,transcribed from the #ahga ,w4 ,spurrell edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,picture3 ,pamphlet ,cover ,,welsh ,,nationality1 ,,and ,,how ,,alone ,,it ,,is ,,to ,,be ,,saved 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,sermon ,,preached ,,in ,,the ,chapel of ,st4 ,david's ,college1 ,lampeter ,,on ,,the ,,morning ,,and ,,evening ,,of ,,sunday1 ,,october #cjth1 #ahgj 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,davies1 ,b4,d4 ,chaplain of the ,joint ,counties ,asylum1 ,abergavenny 99 99 99 99 99 ,,published ,,by ,,request 99 99 99 99 99 ,,london3 ,,simpkin1 ,,marshall4 ,,co4 ,,carmarthen3 ,w4 ,,spurrell #ahga 99 99 99 99 99 8,the ,clergy everywhere should be emphatically #8the teachers of people1' and leaders of modern thought40 ,the ,rector of ,merthyr4 ,a ,,sermon4 ,i4 ,,luke x4 #db4 8,but one thing is needful1 and ,mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her40 ,,the discourses which ,i have the privilege of delivering in this chapel1 are specially addressed to my younger brethren1 the undergraduates4 ,i cannot but dwell with pleasure upon the time when ,i was myself a student in this college4 ,this1 together with the fact that ,i am a native of the lower part of this county1 and was brought up among some of the most primitive of the ,welsh people1 and consequently am familiar with their leading sentiments1 manners1 and customs1 places me1 ,i cannot help feeling1 in a state of close sympathy with the greater number of you4 ,assuming the existence of this fellow feeling1 ,i have chosen1 on this occasion1 to investigate the social and religious condition of my countrymen in a light which has not yet penetrated into the fastnesses of the popular mind of ,wales4 ,i have done this1 because the subject is one that elicits ideas of high import1 which it is desirable you should know1 inasmuch as they ought to prove of signal service to you in your future ministrations4 ,we are living1 you should be aware1 in critical times4 ,old institutions and dogmas are rudely assailed1 and challenged to vindicate their right to respect before the tribunal of reason4 ,it is well then that you should have some leading ideas implanted in your mind1 so that you may the better be able to comprehend the nature of the change that is coming over us4 ,as this change proceeds1 you will probably hear cries of despair from this party and from that1 and harsh and uncharitable accusations will be flung by one at the other4 ,be not therefore in perplexity1 but of this be very certain1 8,the ,lord hath prepared ,his throne in the heavens1 and ,his kingdom ruleth over all20 and though we may see the pet schemes of men ending in signal failure1 not for one moment can we suppose that ,god's eternal purposes will come to nought1 that ,his word will return to ,him void4 8,this10 remarks the learned bishop of this diocese1 8is an age of restless curiosity1 and searching inquiry4 ,if we fail to come at the truth1 it is not because we ever shrink from approaching it2 not because we let ourselves be stopped by any conventional barriers of usage or authority4 ,we admit no right in any one to judge for us on subjects which we are able to judge for ourselves4 ,we take no opinion upon trust1 because it has come down to us with the stamp of an honoured name4 ,we adopt it only after we have made it our own by a rigid scrutiny of its intrinsic claims to our assent4 ,it is an age in which all pretensions to respect and deference are jealously examined1 and in which it is more difficult than ever for any false pretences long to elude detection40 #d ,the tendency here described by the bishop1 ought to suggest to you the necessity of making yourselves acquainted with the leading characteristics of the time1 and urge you so to train your understanding1 that you shall be always ready1 as the apostle enjoins1 to give a reason for the hope that is in you4 ,in ,wales1 however1 owing to her isolated condition1 divided like a ,milford ,haven from the vast ,atlantic1 it is quite possible that it may be a considerable time before this restless and inquiring spirit will make itself so generally felt as elsewhere4 ,this may be an advantage to you2 for1 from your tranquil haven1 you may be able dispassionately to form a judicial opinion of the commotion which is being felt by others at a distance from you4 ,few things indicate more clearly the religious condition of the ,welsh people than the closeness with which1 in so many respects1 they apply1 but in a certain limited sense1 the principle contained in the text1 8,but one thing is needful20 namely1 to learn and to have the mind of ,christ1 a requirement far more comprehensive than many seem to think2 for does not that good part which shall not be taken away1 embrace all the knowledge we can obtain of ,god's power1 wisdom1 and love8 ,how deeply the cares of life1 the 8what shall we eat1 or what shall we drink1 or wherewithal shall we be clothed80 the anxieties of business1 the wild fever of speculation and gambling1 the frivolities of a life devoted to the exclusive pursuit of pleasure and excitement1 the arduous strain endured in climbing giddy heights of fame1 glory1 and power2 how deeply are all such merely temporal pursuits1 even were they innocent1 condemned as vanity of vanities1 by that loving reproof of our ,saviour1 8,but one thing is needful40 ,however unmindful we may be of the fact1 eternity surrounds and makes prisoners of us all2 and what is the whole world with all its pomp1 wealth1 greatness1 and pleasures1 viewed in the dimming light of that eternity8 ,what shall it profit a man if he gain everything but what is really needful1 everything but the good part1 since 8when he dieth he shall carry nothing away1 his glory shall not descend after him80 ,this indeed1 is a most serious and awful consideration1 and no one possessed of proper feeling1 can treat it with levity4 ,the grave1 without respect of persons1 confronts us all with its awe-inspiring illimitable beyond2 and we cannot1 if we would1 brought up as we have been to possess long-standing associations on the side of ,christian truth1 and in harmony with the voice of conscience and the higher aspirations and presentiments of the soul1 bring ourselves to believe that we shall not reap hereafter as we have sown here4 ,how often have the hills and valley of ,wales resounded to stains like these1 and long may they do so4 ,but a most important question to ask is1 what is comprised in the one thing needful8 ,are science1 literature1 and art of only temporary value8 ,in the day of trial will they prove1 even when true and pure1 but 8wood1 hay1 and stubble10 or will they turn out to be a portion of the 8gold1 silver1 and precious stones0 which we can carry with us to the better land8 ,i shall not1 ,i presume1 be far from the truth1 when ,i declare that the ,welsh are1 on the whole1 