The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

THE ARTS EXHIBITION, OPENED BY COUNTESS GROSVENOR. Jill THEODORE MARTIN'S MESSAGE. The Arts and Grafts Exhibition in connection with the National Eisteddfod at Llangollen was formally opened by the Countess Grosvenor on Friday. The exhibits included the wreath won by Ceiriog and the original MSS. of Myfanwy Fychan; Ceiriog pedigree, shield, and coat-of- arms; Ab Ithel's gold tiara and the satin robe which he wore at the 1858 Eisteddfod, his MS3. and the hirlas horn presented to him at Conway the gold medal won by Bardd Nantglyn at Llan- gollen in 1824, and portraits of Twm o'r Nant, and many other objects that especially appealed to lovers of Welsh literature. In the arts and crafts section some works of exceptional merit are shown—the adjudications on which were to take place on Tuesday,—-and the decision of the authorities to supplement the customary Eistedd- fod Exhibition with loan and industrial exhibits has been abundantly justified in the result. Sir Theodore Martin presided over a large and distinguished gathering on Friday, and was supported by the Countess Grosvenor, Mrs Bulkeley Owen, Mr E. Foulkes Jones, Alderman W. J. Dodd, Alderman C. Jones, Mr J. Clarke, the Rev L. D. Jenkins, the chairmen of the various sections of the National Eisteddfod, and representatives of the leading families of North Wales. SIR THEODORE MARTIN. Sir Theodore, who appeared in vigorous health, received a rousing cheer upon rising. "I am," he said, "the first publicly to address the visitors to this year's National Eisteddfod, and I think I cannot begin better than by wishing In TC?u au a hearty welcome, and by ask* g you to join me in wishin.- success to the Jubilee Ei&- teddfod of 1908, which I trust you may succeed in raising to the level of its most successful pre- decessors. To many of you I may appear as an interloper—("no, no"),—as the persistent Scot forcing his way to a position that should have been occupied by some of the eloquent sons of Wales. But let me assure you I am here at the earnest request of the leaders of the Eisteddfod. The truth is I have been very ill for many months. I hope that the illness is passing off, but it is of a kind that makes it very difficult for me to make up my mind to be a visitor at any of the Eisteddfod meetings. I was therefore very I much taken aback when I was solicited on behalf of the organisers to take some part in the pro- ceedings of their festival. I did all I could to escape, but like the persistent swain they success- fully wooed until I consented. I have had an opportunity of making a hasty private view of the Exhibition, and in it I see very much to admire and commend. More pa-r- ticularly is it pleasing to note the efforts made by the young people of the district, stimulated by prizes, to put forth their best endeavours. To go into detailed criticism is impossible—it would occupy hours,—but it is obvious that the or- ganisers of the Jubilee Eisteddfod have decided to make their arts and crafts exhibition worthy of the great festival, and they have been enabled to do so by the generous sympathy of Lord Kenyon, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Sir Henry Robertson, and especially by the authorities of the South Kensington 'Museum and by contributors in various parts of the kingdom. Among the contributions are several works of great interest •.rhich will be appreciated by all lovers of art. EYE AND HAND TRAINING. The Committee have dona much to emphasise the neoessity of improving the defective methods of education prevailing by insisting that pupils shall do work which will awaken and cultivate their intelligence. This is effected by teaching them to use their eyes and hands, by observing for themselves, and by trying to reproduce in their own way a semblance of the objects they observe. Among the exhibits nothing is more interesting or calculated to cncourage more benefioially the good results of education than the cultivation of modelling, in which we see the outcome of the method I have described. More particularly is this true in regard to the appear- ance and the delicate structure and beautiful form and colour of flowers. Every object here is either drawn or modelled from nature, and this work is the result of the individual faculty of observation. The faculties so cultivated will be of infinite importaac3 in life as life goes on, and it will also furnish sources of lasting enjoyment which come of the awakening of the soul to the grandeur and the beauty of this world of ours. STORY OF QUEEN VICTORIA. I have been able to add two objects to this collection. The first is one of the two old chairs of the Ladies of Llangollen, in which they sat at Plaa Newydd at the time of their death. The other is one of the very deepest interest. I happened to be the possessor of the clay model which was worked out in the presence of the late Queen when 83 years old by the sculptor Behnes. It is not only a beautiful work of art, but it is dear to me for other reasons. I may tell a curious story about it. One day Her Majesty graciously asked me which portrait of her I thought the best. I replied, "One which I have often studied." She laughingly commended me to mform her, and I answered: "The bust of you by Behnea when a child." She was very much astonished and affected, but the next time I saw the bust_ it was placed in a most conspicuous position in the great padace at Windsor. It is my sound conviction that this is the best portrait of the late Queen. Go and study it; see in the sculPtL're,d features indications of tl noblelchar- he acter; observe the keen, hawklike look of the eyes. Perhaps you may not see it as I do; you hav. notstud.ed so closcty the clay model of the b?t ?kcd out m marble in the presence of a ittm child (applausej. COUNTESS GROSVENOR. The Cotmtesa Grosvenor then declared the Exhibition open, and said it was inspiring to stand amongst so much that represented the best work of their interesting country, bringing back so forcibly the glories of their historic past. SIR THEODORE AS A BARD. After short addresses by Alderman W. G. Dodd, Mr E. R. Parry, Mr R. Darlington, and Alder- man C. Jones, Sir Theodore, responding to a vote of thanks, said the thanks of good men proceed- ing from warm hearts were always welcome. He was not a Welshman, he was a Scotsman—but he lived chiefly in England, and came to Wales for pleasure and health (cheers). He believed he was a Welsh Bard; at any rate he knew he was an ovate, and well he remembered the ceremony among the-stones at, Festiniog, when a sword was held over him and the cry went forth, "Is it peace?" and he came away with a bit of blue ribbon or something. Since then he had written no poetry (laughter). He could not write a word of Welsh, but he could appreciate good transla- tion* of good Welsh poetry, and was in perfect •ympathy with th« effort* of Wales to bring "itself in aIr respects up with the rest of the king- dom, especially in-the matter of education. kviiat they had seen there should be of the greatest encouragement to. It afforded him great encouragement, more than he had received for many years, for it showed that men were educa- ting themselves and that they were ceasing to be content With blinded eyesight poring Over miserable books. He regarded the indications provided in the Eis- teddfod Exhibition as signs of a revolt against the defective system of education, which had too long prevailed all over the kingdom. The exhibition was opened on Monday by VV ikiame-Wynn, who was accompanied by her father Sir vvatkin YViLiaims-Wynn. The^ Chairman, of the Exhibition Committee (Mr E R. Parry), who presided, observed that it was appropriate that the exhibition shotil-cl be opened by a representative of the ho-tl" of Wymwtay, the mtvia otf Sir Watkin having been a. household wjrd in Wales for generations as a staunch ?up,x>rter of tho Eisteddfod and of all movements which concerned the welfare of the Principality (hear, hear). He added that the present Sir Watkin waa in his oapwit-y of -de.nt year's pros, tak 'ng grmt interest in tllid Eisteddfod, and showing the institution much hospitality (dheers). Speeches were delivered by Sir Maroh&nt Williams, Mr Llewelyn Wiiiiams, M.P., and Archdeacon Wynne Jones.

