of the Scriptures, selected from T. H. Horne, Dr. Roberts, Stockhouse, Burder, Gleig, and others, has been compiled by Mr. David Owen, Llandovery; it is a large octavo volume. Of smaller treatises, on a great variety of subjects, both original and translated, we are in possession of a very large uumber, many of which have considerable merit.

In general knowledge we are very deficient. A thick quarto volume, of the nature of a Cyclopædia, by Mr. Owen Williams, Waen Vawr, and others, has just been completed, and contains, as far as it extends, very useful information. The History of Great Britain, by the late Rev. Titus Lewis, of Carmarthen, is an able performance, but on too confined a plan. Mr. R. Roberts, of Holyhead, published, many years ago, a large volume on Geography; and another is about to issue from the press, by Mr. Thomas Jones of Amlwch. Josephus has been rendered into the language of the principality by a Mr. Hugh Jones, near Dolgelley. A beautiful volume has, this year, made its appearance, entitled “The English Works of the late Rev. Eliezer Williams, Vicar of Lampeter, &c. ;" with a Memoir of his life,' by his son the Rev. St. George Armstrong Williams, Perpetual Curate of Bettws Garmon, Carnarvonshire. This volume is, in my estimation, one of the most interesting productions that has appeared during the present age, in connexion with the principality. The author of the works was a man of eminent talents and extensive knowledge, well versed in classical learning, and deeply acquainted with the antiquities of the Welsh nation, on which he has thrown some important light. "Possessing a character brightened with every distinguishing quality, he lived respected as an historian, a scholar, a poet, and a divine; unassuming and modest in every action of his life, he was dignified without pride, and charitable without ostentation. His time and thoughts were devoted to the general benefit of mankind; and the advantage which his pupils derived from him in the capacity of a teacher, will be

remembered with gratitude as sincere as it is ineffaceable." Such were the expressions of commendation used, in regard to Mr. Williams, when his death was announced through the press. I shall close my notice of this distinguished Welshman, by quoting Lines,' composed in memory of him, by a celebrated poet, who had himself been one of Mr. Williams's pupils. The excellency, both of the subject and the lines, will be a sufficient apology for their insertion.

"Art thou forgot, our guardian and our friend?
Did, with thy life, thy name and mem❜ry end?
And has the darkness of the tomb set free
Our hearts' affection and our love from thee?
No, gen'rous father, no-we still can trace
The beams of friendship playing in thy face,
And view those eyes whose vivid lustre glow'd
To mark that there, Intelligence abode.
The tear that rolled in silence o'er thy cheek,
Thy admonitions and thy precepts meek,
Each tale rehears'd our bosoms to inspire,
And wake to noble deeds our young desire:
We still remember,while affection binds
Our souls to thee, and sorrow fills our minds.
To thee, fair science oped her ample store,
Yes-and to thee for kindness look'd the poor.
That mighty mind on eagle-wings that soared,
The darkest paths of learning that explor'd,
Was still attentive to the orphan's cry,

The peasant's mournful tale-the widow's sigh.
Thine was that humour which bade sadness smile,
And thine the Christian heart that knew no guile :
Like God's true Shepherd, thy incessant aim
Was, the poor wandering sinner to reclaim-
To preach Christ crucified-disarm all strife,
And feed the hungry with the bread of life.
If here thou trod'st affliction's gloomy way,

If cares and sorrows mark'd thy cloudy day—

Now thy blest spirit rests in that domain

Where death is nam'd not-and where pleasures reign.
Adieu, kind master-best of friends, adieu;

God will again our intercourse renew,

When, no more sever'd from thy fond embrace,

We'll praise th'eternal God-the God of grace."

The Rev. DANIEL EVANS. See Gwinllan y Bardd, p. 403.

The Mabinogion,' or Juvenile Tales, under the editorial care of Lady Charlotte Guest, make their appearance, at the present time, being most elegantly printed by Mr. William Rees of Llandovery.

