The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

WREXHAM NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD. I THE GORSEDD. On Monday, May 17th, the Gorsedd of the National Eisteddfod, which was adjourned from Bangor last year, J was held with, great ceremony at Wrexham in anticipation of the eisteddfod to come off there next year. There has not an eisteddfod of any consequence taken place Ill: the capital of North Wales for very many year?, and, that of 187(5 promises to be the grandest e\er^heid. £ 300 to £ 900 is offered in prizes for competition in P'^try, prose, music, arcs, tic., and the inhabitants lmve encouraged the project bv raising a guarantee fund of £ -,0.0. I c.n- nection with the eisteddfod will be held an exhibition of works and art, &c and the proceeds of the whole will be devoted to found a scholarship in the V\ elsa Lmversity of AbNot a7ner day cocld have been pitched on than Whit- Monday had the Arch-Druid had the making of the weather.' From morning until night the sun shone down from a sky without a speck of cloud, in all the pitiless brilliancy of July. The iiorsedd proc-ssion mustered at the Guildhall, and marched through Hope-street, Queen- street, Lambpit-strect, Chester-street, up High-street and Hope-street to the R.icecourse. First went the Volunteer Band, in scarlet-faced grey uniforms, playing" The Marcci of the M°n of Harlech." Behind these swung aloft the gorgeous Corporation ban-.er—all red and yellow-aciver- tising the loyalty of the borough by the motto, Fear God, Honour the King." Next came the vYrexham troop of the Denbighshire Yeomanry Cavalry, in blue and scarlet, Sergeant-major Walsh in command, followed by the Wrexham Volunteers, under Lieutenant Morris, about sixty strone, and the Fire Brigade, under Captain Turner, accoutred tor action, and looking mightily uncom- fortabie, sweltering in their helmets and juck buots under the broiling sun. These formed in Hill-street. The in- habitants, who followed next, took up the line of rnurca from along Bry.ffyanon, and the borough justices, who followed, rendezvoused in front of the Guiidhill. The invited guests including members of learned profess'ons and vice-presidents of the Eisteddfod, walked next, ana then came the Mayor and Corporation, preceded by tiit ser- geant at mace, the Eisteddfod Committee, antl a long in of ovates, baras, and druids, Mr Brinley lucnan.s and Sir Robert Cunliffe, Bart., walking together m the ranr-s of the literati. The streets through which the procession passed were thickly lined with spectators, and most of the windows were full. From nearly every house hung large banners- chitfly union jacks-and at intervals the bells rang out from the picturesque tower f the old parish church. The pro- cession, of which Sergeant Major Kenny was the marshal, started a little before cleveD, and was about haif an hour on its wav to the Racecourse. The mystic circle of stones was set out just in front of the Grand Stand, which was tilled before the Gorsedd opened, and the Volunteers and Yeomanry were drawn up so as to hedge the high priests of the ceremony from the pressure of the vulgar public. The bards were -clad in azure rubes, For in that hue deduced from heaven, Which o't::r a sinful world spreads its eternal canopy serene, M eet emblem did the ancient sages see Of unity and peace and spotless truth." Walking three times round the stones, in the direction of the sun, headed by Estvn (the Rev. T. R. Lloyd), the arch druid, bearing the Triad, a great sbout of Hedu- wch" went up from the multitude around, and mounting the stone Estyn gave out the following verse of the Old Hundredth :— I Dad y trugareddau i gyd, Rhown voliint boll drigolion byrl Llu'r Nev molienwch Ev ar gan, Y Tad, y Mab, a'r Yspryd G-ian." He next recited the Gorsedd prayer of Taliesin, of which he gave the English version :—" Grant, 0 God, thy pro- tection, and in protection strength, and in strength wisdom, and in wisdom comprehension, and in comprehension to comprehend what is right and just, and in comprehending justice to love it, and in that to love God and all existing beings. Be it so. Amen." Praise God from whom all blessings flow having been sung, the presidiog bard, Iolo Trevaldwyu, proclaimed the Wrexham National Eisteddfod of 1876 "according to the rites and privileges of the bards of the Isle of Britain." Compositions Dy the bard3, Iolo I'revaldwyn, Ceiriog, GwaJchmai, loan Clwyd, Idris Vychan, loan Machno, Rhuddfryn, Thalamus, Taliesin o Eition, kc., were lecited, and a sword was sheathed to symbolize the peaceful nature of the gathering. Then ESTYN delivered an address. He said his text anould be an extract from the speech of Mr Gladstone—(applause) — at Mold Eisteddfod in 1873, There is no greater foliy cir- culating upon the earth than a disposition to undervalue the pasc." He wished those words were written in letters of gold-he was going to say over every British mantel- piece, but he would go further and say he wished they were written upon the tablet of every British heart. He selected these words because they not only expressed sentiments in union with their gathering that day, but he believed grasped and expressed the basis on which, and the conditions under which, advancement and progress was alone possible amongst men. The earnestness with which Mr Gladstone had spoken the wcrds, the terse, the (-pigramatic form of his expression impressed the speaker, at the time, that he wished to make a statement which would sink deep into the hearts of the English and Welsh nation. (Hear, hear). He believed wiser words were scarcely ever spoken. They con- tained a lesson and a warning not unheeded by Englishmen and Welshmen of the present day. Their reverence for the past, their persistent respect for the institutions of their forefathers which that day saw them congregated around those old stones to behold and uphold the ancient institution of their forefathers, and listen, as it were, to the voices about these stones which seemed to say 0 God, we have