Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-09-11

Dled their hopes were broken. IL Is even
said that, so dear was the memory Of Welsh
liberty and so resolute the purpose to achieve
II again, that an English King, in the hope Of
extinguishing both, by false promises assem-
bled all the Welsh poets, who aided to keep
such feelings alive, and had them slaughtered
together To this day, England has held
Wales firmly in her grasp though now
Wales is as fairly governed, perhaps as Eng
land You know the heir TO the English
throne is called the Prince of Wales. Though
the Welsh are no longer oppressed though
their lands arc fertile and their condition is
prosperous +; though their sons may hold Of
fee and rise in all the paths Of fame yet
the humiliation Of their national spirit con-
tnucs to produce its natural fruit. Just as
Canada, never having had great history or
the pride and responsibility of real independ-
ence, has never produced any great men or
women, so, for like reasons, Wales has almost
wholly ceased to produce great men or wo-
men. During several centuries, Wales has
produced scarcely dozen names Of eminence,
to be compared with the hundred that might
be collected from any other equally numer-
GUS population in England or Scotland.
Yet she clings to the memory, the habits
and the traditions Of her nober era and
more than this even Her black cattle, her
small sheep, and her peculiar pigs-which
were bred on her soil and are unlike any ia
Eugand-are carefully perpetuated. Even
at the end Of four centuries Of subsection,
nearly all her people speak their old native
language and perhaps not more than two
thirds Of them can now speak the English
When you bear in mind that Wales is a long
strip on the side of England has been for
all this time governed by English laws has
every where English judges and is overawed
by English wealth and power it seems al
most incredible to hear everywhere men, wo-
men and children speaking tongue, centuries
older than the English, and not one word of
which can you understand Here again we
recognize the nobler and more generous spirit
of our institutions, which rear schools and
educate all their children, instead of rearing
palaces aud creating monopolies Of all the
land aud all the honors, Our school system,
extended to Wales during one generation,
would have enabled every child to speak the
same language, beside qualifying tens of thou
sands for those higher pursuits and larger en-
joyments which are at once the prosperity
and the solace Of life. Every young Welsh
emigraut in our country has learned English.
But again, | say that, while grateful for our
more fortunate history, let US do justice to
the Wclshman and initiate his better qualities.
His industry has gained a vast portion Of his
native lands so that, nowhere on these ISL
ands are there so many farms owned by those
who till them, as in Wales. Nowhere may doors
be so safely left unlocked, so few inmates be
calendars as in Wales. More than once, since
an instance | witnessed, six years ago, her
majesty's judge from London, sitting for the
trial of offenders, has complimented his
Welsh audience on the fact, either that there
was not case to be tried, or that the only
cases were those Of offenders not born or
reared in Wales That is a record Of hon.
esty, justice and soberity to which Vermont
may well aspire. Nor is that all this noun.
tain region can present for the imitation of
the mountain-dwellers of New England.
The general absence of intemperancs is
more marked here than anywhere else in
Great Britain-if not than in any part Of
the world inhabited by our race. The kind
ness of the people to dumb beasts is perhaps
unsurpassed in the world. Pigs are gently
led by string two calves may be guided
by hand upon the head of either colts and
young cattle are a stame and manageable as
cOsset lambs. Industry is every where inces-
SAINT, and no country is more free of all vain
showiness of dress and all impudent boldness
in manners.
But one habit of Wales | wish especially
to commend it is that of rearing flowers
and trees | wish the farmers and all the
house-owners Of Vermont had the Welsh
taste and forecast in these particulars. Sew
eral European nations greatly excel us in
these respects Strange as it may seem to
some Of our people, venture to say that few
things would contribute more to the prosper.
ity OF Vermont, not to say to the morality and
happiness Of her people, than imitation and
an extension of this Welsh practice. | will
state some reasons for this conviction. But
let me first note what the practice is here.
Hardly any house is so humble that flowers
are not raised in the windows, along the house
front, and by the side of the path leading to
it, and generally there is pretty flower gar
den. In addition, there are white and other
colorej stones, and often pots and vases taste
fully arranged, and more or less mingled with
shrubbery and evergreens, about all residen.
ces and often about shops The paths to
houses are paved with various colored stones.
In the same way every railroad station is
made pretty and attractive. And beyond all
this, every such building has trees sometimes
standing singly, often in small clusters and
not rarely at various distances, in considerable
groves, either close beside or a little removed
from the building. For beauty, shade and
comfort, the trees are sure to be near enough
at hand. No language can describe--you
must see all this to approximation much
this comfort and adornment adds to the at
fractions of home, to the general Inducements
to remain in the country or to visit it. The
Creator has given all human beings some
love for those flowers and trees which He
has scattered over the whole habitabe globe !;
and who can doubt that the love and cultiva-
ton Of them are among the most innocent and