ON THE EVE. (BV BERIAH EVANS). LLANGOLLEN, MONDAY Night. I want to preface what I have to say of the Eisteddfod by explaining that though appearing in 1 weehiy paper, these letters ire written day by day, recording the events as they occur, and the unpreesions as they are formed at the time of Writing:, and not a review of the week's pro- ceedings only written when all 13 over. Rather therefore than one complete view of the Eis- teddfod ag< a whole, these fugitive articles will be 60 many lit-erary snapshot^ whjich when put together oivnmtitufce a sort otf panorama, of the week's evaMB. I have just arrived, only to find five famed beauties of the Vale of Llangollen veiled in mists, andthe bunting, whioh ould gaily pro- claim a revel otf gaiety a.ntl:\ pleasure*, hargiii4 limp, and lifeless, wet and bedraggled, and any- thing but performing the imitsion for which it waa intendod. Everything looks daimp and do pressed exoept the Etetoddfodlio spirit, which requires something more and worse than this siteadv downpour to check itu annual exuberanoe. Arid even before we reaohod Llangollen, I was granted a striking proof of the magnetic attrac- tion tho national festival possesses for the Welsh- mani There entered my oompartment at Ruabon h-ale old gentlemaji bearing the appearance of a well-to-do farmer. Acting on the precept th.3.t he who hath ears to hear ought to ihear-if not liisten I oaught an unfamiliar accent in his tones. There exists a sort of freermasanry amlon, Eisteddfodwyr. and in two minutes we had be- come known to eaoh other an old correspon- denta of a quarter of a oentury's standing- He wao no less a. personage than Y Bonwr R. J. Berwyn, one of the original settieu-s in the Welah Colony of Patagonia, now returned fre the fXast licuo to his native land after an abren, of hiaif a oexmiry, and irresistibly drawn to the Eisteddfod. And I find ho is only one of many who have made their pilgrimage from the utter- most bounds of the earth to Tv!angoU-en to par- ticipato in Lh,, great national festival. I have already met man from the Continent, from North andSoh America, from South AfSirtoa and from Australia—truly a wonderful proof of dle separate national entity of tho Welsh peoplo. for after a.n absence in some oxu-,i of ovar laif a century these poople return not to England and the Derby, but to Wales and the Eisteddfod. SINGING IN THE RAIN. I I have said that it requires something more than even the steady downpour which has turned the streets into veritablo Soughs of Despond to deTjresa the E iste ddf 6dwr. I have jugt writnefesed a sitriking proof. Standing in a. sheltered porch in Cle-stroet-the chief thoroughfare of the litAlo town-I 3aw a company of half a dozen South Waliana trudging merrily along heedless of the heavy ;rain which had driven an others to shelter. Suddenly one of the party struck up "Hen Wlad fv Nhadau" in a rich tenor voice, singing it as effectively as I have ever heard it ffiven from the oonoort platform. People rmshed out from ahoID6 and shelters wondering to see a street musician plying his trade under auoh con- ditions only to wondoir t.he more wŒ1en they found that this was no seeker affter charity but a typical wanddring minstrel oblivious of the weather, remembering nothing but the love of oountry which instinctiveLy swelled out in song. Hia frtends joined in the chorus, and in a few minutes the old and loved refrain, "Gwlad Gwiad Plefidiol 'rwyf i'n gwlad." rolled from end to eo..i of the street, and was taken up by parties in the houses on every hand, Tnis persisrenl downpour seems to be an in. auspoious opening1 of the week's entertainment. Bulr it remmds one that the great Eisteddfod of fifty years ago, held in the same place, was also characterised by torrential rain acoompanying a wiunderstorm. Undaunted thereby a Welah bard brook out:— "Tra. irhed dwr, tra rhua taren,-Lm (j^awl, Tra gwelix yr huan, A lloer mewa manteH arian, Gwir lwvdd fo ti'r Gymraeg Ian And the Ia-n" is M alive to-day &3 it was tihen, a.nd thoso who sroak it quite aa un- doepres300 by olimatic oonditians. The name (i LlangolLeai brings before the mind's eve the world renowned inaidtj of that ilk. Everybody has heard of the Matds of LLan- gollen. They wetre two Irish adies, Miss Par soaby And Lady Eleanor Butler, who lived a secluded life at Plaanewydd, in whose beautiful grounds the Gorsedd will be opened tomorrow morning. They were peculiar, not to say eccen- tric. both in dress and manners. Seated at table there was nothing to distinguish them from men; they wore coats made precisely like those of men. weil starched n-eci,- cloths, and the regu- lation black beaver hats. They were thus the obieots of ridiculo to tlio-o- who clid not know that this eooentric garb oovered hearts bhan which even Wales never saw kindlier nor more svmDathetic. The last of the two old maids deed 77 yea-ri ago, at the age of 76, having lost her companion, aged 90, two yearu earlier. CYMMRODORION SOCIETY. At seven o'clock toniight the inaugural meet- ing of the Cvmmrodorion Society WIIFI held. Those who are inclined to poke fun at the idea of "Wales being: ruled from London" as they put it should first of all get some organisation in Wales to do for Wales whsut the Cymnrarodor- ion have done. Look back at the list of so- cieljies eatablisthed by, or at the instance of, the Cymmrodorion Society; see what these taavo done far Walas and Welsh literature and edu- cation—and then pour such ridicule as your conscience may permit you to do upon the Lon- don organisation, which has