THE EISTEDDFODAU OF 1878.

EISTEDDFODAU are multiplying and becoming ubiquitous. Two have been held during the present year, and with fair success one at Porthaethwy (Menai Bridge) in August, and one on English ground at Birkenhead in the month of September. We would we could record improvement in the conduct of the business of the several days; but that consummation, though devoutly wished for, has yet to come. The adjudications were, perhaps, more condensed, and consequently less wearisome than heretofore. But the great evil of too many prizes of a trifling value, not only exhausted the patience of the audience, but aided to increase the already too abundant worthless compositions which the Eisteddfod fosters.

There was a decided improvement in the choral singing at both places. The competitions for the great prize at Birkenhead were marvellous feats-almost perfect. If literature has not advanced, music and song have made rapid strides towards the highest excellence. We except, of course, from this roll the higher literary prizes, such as that of the Chair Prize at Birkenhead, which produced a poem worthy of the occasion.

To chronicle the whole work of the Eisteddfod would be little more than the reiteration of what has been said of previous gatherings. It is amazing how determinedly the bards keep to the old ways. As we look back on the several Eisteddfodau held at Pwllheli, Wrexham, Carnarfon, Menai Bridge, and Birkenhead, they seem, as in a dissolving view, to blend or rather melt into one another, so that no distinct

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impression of any one is left on the retina of the mind. This sameness of character and of action offers no high promise of continuing success. In fact, it points out a want, the supply of which can alone make the Eisteddfod prosperous and enduring-an elected governing body to control its operations. This was admirably pointed out in an earlier number of Y Cymmrodor by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. Until it is done, the Eisteddfod will be held here and there at random; obsolete performances will be continued usque ad nauseam; and the most devoted patriot and lover of the institution grow weary of its horse-in-the-mill iterations.

The Chairs at both places were efficiently filled-at Menai Bridge by Richard Davies, Esq., M.P.; Morgan Lloyd, Esq., M.P.; Lewis Morris, Esq. (the author of the Epic of Hades); and the Lord Bishop of Bangor. The several addresses by the Presidents were worthy of themselves, and of the Eisteddfod.

We have no room for them in Y Cymmrodor. But there are circumstances connected with the appearance of Mr. Lewis Morris that must not be passed by.

The great-grandson of Llewelyn Ddu o Fon, whose bardic compositions have become almost household words on the lips of the Welsh people, and whose antiquarian and philological researches were positively marvellous in a century when neither of these sciences had as yet emerged out of its early and rudimentary state, Mr. Morris's presence at the Eisteddfod bespoke for it a new life. We could almost fancy that the shade of his honoured ancestor hovered over the chair on which his descendant sat, to cheer and to welcome him. But this is not all; Mr. Morris has already raised himself to fame by his own brilliant exercises in the arena of song. As the Poet Laureate, in increasing splendour and glory, descends toward the horizon, Mr. Morris's achievements point him out as the light which rises in the eastern sky to illumine

and cheer us in the coming time. For the honour of Wales we pray that it may be so.

Mr. Morris was enthusiastically cheered on rising to address the audience. Having thanked them for the kind manner in which he had been received, he said there were a great many reasons why he should not come to the present Eisteddfod. He was conscious that he had never attended an Eisteddfod before, and this, together with the fact that he was but partially acquainted with the Welsh language, were some reasons why he should not attend. On the other hand, there seemed to him very good reasons why he should put aside all such objections, and come amongst them that day. One reason was, that great honour had been done him by requesting him to take the chair; though this might not have been a sufficient one to win him from habits of seclusion. He came there, feeling that honour was done to his great ancestor, Llewelyn Ddu o Von, and his great friend the illustrious poet, Goronwy Owain. If this be the true view of the reason why he came there, perhaps it might not be out of place for him to give a short sketch of the Morrises of Von. They were, in the beginning, in comparatively humble circumstances, and had but few educational advantages offered them; but yet they all attained very considerable eminence. William Morris, who was Comptroller of customs at Holyhead, was a very true friend of all Welsh poets, and had a very large collection of Welsh manuscripts; and any appeals made to him for literary support, were, he believed, never refused. Richard Morris, his brother, was a more distinguished man, It was he who revised the Welsh Bible and Prayer Book. As regards the Welsh version of the Bible, he was well aware that it formed the main literature of their country; and apart from its sacred character, he thought there was no Welsh book more admirable as a literary work than the Welsh Bible. He was also the founder and president of the

Cyminrodorion Society in London, of which he (the president) saw before him a most active member in the person of the Rev. Robert Jones of Rotherhithe, a Society, which he was glad to learn, had recently revived. In coming to Lewis Morris, he thought he might say, without exaggeration, that he was one of the most thoroughly accomplished men that Wales had ever seen. They, no doubt, had heard how varied his attainments were. They also knew that, as a hydrographer, he was very eminent indeed, and it was only yesterday that he (the speaker) was informed that the charts made by Lewis Morris for the Admiralty were now in use on these shores. As a mineralogist, he was one of the most eminent men of the day, and succeeded in accumulating a very great fortune for others, although he (the President) was sorry to say that he accumulated no fortune for himself and descendants. It was Lewis Morris who discovered, and worked under the Crown, the great lead mines of Cardiganshire. Another fact, perhaps not generally known, was this, he should not have known it himself had he not read an essay on his life, which obtained a prize in the Eisteddfod of 1874,-that Lewis Morris was the first to set up a press for printing Welsh books; and although, perhaps, such an undertaking did not pay in those days, it was a very noble effort on his part in the cause of Welsh literature. There was another very interesting fact connected with this matter. The Rev. John Wesley-a name dear to many there, and who, he had no hesitation in saying, was a saint, if there ever was onewas once passing through Holyhead, but was there detained by contrary winds, and could not get to Ireland. That reverend gentleman, therefore, utilised his time by writing two tracts, for the purpose of benefiting the Welsh people, and these were probably printed at Lewis Morris's place at Holyhead. Again, in the principles of natural science, Lewis Morris was one of the best teachers of the day, and not only that, he

was also a very eminent philologist, and corresponded with many of the leading philologists in Europe. But, of course, all these things did not give him the claim for that honour which he possessed. He was a bard, and a popular bardwho might be called the "Burns of Wales"-and his songs were all remembered up to the present day. He (the speaker) did not know of anyone who did not remember the song, Morwynion Glan Meirionydd. Having read the first stanza, the President went on to say that it bore all the characteristics of a good popular song, and as such it was well known and sung everywhere where Welshmen congregated. But even this, he thought, did not give to him the great and one claim to honour which endeared him to his countrymen. It was because he and his brothers were, through their lives, patrons and helpers to the unhappy Goronwy Owain, who was, beyond doubt, the greatest poet of Wales. He (the President) was familiar with the fact that Lewis Morris and his brothers had been of very great assistance to Goronwy Owain; but he never knew until he read the life of Goronwy Owain, now being issued by the Rev. Robert Jones, of the great generosity and constant care which those three brothers seemed to manifest towards him during his chequered and gloomy career. It was a remarkable fact, that Goronwy Owain appears to have corresponded but rarely with anyone except these brothers. When Goronwy wanted advice or assistance, he seems to have resorted immediately to them. What he asked of them that day was to draw the moral from the fact that those men, who have been dead this last century and a half, were still living influences in this Wales of ours. As a descendant of one of these men, he felt as if he were coming home on visiting Anglesey. He felt familiar here. His small reputation had preceded him there. What did this really mean? It meant this that a true and strong feeling of patriotism and national unity still existed. It pleased