a ,god-fearing people2 and that they are somewhat remarkable for the manner in which they put into practice the principle contained in the text1 8,but one thing is needful40 ,if we except the various pursuits by which they gain their livelihood1 the ,welsh-speaking portion of my countrymen have few proclivities apart from religion4 ,their reading is almost purely religious reading2 their music1 psalmody2 their social gatherings1 for the most part1 clerical meetings1 religious camp meetings1 and the assembling of ,sabbath schools4 ,their periodical literature consists almost wholly of religious magazines4 ,secular knowledge1 secular music1 and well nigh everything approaching to fiction1 are by many of them deemed not only valueless but sinful4 ,y gwir yn erbyn y byd1 a motto of which the ,welsh nation may justly be proud1 expresses the intolerance with which many natives of the ,principality regard everything but what they believe to be downright sober truth4 ,is it the one thing needful8 ,if not1 avoid it as mischievous2 at all events1 8do not spend your money for that which is not bread1 and your labour for that which profiteth not40 ,that the great mass of my country-people are remarkable for what many would consider the logical reduction of ,christianity into practice1 is unquestionable2 but are they therefore1 any more than ,st4 ,anthony and the early pilgrims1 who believed they did the same thing1 to be pointed out as worthy the imitation of others in all respects8 ,the ,welsh-speaking inhabitants of this country1 it must be admitted1 live in a manner which has its attractions for primitiveness and homeliness2 their wants are few1 their passions are much under control1 they are self-denying1 industrious1 and provident2 and throughout the ,principality1 much to its credit1 criminal cases but seldom darken the calendar4 ,such being the social condition of the ,welsh1 but more especially in the agricultural districts of what has been termed ,welsh ,wales1 though not indeed without exceptions as regards keeping the 8body in temperance1 soberness1 and chastity10 would it not be desirable to take note of the influences which conduce to such a state of things1 with the view of bringing the same to bear upon communities1 in which so many are deplorably corrupt1 criminal1 and profane8 ,when1 however1 we come to consider that one of the leading causes of the peculiarities exhibited by the ,welsh1 is the isolation resulting from their language1 few distinctive points remain in their social economy which admit of being copied with advantage by other communities4 ,influences which are rapidly changing the character of the ,english1 and the better educated classes in these parts1 exercise but a faint effect upon the primitive ,welsh2 because they are1 by their language1 shut out from the rest of the world4 ,they are like the river water1 which is out of the main current4 ,their manners1 customs1 and ideas1 all tend to permanency4 ,the sons follow with little change in the steps of their fathers1 and the daughters in those of their mothers4 ,as a consequence of this1 even in business pursuits1 they are1 like the ,french ,canadians1 deficient in enterprise1 and acquire property mostly by saving and self-denial4 ,like the ,chinese1 they give one the idea of a people whose development has been arrested at a certain stage1 whose inspiration is drawn from the past1 and not1 as by the ,israelites of old1 from the future4 ,they love to dwell on the antiquity of their language1 and its purity from foreign elements4 ,what they were is to them a source of fond exultation4 ,what they are destined to become1 they fear to contemplate4 ,i claim to be a lover of my country4 ,i admire much the social and civic virtues1 and the religious enthusiasm of her people2 but ,i am forced to admit that among the ,welsh1 as such1 there is no onward tendency4 ,that is a great and noble ambition of theirs which urges them to retain their language2 and they firmly believe in the prophecy1 8,eu hiaith a gadwant40 ,but to be equally bent on perpetuating certain peculiarities which unite them with the past as a race opposed to their ,english neighbours1 this desire to surround themselves with a sort of ,chinese wall1 instead of letting 8the dead past bury its dead10 is not the part of true patriotism4 ,for1 by blindly adhering to such a stationary policy1 they will eventually1 as a distinct nation1 be submerged by the tide of progress1 instead of floating on its surface1 and exist about as much in reality as their fabled ,lowland ,hundred4 ,in everything but political sectarianism1 and this only because they are moved to it by political agitators1 the ,welsh are in fact a most conservative nation4 ,this primitive condition of the ,welsh1 however1 is not singular4 ,it has existed1 and exists even now1 in various parts of the world4 ,as an instance with which we have lately been made acquainted1 it may be mentioned1 that ,wallace has found1 in some of the islands of the ,malay ,archipelago1 several communities which have no intercourse with the world at large1 leading an industrious1 peaceful1 moral life2 committing little or no crime2 8showing the work of the law written in their hearts20 and a pattern to many of the inhabitants of so called ,christian and civilized countries4 ,when we contemplate such beautiful simplicity and purity of life1 we must admit that these people 8are not far from the kingdom of ,god20 and one is tempted to doubt whether civilization with its extremes of wealth and destitution1 refinement and barbarism1 culture and ignorance1 integrity and crime1 saintliness and profanity1 is the blessing that it is commonly held to be4 ,but yet if we compare the endowments of mankind with those of the more intelligent brutes1 we find that man has a capacity for being educated into a higher being in proportion as the race stores up knowledge1 a power which opens the vast treasury of nature2 whereas the most intelligent of the brutes are but slightly educable1 and therefore stationary4 ,while man1 however1 is gifted with this immense superiority1 he does not always turn it to the greatest advantage4 ,some nations are rapidly advancing2 some1 having advanced in time past up to a certain point1 have either long ago halted1 or have gone back to barbarism or worse4 ,of these three tendencies1 the one strongly manifested by the ,welsh is halting4 ,what forces there are urging them forward are almost entirely from a foreign source2 and the fact that such influences are operating upon them is1 by many of their number1 regarded as a misfortune1 by few as a blessing4 ,painful1 however1 as it must be to ,welsh patriotism1 and high-wrought sentiment1 yet it is not to be doubted that the genius of ,wales is receding before that of ,england1 as is so clearly evident to those who dwell on the border land1 where the two rival