heard with our ears all the wonders which they did in those days, and in the old time before them." That idea of res- pect for the memory of the past was a glorious idea, but all that they were doing might appear to idle thinkers childish and empty. He could understand a man saying "What's all this rubbish of stones and waste of time ? That ques- tion might be asked equally well by the side of any dock in Liverpool where rubbish was being poured into the hold of a ship. But let anyone ask the master mariner what he meant by it and the reply would be that without its ballast the ship could not cross the Atlantic—the mariner dared not hoist a shred of sail without a counterbalancing wight. Now, reverence for the past was the ballast of nations. (Hear, hear.) Britain was not like the country they might have heard of, where a man asked his servant to lee him know, each morn- incT how the wind was, and under what form of govern- ment he was living. (Laughter.) He felt certain the en Welsh people were not a people who would be led away by anything fickle or unstable. He thought he could safely r say, if he was asked whether inconstancy or fickleness or instability was an idiosyncracy of the Welsh, that it cer- tainly was not. They were that d'iy holding Gorsedd in Wales. What was Goraedn ? No one kne"Ñ when it began. All that was known was that ihe Welsh people were ho id-, ing it according W) the privileges of Prydain ap aedd M ewr who lived somewhere about the time of King David. ("Clywch "and laughter.) 'Was such a nation as this not a nation that could be trusted with self. government ? The people who were loyal to the past were pretty sure to be trusted for the future. The way in which they had rever- enced their old institutions showed that when a change and a reform of these institutions was necessary the British people were a people who could be safety trusted by their statesmen. (Hear, hear, and applause.) That was the mean- ing of Mr Gladstone's warning. It was to show that progress was impossible among a fickle people, but a people who showed themselves, like the Welsh, slow and careful in changing institutiona an.1 in dropping old customs till they knew the reason why, were a people whom any statesmen might be proud of, and any Government trust. (Great applause.) Estyn added that he spoke these words on the assumption that these stones were nothing but rubbish, but he could go further. The old Welsh Gorsedd was worthy of undivided allegiance and respect, in the first place because it was a memorial of the right of public meetiugs-the right most dear to every British heart-the right which the people had to assemble in thousands, and if they had anything to say. the right to say it. One of the mottoes of the Eisteddfod was Llafar bid lafar." If any oue has anything to say let him say it." If they had any complaints against the Government or himself, or anything else- (iaughter) -they could make them then. They stood there like Samuel be- fore the people, and said Speak." He should like to see that ancient motto Llafa^ bid lafar,"which was the root of 11 Parliament and of Palaver carved on the chair of the speaker of the House of Commons that it might comfort him with a proper knowledge of his rights and also let him know that these rights originally came from that gorsedd j from no where else. This right was personified by the election, not of a chairman, but of a speaker and through Wister had the right to plead for a poor criminal to 2, tried for his life. The Gorsedd was also the origin of be tried. io tf) every Briton who was charged with that right so being tried by a j ury of his country- any offence j was the Gorsedd the Parlia- men; O UX of Assize. Gorsedd, in fact, meant ment but the Court ot A was tried b hia high, sessions, and nere a „ fellows "in tVip face of the sun, m t xe e>e or J hen leiiows m the laceoi DeopIe granted degrees to it was here also that the Welsh pec pi o at the Ek- candidatea who had distinguished th_ n teddfod. To see so many Welshmen. there that day to re- anect and uphold this glorious and ancient insitution might I I well gladden the heart of any statesman foc it a past-loving people. And it was because of this that Mr Gladstone had done them the honour of speaking (that sen- tence with which the address had been opened, lhere is no greater folly circulating upon earth than a disposition to undervalue the past." (Great applause.) Some pennillion singing by Idris Vychan accompanied by Mr Roberts on the harp, was followed by the granting of jpcrees to candidates for the honourOvates, Evan .Tones, Ruabon Evanus Veddyg; G Bradley Jones, Wrexham, Hirwyn; W. Garratt Jones, Wrexham, "Marian •" Daniel Howell Owen, Oswestry, Minavon T Lindop, Wrexham, "lag- Eurgam;" Hugh Davie's, Wrfexham, "Derwyn the Rev, J. Williams, Mmera, «4n •" J- M. Elwa-ds, Liverpool, 'Avon Robt. a Wrexham, "Hirlwydd Dr Williams,Wrexham, Williams.A .» j. y. Edisburv, Iago_ Oelvydd Iorwert Orvan John Jones, solicitor. Wrex- George Bradley T H Coleman, Wrexham, ham, loan Evan Jcnes, "Ivan Ervas;" Lieuts. iSTwriloSf Jones, LianfyUio, The Mayor, Councillor ShOne(ht conclusion of this ceremony Estyn formally ad- iourned the Gorsedd to 1S7G, when it will be re-op,ned in connection with the Eisteddfod at Wrexham. Jus as Est"?7ot down from the stone the sergeant-at-mace of the corporation,the portliness of whose person and magnificence of whose laced hat and uniform had made him the cynosure j of all eves in the procession was marched along to the stone amid a general laugh. But it was too late, the C-orsedd had been adjourned, and though Estyn r-ascende his post he deceived the candidate and, indeed, the Englishmen present generally, by some cabalistic words burlesquing the proper iorin. The procession then returned to the town. LUNCHEON AT THE WYNNSTAY. Lunch was provided at the Wynnstay Arm,; Hotel, where about one hundred and fifty gentlemen sat down. Dr Williams presided, and was supported by Mr Watkin Williams, Q C., M.P., Mr Osborne Morgan, Q