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A Clarion Call to the Free…

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A Clarion Call to the Free Churches. The Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A., at Ulwynypia. The Three Vestiges of Feudalism. Tuesday last was a, great day with the Mid-Rhondda Free Church Council, and the neighbourhood of Jerusalem Chapel, ynypia, presented a, very animated sm«earainoe' Tempted, out of doors by the nierlike weather, eager crowds thronged tuechapel early in the afternoon, for it |i t°>6 day—the long-expected day—.when B. Meyer, B.A., Christ ^1 lc"> Westminster, had promised to anHVei| a sermon> address a conference, a a*s.° to address a public meeting on important question concerning the Position of Free Churches. ill sei'mon was announced at 3 o'clock hour fnioon' but long before that fi-nrr,' P^°P^e streamed to the sacred edifice ero'Wrl aJi paits, oi' tlle Valley, and it was lowcled quickly. Takmg for his texit the words, Was thpUi deified for you?" (1 Cor. i. 13), w„,vvrev- gentleman delivered an eloquent ^T\°n tlie Ciucified Christ, and laid of tw emPhasis on the orthodox view kinrl rFeat event in the history of man- ia > At„^as distinctly anti-Campbellite D, If- tat the world wanted, said the room i!X Was noc a Gospel of drawing- I -Philosophy, but a Gospel that saved. Well ?f' t1llc rev- gentleman addressed a c, -attended conference on Methods of been ai^ ^ork'" and said that he had n exalted to a position of Archbishop hav. 6 u-l6e Churches, but he was not taJ, g hls thousands a year. Having Con aFPG1 'lted thl! National Free Church un v? ^^sioner, he would soon be giving i,!l church at Westminster. He had, but vr making a tour through Europe, tVn- i Roberts had asked to go trough the whole of Wales, even if it took llll a twelvemonth to do so, and he would e Very proud to do so (hear, hear). He into' going to make an inquiry Fip ri'e state of affairs existing in the enrvf Church Councils, and he intended to coece that day with the Mid-Rhondda, Oliii i (applause). He likened the Free ho, if.! Council to a. bunch of keys which liiio- 1V ^1S hand. The Council was the Dttt" ian keys were the churches. Un i two' ^e ke^s' he held them p' n his hand, and said that before the t,jj 6 Church Council came into existence fm-rv, ch.urches were apart, but since the ton u the Council they all hung lik* the key si on the ring (ap- tli»\1 l'P'-v to a question by Mr. Meyer, saifl +uC1 (the Rev. John Morgan) fW the Mid-Rhondda Free Church nm.,110 /orim,l'Jy consisted of 27 churches Council* churches remained in the what spiritual work was done by unit i unc^> Mr. Morgan replied that held Prayei' meetingS were occasionally Vices aS mission and open-air ser- dmiWhat i the latest thing you have Om -i Promote the interests of the « on? (iuol'^ed the missioner. j-he last thing we did was to get a «at man from London to address us mil h|' r^sponded Mr, Morgan, amidst You must be an Irishman," retorted Meyer. the missioner questioned several minis- ters. as to the length of their pastorates in the Valley and several of the gentlemen informed him that they had held their pastorates upwards of 20 and 30 years,. Mr. Meyer expressed his appreciation at this, and remarked that in London the composition of their congregations changed in about five years, and the minister could therefore turn over and begin to deliver his old sermons again. But in the, case of villages and small towns, where the con- § £ eSation remained for a, number of years the same, i £ required a good mail and a §ccon^plished preacher sustain the a.»4 approval of his church- lValing with Free Church Council work, n .jte,yer said he believed that every piesident of a Council should pay period- teal visits to the churches for the purposes Of orgaiiisatioii, Three or four times in h1 /eai" the whole of the churches should °ld a united open-air service in order to eiHonstrate that in the essentials of ristiaiiity they wTere as one. They did lot want to introduce party politics into ole but they did want to unite j.the great moral and spiritual issues .71 i v the country was at present being a*ked to decide. in "e- eV°{UUg meeting was indeed an spicing spectacle, Tfer upon tier rose L le erowded congregation, some fifteen u*idred strong, including hundreds of YOIUng folk, as well as others who had gown old and grey in the Lord's service, nr • S- Gr. Jones, B.A., Trealaw, P esident of the Mid-Rhondda Free Church ouncil, occupied the chair, and extended warm welcome to Mr. Meyer. the speaker of the evening, who was received with a tremendous ovation, took +?r his subject The Call of the Age to ne Free Churches," and said that there wasi a time like present. He ^l^ved that when the historian of the ^°ial history of the land, as he contem- i ate<l this age from, a distance of a cen- ^Ury or tWOi, would say that, with the eJtception of the Age of the Reformation, age had passed over mankind so y egnant with human destiny. It was a ^r^at thing to be born and to be able to P ay a part in the arena of this great nation, where he believed the mighty fn i.y mankind was being settled r what they in Great Britain were doing toda.y the Colonies did to-morrow, and i^e world did the next day. He was helmed to say that they in the Princi- jjrhty were as much at the heart of things People were in London, and it seemed *2 ftun as if the conflict was* g#ing to be ^t in Wales, and they, the Free ^rchmen across the border, were looking ,/th immense interest upon the issue of great fight for the Disestablishment of Church in Wales (applause). They in ^aies might not be able to do it unaided, firt i-i assured them they had the loyal of all the Free Churches across the "order. They in Wales were driving in ife wedge, an(i the Free Churches of Eng- ld would help to split the tree (applause), ev Was the utmost importance that eVery man