powers are brought face to face4 ,and now what ,i wish my country-people particularly to understand is1 that as long as they adopt a policy of stagnation1 ,cambria is sure to be worsted in the conflict for distinctive existence2 because such is the law of evolution1 a law which pervades all nature2 and to this law ,i would now draw your attention4 ,what is called evolution or development in nature is a procedure from simplicity to complexity of structure4 ,the more elaborate and special an organ is1 the higher is the function which it has to perform4 ,to select an illustration from the animal kingdom3 among the lowest kind of animals called the hydra there is no distinction of parts such as seen in the human body2 no nutritive1 muscular1 and nervous system2 no senses1 no brain4 ,each portion of them being complete in itself1 these animals can be propagated by simply cutting them into bits4 ,each part is independent of every other part2 as if in this country we had local government1 but no central government4 ,the whole is a medley in which there is no division of labour and of responsibility1 no interdependence4 ,how different the case in man's elevated and complex nature6 ,and how can ,i express this more forcibly1 or in a way better adapted for conveying to you the principle here held in view1 than in these words of ,st4 ,paul3--8,there are many members1 yet but one body4 ,and the eye cannot say unto the hand1 ,i have no need of thee2 nor again the head to the feet1 ,i have no need of you40 ,the principle here enunciated is that of unity in variety4 8,the body is one1 and hath many members2 and all the members of the body1 though they be many1 are one body40 ,the chapter from which these passages are taken demands your special notice1 in order that you may see how fully the ,apostle's mind was possessed with the law of unity in variety--many members1 yet but one body2 and together with the sequel to it1 the ,new ,testament song of love1 should deeply impress upon our hearts the all important truth conveyed in the words1 8,now ye are the body of ,christ1 and severally members thereof40 ,there will be diversities in the ,church1 there cannot be uniformity1 but there must be unity4 8,for as it is noted by one of the fathers10 says ,bacon1 8,christ's coat1 indeed1 had no seam1 but the ,church's vesture was of divers colours2 whereupon he saith1 #8,in veste varietas sit1 scissura non sit4'0 ,there was a time1 even in the memory of living men1 when ,welsh households had little need of aid from commerce1 when almost every kind of food was home grown1 and almost every article of clothing home spun and home made4 ,some lament that this is not still the case4 ,let these1 however1 console themselves with the knowledge that as mankind progress1 they are made1 by division of labour1 to become more dependent on each other1 and that perforce the law of love1 of mutual beneficence1 is being propagated in the world1 not only by the ,christian ministry1 but by the agency of commercial1 scientific1 and literary progress4 ,not only the inhabitants of the same land1 but the various nations of the earth are more and more coming to this1 that they can less and less do without each other's co-operation4 ,an early stage of society1 like that of animal development1 is a medley4 ,it is made up of families or tribes1 each of which has its own separate organization2 and the tendency is1 where selfishness and a contentious spirit predominate1 to split up into fragments2 whereas1 on the other hand1 where the domestic virtues are highly advanced1 and there is a general disposition to sink private interest in public good1 men will cling together1 thus forming larger communities1 exercising more advanced functions1 and eventually absorb those weaker tribes which have not acquired these virtues2 that is1 have not realized1 to the same extent1 the principle of many members in one body4 ,it is characteristic of the human mind1 in its first attempts to pierce the mists of ignorance and mystery1 to embrace1 in one view1 the whole realm of knowledge1 and necessarily to suppose that it is much more limited than it is4 ,the astrologers of old little dreamed that the stars1 which were the objects of their superstitions contemplation1 were but a small portion of the illimitable universe of worlds4 ,we see at first of any subject which we study but about as much as we see of the stars without the aid of the telescope1 or of minute objects near at hand without the aid of the microscope4 ,the realm of knowledge enlarges in proportion as we intimately explore it4 ,the more we discover distinctions1 which have been overlooked by previous observers1 or the more we differentiate1 and at the same time assign the differences their right place in the class1 the unity to which they belong1 the more we advance that branch of investigation towards which our efforts are turned4 ,in the infancy of knowledge1 science1 poetry1 history1 politics1 theology1 form one medley1 like the hydra in the animal world4 ,pythagoras1 because he possessed insufficient powers of abstraction1 could not keep mathematics apart from metaphysics1 theology1 and sthetics4 ,and ,xenophanes must needs1 in the philosophical and theological travail of his soul1 give expression to his ideas in flowing hexameters4 ,the early ballads were not simply the minstrelsy1 but the only chronicles of the period4 ,out of the medley state1 which has now been described1 the sciences file in the order of their simplicity1 generality1 and remoteness from religious1 poetic1 and political emotion4 ,the development of knowledge and of civilization1 therefore1 like that of the animal kingdom1 is commensurate with the degree in which labour is divided1 while perfect unity is retained4 8,now hath ,god set the members every one of them in the body1 as it hath pleased ,him4 ,and if they were all one member1 where were the body80 7where were the multiplicity in the unity87 8,but now are they many members1 yet but one body40 ,as a striking instance of the manner in which civilization is effected by this law ,guizot tells us that it is more advanced in modern than in ancient times1 because it is more complex4 ,in ancient civilization1 there was no country population existing as a class distinct from that of the towns1 and exercising a power peculiar to itself4 ,by means of the feudal system1 however1 the country population has assumed a distinct character in modern times1 and it wields an influence which greatly modifies the power of the great populous centres4 ,here we have another instance of differentiation out of a prior medley state1 such as existed in the civilization of ,greece and of ,rome4 ,so much chiefly for the doctrine of differentiation2 now more particularly for that of unity4 ,let us never forget that ,god has fashioned the body in such a perfect manner that there should be no