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CHARITY AT HOME.

ILITTLE TOO PREMATURE,

"LOVE HE, LOVE MY DOG;*

THROWN OUT OF A WINDOW.

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Mr. Charles Wilkins.

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Mr. Charles Wilkins. I CAREiElt OF A LITERARY POSTMASTEK. Successful Editor, Prolific Writer, and Sound Historian.—An Englishman With a Welshman's Enthusiasm. fBy "AP FFARMWR."] The name of Mr. Charles Wilkins, though very' well known to the world of readers, is nob as familiar as it should be to the multitude. For this there may be several reasons. Mr. Wilkins has never cultivated the subtle art. of self- advertisement. He has not been eisteddfodically aggressive. Perhaps his official position as post- master was not specially conducive to fame. Perhaps, also, the nature of the work he has delighted in did not lend itself to popular applause. At all events, while others have been exhausting the resources of civilisation in push- ing themselves to the front, in forming elaborate schemes, and making brilliant, high-sounding promises, Charles Wilkins has been quietly peg- ging away at solid work, seeking no cheap noto- riety, courting no ephemeral fame, but resolutely devoting his opportunities and the talent God endowed him with to the service of the country which he has learnt to love so intensely. It is never desirable to indulge in the language of hyperbole. But the assertion may be advanced with graat confidence that there are very few men indeed who have "put in" more work for Wales than Charles Wilkins. I make that asseveration deliberately and in cold blood, and I hope, in the course of this brief article, to carry into the reader's mind a full conviction of its truth. I dc not propose to enter here, be. it noted, into anything like a critical appraisement of M' Wilkins's literary output. That would require mere space than I can ask for. Besides, con- temporary criticism is notoriously untrustworthy. What I want to emphasise is, that the amount of work which Mr. Wilkins has managed to > put through his busy hands fairly entitles him to the gratitude of the people of Wales. He has done as much as he could: he has doue the best he could. Of how many of us may that ba said? Charles Wilkins, at least, has not been idle. H s whole life has been one long spell of arduous toil, and the reward he has reapsdthits been absurdly incommensurate with the quantity of work done. The facts of his career mav be summed up in very few words. Born in Stonehouse, Glouces- tershire, sixty-seven years ago, he came to Mer- thyr in the days of his youth with his father, who was a bookseller, and who was one of the p oncers of cheap literature in the Principality. For twenty years young Wilkins occupied the posit.'on of librarian of the Subscription Library. Then father and son entered the service of the Post Office, the former as postmaster, the latter as clerk. They composed the whole staff of the establishment in those days. There are a score of men in the Merthyr Post Office, now, and the growth of the telegraphic, money order, and savings bank business has been immense. On the death of the father the son succeeded to the chief command, whicn, in accordance with the regulations of the service, he relinquished at the end of 1897. He takes not a little pride in the fact that he has opened twenty thousand savings bank accounts at the posi -office, the fa-ih transactions now averaging JE60,000 a. year. Merthyr may well congratulate itself on this evidence of development "in popular thrift. Mr. Wilkins, it will thus be seen, though born in England, has spent the whole of his adult life in Merthyr, earning his means of subsistence by work of an exacting and respon- sible nature. We shall now see what use he made of his few leisure hours. Bear in mind that his literary labours could only be begun when six o'clock brought him surcease of the daily routine work in the Civil Service. He was "broken in" early. At the age of fourteen he commenced writing for the "Cam- brian." a Swansea naner. In later years he contributed leading articles to another Swansea journal, the "Cambria Daily Leader." When the "Telegraph" was started at Merthyr Mr. Wilkins wrote the leading matter for a long time, and he was an occasional contributor to the columns of the "Merthyr Times." But the journals which have benefited most bv his pen are the "Western Mail" and the "Weekly Mail" of Cardiff, the columns of which are still favoured with his productions. Years ago he wrote a good deal for the "World" and "Cham- bers's Journal." Had he chosen, he miffht have entered the arena of English journalism. But his official position, as well as his profound interest in Welsh subjects, kept him in the I, Principality. For seven years he conducted that useful monthly, the "Red Dragon," which may be called the morning star of the literary awakening now rousing the ration to its dentbs. The first numbers were written almost entirely by him. Gradually he gathered around him a s'.aff of writers, and the magazine, while it remained in his charge, was a powerful stimulus to intellectual and patriotic advancement. And now we come to his books, The first iR order of time is his "History of Merthyr Tjdfil," published in 18S7. This was a half- guinea volume of considerable eixc. the result of twenty years of collecting and compiling. Three veal's later came his "History of Wales for Englishmen," another half-guinea volume, the preparation of which njust have entAiled im- mense labour. Two series of "Tales and Sketches of Wrales'" followed, the first in 1879, the second in 1880. These also sold at half a guinea each. Four years pass, and we come to his most important work, The History of the Literature of Wales," a