royal party on board, the yacht weighed and set sail for Beaumaris, where the Duchess and Princess disembarked and returned to the Bulkeley Arms. On Friday, the Princess Victoria partook of an early dinner with T. A. Smith, Esq., of Vaynol, and his lady, on board that gentleman's magnificent steam vessel, the Menai.

In the course of the week, the illustrious strangers were visited at the hotel, Beaumaris, by most of the people of distinction now resident in this quarter of the country.

On Monday, Mr. Smith, of Vaynol, had the honour of conveying the Duchess and Princess in his steam vessel to Conway, from whence they returned in the evening by land.

The following correspondence will no doubt be read with deep interest. On the anniversary of the birth-day of the Duchess, bonfires were kindled on Penmean-mawr, Snowdon, and other mountains. At Carnarvon, Beaumaris, Bangor, and Conway, the inhabitants received the royal visitors with every testimony of outward parade, and of heartfelt affection. At Bangor, where an address was presented, as at other places, a royal salute was fired from the guns which crowned the brow of the mountain. An accident here occurred, which for some time threatened serious consequences. The guns having been wadded with oakum, some of the wadding, when discharged, was carried by the westerly breeze to the leeward, where it fell in a state of ignition amongst the dry grass, furze, and other combustible vegetable substances with which the edge of that part of the mountain is thickly covered; in a few seconds two or three roods of the surface was in a blaze, and the flames were rapidly approaching the picturesque and beautiful plantation of Mr. Pennant, which crowns that part of the mountain that overhangs the lower part of the main street of Bangor. Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Cottingham, and several other gentlemen, aided by great numbers of the inhabitants, both male and female, set themselves to arrest the progress of the conflagration, and by cutting down some young trees in order to prevent the fire reaching the body of the plantation, and by throwing water in large quantities upon the places already ignited, their efforts were in about two hours crowned with complete success. The excessive toil of carrying water from the bottom of the mountain was most cheerfully undergone by hundreds on this occasion; and several active young men suspended themselves by ropes over the precipice, at the hazard of their lives, while cutting away the furze and brushwood with which it was overhung.

VISIT TO LLANBERRIS.

Early in the morning of the day proposed, it was known at Carnarvon that their Royal Highnesses would pass through the town, on their visit to the romantic lake, and to Llanberris. Accordingly, the fires lighted the previous evening on Twhill and on the Elidir mountain, in honour of the Duchess's birth-day, were scarcely extinct when Carnarvon was all in a bustle of preparation to display yet other proofs of attachment to the royal

visitors.

The day was such as the morning promised, clear and refreshing. The Uxbridge Arms Hotel was tastefully decorated with evergreens and flags. The streets leading to the Llanberris road from the hotel were profusely decorated; the neighbouring woods seemed to have been dismantled of their branches, to supply the fronts of the houses with foliage. Flags, with appropriate inscriptions, were hoisted opposite the houses in the Bangor road, The children of the National Schools and in many places in the town.

were drawn up, girls and boys separately, in front of the hotel, headed by benevolent individuals and their teachers. A little after twelve o'clock the

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royal carriage arrived in front of the hotel. It was soon perceived that the Princess Victoria was not present, and a feeling of anxiety pervaded the people to learn the cause. It was soon understood that her Royal Highness was slightly indisposed, on account of the fatigues of the preceding day, and it had not been deemed advisable that she should leave home. The Duchess seemed much pleased with the appearance of the children; and, after changing horses, the party proceeded in the direction of Llanberris, amid the loud greetings of the assembled inhabitants.

