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AN IMPENDING DISSOLUTION OF…

H. M. STANLEY AS THE PATRON-SAINT…

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H. M. STANLEY AS THE PATRON- SAINT of DIC-SHON-DAFFYDDISM. MR. H. M. Stanley is the man who found Livingstone." He is also the author of In Darkest Africa." He came to Swansea last week, and combining tho character of a scientific explorer, with the semi-missionary spirit—which is so much affected by gentle- men of the W. T. Stead type—he felt called upon to say a few words with the intention of enlightening Darkest Wales." It was. however, but a voice crying in the wilder- i ness; the more pronounced the National spirit becomes, the wilder shriek the toadies of Dic-Shon-Dafydd. The brighter the, moon shines, the louder the dogs bark. Mr Stanley did not say anything very original; he was not fettered by too strict a regard for accuracy; but his platitudes were of a: character eminently acceptable to those who would have us believe that we do not form a part of tho British—but of the English— Empire. Mr Stanley is afflicted with th t unfor- tunate failing of the Irishman who "could never open his mouth without putting his foot in it." He proceeded to expose his ignorance. H" knew of no Welsh colonies nor of any people outside the Principality that could speak Welsh. It is a great mistake for people to imagine that a thing doos not exist, because they are not aware of its existence. There is a delightful old Boer lady in one of Rider Haggard's works, who counts up the few hundred British troops she saw in Natal, and the thousand or so she saw in Cape Colony —and as great a number of these were killed in the South African wars—she comes to the conclusion that Queen Victoria has no army left! We wonder if that old lady was any relutim to Mr II, M. Stanley Perhaps tho next time that gentleman goes exploring, he will pay a visit to the Chaput Colony in Patagonia, where all legislative C) ZD and official business is conducted in the Welsh language. It might also enlighten him to visit one of the huge c-isteddfodau held regularly in the United States—or even to pay a visit to some of the Welsh places of worship in London or Liverpool. Mr Stanley's next utterance was slightly hazy. He had seen hilla of Welsh coal in various parts of the world, but the sellers and tuyers of it were perfectly ignorant of Welsh. Ha had seen stacks of tinplate boxos, and heaps of iron and steel rails made in Walee, tut those who dealt in them were absolutely ignorant of Welsh. Quite so. And wo have seen shiploads of Champagno and the people who dealt in it and who drank it were absolutely ignorant of French We have also seen cargoes of German yoast; and the users of it did not understand a word of the language of Goethe. Thousands of children may be seen running about our streets eating sweet — or spottad Seville oranges; and — mirabile dictu—they cannot speak a single word of Spanish! What wonderful discoveries some of us can make, to be sure But Mr Stanley has not seen everything on the faco of the earth after all. He had seen a goodly portion of the British Empire but he had never been able to determine which pirt of was specially built by Welshmen. Of course not. When any member of the Celtic fringe" does anything creditable to distinguish himself, he at onco becomes an Englishman Sir John Moore, the hero of Corunna, was born in Glasgow; but he is a famous English General." Picton was a Carmarthenshire man but as he happened to die a glorious death at Waterloo he is at onco raised to the dignity of being an Englishman! The brave Welsh Fusiliers, who swept the Russians off the heights of the Alma, camo in very handy to adorn an English victory—as the Highlanders did at Xel-el-kebir. How many sons of Welsh county families are in the regiments which to-day uphold the British power from Suakim to Cairo? But, of coarse, they are gallant English oificers." It looks very much as if somebody else was a greater thief than Taffy One discovery he made was that wherever aborigines in any part of the world were found clinging to their traditions, they were always sunk in obscurity aDd unimportance. Mr Stanley's ideas run too much on the Congo and the upper reaches of the Nile. Let this erudite traveller traca the history of Europe from early Greece to modern Italy and he will find that the preservation and the re-awaksning of the National Spirit has always produced that which is best in art, literature, and commerce and that the servile plagiarism of foreigners has always resulted in the decline and downfall of a people. From inaccuracy Mr Stanley again fell into haziness. German children had to devote four hours a week to learning English, while in Wale3 there intelligent people who maintained that children's education ehould largely be in Welsh, as though there were countries abroad where a knowledge of Welsh would be of advantage to their sons. As a matter of fact, intelligent Welsli parents wish to have their children educated in Welsh, so that the children may under- stand English. The English them- solves experienced the bilingual difficulty from the days of William the Conqueror until the time of Edward III. Education was then conducted in Norman-French. The Saxon schoolboy had to translate the Latin Mater amat puerum suum as "La mere aime son garcon." The result was that after endless floggings the unfortunate English boy understood very little Latin. When, however, the sentence was translated, The mother loves her son," it was easy for the budding Englishman to bccoine a proficient Latinist. So it is with Welsh children nowadays. A Board School teacher would take a long time to explain in English, to a Welsh child, who the Prince of Wales— who now is coming to Aberystwith-rcally is. If, however; the teacher understands Welsh and informs the child that the gentleman is "mab henaf y Frenines," the most thick-headed pupil in the school will understand that His Royal Highness is lioir to the British throne. Sir William Hart- Dyke, a former vice-president of the Committee of Council on Education, said:- Wo must not encourago the Welsh language at the expense of English but rather as a vehicle for the sounder and more rapid acquisition of English." Sir William Hart-Dyke knew more about education than does Mr H. M. Stanley. The children of the Principality speak Welsh for the most part; and they can never learn English or anything else except through the medium of their own tongue. How much of the history of England would a Welsh boy learn by having H Macaulay" thrust into his hand by a teacher, unable to explain a single sentence in tho vernacular. If, ( however, the difficult phrases wore ex- plained in Welsh, the pupil would learn the I history, and would learn to appreciate a good English style. Having acquired r English, and being well grounded in his mother tongue, tho VVelsh boy is better fitted to learn French or German than the monoglot English youth is. The greater number of languages a student knows, the easier it is to acquire another. Welshmen are too shrewd business men not to bo awaro of the commercial value of English, and to take full advantage of it. But that is no reason why they should give up the tongue of the home, the pulpit, the oisteddfod, and the Sunday SchooL Saes'neg ydy w iaitb fasnachol, Benat yr boll deulu dynol Ond y mne Gymraeg yn hynach, Ac i mi yn fil melusach. Saes'neg ydyw iaith dadblygiad, Iaith gwyddoreg a gwareiddiad, Cymro uninith, myn ei dygu, Ond-paid anghofio iaith y Cymry.

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