THE WELSH CATHEDRALS.
ITO TEl EDITOR Or TEl " SPRCTATOZ."1
Sin,—A circumstance has come to my knowledge in respect to Llandaff Cathedral, which seems to have a distinct and important bearing upon the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, as far as regards the way in which the cathedrals are proposed to be dealt with. A little more than forty years ago, Llandaff Cathedral was practically a ruin, so much so that service could not be held in it, except in one corner, barricaded from the weather. Of course, if it had so continued, the building would by this time have become useless. The Churchmen of the neighbourhood have, however, at a cost of nearly 240,000, restored the structure to a perfectly sound condition, so that it seems likely to last for an indefinite period. Yet the Die- establishment Bill proposes to take away this cathedral from the Church, only with the right reserved to Church people of continuing to hold their services therein. Let me put what seems to me a perfectly analogous case. About the time when Llandaff Cathedral was restored by the Churchmen of Wales, the friends of the late Mr. Spurgeon built for him the Metro- politan Tabernacle. But for the liberality of the Churchmen of Wales, Llandaff Cathedral would now be a useless ruin. But for the liberality of the Baptists of London, the Metropolitan Tabernacle would not be in existence. So that the origin of Llandaff Cathedral in its present shape, and the origin of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, are practically on the same footing. I do not suppose that the Metropolitan Tabernacle cost anything like £40,000; but, apart from that, would it, as a matter of principle, be entertained for a moment, if, for any purpose whatever, it were proposed to take away the Taber- nacle from its present trustees, only leaving the Baptists the right of holding their services in the building ? To deal then, as in the case of Llandaff Cathedral, with money gifts, all presented during the latter half of this century, and some of the donors of which must be still living, seems to me to be so dangerous in principle and so fraught with disastrous possi- bilities, that I cannot believe the House of Commons will sanction it.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Ellison Cottage, Gateshead, March 121h. J. W. HOOFER.
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