half-guinea volume, of which a thousand copies were printed. This is a con- tinuation of Stephens's "Literature of the Kvmry." Wilkins enjoyed the inestimable privi- lege of b%»ng associated with Stephens as lite- rary pupil ar.d personal friend. They were near neighbours, living, in fact, within a few doors of one another. Wilkins wrote in a preliminary prospectus of the work —"The threads which dropped from Stephens's hand I have taken up, and, though his great critical capacity places the master far above the scholar, it may be admitted that in the field of inquiry I have emulated his perseverance and shown some faint traces of his teaching. That, however, is for the reader to decide. Far be it from me to claim any other merit than that of grouping together, for the first time, the bards and scholars of Wales, and by translation giving some idea of their mental standing in the world of letters." The work grew out of an essay sent into a National Eisteddfod competition in 1880, the prize of twenty guineas and a gold medal being offered for the best "History of Literature of Gwent and Murganwg." Principal Rhys, one of the adjudicators, said of the best two com- positions sent in:—"Of these the best by far is that by •Silurist- and to him the prize must go. 'Silurist' has laboured more and written more than 'Brogim'n': besides, he is more judicial and masterly than any of his competitors." "Silurist" was Charles Wilkins, who four years later published his essay, very considerably amplified and added to, in an octavo volume of 260 p-.ges. The work was favourably reviewed by a larg'? number of the leading journals. Another important volume was issued in 1888, (he scope of which is sufficiently indicated by its title, "The History of the Coal Trade of South Wales." Here we have an enormous mass of infor- mation brought together and set forth in lucid order. The collection of the material must have entailed a vast deal of labour. Of this work the "Iron Review" said —"The author is an undeniable authority: the book is both useful and interesting." The "Colliery Guar- dian" said:—"A. most valuable work; should be in every house in Wales." The book is not entirely taken up with coal. Part of the space is devoted to sketches of social life, com- mercial annals, and biographical accounts of the more eminent coalowntrs. A companion volume on the iron and steel ii-dus-tries of Wales will appear shortly. The chapters are now :n course of serial publication in the "Weekly Mail," the first having come O':L some two yAirs ago. "The History of Newport" was the next work, an octavo voluyie, sold at a guinea, published in 1886. Like "the History of Merthyr," this work necessitated an enormous amount of labour and research. A perfect wilderness of details had to be explored; a cosmos had to bo erected out of a desperate chaos; and the success with which the avthor accomplished his tasks speaks highly of his persistence fn research and his adroitness in marshalling fac's. Lord Salisbury on the occasion of his visit to New- port accepted a copy of the volume, and sub- sequently wrote the author:—"I have read the work with singular interest." His latest published work is "Kilsanos: A Tale of the Welsh Mountains" brouo-ht out about two years ago by the '"Western Mail" office. Kilsanos is a mountain in the vicinity of Merthyr, with the Taff Vawr Valley on one side, and the Taff Vechm on the other. The hero is a London student of the Darwin school who spends a summer holiday in a Kilsanos cottage, and the story is a record ot what the hero saw and heard during ms sojourn there, together with j blending 0f philosophical reflection and delineation of Nature. A subject brought m incidentally is spiritualism, ot winch there are, strange to say, quil e a num- ber ot adherents in Merthyr and Dowlais. The descriptions of natural scenery are marked with rtfc'icate sympathy, and local customs are skil- tuliv portrayed. "Storm and Calm" is another work of his in the department of fiction. It was published m 1870, and is a tale on the old lines of struggle between vice and virtue, with virtue triumphing in the end. Welsh landscape and scenes of social life are handled with much dexterity. "John Bull," a pamphlet, is an attempt to portray in parable fashion the first settlement- of Britain, in reply to a cynical reference to Wales by the "Times." A copy of his booklet, "The Inundation of Tynewydd," specially bound, was graciously accepted by her Majesty the Queen. This gives a complete and graphic account of the memo- rable catastrophe at Tynewydd, from the flood- ing of the mine to the rescue. Minor productions may be briefly mentioned. A life (l\ Joseph Edwards, the sculptor, a Merthyr-born lad, ran for six months in the "Cardiff Times." In tho same columns appeared a series of historical sketches of the Bute family. Among his voluminous work for the "Western Mail" and "Weekly Mail" may be mentioned his articles on "Notable Men of Wales," "Welsh Industries," "Holiday Resorts," and so forth. Mr. Wilkins has rendered valuable service in other directions. He is the Glamorganshire secretary of the Cambrian Archaeological Society, and a member of the Aberystwith Col- lege committee. His house and garden supply numerous proofs of the extent of his geological and arcliJBological studies. His book on coal brought him to the notice of the Geological Society, and the dignity of a "Fellowship" was conferred upon him. An American university made him Ph.D., but, having regard to certain facts which ar". a source of pain to all self- respecting Welshmen, he has never permitted the t'tle to be made any use of. As a genuine Cymro by adoption, he has been duly initiated into the mystic circle of Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydair, his bardic name