t state of polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths
sat beside the fireplace, with his pipe in one hand, the other resting
affectionately upon another mahogany chest of drawers, also
resplendently polished, standing in a recess at his left. The other side
of the fireplace was occupied by the visitor, who, if he had turned his
head a little to the right, might have seen his face reflected in the
resplendent polish of a third mahogany chest of drawers, which somewhat
inconveniently projected from the recess on the side of the fireplace.

Apparently, every well-to-do Welsh collier marks his status in society
by the possession of a mahogany chest of drawers--if mounted in brass
so much the better--which it is the pride and privilege of his wife to
keep in a state of resplendent polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths having had a
long run of prosperity, and being of a frugal mind, had launched out
largely in the purchase of mahogany chests of drawers, and his kitchen
may be said to bristle with them. Each had its history, and it was to
the patient listening to the repetition thereof, and to the expenditure
of much appreciative criticism upon the varied styles of architecture
displayed in their construction, that I completely won Mr. Morgan
Griffiths's confidence, and overcame the cautious fencing with which
he met my first inquiries touching his recollection of the memorable
Merthyr Riots of 1831.

Perfect confidence reigned between us now, and I discovered that,
though it is exceedingly hard to get a Welsh miner to talk freely to
"a Saxon," when he opens his heart, and can look back for a period of
fifty years, he is a very interesting companion.

"Yes, it's a long time ago," Mr. Morgan Griffiths repeated, in short,
clipping intonation of the English language I will not attempt to
reproduce, "but I've often talked it over with Mrs. Morgan Griffiths,
and I can see it all now. Times was sore bad, and there was a deal
of poverty about. Bread was dear, and iron was cheap--at least so Mr.
Crawshay said when we went up to ask him if he couldn't give us
miners a trifle over the twelve or thirteen shillings a week we was
earning. Everybody I knowed was in debt, and had been in debt for
some time, and was getting further in every week. The shopkeepers
up at Merthyr were getting uneasy about their money, and besides
saying plump out to some of us that we couldn't have any more bread,
or that, without money down on the nail, they served out all round
su