The Cardiff Times

FUIWISTT THROUGHOUT rttEGD.1 OKTZM ANN &( JO, 67, 69, 71, 72, ?0, 77, & 79. HAMPSTEAD-ROAD, LONDON (Near Tottenham Court-road) BEDROOM FURNISHED COMPLETE for E5 & Illustration and Full Particulars p.t Free. The" WALTHAM" ASH BEDROOM SUlIK. £& IfJa. Illustration Anrt Full Particulars* Post Free. BEDROOM FURNISHED COMPLETE for £8 1811 W. Illustration and fuil Particulars Post Fiee The LYNTON DtiAWINO-HOOM SUITE (Settee and I Easy Chairs) tor Ba las oil ORDKRS PER POSI KECKlVR PROMPT ANR CARKFUL ATTENTION, 4100 ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE POST FREE.

BY W. ABRAHAM, M.P. (MABON). LORD SALISBURY AND THE EIGHT HOURS' MOVEMENT. This question having once more become the V*e8tion of questions, not only on the labour plat- °*OJ, bat also on the political platform, whether Liberal or Tory, I may be pardoned for fating aside for the moment my labour political ■•story while resuming the discussion upon the *"°*a for a couple of weeks. Lord Salisbury, faking of the eight hours' question at Notting- a fortnight ago, said that "the great ques- 1,0tt of the moment is undoubtedly the question of It is always the question, the important ttestion, whenever there is a great revival of *»de." He failed to see anything new m it, or 10 8110, anything new about it. Ha stopped short it old laissez-faire policy of leaving everything 18 It is, lest some dreadful calamity should happen in Consequence of out interference with it. He not a word to say for the workmen, but all l0t the employers. Said he, There ia a deal of profit made, and it .11 very natural that all who take I in making the profit are anxious to get as 'Re a share of it as they can. But you must, shove all things, be careful not to destroy employ- ment, not to repel employers, and not to drive iftpital out of the market. What you want is a "Umber of men with money "in their pockets fining forward and askmg working men to work 'otthem. When you have .this you will havr BIBb wages. If you give them tho idea that euntracts once entered into will not be carried 0"t, or that the power of Parliament will be used to interfere with tbe legitimate conduct of their *$sines8, they will not bring money out of their Dockets, they will not hire the workmen, wages »iU not rise; on the contrary, they will fall. Such a thing as an Eight Hours Bill would be a K«*at mistake. Still, he did not for a moment say lhat there were not a great deal too many hours forked in a great many trades. He believed there were. But he had no "Qcoaragemont nor promise to hold forth to those Workmen, only that the employers should think Aether this was so or not. But from that Position to an Act of Parliament saying to a man that if he wished to work ten hours he should not 'Jo't f 1 ,there was a difference as far astheNorthPolfl .rOtn the South and to make such a law would unpardonable interference with the freedom ."Wh Englishmen of all classes have cherished !ot many generations. It would interfere with ih0 natural relations of trade, and it would dri ve laP>tal out of trade, and would ultimately be in- active because it would merely ^result in a General reduction of wages all round. The careful reader of past history will observe once that the Premier of England of to- has nothing more or better to tell the Wcrkers of this country than the same old Vt&ts fairs doctrine that our fathers heardI 50 or 50 years ago, Never mind the workmen-though "0 know that they have to work too long nours Efficient tor them that the employers should ^ink whether this is so or not. The old Combina- tion Laws that we have been writing about have 'aeen repealed these 55 years, and still, wherever lr*des' union or legislation has not interfered, 'be employers have all these years been thinking af the desirability of shortening the hours of !abour, and they are not an iota further on to-day tn their consideration of the matter than they *ere 55 years ago, only that they have been forced by outside interference to change them. Yet Lord Salisbury deplores interference, and tbough be admits that he believes that there too 4 great deal too many hours being now worked, 4e concerns himself no further in the matter than to say that employers should think of it, and "aether it is so or not. What a copsolation TOBD SALISBURY S WORDS OF COMFORT TO WORKING MKN. Let us examine what be did say, and what 1Otnfort working men will derive from it. In the first place, said he. you must be careful, Not to discourage employment. Not to repel employers. Not to drive trade out of the market. THE OLD POLITICAL ECONOMY DOCTRINE. In the second place, there must be no interfer- ence. Plenty of employment means high wages. Scarcity of employment means low wages. Io tbe third place, Parliament must not inter- ne with the liberty of the subject. There must be no Eight Hours Bill. Reduction of hours brings reduction of wages 111 round. WEIGHING THB PREMIERS MAXIMS. The first of this series is as old as the first attempt at improving the condition of the working ^ssea With every measure of amelioration, wIth •*ery factory act passed for the regulation of 'e«nale and children's labour in factories, with ^*ery Mines Act, Employers' Liability a W Act in fact, every act that tends to regu- employment and even to protect life and "*»b, this same mournful theme has beAn trotted "'ut, Be very careful (a) not to destroy employ- ^nt, (J) not to refuse employment, and (c) not 40 drive the trade out of the country, bull, in .Pite of this racket and exhortation, trade has "een improving by leaps and bounds. Where of 90re we manufactured our hundreds we now pro- liuce our thousands, and where we once issued our ttlo««ands we now produce our millions. Yet, in t!)e "ace of all this, Lord Salisbury has no real helPto 0ffer the working man, whom he himself '^toits is overburdened with too long hours o *kour, but the old doleful cry, Be very careful yoU drive the trade out ot the country. THK LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. In the second series he propagates the new °ctrine of political economy. You need not and >st not interffre the law of supply and demand the great regulator of wages. ien wor z ^Stiful. and workmen are few, wages must and *i!l be high when work is scarce and workmen ^ntiful, wages must and will be low. Tbis. fording to political economy and Lord Sail Vy, is the groat law of nature, and it should 1,9 left to settle tbe question. As a general prin- tlPle this is doubtless correct. This law must oe great regulator of wages. Violent interference this rule must in the end defeat its object \1nd lead to rn.sch.ef. But still it is a question lh.„f ,„Ppiy £ -b— require, at times, some HerY1„nfj Measure to determine what the relation o ,lnd supply is at the time, what rea y is highest sum that employers can g've> an •owest that workmen will accept. Without sue Pressure and interference the workman canno '11d will never get his due proportion of wages from the law of supply and demand.. Salisbury forgets that workmen, by careful an Judicious interference, can and have altered t e Iltate of the market in their own favour. (1) By seeing that they get their fair share of J*e benefit in shorter hours of labour-saving and 1lOe.saving machinery. W) By decreasing the number of tbe unemployed keeps down wages. Stilifwith these well-known facts staring him in face, Lord Salisbury has no other or more Comforting recommendation to give the toiling ^^lions of the country ot which he is the premier ^an the old, oft-repeate t laissez faire doctrine, "tetwelt alone," and of not interfering with a labour market and the law of supply and ^•fcand. THR FREEDOM OF THK SUBJECT. But it is with the third series of his bewailing mournful ejaculations that I am most con- ned in this and the next article- S* eight hours'movement or the l.,ght Hours ^11 interfering unpardonably w. b the freedom of subject and reducing wages a roun • Amongst the various measures a voca e as ^eans tor bettering the condition 0 W°ru > of this country, tbere is none which has ob; a'Ued more prominence than tbe eig ours "Lament. During the past two or three years ^Ihiic interest in this question has rapidly in. Ctealled, and now again it is not only engrossing attention of trades' unionists in a miners in particular, but every can l a e or ^'liamentary honours and every po ltician o ^y standing whatsoever. In fact,it is so occupying mind of Lord Salisbury himself that in spite 0f the fret that every Tory paper was in for the „r four weeks preceding tbe Nottingham Conference lest be should say nothing abouc it, Ot about, any other social ref orm, be felt com- ( pelled to mention it, and to go so far as to admit that it was undoubtedly the great question of the moment." It will be observed that Lord Salisbury de- plores interference of all kinds. He is no friend of eight hours' labour, by whatever means it may be obtained, but designates an Eight Hours Bill as an "unpardonable interference with the freedom of the subject," and a thing that would be a great mistake." His oppo- sition goes much further than that of Mr John Morley. Mr Morley is not only in favour of an eight hours working day, but an advocate of it if it can be got through the effort of trades unions. What he says is: Yon can get your eight hours working day by the efforts of your trades unions. Why don't you do it ? Why do you ask Parliament to do for yon what you are well able to do for yourselves ?" It is well known that many Liberal politicians, and indeed some of the best leaders of workmen, share this opinion with Mr Morley, But as for Lord Salisbury, he discourages the idea of short- ening the hours of labour, and bewails having any enactment on the question. THB QUKSTIONS TO BK CONSIDERED. However, it is IllY oeject to endeavour to grapple with the subject from both these points of view, for I find that there are some important points that need be cleared up satisfactorily be- fore tbe enforcement of an eight hours' day can recommend itself as a practical measure to intelli- gontmen. (1.) Its effect upon wages. (2.) Its effect upon foreign trade. {3.) Does it materially alter the character of its interference with individual liberty whether the eight hours' day be established by law or by united action outside the law? Evidently Lord Salisbury is among the number of those that say that wages must be reduced in proportion to the reduc- tion of hours, and consequently does not ragard it as a measure of any great importance. Others who think that the real cause of low wages is the competition for employment, argue that as a reduction of working hours to eight a day would absorb all the unemployed wages must necessarily rise. It will be to the consideratiou of these propositions that tbe Dext article will be devoted.

