may have been perplexed, and his course of action impeded by feudal obligations, had the interest and independence of his country uppermost in his thoughts,-was, I shall not hesitate to call him, a true-hearted Welshman. He died in 1240, having reigned forty-six years, and was buried by his own desire in the Abbey of Conway, amidst the universal regrets of his countrymen. By the Bards of his age, who could so perfectly enter into his feelings, he was idolized. They sang his praises, and celebrated his victories, in the most rapturous strains. The following ode, written by Davydd Benfras, in allusion probably to a defeat sustained by the English army, commanded by Henry III., on the frontier, in 1228, is the translation, and upon excellent authority* a very faithful one, of a young poet of great promise, Maurice Roberts of Llwynrhudol, who died at the early age of twentyThe Bardic "awen" has not departed from, nor is the fire of patriotism extinct in, a country which can boast such a noble version as this,-composed when the author was only seventeen.†

one.

"Creator of that glorious light

Which sheds around his vivid rays,

And the pale moon which rules the night,
O deign to animate my lays!

O may my verse like Merddin's flow,

And with poetic visions glow.

Great Aneurin, string my lyre,

Grant a portion of thy fire

That fire which made thy verse record
Those chiefs who fell beneath the sword

On Cattraeth's bloody field.

O may the muse her vigour bring,

While I Llywelyn's praises sing-
His country's strongest shield.

Ne'er was such a warrior seen,

With heart so brave, and gallant mien :

From a regal race descended,

Bravely he the land defended.

Kings have learnt his power to dread,

Kings have felt his arm and fled.

Loegria's king, with conquest flushed,

Boldly to the battle rushed;

Then was heard the warlike shout,
Signal of the approaching rout.

* Mr. Stephens of Merthyr Tydfil.
+ England.

† Camb. Brit. vol. i.

p.

470.

Great Llywelyn raged around,
Bravest chieftains pressed the ground;
None his valour could withstand,
None could stem his furious hand :
Like a whirlwind o'er the deep,
See him through their squadrons sweep.
Then was seen the crimson flood,
Then was Offa* bathed in blood,
Then the Saxons fled with fright,
Then they felt the monarch's might.
Far is heard Llywelyn's name,
Resounded by the trump of fame.
Oft the hero chased his foes
Where Sabrina smoothly flows.
Could I poetic heights attain,
Yet still unequal were my strain
Thy wondrous deeds to grace.
E'en Taliesin, Bardic king,
Unequal were thy praise to sing,
Thy glories to retrace.

Long and happy may he live,
And his hours to pleasure give.

Ere his earthly course be sped,

And he lies numbered with the dead.

And ere upon his honoured tomb

Herbs shall rise and flowers shall bloom,

May the Redeemer intercede,
And unto God for mercy plead;

And when the judgment-day shall come,
And all attending wait their doom,
Then may Llywelyn, warrior brave,

In glory live beyond the grave.

O may the hero's sins be then forgiven,

And may he gain a seat with blessed saints in heaven."

* Offa's Dyke.

CHAPTER VI.

THE WELSH CHURCH.

Conflicting Accounts-Cause, want of Christian Union-The TriadsBran, father of Caractacus-Bishop Stillingfleet-Bishop BurgessArwystli Hen-Claudia and Pudens-King Lucius and Pope Eleutherius-Christianity and Bardism clash-Dwyvan, Ffagan, Elfan— Lucius enlightened Prince-Archbishoprics of Llandaff and CaerleonMonastery of Bangor-Iscoed-Mr. Rowlands's Opinion-Julius and Aaron Martyrs at Caerleon-Pelagius-His Views - First approved, then condemned by Pope Zozimus-The Pelagian Controversy in Britain a Trial of Strength-Germanus and Lupus-Pelagians defeated in 429-Defeated again in 447-Again in 519-St. Augustine's Conference with the British Church-Objects to their singular Observance of Easter-Rome right on this point- Illustration-Dunawd's spirited Reply--Augustine restores a Blind Man to Sight-Augustine does not rise-Conference broken up-Augustine's Threat-accidentally accomplished-St. Augustine did no more than his DutyBritish Church no less-Geraint Bardd Glâs again-Asser's Account of his Interview with King Alfred-Justice to Wales.

