meusydd, delivered a written lecture on the utility of learning and cultivating the Welsh language, with some pretty remarks on its superior merit as a language as well as its pre-eminence in point of elegance, fluency, copiousness, and originality, &c.

9th. Edward Jones, an Anglesey man, who has an agency for some Liverpool gentleman, requested the landlady of the N. Inn to send for me to write some letters for him to his employers, who threatened to dismiss him on account of his getting drunk on his way to Wales; he was indeed very drunk this night.

12th.-Sent a copy of my englynion to temperance to Mr. James Rees for insertion in his next paper, of which I also ordered

a copy.

13th. Mr. Hughes had copies of my englynion "Cymedroldeb," which he read to Jones, Llanllyfni, and Parry, Bangor.

16th.--My little Nell shewing symptoms of moral terpitude which grieved her mother and myself much. Oh God, have mercy upon her and deliver her from her evil inclinations, reign for ever in her heart, and wash away her sins, through the merits of Jesus Christ; Amen. At night attended the Temperance Meeting at Zion Chapel, where Griffith Hughes and Robert Hughes spoke. I was pressed to speak, but I refused, considering myself unworthy and incapable of speaking properly in public, from want of more exercise. I assisted as writer. Subscribed my name at the above meeting as a temperate, and I pray God to assist me with abundance of

grace to keep my vow through Jesus Christ. Amen.

17th. At Sportsman in the evening,half P. of A. and ditto of Mr. D. W., Druggist. My stanza did not appear in the Herald as I anticipated; gave a copy of them to Thomas Owen, Velin Penllech. 20th.-Broke the school.

21st. Went to Chwilog and Pwllheli; expenses for A., 43d.; came home half-past eight; twelve hours from home,-met with no interesting incident in this ramble.

22nd. Went to Cae Doctor; found the family at home; gave them a dozen eggs; dined there. Mr. Williams has much palaver about road-making, current politics, &c.; had no pleasure there more than my food and drink afford me. L. N.'s secret. G. J., Cwmgwara's letter.

26th. Went to Carnarvon to transact business; expenses rather too considerable; plead cold for excuse; not much affected.

29th. The editor of the Gwladgarwr called, gave him my englynion to temperance and "Meditations at going to Bed;" he requested me to take a glass of whiskey at Plas, which I did; he also gave me a petition to both Houses of Parliament to procure subscribers, which I, in conjunction with Rev. William Roberts, who was at the time at the inn door, engaged to do; he desired me to write frequently to the Gwladgarwr by the Pwllheli carrier.

30th.-David Parry of Tydweiliog, sailor, called and lodged here for the night; saw a purse he had bought in Greece, being of Grecian manufacture entirely.

Clydach.

GLYN-FERCH,

WHEN I started Pwllygwynt," said the Captain, "heaven knows I hoped that it would turn out well, and the most experienced miners believed that it would do so. There was an excellent 'look' about the mine. I had no trouble, as you know, in forming a company. With the assistance of Mr. Fox of London, I persuaded several rich people to join the company; and you know, Sarah, how many of our neighbours, such as Hugh Bryan and others, made themselves quite poor in order to get shares in the mine, and I made them understand that I was doing them a favour in letting them have shares at any price. How lucky I was, in the eyes of the people, and in my own eyes! How quickly those who used to call me Richard began sirring' me and calling me 'Captain.' So to speak, I went to bed one night a common miner and slept; and I woke up the next morning 'Captain' Trevor, a man to be respected and honoured, one into whose good favour people were trying to get, one with many favours in his hands to be distributed to whom he liked, one who was considered to be conferring a kindness by receiving valuable presents from people! There was scarcely a man in the town who would have refused anything I asked of him. You remember, Sarah, that on my merely saying to Mr. Nott, the ironmonger, that I liked his horse, he made me a present of it the next day,-for Mr. Nott knew very well that I could put many a horse in his way if I chose to. That gift paid Mr. Nott well. I had only to look at a gun or a silver teapot in Mr. Nott's shop, and it would be here next day with Mr. Nott's compliments,' and many others were the same. When Ty'nyrardd was empty, many wanted it,-but Captain Trevor got it. Sarah, could you tell how much of this furniture was given us, and why? Because I had discovered the 'big lode' in Pwllygwynt, and because I, through my craftiness in getting a 'take note' quite quietly, had made myself Captain of the mine. Everyone thought that it was a most excellent discovery. But I feared from the com

mencement that it would turn out to be a false one, --but I kept that to myself and hoped for the best.

