On Wednesday the Prime Minister received a deputation representing fifteen
thousand Welsh Nonconformists who had signed a petition against the treatment of the Church in Wales. Mr. Ormsby-Gore, M.P., who introduced the deputa- tion, said they were all Nonconformists except the Bishop of St. Asaph and himself; some were Conservatives and some were Liberals, the majority coming from Denbigh and the neighbourhood. Mr. John Williams admitted that the signatories had no objection to Disestablishment, but declared that the proposals for depriving the Church of her funds would make an end of the good feeling that existed between Churchmen and Nonconformists. Mr. Asquith made great play with the fact that none of the ministers or deacons who had signed the petition were present, and snubbed the depute. tion for not sending the petition to the House of Commons. He was not in a position to examine the authenticity of the signatures. For the rest, he coolly declared that the Bill made ample, and indeed generous, provision, not only for existing interests in the nature of endowments, but for the carrying on of the work of the Church as a whole. He was still open to receive suggestions, but he did not think they had advanced their case by anything they bad said.
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