Cymdeithas y Cymod, the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales, will hold their 2012 Vigil at the Talbot hotel, Tregaron, on Friday and Saturday, 23-24 March. The theme of this year’s Vigil will be Henry Richard, the ‘Apostle of Peace’. Almost exactly 200 years since he was born on 3 April 1812, we will meet in his home town to celebrate his work for peace between the world’s nations.
The Vigil will begin with dinner at 6pm on the Friday night, which will be followed by a talk by Gwyn Griffiths about Henry Richard’s life and work. On Saturday morning, at 10.30am, Dr Robin Gwyndaf will lead a brief service commemorating Henry Richard by his statue on Tregaron square. At 10.45am, a meeting of Cymdeithas y Cymod’s Council will be held at the Talbot.
Henry Richard was secretary of the Peace Society for 40 years up to 1884. He was elected as a Liberal MP in 1868, serving his Merthyr community. A leading non-conformist, Richard was also a prominent educationalist, becoming the first vicepresident of Cardiff University College. A pacifist and abolitionist, he wrote for the Morning Star and the Evening Star.
‘My hope for the abatement of the war system lies in permanent conviction of the people, rather than the policies of cabinets or the discussions of parliaments.’