(Aberystwyth Observer 03.09.1864)
The grand annual and national gathering of our bards and literati commenced on Tuesday week, at Llandudno. The object of these great gatherings is to cultivate, promote, and foster poetry, literature, and art to Collect, search, and arrange the historical records, and the literary remains of the nation to assist in the publication of original works in the Welsh language to foster and encourage native talent, and generally to rise the social, moral, and intellectual character of the people.” As a literary institute, the Eisteddfod is one of the most ancient. There was in the early ages something in connection with the Eisteddfod,similar to the Olympic festival of the ancient Greeks and although not perhaps coeval with those renowned games it is of very ancient origin, as early as the sixth century. We read of a great Eisteddfod being held in North Wales, when the renowned and ancient Welsh bards, Taliesin and others, were competitors for poetical honours. In those days these bards and the Druids exercised an immense and powerful influence on the people frequently exciting to war, inasmuch as Edward the First having vainly endeavoured to conquer them, betook himself to cruelly massacring the Bards, and thus destroying the influence they exercised over the people still, in his cruel and despotic reign, we find these now annual assemblies taking place. In 1523, by and under the sanction of Henry VIII., one was held at Caerwys, in Flintshire; and in 1568, in the same place, under the distinguished and royal patronage and authority of Queen Bess and so on throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and in the present century they have been of frequent occurrence. In 1828, at Denbigh, an Eisteddfod was held, under the presidency of H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex, when letters were read from Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Moore, and Robert Southey, acknowledging the honour conferred upon them in being elected members of the Cymrodorion Society. In 1832, another great Eisteddfod was held at Beaumaris, which was honoured by the presence of her Majesty the Queen, and her royal mother, the Duchess of Kent. In 1858 it was again revived, when it was held at Llangollen, where measures were adopted to re-organise it, and adopt it to the wants and requirements of modern times. Since then, the Eisteddfod has been held annually, taking place alternately in North and South Wales, and which have had a most beneficial influence in promoting the well-being of the people, socially, morally, and intellectually. That delightful watering-place, Llandudno, was, at the Swansea meeting, selected as the place for holding the Eisteddfod 1864. The Eisteddfod was held in a large and spacious pavilion, built expressly for the occasion, from the design of George Felton, Esq., architect, and erected in a good and substantial manner by Mr. Pritchard, which certainly reflects the greatest credit upon the designer and builder The pavilion is built in an octagonal form, and capable of accommodating 5,000 persons. The interior is most tastefully decorated, the noble mottoes of the ancient British bedizening the sides, such as “Truth against the world;” “Llygad haul a gwynebgoleuni;” “God, and all” goodness Nothing is truly good that can be excelled;”“Of noble race was Shenkin;”“Iesu, na’dgamwaith;”“Heart to heart;” “Calon wrth galon;”“Deffroimae’ndydd;””Truth will have its place;” “Welcome to the temple of genius;” “Nid byth ondbythoedd.”
Cheap excursion trains ran from all parts, together with steam boats from Liverpool and Menai Bridge. At half-past nine o’clock on Tuesday, the Council of the Eisteddfod, under the presidency of the Rev. J. S. Griffiths, rector of Neath, with the Bards, Druids, Ovates. and the friends of the Eisteddfod, assembled at the Board-room of the town commissioners, from whence they proceeded to open the Gorsedd, a description of which having been so repeatedly given would therefore be superfluous, beyond saying that anciently it was the “Throne” (Gorsedd), where the laws were promulgated, and all that was known of the history and records of the country was rehearsed in the hearing of the people thus was the laws, history, and proverbs of the country conveyed from generation to generation. Now its purpose is to confer the various degrees on the Druids, Bards, and Ovates, who have been successful in passing an examination in poetry, music, science, and art. The Gorsedd was opened with all the ancient ceremony by the Rev. R. Parry (Gwalchmai), of Llandudno, who held a sheathed sword in his hand, reading the proclamation: The truth against the world.” In the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, the sun approaching the Autumnal Equinox, in the forenoon, of the twenty-third day of August, after due proclamation of one year and a day, this Gorsedd is opened within the Cwmwd of Creuddyn, in the province of Gwynedd, with invitation to all who may assemble here, where no weapon is unsheathed, and where judgment will be pronounced upon all compositions and works of merit submitted for adjudication: “In the face of the sun and the eye of light.” “The truth against the world.”
