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AL XKVVS.I

ONE HUNDRED POU.nu-s^KHWAUD…

£ P LTOME OF NEWS.

- CASE OF THE REV. MR. BONWELL

YSTRADGUNLAIS.—THE NEW CHURCH…

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YSTRADGUNLAIS.—THE NEW CHURCH AND THE PARSON, TO THE EDITOR OF THE CARDIFF AND MEBTHYB GUARDIAN Sin,— My attention has been called by different per- sons, some of whom reside in this parish, and by others who live in distant neighbourhoods, to a communication under the above title, inserted in a Welsh newspaper, called 44 Baner ac Amserau Cymru," for Dec. 7th, 1859. This communication occupies a whole column of the newspaper in question, and is a pretended report of the proceedings which took place at a vestry, held in this parish, on the 1st day of this month, and is signed by a person who assumes the name of 41 Gohebydd." As there are in this report several things which are perfectly in- consistent with truth, and of a tendency to disparage my personal character in tLe estimation of all who know me, I trust you will be kindly pleased to favour me with some little space in your widely-circulated paper, for the pur- pose of publicly shewing how facts have been wilfully exaggerated and distorted by one, who, in the capacity of a reporter to the public press, ought to be above lending himself to the publication of such a one-sided, incorrect, and party spirit report. The whole tenor of the report appears to assume that the erection of the New Church would be of some great gain and personal advantage to me, and the manner in which he saddles the whole proceeding and its conse- quences upon my shoulders, is to my mind a most unwarrantable liberty taken with the facts of the case. As far as I myself am concerned, I have of course, but a brief passing temporal interest in the parish-in a very little time I, and all those related to me, will, in all pro- bability have left it altogether; whereas the erection of the New Church will be of a lasting and permanent ad- vantage to the parish for generations yet unborn. Under these circumstances I cannot but think that the ratepayers in their parochial capacity exercised a most wise and sound discretion in taking the matter under consideration in a public vestry of the parish on the 1st of December instant; and here 1 distinctly and emphatically beg to s'ate that, although the proceeding met with my warmest approbation, the vestry in question was convened at the special and earnest request of some of the most respect- able and influential farmers and ratepayers in the parish. I had called upon several of them for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions towards the erection of the New Church. Some of them had promised to subscribe liberally in the matter; but the building being that of a church, erected for the benefit of the whole parish, it was consi- dered that the parish generally should be made to contri- bute towards its erection, and when it was further ascertained that the Public Works Loan Commissioners were prepared to advance money on the security of the rates, to be made payable back in 20 years at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum. I was requested and urged to take the necessary steps in the matter, for the purpose of authorizing the Churchwardens and Overseers to apply for £1,000, being the amount which it was thought the parish ought to contribute in the matter-hence the vestry above alluded to. The communication in the Ie Baner ac Amserau Cymru" is chiefly occupied by a report of a speech delivered by one Mr. Thomas Levi, a preacher, belonging to the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist denomination; and the impression upon my mind is, that the speaker and the reporter are one and the same person. If such is really the case it occurs to me that the person in question is on excellent terms with himself, and is incapable of believing that any 'one, besides himself and his party, is worthy of credit. For although, he was more than once assured in the vestry that his assertions were incorrect, still he appears to hold to them with what appears to me reckless effroutory. "In the first place" he says, 44 Mr. Walters after tormenting the parish for a long time for permission to build the church, was at last allowed to do so on con- dition that it was to be erected by voluntary contributions, and that no rate was to be made for the purpose." There is in this sentence such contradiction in terms, as it were, as to make it almoet unworthy of notice, in consequence of the senseless and unmeaning verbiage contained in it. What necessity, let me ask, was there far the consent of the parish to erect a church by means of voluntary contributions < 1, and those who acted with me were privileged to erect a chapel of ease at Cwmtwrch in this parish, and which chapel was opened for divine service on the 13th July last, without ever thinking of asking the parish for its consent to its erection, and had there been any necessity for it, I could have