schism among the different members1 but that there should be 8the same care one for another40 ,thus it is found to be throughout the region of animal life4 ,there is1 at first1 no variety in the unity4 ,as animals ascend in the scale of being1 variety emerges2 organs having special functions to perform are divided off from the structureless germinal matter2 but the oneness of the living being is perfectly preserved2 there is no schism among the various parts of the body to which a special sphere of labour is allotted4 ,now this is just what ought to be the case with the great social body4 ,if it advances from one stage to a higher1 it must be by division of labour combined with the union of love4 ,it is by division of labour that men acquire that skill and excellence in the arts1 that greater accuracy and extent of knowledge in general which enables them to surpass their forefathers4 ,but here we enter the sphere of will and of moral obligation1 choice1 and duty2 and instead of witnessing that harmonious action of many parts exhibited by the involuntary regions of organic life1 we witness all those evils which1 if they do not have the effect of awakening a nation to the error of its ways1 eventually lead to anarchy and decay4 ,what1 however1 we mostly behold in civilized communities is1 that while some are in a highly advanced state1 the majority form an appalling mediocrity1 while too many are but paupers and criminals4 ,yea1 the social body is seen to have many weak1 many diseased parts2 and is often1 through strife and dissension1 threatened with dismemberment4 ,these are the great trials which civilization has to encounter2 and amidst great physical progress1 notably amidst and wealthy magnificence1 there may be much rottenness at the base4 ,since communities as they advance become more divided into members having special offices to perform1 there is1 where the higher emotions1 the source of union1 are not in the ascendant1 a tendency to an isolation of the parts1 to one-sidedness1 to a want of 8the same care one for another10 to those gross inequalities1 those frightful extremes which too often reflect such discredit upon our large towns and cities2 social disorders which it is the province of the ,church to counteract1 laying a heavy weight of responsibility upon her1 as well as upon the ,state2 and which are found to exist to a far less extent among a ,christian and primitive people like the ,welsh4 ,the lower animals exhibit a well-regulated constitution4 ,they fulfil the purpose of their being2 there is no schism among their members4 8,if we saw the lion10 says ,george ,combe1 8one day tearing in pieces every animal that crossed his path1 and then oppressed with remorse for the death of his victims1 or compassionately healing those whom he had mangled1 we should exclaim1 what an inconsistent creature1 and conclude that he could not by any possibility be happy1 on account of this opposition between1 the principles of his nature40 ,now this is just the opposition which deforms human nature4 8,the flesh lusteth against the spirit1 and the spirit against the flesh1 and these are contrary the one to the other1 so that ye cannot do the things that ye would40 ,how is this internal discord to be quelled but by the inner man having the mastery over the inferior propensities of our nature8 ,as long as these latter are not brought under the wholesome restraints of the ,gospel1 the ,master's easy yoke1 the truth which makes us free from carnal bondage2 as long as the raging waves of animal passion hear not the voice of ,him who says1 8,peace1 be still10 in vain shall we look for those social and political virtues which constitute the stability of a state2 and which1 therefore1 since self-preservation is the first law of nature1 it should be a prime duty of the ,state to promote4 ,without vital ,christianity1 without a large number on the side of ,god1 and forming the salt of the earth1 we must expect nothing but general corruption and downfall4 ,we may pride ourselves upon our railways1 our steam navigation1 our electric telegraphs1 and all the rest of our mechanical wonders2 we may pride ourselves upon our immense resources1 our domestic comforts1 our scientific and literary attainments1 our proficiency in the fine arts2 but if the conscience of the nation be not adequately developed by a devout and enlightened contemplation of ,god's holy will1 the social body will be constantly reminding us1 by its feverish restlessness and by its terrible sores1 that it is not nicely compacted together--that 8where one member suffers1 all the members do not suffer with it10 that we have not paid sufficient heed to 8the one thing needful20 and that we are1 in consequence1 reaping1 by way of warning1 disquieting and painful intimations that though our progress is rapid1 the rails on which we run are alarmingly insecure4 ,now among the ,welsh people the elements of stability1 of unity1 are strong1 but those of progress or differentiation are weak4 ,then as regards the people's social condition in general1 it exhibits few of those disheartening extremes which are so often to be met with in our large towns1 but presents1 with slight deviations1 a general level of moderate elevation4 ,in more civilized communities1 and notably in one of them1 while the elements of physical and intellectual advancement are in a state of vigorous existence1 social virtue and political stability are in a very unsatisfactory condition indeed4 ,there are many members1 but they have not arrived at that stage of perfection in which they constitute one body4 ,let us hope1 however1 that as chaos preceded cosmos1 so it will be with them4 ,then as respects the various stages of development which exist side by side1 they present all the inequalities of a mountain region-- ,a savage horde amid the civilized2 ,a servile band among the lordly free4 ,now these two requirements1 variety and unity1 when you go hence to proclaim the ,gospel1 it will be most important that you should promote4 ,the 8unity of the ,spirit in the bond of peace0 will1 doubtless1 be to you a prime object of cultivation4 ,but will you not also exert yourselves to kindle in the bosom of your country-people that spirit of progress which results from always adding new truths to those of the past2 and from continually realizing more and more the truth1 beauty1 purity1 and grandeur of the indwelling ,word of ,god1 namely1 8,his ,word abiding in you10 that is1 in the children of light1 the only medium through which revelation1 as distinguished from the mere outward signs which alone can exist in the ,book1 is kept1 by the ,holy ,spirit1 a living saving power on earth4 ,,ii4 8,,the world is moving on2 the nation which stands still must be left behind4 ,no people can now live upon its remembrances4 ,like the runners in the ancient games1 the nation which surrenders its