REVIEWS. Y DTDDTADUR ANNIBYNOL (H. Evans, Bala). This is oue of the orthodox aunual diaries of the Weleh Congregationalists, which aims at supply- ing also more or less completely the want of a more complete year book for that denomination. In addition to the ordinary calendar, diary, and tbe inevitable list of Welsh fairs, the present diary contains much information of great value to the denomination, e.g., statistics, list of churches and ministers, short biographical sketches of promi- nent members of tile denomination who have died during the year. The value of the book as a handy reference is by no means confined to members of the denomination tor whose use it is chiefly intended, for it contains much other matter of general interest, e.g., tabular statements of Welsh county councils, numes and addresses ot the Welsh members, particulars of tbo Welsh county-courts, short summaries of the chief legis. lative enactments of the year, and other inior- mation. Altogether this shilling pocket diary will compare favourably with those issued at a similar price in English. Y PULPUD ANNIBYNOL [H. Evans, Bala) is a recently-puulisiied volume of sermons by twenty-six different. Independent ministers in tbe principality. They are written in a racy and spirited style, and are highly interesting. Many of them have done yeomen service in the high festivals of the denomination in Wales, from the platform of the open-air gatherings as well as in anniversary services. Those wbo have bad tbe pleasure of hearing the delivery of them will be uelighted to peruse tbem at leisure repeatedly. Nonconformist ministers enpply their congrega- tions with genuine home-made bread, and this volume will be very much appreciated. LLINKLLAU HIRAKTHOL ar 01 y diweddar Barcli K. L. Thomas, Boro'. (Dolgelly: William Hughes.) This is not, as might be imagined by tbe title, an elegy, but a biogr vphy ut .Mr Thomas, with selections from his sorniotif. Among the contri- butors to the volume are tbe Revs Dr Da vies, West Brompton; R. Evans, Peumaeu W. Justin Evans, Dalston; D. Morgan, Llanelly J. Rowlands, Radnor-street; au;i Dr Evans, Fetter-lane. Thomas y Boro' was a name well known in Welsh Nonconformist circles, and many who ouce listened to his eloquent words will be glad to listen once more to bis voice in the nineteon sermons published in the present work. The first half of the book is devoted to pen and ink sketches of various periods of his career. We have only space to give a single extract from the very interesting and appreciative chapter on "Student Reminiscences," uy Mr Justin Evans. We select tbis as it deals with a matter which has received far too littia attention at the hands of the authorities of the Welsh theological colleges. Mr Evans says: "Asa student Mr Thomas was industrious and painstaking. This was all the more necessary as he bad but few educational advantages in his early youth. Some of his class- mates had enjoyed greater, some less advantages. Two or three of these knew but littia English, and could not put together half a dozen Eosjlish sentences. Yet these were expected to translate into English irom Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and French. Even it they succeeded in trautJat ng after a lashioii, the translation would, after all, be in an unfamiliar language, It is impossible to master Greek, Latin, Hebrew and French, together with half-a-dozen other subjects, in four years when the students are iguoraut of the elements of English grammer when they enter college. It such mea are to be admitted into our colleges (and I believe they should be it they show ability in other directions), let the lessons be such as they can reasonably master. At present, too much is expected of tutors and students. Let the exertion be what it may, you cannot put a quart of wiue in a pint bottle." The biographical sketch pictures his progress from the qu>eo country birth-piace in a remote part of Carmarthenshire to his all too early grave in the Madeiras. The man's devotion to his calling is touchingly illustrated in his last words. uttered in that distant sea-girt island whither be had gone in his vain search for health. Said be, "If I knew that this was death, I should like to send a message to my church." The volume is well got up, and should have a large circulation. My WELSH HOME (A Poem).—This little work, by the Rhetor or Liamlid and Llanharan, dedicated to Dean Vaughac. It will be read with interest by t.hose who wish to have pictures of the past and the present placed in striking contrast. It is evident that the author has a deep appreciation of the qualities of the people among whom ho lives. In view of the past tendency to depre- ciate everything Welsh, it is gratifying to find such a tribute to the Welsh language all the following :— The language, too, was surely made A handmaid meet for rhetoric- Sonorous, flexible, antique, Which now couid rouse and now persuade. The power of the Welsh preacher is well pour- trayed thus ;— How often have I seen a crowd Entranced as by Ii. wizard's pass, Or surging like a molten mass, Around a voice that, soft or loud, Could still enchillL tbat throng of men And mould them to the speaker's will. Some of the footnotes are higiny interesting, BEKCHAM S ILLUSTRATED CHRISTMAS ANNUAL.— We have seen a copy 01 this wouueriui penny- worth, and the book is undoubtedly superior to its pioneer, which had such a successful t un last year. It contains 100 pages of original tales specially written for thio book by the following well-known and eminent, authors:—Joseph Hatton, Florence Marryatt, Fergus Hume,.Sarah Hame-i, George Manville Fenn, James Greenwood, H. F. Wood, Ida Lemon, Sir Gilbert E. Campbell, liart., Howard Paul, Dr J. W. Kirton. It is exceedingly well printed in ciear type, and, being quite a marvel at the price, is without doubt, as far as literature is concerned, likely to be one of the best magazines of the season.

SMOKELESS POWDER. Much interest is excited in military ciroles by the announcement made last night by Lord Wolseley that, by April next, we shall be in possession of smokeless powder. It was known that preparations in this direction were going forward but it was not believed that they were so far advanced. The general adoption by tbe nations of Europe of this new discovery will add a fresh interest to the next war, wherever it breaks out It is foreseen that the tactics of military operations will be fundamentally changed. An eminent soldier who has been through most of the wars since the Crimea does not hesitate to express the opinion that tho introduction of this new engine will do more than anything else to make war infrequent. He anticipates that the use of smokeless powder will have upon armies, and more particularly upon small detachments, a fatally demoralising effect. At present when an army id in the field it learns the precise where- abouts of the adversary by the clouds of smoke, and can act accordingly. When tbe smokeless powder cumes into use detachments of an army may be decimated by projectiles mysteriously 'falling among them from an unseen adversary.