The Rev. W. Jones (Myfyr Mon) then offered up the Gorsedd prayer, in Welsh, thus:
DyroDduwdynawdd,
Ac yn dynawddnerth,
Ac yn dynerthddeall,
Ac yn neallgwybod,
Ac yn ngwybod, gwybod y cyfiawn,
Ac yn ngwybod y cyfiawneigaru,
Ac o garu, carupobhanfod,
Ac yn ngharupobhanfod, caru Duw.
The candidates for druidical, bardic, and other orders were then introduced within the mystic circle of the Gorsedd. Among the number who graduated and were invested with the various degrees are the following: Druids, Rev. J. Morgan, (Dyfri), Llandudno, Rev. T. Nicholas, D.D., (Gwyddon Dyfed), Carmarthen. Bards: Rev. W. F. Kittermaster, as Rhonwedd o Warden, Shrewsbury. Ovates: G. Felton, Esq., (Caswallon 4), Llandudno.
The President, W. Bulkeley Hughes, Esq., Plascoch, Anglesey, to whom an address had been presented, read by the Rev. John Morgan, Llandudno, spoke as follows: Reverend and dear Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen: I esteem it the greatest honour that could be conferred upon me to receive this address, coming as it does from the hand of one who is so generally respected and revered in the country. (Hear, hear). Ladies and Gentlemen: You have heard in the language that is generally spoken in this country the address which has been presented to me, an address which I am perfectly aware I do not deserve, but, at the same time, knowing the parties from whom it comes, and feeling the observations it contains are those of truth and sincerity, I accept them with gratitude. I accept them as a Welshman, as the spontaneous feelings of my friends. A common idea is prevalent with regard to the keeping up of the Eisteddfod. It is to the effect that it is the desired object of those who support it to perpetuate the Welsh language to the exclusion of the English and I am sorry to say that even at the present time such an opinion exists amongst a few, but I am happy also to say that that opinion is fast diminishing. I think that really sober-minded and intellectual persons are perfectly convinced that that is not our intention. Our intention is, that whilst we wish to perpetuate the Welsh language, because it is more pure and more beautiful than any other in the known world: I may excite a smile on the part of my English friends and audience by that observation, but let them know it as perfectly as I do, and they will be convinced of the truth of my observations, I was going to observe, in proof that that feeling is not general, that we last year had the honour of witnessing, at the Swansea Eisteddfod, the presidency of a spiritual lord, who portrayed the rational and the intellectual object of our meeting, as at this meeting. If our numbers are not great this morning, upon future occasions I trust we shall see a great audience at the meetings, and that we shall give you every satisfaction and delight. I contend that though all the compositions produced for that Eisteddfod were not entirely of great merit, still the compositions were of great benefit to all classes, and the diffusion of knowledge was general by the establishment of such meetings, and especially amongst the masses of the community. As to the kind expressions towards himself contained in the address, he could only say that whatever might be his position he should endeavour hereafter more usefully than ever to do his duty in his country. The worthy president was loudly cheered during the delivery of his address, and resumed his seat amid great applause.
Several of the bards having delivered their poetical addresses, Gwalchmai then addressed the meeting, reviewing the various attempts made to put down the Welsh language, commencing with the Romans, then the Normans, with Edward I. and Henry IV., and other English kings. The address was received with much applause.
The Secretary then read the adjudication of Llawdden and Ceiriog upon the verses of The Mother and Her Firstborn,” the prize £2 and a medal being awarded to the winner, who proved to be Ellen Prydain, Lady Chetwoode, in her absence, acting as her deputy, and therefore invested on her behalf. Adjudication on the best Congregational Tune: First prize £2 second ditto, £1: Upwards of 80 pieces had been sent in. The prizes were awarded as follows: first prize to Mr. John Thomas, Blaen Annerch, South Wales 2nd, to a person who signed himself “Gogarth,” but who did not answer to his name.
Adjudication by Nicander and Emrys; on, “The Leek,” an Englyn: Prize One Guinea. This was awarded to Bachgen o Walia, who did not answer to his name. It did not transpire who the author was, and Mrs. Davies (Mwynwen Men), Cheltenham, was invested by the chairman as his representative. There were 53 competitors for this prize.