The road to Llanberris pursues its course chiefly along an elevated ridge, at the foot of the Seiont, winding over its rugged bed, guiding the eye to its origin in the lake of Llanberris. Her Royal Highness must have enjoyed the scene, spotted with the harvest, into which the sickle had already entered. The cavalcade stopped at a temporary pier erected for the embarkation of the royal party, near the northern extremity of the lake, a few hundred yards from the ruins of the hall of Llewelyn, where tradition informs us King Edward the First embarked to attack the Welsh when they made their last stand. Here her Royal Highness and suite entered the boat of T. A. Smith, Esq. provided for their reception, at the stern of which floated the royal standard for the first time on this lake since the days of the first Edward. The cortege was increased by the arrival of a number of carriages from Carnarvon, which kept pace with the boat as it proceeded up the lake, and pedestrians lined the roads and rocks. The scene at the entrance of the lakes is very striking. The mountains at the extremity of the pass, about seven miles in the distance, approach each other, forming a narrow and bold defile, and seem to close up the view in the dark and rugged majesty. On either side of the lake the mountains rise abruptly to an immense altitude; and the lake, reflecting their rocky sides, has always a particularly dark appearance. As the boat proceeded slowly along, the royal visitor was greeted by salutes from above 2,000 rock cannon, a species of artillery which will require some description. In convenient parts of the rock holes are bored to a sufficient depth, and, being charged with gunpowder, are connected by means of trains, so that, upon the application of a match, countless successive explosions take place, which reverberate in a fearful manner among the mountains. The fire glanced along the rocks like flashes of lightening, followed by explosions, the hollow rumbling of which can only be compared with the repeated bursts of thunder. The royal party landed at the ruins of Dolbadarn, one of the ancient British castles which guarded the pass, where they were escorted by several hundred members of the benefit societies of the vale to the New Inn just erected by Mr. Smith, and now called the Royal Victoria, where the royal banner was displayed opposite the Hill of Council, where the barons of Snowdon were encamped when they made with Edward the treaty which united England and Wales.

Considerable disappointment was felt when it became known that the young Princess, or, as the quarry-men call her, "y frenines fach," (the little Queen,) was not of the party. They were, however, highly delighted with the condescending manners of the Duchess.

After partaking of refreshments, the royal party proceeded to visit the ancient castle, and Mr. Smith's beautifully situated cottage on the lake. They then set out on their return by land, receiving as they went a thundering farewell by the mountain cannons, which the llangciau Eryri (lads of Snowdon) had reloaded.

It was the intention of the miners to seek an opportunity of presenting an Address to her Royal Highness, but they were deterred from it by the fear of being thought intrusive.

DONATIONS TO THE LOCAL CHARITIES OF BEAUMARIS, CARNARVOR, AND BANGOR.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent has given at Beaumaris-to the Ancient Druids, £25; the Carnarvonshire and Anglesey Dispensary, £50; the Ladies' Society of Beaumaris, £25; the National Schools of Beaumaris, £50; to aid in building a school-room, £50.-At Bangor, for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans of Clergymen, and disabled and necessitous Clergymen, £25; the National Schools, £50; the Female Friendly Society, £25; the Lying-in Charity, £25; the Penny Club, £25; the Infant School, £50.- At Conway, £30 to the Conway Charity Schools.At Pwllheli, £25 in aid of the subscription for the New Church; wherever she went, she left testimonials of her benevolent disposition in her munificent donations to public charities.

The accounts we have received of the numerous addresses and introductions, together with festivities and rejoicings of all kinds, would positively occupy not only a single number of the Cambrian Quarterly, but volumes would not suffice; and, as we shall have to notice the royal visitants in the proceedings of the Eisteddfod, we take leave to conclude our lengthened observations upon the royal tour, summing up our remarks with the observation that, although we have been most anxious to prove ourselves faithful chroniclers, we have unavoidably omitted to mention many many instances of bounteous charity on the part of the Duchess of Kent.

THE EISTEDDVOD.

