The second reading—for the third time. under the Parlia- ment
Act—of the Welsh Church Bill was moved in the Commons on Monday. Lord Robert Cecil, who moved the rejection, said that the Bill was being forced through at a time when a remarkable change had come over the public mind about the Establishment. It was felt more strongly than ever before that the recognition of religion by the State was essential. What was wanted was not less but more Establishment He would like to see all the privileges of the Church of England—if there were any privileges—extended to Nonconformist bodies. Even the old objection to Endow- ment bad disappeared. In spite of the fact that thirty-one out of the thirty-four Welsh Members supported the Bill, all the evidence tended to prove that the Welsh Members did not represent the present state of feeling in Wales. The Noncon- formist petition against Disendowment had been signed by one hundred and three thousand persons.
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