The London Welshman

ADGOFION AM DR. JOSEPH PARRY. YN Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Aberystwyth yn 1865 y gwelais Dr. Joseph Parry gyntaf, Tanymarian, arweinydd yr Eisteddfod, a'r Gohebydd, yn ei gyflwyno i'r gynulleidfa. Yr oedd ei enw yn adnabyddus er's dwy neu dair blynedd fel Joseph Parry, Pennsylvania. Gan- wyd ef yn Merthyr, a byddai yn canu alto yn hogyn gyda chor Bethesda; ond symudodd ei rieni i'r America pan oedd ef yn lied ieuanc, yn y flwyddyn 1854 (os wyf yn cofio yn iawn). Aeth y Gohebydd i'r America am dro, ac aeth i Pennsylvania i chwilio am y cyfansoddwr ieuanc addawol oedd wedi ennill y rhan fwyaf o'r gwobrau yn Eisteddfodau Cenedlaethol Abertawe a Llandudno. Cafodd afael arno Yn y Gweithiau Haiarn, ""a pherswadiodd ef i ddyfod trosodd i'r wlad hon. Yr oedd Joseph Parry wedi anfon amryw gyfansoddiadau i Eisteddfod Aberyst- wyth, ond aethant ar goll yn rhywle, ac ni ddaethant byth i'r amlwg. Yr oedd hynny yn siomedigaeth chwerw iawn iddo. Cafodd y fath dderbyniad siriol a chroesawgar yn y wlad hon, fel y penderfynodd fynd drosodd i mofyn ei deulu. Daeth i Lundain i'r Royal Academy, a chan fod y fath dalent gerddorol ynddo cariai bobpeth o'i flaen, ac yr oedd ei athrawon yn meddwl y byd o hono. Bu ei hen gyfaill, y Gohebydd, yn ftyddlawn iawn iddo, a chafodd nifer o Gymry yn bwyllgor i'w helpu i drefnu cyngherddau iddo-Mri. Hugh Owen (pryd hyny) Stephen Evans B. Rees; W. Williams, Devonshire-st. Jenkins, Gwalia, Llandrindod John Adams, Abermaw; T. Davies, London- road R. P. Evans, Old Ford, ac eraill. Ar ei ddyfodiad i Lundain ymaelododd yn Fetter Lane (King's Cross, yn bresenol), lie 'roedd y Parch. R. Williams (Hwfa Mon), Archdder- wydd Cymru, yn weinidog. Cafwyd Offeryn i'r Capel, a bu yntau yn ei chwareutrayn Llundain, a chododd y canu i enwogrwydd mawr yno. Cododd yno nifer o gantoresau campus, Miss Lizzie Evans, Miss Jones, Farringdon, Miss Lloyd, y Misses Roberts, Bishopsgate, ac eraill. Byddem yn mynd o'r hen gapel yn Aldersgate ar ol yr oedfa i Fetter Lane erbyn y cyfarfod canu, a chawsom lawer o addysg a hyfforddiant ganddo. Erbyn iddo orphen ei amser yn y coleg yr oedd y Brifysgol wedi ei sefydlu yn Aberystwyth, a phenodwyd ef yn Athraw Cerddorol yno, a bu yn llwyddianus iawn. Yr oedd lluaws mawr o'n cantorion Cymreig yn dal ar y cyfle ac yn mynd dan ei addysg. Ond rywfodd yn sydyn ac annisgwyliadwy, ac am ryw reswm sydd byth yn ddirgelwch, ymadaw- odd oddiyno. Sefydlodd ysgol gerddorol yn Abertawe, a bu nifer liosog o gantorion gydag ef yno. Pan sefydlwyd y Brifysgol yn Nghaer- dydd cafodd ei benodi yn Athraw Cerddorol yno, lie y bu hyd ddiwedd ei oes. Dr. Parry fel Datganwr, Pan yn, Llundain, ac am flynyddau ar ol hyny, bu yn dra phoblogaidd fel datganwr. Yr oedd yn feddianol ar lais baritone da, a byddai bob amser yn cyfeilio iddo ei hun, a'r rhan fynychaf canai ei ganeuon ei hun, a byddai yn cymeryd rhan mewn cyngherddau pwysig, a phob amser yn dderbyniol. Fel Beirniad safai yn uchel, er feallai nad oedd mor cool a hunanfeddianol a rhai o'n prif feirniaid, ond gwnelai ei waith yn gydwybodol, a rhoddai resymau paham y gwobrwyai un mwy na'r llall. Fel arweinydd safai yn rheng flaenaf arwein- yddion Cymru; arweiniai ynfynych gymanfaoedd ei enwad ei hun, a chyda enwadau eraill hefyd. Bu yn arwain dwy gymanfa i Undeb Ysgolion Annibynwyr Cymreig Llundain, un yn y City Temple, a'r llall yn King's Cross, ychydig flynyddau yn ol. Fel Cyfansoddwr yr oedd ar ei ben ei hun. Ni chafwyd y fath awen gynyrchiol yn hanes ein cenedl ymhob dosbarth o gyfansoddiadau. Meddai ar allu uwchraddol a thalent naturiol anghyffredin, ac wedi cael addysg a disgyblaeth dda. Fe allai mai yr "Emmanuel" a Blodwen yw y gweithiau mwyaf poblogaidd o'i eiddo. Cafodd "Blodwen" ei pherfformio yn yr Alexandra Palace, gan Gor Rees Evans, Aberdare, ond o dan arweiniad Dr. Parry ei hun. Perfformiwydyr "Emmanuel hefyd gan y London Welsh Choir dan ei arweiniad, yn St. James' Hall, ac yn ddiwedd- arach cafwyd gwyl gerddorol o'i weithiau yn y Crystal Palace. Mae ei Anthemau a'i Glees yn lliosog, ynghyda darnau i gorau meibion, a'i ganeuon sydd bron yn ddirifedi, a llawer o honynt yn rhagorol, ond credwn mai Ei Donau Cynulleidfaol a geidw ei enw yn fwy na dim wnaeth. Byddant mewn bri tra pery yr hen Gymraeg. Dies Irae (yr oreu ohonynt i gyd), Aberystwyth, Porthmadog, Caernarfon, a genir gyda bias lie bynag y ceir Cymro, y maent wedi dod yn eiddo cenedlaethol. Torwyd ef i lawr yn sydyn ac anisgwyliadwy ynghanol ei gynlluniau ac pr ganol cyfansoddi gwaith pwysig. Bu raid iddo ei adael ar ei hanner, Yr oedd ei eisiau yn y nef." MEIRIONFAB.

