to deliver, at the re- quest of the Council, an address on the occasion of the opening of the College of South Wales. (Ap- plause.) In such an hour as this, exultation at the success which has so far attended our efforts to ad- vance the Higher Education of our countrymen is mingled with gratitude to thjse wise, far-sighted patriots who gave the first impulse to the move- ment, who struggled against opposition, ridicule, and the icy indifference by which their unselfish endeavours were for many years frustrated, is chequered with grief for the loss of many of the foremost champions of that holy war, and is tem- pered with anxiety, unmixed, however, with mis- giving for the final issues of an enterprise in the success of which our credit, our honour, our national character are inextricably engaged. (Ap- plause.) THE HISTORY OF THB MOVEMENT. Let me be permitted, at the risk of repeating what is known to many of you, to refer to the history of the movement, of which one chief outcome has been the College of South Wales; and to the names of some at least of those to whom we owe that we Are assembled her'! to-drcy on a ceremony so full of hope and interest to ail who love the name or care for the prosperity of Wales. The first note came from a living member of our council, Mr. B. T. Williams, county court judge, in a pamphlet published in 1853. (Hear, hear.) Mindful, doubt- less, of the advantages he had derived from a Scotch University, he pointed out clearly and ably the great need of higher education in his native land. THS FIJRST COLLEGE SCHKMH. In 1854 Mr. Hugh Owen—(applause)—whose me- mory will ever be venerated in Wales as that of the man who more than any othersuccessfully laboured to secure to all classes of his countrymen the bless- ings of education, unaware of Mr. B. T. Williams' publication, but moved by the same spirit, sub- mitted at a private meeting in London a proposal for providing Wales with one or more colleges, similar to those which bad a few years pre- viously been established in Ireland. This meeting was attended by several persona afterwards prominent in the good work, amongst whom were the late Dr. David Charles, Dr. Lewis Edwards, now principal of the Calvinistic Metho- dist College at Bala; Mr. Richard Davies, now M.P. for Anglesey, and Mr. Salisbury, then M.P. for Chester. The proposal was favourably I received, and it was left to Mr. Hugh Owen, Mr. j 1 Salisbury, and Mr. Ooborue Morgan to take the I necessary steps for giving effect to it. These gentlemen examined into existing charities in Wales, and prepared a constitution for the pro- posed colleges. War, however, which sweeps aside so many good things, and causes even more indi- rect evils than those which directly spring from it-war with Russia absorbed for a time the national thought, energy, and funds. The sup- porters of the collegiate scheme employed them- seves in the meantime in founding the excellent Normal College at Bangor, and awaited a favour- able opportunity for recommencing operations. HIQHBB BDUCATION IN WALES. This was found in 1863, when Mr. Owen requested the late Dr. Nicholas, who had written some able letteis in a now extinct journal on the need for Higher Education in Wales, to prepare a paper on the subject, which WHS read before the Social Science Section of the Swansea Eisteddfod of that year. National interest being thus aroused, meet- ings were held in London in December, 1863, and means were taken to collect subscriptions. Dr. Nicholas and Dr. Charles held succesaivaly the post of secretary, and between December, 1863, and October, 1872. slowly, and with great difficulty, collected a sum slightly exceeding £ 12.000. THE UNIVERSITY COLLJSGH OF WALES. On this slender capital, much reduced by the cost of collection, the University College of Wales was opened at Aberystwith in 1872. For the history of its progress, of the private liberality evoked, and the responses made to public appeals, I must refer you to the elaborate evidence given by Sir Hugh Owen before the Departmental Committee in October, 1880. It is not my intention to enlarge on the work done by that College; but I must ex- press an opinion, which I believe no one will con- test, that at no period of its past existence has that work been done more efficiently, nor has that in- stitution enjoyed a larger amount of public confi- dence than at this moment, when its prolonged ex- istence is seriously menaced. (Hear, hear.) But from a national point of view its chief merits, of which no detecting tongue can deprive it, are that, in the first place, it stood out a clear and palpable witness to the conviction entertained by the best and most patriotic Welshmen that there existed a grievous need for Higher Education; and, in the next place, that it supplied irrefragable proof that that conviction was well founded. The experience acquired by those who watched over the progress of the College as to the deplorable deficiency in the means of education, and the wide-spread igno- rance prevailing as to what constituted a sound and sufficient education, satisfied them that, unless strong and decisive measures were at once adopted, the fate which had befallen past genera- tions that had fleeted away, their natural gifts unawakened and neglected, inevitably awaited the present and coming generations. They were not insensible to the improvements due to, and yet to be expected from, the better application of educa- tional endowments. ENDOWMENTS IN WALES. But endowments in Wales were both insufficient in themselves, and too unevenly distributed, to supply an intermediate education to those for whom, on the most modprate computation, it was desirable to provide; while, in respect to higher education, the experience of all times and countries had proved beyond controversy that no collegiate institutions had ever flourished which de- pended for support solely on the payments of their students. External aid. proceeding rather from the generosity of private donors or the contribu- tions of the State, seemed to them indispensable for the provision of that higher education which in every civilised State has been the complement of an educational system. In order to bting these views prominently before the country, the Council of the University College of Wales requested the assistance of the Welsh members of Parliament