THE SAGACIOUS MAIDEN.—He I don't see why you uon'<. IIl«rtY a iiiau without capital if be has a good salaiy, Mother EYe married a gardener. She Yea, and the first thing he dona was to lose bis situation 1 I

Current Notes on Agriculture. By a Practical Farmer. PLOUGHING MATCHES. The present time of the year is the season of ploughing matches. In nearly every issue of the daily papers the results of some match or other are chronicled, and on the walls of every village bills are posted announcing the yearly recurrence of such competition. From the promoters of the majority of these competitions the same complaint might be heard, that is, that they are not patronized by practical farmers to that extent which from the close connection and interest they ought to have in the matter they should give. On the face of it, this appears strange, but in looking for the cause it does not seem so strange after all. Of course a few more or less of practical men are on the committee of every ploughing match, but there is a lack of interest taken in the events by farmers in general. Indeed, a good many set their faces gainst them altogether. Why is this? One, and perhaps the main, reason is that the rules of ploughing matches are now some- tbing similar to what they were 43 years ago, and, indeed, they are infinitely worse in some respects now than they were then. Farming has altered vastly in many respects during that period. A farmer now, like every other man, has in bis race for a living no time to spare; he has to be wide awake and be doing. Farmers who feel the necessity of losing no unnecessary time are at a loss to understand what is the aim of these matches. It cannot be dispatch. This is evident enough. As an old farmer said to me a few days ago, John is practising for the plough- ing match he has been at it for a week or more, and during that time he has not made a fair day's work." That could not be practising for despatch. Take the general run of matches, if you attend one of them and watch the men at work, it take them an hour or two before they have done the first four furrows although they work hard, it is not ploughing. As soon as they make the first two you will see them on their hands and knees elevating here, pressing down in another part of the ridge, &e. It is more handwork than anything else. So much land is allotted to each ploughman. This he has to cover in a specified time, and this time is often far too much for the work required. Very few farmers would be willing to allow their farm boys at home the time allowed at these competitions to plough I their land, nor would they like to see them, after each furrow is made, leave their horses to stand on the headland till the boys had tidfe to go on their hands and ktiaes across the field straightening these furrows. Yet this is what is done at most of these matches. There are excep- tions, but these are comparatively few. Let ploughing matches he in accordance with tho needs of the age. Of course, the aim should be to encourage our boys to good work, but the encouragement should be also for despatching that work in the leafJt time consistent with such good work. Unfortunately, many of our pioughin matches are only a farce. liules are laid down, but these rules are by the stewards allowed to ba broken with impunity. In no case should the time specified be extended, as is often the case, nor should the time specified be more than what a farmer would be willing to allow his boys at home. Neither should any ploughman on any account be allowed to touch his furrow with his hands; in short, he should not leave the reins out of his hands till he has finished his ridge. Let our competitions be for the best work done in the most workmanlike manner and in the least time, This would give a new test to ploughing, and farmers in general would patronize such matches. A SIMPLE DITCH CLXAKEB. When I was up country lately, I saw an imple- ment at work which i have not seen used about here at all. It is simple and inexpensive, and those who havo wet land or many ditches to clean would find it of practical utility. It is a simple form of ditch cleaner. This round harrow or ditch cleaner can be made for a few shillings. It consists of a log about four feet long and about 18 inches in diameter; one end must be tapered, and a notch cut in this: by which a chain can be fastened ordinary harrow teeth are inserted in regular order all round. This, with a horse attached to it to draw it along the ditch, will clean. it in a rapid manner of grass, weeds, &c. If two horses were used instead of one, a log about six feet long would be about; the rierhfc draught. BKKTON'S NEW BOOK OF GARDEN MANAGEMENT. This book is replete with all information in every department of gardening. It is readable and interesting. Commencing with a history of gardening from time immemorial, it treats on the formation of soils, drainage, manures, style of gardening, shelter, rotation of crops, tools, plant- ing, pruning, &c. It gives a comprehensive monthly calendar of garden work throughout the year in every department of the garden, and,what is of value to amateurs, it is written in a plain style, and cau be understood by a non-professional reader. It is a book that all should possess if they have any delight in gardening. WARNING TO MILLERS. Last month more flllu was received from America than ever before. In November of last year only 637,000 cwts. were re- ceived. This year 1,233,144- cwts, came across the Atlantic. The Americans now charge us for manufacturing wheat into flour, and if the journey across the Atlantic begins to reduce itself, as it has recently done, to a very few days, they will probably be thinking of sending us bread ready made. The importance of the figures may be exaggerated. This may be a mere flash in the pan but the danger of the milling trade io Great Britain is real. It shows where the competition will next tend to become keen. Perhaps too it has a reflecting glance upon the difficulties of enactiEg the proposed eight hours' law. The Weather and the Crops, The Mark lane Express of Monday says The past; w^ek has given us a real touch of wiuter, but English wheat is Is to 2s cheaper than it was this time last year, which has caused con. signmeuta to London to diminish. The markets generally show bur. little change by comparison with November. The closing terms for either English wheat or flour, foreign wheat and flour, likewise maintain old prices, without enhancing them, Spring corn has been a strong and vigorous trade ever since the cold weather set in. The demand, however, is of a consumptive and not a speculative nature. Prices accordingly show no extraordinary advance. On oats sixpence to Is improvement may be quoted in London, but at Bristol only 3 I advance has been allowed. Other markets Vary between these points. The price cf maize has advanced 61 it, London, and 3i in Bristol, Hull, Birmingham, and Newcastle. At LIverpool trade is rather weak, however, and it remains to be seen whether Liverpool will come into line with othet markets. Sometimes the reverse is the case, Liverpool infecting other centres with its own weakness. No general im- provement can be quoted in beans and peas. Barley is very firm.

HE WENT. Jack Toosoon I'd like you to be my wife,Ethel. Is it a go ? Ethel Unreddy Well, it's a half go. You go.

KEEPING HIS CREDIT GOOD.-First Student: Why uu you borrow ten dollars trom your land- lord, when you have just received your draft from home and have your pockets full of money? Second Student: You see, I hadn't borrowed any money from him for this last two weeks, aud I was afraid be might lose confidence in me if I didn't tap him for a tenner. L

By Lloffwr. I think it was last year I first noticed Welsh Chrifitmas cards being issued, and then by only a single firm, that of Roberts Brothers, Cardiff. This year I understand that several others have followed the exampfo of the Cardiff Welsh pub- lishers. The latter, however, continue to keep well to the front, and their selection for the present season will be appreciated by Welsh folk desirous of exchanging with their friends the compliments of the season in their native tongue. I am glad to note that there is considerable originality sybout the poetical sentiments in these cards. Instead of being slavish imitations of the stereotyped Eng- lish rhymes,we have distinctively Welsh po"etry,io some cases full of Welsh sentiment.butand where such sentiment is not prominent,still distinctively Welsh in the form it takes. I can only give one or two examples. What, for instance, can be more simple and touching than tbe following:- "Gerdyn bychan dos i'r wlad, Dos i aelwyd mam a than G.dw heibio'm chwaer a'm brawd, Dywed wrthynt, gerdyn tlawd, 'Gwyliau llawen '—dyna l gyd Y w uy neges yn y byd." Or take the following:— Dywed lluoedd Gwyliau llawen,' Heo ei feddwl mwy na derwen; Tawaf tinau-dyna ddigon, Gwyddoat beth yw iaith fy nghalon." Most of the verses in this set have been written by the popular Welsh bard"Derwenr.g."

