Welsh Sketches, by the Author of 'Proposals for Christian Union' (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. BARDISM. Nationality?Roman Attempts to extinguish Bardism?Latin Altars to the British God?Christianity favourable to Bardism?No change of the Priesthood?Christianized Circles ? Christian Ideas expressed in Druidic Language?Pelagius ? His Opinions consonant with Bardism ?Regulations of Beli?Chief of Song?Domestic Bard?Family Bard? People's Bard ? Degeneracy of Bards?Bardic Revival?Taliesin, his Birth?H istory?Poems?Aneurin?His History?Poems?Llywarch Hen?His History ? Poems?Geraint Bardd Glas?His "Choice Things"?Owain Cyveilioc?His Reign?The Hirlas. The policy of all conquerors is to extinguish nationality in their newly-acquired possessions. The best passport for the vanquished to the favour of their masters, if they did but know it, is to forget that they ever had a country and a name, any natural rights or hallowed traditions; to sponge out the whole past, and begin the world again, content to shine, with a reflected light, from the glory of the empire, into which, with a gentle or ungentle violence, as the case may be, they have been adopted. But, unhappily for the interests of civilization, which are or ought to be paramount, an invincible ignorance has prevailed, and does prevail, on the subject. Poland is a modern, Cambria was an ancient example of this benighted obstinacy. It is said, and I do not doubt the fact, that the Druids, as foreigners designated Bardism, were at the bottom of the not unfrequent conspiracies, insurrections, and revolts, which, flagrant ingratitude ! from time to time interrupted the mild and beneficent course of the imperial rule. Hence to exterminate the Druids, and extinguish Bardism, became a sacred duty, to which the Romans addressed themselves with the pious energy that distinguished that religious and disinterested people...