An Essay on Agriculture, by Aneurin Owen, Esq., which obtained the prize at the Beaumaris Eisteddvod in 1832, deserves to be mentioned on account of the valuable matter which it contains, and the genuine Welsh in which it is exhibited. Some of the monthly periodicals have reached to a great number of volumes. Many that have now ceased to appear were carried on for periods of from five to fifteen years. A publication, conducted by the Wesleyan Methodists, called yr Eurgrawn,' has been in existence for thirty years, and is yet in a prosperous condition. Two or three more, which have been in circulation for a long period, continue to receive the support of the public; and one called 'Seren Gomer' has completed its twenty-second year. There are at present in the principality eight or ten monthly periodicals, and four newspapers, all in the Welsh language, besides six or seven English journals, published weekly in the larger towns.

I must not omit to mention the Chronicle and Observer,' a duoglott periodical which came out in the town of Liverpool, in the year 1828, under the editorial care of Mr. Joseph Davies, a solicitor. This gentlenian was a native of Builth in Brecknockshire; but I am not able to describe him except in his connexion with the publication which he edited, and to which he was nearly the sole contributor. His mind appears to have been of the most expansive character and stored with immense information. Judging from the papers which he has transmitted to us by means of his periodical, he seems to have closely studied nearly every branch of science. Astronomy, metaphysics, natural and moral philosophy, political economy, philology, and law, appear to have been equally familiar to him. In several of his papers he has combated

some of the most difficult positions in the philosophy of Newton. On some points, in mental philosophy, he also disagreed with Dugald Stewart, whom, nevertheless, he regarded as the greatest philosopher of his age. He maintains, in opposition to the views of Dr. Reid and Professor Stewart, that but very few of our ideas are simple, and proceeds to show, by a process of analysis, that many of those alleged to be so, are of a compound character. In order to form the most perfect system of knowledge of which the nature of man is capable, he maintains that a new process of inquiry must be adopted. Language, he thinks, is the instrument by which the most simple elements of knowledge are to be discovered. The principles, which seem to have influenced his mind, appear to be the following: that God inspired the first man with a perfect system of knowledge, and a perfect medium of communicating that knowledge; that the most ancient languages now existing are fragments of the original one, and that the original language is capable of being restored. He does not assert that the ancient British is the parent language of mankind, but he does maintain that it is capable, and that without great difficulty, of being made a perfect language, by means of which the simple and perfect. elements of science would be recovered. He pleads, moreover, that the Welsh, by the significancy of its letters and syllables, is the best instrument of education that can be devised, as, by skilful management, it would awaken the attention of children; would assist the understanding to arrange and classify its ideas in the most orderly manner; and, lastly, would impress what the mind acquired, most effectually, on the memory, so as to be available for practical purposes. He commenced a 'Technological Dictionary,' in which he intended, in the first place, "to give the meaning of each letter of the alphabet by a strict definition and illustration. Then the meaning of compounds of two letters; and, lastly, under

another alphabet, compounds of those with single letters, or with each other. More compound words to be noticed only in particular instances. A few general rules and illustrations

to be given, for further compounding words with the prepositions and grammatical affixes, and with each other. The etymological signification of the letters, and all the compounds, to be applied to the arts and sciences. He says also, that "the rules of syntax peculiar to the language, are equally simple."

The following are short specimens of the Dictionary which Mr. Davies announced to be his intention of publishing: "WL, an object of perception :-DwL, an idea, or notion of an object :-MEDDWL, the faculty of conceiving an idea, the mind:-ENDDWL, reflection, or the spontaneous operation of the mind on an idea perceived :-ARDDWL, a principal idea, or subject of thought :-CYN-DDWL, the first idea."-" AwL, convergence of light, illumination, literally and figuratively : -IAWL, the glare of convergent light; figuratively, glory. ADDAWl, the reflection of light from the convergent focus: figuratively, the recurrent sentiment of an illumined mind; worship. IoLVA, place of glory: ADDOLVA, place of worship." -Chronicle and Observer, p. 222, &c. It appears that Leibnitz, after some attempt of the kind by Bishop Wilkins, had "conceived the possibility of aiding the powers of invention and reasoning, by the use of a more convenient instrument of thought than vulgar languages, and spoke of an alphabet of human thoughts, which he had been employed in forming, and which probably had some relation to his universal language." But this design was not matured. Of the other design, Professor Stewart says, "The failure of Wilkin's very ingenious attempt towards a real character, and a philosophical language, is not perhaps decisive against such a project; for not to mention some radical defects in his plan, the views of that very eminent philosopher do not seem to