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British Enterpris.

, : O ; — Baptists and the…

-.v. Prostrated ibylnfhiesiza.

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Libanus, Aberaman.

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Libanus, Aberaman. A SERIOUS RUPTURE.—DISORDER- LY SCENES. A correspondent writes:—"An unfor- tunate quarrel has been going on at the above place of worship for a considerable time past. The commencement of tha bother seemingly occurred about' a year ago, when a.t the district meeting (Uwrdd Dosparth) of the Aberdare Cal- vinistic fuechochsts, it was advocated that the ministers oi the Con- nexion be granted an advance in salary ail round. The resolution non passed at that meeting was com- municated to the churches, -v; P, o immediately acceded to the new arrange- ment, witn the exception of jLifcsanus church alone. The members of the above church took the matter into their own hands, and decided to ignore tne ruling oi the Cwrdd Lospaith, by putting' it to the vote amongst themselves. In the meantime, we gather that the Rev. J. Harries Jones's (the pastor) supporters a number of his staunchest supporters, made a general canvass of the members in order to bring about the desired end. This action was strongly resented by a number of the deacons, who are rather inclined to believe in the Socialistic theory—or rather practice, and hold that ministers in general are already paid more than they deserve. This atti- tude of hostility between the minister and deacons, however, eventually led to some sharp words, which were accentu- ated by a display of bad feeling as time went oil. The members themselves gradually came to take a more active interest in the matter, and naturally the church resolved itself into two sections. It is a curious fact that amongst the occupants of the set fawr" exactly four-fifths of them are directly opposed to the minister, whilst only the other one-fifth favours his cause. On the other hand, it is found that a substantial majority,of_ the mem- bers are on the minister'ti side, 'which places the matter in a very awkward predicament indeed. It should be stated that the advance in salary which the minister desired had been granted some time after the controversy commenced, and his stipend now is 35s. per month instead of 28s. for his services as prpacher, in addition, of course, to his annual stipend as the Pastor of the Church. Having come to a satisfactory arrangement, one would think that they would settle down to work amicably to- gether in the future, but the strife hav- ing commenced and some personal refer- ences having been made the seeds of dis- content were strewn throughout the church. There could be no unity amongst them, and whenever any at- tempt at achieving' progress was made, it inevitably proved a failure. The Cwrdd Dosparth were again appealed to, but they were slow in taking action, and it is only lately that an investigation committee was appointed by them under the chairmanship of the Rev. J. Lewis, Hebron. The feeiing at Libanus is grow- ing stronger and stronger every day,and of late the minister may be seen with a look of grim determination upon his face. He has said more than once that within his own church he has absolute authority. The leading laymen deny this, and sav that there is nothing in the rules of the Connexion which allows him to assume absolute sway. Several mem- bers have applied for letters of trans- bers have applied for letters of trans- ference to the neighbouring C.M. Churches, but these have not been granted, except in some cases, and there- fore there exists quite a pandemonium of conflicting ideas. Insults of a personal nature are freely indulged in by the members, and the way in which women take part reminds one more of suffra- gettes than women of gentle, Christian culture. At the church meeting held after the usual service on week last Sunday night, there could be heard a Babel of voices shouting, and it was hard to say whether the voices of the men or the women produced the louder volume of noise. In the midst of all this, the minister assumed an air of calm in- difference, and only smiled at the people in their folly. Perhaps it would have been more commendable if he had closed the meeting promptly, because some of the members had been worked into such a, state of frenzy that they were openly hurling their calumnies at him whilst he WS offering the closing prayer. The scenes which were witnessed outside the chapel afterwards will not be forgotten for some time, because there were mem- bers threatening each other with their fists whilst a crowd of people was stand- ins? around. It is to be hoped that this will not occur again, because it only brings the people themselves into dis- prrace. and makes the world think less of them." Another correspondent writes as fol- lows +" One of the bellicose deacons of Libanus made a statement which reflect- ed on the honour of one of the officers of the church, a. strong supporter of the minister. This was at a church meeting one Sunday night. The deacon in ques- tion stated that the church of Libanus was stranded on the rocks, and could not be re-floated. Thereupon one of the members, another staunch supporter of the minister, generously offered to pay one-fifth of the debt provided that four Df the war-like deacons paid a. similar juota, thus clearing the whole debt. His jhallen-pre, howerer, was ignored. On ;he following Sunday evening the ac- cused officer, realising that the deacon's n sin nations impugned his character, ot up and demanded the right to speak. He then gave a full and satisfactory ex- planation concerning the finance of the church, clearing himself absolutely. There has been no peace in the church since the new deacons were elected some time ago. "On Sunday night one member, who came into the church on the backwash of the revival, was heard to say, It is hard that we must pay £ 40 a year to keep this J At the first church meeting' mention- ed one member remarked that he was quite ignorant of the affairs of the church, although he had been a member for several years. He was then taunted with having said at the Enquiry that he was able to give the whole history of the church for years past. With such wild, reckless statements as the above flying about, the restoration of peace is difli- cult. It is fair to say that the minister is a person of unblemished character and an acceptable preacher." 0:

Colliery Enginemen's Association.

Pencils i wee S bar1.

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- A Mining Ssliool For Wales.

The New -

16 Lucky For Paul. H

The VlcaD" of Aberdaf38 on…

Life's Highway.

ss Disgraceful."

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