erected a church in the centre of Ystrad village in the same man- ner on a spot of ground, about half an acre in extent, given to me by U. D. Gough, Esq., for a similar purpose as that to which the building in Cwmtwrch is appropria- ted or, I may have proceeded with the erection of the new church on the ground recently given also by Mr Gough, as an extension to the present cbt^ch-yard. For my own part I have no recollection that I ever met Mr. Levi at a public vestry, except at the one which was held here on the 2nd April, 1857, for the purpose of agreeing to certain plans and alterations about to be made in the parish church and church yard, with a view of obtaining a faculty for carrying the same into effect. At that time no mention was made of erecting a new church, and although I had the necessary funds at that time promised for the carrying out the object above mentioned, and that from voluntary resources, still Mr. Marryat and Mr. Levi, consistent in their opposition to the last, opposed the thing, and prevented my doing so. As however Mr. Levi says, that "after all the promises made by the reverend gentlemau" that no rate was ever to be made for the erection of the church, there will, of course, be no difficulty whatever on his part in stating the time, the place, and the circumstances in which all the promises" in question were made, and the" condition" above named entered into. It may be supposed that the amount of rate that Mr. Levi will be called upon to pay, after the decision of the vestry, will be something enormous. He says, 41A church rate has now become a heavy burthen on the country under any circumstances, but it will be still more so under the circumstances of the present case." I have no wish here to enter at all upon the merits of the ques- tion of church rates further than to observe that a mem- ber of the Peace Society may as well refuse to pay state i taxes which pay for war; or a man bedridden to pay highway rates, as a Dissenter refuse to pay church rates, because he does not approve of the form of worship which exists in the church." Or again the members of Benefit Societiis, composed as they are of the working men, the bone and muscle of the nation, may as well refuse to pay poor rates, because they maintain their own sick and disabled fellow-members, as Dissenters who have formed themselves into religious societies refuse to pay church rates, because they maintain their own form of worship. But in a pecuniary point of view Mr. Levi's heavy burthen will44 under the circumstances of the pre- sent case" amount to the large sum of one shilling and nine pence per annum. Mr. Levi also says in the course of his speech tha "Mr. Walters had been over the parish collecting for the new Church, and that Dissenters had contributed liberally towards it, believing that it was to be erected on this principle." Without wishing for a moment to undervalue the as sistance rendered to me by the Dissentsrs, many of whom, some of them being freeholders and subject to no undue influence from others, came forward of their own accord at the vestry to support the resolution. The" Gohebydd yn y Dehendir," bitterly complains 14 that he has been greatly disappointed in the Dissenters of the parish, and in some of the leaders among the people—some who turned their backs in the day of battle, and gave their votes in favour of the erection of the Church by a rate." Mr. Levi would, however, lead people to suppose that I had received a large some from the Disseutets of this parish in the shape of voluntary contributions. Up to this time I have only received .£2 10*. altogether. Such being the case, you may judge how liberal the contributions were. Mr. Levi also loudly complains of the manner in which the notice convening the vestry was published, and also of the opinionative desire I formed for building the Church which he attributes simply to a humour or fanciful idea of my own. To the first of these complaints I can only say that according to his own confession the proposed vestry was well known, because one of the first things alleged respecting it was, that "so numerously attended a vestry was never seen in the parish before." With respect to the second charge, I subjoin a letter written by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese:- "Abergwili Palace, Carmarthen, 17th Aug., 1858. "My dear Sir,—As you think that I may promote the success of your appeal to the public for the rebuilding and enlargement of your Church by a few words in confirmation ofthe statements contained in your circular, I very willingly attest, from my personal observation and knowledge, that tbis is a case in which a new Church is most urgently re. quired in the place of the present small, gloomy, and most unsightly building. I am, my dear Sir, yours faithfully, C. ST. DAVID'S. Rev. T. Walters, Rector of YstradgynUii> P.S.