Celtic Literature | Page 2

of explanation and apology for so calling him. But
I thought then, and I think still, that Mr. Nash, in pursuing his work of
demolition, too much puts out of sight the positive and constructive
performance for which this work of demolition is to clear the ground. I
thought then, and I think still, that in this Celtic controversy, as in other
controversies, it is most desirable both to believe and to profess that the
work of construction is the fruitful and important work, and that we are
demolishing only to prepare for it. Mr. Nash's scepticism seems to
me,--in the aspect in which his work, on the whole, shows it,--too
absolute, too stationary, too much without a future; and this tends to
make it, for the non-Celtic part of his readers, less fruitful than it

otherwise would be, and for his Celtic readers, harsh and repellent. I
have therefore suffered my remarks on Mr. Nash still to stand, though
with a little modification; but I hope he will read them by the light of
these explanations, and that he will believe my sense of esteem for his
work to be a thousand times stronger than my sense of difference from
it.
To lead towards solid ground, where the Celt may with legitimate
satisfaction point to traces of the gifts and workings of his race, and
where the Englishman may find himself induced to sympathise with
that satisfaction and to feel an interest in it, is the design of all the
considerations urged in the following essay. Kindly taking the will for
the deed, a Welshman and an old acquaintance of mine, Mr. Hugh
Owen, received my remarks with so much cordiality, that he asked me
to come to the Eisteddfod last summer at Chester, and there to read a
paper on some topic of Celtic literature or antiquities. In answer to this
flattering proposal of Mr. Owen's, I wrote him a letter which appeared
at the time in several newspapers, and of which the following extract
preserves all that is of any importance
'My knowledge of Welsh matters is so utterly insignificant that it would
be impertinence in me, under any circumstances, to talk about those
matters to an assemblage of persons, many of whom have passed their
lives in studying them.
'Your gathering acquires more interest every year. Let me venture to
say that you have to avoid two dangers in order to work all the good
which your friends could desire. You have to avoid the danger of
giving offence to practical men by retarding the spread of the English
language in the principality. I believe that to preserve and honour the
Welsh language and literature is quite compatible with not thwarting or
delaying for a single hour the introduction, so undeniably useful, of a
knowledge of English among all classes in Wales. You have to avoid,
again, the danger of alienating men of science by a blind partial, and
uncritical treatment of your national antiquities. Mr. Stephens's
excellent book, The Literature of the Cymry, shows how perfectly
Welshmen can avoid this danger if they will.
'When I see the enthusiasm these Eisteddfods can awaken in your
whole people, and then think of the tastes, the literature, the
amusements, of our own lower and middle class, I am filled with

admiration for you. It is a consoling thought, and one which history
allows us to entertain, that nations disinherited of political success may
yet leave their mark on the world's progress, and contribute powerfully
to the civilisation of mankind. We in England have come to that point
when the continued advance and greatness of our nation is threatened
by one cause, and one cause above all. Far more than by the
helplessness of an aristocracy whose day is fast coming to an end, far
more than by the rawness of a lower class whose day is only just
beginning, we are emperilled by what I call the "Philistinism" of our
middle class. On the side of beauty and taste, vulgarity; on the side of
morals and feeling, coarseness; on the side of mind and spirit,
unintelligence,--this is Philistinism. Now, then, is the moment for the
greater delicacy and spirituality of the Celtic peoples who are blended
with us, if it be but wisely directed, to make itself prized and honoured.
In a certain measure the children of Taliesin and Ossian have now an
opportunity for renewing the famous feat of the Greeks, and conquering
their conquerors. No service England can render the Celts by giving
you a share in her many good qualities, can surpass that which the Celts
can at this moment render England, by communicating to us some of
theirs.'
Now certainly, in that letter, written to a Welshman and on the occasion
of a Welsh festival,