C., M.P., Mr Brinley Richards, the Vicar of Wrexham, (the Rev David Howell), Mr W. Low, the Rev T. R. Lloyd (Estyn), the Mayor of Wrexham, (Mr R. Lloyd), the Rev Robert J ,nes, Rotherhithe, the Rev H. T. Edwards, Vicar of Carnarvon, Sir Robert A. Cunliffe, and Mr John Jones, solicitor. The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of the Queen, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Rest of the Royal Family, which were loyally honoured. He observed that he hoped the Prince of Wales would benefit by his coming tour as well as the people whom he visited, and that he would return in safety and happiness. (rod save the Oueen" and Go i Bless the Prince of Wales" were sung by the audience standing, and on a hint from the Chairman, loud cheers were given for the composer of the latter melody. The CHAIKMAN then proposed the health of the Bishop and Clergy of all Denominations, who had, he said, the strongest possible claim on the gratitude of his hearers. Two hundred years ago the Welsh were as strong church- men as was possible, but from the^ early part of the eighteenth century there never was a bishop elected to any Welsh see who understood the sympathies or the Ltn^u tge of the Welsh. (Great applause.) lu was then hoped that. the Welsh language could be suppressed — by force as it were_and their customs and sympathies changed. But the Welsh language and nation had lived to show how futile these eifoxts had been. Thanks to the ex- Pi,em i,-r -(Great applause)—remedying a mistake of past age, Wales had now a Welsh bishop of zeai, devotion, and eloquence, and VVrexham should be especially grateful to him for the ap- pointment which he had just made of a clergyman to take care of them. Of this gentleman they did not know much as yet personally, but, his history had reached them in the public prints, and what had already occurred was a favour- able augury for the future. They desired to take that, the first opportunity which had offered, to express the entire satisfaction of the people of Wrexham with the appoint- ment, and the speaker would offer, for himself and his fellow parishioners, the most cordial welcome to the Rev. Mr Howe 11—(great applause)—aad he was glad to see that the present Premier had followed in the steps of his pre- decessor, and had given to Wales another Welsh bishop, in the person of the new Bishop of St. David's. (Applause.) The ciergy and ministers of all denominations had the strongest claims upon the laity to recognise the high and holy unction of their office, and to receive from them a most unbounded God speed." The Vicar of WREXHAM, who vas received with great applause on rising to respond to the toast, said it was not one of those usually regarded as a toast of the day, but was usually given at gatherings like that simply by the kind favour of loyal Englishmen and Welshmen. Besides, if he had been inclined to talk, he had behind him a brilliant array of speakers—speakers distinguished for their eloquence, and he was perfectly certain all his hearers were most anxious to ei joy that eloquence—no one, indeed, was more anxious than himself. ("Go on, go on.") He should therefore say little more than just return the company his very hearty thanks for this reception, and inform them that it must be most gratifying to the Bishop and Clergy to learn that they had so many earnest well-wishers among the friends and supporters of the eisteddfod. (Great ap- plause.) He need hardly tell them that the Bishop of the diocese was not only a Welsh bishop in name and in voice, but in heart, m tongue and in sympathies too. (Applause.) As a matter of fact, the reverend gen- tleman went on to say, the recognition of the principle, of which that Bishop and the Bishop of St. David's were the living embodiments—that was to say the appointment of Welsh-speaking clergymen to the chief offices in Wales-was due in no small degree to the very great and eloquent advocacy of Dr Jones and others (Applause.) He hardly knew whether he might venture to say a single word on behalf of the clergy, but if he might be their representative for a moment, it was merely to say that he thanked the company on their behalf from the bottom of his heart for their expression of good wishes which he was sure was as sincerely given on their part as it was gratifying to him to receive, (Hear, hear.) He regarded the eisteddfod as most valuable-for, among other grounds, this reason-it was a common ground on which the clergy of the Church of England and ministers of other denominations might meet and fraternise without the slightest compromise of conviction or principle on either side. (Applause.) He regarded it as valuable also because of its great antiquity, because it was the most re- markable literary institution in the world in active exis- tence, and had been handed down fragrant with the tradi- tions and associations of they knew not how many cen- turies. There were others who defended it on the ground that it was the first peace society, for notwithstanding the mild pugnacity of some cf their Welsh bards, it was eminently pacific and peaceable. (Applause.) He had been prevented from being present at the field or he should have heard "Yn enw Duw a dangnef." (Applause.) Others would speak of the stimulus given to the cultivation of Welsh music, to Welsh manufactures, to Welsh archcealogy and art-all re- sults of the eisteddfodau of the Principality. (Applause.) He was prepared to contend for the eisteddfod, however, on the simple ground that, as he had said, it was almost the only common platform left them on which Churchmen and Nonconformists, Radicals and Tories, could appear without any compromise of any kind whatever, and he submitted that an institution which harmonized such differences for the time was truly one that answered some useful purpose. (Applause.) He need not go further in saying that but for the eisteddfod he hardly knew how some of the leading men of the Principality would have any acquaintance with the people. The natural result of such au