"I had known Mr. Fox, of London, for years. I knew the length of his conscience; and that he knew very well how to work the oracle. I dropped him a line to come down here. Mr. Fox was here at once, without loss of time, like a good man of business. I took him to see Pwllygwynt. He almost fainted when he saw the 'look' of it, and if his heart had not been like a nether millstone he would have cried like a child. He was half crazed, and shouted and jumped about like a madman. He was so proud and glad, that, I'll take my oath, he would have carried me on his back for ten miles. I knew exactly what sort of a man I had to deal with, but he knew nothing about me. He had found out at the hotel, before we started for Pwllygwynt, that I was a methodist, and he didn't exactly know in what style to talk to me. At the commencement he was very particular as to what he said. Mr. Fox was his name, and he answered to his name to a T. He was a great 'believer,' in his own way, on that day; and after having been to see Pwllygwynt, when we were having dinner, and after he had said grace, he asked a lot about the history of religion in Wales, and took a whole lot of trouble to demonstrate that Scotch Presbyterianism and Calvinist Methodism were the same thing. I knew very well that he and I were the same thing,' and said to him,— Mr. Fox, that is not the point we have to deal with to-day. I have known about you for years, but you know nothing about me. I know that, when there is a question of a mine, religion will not stand in the way, with you, or hinder you from making it a success. Your experience,-I do not mean your religious experience,-is great. Our point to-day is how to get Pwllygwynt known and talked of, so as to form a powerful company, and get plenty of money into our hands. You know that the mine has an excellent look.' You are the man in London, and I am the man here; whatever the capacity of your conscience in London is like, so will the capacity of mine be, exactly, down here.

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"After I had spoken in this way, Mr. Fox shook

me by the hand, called for a bottle of champagne, and from that day to this never a word or a syllable about religion has passed between us. You know Mr. Fox, don't you, Sarah? He has been here more than once to dinner, and he talked about religion to you, didn't he? And he would be crying with the eye next you, and be winking at me with the other one. Mr. Fox is a Scotchman, and the most infernal humbug,-except myself, that I have ever known. Sarah, if I were to go through the whole story in detail, half of it would be Latin to you; and the only thing that you would see clearly would be what a conscientious husband you have. But there was no Latin between Mr. Fox and me. We understood each other to a T. We both hoped from the bottom of our hearts that Pwllygwynt would turn out well, and believed from the bottom of our hearts that it would turn out otherwise,-but, like true miners, our belief was never breathed to a living soul.

'Do you follow me, Sarah? We formed, as you know, a strong company, and thousands of pounds were paid down. We made it a point to open out as little of the mine as possible, so that its poverty should not be discovered, and we took care to spend as much money as we could on the place in buildings and machinery and so forth. For, when people have spent a lot of money on a mine, it is a harder task for them to give it up. And the water came in and helped us to keep the mine going, and was an excuse for all the hindrances and delay. The water was a great friend to Mr. Fox and me. Several thousands of pounds were sunk in the water. We changed the machinery three times in order to meet the wishes of our faithful friend Mr. Water. Every time new machinery was got, it emptied the pockets of the company to a considerable extent, and put a little more into Mr. Fox's and my pockets; for the company trusted to Mr. Fox's and my judgment as buyers, and it was only fair and just for us to be paid for our judgment. But it was not the company, you must understand, that paid us; but the people who made the machinery, for it was necessary that the books should show that everything had been carried on straightforwardly, and that no deceit had been used. 'Commission,' you know, is what the makers call it, a word that was invented in order to quiet the consciences of mine Captains. But nowadays the word is found in the dictionary of candlemakers, ironmongers, timber merchants, the man who sells powder, and hundreds and thousands of others."

At this point, the Captain appealed to the bottle for assistance.