LORD JUSTICE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ON WELSH NATIONALITY. Lord Justice Vaughan Williams delivered an eloquent address at the banquet of the Cardiff Cymmrodorion the other day. He thought," he said, that they must all rejoice that the Principality was at the present moment in this, one of the greatest Empires that the world had ever seen, still a partner exercising an effective initiative, at all events, as to things that par- ticularly concerned Wales. "It might not seem to some of them very wonderful or very difficult that Wales should have attained such a position, but he thought they would see that it was not easy for Wales to attain such a position. Wherever they had got a composite state consisting of several different sections, they were perfectly certain to find a strong tendency to centralisation, and he thought centralisation was a bad thing for the empire or state in which it existed. It was not only true of autocracies, but it was equally true of a con- stitutional Government and of a Republic. It was a wonderful thing that Wales, notwithstand- ing its tendency to centralise, should still have .P: Retained its Position as an effective power for initiative in this Empire. He claimed that the fact that Wales had such an initiative was not only good for the Welsh as being the best means for improving their local needs, but it was good for the Empire at large. He was going to point out to them the instances in which that Welsh initiative had already shown that it was useful, both in respect of the benefit of the Welsh and of the benefit of the Empire. To begin with, there was the subject for which the Welsh had the chief ground for Pride and Satisfaction- he meant Education. They had got the Univer- sity of Wales, and, in the next place, they had the system of intermediate education, and he did believe that if they were to ask anywhere in the United Kingdom for an instance of the suc- cessful conduct of intermediate education, the answer would be 'Well, after ourselves, Wales.' "Then he would take as another instance as a matter in which, whether they took the view that what had been done had been wisely or unwisely done, yet they would all agree that in the great cause of temperance it was desirable that temperance should not be treated as a matter which was to be dealt with centrally, but was a local matter which affected local people, and ought to be in their hands and not in the hands of a central authority. Then he should like to ask why it was that Wales had been so successful in achieving such a position. He took it that nearly all of them would answer that Wales had achieved that posi- tion because the Welsh were a Nationality. Naturally, the next question that came to one's mind was, how and why had Wales, after the lapse of all these centuries, been able to achieve such a position as a partner in the greatest empire of the day. The first and obvious reason was one which some of them might think was exaggerated by those who dwelt upon it—he meant Welsh blood. But beyond that they had got constantly in their minds a feeling of affec- tion and reverence for their ancestors. Look at the nation which was astonishing the whole world at the present moment. What" were the two great characteristic Features of the Japanese? Education and reverence for their ancestors. He did not know that he had read anything finer of late in the newspapers than the address of Admiral Togo at Tokio in memory of the ancestors of the brave men who had fallen in defence of their country. He would suggest another cause for The Bonds of Welsh Nationality. It was the strong religious feeling of the Welsh. He did say this of all the religious bodies in Wales, whether Church of England or the various Nonconformist bodies who did such excellent work, that there was this common feeling among them of a strong reverence for religion. If they put a Daily Telegraph question in Wales, Do we believe ?' could any one doubt that the answer of the majority of Welsh- men would be 'Yes, we do?' Then he sug- gested that the Welsh should have a genuine love for art, a genuine love for poetry, and a genuine love for the beautiful. And he took as an instance of that the delight which the Welsh took in their hymns. There they had beauty and poetry."

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