torch to another1 not only loses the race1 but loses the light4 ,the whole distinction of ,english intellect has arisen from its continually looking forward1 forgetting the past1 and continually anticipating a new day of toils and of triumphs1 of severer straggles1 but of loftier splendours40 ,the distinction here pointed out by ,dr4 ,croly1 in an essay entitled1 8,the ,cultivation of the ,intellect1 a ,divine ,duty of ,man10 does not exist to any extent among the great body of the ,welsh people1 many of whom attach but slight importance to the acquisition of knowledge2 because1 possessing but little of it themselves1 they are naturally disposed to regard it as a matter of mere temporary concern4 ,even the majority of their religious teachers having1 till of late years1 no knowledge of any books but the ,welsh and the ,english versions of the ,bible1 ,matthew ,henry's ,commentary1 and not many more1 tacitly1 if not openly1 encouraged this tendency4 ,for uninformed minds are prone to disparage intellectual attainments1 and to interpret the ,holy ,scriptures1 so as to find therein abundant confirmation of their primitive conceptions4 ,yes1 even in our own ,church1 which did make some pretensions to learning1 was to be found1 not fifty years ago1 too many a parish priest without a library1 too many a ,trulliber forgetful of the high responsibility of his sacred calling4 ,but is familiarity with aught but the ,bible--with philosophy1 science1 history1 and sthetics--even remotely comprised in the good part which shall not be taken away from us when we go hence for ever8 ,yea1 is not such knowledge 8the wisdom of the world1 which is foolishness with ,god80 and is it not written that 8not many wise after the flesh are called80 ,these questions1 ,i am strongly impressed1 indicate the tone of too much of the preaching in ,wales4 ,but we need not hesitate to reply that1 though the knowledge of evil and of science falsely so called is to be avoided as most pernicious to the soul1 the knowledge of good1 in all its bearings1 cannot be too diligently sought4 ,he who knows nothing but the ,bible1 as ,matthew ,arnold reminds us1 knows but little of the ,bible4 ,indeed the knowledge of good1 yea1 and taken in the widest sense1 cannot be thought of slight value and of transient importance1 without irreverence towards ,him of whose existence1 intelligence1 power1 and goodness1 it is the great exponent4 ,that the passion of acquiring a knowledge of ,god's works and ways in general was strong in ,solomon1 we cannot doubt4 ,he1 indeed1 tells us that in the exclusive pursuit of intellectual truth there is no real satisfaction to be gained1 8that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun 4 4 4 yea1 though a wise man think to know it1 yet shall he not be able to find it40 ,all passionate seekers after undiscovered truth know that much mental toil1 and probably years of wearisome watching1 are demanded before any one can hope to snatch a new secret from the close keeping of the unknown4 ,this must be humiliating to the man of sanguine temperament1 but profitably so1 because it cultivates within him a longing for the happy time when 8we shall know as also we are known40 ,then intellectual attainments1 though calculated to satisfy the wants of the perceptive and reasoning faculties1 cannot still the cravings of the conscience1 cannot meet the demands of the moral and religious emotions4 ,these can find in such food only a stone when hungering for bread1 the apple fair to the eye1 but ashes under the teeth4 ,when ,solomon1 therefore1 sought for full satisfaction of soul in the exercise of his intellect1 and the acquisition of its related knowledge1 meanwhile starving his moral and religious nature1 it was only to be expected that such a course should be found to lead to 8vanity and vexation of spirit40 ,but while admitting to the full the humiliating limitations of the mind which ,solomon deplores1 and that the soul cannot live by intellectual food only1 even though it be contained in ,god's own ,word1 yet we fully believe that it is man's duty1 as well as his privilege1 to seek for truth wherever to be found2 and that he can so cultivate his intellect1 and store his memory1 as to ensure thereby a greater nearness of soul to his ,father in heaven4 ,the operations of the giant-intellect1 we know1 are not acceptable to ,god1 except they are imbued with that glow of soul which constitutes the babe-like spirit4 ,but how can the giant-intellect1 when thus wedded to the love of holiness1 better serve ,god than by ever realizing more and more of ,his divine fulness as displayed in all his works and ways8 ,although we must allow that no one is so low in the scale of intellectual culture as to be out of the reach of that redemption which is not conceded to learning and talent1 but to newness of heart1 still we must not forget that the apostle says1 8,brethren1 be not children in understanding3 howbeit in malice be ye children2 but in understanding be men40 ,let the mental horizon of genius1 joined to deepest piety1 stretch ever so far away1 it encircles but an insignificant portion of that which is open to the glance of ,omniscience4 ,under the most favourable circumstances1 the human mind1 while in this present tabernacle1 must meet with many problems which it 8cannot know now1 but shall know hereafter40 ,and now what we would with much stress insist upon is1 in opposition to an opinion too prevalent in this part of the kingdom1 that the believer who has a mind of little grasp1 scantily stored with information1 has not the same command of spiritual blessings1 does not live so fully the ,christian life1 does not mount in heart and mind so near to the ,redeemer's throne in heaven1 as the believer whose mind has attained a high degree of culture1 and amassed large stores of knowledge4 ,it must be so1 for the region of divine truth being boundless1 he who is ever pushing further into it1 and ever striving to embody its purity into his life and practice1 must be further advanced than the man who simply loiters near some one spot in this region1 as soon as he has gained admittance into it4 ,and now is it competent for the loiterer1 say for the man of one talent and little energy1 to say to the more gifted and diligent inquirer1 8,your labour is in vain2 but one thing is needful2 and that is simply to pass over the border08 ,is this view1 so disheartening to the ,christian scholar1 in accordance with the teaching of the ,word of ,god8 ,what does the most learned of the apostles tell us in regard to his own experience8 8,brethren1 ,i count not myself to have apprehended2 but one thing ,i do1 forgetting those things which are behind1 and reaching forth unto those things which are before1 ,i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in ,christ ,jesus40 ,now this is exactly true to the experience1 not