estrangement would be ignorance of each other's good qualities. Brought together as they had been that day, they were made to see that they had a great deal in common, notwithstanding differences, and that there was a iarge lump of human nature in everyone. Within a short time of Dr Thirlwall's appointment to St. David's, he had to officiate at the re- opening of a church at a very remote corner of his diocese, where a living bishop had never been seen, not even within the traditions of the parish. When the great day arrived there was an immense concourse of people from all the dis- trict, who came together not so much through interest felt in the building as from the curiosity to feast their eyes on a living bishop. As his lordship walked into the church one rustic cried out, Wel, wel, fu erioed y fath beta mor debyg i ddyn." (Great laughter.) (" Well, well, was thure ever anything so like a man.") The CHAIRMAN g.,ve The Army, Navy, and Auxiliary Forces," and hoped they would exhibit the same British valour, endurance, and pluck which had so many times led them to victory. He had lately noticed the fact that it was in 8G5, exactly a thousand years ago, when we won our first great naval victory, when Alfred's fleet defeated the Danish rovers. This circumstance was memorable in can- nection with the line, The flag that's braved a thousand vears the battle and the breeze." Sir R. A. CUNUFFE, who responded, thanked the com- pany most cordially for the manner in which they had re- ceived the toast. He was speaking to a great many who had heard the sound of the bugles and band very regularly during the last month—he hoped they had not been heard too often-and he 4vould ask leave to refer for a moment to the conduct of the men whom he had the honour to com- mand. Their conduct had been so particularly good that the police authorities had written to him a very gratifying letter on the subject. He did not say this for himself, but for the men. If the Denbighshire militia had obtained a high character in past years it was owing a great deal to the zeal with which the commander had been supported bv the officers and staff, but it should not be forgotten it was also owing to the zeal of the men that their character now stood 30 high. The Deputy Chief-constable said that not a single case which had required the interference of the civil police had occurred, and considering that 600 men had been sta- tioned in Wrexham for about a month he thought it re- dounded greatly to the credit of the regiment. As Col. Cooper, to whom he had mentioned this, remarked, There are very few regiments of whom such could be said." It was only fair to the men that he should make this state- ment. (Hear, hear.) Lieutenant MonRis also replied. The CHAIRMAN proposed success to the Gorsedd, Eis- teddfod and Musical Festival of 1876. (Great applause.) The meeting of that day was the inauguration of the Eis- teddfod of 1876, and it foreshadowed the magni- tude and brilliancy of that great festival. It would be presumptuous in him to attempt to enter the mystic circle and described all that passed there but he could not but express his reverence for the customs of the people whom his hearers represented, and he had fully enjoyed the remarks of his excellent friend on the right (Estyn) who had preached such an admirable sermon from the text the ex-rremier naa given—^appiause;—ana showed how the Gorsedd shadowed forth that principle of religious liberty so dear to Great Britain. (Applause) It had, too, something of the university about it, and, as they saw, he had the honour of bearing the badge of a degree on his arm. Journalists had tried to laugh down the eistedd- fodau, but had not succeeded. Welshmen were proud to form an integrate part of England, and to share with her her unsullied history,but still "Oes y byd l'r iaith Gvmraeg." (Loud applause.) In regard to the success of the great eisteddfod of 1876, he should like them to apply the motto, Y gwir yn erbyn y byd." (Hear, hear.) ESTYN, who replied, said he had had impressed on L his mind that morning as a certain fact .-1- 1- inat ine success of 1876 would be great- he could, indeed, apply to it the words a Welshman had used to him that morning, "Estyn, you was never better than I ever see you before." (Great laughter.) He hoped the Eisteddvod of 1876 would be one that would do work, and would be not only a success in numbers, but that superior classes of composition would be brought forth by it. He hoped these compositions would be better than those of one bard of whom a brother bard bad said that the best thing ever seen in his verses was mutton pie." (Laughter.) There was a necessity for an improve- ment in the standard of education, and_ he begged of his brother bards never to maue the award m any case where the candidates were not exceptionally well up. The adjudicators must create the bards; the bards would never make a judge, and it the adjudicators who must raise the standard. He had heard adjudica- tors who did nothing but find faults with the poetry, but gave no hint of anything better they wished competitors, to do in the future. He had often been inclined to go and ask such men What is poetry?" His own definition of it was—and he Loped it would go to the pn blIc- The. art of describing one object by painting some other object which will suggest it." Thus a brave man would be painted by an eagle or a lion, a beautiful woman by a lily or violet, and so on. It was the duty of prose to call a spade a spade, but poetry should never descend to such technical accuracy. (Laughter). Poetry should do her work by painting similitudos rather than objects them- selves. Mr BRINLEY RICHARDS, who replied for the musical department of the Eisteddfod, said he laboured under a dis- advantage in coming after so felicitous a speaker as Estyn —but he should offer a few remarks with regard to the music. (Hear, hear). The backbo,le of the Eisteddfod was choral music in Wales. They had had choral music in that country over a period almost difficult