-I,lhall be happy to double my subscription." I also think it right under the circumstances of the present case, to give you a brief view of the state of this parish in respect to population now, and what it was 200 years ago. From returns then made, it will appear that there were in this parish only 143 people altogether. At that period, it was purely an agricultural parish, inhabited only by a few farmers and mountain shepherds. In later times the population has rapidly iodreased. For instance, in 1821, it had increased to 1181 in 1831, to 2078; in 1841, to 2885; in 1851, to 3758, and by this time the population is supposed to exceed 5,000. During the whole of this period no additional Church accommodation whatever had been provided for the increase and still increasing popula- tion of the parish. Notwithstanding the vast increase which has taken place in the population and wealth of this overgrown parish, we had until the present time but the same rude Church in which our forefathers are sup- posed to have assem* led to worship some thirteen or four- teen hundred yeats ago. Dissenting places of worship have been built, and again rebuilt and enlarged on a more costly scale. Even the cottages assigned to the labouring poor far excel the rude thatched cottages of our ancestors. And the houses occupied by the wealthier classes in the neighbourhood are much more costty and spacious than was the case in former days. Under these circumstances it can hardly, I think, be looked upoa ne « fanciful <id if • idea (mympwy) of my owti. if from a strong sense of duty I feel myself called upon to erect a more suitable structure, which, as the Parish Church is to be devoted to the glory of God, and the better accommodation of His people while engaged in the holy exercises of prayer and praise to the Almighty Creator. Another idea suggests itself to me on hearing and read- ing the report of Ms. Levi's speech, is this, that he takes it for granted that no one voted conscientiously in the matter but those who were opposed to the Church. So far as it accorded with his views of the matter, it was a case of conscience; but the moment any one choles to act contrary thereto, no charitable consideration whatever was allowed. It was this feeling doubtless prompted him to 44 express his deep regret that so many of the parish- ioners had been led to such a great temptation through the foolishness of the clergyman, so that they were bound either to offend their consciences or their landlords." Indeed,judging from the tone and spirit displayed by the opposition on the day in question. I cannot but fear that conscience is often saddled with a variety of heavy burdens of which she knows nothing. I have yet to learn that a ma i does violence to his conscience, unless he becomes guilty of some act or acts offensive to God and such as would prevent his going to heaven, and for the life of me I cannot understand how the payment of a church-rate when legally assessed, would prove any ob- struction to him in this respect. I pass over the remark made by Mr. Morgans, of Ystradfa wr, in seconding the amendment when he spoke of the "illegality of the proceedings" by observing that I attributed such an assertion to sheer ignorance of law and custom on his part, as it is very evi lent he had neither read nor taken advice upon the Act 5th Geo. 4, cap. 36. The same observation will apply to Mr. Bedlingtoq. the manager of the Ynyscedwyn Iron Works, as to the law of the case. But when we find that the agents of.the Company, from the least to the greatest of them, had been for days canvassing around the parish; and when we further learn that the means employed by them to in- fluence the credulous and ignorant was—" Will you come to the vestry to vote against the parson t He onlv wants £ 1000 now, but, if he succeeds in carrying his point on the present occasion, there are E2300 more to follow, and he will ruin the parish." When we further find that these men fraternize with the dissenters and men opposed to the payment of all rates, with the pro- fessed object of upsetting the parson, on whose ministry they,attend Sunday after Sunday; when we find that after all these steps had been adopted Mr. Bedlington, states—" that Mr. Marryat and his men had not come forward to the vestry to oppose the proposition," it will, I think, appear passing strauge, unless we are allowed to assume that they had counted their strength beforehand, and found that they could not hope to succeed. Mr. Marryat, it is true, did not attend the vestry, but his men were there. There were Mr. Bedlington, the manager of the works; Mr. Lister, the head clerk Mr. James, the furnace manager; Mr. David Jones, colliery agent, and several others, over whom they, as employers, necessarily exercised a considerable degree of influence. Again, Mr. Levi is, in the Baner ac Amserau Cymru," represented as having got up for the purpose of reply. ing to Mr. Strick's speech, but that the Chairman pre- vented him uttering a word the second time," and I am in consequence made to appear to have exercised a great stretch of authority. It is fearlessly alleged that if II Pio Nono" were Chairman of the vestry that much