Dr Vaughan, of London, was then called upon to address the meeting he said he supposed he was called upon to speak because his name indicated that he must have something of the Celtic blood in his veins. He had, and he was not ashamed of it. (Cheers). His ancestors unquestionably were Welsh, and he thought none the worse of them on that account. In England it was very common with the men to take merry with their Welsh neighbours, under the idea that” the latter attached a great deal of credit to very doubtful matters connected with their history that they were prone to believe very much more concerning the ancient glory of their country than the cool English intellect could see its way through to credit. Perhaps that was in some degree true, yet it must be admitted, he thought, that if the Welsh had erred a little in that direction, they had only done so in common with the Celt. Wherever they found him, if they wont to Scotland they found it so there, if they went to Ireland they found it also there, for all had a considerably remote ancestry, and that ancestry had a good deal of glory thrown around them. Lord Macaulay says that at the time of the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of this country were not more advanced in civilization, than were the in- habitants of the Sandwich Islands when discovered by Captain Cook. This assertion he’ denied, and quoted Gibbon on the other side of the question. It was a libel. He stated that he, H. Vaughan, with Celtic blood in his veins, stood on that platform, and said it was a libel. (Great applause). Resuming, however, the question immediately before, the rev. doctor said the origin of their festival might be a myth but the people who could conceive a noble myth, and admire it when they had created it, were and must be a noble people. (Hear, hear). Let it be that King Arthur was not all that the romances, as they were called, that described him, still it was the British intellect and the British heart that gave to the stories of King Arthur, and the Knight of the Round Table that gave to the conception of King Arthur, the chivalry that was associated with it in European literature and the European mind of modern times (Hear, hear). The present festival had come down from those. He knew it was said that it had not come from Wales but from Brittany or from America. It was there that all these chivalrous tales were devised. He declared it was no such thing. They would find the substance, the outlines of the whole, in the Welsh annals attributed to Tysilio nearly a thousand years ago; but in Brittany, at the time, when Jeffrey of Monmouth, sent out his history containing these romantic tales, there was not a line of literature in the language of the Breton. No one could show that there was anything at all to warrant the conception that those things originated with them. They might have been brought back from Brittany, but if so, they had been sent over from Wales. They were never the growth of Britany; they were the growth of the Celtic mind of Wales. (Cheers). He need not say to his audience that those had enchanted the imagination of the genius not only of English literature, but of the literature of Europe. Shakespeare took them up, and turned them to account; and John Milton could gaze upon those Celtic effusions, and promised to himself that he would sometime write a poem about that King Arthur that the world would not willingly let die even our own Tennyson, if he was to be roused out of his heavy slumber, to do anything like what we had a right to expect, he must go to that old Celtic inspiration if he was to get it. (Cheers). Hesaidtheman who cared nothing for the past; let the future care nothing for him. The Rev. Gentleman resumed his seat amid great cheering, and at the call of the President three hearty cheers were givento Dr. Vaughan for his address.
The adjudication on the composition of an essay- on the subject of “Punctuality” was then read, the first prize being awarded to “Gobeithiol” (Mr. Griffith Owen, Carnarvon), who was invested by Mrs. Frank Purcell, the adjudicators recommending a second and third prize to be given.
Eos Mon and Idris Vychan then gave a penillion with the Harp.
Ceiriog and Llawdden’s adjudication on A Libretto, the subject to be selected from the Holy Scriptures, not to exceed 300 lines,” prize £5 and medal, was awarded to Mr. J. Jones (Eos Bradwen), St. Asaph, whose representative was invested by Lady Chetwoode.
Competition in singing a duet, for male voices “Flow, gentle Deva,” the best being Mr. T. Pierce, of Liverpool, and friend.
The Rev. Canon Williams then read Ceiriog and Llawdden’s adjudication on the Welsh translation of ‘Hamlet,’ prize £5, given by Mr. E. Lander, of Birmingham, and awarded, with much praise, to Mr. D. Griffiths, printer, Holywell.
The prize of one guinea was then awarded for singing the” Harp of Wales,” to Miss Margaret Evans (Eos Gwynedd).