WELSH REPORTING. I am glad to see that the correspondence initiated iu this column has attracted wide-spread attention, and is being commented upon by some of the leading Eoglish papers; Nid gwaetb y gwir o'i chwilio." This week I have the pleasure of giving a reply upon the whole case from the Rev R. H. Morgan, M.A., the author of Phono- graphia, and consequently the Welsh "Pitman." I are gratified to find that what I have already written on this subject is fully borne out by such an undoubted authority as Mr Morgan. I append his letter MR LLOFJfWR,-I am naturally very much inter- ested in the discussion that is now going on in your columns respecting Welsh shorthand. I thank you warmly for your defence of the "wiuged art" in Welsh. At the same time I cannot help thinking that you attach too much importance to the strictures of your correspon- dent, Celticus. He admits having 41 giveu up in disgust the attempt to master Welsh steno- graphy-presumably, phonographia. I fear that 1 his nature is more prone to being disgusted than it is to patient toil. Scores of Welshmen have acquired a fair proficiency in the art; then why shouldn't Celticus do tbe same? Probably, he is not much of an English shorthand writer, cnrtainly not a practised reporter, and perhaps his knowledge of Welsh is imperfect. If I am wrong in my suppositions, Celticus himself i- responsible for my mistake^ It is inconceivable that an experienced reporter.,w.ould have clothed the little he has to say in such a cloud of words. Every reporter of the right stamp believes in condensing. His disquisition, in his first letter, on the mental and physical operations involved in verbatim repjrting betrays the "'prentice hand." How ridiculous it is for him to drag Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone into a discus sion on Welsh shorthand But worse still, Celticus states that Pitman himself in his 'Reporter's Companion' says that it would take on an average about two years, by devoting two hours per day, to attain a speed of 120 words per minute." Pitman says nothing of the kind. What he does say is that "a tolerably expert writer can learn to write at the rate of "120 or 130 words per minute" in about twelve months, practising an hour or two, or even three, according to his intelligence and dexterity; and that two years' constant practice after com- mencing the study should enable the pbonographer to write 170 or 180 words per minute; but many persons can never attain this speed." That is very different to Celticus's version. Again, he charges me with having described the Welsh language (on p. 5 of Phono. 1st ed.) as "anystwyth ac aosathredig." What I say in my book is, "Rhoddir y Saesoneg yma, er mwyn i'r efrydydd gael cydmarw y ddwy (wyddor),a darllen eglurhad rhagorol Mr Pitman, yr hun sydd yn fwy dealladwy yr Saesoneg na phe ceisid ei gytieitbu i Jaith anystwyth ac ansathredig Gram- adegau Cymreig." The words I refer to are "pxpfodents," It nasals," "liquids." "coales- ceute," &< To call tbe Welsh equivalents of those words anystwyth ac ansathredig is a very different thing to applying the description to the language itself. The objections he urges are mostly of a theo- retical kind, and such as the experience of every intelligent reporter has taught him do not exist in practice. Celticus seems to imply, if his words have any meaning, that it is impossible ever to invent or adopt a system of shorthand for the Welsh language. In order to avoid undue prolixity, I shall arrange my further remarks under a few heads. 1. No language is perfect. English and Welsh have many irregularities and exceptions. Therefore, there can be no ideally perfect system of shorthand without irregularities, and excep- tions. The systems which pretend to be free of them are a delusion and a snare. 2. Newspaper recommendations ot systems of shorthand are, as a rule, thoroughly worthless. Almost every system that has ,recently appeared has been praised in the leading London and provincial journals. But who are the writers of these! Who uses them for reporting purposes? The inventors even of some of them habitually use phonography. They drag a lingering existence for a few years, and then when the authors and their friends cease to prop them up they expire and return to 3ust. Phonography has stood the proof of 50 years, and has been found to answer the purpose. 3. Any successful system of Welsh 'shorthand must be an adaptation of an Eoglish one, or must have an English equivalent, if it is to be of use to reporters. They cannot be expected to acquire two distinct systems, one for each language. Phonographia only claims to be an adaptation. It is very far indeed from being an ideally perfect system of Welsh shorthand, but the circumstances of the case demand that it should be pretty much what it is. Greater brevity might be secured by introducing a greater number of changes, but I bad, as I state in the preface to the second edition, to avoid two dangers. For further observations on this subject I beg to refer the reader to p. 4. and p. 44 of Phonographia," 2nd edition. 4. The difficulty as to the initial mutation of consonants vanishes in practice. I recommend a middle course, such as that followed in the last exercise in Phonographia." 5. lkn intelligent and competent reporter will be at no loss to deal with the mongrel Welsh of which Celticus complains. Such words as com- mand," qualifio," &c., will no more stagger him than the ungrammatical English, unfinished sentences, the unconscious, downright nonsense that English parliamentary orators deliver every night now stagger the occupants of the reporters' gallery. I have often noticed speakers uttering most absurd nonsense as far as tbe words they used were concerned, which neither they them- selves nor their bearers were conscions of. Every reporter has to discount and correct auch things. Generally, people who speak mongrel Welsh are not worth reporting verbatim. The substance of what they say is quite as much as the public cares for. 6. I have often taken down speeches and sermons verbatim, some of which were delivered very rapidly. I took down verbatim a sermon of the late Dr Wm. Bees, which afterwards appeared in the Dysgedydd. He spoke for an honr and a quarter. His style was largely colloquial, which seems so slow and easy, but which is really, as every reporter knows, most, rapid and puzzling. In the Goleuad there appear regularly full reports of Welsh speeches and addresses taken down in phonographia by the proprietor of that paper. Of ate, owing to other work, I am not as fully informed of the abilities and achievements of Welsh phonographers as I was once, but I know that Mr E. M. Jones, Cwmpenllydan, Llanbryn mair; Mr W. Williams, Ardwick, Manchester; Mr Samuel Evans, now of Cairo; Rev Jno. Owen, Burry Port formerly; Mr Gittins, of Llanfair, Careinion Rev Jno. Davies, Bala; Mr E. R. Jones, Barmouth; and many others wbsm I could name were and are still, unless out of practice, fully able to accept the challenge of Celticus. Whether any of the above named or some other gentlemen will choose to respond to the challenge I do not know.-I am, &c., R. H. MORGAN. Menai Bridge, Dac. 4, 1S89.

A GOOD FiT IN MEDICINE; Mahogany Johnson: Ha*yo' any misfit medi- cine dat's about my siae? Solomon Isaacs I have yust von bottle left. It vas made for Jav Gould's horse, und I bought it for mine leddie jakey', but it don't fit hTakiem. it along for one tollar. I varrant it to fit you,

( BY DR. JOSEPH PARRY, LECTURER ON MUSIC, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, CARDIFF. The Music of the Sanctuary. CHAPEL CHOIR LEADERS AS ORGANISTS. A word upon our chapel choir leaders and organists naturally comes after what I have treated upon in my last letter. To have two different persons filling the two different posts ot organist and conductor will, in my opinion, ever be wrong, for they may be men of different qualifications, of different styles, of differeut dis- positions and tempers, so that constant friction is inevitable. A poor organist can at any or all times contradict or mar any tone, tempo, or ex- prossional gradations the conductor may indicate by bis beat to his choir or congregation. In fact, a conductor directing his resources in a devotional public service, a 14 concert, is ill- becoming to the time and place. The guidance and control of all this devotional part of the service in having all syllabizing together, unity of ex- pression in the varied and contrasting lines of tenderness and vigour, unction and praise, penitence and hope, and the many other emotional resources of the human heart, the tone and time gradations referred to, as well as all the elements which infuse devotional and spiritual life into religious praise-all these higher qualities are a thousand times more under the control and management of the leader-organist than by two different men. Ail other musical nations have centuries ago learnt and adopted this lesson, and, in our ardent love for all that is good and test, we loug for our be- loved little Wales and her small army nf native musicians to emulate the example of other nations in this as well as in all other direc- tions which tend to our higher progress and development. The point to be aimed at, and if possible attained, is for our many chapel-choir leaders to master the harmonium as a fine initia- tion to the pipe and pedal organ thus much of the manual work will have been accomplished upon the harmonium, so that when they enter the proper organ loft they may study this king of instruments by practising the pedals; also study the tone, individuality, compass, and combination of the various stops, and in a reasonable time most districts will have a fair list of most service- able young organists, who would pioneer our national cause ot Welsh sanctuary music. THE ORGAN LOFT AND THK PULPIT. Our public devotional service consists of two parts, and each of the highest importance. In the dark days of the past, whan congregations were not able to read, the pulpit was the only grand power in our country, there being no hymn- books in our pews, and our music from all points of four-part harmony was in a ljlmentable state. Now, however, tho pulpit has a great and companionable power in the sacred music of the sanctuary. As the Christian Church has long ago utilised this heaven-born power, we in our country really must do likewise and this is the burden of my present series of letters. And the sooner the better our organ-lofts are on a par with those of other countries. The pulpit need have no fear from the co-influences and mighty powers of the highest possible status and dignity of high-class and varied music within the sanctuary. No one wmild ever dream of intruding into the sphere of the ministers as the messengers of peace. Let them have all possible sway and latitude. But when we come into the province of the music of the sanctuary, we proclaim the same right and non-interference for our oTgan loft as we readily allow for the pulpit. Each of these two classes of Christian workers should understand and dis- charge the duties devolving upon them best; the very fact of their holding such posts assumes iull capacity for tbem. I therefore advocate that the choice of tunes and hymns be under the full control of the qualified chapel organ leader who, as a matter of course, should have careiully studied the mighty force and power of the propriety of the best hymns and tunes being wedded together. And, if he does his duty, he will have previously selected the hymns and tunes, so as to secure a variety as to metres subjects, and style. The organist must best know as to the opening hymn and tune that shall best suit the few, and those coming before the prayer, and the fuller tuues requiring the full harmony of the whole cboir and congregation. The wise, generous, and broad-minded minister need have no fear on this point. For a sermon upon some special topic, should the minister desire a special hymn, he will get it by all means. Hymns and tunes thus carefully selected would at all times secure far higher effect than if the minister chose them at the last moment. Who is there of experience but too well under- stands the great difference there is between hymns and hymns as between tunes and tunes ? Many hymns are not at aill emotional, or adapted for congregational worship purposes, and so it is with tunes. Many are as devotionally cold as an empty fire grate. The' true leader and the organist should be the best versed in all these many points of real value, which secure general, warm, and devotional praises by all worshippers. Let us, therefore, all join to raise our Welsh sanctuary music to one of real worship, that we may tender to our Creator praises full of heart, thought, and intelligence. And if these feebla words, efforts, and deeds should contribute in ever so small a degree to that end, I shall have indeed done a fraction of that good which in my heart I should like to do.