done what we in Wailes should have done, but did not do. It is to the initiative of the Cymmrodorion we owe the Welsh University, the intermediate schools, the impetus given to the Higher Education of Girls, the Welsh Language Society, and what not- It was with this object, tliot of initiating and mispiruiz & movement calculated to benefit the intellectual He of the community, that to-niglit's meelang w he'd. The subject dooJt with was "Village Societies," the speaker being Lady St. David's, better known to imoat of us as Mrs Wynford Fhilipps. Under the mc(re familiar1 name ahe figured some years ago tA & veiy pro-' miiie.nt figure indeed in the public life of Wales For the paet etght or nine years we have Jc-^t her from the platform and from pubiic function# and Walas lias been decidedly the pooi^r. Those who knew the slender figre and finely chi»ei)ed features of Mrs Wymford Phiiipps in the long ago would hardly recognise her in the full boeomed matronly and no less beautiful Lady St. David's. Had .not fortune favoured her with wealth, Mrs Wynford Philipps unight easily have made her fortune on the stage. There is no public speaker in the Plrinoipality to-day pos- sessed of such histrionic powers. Could her ser- vices bo secured as a Pirocer sor of Education for ministeniaj. students the pulpit of Wales would be the richer and the better for half a century to come. She has tried in riif.ial Pembrokeshire the ex- ne^iment of establishing village societies. In tl-e towns, particularly of North Wales, we have our literary soaiotios attached to almost cvry char*e«l—ir. tihe rural districts they are fev "00 far between. And she gave us to-night th'b i13- sult Oif hejt- exporimenting, gave it to an audience which hung on every word she uttered, and broke out time and egain into irresistibCe ap- plause. She possesses not only histrionic talent, and elocutionary, even oratorical powers far above the ordinary, but coupled therewith a fine lite.-Oirv taste which would have won fc^r her a itigh. possibly the highest, plaoe in unodera lite- rature. Sh, has -wquir-c*i the Wd-h ear' for tie poetry of alliteration, nd has grafted it on an Engiish literary style. For instance, speaking* of village life she si d that "¡,he .fripper:ea, f.riils, and follies of life are not evident there; it is em- bedded in the soil and open to the skies." Des- cribing the home productions of the members of her societr in Pembrokeshire -lie told us they included a great variety of objoctu "from butter to blouses, from trimmed hats to turnips, from hax'O-miatie toys to home-made bread." But I could go on quoting her striking sayings to fill a column. That is not tihe purpose of thot-o articles. It is a litb'e of everything and not too much of anything I am asked to give the reader LADY ST. DAVID'S AMBITION. Briefly stated then, Lad# St. David's wants to reinfuse tihie village with communal life. The village is being depopulated and the town being orowded, and, each is the worse for it. 'I bein ol'Owded, an.l oo.ch is the worse for it, 'I V i:llage tife h it<! ,doligil1f:>, but toWIl e. $ oharrns. Cannot s-J:noØt.nlng' be done to ooinbme the oharm of th-e town with the village, and thus oheok the 'onging for "seeing life" in the town? That is the problem the Village Society is calculated to solve. Eaoh f-iociety when formed dovelopea its own characteristic. In Lady St. David's case her village society has developed literary, imusioaJ, horticultural, art, and home excellonoo sections. Now the first three of these we can easily un- derstand. The love of flowers and of music is, to say the least, ac, strong in the village as in the town. But a literary society means some- thing we do not generally associate with village liItill less do we expect to find art fostered there. But wflien Lady St. David's showed us that there may be art even in the knitt-ing cl A stocking, and oertainly in the carving of a piece of furniture, we began to understand. She wants to see, the village cabinet-maker reinsta- ted. and the gimcrack veneered furniture now so generailj -Hected relegated to tie backyard, and tie o-ie and farm homes ot Wales once more filled with thos £ beautiful samples of de- oorative furniture witch have oaugod eo many ardent oolloctorB to break the tenth command- ment unblushirigly, and potentially the seventh: as well. By a system of corn pet ttion those societies draw from each member of the community the best that is in him, and when you get a per- son's best it is often very good indeed. The expenses of such a society in actual cash I a.re small; the expenditure of time, care, and energy on the part of someone must be gTeat. This is how Lady St. David's explained how the monev was found:— "Out of three villages numbering a thousand inhabitants ail told. about five hundred articles wer-j sent up for exhibition. We bought each other's Roods at our most amusing auction, and all that wit3 I-eft-aad that was vqiy little, so trrevt was our own demand for looaJ produc- tions—we sent to the Welsh mission in London. Wo made sufficient to enable us to start our ohDral Booiety and form a prize fund for next rear. Could we but multiply Lady St. David's a hul- d-rc?df(>Id, .,ind #nd oaoh of the Iiti4n(tr\- (> .d n a missionary tour through rural Wales, the coun- 4rv which is now a desert would soon blossom like tihe garden of the Lord! And why can't we? Sir Watkin'^ Reception a.t the Town Hail waa a briEiant. affair. When we left the rain had 1 stopped, and to-morrow promises better things BERIAH GWYNFE EVANS.