Previously to entering upon the description of so peculiar a national custom as the Eisteddvod of the Cambrian branch of the old Celtic family, we venture to think that a few brief observations may not be without value ;-to our countrymen, we need not address ourselves; but as we do not write for Wales and Welshmen, merely to the Saxon, in common with all foreign readers, who may be unversed in the intent and importance of Eisteddvodau, we conceive it absolutely necessary to offer something like a key to the business of the meeting, however imperfectly we may discharge our undertaking. It is therefore proper to inform such persons, that it is far different in its objects from the modern musical festivals held in England, whose objects are either charity or ordinary festivity. The venerable Eisteddvod of the Welsh was in olden time a congress of all the poets and minstrelsy of the country, attended and presided over by the princes and nobles of the land; it was also a depository for national oral record; and though falling infinitely short of the noble Eisteddvod, the glorious Elizabeth Tudor, queen of England, appears, as far as possible, to have imitated the customs of her Welsh ancestors, during her various visitations and commemorations in England. But the similarity merely went so far as regarded au immense mass of retainers, for the pomp, and pageant, and mummery of the one, has no parallel in the solemn ritual and high congress of the old British bards.

But, in proportion as the customs of antiquity would of themselves gradually sink into darkness, it becomes necessary, in accordance with the taste of fresh generations, in order to keep up the ancient ritual, to interweave with the old, as part of the entertainment, modern amusements; so as to attract an assemblage of rank and power: it has therefore been found necessary, at all Eisteddvodau, held in our time, to retain the services of English professors, and the bards Datganiad and Harpey certainly cannot be now considered, (because not understood,) as constituting the sole attraction of a modern Eistedd

vod.

We now proceed to our promised detail of the BEAUMARIS EISTEDDVOD: after due advertisement, it commenced on the 28th of last August,* patronized by their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria. The weather was unfavourable; Monday, the day preceding the festivities, was cold, rainy, and comfortless; and the morning of Tuesday was cheerless. However, about eleven o'clock the sun gleamed occasionally through the heavy clouds by which it had been obscured. The town instantly became a scene of bustle and animation, which reminded us of those beautiful lines by one of the modern Welsh poets :

Aflonydd dwrf olwynion

A drystiant y' mhalmant Môn.

In consequence of the number of subjects given for competition, and the rewards attached to them, exceeding those of any preceding Eisteddvod, the bards and minstrels on this occasion were proportionably numerous; and though a few straggling rhymers will attend meetings like these, nearly all the candidates on the present occasion were persons of reputation, who had been drawn to Beaumaris by no other motive than an ambition to excel their fellow competitors in any contest in which they might be engaged.

The royal party quitted the Bulkeley Arms on Saturday, with their suit, by which time all the beds in the town were engaged. The company was very numerous, comprising a large portion of the gentry, nobility, and clergy of North Wales, and the bordering English counties.

There were present the Duchess of Northumberland; Lord Robert Grosvenor and Lady; Lord and Lady Mostyn; Hon. E. M. Ll. Mostyn and Lady; Lord and Lady Fingal ; Archbishop of Tuam ; Lord Bishop of Bangor; Lord Bishop Dromore; Lord Boston; Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., M. P.; Sir Edward Mostyn, Bart. and Lady; Sir S. R. Glynne, Bart., M. P.; Sir R. Vivian, Bart., M. P.; Sir John Jennings, Bart.; Sir John aad Major Hilton; J. Maddock, Esq., Glan y Wern; P. York, Esq., Erddig; O. Stanley, Esq., Penrhos; Pierce Mostyn, Esq, &c. &c. &c.

On Tuesday morning at twelve o'clock, a procession was formed at the town hall, which, headed by music, escorted the president, Sir R. B. W. Bulkeley, to the castle; in the area of which was erected a spacious platform, surrounded by seats. Sir Richard, upon taking the chair, was most enthusiastically greeted.

The heralds having advanced to the front of the platform, and sounded their trumpets three times; the Rev. J. Blackwell, opened the proceedings by reading the following proclamation in Welsh:

Y Gwir yn Erbyn y Byd.