Competition in playing on the harmonium then followed, Mr. J. Roberts, Tregarth, near Bangor, being the only competitor, receiving the prize.
A grand concert in the evening closed the day’s proceedings, which attracted a larger number than was present in the morning, which, however, did not exceed 2,000 persons.
WEDNESDAY
The proceedings of this day commenced by holding, in the National School-room, the first meeting of the Social Science Congress, held in connection with the Eisteddfod, the Rev. J. S. Griffiths, rector of Neath, presiding. There was a numerous and influential attendance, consisting principally of the leading men of the Eisteddfod.
After an introductory address by the chairman, the Rev. Dr. Nicholas was called upon to read a paper on “Middle-class Education,” which he urged was becoming a very pressing question that could not long be shelved by either the Government or the people. What they wanted was good schools for the middle-classes at a reasonable cost. A poor school and cheap was an evil. (Hear, hear, and applause). A good school and dear could not prove an extensive good; and a school both poor and dear was a nuisance. (Hear, hear). None of those would suit their present need. They wanted schools at once solid, honest, and thorough, so far as it went, and at a rate which a farmer could meet not only for one child but for all his children; and not for one year or a solitary half-year “finishing,” an appropriate term in more senses than one; but for a continued and well followed up course of several years’ instruction. If that was so, parents, instead of being compelled as at present to send their children to Liverpool, Shrewsbury, Chester, Bristol, and elsewhere-places where they were likely enough, along with a good deal of knowledge, to take up vicious habit and English provincialisms would inquire whether they could not provide for their children’s health as well as morals by setting up schools nearer their own homes Let a proprietary be formed wherever a promising locality presented itself, and let parents who had sons become proprietors and part governors of the schools where their children were trained. (Hear, hear). Let that be done, and they would see that competent masters were appointed and a good supervision exercised. If as an Investment the thing did not prove remunerative, a good education would at all events he secured for the boys, and a large addition would be made to the number educated. His impression was that, in a country like Wales, a bonding school or college might he maintained for a charge of £20 to £25 a head per annum, without “extras,” and no proprietor would lose his money by the investment, It might be presumed, too, that economical and efficient schools in Wales, Where the air was so pure and the country so tine, would draw large numbers from England, especially of the children of Welsh parents residing in Liverpool, Manchester, and other large towns. (Hear, hear). The same rank held good, too, with respect to the higher class or university education. Much was said by the judges of the land and others as to the ignorance of Welsh juries. Then why not teach the children English as well as Welsh? Why could not the jurymen of the next generation be so far instructed in English as to under- stand the depositions of the witnesses and the summing up of the judge, and engage without difficulty in the common business of life? Why could they not be prepared to take better situations in the counting-houses, in the professional and railway offices, and enter the theological colleges with such qualifications as would give promise of success? There was only one answer, and that was because it was impossible in the present state of things. Let them, then, wipe away their disgrace. (Hear, hear). They must provide a better means of education. They had in Wales as keen and active middle-class men as were to be found anywhere under the sun (hear, hear,) and they ought therefore to take means to prevent the humiliation to which they were subjected in seeing young Englishmen and young Scotchmen brought to fill the more remunerative poets and responsible commercial situations. To do this they had only to put their own sons into a fair-and equal competition. (Hear, hear, and applause). The time was coming when Wales would be more populous and much more-wealthy than she was at present. The capitalists of England had their eyes upon the copper in the hills of H ales; railways were being opened in all directions, carrying influences with them, and putting a new face the face of modern civilization upon the iron hardness and money-making sharpness of the old country. (Hear, hear, and applause).