THE CYMMRODORION SOCIETY. OPENING MEETING. VILLAGE LIFE IN WALES. A meeting was held in the Memorial Hall, Llangollen on Monday night under the auspices of the Cymmrod'jrion Society and was well at tended. Lady St. David's (as yet better knowji aa Mrs Wy.nford Pniipps), a very popular speaker, eav) an addrccs on village societies in Wauea for the encoiiragvnxent of "the things that ar,- more excellent," as she put it. Sir J Hcbert Roberts, M.P., who occupied h chair, said that he was delighted to preside at a meeting addressed by Lady St. David's whose affection for and services to Wales were well known. The Cymmrodorion Society had rendered a deep and lasting service to the liter- ary side of NVolih life and it., culture, and" he hoped that tihe address they were to hear would go a long way towards solving the vital problem of the day—how to keep the peopie on tie land (applause). THE VILLAGE SOCIETY. Lady St. David's, in the course of â vorv interesting and decidedly clever address, said we had to face the fact tint, the v Iii .yt3 del'ghtful, wa,,3 alwa, odton dull..1lenoe tiie villages were growing emptier and the dues fuller-, and both uffered. How to keep the dear deli cits of the eld fashioned hariilct and yet to giv,) i.he dwellers therein the conscious pleasure thu came from the contrasts, the companion ship, the very ora-)h and crush of life-th,at was th.?,- qu?eslidii, and a; a clweler a v'.Ij '?l --s.lo a e I rejoio?A tc, '?,iv in a Weloli viJi.a.-e s?bo ha dared to a'uess that her fellow-villagers .needed what she needed—imusic, literature, art, gardens, com- panionship. enterprise, al the things that r..a.de man motre truly man, ami, above oil, the feeling that we are not ,left without the moving page- ant of progress (applause). In speaking of the viD'oge society which she had formed at her !home in Pembrokeshire, she said that the direct aim of the society was not to remedy dulness, for nothing could be drearier than to remedy dulness; the aim of the society was that tJhetv could not be dull (hear, hear ) The viUage society has not been started with the direct aim of keeping people in villages. It waa not started with the intention of solving problems. On the contrary, they had started not because there was any danger of thcir leaving their villagte, but because it was their purpose to remain, and the probfem was solved only so far as they ignored it, for .they eaid, "Let us not seek entertainment, but the entertaining. Let us not lack music, but make music.. Let ,us not yearn feir literature, but read books. Let us not oravo for oompanionship, but imake friends. Let us not weary for beauty, but plajit flowers and bring harmony and colour into our hordes." (Ar)nktitoo.) T.?teir a?in was that their ul sho d be bott-or because th,ey jiyed in it, And that ovci?von.9 cof tiiem should produoe fjow4e- thing withia &a& oar to "W lww they oouw do, and if they could do nothing, than they would learn to do one thing within the year,and brin? a teacher in t'ie.jr midst that they might learn. At tie end of the ycor they would meet together to see what they had done. MORE, OF THE EISTEDDFOD SPIRIT CXae of ifte greatest gains of their work was this meeting together. Mh acquirable effort that iv,Li made was necessarily linked with the at forces that divided political and denomi- national parties, and tho more earnest men ajid women weno on those great issues the more joy- fully would they unite wian a worthy moment for uri-on caruo The history of every village would tell tie* n of some proud and historic mo- ment when those who seldom met did meet, 'lifted out of their dilferencos by the great- ness of the occasion. Could they bring the spirit of the National Euteddfod and the Cym- mrodorion Society into the local life of even the sniaik-st WeJsah vilalgo? Could those occasions not bo multiplied without low if they planted in every village a purjKXie that thO<ÆJ who differed most migat serve with equal devotion? It was true that man,y a vi-lago eisteddfod did take tliioe. often mast successfully, and where they existed they would forun the nucleus of further development no doubt, but the essence of her pla.n was that they wished the whole of the Ito forrm an organisation and everyone to take some part in benefitting the village peren- nially and permanently (applausj). They wished to ffiv-3 a looal hubitation and a name to the spirit of culture and enterprise that existed in everv plaoe where Welsh peoplo were gathered toe-ether Tny inhabitants of three parishes in tie midst e-4 wi loh she lin-ed n-tot annuadly for the 1,?trl)o6o of supporting the clittrlt nL rsing aasc?clatioii. ih,e ?vat, gia-d to think i tll?lt the oi-v ng need for nurses had brought men and women together in a sonorous endeavour to aid their fellows, and ihe .yjhovxl that the greaA effect Wales must soon ma.ke to seoure tho nurses that tlhe nation in Parliament had declared to be essential would waken men and women to the possibility of unit- ing locally for intellcctval and artistic as well as pKvg'.cal needs. So it had been with the three village*. They had joinod together to i-upport a nurse, %nd at their last meeting Ilhe suggested that they ohouki form a r-ew bond of union, and that eVNf villager should be asked to join, that each of them should do something to show what t'heir village could produoe and that at the end of ayiair tiey should meet and see what they had achieved- FLOWERS AND MUSIC, She proposed that thciy Should unite for the purposes of music, literature, Nrt, and horticul- ture. If the society did not fulfil all their hopes it would not have failed utterly if thir, alone should result—that weeds and thistles should, be banished from every garden and the villages of Walea should pour forth flowers as emblems of ideal over the 9 bapenet?is o& tii-e?r gar- IY d?en walls. Theix need or inusrx w--3 a.,3 great as tth., need for flowers, and their second section \\oa.:¡. the musical dep»artmen/t. The music and soner of Wales had even been her glory, yet tliore. were many villag% wi,,Ihout ohoraj, so- cleti-es, t.-11<)ug,i them WIL% no via?ao in Wale?s where 14 vouri, ttir"ats and vct?