Ranascence in Wales.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13661, 1 August 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

Ranascence in Wales.

Welsh Political and Educational Leaders in the Victorian Era, edited by the. Rev. J. Vynrwy Morgan, D.D.. Review by Harry Jones.

The Welsh renascence in the Victorian era .was part of the wave of nationalism that swept over : Europe in the first half of the past-century* It is dift'erentiaed'from the Continental movement by characteristics of its own. It was coincident with a burst of material prosperity arising out of .the- development of Welsh mineral Svealth, and it was heralded by a great stirring of intellectual life in Wales. Welsh nationalism may, indeed, be said to have sprung into new life under the impulsion of Welsh culture. Not since the age of the "New Learning," with its multitude of poor scholars,'has there been anything comparable to the efflorescence of "educational zeal in the Principality in the reign of Queen Victoria. The educational review nursed the new patriotism. It is of a sounder order of development when, a revival of patriotism thus follows in the wake of an intellectual renascence.

Seventy years ago the' backwardness of Wales in education was a grave reproach to the "predominant partner" whose might and majesty overshadowed her. Happily Welsh energy'and Welsh brains came to the rescue of AVeish needs. At the outset there was: indifference and discouragement, but at last came enthusiasm and success. The result has been almost mariculous. From being the most backward part of the United Kingdom educationally, Wales ; has in less than half a century become the most progressive. A GREAT PIONEER,

The pioneer of the great educational revival was Hugh Owen, as pure a patriot as ever breathed. His career is here traced with a loving hand by Mr. Alfred T. Davies, secretary of the Welsh ment of the Board ,of Education. He' brings home to us the immensity of the debt- that Wales owes to a zealous, unselfish, far-sighted patriot. Not content with the provision of elementary schools, Hugh Owen went on with undaunted enthusiasm to promote the work of higher education. To him more than .to any Other' man is due the successful establishment "of the University College at Aberystwyth. The late Thomas Ellis, at one time Chief. Liberal Whip, and the present Solicitor-General (Sir Samuel Evans) were, numbered among the first batch' of students who entered the College, the first of its kind iu the Principality. Once he had set his heart on an ideal, Hngh Owen was His zeal overcame all obstacles. Dissap- ' unflinchingly indomitable ,in its pursuit-' pointed by the meagre response' of the landowners and the great captains of in-: dustry, he appealed to the nation at-large for ■ funds \ for Aberystwyth. The Welsh democracy responded with a generosity that did them honour-. UNIVERSITY AND LOBBY. Another man to whom Wales,and Welsh education owe an inestimable debt was John Viriamu .Jones, first principal of the University College of South' Wales, and a, son of the late Rev. Thomas Jones, the great preacher,; 1)o whose gifts Robert Browning has bome unforgettable testimony. Viriamu Jones died in ; 1901, in the meridian of his powers, worn out, by incessant' labour. Mr. Tyssil Evans has enriched this volume with a character sketch of his dead chief which shows insight and sympathy, and adequate comprehension of the man and his work. He has pictured,for us. with admirable fidelity a. magnetic, personality, full of charm, devoured by enthusiasm, lofty in character, strenuous ni life, a boni leader of men.

It was a curious destiny that made

Thomas Ellis Chief Whip of the Liberal party'; That sweet and lovable man, with his. almost feminine tenderness, his idealism, the vein of mysticism in his composition, was too fine and rare a spirit for the very, mundane work, of the legislative : ni!lch : ine : and sending it ! 'pounding and lumbering along over the Purliamen-: tary highway. This is not to say that he wa6 a failure. as Whip. • He had the Cymric Celt's flexibility of adaption, with much personal charm and intuitive sympathy. . These are qualities which compel success even in an eviroriment. '•'.. But J agree with 'Mr. J. Arthur 'Price—whose appreciation of Thomas Ellis in-ithis volume is a'thoughtful uiid .-discriminating piece of work—that, Ellis, the Welsh: Nationalist,' is a fur more- interesting.: 2>ensonaiity -than Ellis, the' Ministerial Whip.'- Like many of the' benefactors of Wales, Thomas-Ellis was a farmer's son, .bom in .a romantic corner-of Merioneth, .and nurtured in a home of Puritan austerity.: 'The Nationahst'sympathies were' not aroused .until ■-' he -went to Oxford, -where, the great' awakeniriog ciinie. to him through the teachings of Mazisini, the Italian- patriot, and Thomas Davis, one., of

the most attractive figures in the *' Young. Ireland" movement. From, thai day' {litre was no turning back. -.''-,.- VARIOUS CELEBRITIES.

