It would be difficult for me to express how much I delight in Goethe! My new edition is so small, that I can always carry a volume when I walk; and he is the most companionable of authors, suiting all moods and all humours. Not to be obliged (as is the case with most writers) to wind one's self up to some particular key, before one can enjoy and understand him, is to me a great charm. Then, the seemingly careless, concise manner in which he allows observations and opinions to flash out which open a new world of thought to one, is very fascinating. But the principal effect his works have on me I cannot myself understand. He comforts, he consoles me! How, I know not; and it is a happiness which I never expected to have gained from them; for, as you know, his way of thinking was very different from all I have hitherto looked up to. The descriptions of scenes in Rome, Florence, and Venice, are more than commonly interesting; but we must pass them by. We cannot, however, do so with Miss Williams Wynn's reminiscences of Heidelberg; its beautiful valley seems to have afforded her more enjoyment than any of the places she visited; and she concludes her interesting narrative thus graphically and feelingly : I shall be very sorry to leave this place, which I enjoy intensely. My walks on the heath-covered hills far above the castle will remain in my memory long after I have left them. Such walks are in truth, to use Biblical language, "times of refreshing". I have found that there is a deeper teaching in Nature than in any professor's book. The misfortune is, that one so seldom has the opportunity of coming into communion with her. How I wish that you were here, that we might talk over all the "thick-coming fancies" that are the result of my long mornings on the hill-tops! We have rarely read a book written by a lady that bears so strongly the impress of a thoughtful mind as these "Memorials." The trivialities of every-day life are unnoticed, that she may grapple with intellectual pursuits of the highest kind. Nor are her efforts in vain, although the subjects are oftentimes out of the reach of common minds, and such as engage the powers of the giants of literature. What a host of bright names, too, forms the phalanx of her friends! There, are Hegel, Bunsen, Varnhagen von Ense, Döllinger, Montalembert, De Tocqueville, Lamartine, Carlyle, Mackintosh, Sydney Smith, Brookfield, Maurice, and others of equal status. That she also was appreciated by them we can have no doubt. The following is Baroness Bunsen's testimony to her high worth, as given in a letter to one of her sisters. It is dated Carlsruhe, May 14, 1870 If I could but paint such a portrait of her as some of the ancient painters have left us of persons often without name, of whom we know nothing, and yet into whose very soul and life we seem to enter, whose capabilities of action, whose principles and feelings we take in by intuition, not needing further testimony, satisfied by internal evidence and intense conviction of moral power and equipoise-then, indeed, the demands of your affection might be duly met, and an image transmitted to posterity worthy of that enshrined in our memory. But what I can say in words is so tame and colourless, that I shrink from the attempt to note it down, and wish that some other mind than my own would make clear to me the why and the how she could be so feminine and yet so forcible, so decisive and yet so mild; so considerate of others, of their feelings, of their shortcomings, and yet so positively herself; so dignified, not in manner and carriage only, but in elevation and grasp of mind, and yet no abstraction; so full of human sympathies, aud yet not melting away into unsubstantiality. We deeply regret our inability, from sheer want of space, to give larger extracts from these "Memorials." We can only express our wonder that amid her many ailments-for her health was never good-the authoress was enabled to serve her generation so faithfully, and yet preserve intact the vigour of mind and intellect displayed everywhere throughout this autobiography, even to its close. An excellent portrait faces the title, and the work, as is always the case with the publications of the Longmans, is beautifully printed, and forms an elegant volume. * Since the foregoing pages were written, we have received intelligence of the lamented death of Mrs. Lindesay, the editor of this volume. She was the last surviving daughter of the Right Honourable C. W. W. Wynn, and the widow of John Lindesay, Esq., of Loughrea, in the county of Tyrone. While Miss Charlotte Williams-Wynn rests beneath the green, quiet pines of Arcachon, her sister, Harriot Hester, lies almost under the shadows of our great metropolis, where Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside her. How truly are the beautiful words of our Welsh poetess exemplified in their case: They grew in beauty side by side, They fill'd one home with glee: GRAMMADEG CYMRAEG GAN DAVID ROWLANDS, B.A. (DEWI MON) ATHRAW YN NGHOLEG ABERHONDDU. Wrexham : [N.D.] Hughes & Son. WE have perused this little book with considerable satisfaction. Grammar, as a science, while requiring a more exact study has of late enlarged its boundaries, and it now deals with questions which it never touched on in the past. It seems inclined also to treat words and phrases more logically than heretofore. To keep pace then with the exigencies of the present day Mr. Rowlands has compiled his little manual, and as an epitome of Grammar, or rather a rudimentary treatise, we are bound to add, that the young Welsh student ought to feel deeply grateful to him-it will put him in the right way, and keep him free of the errors which are so prevalent in modern composition. We have been particularly pleased with the part devoted to prefixes and affixes. With a few things, indeed, we do not agree; but they are of such little moment as compared with the excellencies of the book in general, that we think it almost a pity to mar our otherwise unqualified praise by mentioning them. The book is neatly got up by the publisher, Mr. Charles Hughes of Wrexham-its only fault is, that it is without date. We always look with suspicion on an undated publication-it savours generally more of the bookseller than of the author. This book deserves a date. We can prophesy its exhaustion long before it becomes antiquated. Literary Announcements. OUR readers will be gratified to learn that the next part of Y Cymmrodor will contain a poetical translation, by Lord Aberdare, of "The Bard and the Cuckoo", a poem written by Owain Gruffydd in the early part of the last century. It is with no little satisfaction that we announce the early publication of the Welsh-English Dictionary, so long in preparation, by the Reverend D. Silvan Evans. While the work will be brought out under the auspices of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, the onus of publication will be taken up by a number of gentlemen connected with the Principality who are anxious for its appearance, knowing, as they do, its value for the opening up of the old Welsh literature. The want of such a Lexicon has been long felt. The high character of the compiler, than whom no man living is more suited, both by talents and attainments, for the work, will, we trust, ensure it not only a large and remunerative circulation, but the gratitude of the Welsh student, whom we heartily congratulate on the prospect of possessing so valuable an instrument for the digging and delving into the old poetry and the ancient manuscripts. Fab Arom; lin Esrom les; Fab Abram, bab o rym bwyll;5 Fab Malalel, mawl eilwaith, Cariad mil fu 'r ciried maith; Bab o rym bwyll, a Pope in disparaged, it has undoubtedly strength of mind'. Deidie for deidiau. Clodfor for clodfawr. Rhugl, dexterous', 'ready'. • Diofeg dwyll. The meaning of the bard seems to be :-' without deceit of mind'. Wrdran. Whether this word is the offspring of a corrupt text, or one that, in the course of long ages, has become obsolete, it is now difficult to say. All we can say in its favour is, that it supplies the needs of the cynghanedd. assisted in the preservation of our language. Some valuable, though quaint remarks on this subject by Lewis Morris will be found in his Notes on Cywydd y Farn Fawr, by Goronwy Owen. See London edition of the Works of the latter, Vol. i, page 37. 2 I is frequently used by the old bards for ei. 3 Heleth for helaeth. ness'. beneficence', 'kind 5 Ddwyfan ddifeth. The name However cynghanedd may be Cainan occurs twice in the genea e |