to secure a full Parliamentary discus- sion of the state of education in the Principality. This was most readily given and the task was un- dertaken by Sir Hussey Vivian—(applause)—who performed it with such a thorough mastery of the facts, and so full an appreciation of all the bearings of the question, as not only to secure the immediate attention of Parliament, but to give irresistible weight to the reasonable demands of Wales. (Applause.) DEPUTATION TO THS GOVERNMENT. The voice of Wales was also declared by the most numerous and weighty deputation of its country- men which ever addressed a department of Govern- ment. Deputations have been defined by a veteran statesman, much afflicted by them, as "a noun of number, signifying many, but not signifying much." This, however, was not the character of the deputation which, in 1879, addressed the Duke of Richmond; and there can be no doubt that the earnest representations then made sunk into the minds of the Ministry and the country, and greatly facilitated subsequent operations. Fortified by these demonstrations, the Council of the College of Aberystwith addressed, in 1880, a letter to Mr. Gladstone, then Prime Minister, urging that an inquiry should be made into the state of intermediate and higher education in Wales. The prompt answer to that appeal was the appoint- ment of what has been called THE DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE. It is not for me to estimate the merit of their rsport, although I heartily wish that I could so far dissociate myself from my colleagues as to speak my mind on the value of the work done by them. (fle-tr, hear.) But upon one result of that inquiry I may be permitted to dwell with special emphasis. ■Several writers in the newspapers have made merry over the 20,000 questions and answers published in the appendix to the report. 1 admit the number to be appalling. I do not assert that all the evidence is of equal worth and importance; nor do I deny that it embodies much crude thought, many vague aspirations, many conflicting and some impracti- cable suggestions. I admit that the ignorance, prejudice, and passion which prevailed on the subject of education are reflected in these pages as well as the calm, wise thought and larger views which amply pervade them. But I venture to think that the picture they convey of Welsh thought and opinion would have been incomplete without exhi- biting their weak as well as their strong points. Those who are charged with the duty of preparing measures for public acceptance must take note of all these things. They must regard, even where they do not share, sectarian suspicions and denominational jealousies; and they must be pre- pared to make occasional deflections from the straight line of their own clear convictions, in order to avoid arousing the susceptibilities of the much harassed ratepayer. And this can only be done effectually by sounding, as with a plummet, the advancing course into new and unexplored regions. But, more than this, I contend that no other expedient could have so successfully directed public thought to the great issues at stake as the course pursued by the Com- mittee in freely admitting witnesses of all capacities as well as of all opinions; in exhibiting the clash and conflict of contending theories—and in leaving to witnesses themselves the task, often executed with infinite alacrity, of demolishing the schemes, the assertions, or the sophisms of their predecessors in the witness-box. By this process not only, as the inquiry advanced, was error eliminated and the way cleared, but avast, amount of national interest, and even enthusiasm, was excited which has, up to this time, rather in- creased than diminished. The stimulating effect of that inquiry has, I firmly believe, alone rendered possible the successful appeal to the inhabitants of North and South Wales for the funds necessary for the creation of the two Colleges. I trust it will last long enough to give an effective moral support to the Government in their arduous task of carrying through Parliament a large and liberal measure of intermediate education. (Applause.) THE WELSH NATION AND THE COLLEGES. I have dwelt at some length on this portion of the subject, as I feel that it is of a paramount im- portance. These Colleges must rest on a broad and popular basis. Unless cordially adopted by the entire population as thoroughly national in their character, their principles, their aims and objects, no amount of external aid, no sympathetic en- couragement of the rich, no fostering efforts of the State will give them strength and vitality. (" lear, hear," and applause.) The people of Wales have been consulted, their opinions taken, their wishes ascertained. Through their most accredited organs in pulpit and press, in academic chair and public representation, through their tradesmen, farmers, artisans, through the quarrymen of Carnarvon, and the colliers of Glamorgan, they have declared with loud and universal acclaim that they require a better, sounder, cheaper education than in the pMt—(ap- ph) use)—and that, while they look to the State to give such aid as it alone can give—such aid as has freely been extended to other portions of the Empire—they, too. are prepared to do their part in the great work by devoting to it their energies, their wealth, and. more than all, the best growing intellect of their sons and daughters, THB GOVERNMENT GRANTS. The State has done its part. The Government, with commendable alacrity, acted upon the recom- mendations of the Committee; and Parliament, with absolute unanimity, voted the full measure of the aid demanded. I am aware that, in the opinion of some persons, the annual sum required from the State-£4000 a year to each allege—wo) considered, especially with reference to the sub- ventions received by Scotland and Ireland, to be less than we might, have asked and could have got. Sir Hugh Owen, after a long experience as treasure- nf the College at Aberystwith, suggested only £2.500 a year. Surrounded as we were by competing institutions near our borders, such as those at Manchester, Bristol, and Liverpool, and while access to the older Universities have been greatly facilitated, it was difficult to foresee what dimensions these Welsh Colleges might assume, and what their future wants might be. We had also before