Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

10 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

-----.---!FALSE PRETENCES…

'...RESUMED HEARING.

BEAUTY SHOW AT TENBY.

LORD ST. DAVIDS AND THE DEVELOPMENT…

[No title]

--------!"THE PERFIDIOUS WELSHMAN."

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

"THE PERFIDIOUS WELSHMAN." eo. SCATHING BOOK ON CAMBRIA. AUTHOR SUPPOSED PEMBROKESHIRE RESIDENT. [FIRST NOTICE.] All those who are not Welshmen and have read Draig Glas's (Blue Dragon) latest book on the Cambrian nation will certainly thank their lucky stars that they are able to call some other country other than Wales their own. "The Perfidious Welshman," a copy of which has been placed in our hands for review, is one of the most scathing and flagellating attacks ever levelled against a nation. We imagined that notorious work" The Unspeakable Scot" as being something in a class to itself; but, out- spoken and condemnatory as this book was, it is easily outstripped by "The Perfidious Welsh- man," which, so large has been the demand for it, has quickly run into four editions. It is pub- lished at half-a-crown by Messrs. Stanley Paul and Co., 1, Clifford's Inn, London, W.C., and on sale at the local railway bookstall, and elsewhere in Tenby. The writer (obviously he is not a Welshman, for it would seem a transformation of human nature for anyone to write so de- structively of their own nation and countrymen) beats no bushes, conceals nothing, but hits out squarely from the shoulder, and his statements, to put them on the mildest plane, are bound, if there is any "kick" in the Welsh nation, to arouse a storm of protest. That some of the things he says are unpalatable home truths will be admitted, but there are other statements which every patriotic Welshman will resent and repudiate with red-hot indignation, particu- larly the sweeping criticisms levelled against the musical abilities of the Welsh people and the National Eisteddfod. In his prologue Draig Glas saysj: — If I could think of one worthy attribute that really belongs to Welshmen as a distinct feature I would at once give it all its due. But alas the most strongly marked characteristic of the Cymric breed is one that is anything but worthy. Do you ask what it is ? Is it his hatred of the Saxon ? His immorality ? His insufferable conceit ? His shocking want of culture in the arts ? His appalling ignorance ? Go and enquire of any English visitor who has rubbed an unfortunate 11 shoulder with W elsh Wales for any length of time, and note the headings of my chapters, ob- serving that the characteristic which is accorded the place of honour is the Perfidious Welshman's intolerable DKCEIT The average Welsh landlady is never at a loss for some deceitful ruse by which she can entrap the un- wary to her advantage. You may. to give one example, call at a house where apartments are to be obtained, and enquire the terms for food and lodging. Oh! indeed, she has not been used to letting, and while she is telling you her family history your general appearance and probable worth are being estimated by her Jewish eye. What would you think she ought to charge? she enquires. Then follows a whine about the slackness" of the season. Finally you say that you will leave it to her. But when the bill cornea in you have much reason for repentance, for, instead of the moderation, you anticipated, the highest conceivable rate has been put down for your rooms, and the most exorbitant tariff charged for the meals, Although these good ladies make a pretence of not knowing what to charge it is remarkable that they never err on the losing side Few people can tell a lie to your face with such perfect composure as a Welshman. If he is bereft of the culture of the fine arts he has made up for the deficiency by becoming an accomplished liar. To be truthful is apparently beyond his ability, and falsehoods slide off his tongue with such an easy grace and such staggering prolificacy that one may well wonder whether Taffy really knows the difference between veracity and barefaced lying at all. With an audacity that is as staggering as it is laughable, he has chosen for his national motto: "Y Gwir yn Erbyn v Bvd," y which is, being interpreted, TUE TBUTH BEIOKE THE WORLD The second chapter, headed "The Screw," deals with the subject of the Welshman's reli- gion, or vide the author, that "which passes for it." He says Wales is the most priest-ridden country in the world, and that she has never produced a single great preacher, nor a shadow of an individual who might, by a stretch of the imagination, be called "a divine." The writer of the book is particularly severe upon the Welsh Nonconformist minister, and his vitu- peration against this class is poured forth without restraint. He gives publicity to the following libel when dealing with this matter Yet the Nonconformist minister—an ill-condi- tioned, illiterate, and ill-mannered tag of humanity, with a smug, self-satisfied expression-is a veri- table genius for keeping his flock within the grip of his extortionate power Those hideous erections called chapels are nothing more than the social clubs of the countryside, whither the black- coated, faithful resort, not to pray for forgiveness for their real or imaginary sins, but to air their politics and to pass resolutions for the damnation of the English Church and the English nation. These chapels are the political training-arenas the very polling-booths—of the country, and it is within their walls that the Welshman, cowed into submission by threats of expulsion-which are even worse to him than promises of hell—is told how to vote. It is within their walls that the seeds of sedition are sown and the hope of educa- tion crushed Hysteria. is the weapon he uses with such telling effect. It is the weapon with which the minister kills his prev for meat and it liaugs by a thread like the sword of Damocles over the head of every native of Non- conformist Wales. And while this sword of hysteria hangs over them, this crafty tub-thumper, this rabbit-brained parasite, like a snake, pours upon his helpless victims the slime of his unctuous tongue, and calls them his Heaven help them! Such power do these pastors and deacons possess that the average Welshman dare not call his mind his own. In the event of any political crisis touching Welsh interest, we find that it is to the chapel that he goes for guidance. There he will absorb any humbug that the gentlemen in command may think fit to expound, aud there he will be drilled into believing all the scurrilous political gossip which the holy men of God pour forth Apart from the relentless perse- cution which emanate from the Ebenezers and Bethels of Wales, one cannot but notice the a,ppalling absence of reverence which prevails. Before the meetings begin the faithful deacons may often be seen plodding about the passages with their hats on, or standing in groups dis- cussing the latest village slander, And during the hour or so devoted to what the Welshman considers preaching, the air reeks with the odour of "extra strong," and "bull's-eyes," which the women and children are audibly sucking, while the men spit copiously upon the floor at every ejaculation with which they point the minister's, or deacon's, sing-song utterances. Yet these places, these hot-beds, in which are hatched every form of social pestilence, these deus of irreve- rence and hypocrisy are the Houses of God, these are the Gates of Heaven [Tu be continued.]

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

TENBY COTTAGE HOSPITAL.

A SECOND CHARGE.

Advertising