Industry and commerce became more free. In Tudor times piracy was
repressed, the march lordships were abolished, the privileges of the
towns ceased to fetter manufacture, trade with England became free. In
Stuart times roads were made, the industries depending on wool revived,
and the industries of Britain began to move westwards towards the iron
and the coal. In the Hanoverian period waste lands were enclosed, the
slate mines of the north and the coal pits of the south were opened.
The Tudors succeeded in getting the upper classes to speak English, and
to turn their backs on Welsh life. The peasant was left supreme: he knew
not what to do at first, but light soon came.
Pass through Wales, and you will see the life of both periods—the ruined
castles and the ruined monasteries of the old; the quarries and pits, the
towns and ports, the churches and chapels, the schools and colleges of
the present.
XXI
HOWEL HARRIS
IT is difficult to write about religion without giving offence. Religion
will come into politics, and must come into history. It has given much,
perhaps most, of its strength to modern Wales; it has given it many, if
not most, of its political difficulties.
There are periods of religious calm and periods of religious fervour in
the life of every nation. I do not know whether it is necessary, but it
is certainly the fact—the two periods condemn each other with great
energy. With regard to creed—the life of religion—you will find that the
periods of energy tend to be Calvinistic—an intense belief that man is a
mere instrument in the hands of God, working out plans he does not
understand; while in periods of rest it tends to be Arminian—a
comfortable belief that man sees his future clearly, and that he can
guide it as he likes. With regard to the Church—the body of religion—it
is fortunate, in times of calm, if it is established, to keep the spirit
of religion alive; it is fortunate, in times of fervour, if it is free,
in order that the new life may give it a more perfect shape.
Now we must remember that there can be no calm without a little
indifference, and that there can be no enthusiasm without a little
intolerance. So men call each other fanatics and bigots and hypocrites,
because they have not taken the trouble to realise that there is much
variety in human character and in the workings of the human mind.
Perhaps it is also worth remembering that an institution is not placed at
the mercy of a reformer, but gradually changed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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