us the fact that up to that time the claims of Wales to be considered as a distinct nationality, with institutions entitled to the same assistance as those of Scotland and Ireland, had not been recognised by Parliament. These considerations suggested a cautious modera- tion in our demands. But I will venture to prophesy that if the people of Wales do their part manfully, if they show by the evidence of facts that they value the institutions which, on their urgent demand, have been provided, their Colleges will not be allowed to languish for the sake of a few more thousands a year. (Prolonged applause.) PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTIONS. In the meantime wo must be content with what we have been promised. But we must by no means bo content with what we have ourselves done. The citizens of Cardiff may, indeed, reflect with just pride, not only on the amount of their contribu- tions, but upon the in^ilua'ole assistance whiah many of their leading men have afforded in all those preliminary arrangements which demanded so much thought and unselfish devotion of time and labour. (Applause.) Some of the principal supporters of the Swansea site have generously presented their subscriptions to the College. (Hear, hear.) Might I venture to suggest to those who have not hitherto emulated this patriotic example that the devotion of their intended subscriptions to scholarships and exhibitions would confer an inestimable benefit on the intelligent youth of Swansea, from among whom we trust to draw Luana oi our best studonta? liut all South Wales PERSPECTIVE VIUVV OF THE COLLEGE. I and Monmouthshire must be invited to share in the honour and burden of founding an institu- tion worthy of their country. And here I cannot but congratulate our countrymen upon the happy event which, after so many centurie3 of separation, has reunited South Wales with a county so closely linked to it in race and language that no partition founded on mere political or geographical conside- rations has been able to efface its national charac- teristics. (Applause.) In other border counties the great preponderance of the English element has swept away almost everything Welsh but names of places, rivers, and mountains. But, although what Drayton has sung in sounding rhymes of the course of the Rumney is strictly true- That she of ancient time had parted as a mound The Monunaethiari fields and Glamerganian ground, The Humney does not part Gwent from Wales, and the great majority of the inhabitants of Mon- mouthshire retain to this day all the distinctive peculiarities of their ancient British stock. (Ap- plause.) When Harry of Monmouth says to Flueilen- v For I am Welsh, you know, good countryman. The gallant Welshman atiewers- All the water In the Wye oannot wash your Majesty's Welsh blood out of your pody, I can tell you that. And so say we all to our Monmouthshire friends and allies in this great educational campaign. (Laughter and applause.) SCHOLARSHIPS AND EXHIBITIONS. I trust, therefore, *that throughout all the seven counties organised efforts will be made to raise the requisite funds, every penny of which, after duly providing for the educational necessities of the C,I,,ge, will be applied to the foundation of scholarships and exhibitions open to general competition. (Applause.) We know, by universal experience, that the disadvantages inevitably attaching to distance can only be miti- gated by means of such endowments. We cannot have a college in every county in Wales and, even if we had, some of their inhabitants would be more highly favoured than others by nearness of recldence. This is the case in Gla- morganshire, where the inhabitant of Swansea or Merthyr is as much a non-resident of Cardiff as the native of Carmarthenshire or Breconshire. And so it would be in any of the other counties. The influence ot this element of distance is dis- tinctly traceable at the College of Aberystwith, where, in the absence of those numerous exhibi- tions which their funds could not afford, more than one-third of the students have come from Cardi- ganshire alone. Up to 1880 Cardiganshire, with its population of 70,000, hau supplied 117 out of the 313 students who had attended the College since its opening in 1872; while all North Wales, with a population of 430,000, only sent 86; and the remaining counties of South Wales, with their 1,000,000 inhabitants, had only supplied 73 students, among whom Glamorganshire figures for 22, and Pembrokeshire, with a population of 92,000, for only three. And this disproportion remains rather aggravated than abated up to this present moment, when out of 60 students from Wales (in addition to five from England) 29 are natives of Cardiganshire. EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. But while natual disadvantages cannot wholly be obliterated, the example of other countries, and pre-eminently of Scotland, with which we have so much in common, shows us that they may be greatly diminished by a liberal supply of scholarships, exhibitions, or bursaries, which in some cases maintain, in others greatly assist in maintaining, those who would otherwise be inca- pacitated by poverty from prosecuting theirstudies through tbe requisite course. Hence the absolute necessity of &a appeal to the patriotism and liberality of all who desire to bring the benefits of this College hom" to the hearts of every portion of every county in South Wales. OPEN COMPETITION. I have insisted on the fact that the scholarships and exhibitions will be Op"lO to genenl competi- tion. And this element of open competition is absolutely necessary to the vigorous life of the institution. But the council are not insensible to fix obstacles to which competitors drawn from our working classes, who can rarely afford for their children an education more advanced than that supplied hy our Elementary Schools, are ex- posed. How can they expect to compete success- fully with youths who have, by the more fortunate circumstances of their parents, enjoyed a proionyed training at Intermediate Schools/ I am afraid that the differences between wealth and poverty can never be wholly effaced, any more thar. those still greater differences. independent of fortune, which superiority of talent, mental and physical vigour, cr-te in such infinite variety itmong the sons of men. But if we