Merthyr. His opposition to the obnoxious clauses of the Education Act of 1870 was as hearty as that of the most pronounced "Secularist" in the House, and went a long way to prove that Christianity' properly understood and applied to politics means something far other than priestcraft and obscurantism. The member for Merthyr spoke with all the more authority, that for years he had been one of the most active promoters of popular education in Wales. He was one of the first members of the Congregational Board of Education; and, when that body ultimately showed too strong a partiality for denominational interests, he joined the Voluntary School Association, founded on a broader and more unsectarian basis; and during the whole subsequent period of its useful existence he was its honorary secretary, travelling, speaking, and writing on its behalf, and taking an active part in the establishment and control of its normal schools.
It is, however, neither as Welshman, Nonconformist, nor educationist that Mr. Richard's name is destined to go down with honor to remote posterity. It is as the strenuous advocate of peace that he will be entitled to lasting remembrance. In 1848 he was appointed secretary, of the Peace Society; and in 1851 he finally abandoned the ministry in order to devote himself soul and body to the good cause. He felt that it was not enough to denounce the blood-guiltiness of war. Wars are but barbarous methods of settling international disputes. Let us urge on "sovereigns and statesmen," he reasoned, "a better way,—one at least not a disgrace to civilization and Christianity. Let us boldly bring forward in the legislature a resolution in favor of arbitration as a substitute for the sword." In 1848 Mr.
