CAMBRIAN NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17564, 15 June 1925, Page 11

CAMBRIAN NOTES.

THE WELSH REVIVAL. Modern Wales owes much to two men of very different calibre, King i Henry VIII and Howel Harris. Henry was the son uf Henry VII, the first of the Tudor lino, who had married Elizabeth of York, a descendant of tiie great Llewelyn. He, therefore, inherited Welsh blood from both parents and naturally took a great interest in the principality. Howel Harris was the great Revivalist. King f Henry VIII gave to Wales the opportunity of playing an equal part with England in the life or the Empire. Howel Harris roused Wales from its medireval lethargy to realise and grasp its opportunity. In the darkest hour of the Empire's history, in 1916, its fortunes were entrusted to the earn of a Welshman, Dloyd George, whose life was largely influenced by the teaching of Howel Harris —this chance had been made possible by Henry YIIJ. whose aim had always been that Welshmen might acquire the privileges of Englishmen, on the condition that, they became practically English. He was no believer in Welsh self-determination. Under his rule Wales was incorporated, united and ! annexed to England, and Hie two * countries became one in law. Howel Harris was a man like Martin Luther, of strong character, wide vision, a passionate temper and of a most magnetic personality ; just tlie man to attempt the regeneration of his country. He was born at Trcveeka in Breconshire in 1714, educated at the Lywynllwyd Grammar School and St Mary’s Hall, Oxford. It was his intention to take holy orders, but he never did so, although lie was all his life a member of the Anglican Church. He became an itinerant preacher arid endured every kind of persecution and danger. Many times bo only escaped with his life. All the same, the whole country, north and south, was .‘•cou ablaze with the revival. Others joined him: Daniel Rowlands, famed lor his eloquence, and Griffith Jones and Whiteiield, who was doing similar work in England, William Williams, of Pantyeelyn, one of the world’s great livmnwi iters, became a convert in 1740 In 1743 the Welsh Methodists, for ’ that was the name of the new sect, joined those of England. but this union did not Inst for long. Howel Harris was too masterful, a man not easy to work with, and he was also jealous and obstinate, and his theological l opinions were undergoing a change. > lie decided to live a life apart, and ! founded a religious community at Tre- i weeka, which he called “The Family A whose members pooled all their world- 1 ly goods. They held three services on j week days and four on Sundays. _ Industry held an important place in the life of ‘‘The Family.” and Howel Harris became as prominent a figure in the economic and social airairs of Wales as he was in her religious life As well as a religious revival he instituted an industrial revolution. V\ ales at that time was entirely agricultural and the few industries there were were carried on in the cottage homes, but the enormous mineral wealth of the country was on the verge of re-discov-ery, and the introduction of factories and the construction of roads were altering the whole face of the country. “The Family” meanwhile carded wool, picked flax and knitted garment-. A woollen factory was started and a printing press set up. The land was developed and the versatile Harris experimented with turnips and corn, and an improved system of crop rotation. He was also a gallant soldier and served in the local militia, whiie many cf his followers fought in the War of American Independence. Howel Harris also help Lady Huntingdon to found a Methodist College at Treveeka, and there is a tiny little chapel in London, facing Hyde Park, called after her, which she built. He died in 1773, and at his funeral fifteen clergymen of the Church of England administered the Holy Eucharist to 20,000 people who had conic to show their love and respect. It was some -. ears later that Charles O’c Bala issued his vindication to prove the identity of the Methodists with the English Church, but it was never recognised, and so the great body of Methodists seceded from the Mother Church and was known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church. Innumerable little chapels were built, and it was in them that the Welsh learnt the dif.rcult art of self-government. EveVy chapel had its Literary Society and new ideas in poetry, music, science and philosophy were disseminated among the people. A modern scholar lias truly said: ‘‘Nonconformity found Wales derelict and raised up a n>w nation. Pagan, and made her one of the most religious countries in the world. it found her ignorant and so stimulated her energies that by to-day Welshmen, largely by their own self-sacrifice, have provided for themselves the best cduational system in the world.”