"Do you understand me, Sarah? I know you won't get me scragged. Well, as I was saying,

we took care not to open out the mine quicker aan we could. When we were quite sure that there was a little lead in a particular part of the mine, we used to leave it alone there like so much money in a bank, and keep it until the company had nearly broken its heart; and then, when we realized that they were about to give the mine up, we used to go to the bank and raise enough lead to put new life in the company to go on for a spell longer. After getting the company into real good spirits, we used to begin to economise again, and so things went on; went on for years, and I had to report this and report that,-make up one lie this week and another lie the next week,-to keep things going, until now I have got to such a pass that I am without any new lie to tell, and it won't pay for me to hark back to the old ones, for the company remember them too well. The heaviest shareholders are utterly disgusted and enraged, and have determined that they will not go one step further. Still Mr. Fox and I can say that we have done our duty, and that we have done our best to keep the mine going."

"Well, Richard," said Mrs. Trevor, who had been rendered quite dazed, and was unable to make out whether the Captain had gone out of his mind, or had taken a drop too much, "well, Richard," you surely don't mean to say that there is no lead in Pwllygwynt? I have heard you tell Mr. Denman hundreds of times that there was a whole heap of lead there, and that you would be sure to get to it some day."

"Between you and myself, Sarah," said the Captain, "I'll take my oath that there is not my hatful of lead in Pwllygwynt. But it won't do, you know, for everyone to get to know that. It doesn't much matter about the people in London, but I am very sorry about Denman. He is a neighbour and has impoverished himself very much. Indeed I am afraid that Denman will be as poor as I, one of these next days."

"As poor as you, Richard? You don't mean to say that you are poor," said Mrs. Trevor, in a considerable fright.

As poor, Sarah, as a church mouse,-with only just the things you see round you. I was afraid that you and Susie,-Susie, how can you go to sleep whilst your mother and I are talking about our circumstances?" said the Captain furiously.

"You know, father," said Susie, rubbing her eyes, "that I never like hearing anything about business."

passed through my hands, but there has been no luck with it, it has gone somewhere, and you two know where a lot of it has gone. We must look the fact in the face. We are poor, and it will be all over with Pwllygwynt before the end of the month."

"Oh, mother," cried Miss Trevor.

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'Mother as much as you like," said the Captain, "and between you and me, miss, you ought to have been a mother yourself before this, instead of giving yourself such airs as you do. You'll have to come down a peg or two; and take whoever you can get hold of, even if he is only a common miner."

"The idea, father," said Miss Trevor.

"The idea be blowed! Don't you realize your position? Isn't it possible to drive anything into your silly head?" said the Captain, again losing his temper.

"Richard," said Mrs. Trevor, coaxingly, "keep your temper. If that is our position,-if we are poor, after all these years of carrying on,-what do you mean to do?"

"There, now Sarah," said the Captain, "you are talking like a sensible woman. That is the question, Sarah. Well this is what I intend to do,-to keep up appearances as long as I can, and start a new mine as soon as I am able to."

At this point someone knocked at the door, and Mr. Denman subsequently made his appear

ance.

"WE

CHAPTER IX.

CONFIDENTIAL.

WELL here's Mr. Denman!" said the Captain. "Talk of the d--1 and he is sure to appear. We were talking of you."

"What made you talk of me?" asked Mr. Denman.

"Well," said the Captain, "I was saying,-but look here Mr. Denman, we will go to the smokingroom, these women will be glad to be rid of us."

After the two had gone to the smoking-room, tne Captain added, "Yes, this is what I was saying, Mr. Denman, before you came in, that it would be an excellent thing to see you,-the only

You'll have to come down a peg or two."

you know, we are always having to fight the water, -the elements are against us,-and if the directors had taken my advice, viz., had sufficiently strong machinery at the beginning, we should have got the better of it long ago. But a man doesn't always get his own way, especially when he is only a servant. I will say this much,-and of course I don't claim to be infallible, but so far as human knowledge can go, and I have had a bit of experience by this time,- -so far, I say, as human knowledge can go, there is a better 'look' there now than I have ever seen before. Perhaps,— I don't think it will be so,-but perhaps we shall have to be a little patient. You yourself know that the lead we have got,-it wasn't much I will admit, but you know that the lead we have got

on.