cannot efface I hem, we may do uiu0 to minimise them. Something—I hope a great deal-will be done in this direction, by the better application of endowments, whether educa- tional or otherwise, and the other means indicated by the report of the Departmental Committee, to which effect will, doubtless, be given by the hoped- for Bill of which we were disappointed last session. (Hear, hear.) THE FARTHING SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME. Another expedient due to the ingenuity of our registrar, Mr. Ivor James, has been suggested for enibling trades, by the small weekly contribution of a farthing ppr man, to create a fund for scholar- ships, tenable for five years, two of which would be passed at an Intermediate School, and three at the College, and restricted to the children of parents belonging to such trades, who would com- pete for them among themselves. Under this scheme the unequal terms of competition to which I have referred would disappear, and there can be little doubt that it would furnish to the Coll. ge some of the ablest and most determined students. WELSHMEN AND SELF-CULTU«B. I trust that by these various expedients our work- ing classes will speedily have the satisfaction of seeing the most gifted of their children on a par as to the means of acquiring knowledge with the wealthiest in the land. "(Applause.) During the inquiries of the Departmental Committee numerous instances were cited to them of the desperato and determined st,ruggle against adverse circumstances waged by young men bent on self-improvement;" and few of us who have taken any interest in the lives of our less fortunate countrymen but must have known of and sympathised with such cases. Difficulties only seemed to excite their ardour, and the value of the prize appeared to be in direct proportion to the obstacles to be encountered and overcome. To such minds the glowing lines of Marlowe hardly present an exaggerated picture:- Oh I what a world of profit and delight. Of power, of honour, of omnipotence, Is promised to the studious Artisan All things that move between the quiet poles Khali be at liis command. And his dominion that exceeds in this) Stretches as far as doih the mind of man! THE STAFF OF THB COLLEGE. Still, while scholarships and exhibitions are offered either as incentives to exertion or as aids to our poorer students, it is clear that all our students [cannot hope to Obtain these prizes, and that we must look for our chief supply to the attractions of an education of the best, and most varied kind, provided on terms the moderation of whicb haft only been rendered possible by the liberality of Parliament. I can testify that no labour has bean spared to make this institution worthy of the efforts which have created it, and of the objects it is destined to serve. The principal and professors have been selected with infinite care and with the most absolute impartiality, from among hosts of distinguished competitors. (Applause.) You will soon have ocular demonstration of the unlooked-for success of the council in providing class-rooms and laboratories of ample number and appropriate size. It is impossible at this moment to foresee what special form and distinctive character the College will hereafter assume. These will Be determined by the national wants and the national will but we believe we have greatly facilitated such an elastic adaptation of our studies to the wishes and requirements of our people by securing the services of gentlemen versed in the methods of most of our English and Scotch Universities, and ewen of some foreign ones. Like all institutionp destined, as we hope this is, to a long life, our development must be gradual and progressive. We cannot look at first for a large supply of students adequately prepared for the advanced course of studies which it is our special function to provide. As time rolls on, as nul' intermediate school system expands, and higher and more gene- rous estimates of education prevail, the College, too, will change, wili develop, will keep abreast of the growing intelligence of our people. THB COLLEGE CURRICULUM. Without deserting the old lines of culture, and giving to classical studies and modern languages and literature a large place in our scheme, we have made ample provision for a thorough scientific training; and, while keeping ever prominent, the value of knowledge for its own sake as the noblest object of human ambition, we shall not neglect its application to the demands of a commercial and manufacturing community, who have to be equipped for the struggle of life, and fitted to maintain the industriat supremacy of our country. In all our arrangements we have borne in mind that our College must provide for the education of women—(applause)—as well as of men our classes and laboratories, our scholarships and exhibitions, are open on equal terms to men and women. And women have not been slow to profit by the opportunities thus offered them. The number of scholarships And exhibitions won by them in the recent competition, and the fact that the best scholarship was carried off by a woman -(pi-olonged apphuse)-a..ffl.rd pretty clear indica- tions that the assumption of intellectual superiority by men will, like many another Jong-accepted doctrine, be speedily tested by the stern logic of facts. (Laughter and applause ) THB RELTGIOUD DIFFICULTY. There are yet two subjects which I cannot avoid, and yet approach with some trepidation, and which, for want of better nnrnf, I will call the religious diiffculty and the national claims. Thus far, outside the columns of the newspapers, where a lively war has been waging, the religious difficulty has not, I believe, for a single moment, disturbed the harmony of those who have been engaged in laying tho foundations of this institution. (Applause.) Protestant and Catholic, Churchman and Nonconformist have laboured side by side with fraternal concord. Through all the long deliberations over the details of the scheme, in the choice of governors, of council, of professors, no denominational differences have for a. moment diverted attention from the great common objects in which all alike were concerned. (Ap- plause.) And yet the religious difficulty was ever there, silently inspiring arrangements and sugges-, tiup concesdioas which deference to public opinion seemed to