only of the ,christian yearning for perfect freedom from sin1 and a feeling of complete incorporation with ,christ1 but of every one who longs to surpass his past achievements1 from ,alexander pining for more worlds to conquer1 down to the miser who the richer he becomes the poorer he feels4 ,thus the great poet1 artist1 or musician1 is never quite satisfied with his accomplished works1 but always feels how much better they might be1 his ever growing fastidiousness urging him to cry out1 ,excelsior1 excelsior6 ,highly cultivated minds1 more especially if of an imaginative turn1 are never satisfied with the real4 8,the ideal1 the ideal10 is their cry4 ,they push on to lay hold of it1 but it ever recedes before them4 ,the ideal will always shine far in advance of the real4 ,this longing for the unattained1 when sanctified by the ,spirit of ,god1 will never permit the on-pressing ,christian to feel that he has finally1 and without occasion for further effort1 laid hold of the one thing needful4 ,yea1 in the life to come the same feeling will exist1 for after ages of looking into the wonders of ,god's love1 wisdom1 and power1 the language of the heart still will be1 8,i count not myself to have laid hold of the divine ideal40 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is recorded by those who have sought the conversion of the savage that his capacity for receiving ,christian truth is commentate only with the contracted character of his intellect1 and the low range of his attainments4 ,if he does become a ,christian1 it is only such views of the ,gospel find an abode in his heart as accord with the feeble mental powers which he possesses4 ,and now ,i would ask1 is this degree of truth all that is absolutely necessary for salvation in every ease8 ,being but a child in intellect1 the savage is not yet capable of putting away childish things4 ,but you may think he can be educated1 and be thus brought into a state of mind in which the seed of the ,word may grow with less stint4 ,but then it is found that his capacity for education1 except in rare instances indeed1 is very slight4 ,so again ,i ask1 after an attempt has been made to enlarge his mind1 is that measure of ,christianity which he is capable of realizing all that is absolutely necessary in every case8 ,i take it for granted that your answer to this question is in the negative4 ,do you not believe that besides the education of individuals1 there is1 as the result of this1 the education of the race2 that as the sins of the fathers descend unto the third and fourth generation of them who continue to hate ,god1 the punishment for violation of law increasing in intensity till the guilty race dies out2 so ,god's mercies in the shape of increasing aptitude for knowledge1 refinement1 and ,christian elevation1 are transmitted from generation to generation among those who stedfastly love the ,lord8 ,at all events1 savage tribes when brought under the influence of civilized nations1 instead of becoming civilized themselves1 disappear from off the face of the earth4 ,for as the wind which makes the larger flame burn more brightly1 extinguishes the lesser and feebler flame1 so the manners and customs of advanced life put upon savage nature a strain too heavy to be borne2 and this because such a nature needs to undergo that gradual elevation of the race which it would take generations to accomplish4 ,what is the drift of these remarks8 ,that the more the mind is developed1 both intellectually and emotionally1 the greater becomes its power of realizing the knowledge of good1 and therefore of glorifying ,god--the ,good4 ,when a gifted man stores his mind with truth1 and at the same time strives his utmost to attain purity of heart1 his ,christian experience must needs be widened1 and his whole soul elevated1 in proportion to the number of distinct kinds of truth which combine with each other1 and with the ruling passion of his life1 to form one grand result1 many systems of truth all threaded on that one cord1 8the love of ,christ constraining20 much differentiation1 but perfect unity2 many members1 yet but one body2 in short1 a state of mind similar in kind to the ,son of ,man's4 ,for is there anything in the whole range of the sciences1 physical1 biological1 political1 social1 and moral2 anything connected with the theory and the practice of art2 anything relating to the history of the past1 even eternity ab ante2 in short1 is there anything which is not perfectly open to the mind of ,jesus8 ,and is ,he not our elder ,brother1 and divine ,pattern in all things heavenly8 ,is not the realization1 in so far as that privilege is extended to us of ,his mind1 to be the grand object of our life here and for evermore8 ,to be possessed of talents and of facilities for obtaining for them the highest cultivation1 what do these gifts involve8 ,that they should be diligently used in promoting the glory of ,god who gave them4 ,can the savage mind know much of ,god8 ,can he who knows no more of the infinite ocean of truth than he has explored of it1 so to speak1 in his rude canoe1 know as much as is really essential for you and for me of the redeeming love of ,christ8 ,the true answer to this question evidently is1 that in a babe's mind you can expect no more to exist than a babe's knowledge2 it has 8need of milk1 and not of strong meat20 but 8unto whomsoever much is given1 of him shall much be required40 ,the ,christian life then is not a fixed quantity1 the same in the child1 the savage1 the barbarian1 and the ,welsh peasant1 as in the saintly scholars of the ,christian ,church2 but answering to every advance in pure knowledge1 there is1 in the man after ,god's own heart1 a corresponding advance in moral and spiritual excellence4 ,for emotions are manifested only in proportion as ideas form the branches round which emotions twine4 ,no well-defined emotion can exist without its related ideas4 ,true1 ideas are countless1 while emotions are comparatively few1 and from age to age retain their identity and freshness1 while ideas change and change4 ,still1 however1 emotion must enter into union with ideas in order to have any definite existence4 ,the more1 therefore1 the intellect is stored with knowledge1 the greater also must be the number of instances in which ideas and sentiments become associated together4 ,but what is of more importance still to consider is1 that certain ideas can only exist when other ideas have been fully realized first4 ,the former grow out of the latter as branch from trunk1 and twig from branch4 ,certain twinings of feeling with thought must follow1 therefore1 the evolution of these various grades of ideas4 ,now the notions in the savage mind are of the lowest grade1 and rest assured that his religious feelings1 however warmly manifested1 cannot reach beyond the level of his knowledge4 ,now it must be almost superfluous to ask