to bring into the immediate present. That morning Estyn had alluded to the institution of the Gorsedd which went back as far as the time of King David, which reminded one of the Welsh gentleman's genealogy, which about half way down had the note, about this time the world was created"—(great laughter) —and was surely ancient enough to satisfy the most out- rageous Welshman. He was glad to see the eisteddfod committee had offered such splendid prizes for 1876, and he hoped the result would be to bring some of those famous choirs from the county of Glamorgan. (Hear, hear, and "Let them come from Londin.") He hoped it was not too much to expect even a London choir. Certainly if possible he should like to see the Wrexham eisteddfod make a red mark as the greatest choral gathering ever held in Wales, and with such prizes and such resources as the committee could dispose of they were justified in expecting such a result. He would do everything in his power to urge the committee to promote musical education in Wales, and especially choral music, not only because of its great importance with the worship of their churches and chapels, but on account of its bt-ing such a very powerful social ele- ment among the poou'ation. He did not think they had yet realiz-d its ^reac socia. i^iiucuCc. 2io one would deny the fact of that influence, because it was connected with the purest and most elevating springs of human nature. Choral music placed art within the reach of every one, whether he lived in a palace or a cottage, on the mountain or in the valley. God had en- dowed his countrymen with great musical feeling which had expressed itself at the magnificent meeting held at the Crystal Palace in 1873. He thought when an effect had been made on a country in favour of music, something ought to be done to promote the use of choral music. North Wales, he was sorry to sav, was behind South. He stoodirthere to follow the motto of his country;" Y gwir yn erbyn y byd." In the North they had quite as fine voices as in the South, but in the North the population was greatly scattered, while in Glamorgan it was close together, and great rehearsals could be conducted without difficulty. There seemed to have been, on one occasion, an attempt to make the national festival a paor imitation of an English one. A greater blunder had never been made. He main- tained that an eisteddfod which was not national was not an eisteddfod, and they had no right to call it by that name—let them call it a musical festival, or what they liked. He would be the last to stop, too, what might be called an exhibition of music, but, as a Welshman, he must be logical, and he could not find how you could call an English musical festival an Eisteddfod when all the national characteristics were gone. Some people had thought there was mischief in the word "nationality"—he hoped no one thought, so now. He appealed to all who spoke the English language to look at Scotland, where there was an English speaking peoile the most practical in the world, but not the less national for all that, and as the nationality of the Scotch was not a source of mischief in Scotland why should the nationality of the Welsh cause mischief in Wales ? The English musical festivals were magnificent exhibitions of art in its highest form, but they were not national exhibitions they comprised the singers of all countries and the mo.st magnifi- cent bands to be procured, and the object of the gathering was notlriationalibut artistic. Eisteddfodau included both nationality and art, but the moment the Welsh attempted to rival the English with their means they put themselves in a false position, threw away a great deal of money and made themselves ridiculous. Let tham have the Welsh harp and pennillion singing at their Eisteddfodau-Scotchmen were not afraid of the bagpipes, and why should Welshmen be afraid of the harp ? He hoped that Gorsedd would be the prelude or overture to the greatest Eisteddfod of the nine- teenth century. (Great applause.) Mr WATKIN WILLIAMS, who was received with great applause, said they could not separate with- out expressing their sympathy with an institution of the greatest value to the country-the Welsh University at Aberystwyth. After the displays of eloquence' he had heard, he should make no attempt to follow in that strain, for he knew how lamentably he would fail if he made the attempt. He should, however, make two or three observations about the University College. (Hear. hear.) He had not himself had the good fortune to have been one of those the first to give the start to that institution, though, they had, in his hon. friend, the member for the eounty, one of those who took the first step still he was proud to say that at a very early period he himself gave his voice and assistance towards that institu- tion-. And he thought they would agree with him it was one of the most important of existing institutions, and was on the point of becoming a very great institution of the country. A great number of people had doubted the feasibility of establishing such a college, and continued to doubt it, saying it was a pity to establish a rival to Oxford and Cambridge. He begged respectfully to differ in toto, and as a practical illustration of his position would re- fer to a country already referred to. The Aberystwyth College was not intended to be a rival to Oxford and Cambridge, but it might very. well stand side by side and supplement them, as the Scotch universities did. Mr Osborne Morgan and he-when they had struggled in London with the English with partial success-had noticed the valuable effect on the Scotch people produced by the universities spread over the country, and this college might be, in the same way, of in- estimable value to the Welsh people, especially to those who could not afford the expense of Oxford or Cambridge. (Hear, hear.) There was one other matter of which he wished to speak. That day at the Gorsedd a notice had been given to this effect by Andreas o Von: "Twelve months and a day I will