require. The unanimity which has I characterised our proceedings has been purchased by a sacrifice which all must have regretted, and yet which all must have felt to be the inevitable price of common fiction. We have been compelled to eliminate religious teaching from our curri- culum. However consistent, in the opinion of many, undenominational religious teaching may be with religious liberty in our elementary schools. it was clearly impracticable in the College. On no other basis, therefore, than the absolute ex- clusion of religious teaching could union be possible. But, it may be asked, if religious teach- ing is banished, what excuse have denominational differences for intruding themselves into the minds of our cocncil, and exercising any influence over the arrangements made for the government and conduct of the College Y Logically none, abso- lutely none. Had we proceeded in rtrict accordance with the very principles on which our College was founded, our governors and our council would have been elected without any reference to their religious opinions. And yet, we all know that this has not been and could not be, and in securing the due representation of each county, whether in the court of governors or in the council, regard must be had, if we hoped to conciliate the confidence of our people, to those "f»ry religious distinctions which we profess to sinve excluded. Many will consider this an unfor- tunate necessity and I confess I am one of those who do 90. After arranging for the due represen- tation of each county, our one object should have been to select, withoutany regard to their religious opinions, the men fittest from character, know- ledge, zeal in the inurestsof education, to perforn. with intelligence and earnestness the duties ell- trusted to them. How, then, has this necessity for disregarding so prominent a principle in out foundation arisen ? It has arisen from the deep traditional feeling implanted by the past religious history of Wales. While the large majority ol our countrymen had abandoned the Church of their fathers, we know that up to very recent years our endowed schools were wholly, and out elementary schools almost wholly, under the con troi and managementof Churchmen. Nonebutthose who are blind to the clearest evidences can be unaware of the dissatisfaction, the jealousies, and suspicions to which this state of things gave rise They were natural and inevitable. To what extern tnese feelings were justified by the facts, what amount of exaggeration may have prevailed il' them, it would be outot placeon this occasion todis- cuss. It is enough for our purpose that they existed. that they were deep and widespread, and had, therefore, to be reckoned with, not, perhaps, openly and avowedly, but not the less substantially It was under the influence of this convictioi that tile Departmental ClIlnmitLee recomrnenJed that the principal of the proposed Colleges should always be a layman. We well knew that Wt should by so doing greatly limit the choice. We could not but remember thai many of the most eminent of the heads ot oolleges and head masters of schools, in the pasta- well as in the present, h..d been and are minister of religion. We had not the slightest reason l'oi believing that the principal of tht! Aberystwiti College had departed from the strictest impar tiahty in the discharge of his office. But we wen compelled to admit the existence and force of tht public feeling or prejudice on the subject, and we did not think it wise to disregard it. In making this concession to national sentiment we have, believe, acted wisely. I am afraid that oui efforts in this direction have not given universal satisfaction,for I have observed some attempts t. prove that numerical proportions have not always been exactly observed. And this I admit to be the case, for weight had also to bo giver to other considerations: to the special ntness, o. the public estimation of the selected individuals But I do most heartily trust that, as time goes 01' these jealousies and suspicions will dwindle ano disappear, and that our governors and counci will be chosen with sole reference to their qualities tions for their important duties. My owi strong conviction is that, if this principle Go strictly observed, it will be found that all out religious bodies will still be represented on ou council by men deserving the public confident for other than denominational reasons. NATIONAL CLAIMS. The extent to which national claims should be admitted has given rise to much discussion ano some difference of opinion. Those whom I will venture to call the extreme advocates for thei observance insist that none but true-born Welsh men can understand Welshmen, and that tb selection of any others to the court of governors the council, or the senate would be fatal tt the success of the Welsh Co))t'ge. And it ba.- been emphatically proclaimed that no length o residence in Wales, no amount of interest in it, prosperity, not even the fact of birth and tolerably long settlement in the Principality would supply the requisite qualifications. Tilt money of such aliens—I have seen that name ap piied—might he accepted; their personal inter ference shol11d be rejeeted as mischievous. Thi^ view raises some very interesting questions. Firy of all, What constitutes a true-born Welshman'r An English gentleman who has long 'lived amon^ us. and has by his writings thrown great light oi the early history of Glamorgan once inquired 01 an eminent Cornishman whether Air. Kendall then member for Cornwall, was a man of oj,. Cornish family. "Oh, no!" was the answer, "tit is not a Cornishman at all; his family hav, only lived in Cornwall since the reign of Edward ill." We are bound to acknowledg* Cornishmen as our kith and kin—we have much In common with them besides descent. Are we prepared to adopt this Cornishman's views and declare that even an unbroken pedigree and residence of 500 years will not remove the Saxoi. taint, nor qualify for taking part in the directioll of Welsh education ? Are we, then. to ex elude the Butes, the Windsors, and Talbots who have inherited property from Welsh progenitors? Are we to banish the Vivian- and Guests, the Dillwyns and Crawshays to whose capital and skill the wealth and population of Glamorgan are so largely due i' What is to become of-my humble self, whosi