the question which these remarks suggest4 ,are all the thoughts and feelings which hold a higher elevation than the lowest1 to be deemed1 not as the necessaries1 but the luxuries of religion8 ,you cannot fail to perceive that the reply to this inquiry must depend on the level you have been made to occupy4 ,if you have been placed in a high position to start from1 and if every advantage in the way of mental culture has been extended to you1 the one thing needful for you is clearly to push on higher1 to enlarge the intellect by searching still further for the true1 which to the heart is the good and the beautiful2 and to enlarge the heart by cultivating for these latter1 an evergrowing love4 ,moreover1 are you not justified in believing1 that if you do this1 you will be choosing that good part which shall not be taken away from you when you die8 ,for if we are not to forget in heaven that we were once on earth2 if we are not to lose the feeling of identity which is to unite our heavenly with our earthly existence1 why should it be thought incredible that the knowledge of good which we acquire below should not be one of the links in that chain of identity2 more especially as it will be our supreme delight to be always extending such knowledge in the realms of light8 ,yea1 what a source of joy it will be in the bright spirit-land to discover that our mental powers are as compared with their prior state1 so much enlarged and strengthened1 that we can acquire knowledge with so much more ease and precision than while on earth1 and that questions which baffled solution then1 are easily solved now4 ,but does not this imply that the remembrance of the earthly life1 with its trials1 miseries1 infirmities1 ignorances1 and doubts1 is the dark surface1 which by contrast1 heightens the splendour of celestial bliss8 ,even in heaven1 then1 knowledge will be progressively acquired4 8,no one10 writes ,dr4 ,m#8,leod1 8surely imagines1 that on entering heaven1 we can at once obtain perfect knowledge2 perfect1 ,i mean1 not in the sense of accuracy1 but of fully possessing all that can be known4 ,this is possible for ,deity only4 ,for it may be asserted with confidence that ,gabriel knows more to-day than he knew yesterday40 #bc ,throughout these remarks1 it has been supposed that the scholar's piety is great2 for without piety1 however extensive his learning1 he will have less insight into divine truth than the dullest of ,god's own scholars4 ,truth also impels us to concede that the good qualities of the heart1 and intellectual capacity1 are frequently bestowed in an inverse proportion upon ,god's people2 so that many that are first in the one1 shall be last in the other1 and the last in this shall be first in that4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have now1 to the best of my endeavour1 combated a too prevalent propensity1 not only of my countrymen1 but of most people of little or no education2 a sort of complacent resting in ignorance1 as if it were the part of a wise man1 and most in accordance with the teaching of ,holy ,scripture1 whereas it is1 in fact1 but the self-excusing ,stoicism of the unfledged mind4 ,but surely since man is endowed with capacities for advancement in knowledge and righteousness1 we must conclude that they are bestowed upon him with the intention that he should use them to the greatest advantage4 ,in proof of this conclusion1 we find that the nation which does not highly esteem these gifts must be content to give place to one that does2 must1 indeed1 decay1 while the other goes on from strength to strength4 ,and now to apply these remarks more closely to you1 my younger brethren1 what does your presence in this college imply8 ,that in the estimation of the wisest and best men of our communion1 an ignorant ministry is an evil to be avoided1 as not only discreditable and injurious to our ,church1 but dishonouring to ,him who gives us talents in order that they may be made the very most of in promoting ,his glory and ,his cause4 ,ponder well over the fact1 that without knowledge it will be impossible for you to raise yourselves to a high level4 8,the barbarian10 remarks ,dr4 ,croly1 8cannot bring the past in aid of the present1 cannot ascend a step in civilization on the stone laid by the generation gone2 he has virtually no ancestors1 and can have no posterity4 ,the red man of the ,west is1 at this moment1 the same solitary1 fierce1 and miserable being that he was a thousand years ago4 ,the ,mongol is the same wild1 marauding1 and miserable being as when he followed the trumpets of ,tamerlane40 #bd ,now1 what is the reason that these people do not advance8 ,it is because they do not begin building the fabric of sound knowledge4 ,and do you not perceive that the same deficiency which keeps them down as a nation1 will also keep you down as individuals8 ,if1 among these people1 one generation laid the foundation1 and another and another continually built thereon1 they would rise in proportion in civilization and power4 ,the scholar of to-day1 therefore1 owes his high position to the accumulations of the giant-intellects of the past4 8,other men laboured1 and ye are entered into their labours40 ,the modern scholar by moderate effort1 though no giant1 stands upon an elevation which was piled up by one generation of learners and thinkers after another with slow1 painstaking1 and disinterested toil4 ,this rich heritage of knowledge1 this grand moral leverage1 this high energy of position1 constituting the imperative reason for not 8breaking with the past0--of which the present is the outcome--it should be your holy ambition to attain4 ,for how can you stretch out a hand to pull others up1 unless you occupy higher ground than they8 ,bear with me then while ,i tell you that unless you thus strive to fit yourselves for the onerous duties of the sacred calling which you hope to adopt1 you will be doing nothing towards averting the downfall of ,welsh nationality4 ,of course1 you will meet with too many who will tell you that the only way to do this is to encourage the present fatal tendency of ,cambria to live solely on her remembrances4 ,meanwhile1 however1 the invincible army of progress1 with the tramp of doom to effete nationalities1 marches steadily and irresistibly on2 and the ,welsh1 as a distinct race1 if not better led and advised1 will1 by the deadly error of seeking 8the living among the dead10 simply become a people of the past4 ,it is my regard for my country that forces me to say what ,i do4 ,i hope she will always retain a certain degree of individuality1 and live to emulate in her own ,welsh way the other great nations of the kingdom4 ,the ,scotch do this1 why should not we8 ,honesty1 however1 forces me to affirm that by clinging unwisely to her antiquated habits when she ought to have out-grown them1 ,cambria will be thrown down1 the advancing host