An animated discussion followed the reading of the paper, the Rev. W. Jones (Myfyr Mon), Mr. Chapman, Mr. T. Jones (Glan Alun), Mr. J. Williams, Bodafon, Mr. James, the Rev. Mr. Davies, Cheltenham, and W. B. Hughes, Esq Plas-coch, taking part. This meeting being concluded, a procession was formed, and, headed by a brass band, proceeded to the president for the day, George Osborne Morgan, Esq., who was escorted to the pavilion, and installed in the chair, when an address was presented to him, which was read by Gwrgant, the conductor for the day. The president, in a long, able, and eloquent speech, acknowledged the honour which had been conferred upon him by electing him to the chair. He agreed with a remark in the address that it was a matter of regret and astonishment that, while all the growing forces of modern criticism had been applied to illustrate the period of Norman and Saxon history, little or nothing had as yet been done for Celtic literature and Welshmen had actually been driven to German professors and German universities to learn the history of their own race. (Hear, hear.) Surely if the pretensions of a nation to historic interest were to be measured by their antiquity there was not one of the races which inhabited these islands that could compete with the Welsh. (Hear, hear.) He therefore rejoiced that it was one of the most interesting features of the Eisteddfodau that they were doing something by degrees to wipe away what was undoubtedly a reproach that they left the care of their native literature and history to strangers and whilst that lie thought they would agree with him that the Eisteddfodau possessed something more than a mere archaeological inter- est. (Hear, hear.) He thought they may fairly be said to embrace a wider range, and take a loftier scope. That certainly was the idea and it was sought to make the Eisteddfod the rallying point of the whole nation, and the means of keeping alive in the whole nation a love of all that was true, and great, and pure, and beautiful. (Cheers.) What the Olympic Games were to the ancient Greek, what the tournament was of the knight of the middle ages, the Eisteddfod was to the ancient Briton, (hear, hear, and cheers) and in many respects, perhaps in all respects, the ancient Briton had the advantage. (Hear, hear.) While the Greeks were engaged in their games, and the knights were exchanging blows upon each other’s shields and helmets, the Briton was waging a gentler war with the gentle weapons of music and verse and, as might be expected, the tournaments and Olympic Games had passed away, but the Eisteddfod lived and flourished. The songs and verses which charmed the heart of the great Llewelyn still charmed the inhabitants of Wales from the lips of Talhaiarn. (Cheers.) He need not tell them that the Eisteddfod of today was the exact counterpart of the Eisteddfod celebrated 600 or 800 years ago, but suited to modern society. Of course he did not mean to say that if an ancient Briton walked in there he would not find a great deal of difference, but in the Gorsedd he would be perfectly at home. They must beware while they were talking of the antiquity of the institution that they did not fall into the error into which many good men were apt to fall, of thinking that because they were old they were therefore necessarily good. That he thought was a great mistake, a man could hardly make a greater. To fight perpetually against the stream to refuse to swim with the tide, must be a very uncomfortable task, and the man who did it was sure sooner or later, to be carried down by the force at the tide carried down the swimmer in Llandudno bay. Let them consider, however, whether they had not endeavoured, as he said they ought, by means of the Eisteddfodau, to accommodate themselves as far as they could to the wants and interests of an ever- changing society. Referring to the programme, he saw that the subjects which had been chosen for the prizes were eminently practical, and such as were suited to the growth of modern ideas. He congratulated them upon having introduced into the programme that latest element of modern science, a social science department. Some of their English friends, agreeing in the truth of all that he had said, might urge that it would be well if it were all done in the English language, but that was a matter which he did not think could be dealt with in such a summary manner. Those words, which to many might give no other idea than that of a number of consonants with one or two vowels glimmering through them, to the men who used them might be connected with associations which were deep and dear to them as life itself. (Cheers.) It was in that language and by means of those words that the Welshman first heard a mother’s or a father’s voice addressing him, and it was in that language and those words that he would breathe forth his last faltering prayer to the throne of God. (Loud Cheers.) Let them, therefore, deal not lightly with that language. Do not talk of putting it away, of throwing it off as if it were an old coat. (Hear, hear.) The language which they spoke was part of themselves it was as much part of their national peculiarities as the mountains on which they trod, and the air which they breathed, and he honestly believed that they might as well try to root it out as to try to level the Vale of Conway and convert it into a Lincolnshire fen. The mottoes, “Y Gwir yn erbyn y Byd,” “Calon wrth Galon,” and other familiar sentiments, were part of the eternal, immutable truths which their forefathers strove to inculcate, and which those of the Eisteddfod in the 19th century of civilization could not with impunity forget (Cheers.)