THE foundation of the British Churches, by the lapse of time, the destruction of documents, the fewness and indefiniteness of the notices in classical writers, is involved in obscurity. Nor have the labours and researches of great scholars thrown much light upon the question,—a result due to their unhappy want of unity of purpose and motive; fruit of those breaches of faith, and charity, and peace, against which these essays are designed to be a continued protest. In saying which, I hope that I approve myself, to the reader's satisfaction, a good Protestant. Theologians and antiquaries have approached the subject, less with a simple intention to ascertain the real facts, than to establish or overthrow some favourite or adverse theory. The battle of the Churches has been fought on British ground, as stoutly and valiantly in the the nineteenth century. Hence it is that we have

, learned, logical, clever, convincing, yet so

opposite, as to leave his mind, who is bound to read them all, in a state of very uncomfortable bewilderment, tending to generate a feeling of distrust; of which, however, I will say not one word more, for I would not for the world that the reader should have so much as an idea what distrust is while

he is with me. Happily, I am not required to go into the general question of the British Churches. My subject is a single Church -a National Church, possessing her own national records, of-pace, Doctor Giles, and most of our English critics!-venerable antiquity. In adopting the statements contained in these records, I feel that I am following safe and trustworthy guides.*

In the eighteenth Triad we have three holy families: the first, "the family of Bran the blessed, the son of Llyr Llediaith; for Bran was the first who brought the faith of Christ to this island from Rome, where he was in prison through the treachery of Cartismandua." In the thirty-fifth Triad we find "three blessed princes of the Isle of Britain: first, Bran the blessed, son of Llyr Llediaith, who first brought the faith of Christ to the Cambrians from Rome, where he had been seven years, as a hostage for his son Caradog, whom the Romans put in prison, after being betrayed through the enticement, deceit, and plotting of Cartismandua." The "Genealogy of the Saints of the Isle of Britain states that "Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith, was the first of the nation of the Cymry that embraced the faith in Christ." Another copy," Bran was the first who brought the Christian faith to this country." The preservation of these remarkable facts is not at all surprising; the especial duty of the Bards was to keep an authentic record respecting heroic actions, and everything of superior excellence of country and clan. When it can be shown that there was any Greek or Roman functionary charged in a similar manner with the safe transmission of our great classical models, we will allow them to stand on an equal footing; till that can be shown, the Welsh Triads have the advantage. Caractacus and his family came to Rome A.D. 51; therefore Bran, the father of Caractacus, would have returned, bringing the glad tidings of the Gospel, about 58. Now, it is rather a singular coin+ Williams's Cymry, p. 55.

* Ancient Welsh Laws, p. 382.

cidence that Bishop Stillingfleet, in his "Origines Britannicæ," not knowing a word of the Triads, should have hit on the very same channel for the introduction of Christianity into Britain. "It is certain," writes this learned prelate (his point is to prove that St. Paul preached in Britain), "that St. Paul did make considerable converts at his coming to Rome, which is the reason of his mentioning the saints in Cæsar's household; and it is not improbable that some of the British captives, carried over with Caractacus and his family, might be some of them, who would certainly promote the conversion of their country by St. Paul."* The deeply-read and earnest-minded prelate, the late Bishop of St. David's, Dr. Burgess, also trying to make out St. Paul to have been the apostle of Britain, lays great stress "on two curious British records, from which we may, in a great measure, ascertain the time of St. Paul's journey to Britain." The one is a rhetorical and cloudy passage in Gildas, which seems to imply that the Gospel was preached in the British isles at the latter part of the reign of Tiberius; the other is the Triads which have been cited. "St. Paul was sent to Rome, according to Eusebius, in the second year of Nero, that is, A.D. 56; and he stayed there, according to St. Luke, two years. Caractacus's family were sent to Rome in the year 51, and stayed there seven years. St. Paul was sent there in the year 56, and stayed two years. It is a remarkable and a very interesting fact, that the detention of the British hostages should have been coincident with St. Paul's residence there as a prisoner; and it was a not less favourable coincidence that they should be released from confinement in the same year in which St. Paul was set at liberty. Nothing could be more convenient for St. Paul's mission to the Gentiles than the opportunity which their return must have afforded him of introducing the Gospel into Britain, and nothing more probable than that he should readily embrace such an opportunity."+ The "Genealogy of the Saints gives the names of four missionaries who accompanied Bran on his return to his native country: Ilid, Cyndav, and his son Mawan, men of Israel; and Arwystli Hen, a man of Italy.

* Origines Sacræ, chap. i. p. 45.
Tracts on British Church, pp. 131,