A WELSH BARRISTER TO THE FRONT. The examiners appointed by the Arden Trustees have awarded tlie'Ardeu Law Scholar- ship of £ 60 a year, tenable for three years, to Mr Ernest Blown Boweu Rowlands, who was called to the bar hy the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn on November 18, 1889, and who obtameu a studentship at the Inns it Court Examination in Trinity Term, 1883. The special subjects for examination for the Arden Scholarship were "The LAvv of Landlord and Tenant, and the Law of Bills of Exchange."—The Timet.

The old Greek philosophers as actors didn't draw much. ODe of the wisest of tbem could only Plato small house

How the Stars Were Named. BY SIR ROBEHT BALL THE STUDY OF THE STARS IN ANCIENT DAYS possessed an importance of a wholly different kind from that which we now attribute to it. As the sun was of such utility to mankind, and as the moon contributed not a little to our welfare by mitigating the darkness of nignt, and by raising the tides for our seaports, it was nataral to think that the other heavenly bodies must also have a significant relation to human concerns. In early days the nature of the celestial bodies was not understood as we understand it now. It was not then supposed that among the stars there could be worlds comparable in importance with our globe. In the belief of the ancients our earth was the central body of the universe. The sun, moon, and the stars were merely regarded as objects placed in the heavens for the purpose of mmistering to human wants. Tiie relation of the sun and moon to the inhabitants of the earth were of course obvious, but the other bodies also had their terrestrial influences which were to be discovered by occult science. Accordingly a system of astrology was created for the purpose of interpreting the movements of the stars. It is perhaps hardly necessary to say that we now only regard these notions of the old astrologers as curiosities. We remember that our earth occupies but an insignificant point of space, and that the stars and planets are generally globes far greater than that on which wa dwell. The movements of the heavenly bodies are no longer believed to con- ain indications of humau aff irs. We do not cast the horoscope, nor do we now think tiiat the career of a man is decided by configuration of the planets at the moment be happened to be born. It is, however, interestiug to note the different way.. in which traces ot the OLD ASTROLOGICAL BELIEFS STILL PREVAIL AMONG US. In former days, whnn any great undertaking was in contemplation, the stars were consulted to know if tbe auspices were favourable. Though we do not at the present day think this necessary, yet we do at least admit that we ought carefully to consider the prospects of the enterprise. Astrology has provided us with the worn, for consider is derived from the Latin word sidus, a star, and signifies literally that we consult, me tars. Should tne undertaking not turn out fortunately we often describe it as ill-starred, and here we recognise that a good star has not favoured our efforts, but that they have been under tbe maligu influence of an evil one. Wheu a serious misfortune occurs we may sometimes speak of it as a disaster. This is a word derived from the Greek, and signifies that our star has been unfavourable. Need I add that it is the same Greek root that gives us the first half of the word astronomy. Remembering the importance of the stars to the ancient astrologers it is not unnatural to find that they WATCHED THKM WITH THK CLOSEST ATTENTION. They observed that the sun and the moon changed their places on the heavens, so that these bodies were fitly described as "wanderers.' The rest ot the heavenly host are mainiy com- posed of the fixed stars as we generally call them, to distinguish between the bodies that do not move and the planets. From theremotestantiquity it seems to have beeu known that there were some few stars like objects which moved about. Of these the earliest to be observed was doubtless the planet Venus, her brilliancy as the evening star or the morning star seems to have attracted attention from all intelligent nations of which we have any record. As Venus contiuously changed its place, and so far resembled the sun and the moon, the astrologers credited this planet with a significant intervention iu terrestrial matters. But there were other planets also to be discerned by those who care- fully watched the sky. Three bright objects. Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, showed by their movements that they were bodies wholly different from ordinary stars. The list of planets known to the ancients was completed by the discovery of Mercury. It is impossible to reflect on this achievement without admiring tho acuteness of observation which disclosed the nature of this rarely seen object, and identified its successive appearances. Mercury seems to have beeu discovered independently by two or three nations at dates antecedent to those of exact history. It will thus be seen that there were in all five planets, namely, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars, and Mercury. It to these we add the sun and tbe moon we have the total seven wanderers with which the astrologers used to conduct their mystic operations. There is no doubt that THE ANCIENT SIGNIFICANCE OF lHH: NUMBER ShVEN is attributable to the fact that there were be- lieved to be neither more nor less than seven of these bodies. The most striking illustration that we can give of the survival of astrological notions is to get further connection between the names of the seven days of the week and the names of the seven wanderers. In fact, it appears that the use of a week of seveu days has been conrined to those races who had recognised these seveu planets. The Incas or ancient inhabitants of Peru seemed to have detected no other planet than Venus, and thsir week had nine days, to accord apparently with one-third of the dura- tion of the moon's revolution around the earth. The Aztecs of Mexico, who were also in ignorance of the planets, Venus alone ex- cepted, employed a week of thirteen days. Among ten ancient nations of the old world, not only the number of the days of the week, but the names of those days here associated with the names of the seven wanderers, to which they respectively corresponded. The ancient astro- nomers, though wholly ignorant of the true relations of the celestial bodies, had yet been enabled to arrange the wanderers in their true order of distance from the earth, at least in so far as it is possible to place bodies in such an order when their distances are incessantly changing. The dimness of Saturn and the slowness of his movements justified them in regarding him as the most remote of the seven. Next came Jupiter, aud then came Mars. It is to be remembered that according to the ancients the sun was classi- fied as a wanderer with the bodies we now spsak of as planets. His distance was less than that of Mars, and greater than that of Veuus. JNlercury was nearer to us than Venus, while the moon was the nearest body of all to the earth. We thus write the seven wanderers, in order of their dis- tances, as follows:—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. This is nor, however, the order in which these planets stand when they represent the seven days of the week. THE SUCCESSION OF WEEK DAYS is arrived at in the way we shall U>JW mention. In ancient times the day and night together were divided as at present into twenty-four hours. Each one of thel;6 hours was cousecrated to one of the planets. The order in which the hours unappropriated to the different wanderers was simpiy tne order of their distances, and each day bore the name of the wanderer to which its first hour was related. As a beginning the first hour is consecrated to the most distant object, Saturn, and accordingly the corresponding uay is Saturn day or Saturday; the second hourbaiongs to Jupiter, the third to Mars, the fourth to the Sun, the fifth to Veuus, the sixth to Mercury, aud the seyenth to the Moon. Then the eighth hour begins with Saturn again, the ninth with Jupiter, and so on, until after twenty-four hours the list of the wanderers has been repeated three times over. The twenty-second hour begins of course wit'i Saturn again, the twenty-third belongs to Japiter, the twenty-fourth to Mars, acd thus the whole twenty-four hours of Saturday are complete. The twenty-fifth hour, which is the first nour of the next day, falls ou the wanderer next to Mars, that is on the Sun. The first hour of the day next after Saturday is accordingly consecrated to the Suo, and as the name of each day is derived from that of its first hour, it follows that the name of the day lollowing Saturday is to be the day of the sun—that is, ot course, Sunday. You may follow the same calculation throughout. The following is an equivalent but shorter process. Write the names of the seven wanderers in the order of their distances around a circle, and then read them by beginning with Saturn, and skipping two eaoh time. Tliey will come into the following order:—Saturn, Sun, Moon, Man, Mercury, Jupiter, Venns, and then Saturn again. Now w.) ha ve reacin l the precise order of the days in the week. The meanings of Saturday anti Sunday we have already explained, Mouday is Moouday, and the French Lundi means also the day of the moon. Tuesday is connected with Mars in fact the French word Mardi, meaning Tuesday, is obviously Mars' day. Wednesday or Mwrcredi in French is Mercury day. Thursday is derived trom Tholz, a deity identical with Jupiter. Friday is peculiarly shown to be the day of Venus. Thus not only the seven days of the week, but the very names of the days themselves are direetlv related to the names of the seven planets.

