introduced into
their poetry some of the inimitable grace and beauty of their Alhambra.
The Latin races appear in modern times to have been pre-distinguished in
the fine arts. Much of the taste for beauty is inherent in the Celtic
races, and this element is very perceptible in the poetry of the Cymric
branch, as will appear from the illustrations contained in the second
part of this collection.

Patriotism, or love of country, is characteristic of all nations, and
manifests itself in their poetical effusions, more especially of the
earlier date. It is but natural that man should feel a profound
attachment to the land of his fathers, to the valley where he spent the
early and happier years of his life, to the hills which bounded that
plain, to the church or chapel where he worshipped in youth, and in whose
cemetery rest the ashes of his kin, to the language of his childhood, its
literature, history and traditions, and more especially to the kind
family, neighbours and friends who watched over his infancy, and
entertained his maturer years. This attachment, which is no other than
patriotism, is only deepened by his removal into a distant land, and
among a strange people. Perhaps no people in modern times have
cultivated their patriotic songs more ardently or even more successfully
than the Scotch; though probably most of this may be owing to their great
minstrel Scott, who transformed their rude ballads into immortal song.
Moore did a similar, though smaller, service for the Irish branch of the
Celtic race. And we most truly think that a Welsh Scott or Moore is only
wanting to marry the lays of Wales to undying verse. The third part of
this collection will contain some of the most spirited of the patriotic
poems of Wales.

Humour is inherent in every people, and is more or less characteristic of
every nation. Cervantes among the Spaniards, the Abbate Casti among the
Italians, Jean Paul Richter among the Germans, Voltaire among the French,
Samuel Butler, the author of Hudibras, and Dr. John Wolcot among the
English, Jonathan Swift among the Irish, and Robert Burns among the
Scotch, have introduced humorous writing into the literature of their
respective countries with more or less of success. Nor was it possible
that a people so lively, so susceptible of contrast, and possessed of so
keen a sense of the ridiculous in manners and conversation as the Welsh,
should not spice their literature with examples of humorous