propose that this meeting hail with Satisfac- tion any steps taken by Government to promote university education in Wales." He thought they ought to let tbe English people see how they valued and appreciated this university and believed it would be a great advantage to the institution that it should be joined with the Eisteddfod, the one helping the other. He should propose as a resolu- tion and sentiment: "That this meeting of bards, literati, and eisteddfod wr cordially approves of the university college at Aberystwyth, and will do what they can to promote it, bring it to the attention of Government and endeavour to get some material support in the way of funds for scholar- ships." (Great applause.) The Rev. R. JONES, vicar of Rotherhithe, said his heart was full of this movement—he had been with it in its sun- shines and storms, and could tell his hearers it was much indebted for its present position to Mr Hugh Owen, of London, who had taken the tiller and steered the vessel to the open sea. They had a principal and professors of the fiist water—a more masterly production than the address of the president last term had never been delivered, and be trusted they would go on giving the young Welshmen a thorough and good education. (Applause.) Poetry had been spoken of, and he would give them some. in respect to tbe success of the college—he hoped it would be solid as the hills around it, elevated as tbe mountain tops, pure as wator from a crystal stream, and beautiful as the eyes of Cambria's beauties. He hoped the day was far distant when the beautiful language of Wales should cease to be spoken. There was that about it that deserved to remain as long as time lasted. (Loul applt, .) T- -a,; 't well-iznown fict that the English peasant had in his vocabulary only 500 words, and it had been stated that the average peasant had not more than 300, yet the English Bible contained from 8.000 to 9,000 different words. Let them look at Wales by contrast. Welsh was of such a self-interpreting character that every young Welshman in a Sunday School almost understood every word he read. In London it was well known he was always to be found wherever there was anything Welsh to be found. He had just had the honour of receiving one of the most beautiful love songs he had ever read in his life from their friend Ceiriog-(al)plause) -and if the Welsh language did cease the sea would surely roll its elegy. Mr OSBORNE MORGAN, who was greeted with loud cheers both on entering the room and on rising, said it wa3 al- ways a great pleasure to him to come over to see them—it was a very agreeble variation on Dr Kenealey and Mr Biggar. (Laughter.) Just an hour before when he was very hungry—and he was afraid very late-he had bad a paper put into his hand telling him he was to have the honour of proposing the toast of the Cymmrodorion Society. Although a member of the Society he was afraid he was not qualified to do justice to the toast, but when he told them the Vicar of Carnarvon waE: going to respond, he was sure they would rest satisfied he would atone for any short comings. It was a very learned and very useful society and last, but not least, was intimately connected with the Eisteddfod they had proclaimed that day-in fact, if he might venture to use the comparison —it was as the roast beef to the pudding. (Laughter.) And now one word of congratulation on the great success of that day. That day had been a great day for Wrexham—a red letter day for Wrexham -aDd although one was not at liberty to pierce the veil of the future, he could not help thinking they had a right to anticipate that the Eisteddfod of 1876 would prove not un- worthy of the men who had got it up, and of the good old town of Wrexham. (Loud applause.) He was an old eisteddfod wr, but he could not remember in his time a single occasion upon which an eisteddfod had been held at Wrexham. Places far inferior in importance and popula- tion, like Conway—his native place-Rhyl, Bangor, and even Carnarvon, if his friend would allow him, had had the eisteddfod, but all this time Wrexham, with, he supposed, its characteristic modesty so well represented in its repre- sentatives—(a laugh)—had stood aloof and allowed other towns to step in. He did not think this should be so any longer. Wrexham bad a right to stand foremost it was not only one of the richest and most populous, towns but of late had been a centre of the arts of war, and so he hoped it would also be a centre of the arts of peace. He could not help looking back to the old time at Offa's Dyke there, when their forefathers bore the first brunt of the Saxon invasion, and he could not but think there was a certain appro- priateness in their standing there to receive the Saxon intruder, not with the iron grip of war, but with a firm grip of the hand ready to show him that Edward I. made a great mistake when he thought he had got rid of the last bards, and that the minstrel supposed to be below Conway's wave had left rather a numerous and lively progeny. He would not diverge more, but would only propose Pros- perity to the Cymmrodorion Society," coupled with the name of the Vicar of Carnarvon. The Vicar of CARNARVON said there was a fitness about a Gorsedd on Whit-Monday, for it recalled the memory of those great national festivals observed by the chosen race according to the command of their great Lawgiver. The object of the Welsh festival was to keep alive the senti- ment of nationality, and remind them of their antiquity, but this—a sentimental reason-would not satisfy those journals whose hostility had been alluded to. They would ask what good would be done by it-and his hearers were told day after day by the press and their political instruc- tors that any institution which wished to live must prove it lived for the good of the nation. He waa sufficiently advanced in Liberalism to think that when ai ancient insti- tution could be proved to survive to the detriment of the | nation, and whose destruction would be for the good of the I nation, it should be