()qi oou' not ooln- bine in a harmany of sweet sounds. They were told tihafc it was pitiable to see how many young musicians wore drawn to London and there failed to make a living, niA asked in their des- Dair whether it was not a irriistake to foster such a love of musio in the people. There coord not be too many amateurs in the true sense of "loveru of music," but to live by music or by art was only possible for a very few, until they had a people more awakened to artistic needs And powers. When their villages were awakened to "the tbings tlhiat are more excellent" the first thing tiev would need wa* a master to teach them how to sing and to lead the choral society, a.nd in datys to oome urany a young professional might find a happy, even if a humble, living, if he would follow a simple lifa, pursuing his /avoviite cccupation in tome quiet oorner of the land, and when this happened all the land would benefit (applause). Many important societies had been founded to help 10 bring light and lear.ni ng to tic- people., tind supreme an-iong. jin Wales were- the National Edfod Association and the Commrodorion Society. A ill age societies, if tsbabliahed, woul-d form a vital centre whore other organisation^ of prai- i,ical value rnl(-bt fin<l a welcome for.th,,i?r work. Ttio Wel,,I. InitLitrieo ?-,jsmiatioin lod aopom- ,)I '.shr-d rwiilts elrea-dy, and in a giri. cultaral districts where there were at present no local manufacturea, wood-carving, carpentry, and I needlework might be encouraged with benefit to ■iverv home. There woce mtiny villages where hand-kn'itted stockings were rapidly going out of fashion, but none where old hands and young imight not ply their busy and useful needles, and old feet and young .not be the bettor for wearing their production^ (hear, hear). The National Health Society .and Physical! Education League sent lecturers or literature which were certain to be welcomed, and in the library they would have publications to make known the work of other societies1, so that their members might de- cido in which direction they would develop their gifta and opportunities. The library might be auite a small one, but should oontain volumes telling tihe story of their own neighbourhoods. THE QUESTION OF FUNDS. After deciding to have a horticultural depart- mftrrt, a musical eocidy, and a literary society the auestion arose—what are those to do who are not Merary, artiatic, imusical, or even horti. cultural. The anwwefc- was that there was one interes*- all shared, and therefore the society had a department to develop home excellence which all ooild join (applause). Than came the tire* some, but necessary question of funds. It was decided that no one should pay anything to be- long to the Fociety, but everyone should make something and give his handiwork. The value of the material was to be no more than one shilling for eaclii article in one department, and sixpano.) in another department, and thctre was, no one in the village o,- in any village but could make som-nhing or if he oould not, why then they would start a department to teach him and they would give him the life of Rob.nson Crusoe to road (laughter). All the home-made articles would be eodhibited and j udged by competent judges, prizes would be given for the best, and all would be --old by auctton afterwardo for the benefit of the society. "We ata-ted our village society about four or five months ago," said Lady St. David's, "and without waiting for a ye ir to elapse we held an inaugural meeting and fete throe weeks ago. Ou,t of thiee villages, numbering, maybe, over a tliotijz',ind inh:,Lb; .t,:tnt-3 all told, about five hundred ar iclci were sent up for exhibition. They in eluded a great variety of objects from butter to b'ouses, from trimmed hats to tur.nips, and from hon.e-made :oys to home-made hf-eod. We bought each other's goods at our mqt amttgl*: I .n" auction, and all that was loft-and that was very. little on this cocaeJon, so grea.t wna our own de- mand for local products—we sent to the WeL-h mission in London; we made sufficient to enable its to start our choral society and form a prize fund fo' next year (applaui-e). We have learned the taste* and talents of our neighbours, and have st< prised at their gifts. We have a. new and never-ending topic of conversation, no longer tie weather, so w ell-worn and change-' ab.c: no longer tie criticism of our neigibour, eo chilling; no longer a disocasion of what wo or others oannot do, cannot have, cannot bear, but a dliscussion of aJI that -we and others can make and see and do, invent and construct. Aguin, we laarn eomething of tie art of govern- ing in our society. If there are any Miltons' we want them not to be mute- and inglorious, but to sing. If there are any village Hampdens we want them to govern and not immediately to set forth to do something else aciniewhere else, but to remaiin to brighten and beautify and ben,efit the 1)1.a<)o in which t.?hey live. We h,()Pe tqoc?eties are starw with hjigli pu.rlx.r,e, ch-e?er?y qpitrit, and an enterprising 'Out.- look the. ay b ',n,g -?4ometh-ng of the gav ro. y m ri n%3.r,oo of life to those who have tib,, fa i-r-it but i,ot the chance 'of aclve'nturo (applause?. APPRECIATION AND CRITICISM. Colonel Cornwallis West, in moving a vote of thanks to Lady St. David's, expressed his great appreciation of the object aimed at.. He main taii.ed that those who should first move in tils matter were the public authorities, who ought to do everything in their power to improve the dwellings of the poor. M,7.i Fre,-m-an -,awndod the propcfal. Mr TAewelyrL Wiffiamr M-P., 4?IrnaTred to the' idea, th,,tt villlag. life En Wlal-,s wa8 dull, ua-dessi t h:d charig-d onorr,.iounly R?n!ce.he was a l?oy.. ?, oon.5i<l,)ted that even now tf,.ere was a large amotin-t ->f that discipliw in all. wh.ie ,,h, d to Produce that %Cl,f-g<)vorning chara,&tet. 'rhi?h Lady St. David's had spoken sc) highly -?f (1h.ear, h-r). Btil4 the,t6nden*7 of the eg-o W" tint Peorle of tf;is ciha raot,-r inevitably tiriftod into? the- 6r6'r towrw, leaving Uio little vi:la?ge -unitiec. 1)6rgt C;r tw-ix Arcngest ollwr&c- t4r?t. Thxt, he fe&Ted,'w&s the rook ?upoit whioh? this, L-reat irtatiorial rr?ov?n?e.?at. w<>uld'-be-wro&ed.? -The Rcv.Pro-ftssor -Hugh Will?tinal Wh?; B?aM ?h" the valogeo a4d towns had ,I*w spoken at. What really made a viUagc or a town was not the number but tie quality of men. Mr Alfred T. Davies, secretary of the Welsh Department of the Board of Education, as an illustration of what might be done in villages, inste.. the riin,, f ;C350 Gl?yn C-eir' 9 by the effort) of t?Wv;Ia?;-ers f., tl'hoo provw.on of a memorial to Ceiriog. The Rjv. C. Lewis advooatod the widest dissemination of the excellent paper read at that meeting. If the subject oould be properly placed before the peoplo he believed that the object aimed at would be accomplished. He suggested that the work could be aided by Lady St. David s undertaking a miissionary tour through rural Wales (cheers). JT/te Rev. Evan Jones, Carnarvon, suggested as a start the establishing cf village libraries. The vote of thanks was carried, as was also a like compliment to the Chairman.

