rose.

Most of the works which were afterwards written in the strong idiomatic
Welsh of Morris Kyffin were on religious subjects, and many of them were
translated from the English. The first was _Ymarfer o Dduwioldeb_ (1630)
by Rowland Vychan o Gaergai (a translation of Bailey's _Practice of
Piety_), which was followed in 1632 by Dr John Davies's _Llyfr y
Resolution_, and in 1666 by _Hanes y Ffydd Ddiffuant_ (A History of the
True Faith) by Charles Edwards. All these authors and many of their
successors were strong adherents of the Established Church, which was
then intensely Welsh in sentiment. But in the midst of these churchmen,
a flame-bearer of dissent appeared--Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd, who published
in 1653 "a mystery to be understood of some, and scorned of
others"--_Llyfr y Tri Aderyn_ (The Book of the Three Birds). It is in
the form of a discussion between the eagle (Cromwell), the dove
(Dissent) and the raven (the Established Church). This book is certainly
the most important original composition published during the 17th
century, and to this day remains one of the widely-read classics of the
Welsh tongue. Morgan Llwyd wrote many other books in Welsh and English,
all more or less in the vein of the first book.

During the remaining years of this period, the prose output of the Welsh
press consisted mainly of devotional books, written or translated for or
at the instigation of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The
Established Church, with the help of this society, made a gallant
attempt to lighten the darkness of Wales by publishing books of this
description, and it is mainly due to its exertions that the lamp of
Welsh prose was kept burning during these years. Among the clergy who
produced books of this description were Edward Samuel (1674-1748), who
published among other works _Holl Ddyledswydd Dyn_, a translation of
_The Whole Duty of Man_ (1718); Moses Williams (1684-1742), a most
diligent searcher into Welsh MSS. and translator; Griffith Jones of
Llanddowror (1683-1761), the father of Welsh popular education; Iago ab
Dewi (1644?-1722) and Theophilus Evans (1694-1769), the famous author of
_Drych y Prif Oesoedd_ (1716 and 1740). This book, like _Llyfr y Tri
Aderyn_ and _Y Bardd Cwsc_, has an established position for all time in
the annals of Welsh literature.

We come now to the greatest of all Welsh prose writers, Ellis Wyn o
Lasynys (1671-1734). His first work was a translation of Jeremy Tayl