family have not. quite completed their residence of 150 years in this county? Hut, in the nexi place, are we to deprive ourselves of the services of able and eminent men, unconnected by birtt and property with Wales, but whom public sp pointments and private affairs have broughi us; and who are willing to give us, at a great sacrifice of time and labour, the benefit of then academical training and experience in one or other of the Universities of the Empire? But it he mere statement of such opinions exposes thei1 estiavaganceor dispenses with refutation so far as relates to the governors and council, the case seems to me still stronger in its relation to the professors. That Welsh studt:nts-who, I fully admit, have strong national characteristics—mighi be better understood and managed by a Welsh principal is arationat suggestion. It should not, I think, be an admitted axiom, excluding from the principalship candidates of marked superiority, but it is an element in the choics of one on whose personal influence so much depends which should have great weight and prominence. And the sanit preference should generally be given in the choice of the Celtic professor. But these considera- tions can have no weight in the selection of other professors. There the one ruling thought should be to select the ablest, the most gifted, the most vigorous man. Surely Greek and Latin, geomNry and mathem>1ticfl, chemistry and biology, logic and moral philos' phy, can be as effectually imparted to a Welsh lad by an Englishman or Scotchman as by a Welshman But, it is asserted, Scotland and Ireland appoint only Scotchmen and irishmen to their respective) chairs. Evan if this were so, an explanation might be found in the fact that in those countries Universities, which have trained a long and glorious succession of learned men who might well have been expected to supply thei" professorial wants have existed for several centuries. But the assertion is utterly un- founded. At this moment some of the most emi nent professors at the Universities of Glasgow ind Edinburgh have come from beyond the border, -tnd the Irish Colleges have always been keen to A vail themselves of the services of English and Scotch professors. Wales has had no such train- ing-grounds for her teachers. Undoubtedly we should have had no difficulty7 in discovering at the English Universities and public schools Welsh- men admirably fitted to fill every chair in our College, and in no respect inferior to the distin- guished men we have selected. But these Welshmen already occupy posts of emolument, honour, and usefulness from which we could not expect to wile them away. We cannot, however hopeful our prospects may be, offer attractions which could be reasonably expected to withdraw such men as Professor Hughe", of Cambridge, or Mr. Griffiths, of Oxford, from their high positions in the ancient Universities. But what has been the practice in ollr own Wrlsh Colleges ? We all know ■hat previously to the appointment of t'.ie present eminent Principal of t5t. David's, Lampeter, the fortunes of that College were mainly sustained by the abilities and character of such Englishmen as bishops Olhvant and Harold Browne, of Dean Perowne, and Dr. Davey. Let me add from my own personal experience a still more striking example of the dIs- regard of nationality in the search of competent men. At the time when I became president of the University College of Aherystwith, notonly were all t.he ruling spirits on the council exclu- sively Welsh—and true-born Welsh—but I cannot recollect anv Englishmen who took any part in its affairs. Yet of all the professors whom I found at the College there was but one Welshman, and he was the principal. It has been a true pleasure to the council that they have been ahle, in the conscientious dis- charge of their duties, to fill some of the most important chairs of the College with Welshmen. Hut they would not have deserved the respect and confidence of their countrymen, still less would they have earned the gratitude of the students, had they chosen from the lists of competitors any but those they believed to be most competent. WELSH CIVILISATION AND CULTURE. Having referred to some of the more salient topics connected with the opening of this College, let me be allowed to indulge in a short retrospect of the history of Welsh civilisation and culture. I am afraid that up to the reign of the Tudors the Welsh were not very comfortable neighbours. I am far from attributing to them all the blame. I doubt not that they had much reason to com- plain of the aggressions and insolence of their English conquerors. But with the accession of Henrv VII. there came a new departure in the re- lations between the two rtces and the statutes of H«nry VIII., conferring absolute civil equality on Welshmen, had a marked and immediate influence on their national character and progress. Let me cite, in contirmation of this statement, two wit- nesses of unexceptionable weight. The first shall be Roger Ascham, that earliest master of our noble English prose. Writing in 1544, while Henry VIII. was still king, he says:—"Wales, being heady and rebelling many yenrs against us, lay wild, untilled, uninhabited, without law, justice, civility, and order; and there was amongst them more stealing than true dealing, more surety for those that studied to be naught than quietness for them that laboured to be good; when now, thanked be God and noble England, there is no country better inhabited, more civil, more diligent in honest crafts to get true and ptentifu) living withal." Sixty years lat")., when the htjtiiijo? iuflueacea of just and kindly treatment had had further time to operate, the wise I and learned Camden could bear witness to a far greater advance in all branches of national progress in these complimentary terms: "And since they (the Welsh) were ad- mitted to the Imperial Crown of England, they have, to their just praise, performed all parts of dutiful loyalty and allegiance most faithfully thereunto plentifully yielding martial captains, judicious civilians, skilful common lawyers, learned divines, complete courtiers, and adven- turous soldiers." For more than a century after Camden wrote there is evidence that Hie Welsh availed themselves of the English Universities far more, in proportion to their population, than they