and woman should understand tlle, gi,eatne of the present age, that, they nllght rise to their full stature. They Wøre looking forward to the growing dark- of the time in the belief that the r-lii had to reach midnight before it y|f^u8ed. towards daylight, but the dark- tJiaS hi.story was not before, but behind ianc^ the twilight ushered in the Wait y' the dawn of which they were of TTt111^ to see breaking; over the fair land Mev nd a Wales. What, asked Mr. thiq F' ^fre the special characteristics of a„M a8°' They were living where two tw*f met. They were at the change of teat eras, and the twilight pointed an a±L ast hours of the departing age, ftnd radiant dawn of the eomiig^ (loud applause). What wag the age which was departing, and departing, he hoped, for ever ? It was, surely, the great age of feudalism, which, for over 800,years, had dominated this country, and which they in Wales had had their fair share and taste. There were three vestiges of it lingering which must be done away with before feudalism could be ended. What were these three vestiges of feudalism which remained? There was, first, the Establishment of the English and Welsh Church. He did not wish to say anything against the good work done by the Church. There was plenty of room for all the deno- mmatioas in England in the midst of the millions in their great cities. If only the Church of England or Wales ceased with Komamsm on one hand, and ceased to put their hands in the-, pookets of Noncon- formists on the other, they would forgive f,er- ^f10 had no desire to do away with rVll"rel1 of England, as long 4 she did God s work m the country; but he wanted to finish the connection between Church and State. The fact that the Church i was in alliance with the State, endowedwlthtatemoney, and drew her finances from tithes, was based upon aris- tocratic privileges and they (the Noncon- formists) said: "Loose her, and let her go (loud applause). The second restige of the feudal system was the present system of land tenure. The land question was crucial and lay at the bottom of all the new hopes of the country. He belieyed that -what had already been introduced into Scotland in regard to compulsory power of purchase of small holdings, would eventually be- come law in England and Wales. The third vestige of feudalism was the House of Lords—(applause)—and their great Radical, Mr. Lloyd George— (applause) the great leader whom Wales had given to the country, and who they were all willing to follow, had already declared that a plan was maturing which was not only going to do something, but that they knew the way to do it- (applause)—and after Easter they would be in a position to know what the Govern- ment proposed to do. He did not wish the abolition of the House of Lords, but he wanted to curtail its vetoes, and to negative and thwart the will of the people (applause). This age was passing, and the new age was coming. He heard its foot- steps at, the door. It would be the age of the reign of the common people (loud applause). In the Trade Union Congresses which had been held in recent years they had had debates which would have done credit to any great assembly that he knew of. They had declared, amongst other things, their abhorrence of war and blood- shed, and he believed that there was a growing conception amongst Labour classes of the brotherhood of Labour all the world over, and he was convinced that they were going to do more for the peace which they all longed for than any- thing else under God's sun. The Church was more and more going over to Roman Catholicism or Ritualism, and was chiefly concerned with vestments or disputes about candles (laughter). That was not going to touch the hearts of the working classes. He (Mr. Meyer) would never cease to be enthusiastic, about this question until his heart ceased to beat. He was going to leave the church which he loved as himself, and in a-Sunday or two he was going to step out to this great work in orcfer That he niight consecrate the next ten years of his life in inspiring and leading forward the Free Churches (loud applause). The Free Churches should stand together to emancipate the country from infidelity$nd sin. The Church of l&g&nd was welded together by mechanical pressure from outside, but the Free Churches were united by organic growth from the inside. He appealed to the Free Churches to stand together. He did not want to make it a party organisation, but whenever a brewer was put up for a public office, or when a publican wanted to get on their Urban Council, or whenever there was a movement started far whatever was fair and right for the people, they should unite together to resist the one and uphold the other. They were marching forward tp the field of Armageddon, and they were prepared by God Almighty for the Waterloo, and he did not think they required a Blucher this time (laughter and applause), They had to improve the social conditions of the people of the country, and the churches should set a straight face against the- appointment of a man to office in the church because he happened to have a. bit of money. They should try, to improve their workhouses, and endeavour to lighten the lot of the inmates, and let, in a ray of comfort to the young, the old, and the aged couples who were inside. There should be no aristocratic element in Oe churches, the lie pew rent system >vas abhorrent, and they should, let the people understand that there was no class distinction in their churches. By God's help, they would endeavour to get J esus Christ into the hearts of men, and let the world realise that religion was not a thing like a water- tight compartment, but pervaded the whole of man's life (loud applause). On the motion of the Rev. M. H. Ellis, Trealaw, and seconded by Mr. Owen Buckley, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker.

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