will march over her prostrate form1 and she will cease to be a living presence on the earth4 8,in the strife of tribes1 of races1 and of nations1 in the political as in the physical world10 says the author of ,habit and ,intelligence1 8a process of natural selection goes on1 of which the tendency is to give the victory to the best40 #be;a ,and ,bishop ,butler #be;b foreshadowed the same law when he indicated that as power and reason united have proved themselves capable of prevailing over power devoid of reason1 as exhibited by the brute creation2 so there is in society a tendency in power combined with reason and virtue1 to overcome opposing power combined with reason and vice2 and ,god be thanked that it is so1 namely1 that of the righteous it can be said1 8,greater is ,he that is in you than he that is in the world40 ,but now let me remind you that in such a combination as power1 reason1 and virtue1 one very generally existing among the people of ,wales1 there are several degrees of development1 and that the higher degree1 the more fully differentiated1 that which contains most members in one body1 will1 when brought into competition with it1 always1 in the course of time bear down or absorb the lower4 ,as standard-bearers in the army of the great ,captain1 it will be your duty1 therefore1 both to ,god and your own people1 while encouraging among the latter that state of firm formation which already is so characteristic of them1 to be urgent also in calling upon them to follow you1 as bravely you lead the way onward1 upward1 ,god-ward4 99 99 99 99 99 ,considerable stress has been laid in this discourse upon that element of the law of unity and variety--division of labour4 ,now1 in concluding1 ,i would beg to guard you against a misconception on this point which may prove mischievous to you4 ,in my college days1 it used to be a subject of complaint with many of the men1 that they should have to spend so much of their time in studies1 which1 as they thought1 had no direct connexion with theological training2 that is1 they were earnest advocates for greater division of labour4 ,i have no doubt there are many of a similar way of thinking among you now4 ,but are you not aware that those who have climbed to a higher elevation than the one you have yet been able to reach1 see clearly that all these studies are really necessary to make of you ordinary scholars1 gentlemen1 and competent parish priests8 ,archbishop ,whately1 in early youth1 threatened to become a calculating prodigy2 and you may have read that many an intellectual prodigy has been imbecile in every direction but the one in which excellence was manifested4 ,well1 ,whately's parents1 instead of being gratified at their son's passion for numbers1 very wisely took alarm4 ,they sought competent advice1 and means were taken to prevent his mind taking an abnormal development in one direction1 at the expense of its efficiency in others4 ,the result very probably was1 that we lost another ,colburn or ,bidder1 but gained an ,archbishop ,whately4 ,the conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing account is evident4 ,it is your duty1 if you would be well informed1 average scholars and thinkers1 to acquire more kinds of knowledge than one1 and thereby to cultivate all the intellectual faculties of your mind2 remembering that the greater the variety which the unity contains1 the higher is its position in the scale of created being4 ,up to a certain point1 therefore1 we must all try to be universal scholars4 ,after this point has been reached1 what makes division of labour necessary is the vast extent to which knowledge has now attained1 making it impossible for universal scholars like ,leibnitz and the admirable ,crichton to exist in these days2 to which we must add the limitations1 and the variety of bent existing in the mind of men1 not forgetting the shortness of time4 ,but then what individuals fail to accomplish the race can2 and we have to consider1 in the perfection of unselfishness1 that we are members of that one body1 the universal man2 and that what is done by each is done for all4 ,if individuals1 therefore1 are compelled by stern necessity to study a few branches1 and live in faith as regards the rest1 yet the race1 man1 becomes thereby the universal scholar1 a source of strength and happiness which makes itself felt even down to the remotest member of the social body4 ,more especially1 do not neglect1 while cultivating the intellect1 to improve the heart4 ,this would1 indeed1 be division of labour which is very much to be deprecated4 8,with the heart man believeth unto righteousness40 8,knowledge puffeth up1 but love edifieth40 ,if knowledge is the great moving power that ensures progress1 ,christian love1 love which fulfilleth the law1 is the great source of political stability1 social harmony1 restoration of soul4 ,therefore1 in the eloquent words of the ,bishop of ,st4 ,david's1 words which in connexion with the present subject well deserve to be quoted1--8#8,,sursum ,,corda1' ,,upward1 ,,hearts1--upward1 above all paltry1 sordid1 grovelling aims and desires3 upward1 to a level with the dignity of your calling1 the privileges and duties of your station1 the importance and arduousness of your work3 upward1 to a fellowship with the wise and good of all ages and all nations3 upward to the ,father of ,lights1 the ,fountain of all ,goodness3 ,,lift ,,up ,,your ,,hearts4 ,and from the inmost depth of many devoted wills there rises the clear response1 #8,,we ,,lift ,,them ,,up ,,unto ,,the ,,lord4'0 #bh ,finally1 why should not the leading spirits among you1 seriously and prayerfully studying the causes of the rise and fall of nations1 band together in a holy alliance1 under the title of ,young ,wales1 to promote among your countrymen the spirit of true as opposed to false patriotism2 namely1 a strong passion for sound knowledge with its elevating1 building power1 as opposed to mere erudition on the one hand1 and on the other1 to a complacent resting in ignorance with its heritage of national decadence1 and slight store of light and soul-culture laid by for heaven8 ,such a movement as this1 radiating from our chief ,collegiate ,institution1 would be an event1 the value of which to the cause of ,welsh nationality1 it would be difficult to estimate in too high a strain4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,spurrell1 ,,printer1 ,,king-,,street1 ,,carmarthen4 ,,footnotes4 #d ,sermon delivered on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the ,welsh ,educational ,institution4 #bc ,parish ,papers1 p4 #aji4 #bd ,the ,cultivation of the ,intellect1 a ,divine ,duty of ,man4 #be;a ,vol4 ii4 p4 #ahi4 #be;b ,the ,analogy of ,religion1 part i41 chapter iii4 #bh ,sermon1 on ,sound ,learning1 delivered on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone of the ,welsh ,educational ,institution4