have done during the past century. This was mainly due to two causes: First. the growing costliness of living at the Universities secondly, the alienation of a large portion of the Welsh population from the Estab- lished Church, and their consequent disabilities. Both these barriers have been removed Living has been made more economical, and religious dis- abilities have disappeared. But although we still deserve the homely eulogy of Ascham, we can scarcply apply to ourselves the glowing picture drawn by Camden of the Welsh contem- poraries of Shakespeare and Raleigh. Fortune has been adverse to our development. We have wanted these institutions which have raised Scot- land so high in the scateof nations, and have shed such intellectual lustre upon poor distracted Ireland. But our turn has now come. "Noble England has once more listened to our justcom- plaints, and bestirred herself to remove our legiti- mate grievances. We are having gradually con- ferred upon us an educational system as complete in all its parts as any that exists in the most favoured portions of the Empire. We possess an ample supply of elementary schools; a large addi- tion to our intermediate schools is promised the means to found our Colleges have been supplied and a University with its usual powers will not be denied to us at the proper moment. These, indeed, are but the framework of an educational system. That is all a Government can give. Life, mimation, activity, must be breathed into it hy ourselves. I well know that the growth if such institutions must be gradual; I shall not lIe disappointed if it be slow; I deprecate spas- modic efforts and intermittent energy. But I do hope to see my countrymen rally steadily and in increasing numbtrs round these our new Colleges do trust that they may firmly root themselves in he national respect and affection as conferring inestimable blessings on our children's children ind that institutions, called for by Lhe united voice of Wales, may, ere many years be past, fulfil i ha dearest hopes of those good men, living and lead, who, with such disinterested zeal, laboured o rear them for the lasting benefit of their -ountry. His lordship resumed his seat amid loud cheers. Mr. LEWIS MORRIS rose to propose & vote of hanks to Lord Aberdare. He said: Mr. Mayor, oy Lords. Ladies, and Gentlemen,—Very late last light, when it was too late for me to make an ad- verse reply, I received a telegram asking me to pro- pose a vote of thanks to Lord Aberdare. I am bound o say that I am very proud to do it; yet, on an listorical occasion like this, one would have liked o have had a little longer time for preparation must say, also, that 1 had intended and had mderstood that the function I would have ') perform here would be that of proposing i vote of thanks to you, Mr. Mayor, for pre- siding. I had prepared a very eloquent -peech, which I shall be happy to read to v ou in private. I was not prepared to face such a arge assembly as this on so very important an 'cca-don with so important a function. On the ,t)¡8r hand, I ought to be able to say something ibout Lord Aberdare, because I have been asso- •iated with him from the first in this work. He A as in it before I was; but still I have been asso iated with him in this great movement of Welsh luoation for some years. I have had the great lonour and pleasure of marching under his banner is a humble private soldier, and not only in .erving on the Departmental Committee, but on the ouncil of the Aberystwith College, and in tiler matters; and if I am not able to say some- hing about, him, and in favour of him, it would be ery odd indeed. 1 should be even II. worse speaker iian I am if I could not do that. Well. ladies and gentlemen, the experience which I have had of Lord Aberdare is, as 1 need hardly tell you, uni, ormly favourable. I have had to see the great issiduity, the great energy, the great ability, the mfailing tact, and the courtesy with which he has onducted tha very difficult matter of Welsh educa- tion (Applause.) He was present, as it were, at s cradle, and he has nursed it to the adult stage at hich, I hope, we may say it has now arrived, have listened, of course, with great admiration <nd pleasure to the very exhaustive and noble, I jvasgoing to say monumental, address which Lord Vberdare has delivered. It is well, on a great occa- -tion like this, that we should review, with a view 0 the future, the whole progress of the great movement which has culminated to-day—though it is true it is only yet begun, and by no means inished, yet we have got some way, and it is well there should be such an address delivered as has oeen delivered by Lord Aberdare. (Applause.) It will be very desirable that this address, which, no doubt, will be preserved in the rchives of the Collegp-it is very desirable ttlat those who come after us ehouJd know the great difficulties and the great lirnita- ions under which we, who have been working for Wa!e9, have had to act. Now, with regard to the H!dress itself, there is no t.ime for me to say any- hing; but I should just- iike to make a remark on two points. Lord Aberdare has very ably told you ha history of the College at Aberystwith. Now Imt College is at this moment, as he has informed vou, in a state of greater efficiency than it has ever been before. (Applause.) And, now that I see the Lord President of the Council on Education here—(applause)—I should like to make this sug- gestion that what Lord Aberdare has said 1 bout the education of women may very fairly »ie considered in connection with the future of Aberystwith. Because, if we could by any possible oeans make tl1at a Colletle, not only for young men, but for young women also, then we should go some way towards solving a very great diffi- culty. Surely, ladies and gentlemen, the time has inived when the question of education has come well to the front. We all know—Lord Aberdare has told you—that the chief scholarship, and many of the other scholarships and exhibitions at i his College, have been won by women, and. if there was any reason to doubt the interest taken bv women in the cause of education, I should think it would be removed by the fact that at least half of the audience I see before me are composed of intelligent women. There is one other point I wish to mention and I am sure, as I see Lord Carlingford