Yn y flwyddyn 1832, pan yw yr huan yn nesau at Alban Elfed, yn awr anterth, ar yr 28ain o fis Awst, gwedi cyhoeddiad teilwng, agorir yr orsedd hon yn Nghastell Beaumaris, yn Ngwynedd, i roddi gwys a gwahawdd i bawb a gyrchont, lle nad oes noeth arf yn eu herbyn, ac y chyoeddir barn gorsedd ar bob awenydd a barddoui a roddir dau ystyriaeth, yn llygad haul, ac yn ngwyneb goleuni. Y gwir yn erbyn y byd.

Aneurin Owen, Esq. then favoured the company by giving the following translation:

The Truth against the World.

In the year 1832, and the sun approaching the autumnal equinox, at the hour of noon, on the 28th day of August, after due proclamation, this gorsedd

*It is but justice to state that we are much indebted to the newspapers in framing our notices of the Eisteddvod, especially to the Chester Courant.

is opened in the Castle of Beaumaris, in Gwynedd, with an invitation to all who may come, where no weapon is naked against them, and judgment will be given upon all works of Cimbric genius submitted for adjudication in the eye of the sun and in the face of the light. The truth against the world.

Sir Richard Bulkeley now stepped forward, and following the example of presidents on former occasions, made the following observations, which were exceeding well delivered and received with loud applause :

He feared he would incur the charge of presumption for having accepted the high and honourable office to which he had been called, as he felt himself sadly deficient in two very necessary qualifications. He was not so well acquainted as he ought to be with the history of his native country, and he was totally ignorant of the language that would be employed in a great part of the proceedings. It was nothing but the pleasure which he experienced in contributing, as far as he was able, to the advancement of Welsh literature, that could have brought him to place himself in that distinguished situation. In coufessing his own incapacity, he would claim the indulgence of the meeting, and confidently depend ou receiving from those around him any assistance of which he might stand in need. As some ladies and gentlemen might not be fully acquainted with the precise nature of an Eisteddvod, he would endeavour, in a few words, to explain its origin and its design. In days of yore Eisteddvodau were held every three years. The primary object of them was the cultivation of literature, the improvement of the morals of the people, and especially the encouragement of poetry and music. For these purposes the Eisteddvodau were then held, and he could not say that at the present day these purposes were at all altered. The productions in the Welsh language that would be offered to the meeting, he was told by persons competent to form an opinion on the subject, had seldom been equalled and never excelled. He was obliged to be indebted to others for the pleasure of understanding this, so that the ignorance he had confessed carried with it its own punishment. To the bards of Cambria the assembly would owe the amusement which awaited them. He sincerely lamented that the condition of this most honourable class of men was different from that of the bards of former days. The situation, though not the character of the bards, was much changed. In the days to which he had referred they were the constant and familiar companions of the native princes, accompanying them to their wars, encouraging aud animating them in the field of battle, and, in times of peace, cheering and solacing them in their halls and palaces. It was a subject of regret that the present race did not equal them in station, but they were in no respect inferior to them in talents. He sincerely rejoiced that although the meeting was not summoned, as had been the case in days that were past and gone, by royal authority, yet it was under royal patronage; and he was delighted to see, in the present literary contributions, which, as he had before said, had rarely been equalled, and had never been surpassed either in number or in excellence, that the Welsh Awen was in no wise extinct. The result of the festival, he was confident, would be to inspire them with loyalty and patriotism, and at the same time, with the sacred love of liberty and freedom. He had to thank the ladies and gentlemen present for the kind indulgence with which they had heard him; and having thus endeavoured, though imperfectly, to describe the nature and objects of the meeting, he would conclude with taking his leave.

At the conclusion of the honourable baronet's address, the secretary, W. Jones, of St. Asaph, invited such bards as bad Englynion to recite, or were prepared with any other compositions in honour of the meeting, to as end the platform. Several persons immediately obeyed the summons, and the company were successively addressed by them in English and Welsh. Among others we select the following.