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- Y GENEDL GYMREIG.

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Y GENEDL GYMREIG. [BY CA.Bi»)C ] No one can carefully read English history, Considering the relative parts played by the four great components of the British people- English, Scotch, *Irisb,Welsh-a nd not see that that of Wales has been a minor part. The three former have stood and fought shoulder to Moulder in the battles of the nation, and have been equal sharers of the honours of conquest. They have worked si le by side in colonization, they have united to make the wilderness rejoice d the desert blmlJm as the rose, they have established cities in other lands and laid .firm ftod broad the foundations of what in. the future will be mighty empires. But when they have looked around to find in these enterprises their brethren, the representatives of this bonny land of hills and vales," they kave only found a few here and there. The «rmal s of military fame lack Welsh names, as ulso do the early histories of colonization. The ( fact is that the Welsh people have been in the Past far too exclusive. It is true they have been and are a peaceable people, but peaceable- fcess is not the only quality necessary for success and eminence. Such a quality, while excellent in itself, is analogous to the good- 7atss whose only virtue is that it does no harm. It is the nitrogen of life, that modifies the Oxygen of restless activity. But nitrogen a.lone cannot support life, there needs some proportion of the fighting instincts to be luixed with it, if only a small one. Among the lower classes, where prejudice lingers longest, the English who come into ^ales are often regarded with aversion, "They «ave no business here; let them go home again and leave this land to us." But Englishmen, Miose enterprise has dotted almost every part of the globe with its possessions, in some cases taken countries bodily, are not so easily got rid of. It is true that the upper classes of the Welsh are rapidly losing this foolish aversion, *Ud are realising every year more largely the honour and advantage of being a vital part of the British Empire. This exclusiveness has arisen principally from 4 fact which the Welsh do not like to remember, 4nd which both sides should be willing to for- get, viz., that they are a conquered race. For four hundred years antipathy on this account been felt, cherished, and it is still existent; nd in consequence sympathy and interest have been isolated. But Nature has had, and is having, though now less than ever, her revenge for this isolation. It is a well-known physio- logical law that breeding in and in of the same fitock in animals invariably brings deterioration f that stock when carried beyond certain Wits. The vitality is lowered, insensibly per- haps in the unit, very sensibly in the aggregate. And all students of sociology observe the same Jaw and its results in the human sphere. If new is not infused into a race, it will of Necessity deteriorate. Perhaps it would be difficult to find a better lustration of this law than in Wales. The de- pressed vitality of the people, the want of vigour in most departments of life, is chiefly Accounted for by the past national exclusive- ness of spirit and consequent intermarriages. Remove from Wales all the people owning half-a-dozen well-known names, and very few 'ttuld be left. In instructive contrast with this, consider the Past and present state of things across the border. Consider the mixture of races which bas been going on for fourteen hundred years Past, and which largely explains the national b&rdihood. It seemed a simp'e thing for Vor- Jigern, in 449 A.D., to call in the Saxon free- booters to help him to repel the attacks of the o{;lCts a-id Scots. But in so doing he got hold of a chain whose length and the strength of ^hose links he didn't know. The Saxons, finding the land a pleasant and desirable one, elected to stay in it, and began a career of ^arfare on their own account, importing hordes of their friends, and soon Seized the throne. Then came the Danep, aQother hardy race of sea-rovers, between ^hotn and the Saxons were long and sanguinary J*ar8. These gained the upper hand for a time, but the Saxons re-won the throne, which they beld till William the Norman overthrew Harold at Hastings. Then we have a large importation of Normans, who for generations held the highest State offices, and were considered the of the country. But the irrepressible 8&xon element woiked its way upward, Nor- man-French, the language of the upper classes, gradually fell into disuse, and by the end of the 15th century ceased to be spoken. The Saxon tongue re-asserted itself, and remains to this day, and always will remain the solid sub stratum of the English language. These three elements, fused together after the intercourse of generations, form the strength and explain the vigour of that race that has "put a girdle round the earth." If we look Across the Atlantic we may see a similar pro- cess of fusion going on, though under different Social conditions. The American people are tande up of all nations under heaven, mostly of the best of the nations, the young and strong. ike the result of this intermingling of races, the dawn of the New Year's morning of 2000 A D. "ül find them the most vigorous, best vitalised peoy.le on earth.. With such an indisputable law, and such un- questionable facts before us, we must come to the conclusion that the only thing that can arrest the degeneracy of the Welsh fibre will be similar thorough intermingling of ideas, of spirit, of interests, of blood. We find, coming to the present, that this beneficial tendency is forking every year in an increasing ratio. A broader sympathy, a higher spirit of self-respect, is coming among the people. This article is already too long to do more than glance at the influence, either one way or the other, of the Welsh language and edu- cation. As to'the latter, there is no question that one of the chief wants of Wales is that of Schools. But our Welsh educationists are alive to this, and board schools and the university colleges are making, and will make,long strides in the right direction. Besides many others, each broad considerations of Welsh nationality may serve to show that the best, farthest-seeing policy would be that no Government grant should be withdrawn, but rather increased. One rejoiccs to see the rising spirit of Nation- alism in Wales it ought to seize every indivi- dual whose patron saint is Dafydd; and those of us who are yet in life's forenoon may live to see the Principality taking its rightful share oi the emoluments and honours of the Empire. She will have keen competitors, and willjfre- quire to call up and use all her latent energies, iiut may the day soon come when the Welsh- man will be second to none in any sense of th< four brothers of the British family.

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