The competition of tenor singers was then proceeded with, the 1st prize of £2 being awarded to Mr. Evan Williams, and the 2nd prize of £1 to Mr. Robert Rees, who were respectively invested by Mrs. General Hughes and Mrs. Wynne Jones. The Rev. J. S. Griffiths, ofNeath, then delivered his adjudication on the essays on the “Traditionary and Legendary Lore of Creuddyn.” Only one essay was to hand, which was considered well worthy of the prize of five guineas, given by Basset Smith, Esq., of Birmingham. The essay was written in English, and the author proved to ‘be the Rev. R. Parry, (Gwalchmai) Llandudno. Competition on the piano- forte then took place by females not exceeding 18 years of age, on the air, God bless the Prince of Wales.” The prize was awarded to Miss Annie Phillips, of Llandudno, who was invested by the Rev. Dr. Robert Vaughan. The Rev. J. Kilsby Jones then addressed the meeting after which the adjudication of Ceiriog and Llawdden on the English Ode (the only one), the prize of £10 being awarded to Leon, D. Downing Evans, Newport, Monmouthshire; invested by Miss Conway Williams. The prize of £10 and medal was also awarded to the Rev. R. Parry (Gwalchmai), for the best (and only) essay on “Creuddyn, its history, antiquities, Druidical remains, Gogarth Abbey, Teganwy, y Faer-dref, Glodddaeth, Penrhyn, &c.” It was then announced that the successful competitor on the ode on “Night,” was Arsvllydd (Ifan Arfon), who received the prize of £5 and a medal. The prize of £8 and medal for the best dramatic poem, after the style of Allen Ramsay, was awarded to Gwilym Pennant. Two excellent and eloquent addresses by Talhaiarn and George Dawson, Esq., of Birmingham, were then delivered and, after some minor competitions, the meeting closed by singing the Prince of Wales’s Anthem, and another grand concert, attended by about 3,500 persons, closed the proceedings of the day, which was decidedly an improvement on the previous day.
THURSDAY
The day opened remarkably fine, and the town at an early hour resumed a much more gay and lively appearance than on any of the previous days. As the day advanced it became evident that a great in- flux of people of all ranks intended to honour the proceedings with their presence. Heavily-laden excursion trains arrived from Carnarvon, Bangor, and the neighbourhood of the slate quarries, and immense numbers also arrived from the Vale of Clwyd and the places adjoining, as well as increased numbers from Liverpool by the Eisteddfod steam-boat Tiger. In the streets flags ware freely displayed, and the town wore altogether a very gay and animated appearance.
Another meeting of the Social Science section took place at nine o’clock, in the St. George’s Hall, Mostyn Street. Mr. Hugh Owen, of London, presided, and there was again a numerous and very influential attendance.
The chairman having briefly opened the proceedings,
Mr. John Rhys, of Rhos y bol, Anglesey, read a paper on “Welsh Philology and the Connections of the Welsh Language.” The author commenced by remarking that it was now generally received as satisfactorily proved in many” and various ways that the Indo European languages, namely, the Celtic, including the Welsh, the Teutonic, the Sclavonic, the Greek-Latin, the Sanskrit, and others, are more or less related and similar to each other, pointing back to some common origin lost to us in the darkness of antiquity, while on the other hand their relation and similarity to the Shemetic languages are comparatively little The writer said it appeared to him that all the words of the Welsh language (as well as those of any other Indo-European tongue) may be divided into two classes, the one comprising the roots or elementary words of the same, together with those formed from them by competition and derivation the other, those words which are neither roots nor can be referred to or explained by any such in the language in question. Having dwelt upon the derivation and connection of Welsh words, lie said it might be confidently asserted that the Welsh language cannot be thoroughly studied without a knowledge of its sister languages, and, vice versa, the Irish and Bretons will not have thoroughly understood their own language until they have studied the Welsh as well. He was not talking at hazard, for his remarks were bazed on one of the fundamental principles of philology, and it was acknowledged even by grammar inns. The great scholars paid their court to classic lore and Oriental languages, to the neglect of the Welsh and those nearly allied to it.
It was agreed at this stage of the proceedings to resume the discussion of the previous day on middle- class education.
