afford an ample guarantee of his fitness for the post. Mr. Phillimore proposes to reside in Wales. The Council have accordingly accepted Dr. Isambard Owen's continued services as their representative in editorial matters. In the spring of the present year communications were entered into with the governing bodies of the three National Colleges, with reference to the desirability of establishing, by the aid of this Society, an Annual Prize to be competed for by students of the said Colleges in the subjects of the Welsh language and literature. The Colleges having felt themselves obliged to decline the proposal for the present, on account of the already somewhat overcharged state of their programme of studies, the Council have dropped the subject for the present. The Committee on the Teaching of Welsh, which, as stated in last year's Report, was re-appointed by the Council in October 1884, has continued its inquiries during the present year. In the months of February and March a copy of the following inquiry was sent to the Head Teacher of every Elementary School (not being an Infant School) throughout Wales: "The Council of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion will feel greatly obliged if you will express your opinion on the following question, and return the paper to the address on the accompanying envelope within a fortnight. "Do you consider that advantage would result from the introduction of the Welsh Language as a Specific Subject into the course of Elementary Education in Wales? "Answer: (Space for reply.) "NOTE. The reply may be given by a simple affirmative or negative, or reasons may be stated." The question paper was accompanied in each case by a copy of the Preliminary Report of September, 1884, a circular letter explaining the reasons of the Society's action, an illus trative syllabus drawn up by Mr. Marchant Williams, and a stamped and directed envelope for reply. During the months of March and April, 628 replies were received by the Committee. These replies, after being opened, sorted, and arranged, have been printed verbatim. The Report of the Committee upon them was presented to the Meeting of the Society held in the Cymmrodorion Section at Aberdare on August 27th, and a copy both of the Report and the Replies has been forwarded to every Member of the Society. A copy has also been forwarded to the Head Teacher of every Elementary School, not an Infant School, in Wales and Monmouthshire. An important movement has taken place in Wales as the result of the inquiries instituted by the Society in this matter. At the above-mentioned meeting on August 27th, which was largely composed of Members of School Boards, Teachers of Elementary Schools, and others directly interested in education, after the presentation of the Cymmrodorion Report, a paper was read by Mr. Beriah G. Evans of Llangadock, a discussion took place, and in the result the following resolution was unanimously passed: "That it is desirable that a Society should be formed for the purpose of promoting the utilisation of the Welsh Language as an instrument of education in Wales and Monmouthshire." To carry this resolution into effect a public meeting was called, under the presidency of the Ven. Archdeacon Griffiths, on the following day; resolutions were passed that such a Society should be founded; that it should, if possible, be in connection with the Society of Cymmrodorion, and that the Council of the latter should be asked to nominate onefourth of its executive body; and all those present in the meeting were enrolled as original Members. At a second meeting, held in Aberdare on September 19th, under the same presidency, it was resolved that the name of the new Society should be "The Society for Utilising the Welsh Language", and the following statement of its objects was adopted : This Society has been founded for the purpose of promoting the utilisation of the Welsh Language as an instrument of education in Wales and Monmouthshire. Its immediate aims are (a) To unite, and organise for action, the mass of public opinion at present existing in favour of such utilisation. (b) To further the progress of public opinion by means of public meetings, and by the publication, through various channels, of lectures, papers, and letters on the subject. (c) To make such inquiries and compile such statistical or general reports as may be needed to place the subject in its proper light. (d) To render the utilisation of the language in education feasible by procuring the composition and publication, at a cheap rate, of suitable text-books by scholars of weight and authority. (e) To formulate definite schemes of instruction. (ƒ) To arrange for the presentation and proper support of such schemes before the various authorities concerned. It is not, it will be understood, any part of the purpose of this Society to hinder the spread of the English tongue, or to conduce to the isolation of the Welsh people. On the contrary, it is one of its express objects to promote the more intelligent acquirement of the English tongue by school children in all parts of Wales. The Society simply desires to see established in Wales a sound system of bi-lingual instruction, such as that which exists in Switzerland, in the Flemish parts of Belgium, and in several of the divisions of the Austrian Empire. It is considered by the founders of the Society that such a system of instruction is conducive to the intelligent training of the children, is calculated to promote the thorough acquisition of the second language, and could be established in those parts of Wales in which the Welsh language is habitually spoken, with a very slight addition, if any, to the work at present required to instruct the children in English on the present system. Nothing compulsory is, however, contemplated by the Society. It is desired that the new principle should be introduced gradually and experimentally, and that it should be at the option of the managers of each school to accept or reject it. The Laws of the Society were enacted at a first General Meeting, held in Cardiff on October 22nd, and amongst them the following: 10. At the regular Autumnal General Meeting, the Members entitled to vote shall elect an Hon. Treasurer and twenty Members of the Society, to form, together with another ten Members of the Society, to be nominated by the Council of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion for the time being, an Executive Council. 11.-The Executive Council, thus constituted, is empowered to add to its number ten additional Members of the Society by co-optation. 12.-Failing the nomination of Members by the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion, or until such nomination, the twenty Members appointed by the General Meeting are empowered to act as a Council, but in that case it shall not proceed to co-optation until a month has elapsed after its election has been notified to the Secretary of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion. 28.-Vacancies occurring in the Council by the death or resignation of any of the twenty elected Members shall be filled up by the next General Meeting, at least seven days' notice having been given in the manner provided in Law 8. Vacancies occurring in the ten nominated Members may be filled up by the Council of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion. Vacancies occurring in the ten added Members may be filled up by co-optation at any time. At a public meeting held on the evening of the same day the following resolution was unanimously passed : "That the best thanks of this meeting be tendered to the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion for their thorough enquiry into the question of the advisability of the introduction of the Welsh Language into the course of elementary education in Wales, and their excellent report on the result of the enquiry." The Council, at its meeting on October 8th, accorded to the new Society permission to append to its title the words "in association with the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion", and accepted the responsibility of nominating a portion of its executive body. At its meeting on November 12th the Council, being called upon at short notice so to do, nominated the following four gentlemen only : Professor RHYS-Davids, Mr. W. E. DAVIES, Mr. DAVID LEWIS, and postponing the nomination of the remaining six until a further meeting, not wishing to carry out so responsible a function without full consideration. Resolutions thanking the Society for its action in reference to this subject have been received from several societies and meetings in Wales during the present year. The first business before the Society at the General Meeting will be the election of a President in the room of the late Sir Watkin Wynn. The Council, after due deliberation, beg to recommend to the Members the election of the Right Honourable the Earl of Powis, a Vice-President, and one of the oldest and most valued Members of the Society. The Council make this recommendation in the full confidence that the interests of the Society will be as assured in the hands of Lord Powis as they were until lately in the hands of the leader whose sad loss is still fresh in our recollection. The Council also beg to recommend that the vacancy in the list of Vice-Presidents caused by the death of the late Mr. Brinley Richards should be filled by the election of the Ven. the Archdeacon of Llandaff, the Treasurer and chief executive officer of the associated "Society for Utilising the Welsh Language." The following Members of the Council retire under Law 9, but are eligible for re-election: The Rev. EVAN JONES, WILLIAM DAVIES (Mynorydd), Col. R. OWEN JONES, R.E. |