destroyed. (Hear, hear.) They must be prepared to justify the eisteddfod, and he would ask if the meeting- of that day had done no good ? He ventured to think it had done good. Not only was the eisteddfod productive of a great deal of practical good, but it had the capacity of being utilized for a great deal more good. You could not reach any great height of refinement or know- ledge without competition, and it was consequently in cities that refinement and knowledge were cultivated to their greatest pitch. Something like a movable city should be constructed in order that the people in the country might enjoy those advantages which were, as a rule, confined to cities. It should be a movable Athens which should bring refinement to the masses of the people. (Loud applause.) He could not go entirely with Mr Brinley Richards in thinking that the Eisteddfod should be entirely musical. The knitting of stockings and that kind of thing tended, he certainly thought, to degrade the institution, but there was oue art which might be cultivated. Was there any reasoa why the art of painting should not also bring its beauties to refine the masses of their countrymen? He would suggest that the Eisteddfod Committee'should see whether they could not induce some of the noblemen who possessed fine collections to lend them occasionally in order that the masses of the people might enjoy the pleasure of looking at them during Eisteddfod week. (Applause, and hear, hear.) He would only make one more remark which was that, as a brother clergyman, he hailed the advent of the vicar to Wrexham and most heartily and most cordially did he congratulate the people of Wrexham. (Hear, hear ) I He asrreed with the vicar that the Eisteddfod platform was ground on which all clergymen and ministers might meet without compromising principles, and being himself a man who was not always popular he valued such an occasion extremely. The rev. gentleman concluded by recalling to the ,-binds of his hearers the Peninsular incident of soldiers from the opposing armies going down, during a brief truce, to a brook together, and drinking the waters peacefully side by side. At the fountains of literature, he said, men of all views could meet to drink. The Rev. J. H. M'GILL, Bangor, who remarked that he was a Saxon person, said he stood there that day rather not on his own basis but on the basis of Mr Kenyon. (A. few cheers and a few hisses.) Most of them knew him, and the rev. gentleman was only sorry that, owing to a previous engagement, he was not able to be present. He was also sorry Mr Kenyon had so feeble a representative as himself to address them, but he should like to say something on the teaching of eisteddfodau. Somebody had asked him that day if he could write a Welsh ode. He replied, No, but I think I could write an English or a Latin one that I should have been proud to lay before the adjudicators or bartls." (Hear, hear.) But he did not wish to pride himself on that, and would speak of the eisteddfodau. His hearers were all met there with a desire to promote litera- ture- he was fond of literature—in the Principality. As a clergyman, he knew the education was weak, and if they could do anythiag to advance it, to enlarge the minds of the natives, they would be doing a good work, and he would wish them god speed in the work they had undertaken. (Hear, hear.) But whilst they had spoken of Welsh litera- ture, Jet them not forget they were a part and parcel of the mightiest nation that existed under the broad canopy of heaven let them not b narrow- min(led-(" we are not ") -he did not believe they wre -thOllah their literature might be good, though their poetry might be attractive. And he must say that when he was a young man one of the most beautiful things he ever saw was a marriage near Llangui, near Bangor—some thirty years ago- when the bridegroom and friends gathered together (" Briodas"). That was it. It was Briodas. But as he had said, thought their literature might be good and their poetry attractive, they were part of a mighter nation than the Welsh, they were part and parcel of a nation that had spread over the earth, that had given poets such as Shakspeare, Milton, Byron, and Goldsmith, and hundreds of others, not to forget existing poets like Tennyson and others, and which had historans like Macaulay, and like Gibbon and Hume, that had a literature in science like that of Newton, Faraday and others. Let them not for- get that while they were Welshmen they were members of that nation which comprised Ireland, Scotland, and the whole of our colonial dependencies. Let them keep up their national peculiarities, but let them not forget that they were part of the greatest nation that had ever appeared upon the earth, which spoke a tongue which was spreading through the world, and which, by Gods' providence, was destined to become a still greater nation. (Hear, hear.) He pro- posed the Mayor and Corporation, and Town and Trade of Wrexham. The MAYOR, in reply, said that they'would do anything in their power to ensure success to the Eisteddfod. Trade had never been healthier than it was in Wrexham at pre- sent. Hear, hear.) Sir ROBERT CUNLIFFE proposed the health of the Chair- man of the Committee, whom he had known for twenty years. He was a Welshman who loved his country, and was deeply versed in its literature, and who was a most ex- cellent man to place in the chair. He hoped the Eisteddfod of 1876 would be a brilliant success, and that the Chairman might fulfil his duties under the most auspicious circum- stances. (Applause,) The CHAIRMAN, in returning thanks, said that the com- mittee were the most painstaking and energetic body of men he had ever known. It was contemplated having an artistic exhibition at Wrexham such as that which had been held at Ruthin, and he hoped it would be successful. He read apologies for non-attendance from the Hon. G. T. Kenyon, Mr .Maysmor Williams, and Miss Edith Wynne, and said thanks were due to the Council, Militia, Yeo- manry, and Volunteers for what they