One has not space to do Justice to the other figures in this thie gallery of Welshmen. Dean Vaughan is. limned- with >skill and affection by his'.nephew, Professor Vaughan. No churchmanhi Wales .or out of; it was- more sympathetic to conformity, or .more free from all, trace; <ii sacerdotal pride than the venerated Dean of Llandaff. Another distinguished Churchman of marked liberality of : vie>v, the first Lord Aberdare, gave; unstinted •service, to the cause of higher education in Wales. His career is narrated with filial pride and yet with, singular impartiality by lu's son, the Hon. W. N. Bruce. "The best schoolmaster in Europe," as

Sir' Walter ; Scuttu described him, ; John Williams, : Archdeacon of ' Cardigan 18331&58, is tie.subject of a valuable contribution from the Rev. Bobert Willianis, M.A., : Llaridilo., When the Edinburgh Academy was founded in 1824, John Wil-, liaiiis becamei its first rector, and in that capacity he achieved great success. Edinburgh in those days was famous for its brilliant intellectual circle. Sir Walter Scott; Cockburn, Sir William Hamilton, Jeffffrey, and JDi\ Chalmers we're all; on friendly terms with the fiery Welsh; Rector- and among his pupils weieTait" (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), James Clerk Maxwell, and F. W. Robertson. : Taifc in later years paid a fine tribute to his old master's character. :

GEORGE COBNEWALL LEWIS. Sir George Corhewall Lewis, the midVictorian statesman, was Welsh by origin and''birth, but he does: hot appear to have been associated with any distinctively *Welsh movement. Still we are_ glad Dr. Morgan has found a place;for hinr in this volume, if,Toiily because it has given Mr. George : W. Russel an ; excuse for one of his charming excursions into the domain of political: biography. In addition to being a statesman, Sir George Cornewall Lewis was a scholar of prbfund knoVledge and varied attainments:

"He was extremely shoitsighted, veryshy, and -.wholly uninterested in the chitchat and tittle-ltattle of social life. His wife, on the'other hand, was devoted to society, and dragged him to all'the gayest parties inr London. It was' this nncongen-' io-17 experience:7 which : elicited;'? from : the patient husband the best-remembered and most frequent quoted of all his utterances, ''Life : would:be tolerable but for its amusements..'" - '.-..■■"■:• ;;

.;'Diy .Vy'rnwy.'Morgan-is'to be congratulated Von- having produced -a .book rick' in goodf' things, V which will -: make a"• special "appealsto ■:everyone 'interested: in Wales.' It''is deplorable-'that■ some:worthless • chaff sound- ' Some of ;= the biographies ■ are•' feeble ' in '- the •. extreme^' "Men'■ are * in;clnded!~s:who have no title-:to\a -places in such' a - volume, iand ; there.' are '-several - in-

explicable omissions. Wo cannot commend the editor's'" introduction." It is rambling and discursive, and contains a correspondence".about a local dispute' at Cwmovah half st century ago ■which is entirely out of .place',' and wholly irrelevant to ! -tlief scheme of the book. There" is a strange plunder, in the somewhat pevfunctionarf 'notice of the career of Homy Richard.? Speaking of the Crimean War, Dr. Morgan writes: " The following year (1854) Mr. Richard and his friends were, greatly discouraged because.'Walpole,, North, Pitt, and' Aberdeen, supported by'the public Tress, had forced the British nation into" war with Russia:"'

In .the name of historical accuracy., what are Walpdle. North, and Pitt doing in this strange;, gallery.