TUESDAY'S PROCEEDINGS. LLANGOLLEN, Tuesday Night. Had we been anything but Eisteddfod wj,y, and ardent a.t that, we should certainly never have dreamt, of facing the relentless downpour ol rain which at the time tihe Gorsedd Bards wero to assemble for' robing purposes turned the fctreets into quagmires and the street girlies into foaming toirrents. But zeal, no less than faiith, can overcome difficulties. And 8) a goodly number assembled in tie robing room. Here, however, considera- tic,n both of comfoa and ocoikomy 'I? preval -?,d. It was decided to hold the G-or,.sodd-that was im- perative. The Eisteddfod ooutld not proceed without a fouaial opening of the Garsedd. But what a pity it-would be to spoil our newly laundried bardic robes Perish the thought! The sun might shine o.n Thursday, but if we wore our robes to-day what a washed out limp crew we should appear 1 So it was resolved to proceed to the Gorsedd circle in mufti, eodh member of the brotherhood wearing a trifle 'e:'4r of oorn as a button-hole. This was the emblem selected by Ab Ithel for lie bar-die fraternity at the liangolien Eistedd- fod 50 years ago. Ab Itiiel, it may be re- marked, thoug'h qong siti-ce gone over to the ma- jority is s'ùl recognised as one of the highest authorities on bardia.n and its customs. On the way-th-D committee had thoughtfully provided us with a number of ctriiagc.we met Gwyn-Jd and Cadvan, v ho had, eiihor overslept them.elves or spent too long at their orisons. Gwvncdd c-nrried his. druodic robe with him un der his arm, wiatohing it indeed with lovelike care. It was the only bardic robe in the Gor- sedd turde this morning—and was not on public exhifc^iim Scm.3 peoplo think the crowds came to see the gailv coloured robes of the bards, and that the feminine portion of the crowd is attracted by a. d-isire to obtain fresh fashion hints for their own ward>-<-be. To-day's experience disposed onoe lor all of so absurd an idea. Though all the Gorsedd b-.trds were in mu'ti, the proceed- ing ■> wore as eagerly watched and passed off with as much eclat as if they had boeai clad tike So'omon in all his glory. There was the crowd ji.iiing .the streets, and there was another crowd awaiting us around the Goisedd cirole. The only people who were really disappointed were the snapshotters. These not only missed the customary picturesque garbs of the Gorsedd. but when they took a. snapshot only succeeded as a irule in developing on the pla.te a splendid exhibition of open umbrellas. 'In the faoe of the sun and in the eye of light" was a motto altogether out of place to- day. Th) great swotrd was not so unsheatled nor tho bardic peaor proclaimed, but in the faoe of showers of rain and under the shelter of the welcome if humlM. gsunp. Still, as I have said, everything pa.?sctd off well. D.yfed opened the Gorsedd, Bethel offered up the Gorsedd prayer, the crowd standing bare- headed in the falling rain; Eifionydd troned t3.bout like & chicking hen who see. her ducklings riaking for the pand, nervously anxious that nothing should go wrong1. I There, at the gateway of the sacred cir»*D, I saw my c/d friend of yesterday, R. J. Beirwyn, from Patagonia. He was the bearer of an offi- cial message from the Archdruid of Patagonia, Gutyn Ebrill, now over 80 years of age. Hero is a copy of this document, the first of its kind received here in a thousand years:— "A'; yr Archdckjrwydd Dyfed, yn Ngorsedd Eisteddfod IJangollen, Medi 1—5, 1908. "Dan nawdld Du v a'i Dangnef. "Y gwir jn crbyn y byd. v_)cb y byd 1' r iaith Gy.;nraeg. "0 Iesu na'd gamwailih. "Gutyn Ebrill, Archdoorwydd Patagonia (trwy apwyntiad yn N.g'orsoddau yn Nghonwy a Llao- iwst yn 1881), "Yn. fii.fon anerch at y frav/doliaeth yu Ngor- sedd Eisteddfod Frenhinol Llangollen. "lilwyddiant i chwi, frodyjr anwyl, i godi 'rhe.n W'ad yn ei hoi. Ilyderaf y cewch ohwi gynrych- iolteth dda oddiymi yn mhonsonau urddavol El- uned a Berwyn. Coder toll y.n Llangollein—ar y beirdd A'r byd a fedd a wen; I ganu byth heb gynen, I roi'r parch i" r lor y pen. "G.LVN Ebrrll, dros ei 80 oed. "Llwyn Ebrill, Gwladfa'r Gamwy, "Patagonia, Gorff. 15, 1908." In tie circle stood a clergyman of the Church of England deeply interested in the ptoceedings. Nobody knew him not .even Vincent Evans, who knows everybody, or Marchant, who knows all the re3. I ventured to acoost him, and found him a genial Welsh clergyman yclept the RIc'¡, John Jones, distinguished from the few (?) oth-r John Joneses still occasionally to be found in Wales bv his bardic title of lean Meurig. He is t iLative of Ysrirecl MPuvig in ganshire: was initiated as ia Druid at the Gor- sedd at PwliheJi 33 years ago; spent most of tho time since then far irom the land of his fathers never hearing a word of his mother tongue. For nearly a score of yours he had acted as a mis- sianary in Canada, and is now chaplain to the Epping Union in Essex. He speaks Welsh as fluently as the day he was first initiated a T 'd ji-ti? and i-4 as ardent an Bieteddfodwr a. any of th,? thousic,ncti. who th,r<)n,,ed the town to'-day. ,&Liss Llovci Oirt*r, of ?