WELSH NOTES. BARBED WIRE AND HUNTING. The question of barbed wire is becoming a burn. ing one in hunting circles. A8 far north as the Tynedale it is a topic for controversy, aud on Saturday the Warwickshire Chamber of Agricul- ture made it the subject of debate. I must confess that I cannot see the benefits which a non-hunting farmer derives from the sport. It is true that now and then he may get a larger price for a young horse than be would obtain if hunting were abolished; yet it was only last summer that one of the leading dealers in the country told me that for his best horses foreigners would give more than Englishmen. Again, I am not convinced that the price of oats or straw depends in the least upon hunriog men the horses in tbe towns are so numerous that their wants practi- cally regulate tbe market. Nevertheless. packs of bounds cannot be kept up for nothing they must necessarily distribute a great deal of money. The farmers are by no means averse to hunting. The passage of tbe chase over their farms is re- plete with life and gaiety, and cheers the monotony of their existence, and as a matter of fact occasions them very little damage. Here and there unfortunately a flock of ewes will be driven when heavy in lamb, and perhaps great loss ensues, but the careful farmer, when he knows that hounds meet near him. will, if possible, shut up his fl >ck where it will be out of harm's way, and this precaution is in the means of most agriculturists. At the outside the confinement is but a few hours in the middle of the day. AND THE WARWICKSHIRE CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE. There can be no possibility of doabt that a large and growing antagonism to the sport is springing up. Hunting men should rocognise this, and, before it is too JatB, meet the dissentients and come to terms with them. There is no time like the present. The chase is popular, and even those who put up that diabolical wire have a lingering sentiment which is loth to do away with a pursuit which has no demoralising tendencies, bur, on the contrary, induces manly iustincts and engenders kindly feelings, joins the peer and the peasant in a common bond of brotherhood, and into which enters no strife except the purely democratic one as to which is the best man when birth and wealth are of no avail, and only nerve, courage, and presence of mind are of any consideration, Wearoanatton struggling agaiust the enervation which accom- panies luxury and a high civilisation. Our town lads take enthusiastically to football and other games, and our plutocracy, instead of rushing to the shores ot the tideless sea and absorbing its characteristic listlessness, stay in this awful climate and n.-k their necks after tbo stink of a fox. It may be food for the sneers of the cynic; but the hardiness of body and mind which is gained in such exercises is reproduced in the children. But it cannot be expected that one portion of the community will suffer while another and richer section enjoys itseif at the former's expense. The debate at the Warwickshire Chamber clearly showed this, but from the vating it was plainly manifest that the majority failed to observe the handwriting on the wall. It was proposed by a genuine tenant farmer that fox-hunting is bene- ficial to agriculture. It was moved as an amendment that foxhunting as now carried on is not beneficial to agriculture, but might be made so by judicious alterations, and made a more popular sport than hitherto." Stupidly, foolishly, blindly, the Warwickshire Chamber refused this extremely temperate amendment, and passed the original motion by 17 votes to 13. IT3 SHORTSIGHTED POLICY. Now, the majority, which was principally com- posed of landlords and hunting farmers, murt have altogether forgotten that the minority bold the key to the situation. These 13 men have evidently a grievance, and nobody can prevent them from erecting barbed wire. They came to this meeting apparently in a conciliatory spirit, ready to pull down the obnoxious obstruc- tion if what they considered their wrongs were redressed, They were of the opinion that a few judicious alterations would make the sport more popular thau ever, merely to discover that the hunting men declined to be convinced. Such policy is most shortsighted. If the putting up of barbed wire depended upon a vote, then you could have understood the action of the Warwick Chamber; but in a mixed assembly of hunting and non-hunting men it would have been far wiser to have accepted the amendment and learnt the objections which, from the size of the minority, must be very prevalent. The result is easy to be determined. Tbe hunting men will set to work with renewed vigour, and every day increase the gap which exists, while those who were willinptopermit hunting.if reforms were initiated, will harden their hearts, and steel both them and their fences asrainst the best sport in the world. As I have remarked, they hold the field. Hear them and Ji8ten to them now, and the terms will not bo very exacting ignore their complaints, and they have the power to make huoting a thing of the past. 10 this district thersj is perhaps little hostility *,o the chase because the fields are small and the damage is trifling. But it should be remembered that if hunting be abolished in the shires it will be abolished here too. It ia no use for hunting men to kick against the inevitable. They must either fork out or clear out. Whereas, comparatively speaking, a few pounds will now stop the leak, hundreds will not do it in another decade, or in less than that peruxK SHAMTt TO THE TAFF TALE. A correspondent write*Though it was a bitter cold day on Friday, there was not a spark of fire to be seen in the waiting-room on the platform of the railway station at Llwynypia. The passengers waiting the arrival of the various trains were obliged to walk about and sway their arms and clap their hands in order to stir their blood or stimulate the circulation. It appears from what I am told that this is not merely a day's grievance it is the rule and not the exception. The porter was asked why no fire was provided. "There are no sticks here," he replied. Consider the accommodation of a third- class passenger on the Taff Vale Railway. After louuging at a place without any fire, he gets into a carriage looking as cheerless as an old shanty. The seats are cnshionless, and one ex- periences a chilly sensation, the old seat being as cold as ico. Then, as a rule, the carriages are open from one end to the other, and tbe windows not being all up-invariably down—a current of air as kePD as a razCJr rushes in and whistles as it whirls through, and oftentimes it is strong enough to blow one's hat off. 1 am certain that scores of people have been carried to the cemetery in con- sequence of having travelled in thnd-chiss com- partments ou tbe Tuff Vale Railway, especially in the Rhondda. Ine passenger accommodation iu that valley, as reeards railway carriages, is very bad. It W0111ri not cost the company more than 31 per day for sufficient fuel to make a blrzing tire at this particular station to which I have just referred. TO ARMS, POtTTPRmn There is aquestiou winch promises to stir Ponty- pridd to its depths; but at present the coming storm is only portended by a few mutterings. Whose property are tbe minerals under the com- mon ? is a query which is being bandied from mouth to mouth, and the answer is not one which is favourable to the claims of Lord Bute. In fact there is growing up a consensus of opinion that the rights of the people are in danger, and that the day tor allowing the lord of the manor to quietly appropriate every bit of property in which a multiplicity of interests tends to provcke this aggression has gone by. What was everybody's business was nobody's, and in consequence the proprietor of the neighbouring land bas, in too many instances, annexed public property adjoining his own, nemine contradicente. But. judging from the present temper of the inhabitants of Pontypridd, it is not likely that his lordship will acquire peaceable possession of the minerals under Pontypridd Common. He will have to fight for them, and that in a court of law. Already the call to arms has been sounded, and it is to be hoped that it will be readily responded to. Wny, these minerals are worth a king's ransom—in fact, more as monarchical ransoms go in these days, and, moreover, there is a principle at stake which should be defended at all costs. "Outsider," in a letter to you ou Saturday, offers to give five guineas to a fund if a hundred more will do likewise, and surely these hundred will easily be found. To arms, Ponty- pridd—to arms