The Chairman in opening the discussion, said the question of education in Wales was now receiving very considerable attention. The Church of England and the Nonconformists were united in establishing schools, so that Wales might be said to be as well provided with education for the working classes as England but Wales was very far behind-hand with regard to the means of offering suitable education for the upper section of the middle classes. They constantly found in the rural districts that the most opulent of the farming class were obliged to send their sons to be educated at the National and British schools. (Hear, hear.) Now, the education afforded in those schools, though eminently suited for the working classes, was scarcely education suit- able for fitting persons occupying a higher social position for advancing in life; and therefore they thought it of great importance that some steps should be taken to carry out the objects set forth in the pa- per read by Dr. Nicholas yesterday morning, whether by the establishment of proprietary schools or in what other way he was not prepared to say. He knew some proprietary schools which answered their purpose most admirably. He did not see why such schools could not be multiplied in the principality. (Hear, hear.) It would scarcely be practical in the rural districts to establish proprietary schools, the population being so scattered but it would be perfectly easy, he imagined, to do so in the leading towns in North and South Wales, and those in the rural districts in addition requiring the superior education which such schooling would impart, Would have the means of sending their sons to the towns. The Stockwell school, he might say, was divided into £10 shares, and every proprietor was entitled to send his son to the school at a given rate, the share bearing interest equivalent to 5 or 10 per cent, and he did not see why money could not be obtained in Wales which would not only yield an adequate interest to the proprietors, but also secure a superior education for their sons.
The Social Science Meeting after lengthened speeches then broke up.
At eleven o’clock precisely the meeting of the general Eisteddfod commenced, the president of the day being the Lord Bishop of Bangor, who was loudly cheered on his taking the chair.
The conductor for the day (a most efficient one) was Clwydfardd, who in the usual manner opened the proceedings.
The local secretary. Mr. John Williams, of Bodafon, then read an address, beautifully written in ornamental characters. His Lordship then turned to the enormous assemblage in the pavilion, and ad- dressed them in an able, and lengthened speech, which, we are sorry to say, want of space precludes the possibility of our giving it in.
Poetical addresses were then delivered by the bards. Adjudication by Professor Griffiths on the Geology of Wales the Cambrian and Silurian Rocks of North Wales, English and Welsh. The prize of £10 and medal being awarded to Mr. J. E. Thomas, Surveyor, Rhayadr.
Adjudication by Llawdden and Ceiriog upon the best elegy to the lamented bard and patriot Alaw Goch. Prize £10 and medal. Best Mr. John Hughes, National School-master, Vaenol, near Bangor. He was invested with the badge by Mrs. Morgan, the Rectory, Llandudno.
Adjudication by the Rev. Canon Williams, and the Rev. John Owen, Ty’nllwyn, upon the “Agriculture of Wales,” and upon the present state, and the best means for improving it, including application of chemistry and the use of agricultural machinery. The prize was awarded to Dr Jesse Davies of Holywell, and the prize being £20 and medal. There were seven competitors, but the judges were unanimous in adjudicating theprizetotheonesigned”Baracle.” The learned critique carefully examined and pointed out the faults of each composition, and spoke favourably of “Baracles,’” which was decidedly the best. The candidate upon being called, proved to be Mr. R. Foulkes Edwards (Rhisiart Ddu o Wynedd), Independent. College, Bala. The chaired bard was addressed with complimentary englynion by the conductor and Alltud Eifion. Rhisiart Ddu also addressed the assembly in a very appropriate speech.
Adjudication of Ceiriog and Llawdden on the elegy to the late lamented “Carn Ingli.” Prize of 2 guineas by Rees Rees“Melancthon,”which the council increased to £10 and a medal. Best Mr. J. W. Jones (Dyfedon), Rhydlewis Cardiganshire.
Adjudication on the extempore compositions given out on Tuesday, the best upon the englyn to Dr. Morgan, one of the translators of the Welsh Bible, for which Mr. Thomas Richards, Bangor, offered a prize, was awarded to Mr. Hugh Hughes (Cethin,) Liverpool.
Mr. Osborne Morgan proposed, and the Rev. Jno. Griffith seconded, a vote of thanks to the Bishop for presiding, which was carried by acclamation.
The Bishop acknowledged the motion in a Welsh speech.
Three cheers were then given to the ladies, the conductor, Talhaiarn, &c., and the meeting terminated shortly after three o’clock.
At the Gorsedd, which was held on Friday, Gwalchmai announced that the next Eisteddfod will be held in Aberystwyth in 1865.