ere
are, however, as Mr. Davies related to the Parliamentary Committee,
many instances of Welsh students--most of them originally
quarrymen--who keep themselves at school by means of the savings
effected from manual labour, "in frequent cases eked out and helped by
the kindness of friends and neighbours," who struggle up through many
difficulties, and eventually achieve success in the best sense of the
term. "One young man"--as the teacher of a grammar-school, within two
miles of Bangor, related to Mr. Davies--"who came to me from the quarry
some time ago, was a gold medallist at Edinburgh last winter;" and
contributions are readily made by the quarrymen to help forward any
young man who displays an earnest desire for knowledge in science and
literature.

It is a remarkable fact that the quarrymen of Carnarvonshire have
voluntarily contributed large sums of money towards the establishment
of the University College in North Wales--the quarry districts in that
county having contributed to that fund, in the course of three years,
mostly in half-crown subscriptions, not less than 508L. 4s. 4d.--"a
fact," says Mr. Davies, "without its parallel in the history of the
education of any country;" the most striking feature being, that these
collections were made in support of an institution from which the
quarrymen could only very remotely derive any benefit.

While I was at Bangor, on the 24th of August, 1883, the news arrived
that the Committee of Selection had determined that Bangor should be
the site for the intended North Wales University College. The news
rapidly spread, and great rejoicings prevailed throughout the borough,
which had just been incorporated. The volunteer band played through
the streets; the church bells rang merry peals; and gay flags were
displayed from nearly every window. There never was such a triumphant
display before in the cause of University education.

As Mr. Cadwalladr Davies observed at the banquet, which took place on
the following day: "The establishment of the new institution will mark
the dawn of a new era in the history of the Welsh people. He looked to
it, not only as a means of imparting academical knowledge to the
students within its walls, but also as a means of raising the
intellectual and moral tone of the whole people. They were fond of
quoting the saying of a great English writer, that there was something
Grecian in the Celtic race, and that the Celtic was the refining
elem