While the Societies have, as a general rule, been somewhat inert, a brilliant success has attended the revival of the Eisteddrodau (literally `sessional, or meetings for poetry and music, such as were first re-maugurated in 1793 by Owen Jones, who seems to have had a happy tact in discovering what was likely to succeed, though he was himself in advance of his time. Their progress was obscure till 1S19, when one was held at Caermarthen, under the presidency of Dr. Burgess, then bishop of St. David's, but in reality prompted and sup ported by Dr. Joseph Harris, the Baptist editor of the ` Seren Gomel.; and conducted and enlivened by lobo Morganwg, who completely took the lead and put in practice many of the ideas which appear in the notes to his Ode on Primrose Hill.' This Eisteddvod was so successful as to form an epoch in their history, and ever since they have been becoming more frequent and more popular. The idea at the basis of such meetings, that of holding a sort of Fair for poetry and music, is one that was practised in the " singer's festivals " of the Minne-siugera and the floral games of the Troubadours, and even among the Arabs before Mohammed, whose poetical rivalries at the fair of Ocadh gave rise to the ` Moallakat,' which are some of the most classical com positions of Arabic literature. The same principle received a new application in the Fairs for Science introduced by Oken in Germany iu 1822, on the model of a meeting of naturalists in Switzerland in 1815, and the idea was imported from Germany to England by the foundation of the British Association in 1831. Meetings of agri culturists, archeologists, orientalists, men of science, and others, are now held in many parts of Europe, but fairs for poetry and author ship appear to be still peculiar in modern times to Wales and Pro vence. A distinct idea of the nature of an Eisteddvod may be most readily obtained by observing the proceedings at one of the most successful of them—that held at Llangollen in the autumnal equinox of 1858. The meeting took place at the equinox, in obedience to alleged bardic custom, and was consequently rather too late in the year, so that there were several days of rain. A pavilion was erected on the bowling-green adjacent to the Ponsonby Arms Hotel, at Llangollen, so spacious as to be capable of containing five thousand persons; and at the last meeting it is stated that this pavilion was "literally crammed, with such an assembly as was scarcely, if ever, witnessed in the Principality." On the first day the proceedings commenced with a procession of Bards, Druids, Ovates, and others, with the members of the three orders attired in their distinctive costumes—the bards in a loose habit of blue, the druids in snowy white, and the ovates in green. The procession led to a spot where three hugh stones were placed in the order /IV " These lines, or pencils of light, as they are termed, form," we are told in the Report, " the mystic symbol known amongst the bards and druids as the name of God—the Word' or attribute of creation—it being held by the bards that God created the universe by showing and pronouncing His own name." It will be remembered that seventy years ago this tradition, such as it is, was unheard-of in Wales, and only existed in an unpublished manuscript. The Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, presiding bard of the Eisteddvod, stood on the central stone within a circle, and de livered an address, received with " frequent marks of applause," to the effect that the Cymry succeeded beyond all other nations in keep ing the ancient religion of Noah uncorrupted till the coming of the Messiah, when " they received the Gospel as the superstructure or completion of Druidism, and their ancient system was clothed with Christianity." A ceremony then took place of receiving and admitting candidates for the orders of bards, druids, and ovates. In the course of the day, speeches were delivered, and various essays were read which had been determined to be the best sent in to compete for prizes. One of these prizes was of twenty-five pounds, offered by the young men of Llangollen, for the best treatise on the mineral resources of Wales, with the stipulation that if the successful composition should be in English, it should be translated into Welsh at the author's expense. The prize was adjudged to an essay signed "Didascaloa ;" and the author being called for, appeared in the person of the Rev. John Jones, Baptist minister of Llangollen, who was publicly presented with the prize by Miss Williams ab Ithel. The proceedings of the day terminated with a concert, at which about three thousand persons attended, to admire Mr. Ellis Roberts's performance on the harp, laugh at Owen Maw's comic song of " Hen Forgan a i Vraig" (Old Morgan and his Wife), and enjoy similar festivities. On the second day, an English gentleman, Mr. Kenward, recited some lines of a poem on English Sympathy with Wales ; ' but, say the reporters, " a feeling of impatience being manifested by the Welsh portion of the audience who did not understand English, Mr. Kenward. felt reluctant to read the whole, and retired from the plat form." Another English gentleman remonstrated, and Ab Ithel came forward to inform the meeting that Mr. Kenward was a person who pre-eminently " loved our nation," and had been most indefatigable in collecting subscriptions for the Eisteddvod, on which he was allowed to proceed through about twenty stanzas. More speeches and Pennil lion singing followed, and an adjudication of the prize of 30/. for an Ode in Welsh on " the Battle of Bosworth Field, by which the Cymry recovered the monarchy of the isle of Britain." On another day the main feature was the presentation of a " Cambrian gold torque of valour" to Corporal Shields, of the Welsh Fusileers, who had fought in the Crimea. Cloao to Llangollen, on the summit of a hill, are the ruins of Dines Bran, a name sometimes translated " Crow's Castle," Bran being the Welsh word for " crow," but supposed to take its origin from the mountain-torrent, Bran, which runs beneath. Some antiquaries have absurdly supposed the castle to be named after Brennus, king of the Gauls, and the Rev. R.W. Morgan, in presenting the torque, took occasion
to mention it thus : " Corporal Shields is at,Cymro, the representative of a race that from the earliest ages has been distinguished by two grand characteristics—profound religious feeling, and chivalry in the field.