greater liberty and fair play would have been allowed." Now the facts of the case are these. Mr. Levi, irrespective of several petty interferences in the conduct of the proceedings, had already made two set speeches on the same amendment, and he again claimed the right of making a third speech, which, considering the great number of people present who might wish to speak as well as Mr. Levi, I did not think I should be justified in allowing. I then asked for a show of hands in favour of the original proposition, and afterwards in favour of the amendment, but being unable to decide who had it I suggested that the names of those present should be takeu down, both for and agaiust, with a view of testiog and ascertainining beyond the shadow of a doubt the feelings of the vestry in the matter. While this was going on, just before the votes had bften reckoned up, Mr. Morgans, the seconder of Mr. Levi's amendment, proposed that the vestry should be kept open till Saturday. I ruled that it was perfectly irregular to move any other amendment before the one already pro- posed was settled one way or the other. That I could not submit for the decision of the vestry two amendments emanating from the same persons at the same time one on the back of the other as it were. The votes having been eventually taken it was found that there were tor the amendment, 34; for the resolution, 69. The 44 Gohebydd" asks, in conclusion, two queries. 1st. Had the Chairman a right to prevent whom he pleased to speak at the vestry 1 To this I reply, that I never attempted to prevent any one from speaking at the vestry except Mr. Levi, and that I did not exercise my authority as chairman until after he had delivered two speeches on the same amendment, and was about to fur- nish us if he had been allowed with a third speech on the same question. All those present will bear me out in saying that after I had stopped Mr. Levi I asked if there was any other one present who would like to speak on the subject, but no one appearing to have any desire to do o°,4W8«'ie? l1°°k,th.e 8ense lhe *e8try In the matter. 2nd. Had the chairman a right to refuse to keep the poll open for three days 1 To this I reply, that if after taking the sense of the vestry in the matter any one had then demanded a poll of the parish, I should have been in duty bound to grant it. If44 Gohebydd" would take the trouble to refer to the vestry minute book he will find that on Easter Monday, 1857, after a resolution proposed by Mr. Richard Lewis and seconded by Mr. David Jeffries, c. that Mr. Morgan Morgans, Maesyfron, be appointed Churchwarden," an ameudment was proposed by Mr. W. H. Forester, and seconded by Mr. R. James,—that Mr. Henry Culli'more be appointed churchwarden. The amendment and original proposition having been put to the meeting, there appeared for the resolution, 28; for the amendment, 11. Mr. Forester then formally demanded a poll of the pariah. and I, as chairman, appointed the two following day. for that purpose. If on the last occasion after the first amenoment had been disposed of any ratepayer had de- manded a poll, I was prepared to have acted in the same manner as I did in 1857; but no one having at the time in question asked for a poll of the parish, the 44 Gohebydd" has nothing now left to complain of but his own extreme ignorance of the ways and means of con- ducting himself at public vestries of the parish. The 4<Gohebydd" also alludes to one pound's worth of ale having been distributed among the victorious party Here again he seems not to be aware that it is always customary at public vestries of the whole parish always to allow one pound for the use of the room and that it is the liberal spirit and good wishes of the worthy landlord. Mr. Richard Lewis, to give the value of it in ale to alt < those who choose to partake of it. I pass over the pro- fane and irreligious mockery made by him of the ancient and Apostolic Church of our forefathers, and can well afford to pity the man who lends his talents and his pen to such impious raillery. I will only remark that his reference to Mr. Strick and Mr. Price, of Glynllech, fa bringing all their tenants in one Btring to vote against their own personal convictions," is equally as gross a misrepresentation of fact as the rest of the report in question. How many tenants over whom Mr. Strick had influence voted in favour of the propositiou I know not, but I know that there were several absent; and as for Mr. Price of Glyullech, only one of his tenants, out of eighteen or twenty in number, voted at all that day.. I have thus endeavoured to furnish you with a correct statement of facts, as they occurred at Ystradgynlais, on the day of4he vestry. I am sorry my letter has extended to such a length, but I feel persuaded that you will en- deavour to find space in your next impression for it, so that the public mind may be disabused in the matter. I am, Sir. yours, &c., THOMAS WALTERS. Ystradgynlais Rectory, Dec. 12th, 1869.

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