I MUSICAL AND EISTEDDVOD NOTES. ,i. By Mae'gwyn. THE BARDIC SQUABBLE. While the matter was stni undecided—while the combatants stood to their guns and pounded away at each other—I purposely refrained from alluding to the vnry remarkiole and not very creditable dispute that ban been going on in one of the Welsh newspapers between the two famous bards, Dyved and Dewi Wyn o Essyllt. Now, however, the latter has virtually retreated from the field, and the world is therefore at liberty to say what it thinks of tbe whole matter. The Brecon Eisteddvod committee offered a prize of three pounds for the best string of stanzas (gosteg o eugiymon) on the Breconshire Beacons. The I' arijudicators were Tudno, Isaieu, and Dewi Wyn o Essylit. The last-named gentleman being the only one present at the time divided the prize between two competitors signing themselves B:eddyn and ShonDavydd Rhys, who turned out to be Dyved and Nathan Dyved respectively. In October a letter appeared from Dyved—a letter of a very serious nature indeed. He declared that be knew the three adjudicators (Dewi Wyn being one of tbem) had pro- uounced the composition signed Bleddyn to be the best ot those sent iu, and he now de- manded of Dewi Wyn an explanation of the latter's conduct in first of aU prODounctDK his (Dyved's) work to be the best, >ud then turniug round and dividing the prize. To this very serious letter no reply came, but tbe chief bard of Wales was not to be disposed of in this very easy manner, and on the 14th of last month a second letter appeared, in which the charge was definitely framed. Dyved said, I sent my com- position to the eisteddvod in my own hand- writing. It was considered the best both by Tuano and Isaled, and also byDswi Wyn himself, unti! withiu a week of the eisteddvod. 1 have seen the adjudication in the handwriting of the three adjudicators, and bow two reconcile Dewi's award with his own written adjudication is a mystery which must be explained. When called upon to deliver tbe adjudication at the eisteddvod Dewi declared Bleadyn's work to be the best. He sat down, but he rose again, and divided the prize between Bleddyn and Shon Davydd Rhys. Many of the people present noticed the incident, and were surprised. The next day Tudno was present, and, when told of the aecision, he went to the secretary for au explanation, and referred him to the letters which the adju- dicators had written on the subject. The com- mittee were called together, and they decided to send me the full amount of the prize, and to deduct the 30s which Dewi had given to Nathan Dyved from bis (Dswi's) foe for adjudicating. If Dewi doubts the truth of what I have stated, I shall have something more to say on the matter." Dewi Wyu replied the following week, úe- claring that he had not beard of Dyved's first letter, and that he could not have replied to it because be had not seen it, as he very seldom read the paper in which the letter appeared. He pro- ceeded to say he couid not understand why Dyved should feel annoyed about a matter that had been disposed of long ago, especially since he had received the full amount of tbe prize. What more did Dyved want! Had he never heard of a similar misunderstanding between adjudicators in the past? The letter went OD-" It may be true that Dyved sent in his composition in bis own handwriting, but I did not know whose it was any more tban the dead. Dyved says be saw the adjudication in the handwriting of the three adjudicators, each written separately. No, he never did, for my adjudication was not mixed up with the ether two. I wrote my adjudication in the same terms as I sent to Isaled, and it would be satisfactory if tbe com- mittee were to publish it. The secretary wrote to me a week before the eisteddvod for my adjudica- tion, I sent the name Isaled gave me before I bad arrived at my own decision. When I read tbe compositions, I thought Shon Davydd Rhys was entitled to halt the prise, I was not paid for my work as adjudicator until about a month or six weeks after the eisteddvod, and that was the first time I baard that Turtno and Isaled disagreed with me. The committee were gentle- manly enough to keep back 308 from my fee. I wrote to Nathan Dyved about it, and asked him to send me the money." That last paragraph is really charming in its simplicity. Dyved returns to his guns in the following issue, and declares Dewi Wyu's explanation no explanation at all, saying that it has oniy made J matters worse than before. Dyved says, I stated that all three adjudicators had sent in their award to the secretary a week before tbe eisteddvod—that all three were unanimously in favour of me, and that I had seen the letters." Dyved then produces Dewi Wyn's let- ter to the eisteddvod secretary, dated August 19 In it Dewi Wyn says plainly enough that Bleddyn's (that is, Dyved's) composition was the best. To this letter Dewi Wyn again retorts that it was the adjudication of Isaled he sent to the secretary before he had himself made up his mind. He refuses to write again, and declares that Dyved's englynion were ap- piicable to any other mountains as well as the Brecon Beacons. There tbe matter ends. NEW KUSIC. Messrs Pateyand Willis send Stories," which is another of those little domestic songs which have made the name of Bebrenu a household word. It is very tuneful and easy ;2). "WJJlow Copse" and "Three Little Maids of London Town" are two bright little songs which will be in great demand this 8eason. As encores they will compare favourably with any similar works that have been published, and are far above the aver- age (2s). Chant d'Amour "'is a vary melodious waltz, with the time and rhythm well marked (2-) "The British Army Lancers," with a beauti- ful frontispiece, is a capital arrangement of national airs (2s). Messrs Orsbora and Tuckwood publish The Miner," a low bass song oE great beauty and uo difficulty—just the thing that will" take." "AUeiuia." is a very easy sacred song. Only to say Good-bye 11 is one of the best love songs of the day, very saa, and ex- tremely pretty—a real gem 10 its way (2,). ANOTHKB GREAT EISTEDDVOD. A great eisteddvod will be held at Lianelly in June next, tbe proceeds of which are to be devoted to the excellent cause of the local hospital. Mr George is again the active spirit in the affair, and of its ultimate success there can be little doubt. In the chief choral competitIOn the prize will be £100, and the test pieces will be those already selected hytheBridgend eisteddvod committee, namely, R'se up, arise," and "Ffarwel i ti, Gymru fAi." As the Llanelly eisteddvod will oe held just a week before that at Bridgend, it is more than probable that the same choirs will compete at both places, always pro- vided that the adjudicators selected are men who can command the confidence of all parties. The Llanelly committee would have selected different test pieces, but they could not overlook the hospital, and had they seleoted pieces other than those chosen at Bridgend, the eisteddfod would be a financial failure. Choirs could not possibly learn two different sets of choruses for competitions following so close upon one another, and the Llanelly people in selecting the pieces named above have acted wisely. But tbey are determined to make an important inno- vation. An orchestra will be provided as an accompaniment to the choirs, and arrangements will be made by which each choir will bave a rehearsal with the new kmd of accompaniment. AH details connected with this matter will be settled by the committee in due time. The subjects for the other competitions have not yet been selected. ENTERPRISE. In the "Cer-jdor" for December. Messrs Hughes and Son, Wrexham, promise to send 10s worth of Welsh part songs, anthems, &c., for 2s 6d on condition that a coupon published with the Cerddor be forwarded. This, I believe, is the first time that a "Yelsh firm has shown anything like a spirit of enterprise in this direc- iion, and it is to be hoped that the venture will prove successful,

VERY SINGULAR. A. Do you know that Jones is going to mnrry Miss Duz< nbury ? B.: Yes, so I hear. What surprises me is that such an intelligent girl would ever have anytbing to do with a man who is so stupid as to want to make bar bis wife.