being "Catwg." The bardic sword of "Iolo Morganwg," which came into his possession, he lately pre- sented to the Cardiff Museum. A Roman memorial-stone which he discovered in the Taff Vawr Valley he intends depositing in Merthyr Church. Modest, quiet, unassuming, Mr. Wilkins is not one of those who delight in boasting. He can look back, however, on a record of steady, unremitting work, of many worthy and useful tasks accomplished. The catalogue of his literary output wh'eh I have here compiled— for it is necessarily but little better than a mere catalogue—will convince the reader that the Merthyr postmaster has not been idle all these years. On the contrary, his pen has been kept busily mnployed, and his leisure hours have borne a heavy burden of toil. The wonder is. having regard to the arduous duties of his official position, how he lias been able to perform so much. He was blessed w'th an iron constitution, and with a will-power f»r beyond the ordinary average. Add to these a passionate interest ir everything pertaining to the intellectual and industrial progress of the Principality, and there you have probably the three main secrets of his success. He l.ns served his adopted country faithfully and wi«il. and fully deserves our sincerest and profoundesL graiitude. Most of his work has been that of the pioneer. He was the first, to write; the history of Mertl'.vr and Newport, the first to gather together the facts about the coal. iron, and steel trades of South Wales, and the first to set forth in due order the story of our liTerature from 1300 to 1650. His labours, whatever else they may do, will certainly smooth the paths of all future writers on th^se subjects. And when the critic comes to weigh his work in the balance he should not forget he is dealing with the work of a pioneer, and, if needs be, make allowan?2s accordingly. As an example of his style we may quote the following paragraph, with which the last chapter in his "History of the Literature of Waies" begins: — "There have been few periods of greater interest in the history of Welsh literature than the one now coming under review. The Augustan age of England, memorable for Walter Raleigh, for Spenser and Shakspeare, for Francis Bacon and Hooker, succeeded by Milton and Newton, and a host of lesser, but distinguished, msn, was in the Principality made famous by the advent of the immortal Vicar of L'andovery, by George Herbert, the poet, and Lord Herbert, the philosopher; by Hested Safin, most acute of moralists, and by the memorable author of 'Familiar Letters' and 'Dodona's Grovp.' It was a period of marked literary activity, but one also in which the student of human nature and of progress saw blended all the old characteristics of the people. The bard who had sung and fought, sang and fought no more: lordly aggression was at an end, and the doom of the castles onn the Marches sealed. Vaste>- rWds of contest than the valleys of old were now presented. The world was the arena, the struggle between good and evil the battle, and in rapt contemplation the poet composed his Divine hytiins, his sacred poems. Then, again, the restless mind, which had not been weaned into routine and profession, revelled in the unrest of controversial faction. Fierce the assault of some, dogged the resistance, and then as acrimonious th,") rejoinder of others. Still other factions as the years rolled on. For a time the land had rest, as in the old Israelitish days; but, with England's troubles, busy actors came again into the Welsh vallevs, and snatches of songs in praise of the Stuarts were heard in the pauses of labour. Soon trooper and cavalier carved fresh history with sword and pike, and in the Civil Wars the manhood of Wales fought aJmost as arduously as in Norman times. The remembrance of old renown, of lost liberty, seemed to awaken again, and those who shrank from the battlefield fought as sturdily with the pen. some as Royalists, others as Puritans. And out of the heated atmosphere of strife, in odd nooks and corners, from whence monastic gloom had only lately disappeared. the divine luxuriated in classic lore, and the antiquary ioiled away at the loved task of com- piling huge volumes full of learned research. The growing identity of feeling, too, was becom- ing more and more marked. There was no longer any necessity for roaming to Milan, to Gothenburg, and to Paris. In out of the wav old spots in London, at places adorned with quaint signs. Welsh pamphlets and Welsh books saw the light, and side by side with the English pamphleteer the Welsh tractarian flourished, and th. novet-ailing of nationalities was aided by the brotherhood of literature." The writer of the foregoing words is now a man of s'x.y-seven. He looks no more than fifty. »md has the physical energy and the mental nlprtne^s of a man of forty. Retirement from official duties does not mean surfpase of labour in his case. Literature will gain what, the Civ'1 Service loses; that is all the difference. The pen that, has hitherto had to serve two masters will hence- forth have to serve only one, the one that has been the favollrib all along. The mind cannot < onfeive of Charles Wilkins except as "up to the eyes" in work. We may depend upon it that he will pursue his studies while life and strength remain. And now that he has been released from the routine of official duties, he will have more time than before to devote to his literary undertdungs, and the reading public will profit by his retirement. May nis years be many! May his mind long retain its vigour and quickness! May his days he sweetened by that literary toil in which he delights, so that he may throw many more stones into the cairn of national greatness and the intellectual progress of Wales!

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