Towering above us, frown the ruins of the castle of one of the earliest of the great conquerors of mankind, Bran or Brenuus, the captor of the Eternal City, the founder of the Cisalpine empire and its civilisation, the first general that, long antecedent to Hannibal, crossed the glaciers and snows of the Alps, and vanquished the opposing bulwarks of Nature herself. (Loud cheers.)" Choral singing, contentions with the harp, impromptu poetical contests, recitations of the speech of Caractacus by boys, competitions of the best female singers to the harp, and the best female harpists, filled up the remainder of the four days (Turin which the Eisteddvod lasted, each day concluding with a concert. The devotion to the charms of poetry and music, which was shown by so large a population, many of the peasant class, was certainly a high mark of civilisation and refinement of character ; but the patriotism of many of the speeches was of the spurious kind, which is as ready to boast of the false as the true, and the semi-religious character of many of tho proceedings presented still graver matter of objection. There seems too much resemblance between the adherents of the Book of Llewelyn Sion of Llangewyd and the believers in the Book of Mormon, who are unhappily numerous in Wales.
One speech at an Eisteddvod, of a different character from those usually delivered, contains some remarks which, though expressed in rough and homely terms, it would be well for Cymric patriots to consider. They occur in the Welsh portion of the works of the modern Talhaiarn, in the report of a- speech delivered at an Eis teddvod at Llanfairtalhaiarn :—" It is the greatest folly in us to shout out that we are at the head of the world in poetry and prose. It is a very great mistake ; for the fact is the Saxons beat us all to pieces in poetry, philosophy, and all kinds of learning. Do you think I say this to hurt or insult my country or my nation ? Nothing of the kind. I reverence and love them both, nor will I ever go about to seek to find fault with either. Neither will I soil my lips with an untruth to please any man, nor will I do an injustice to my neighbour by boasting of what is really nothing to boast of. If you could all read Shakspeare, Milton, Byron, and Burns, the Times,' and ` Blackwood's Magazine,' and some other authors, magazines, and newspapers, you would all believe with me that the Saxons are much our superiors. Well, you will say, and have not we a literature ? Yes, most certainly, and an excellent literature too, considering that Wales is but a little corner of the world. My only purpose was to wean you from the silly boast that we are at the head of the world in literature; there never was such nonsense." The formation of a library of ancient Welsh manuscripts on a liberal and extensive scale in the possession of a public establishment appears an object greatly to be desired. The history of the fate of Welsh manuscripts during the last two centuries affords ample proof of the danger to collections of this kind' in private hands, to say. nothing of the fact that in many cases all access to the manuscripts has been denied to the very men, such as Lhuyd, who would have made the best use of them, and that in all cases there is necessarily a delicacy of intruding on the courtesy of a private proprietor. The number of libraries destroyed by fire has been unusually large in the case of the country gentlemen of Wales. The collection of transcripts by Lbuyd, which, after his death, was unfortunately declined both by the University of Oxford and by Jesus College, passed into the hands of Sir Thomas Sebright, by purchase, and was long afterwards divided by sale between the libraries of Hafod snd Wynnstay. The portion in the splendid collection of Colonel Johnes, at Hafod, perished with that collection in the fire of 1807. The portion belonging to the Wynnes was almost entirely destroyed by a tiro at a bookbinder's in London, and the conflagration of Wynnstay itself, in 1858, probably consumed the remainder, as on that occasion only the books that had been casually sent to a bookbinder's in London were saved. In the preface to the Myvyrian Archaiology' is given a list of the libraries public and private in Wales, London, and Oxford, in which valuable Welsh collections were preserved, amounting to twenty-five in number. Four of these libraries were in London, that of the British Museum, of the Welsh School, in Oray's Inn Lane, of Mr. Owen Jones, the originator of the 'Myvyrian Archaiology,' and of Mr. Edward Jones, author of the Relics of British Bards.' Three of these are now united, the collections of the Welsh School and Owen Jones having been presented to the British Museum in 1843. These books are thus preserved in one collection under public care, and it would be most conducive to the interests of literature if others were to follow. Some of the perpetual disputes about the accuracy of the trans cripts of Iolo Morganwg which agitate Welsh literature might be settled at once if the Book of Aberpergwm ' were in a collection where any one might examine it. It is stated in the Archaiology,' in 1801, that the editors had some hope that the Earl of Macclesfield would deposit in the Museum the collection of manuscripts made by the learned Moses Williams, and which Williams had be queathed to Mr. Jones, father of the celebrated Sir William Jones, who bequeathed them to the then Earl of Macclesfield, with the singular injunction not to show them to any person whatever. These manuscripts however are still in the possession of the noble family of Macclesfield. The famous library of the Vaughans, at Hengwrt, in Meriomithshire, is now united with the collection of Mr. W. E. Wynne, of Peniarth, M.P., for Nerioneth, to whom it was bequeathed by his friend the late Sir It. W. Vaughan.