-.trn.?,.rvc)n, g,racefu?ly performed the duty of presenting the Archdruid with the Abetrthged, or Horn of Plenty, ob- livious of the f.aol, that Dyfed is still a bacheloi. Thj Archdmid, however, did not forget it, nor wi.1 he coon forget the blushing maiden who in rer you'hfj.l beauty tendered him the iradiiional hotr.ag<0 and hospitality, which her iady ances- tors in the dim past were wont to extend to the pilgrim, the seer, and The stranger. We had a lady harpist, Telynores Lleifiad, to accompany Eos Dair in lis nenillion si.nging. An- other 4adv carried a beautiful specimen of the Welsh Peithynen. An asred dame well on in the seventies draped in t aciitional Welsh oostume, carried couple of sii"uvll ftheayes of corn sym- bolic of the plenty to be found at Llangollen She ioined in the chorus of "Hen. wlad fy nhad- all" with a verve which afhamed many ane-fourth her veara IN THE PAViUON. We hastened back to the Pavilion to meet with, more surprises The vast edifice was almost ,ull, and b-cf,&te the day was b;alf over f was packed to overflowing. The untying influence of the Eisteddfod was manifested by the Rev Evan Jones and the Bis- hop of SL Asaph sharing the honours of the day between th-cin, one as pfesidesut of the morning and the other of the afternoon session. In addition to the Chancellor of the Ex- chcauor and the President off the Board of Trade, were Mrs Edwards, 1he wife of the Bishop of St. Asaph, and Mrs Lloyd George, who sat in the front irow of the reserved seats, the Bishop Of St. Asaph taking hia seat next to 9 her during the chief ohoral competition; Mr Her- bert iLewis, M.P., Junior Lord of the Treasury; Sir Hudson Kearisy, M.P., Mr Llewelya Wil- liams, M.P., and the two daughters oP the Welsh poet Coiriog (Mrs David Evan3, of HaveTfoird- t, and Mr3 Cadle, of Penarth). The Bishop and his two distinguished guests, Mr Lloyd George and Mr Winston Churchill, travelled by motor car to Llangollen, arriving early in flhe afternoon. While the two Minis- ters were lunching the Bishop went to the pavi- lion at the appointed horjr to take the chair, and was at onoo recognised and accorded a very friendly and general ohoer. The Rev. Evian Jones, as president of tt. morning meeting, had a reoeption amounting al. most to an ovation. Himself an old Eisteddtfod- wr, the Nonconformist Bishop of Carnarvon struck the pight keynote in his presidential ad- dress, and wisely kept it within reasonable limits as regards length. A full report of the rev. gen- tleman's speech is given elsewhere. In his ores.dent.jal addresa in the afternoon, the Bishop proved 11 k 3 his predecessor in the mo'ning. to have been pre-sent at the great Eis- teddfod of 50 yearns ago, and though only ten years old at the time, has pleasant recollections of that historic event. His lordship's speech will bo found elsewhere. It was warmly appreciated and applauded thv,c.gh it stood between the expectant audience aud the grext choral competition. CHIEF CHORAL COMPETITION. In this cL'ss a prize of L150 was offered to the vinnar, with nothing for the second and third choirs, however near they might be in merit to tho filrst. This arrangement is to many weH- wi?hor> of the Eisteddfod a very unsatisfactory one. It is adopted because, as there 19 only this sum available, it is likely to be more attractive as a whole than if it were divided. O.a the official programme the entries make & (list that is imposing, unwittingly in more senses than one. Thus, nine choiirs were down for the chief choral competition, but only four ap- p^-ured. The committee, of course, cannot bo blamed foir what appears to be something very like a. breach of faith with the public, but in future it might he weH to ascertain the in-ten- tions of these why enter so casually, and to frankly let the public know wha-t to expect. The reasons why so many chcirs withdrew have not transpired. It couldhardly have been because of tiie difficulty of tb3 musio. Probably at no first-daz,3 competition held in recent years in Waiet, or in England has musio of suah aim- plicity beon chosen. The first test was a motet, "The Hiti of 'Calvary," by Mr J. H. Roberts; the second a. chorus, "Insult-ad, Chained," from an oratori) by Mr Emlyn Evans; and the third the chorus, "Ya Nations," from Mendelssohn's "St Paul." Mr Roberts's piece 18 moving, h./mn-iike composition, with some scope for pathos and sustained singing That 'by Mr Emlyn Evans cemancla rhytJhnic sensitivenciss and dramatic interpretation; and the Mendel- srsohn chorus is so well-known as not to description Mr Lloyd George, who heard all the choiirs sing, would probably agree that this fine chorus has earned an old age pension and a well-d}seorv<d rest. The four choirs that sang were the Tonypan- dv and District Harmonic Society, conducted by Mr D. Evans; the Chester Eisteddfod Choir, conducted by Mr J. Skeldon; the Rhymney Gwent Ohoral Society, conducted by Mr Daniel, Owen; and tie Llanelly Choral Society, con- ducted bv Mr John Thomas. During the absence of the adjudicators, tie; tVo (Cabinet minister^ mounted the piationm amid a ]>e'fcct ^orm of cheers. The hugte aud- ience r.se to its feet and cheered,waved hais,um-; brcllas, and anything' Oy for several minutes. .rn-,reoe.ot.u.n,c;waa, ijadoiitl ■ oi»plja.tia ,iU. its P V 11 be ranee. Mr Winston Churchill seemed particu- larly affected by its heartiness. He is .not so used to Welah enthusiasm as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. After Mr Churchill and Mr Lloyd George had opoken (the speeches are printed elsewhere), tho adjudicators, comprising Mr Co 1 or id ge Tay lor, Mr Emlyn Evans, Mr David Jenkins, Mr Harry Evans, and Mr J. T. Reca appeared to give their award. Mr Emlyn Evans, who addressed the audience in Wctsh, said that on the whole the standard of the singing had not been so high as at some previous Eisteddfodis. But the<y had tried to strike the balance, with the result that the prize was awarded to Llanolly. The decision was received with great cheering. The bard j' meeting which followed the Eis- teddfod ended in a. ta-t.ce, when everybody had expected a Ditiis civil war. F^ the present, at all events, the Bardic Foace contisues to prevail.

