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Article EEVIEWS OF UEW BOOKS ← Page 3 of 6 →
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Eeviews Of Uew Books
in ^ all his troubles until he was ruthlessly torn from her to be murdered under the rule of the miscreant Biren . On the downfall and justly merited degradation of Biren , Nathalia , and her two sons born in exile , were restored to their home , when she for the first time learned the fate of her husband , thereby destroying for ever the happiness she had looked forward to as a reward for her trials . As a picture of Russian government as it was , and of womanly truth and heroic constancy , this little volume well merits the attention of the public , and will be read with interest by all into whose hands it falls .
" Taliesinj ' or , The Bards and Druids of Britain . A Translation of the . Remains of the Earliest Welsh Bards , and an Examination of the Bardic Mysteries . By I ) . W . Nash , Member of the Eoyal Society of Literature . " London : J . B . Smith , Soho-square . — -We have the pleasure to acknowledge as a Brother in the Craft of Freemasonry , and holding the distinguished position of B . W . Gr . M . of Bristol , the author of the very erudite work before us . On a cursory glance , a work so studded with extracts from Welsh poesy would appear to present but comparatively little
attraction to the ordinary English reader ; but , after a few pages are passed , he will begin to warm with the subject , and find , amongst the translations of the bardic efforts of old , passages of the loftiest grade in the wide field of song . Some , indeed , are of the highest beauty ; and this it is that makes the reader the more anxious to g * o closely through the prose , by which he obtains information and history of the inspired bards frorii whose lips fell such exquisite melodies so many hundreds of years agone . The study , besides , of the very ancient people , the Druids ,
has ever been , by common consent , voted one of the most deeply-interesting of any age and by almost any people . This study will be found assisted in the most pleasing and readable manner in the work before us . Although the true social position of the Druid , and the nature of the religious ceremonies in which he officiated as minister , are , even as to Gaul , involved in great obscurity ; the author says of the British Druid , on the other hand , that , if we accept the statements of
numerous modern writers on British antiquity , their social polity and their religious system , as well as their rites and ceremonies , are as well known as the objects and transactions of any society for the propagation of learning in modern days ; that they were a greatly learned people , possessed of civil power to a considerable extent , and were withal endowed with real religious feeling in their worship of the Cod of Abraham , although in a form singularly peculiar , and , as is familiar to , every one , " in groves and under oaks . " Taking all this for granted , we
need not follow the author in his well-written proofs thereof , as illustrated in the earlier pages of his book . He next proceeds through many chapters to illustrate the origin , from the earliest times , of Welsh- minstrelsy and song , and the very careful arrangements and regulations which were made , even in those days , for its public display . The distinctions into which tho several classes of minstrels were elevated and classified are also elaborately described . We may notice a curious law which was enacted in connection with one of the bardic congresses ,
that when a bard asked a gift from a princc he was adjudged to sing one song ; and when he asked a baron , three songs ; but should he ask a vassal , he must sing him to sleep / To such an extent was this custom of embodying their wants in song carried , that it began to affect the valuables even of princes , —horses , hawks , greyhounds , and other articles that were particularly valued by the owner and could not be replaced , being solicited ; until at last it was deemed necessary to pass a law in restriction of these supplications . The whole of this portion of the volume before us evidences the great labour and research bestowed on its
compilation , and shows at the same time very great ability , and how thoroughly the compiler has thrown his willing industry into the work . In the course of his examination of the many joooks extant on the subject of Welsh minstrelsy , and which bear more or less on tho matters to which we have called attention , the writer has not been contented merely with giving quotations therefrom , but has combated with a master-hand the statements and opinions of their authors , and , to our mind , has set up vastly more cogent reasoning . He then goes on to discuss the character of the bard whose name forms the title he has chosen for his volume . Taliesln appears to have been the chief of bards—at any rate by name , if not by
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Eeviews Of Uew Books
in ^ all his troubles until he was ruthlessly torn from her to be murdered under the rule of the miscreant Biren . On the downfall and justly merited degradation of Biren , Nathalia , and her two sons born in exile , were restored to their home , when she for the first time learned the fate of her husband , thereby destroying for ever the happiness she had looked forward to as a reward for her trials . As a picture of Russian government as it was , and of womanly truth and heroic constancy , this little volume well merits the attention of the public , and will be read with interest by all into whose hands it falls .
" Taliesinj ' or , The Bards and Druids of Britain . A Translation of the . Remains of the Earliest Welsh Bards , and an Examination of the Bardic Mysteries . By I ) . W . Nash , Member of the Eoyal Society of Literature . " London : J . B . Smith , Soho-square . — -We have the pleasure to acknowledge as a Brother in the Craft of Freemasonry , and holding the distinguished position of B . W . Gr . M . of Bristol , the author of the very erudite work before us . On a cursory glance , a work so studded with extracts from Welsh poesy would appear to present but comparatively little
attraction to the ordinary English reader ; but , after a few pages are passed , he will begin to warm with the subject , and find , amongst the translations of the bardic efforts of old , passages of the loftiest grade in the wide field of song . Some , indeed , are of the highest beauty ; and this it is that makes the reader the more anxious to g * o closely through the prose , by which he obtains information and history of the inspired bards frorii whose lips fell such exquisite melodies so many hundreds of years agone . The study , besides , of the very ancient people , the Druids ,
has ever been , by common consent , voted one of the most deeply-interesting of any age and by almost any people . This study will be found assisted in the most pleasing and readable manner in the work before us . Although the true social position of the Druid , and the nature of the religious ceremonies in which he officiated as minister , are , even as to Gaul , involved in great obscurity ; the author says of the British Druid , on the other hand , that , if we accept the statements of
numerous modern writers on British antiquity , their social polity and their religious system , as well as their rites and ceremonies , are as well known as the objects and transactions of any society for the propagation of learning in modern days ; that they were a greatly learned people , possessed of civil power to a considerable extent , and were withal endowed with real religious feeling in their worship of the Cod of Abraham , although in a form singularly peculiar , and , as is familiar to , every one , " in groves and under oaks . " Taking all this for granted , we
need not follow the author in his well-written proofs thereof , as illustrated in the earlier pages of his book . He next proceeds through many chapters to illustrate the origin , from the earliest times , of Welsh- minstrelsy and song , and the very careful arrangements and regulations which were made , even in those days , for its public display . The distinctions into which tho several classes of minstrels were elevated and classified are also elaborately described . We may notice a curious law which was enacted in connection with one of the bardic congresses ,
that when a bard asked a gift from a princc he was adjudged to sing one song ; and when he asked a baron , three songs ; but should he ask a vassal , he must sing him to sleep / To such an extent was this custom of embodying their wants in song carried , that it began to affect the valuables even of princes , —horses , hawks , greyhounds , and other articles that were particularly valued by the owner and could not be replaced , being solicited ; until at last it was deemed necessary to pass a law in restriction of these supplications . The whole of this portion of the volume before us evidences the great labour and research bestowed on its
compilation , and shows at the same time very great ability , and how thoroughly the compiler has thrown his willing industry into the work . In the course of his examination of the many joooks extant on the subject of Welsh minstrelsy , and which bear more or less on tho matters to which we have called attention , the writer has not been contented merely with giving quotations therefrom , but has combated with a master-hand the statements and opinions of their authors , and , to our mind , has set up vastly more cogent reasoning . He then goes on to discuss the character of the bard whose name forms the title he has chosen for his volume . Taliesln appears to have been the chief of bards—at any rate by name , if not by