Cymro a'r Celt Llundain

Notes and News. No English choirs will compete at Swansea next week. WELSH bards are about to create a new Order. The old distinction of B.B.D. will not do for the present generation of rhyme- sters. LONDON promises to make the Eisteddfod of 1909 "entirely Welsh" if the Gorsedd will permit its being held in the metropolis during that year. IN parliamentary circles it is generally agreed that the Welsh Disestablishment Bill will come before the Commons during 1909. WHAT with a Disestablishment Bill and the National Eisteddfod it is intended to niake the London of 1909 entirely Welsh. IN a fervent appeal on behalf of the Eis- teddfod at Carmarthen the other day, a speaker alluded to it as The Grand National." It was a justifiable slip, inas- much as the whole campaign in Carmarthen is being engineered by the athletic and sports committee. WITH strike riots in Belfast, telegraph stoppage in America, and the Morocco bombardment; the holiday season promises to be unusually exciting. THE Russian Government has not yet expressed its horror at the shooting of Belfast strikers. No doubt English conduct appeared to them to be extremely callous and barbaric. A MINIATURE Bisley meeting at Gloucester the other day was remarkable for the fact that Welshmen took the first prize in every competition they were eligible for. A CORRESPONDENT writes: "Whilst read- ing a copy of the Glamorgan Observer for February, 1873, I came across the following interesting paragraph It is estimated that 20,000 valentines passed through the post office on Friday at Cardiff. How times and customs change! The Glamorgan Ob- server, we may add, was a monthly journal published at Cowbridge. It existed for some 12 months. SOCIALISM is nothing new. A KELT man who was looking up ancient newspapers the other day came across a copy of the Cardiff Reporter for the year 1822-exactly 85 years ago. The Reporter contained racy articles breathing a strong socialistic spirit. In fact it puts the reader in mind of the Clarion on a small scale. It is a great mistake to think that socialism is of recent growth. WRITING about old newspapers a decidedly unique publication was the South Wales Athenceum, published in Swansea in the year 1832. A notice on the front page stated that it was "edited by a committee of gentlemen." AT Bridgend the Clergy as well as Non- conformist Ministers assembled to give General Booth a welcome, but at Cardiff not a single Anglican clergyman was present. The majority of them were probably too busy lighting candles and other Ritualistic diversions. THE Rev. Wade Evans, M.A., formerly of Paddington, is now curate at S. Andrews Church, Cardiff, one of the few broad Anglican churches in the Welsh metropolis. Mr. Wade Evans is a scholarly man, and is greatly respected by Welsh Nonconformists. MR. BERT THOMAS, the clever Welsh artist from Swansea, continues to win success. In a recent issue of London Opinion we notice a remarkably clever page of illustrations from his pen, entitled, Some Paris Sketches." THE South Wales Daily News recently contained a report headed as follows :— WELSH TRIPPERS AT WESTON. FINES AND IMPRISONMENT. Here are the names of some of these Welsh Trippers "—Buck, Willmott, and Tobin! They were, of course, Englishmen or Irish- men working in South Wales who had gone over to Weston on a "holiday," and it is unfortunate that papers like the South Wales Daily News should be constantly publishing these misleading and slanderous statements on the Welsh people. THE "Right Hon. the Very Rev. Lord Bishop of London" has been on a visit to Brecon. He proceeded thither in a motor car, and told the Brecon Churchmen that their English confreres would see that they were not disinherited." Whereat the Brecon Anglicans were exceeding glad. HOLLAND Road Baptist Church, Brighton, has presented the Rev. David Davies with a farewell gift of a hundred guineas and an illuminated address, expressing regret at the severance after twenty years' successful ministry-" years of unbroken harmony and peace." Mr. Davies, in acknowledging the gift, said he found it necessary in the inter- ests of his family, and particularly of his five sons, to seek a more favourable commer- cial centre for them, but he hoped to visit Ilove in the future, and he also hoped to enter elsewhere upon a further period of ministry. He was not conscious of any delay, and was looking forward to settling as pastor and finding joy in the work he loved most-the preaching of the Gospel. MR. O. M. EDWARDS states that the Bala Council, which some time ago decided to adopt the English language as its official language, has repented, and not only are discussions carried on in Welsh, but the minutes are kept in Welsh. The chief inspector blames the English papers for misrepresenting Bala and for rejoicing when any insult is levelled at the Welsh language. In this case one would imagine that the mis- representation, if any, came from Bala, and it is evident there was no cause for rejoicing.