had done. He hoped they would have royalty at the Eisteddfod. There was a precedent, as Queen Elizabeth had commanded an Eistedd- fod to be held at Caerwys, and he himself remembered seeing the Duke of Sussex at one at Denbigh. The Chair- man concluded by referring to the guarantee fund of £2,000 in terms of approbation. The Press," from Mr JOHN JONES, to which the repre- sentatives of the Wrexham. Advertiser and Guardian re- sponded and "The Visitors," from Mr Low, responded to by Owen Alaw, finisned the list. MR BRINLEY RICHARDS ON NATIONAL MUSIC. In the evening Mr Brinley Richards delivered his lecture illus- trative of National Music in the Public Hall, which was crowded hy a large and fashionable audience. Sir Robert Cunliffe occu- pied the chair. Mr BFTINLFCY RIOHARDS said that his purpose that evening was to point out the difference between the different national musics, and not to institute comparisons between them. He defined nati. nal music as the music of nature rather than of art, and said that both England and Wales had beeu ch .rged with bavins? no national music to epeak of. The Editor of the Harmonicon years ago had spoken d the uncouthness of Welsh music, and Dr Burney bad largely contemned ISnglish music. The slow, drawling character of the English national airs had been especially commented on, and it was true that even the infantry marches of Eng;aml..were les3 brisk and lively than those of Franc. Roger Williams, a gallant Welsh soldier, who was taunted about the slowness of the English drum by Marshal Biron once, replied, That may be, sir, but slow as it is it has iraversed your master's country from one end to the other." (Applause.) There was as much good rnusin to be heard in London ill December and January a:) in any capital, though no doubt for this London was greatly indebted to foreigners. Of English masters he might mention Sir Steradale Bennett, the most eminent English composer since Henry Purcell. Dr George Macfarren, the composer oi St. John the Baptist," was another. Miss Marv Davies then sang, "Summer is y cumen in" (da^e 1,250 and said to be the oldesr, English air known), and The hunt is up" (a favourite of Henry VIII.) Miss Lizzie Evans saosc My lodging is on the cold, cold ground which she re- peated in reply to afl encore. The last air Mr Kichards montioned was commonly supposed to be Irish because Moore had written some words to it, but one of the most eminent authorities on Irish music had entirely disowned it. Curiously enough Oliver Cromwell-he liked a man with a good big voice—w,is the first to license the performance of opera ill England. In the next reicon the English opera began to decline, and the introduction of Italian opera in the reign of Queen Anne completed its down- fall. Scotch mu,ic was largely pentatonic, in illustration of which Miss Lizzie Evans sang Auld Lang Syne and Roy's wifeo'Aldivalloch." But, Mr Brinley Richards added, it was not as commonly supposed all five-noted, and to show this Miss Mary Davies sang two verses of Robin Adair," the first in the old vel sion, and the second in the new. Mr Richards added that people might say it was easy to make a Scotch tune, but although it was easy enough to repeat one, t was uncommonly hard to write a new one. (Laughter.) After Miss Davies had sung a verse of Duncan gray," the lecturer exhibited a variety of drawings showing the development of the harp from the time of the Egyptians and Assyrians until the present. He pointed out that up to a com- paritively late period the Irish, Welsh, and Scotch harps were alike. From drawings of old harps he showed how the harp David used when dancing was not, as those who laughed at the idea supposed, a pedal harp which required two persons to carry, but a small light instrument which was played in procession. He aid it was strange that while so much pains should be taken to preserve the ancient musical instrument of Scotland, that of Wales should be so neglected. Certainly if noise was in question the bagpipes had it, but he would be pardoned for pre- ferring the gentle notes of the Welsh harp. (Applause.) Mr Brinley Richards then referred to the custom observed in some parts of Wales for the relations of one who was dead to visit and kneel on the grave after morning service on the Sund ay after the funeral. Over the grave of a h irper a brother of the craft would play some plaintive air. Mfss Mary Davies then sang The harDer's grave." founded by Mr Richards on this custom. She was loudly encored. Other Scotch, Welsh, and Irish songs followed. 0 Mr Richards afterwards dwelt upon ancient scales of music, and gave instrumental illustrations of Chinese, scotch, and Hungarian melodies. He mentioned the fact that the harp was not so very long ago u?ed in worship in England as well as in Wales, and that the last time the harp was heard in Westminster Abbey was in the reign of Queen Anne, when it was played by a Welshman, harper to the Queen. The singing of the two young ladies, who are pupils of Mr Richards, was greatly appreciated, and almost every song was encored. The Rhos Choir, under the leadership of Mr R. Mills, were on the platform, and sang. A vote of thanks to Mr Richards for his able lecture was pro- posed by Estyn, and seconded by Dr Williams, and carri-ed with acclamation. The proceedings dosed with a vote of thanks to Si? Robert Cunliffe for his kindness in presiding, proposed by Mr Osborne Morgan, and seconded by Mr Charles Hughes. During the day a "Vord Gron" was held in the Guild Hall. Thirty-two companions were initiated into the order, and gen- tlemen were commissioned to initiate in London, Liverpool, and other towns. The numbers of those who witnessed the Gorsedd, swollen by the presence of a number of "Shepherds" fnm Birkenhead, might have been counted by thousands. If this prelude or overture" indicates the character of the grand performance which follows it next year, then the Eisteddfod of 1S76 will, there is little doubt, be the most important-and successful ever held in modern times.