THE REV. EVAN JONES DEALS IN REMINI- SCENCES OF '58. The President in the morning, the Rev. Evan Jones, in the course of his address, said that the reason for holding the National Eisteddfod that year at Llangolien was the fact that a similar Eisteddfod was held there just fifty years ago, and the reason why he acceded so readily to the invitation of the oommittee to preside on the oocasion was that-he felt there was a near connection between himself and the Eisteddfod of 1858. In that year he and a young friend edited and published a small Welsh publication. In that little newspaper special notice was taken of the Eisteddfod. On the 10th of July, 1858, just two months beforo the Eisteddfod, over the signature "M." ap- peared Ceiriog's immortal song to the Eistedd- fod, commencing with the weli-known lines;, Yr oedd fy nhad yn llipryn main A nain fy nain yn hogen; Yr ooddwn innau bron yn ddyn, Yn myn'd yn un ar hugren, Yn eighteen hundred and lift) wyth Yn steddfod fawr Llangollen. The song raised within him an unquenchable desire to be present at the Eisteddfod. At the time he was staying with some lriends at 'fo- wyn. and a small company of them ventured to hire a four-in-hand to take them all the way through Dolgeltey, Bala, and Corwen to Llan- goHen. That, lie said, was the best advertise- ment that the Eisteddfod ever had. Ho and his friends wesro looked upon as fanatics or mad- men, and when they reached Llangollen the whole town came out to meet them (laughter). EISTEDDFOD OF 1858. There wore three very nonoeable things in connection with that Eisteddfod. To begin with, it rested entirely upon the shoulders of four clergymen, whoso names ought to be held in eternal glory among the Welsh 'xx>ple. They were the Rev. John Williams (Ab Ithel), L'an- y-Mawddwy; Joseph Hughes (Carn Ingh), Ilud- dersfield; R. Lloyd (Eslyrt), i-iianfynydd; and Morgan Sior Meirion, Tregynon. It was also called the rainy Eisteddfod, for it rained almost the whole time--(Iaught-or),tnl induced Gwal- ohmai to say, "Wei, broliwoh vr umbrellas" (Weil, orack up the umbrellas) (laughter). Last- ly, it was the Eisteddfod of the witnholding of prizes (laughter). In writing a short history of the Eisteddfod Ab Ithel stated that th-VIre was strong and unreasonable prejudioe against it. The subscriptions oame to only £ 200. '1 ho nobility were against it because none of theca. had been asked to preside. The Nonconfor- mists were prejudiced because it was carried on by olorgymon. The clergy were afraid to support it lest something might be said in it against the English bishops in Wales. And none could be found to act as a local commit- tee unless they wero indemnified against pecu- niary risks. Nevertheless they had a glorious Eisteddfod (cheers). Some of the brightest talent of Wales was brought to light; for ex- ample, Ceiriog, Llevv. Llwyfo, ulasynys, Owen Alaw, and last, but not least, Miss Edith Wynne—(cheers),—chief vocalist of nalas. It produced some of the best-known compositions in the Welsh language, such as the ode on Mass Bosworth by Eben Fardd, "Myfanwy Fychan," by Ceiriog; "Barddas," by Ab Ithel; and Stephen Merthyr's c-ssay on the finding of Arri-arloa by -Madoc. It was w comrrionloe- a n. ..t to the Eisteddfod (apl)lauw). AFTER 50 YEARS. Since then 50 years had passed away, and during that period all things had been made new except the old country. All the bishops of Wales were Welsh (oh--o-s). They had had ele- mentary schools, colleges, and University (cheers).. The old Eisteddfod had united the whole nation. For at least a week they agreed to bury the hatchet—(laughter and cheers)—and to sing the words of Ceiriog on Alun Mabon :-r Arcs mae'r mynyudau mawr, Rhuo trostynt mae y gwynt; Clywir eto gyda'r wawr Gan bugeiluiid megis cynt; Tyfa eto lygaid dydd (I gyloh traed y graig a'r bryn; Ond bugeiliaid newydd sydd Ar yr hen fynyddoedd hyn. An arferion Cymru gynt Newid ddaeth o rod i rod, Mae oenhedlaeth wedi mynd A ohenhedlaeth wedi dxl, Wedi oes dymhostiog hir Alun Mabon mwy nid vw Ond mae'r heniaith yn y' tir A'r alawon hen yn fyw.

BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH'S SPEECH. The President of the afternoon meeting was the Bishop of St. Asaph. His lordship, who're- ceived a great ovation, said:-The position of Eisteddfod president is a difficult one. It Î8 r(-,au'.rtxi uf li' i that he ??li(>uld say t)othilk? and that he shou d say it I tniess than five minutes. My experience is that a public speaker requires more time than that for such a theme. I begin this afternoon by asking a question—Why have you made a Bishop President of the Association ? Fifty years ago. I was at the Eisteddfod here at Llangollen, when the hero and martyr of the Eisteddfod was Thos. Stephens, of Merthyr, a man of European fame as a scholar, who, hke many another famous man, got his first start in the Eisteddfod. I was reading the other day the History of Wales by Mr Owen M. Edwar&(app lauae) -and he used those words "Pretending hoary aniiquity the Eisteddfod has beeorre a necessary part of the national of Wales." Now lor 300 year* the Eisteddfod was dead, and it was only in 1819 that it WM re-establishec? in Dyfed by the Bishop of St. David's, and in 1820 his example was followed in North Wales bv Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. It is very often asked what the Eisteddfod has done, and an Englishman said to me-and Englishmen are a little super- cilioua som.etimes-what is the good of all the rubbish writben, said, and sung at the Eisledd- fod ? I replied that when I was at Oxford most of tho singing I heard there was rubbish, and if you asked the examiners to-day ti.ey would say that more rubbish is written there in a year than in any other place. And why do we-end our young men to Oxford? It is in order to get their rubbish polished; and here in the Eisteddfod they had an open university where all, from the shepherd boy down to the pro- fessor—and professors also write rubbish occa- sion-,tily-can send their rubbish to be polished wittra-ut fee and without faVOLIT (,?pl)la tK) add. Whell-?. h,tvo only one more wctd ?,ng- liihn-?on ,nc,,L-r at the Eisteddfod I say "Lot u3 (Continuation on next page.)

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