By Sir Marchant Williams

Stipendiary Magistrate for Methryr, Aberdare; Abercynon, and Mountain Ash

That the Revival has directly and immediately contributed to the reduction of the number of a certain class of offences in my district, notably drunkenness and disorderly conduct and language in the public streets, can admit of no doubt. The Revival appears to have made itself first felt, in the district, at the Trecynon, which forms the upper division of the town of Aberdare. The Revival still prevails there with full force. Speaking generally, the result has been that the number of cases of drunkenness and disorderly conduct now reported by the police of that division week by week is invariably very small, formerly, that is to say, before the Revival, the number was usually large.

The Revival however, does not seem to have appreciably affected every part of division of my district, not has it apparently affected the English-speaking section of the population. I draw these conclusions not only from the verbal communications made to me by the police of the district from time to time, but also from the records of my courts. These records show that in the month of February 1905, the total number of cases of drunkenness and disorderly conduct, for example, dealt with at Merthyr, Abercynon, and Mountain Ash, was 164; in the corresponding month of last year the total number of such cases dealt with at these courts was 212. This means a reduction of 23 per cent or so. The reduction would be more substantial were I to take the returns for particular divisions of the district only, and also, I must aid, were I to take the returns for an earlier period of the working of the Revival, the month of November, 1904, for instance, and compare them with the returns for November, 1903. The latter admission naturally implies that the good effects of the Revival are, to some extent passing away. They are, I believe, passing away, and will continue to pass away in a small measure; but one’s knowledge of the history and character and general effect of the Welsh Revivals of the past leads one to hope and believe that the sudden and mysterious change which this Revival has effected in the minds and habits and aspirations of the great majority of the men and women that have come under its spell will withstand the trials and the temptations of a lifetime.

The full value of the figures I have given is not made clear for the reason, that I am unable to state with any degree of precision and accuracy the proportion of the decrease in the number of the offences already referred to is to be attributed exclusively to the Welsh-speaking population of the district, at whose places of worship most, if not all, of the Revival services have been held. If one were to judge by the surnames of the people charged with these offences, one would be justified in saying that very little of the decrease can be attributed to those inhabitants of the district that bear names that are not usually associated with Welshmen and Welshwomen. Still, names are even more liable to mislead on in a matter of this kind than figures, and all that I am able to say at present, therefore, is that the decrease has been, on the whole, very substantial, and there is reason for believing that the Revival has affected one section of the population far more than the other.

It is but right to add that, oddly enough, both at Mountain Ash and Abercynon there has been a slight increase in the reported cases of drunkenness this month, as compared with the cases reported in February, 1904; the increase at Mountain Ash is four, and at Abercynon six. This may be due to special circumstances; I have no definite information on the point.

In estimating the value of the figures I have given for the whole district one has to keep in view the fact that the rigorous and consistent enforcement of the law has, doubtless, improved the manners and habits of the inhabitants of the district, in so far as their manners and habits are manifested in the streets and other public places. The rigidly stern measures that have been adopted in the district for the last three of four years to put down such offences as street fighting and assaults on the police have to a large extent effected their purpose; and the heavy fines imposed for drunkenness and disorderly conduct have at last considerably reduced the number of such offences that one has to deal with week after week; but in full consciousness of these facts, I am driven to admit that the Revival has been far more effective in checking drunkenness in the district than either fines of imprisonment.
I have already referred to other Welsh Revivals, and it would not be out of place, therefore, perhaps, if I were to draw attention here to some marks of resemblance on the one had, and some marks of difference on the other hand, between the present Revival and other great Welsh Revivals, notably that of the middle of the eighteenth century, and that of the year 1859. This Revival of 1904-5 suddenly, without warning of any kind, and from no known cause, began in two or three places just about the same time; this is also true of the Revival that began in the earlier half of the eighteenth century. Howell Harris, Daniel Rowland, George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley began their public careers as heads of the great Revival of that period just about the same time, and the Englishmen worked for a short period independently of the Welshmen. Harris was the first itinerant field preacher of these; Rowland came next; Wesley and Whitefield came last. Some little time elapsed before these good men came to know one another, and to realise the fact that they were fellow-workers in one and the same spiritual movement. The Revival of 1859 likewise began in several places about the same time.

But what distinguishes the present Revival from the other Welsh Revivals is the part filled in it by its leading figure, Evan Roberts. Howell Harris, for example, had a wonderful gift of natural oratory, and was a most impressive preacher; Rowland and Whitefield owed much of their power and influence over large assemblies of people, not only to their natural eloquence, but also to their great command over the various moods and emotions of the human mind; John Wesley likewise was a gifted speaker - convincing, searching, and persuasive. And to compare a small man with great men, the leading figure of the 1859 Revival, the Rev. David Morgan, was a fervent and impassioned speaker. But Evan Roberts appears to have no great gifts of speech; and he is not a man of commanding personality. His wonderful power over people is simply inexplicable. His words are few and simple; his manner is perfectly natural and unassuming; it is his smile that captivates; and his silence, too, works wonders at all times; nay, his very presence sends a thrill though a vast concourse of people of all ages, of every sex, and of almost every temperament!

A great Englishman once said: “I am being borne along by an irresistible course of mind and am going to enter the only fold of the Redeemer.” There is nothing new in this; and there is nothing new in what we see men and women do these days under the influence and in the presence of Evan Roberts. Why they should do so we know not. The cause or causes of conversion concern the psychologist; as a stipendiary magistrate I am concerned more especially with its effects, and these are such in my district that I naturally view the Revival with the deepest interest, and regard Evan Roberts and others who participate with him in the Revival with the deepest respect.