here, it will receive every consideration—if we have to go to the Government for a little more money than we have already got. I must say, grateful as we are to the Government, generous as the Government has undoubtedly been to us. for it has given us all we asked, it must not be forgotten that our request was made three years ago Great progress has taken place in these matters -tinea then; our wants now are greater than they were then. And if we were to go to the Government and ask them for another JE2,000 a year, or it might be a little more—(ap- plautle)-for the support of Aberystwith and to add to the efficiency of women's education in Wales, I am quite certain that with such powerful advocates we shall not ask in vain. (Applause.) That, I think, is aU I have to say with regard to the address. If I had seen it before I might have heen able to say a great deal more about it There- fore, you are to be congratulated on the fact that I did not hear it until it was read out to-day. Well, now, gentlemen, my duty is fulfilled. All I have to ask you to do is to pass a most r-ordial vote of thanks to Lord Aberdare for his most excellent address. (Applause.) That, this move- tlwnt which we see commencing-for it is not ended by any means to-day—when it has reached its full stature—when the light which we are hold- ing up to-day has penetrated into all the dark places and recesses of ignorance in Wales—when he youth of Wales, both men and women, are able to avail themselves of all the advantages which education unquestionably brings—then I do think it will be a proud thing for Lord Aberdare —or, if he is not then with us, for his descendants; and I am glad to find that the stock is not likely to die out-it will be a proud thing for them to con- sider that their ancestor was bound up from the first with this great movement, and that it is to his ability, his zeal, and his popular sympathies that it arose to its present success. (Applause.) Mr. DAVID DAVIS, Blaengwawr, seconded the morion. He said that as a Welshman he was proud of the proceedings of that day—applause) —and Wales, his country, would, he had no doubt, derive immense benefit from this College and the Coliege of North Wales. The MAYOR then put the motion to the meeting, and it was carried with acclamation. Lord ABERDARE, who was again cheered on rising, said: I will not detain you any longer in listening to my somewhat husky and worn-out voice, but I cannot too heartily thank you for the kind manner in which you have received the kind words Mr. Lewis Morris has said about me. One thing I shall say. There are in the address which I have just, delivered some things which I daresay will not command universal assent. I rather hope they will not, for this reason—that if you want to en- force a.11 opinion it can only be done hy strenuous contradiction and reply. Well, I do hope that to far the greatest part of it there will be universal assent. I now turn to a much more agreeable task, and that is to propose a vote of thanks to the mayor for his kindness in appearing here to-day. If I had known as I came down by the railway that. I had that duty to perform I should un- doubtedly have availed myself of my proximity to Mr. Lewis Morris, and should have asked him to communicate to me that. speech of his which is lost to posterity. (Applause.) I am glad on this occasion to thank the Mayor of Cardiff for the sympathy he has always shown in the progress of the College, as well as for his attendance here to- day. (Applause.) There have, as you know, been slight differences of opinion, as there will be among the most affectionate lovers, between the Council of the College and the Corporation of Cardiff. I believe that those differences are now at an end— (applause)-and that the College wil! find itself supported by the municipal representatives of this great and growing town. (Applause.) I think you will agree with me that no one ever filled the oiffce of MI-yor of Cardiff with greater dignity, and greater kindliness, aud in a manner more circulated to secure popular sympathy and support than the present mayor of Cardiff. (Ap- plause.) Sir GKOROB ELLIOT, M.P., said: Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,—I have great pleasure in seconding the resolution that a vote of thanks be given to the mayor. I must with some humility apologise for occupying this position, as I have not the honour to be a Welshman. I have, however, a very strong sympathy with the Welsh people— (applause) — and my connections, without boasting, are of some magnitude both in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire; and, if I am spared, they are likely to increase rather than diminish. This is the first time, although my con- nection with this town has extended over 25 years, that I have ever stood upon a platform here; and I have not ventured to interfere at all with the administration of the public business of the town of Cardiff. I am constrained to make some observations, how- ever, on this occasion, more particularly because of the great cause that you have inaugurated to-day, and because my esteemed friend Lord Aberdare is at the head of the movement, and has with such ability delivered the inaugural address. He and I have politically sat on opposite sides, but ""e have been in combination almost on every occasion when the welfare of the mining popula- tion of this kingdom has been involved or served. (Applause.) It gives me the greatest pleasure to be able to declare, with the strictest regard for truth, that that great charter—as I am in the habit of calling it the Mines Regulation Act—was more due to Lord Aberdare's indjatry and application than to that of any other man living. (Applause.) Mv friend Sir Hussey Vivian also took an important part in the passing of that measure. I need only add that I could not remain absent from this important meeting even by restraint. (Applause.) The resolution was carried. The MATOR. in response, tendered his thinks in the firat place to Lord Aberdare for the flattering remarks he had made about him, and. in the next place, to the audience for the hearty response I i iev had made to it. Although not a Welshman' he believed there was not a Welshman present who took a greater interest in that undertaking than himself. (Applause.) The meeting then separated.

THE PROCESSION.