Cylchgronau Cymru

Vol. II.] JANUARY, 1869. THE CARDIFF CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE. EDITORIAL NOTICE. We greet our Readers with a cheerful New-Year's salutation. The hopes we entertained when this Magazine began its career have not been entirely disappointed. It has already gained a wide circulation, and though it is far as yet from having satisfactorily fulfilled its purpose, we believe that it has done some good, and so far justified its own existence. "We are deeply anxious to increase the value and efficiency of it, especially as a channel of communication between the churches of this neighbourhood, and in every way to make it more worthy of a welcome in the homes of our readers. We start on the New Year with the determination that no effort shall be wanting on our part to secure this result. The body of the Magazine will be enriched by the introduction of a series of more substantial articles by new and popular writers ; and the strictly local part will be increased to double its previous size, which will allow of our inserting a much larger amount of information. But in order to accomplish this, and to save ourselves from pecuniary loss, we have found it necessary to increase the price of the Magazine to two-pence. VVe hope our Friends will readily consent to this change, and that they will heartily help us towards the realization of our design. We shall be glad to receive any suggestions for the improvement of the Magazine itself, or for the increase of its circulation. LIFE THE TELLING OF A TALE. A THOUGHT FOE THE NEW YEAR. " We spend our years as a tale that is told."—Psalm xc. 9. It is a vivid idea of the fleeting character of our days that we get from these words of Moses in the Wilderness. The beauty of such a poetical image as this is lost when we are too careful to define and explain it, as we mar the beauty of the rose when we roughly handle its petals to examine them. But there are different ways in which it may be under¬ stood. Perhaps the idea is that our years are like the breath we give forth in telling a tale. As the sound of the word dies away upon the ear, or as the breath from our lips appears for a moment in the wintry air, and then melts away,—so pass our fleeting years. " 0 remember that ray Life is wind," (breath) Job vii. 7. " For what is your Life ? It is