shows clearly that there is more of it there. The question, and the only question,-is, will the company have the patience, the faith, the perseverance to hold on till the treasure is found. If all the company were like you, Mr. Denman,-that is, men who knew something about the working of a mine, there would be some hope of their holding But what sort of men are they? I will tell you,-men who have made their money in a short time, merchants and such like, and so they expect a mine to return a big profit in a short time,people who have no patience if everything does not pay at once. But a mine is not a thing like that. It is necessary sometimes to wait for years,-and there have been a lot of people, as you know, who, after spending thousands, have given up the job because they have not had the patience to wait. And then others come forward, and with next to nothing of expenditure, take the treasure that was deserted. We have been a bit unlucky in Pwllygwynt, and I know that it is a very provoking thing to be expecting and expecting, and be disappointed, especially when there is so much hard money being paid away all the time. I greatly hope that the company will see their way to carry on the mine for a little bit longer at all events,-if only for the sake of my character, and to show that I spoke the truth. But, between you and me, I should not be at all surprised if these English chaps gave the mine up, and that too at a time when we are almost within reach of the lead, and that would be very wrong. If such a thing happened to Pwllygwynt, I should take an oath never to go under a Board of Directors or anything else again, and I would take care for the future to have my own way in working a mine."

'Do you know what, Captain," said Mr. Denman, "if those English chaps, as you call them, were to give up the mine to-morrow, I should not be sorry, so to say. Not because I don't believe there is lead there,-no, I have believed in Pwllygwynt from the beginning. But if I had known that I should have had to spend so much money, I would never have joined the company. I never thought that I should have to spend more than one or two hundred pounds, but now nearly all I possess has gone, and it will be necessary for me,-whatever the English chaps do,-to give it up, my pocket won't hold out."

"I hope, however," said the Captain, "that you don't think that I intentionally misled you. And as to your pocket, I know pretty well about that. If Captain Trevor only had Mr. Denman's pocket, he would sleep a good deal sounder to-night. You have houses and lands, Mr. Denman, and if you give up your interest in the mine, you will repent

doing so to the extent of every hair that is on your head. It is sheer folly to talk of giving up now when we have almost got the better of all our difficulties. You know that I have shares in the mine, and before I would give up now I should sell the shirt off my back."

"I have every confidence in you, Captain," said Mr. Denman. "Indeed I should never have thought of taking shares in the mine if I had not known you, and that both of us are members of the same chapel. No,-whatever happens to Pwllygwynt, I shall always say that you were honest. But it will be a matter of necessity for me to give up. I may as well tell the truth. I have mortgaged my houses and lands almost to their full value, with the exception of the house I live in, and my wife knows nothing about it,-if she knew she would break her heart. She knows, by the scarcity of money at home, that I have spent a wonderful lot on Pwllygwynt, and she is always grumbling and groaning; but if she knew all, I should have to pack out."

"I am very sorry to hear you speak like that," said the Captain, "but, though perhaps you will scarcely credit it, I have spent many a sleepless night, as Sarah knows, in thinking of the great sacrifices you have made. But I hope, and I believe, that I shall see the day when you will tell Mrs. Denman all, and she will praise you. But everything depends upon whether the company will have the faith and the patience to go on.'

'If the company gave up the mine, what would you do, Captain,-would you live on your money?" asked Mr. Denman.

"Not quite so, Mr. Denman, but I'd start again."

"Pwllygwynt ?" asked Mr. Denman,

"Yes, Pwllygwynt," said the Captain, "if I had enough money. If I had the means, I would buy Pwllygwynt. But as I have not got quite enough for that, indeed not nearly enough,-I should start in some other place. My eye has been on a spot for some time, in case of anything happening to Pwllygwynt. It is a great thing, Mr. Denman, to be ready for the worst. And this mine shall be my own, with just a few friends,-and the London people sha'n't put their finger in this pie. It will be a mine, on a small scale, without much expense, and will soon pay. But it will be necessary for me to get a few friends, near home, to take shares. One of these friends will be Mr. Denman. Between you and me, I have already got the take note, and indeed your benefit was in my eye, as much as my own. You have spent so much, Mr. Denman, that I puzzled myself many a time how to put something in your way."

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What have you got your eye on, Captain, may