Samuel's Sentiments. Samuel on Success. THE SELF SATISFIED MAN WHO HAS PUSHICL) HIS- StCUr FGRRARD AND KNOWS IT. JURIOUS thing to di* etiso, air, hI success. The more one clime" to think it over the more putt ing does it seem to tiecome to detine the Qualities which go to- wards makiug the one- cegglul inati. When F say successful" many I meau the man whc has prospered in tlit world so far as richer and position go, and who nas, at least ap- proximately, satisfied his own ambition. I cannot, say that as » rule I feel any greatec degree of admiration for tbe successful man than I do for the un- successful one. The very attribute which has landed the successiul being in the haven of prosperity is quite commouiy a most Un- amiable and selfish oue. In the mmufacturing community in which I have resided most of my days I have very frequently found the man who was ptospering, or had prospered, in business a boor, a bully, and a selfish being gneraiiy-a man who subordinated 'everything, ieeling, soul, and heart to Business, with a very big B. I hue known him when he couldn't write his own name so far as education went, and when he was universally detested so far as any social quality was concerned, still sail on to monetary success, though no one ever gave him credit ai: tOe time for having anything but a thick head aud a hard heart. All the really big fortunes are made either by lawyers or men in business of some kind or another a glance at the probate statistics will soon show that. In regard to the first class, a man has, if he be a solicitor, the most unusual opportunities for finding profitable and absolutely sure investment f -r any money he may have, and if he be a. successful barrister, why, he is paid out of all proportion to the value of his services, except in so far as that every man's service* are worth what tbey will fetch. Then as to buai- ness, if a man once forms 10 big concern, he can leave it alone, and never go near the place except to draw the profits. This man, we will Bay, by the sale of mouse-trap^, makes a huge fortune he is successful. Anothst man writes a startling book that will live for all time he makes a large amount, perhaps—but he has to go on racking his brain to the last day of his life, or his reputation soon dies out-and 80 does his income; he can's; form his intellect into a limited lia- bility company. Both these men are successful—but which is the more so? Why, the busi- ness mau, who, probably, never had an idea in his SkUll, or the slightest education to foster one tlave in regard to mouse-traps and bow to stick to his" bras. when he "gat hod unit." It is a curious thing, this success, is it not, air, with all its queer comparattveuess, if I may use such a term ? Look at tbe great number of men we meet who OUGHT to be THE STKADT- OOING SOBT WHOSE ONLW PLEASURE IS BUSINESS. successes—ana never are. Men we meet that air other men acknowledge to be clever in somegivon line; they are sober ipen, good husbands and fathers, honest men, tou—yet they don't seem to get on, and no one can tell why no one kaows what quality essential to success they are lack- ing in. Men who are not fit to lace their shoes, and who are not in the same race, to all calcu- lation, pither in bead or heart, forge ahead and make fortunes and positions. Perhaps, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is tliat their hearts are bigger than their heads even, and that they are too scrupulous, and too auxions to let live rather than to live. I have seen men get on by simple assertiveness and conceit, allied with a dogged power of sticking to it; and par- ticularly have I seen this in ths case of actors and writers. A man takes airs on himself, a«sumes a haughty demeanour, is generally .taudoflhh people of undoubted positiou laugh at him and treat him with silent contempt. But 10 to 1 if he goes on in that way for a few years aud main- tains a decent positiou, people will really bejgin to think that he is somebody, and to bear themselvoc towards him acoordinfdy-and he afmnst naUtrallw becomes that portentous individual, the great { AM." Aft#-r all, when one comes to think of it, the man who is never exactly successful in tbt worldly sense of the term, and who yet passee through life in tolerable prosperity, ill a happier man than be who is always striving to be some. thing that be isn't. It would be a terrible world to live in would this were we all ambitious and bent upou attaining "success." If would br, almost as bad a world as one that consisted wbolly and entirely of teetotalers; and the netbet regions themselves could scarcely be worse that living in a world of that sort. (If any on* doubts that, let him write the opinion of the Bishop of Peterborough, that map-oi cent orator.I A LADY WHO ATTAINED SUCCESS IN LIFK TOO LATE TO FiTTI.vGLY CLOTHE THE UNDOUBTED BEAUTY OF HER YOUTH. I have said that the mode- rately easy- going and pros- perous man has a better time all round through life than the am- bitions aud su ccessfni man; but, aU the same, I cannot but make one re- servation in this regard. It the ambitioue man does no*, pursue tn. Pleasures usu* ally indulged in by other men, be at least finds th* pursuit of hit ambitious ob- ject and a in: in life a piea- » u r e. He crimps and narrows his mental and his moral vision- he sticks in his own groove, and it is highly probable that when he has amassed wealth and would willingly seek a cbauge, he can't get out of that groove, anu life becomes insupportable to him. He dies the same selfish,down-with-anybody-else-so-long-a«-I- get-on sort of a man that he iived, and liis beire or assigns speud the money he has done so much in the way of grinding down humanity to ac- quire. I firmly and Jully believe that any man of the most ordinary abilities, aud of present dire poverty even, who says to himself, I will do HO and so in life" (the object must not ot course bt that of a mere dreamf)-—it wholly unatta nable object), CAN DO IT, aud if any of your youuger readers are ambitious let them remember that. It is only one man in evary 10,000 who fully uses all his faculties and taieuis. We Britous, with all our apparent push and go anl commercial greatness, have a good deal of the come-day, go- day leaven in us. Most men are content to go phcidiy along throu-ii life without particularly exerting themselves, so long, that is, as thev have enough to satisfy moderate wants, I do not particularly admire the one-tn-ten-thousand mau • bis merits, after all, are bat negative ones—he oniy uses to tne greatest extent tha powers and the «'tributes extent tha powers and the" ,trlbutel that be, in common with the other 9.999 men. possess. He is simply more selfish aau snore self- seeking than tbe rest; it is the unamiatile rather ¡ than the noble qualities of bis nature that place him on the pinnacle. That the generality of us more or less worship success is an undoubted fact.; but that such worship is ot anything but a pureiy selfish and interested kmd as a general rule is equally true. The pill may be ever so nabseons in its ingre- dients, but if it is only nicely gilded we have not much hesitation in swallowing it—when we are told that it is likely to do us good. I can quite understand a rich and successful man looking with some degree of suspicion on the seekers of his favour. He, probably, being astute enough tn make money and position, is also sufficiently acute to recognise tbe fact that he is in general only sought for the benefits that he can confer rather than on account of his own personal merits, though of these latter be himself, ;n nine case* out of ten, entertains an inordinately high opinion, as you may easiiy tell if you nlt'Y riraw him cut as to how he mane hif name. Accidents of fortune and extraneons aids ufforded him are all but blinked in the narrative of his success—it is the man who made the money or the name—and he doesn't let you forget it. He would, {terbaps, be the last man in the world to assure you that in about ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the greatest factors in the race for worldly prosperity are a callous disposition and a cool he»d. SAMUEL: His SENTHTENTS,

INSTITUTE A Stow REFORM.—Mrs SotA: Well, my husband is the most indulgent basband a woman ever had. Mrs Croa tr: Too bad, isn't it Can't you induce him to e- off his indulgent^tabit BETWEEN THE ACTS.—Y.,n»« wife: Yes, dear, I am worried! G seems to have acquired such a bad habit. Wuen we attend the theatre he always goes out between the sets." Friend Oh. my dear, you look at it entirely the wrong way. You ougnt to be thankful that he comas ftwbotwtwn all the drink* Just as a particular soil wants some one wt<- ment to ferr.ii,Z!)ltt juntas the body in someoondi tions has a kind of (amine for one special food, 80 the mind has its wants, which do not aiw..y- call for what is best, but which know themselves, IA8d are as peremptory as the salt-sick sailors' CI7 for lemon or a raw potato.