re the Invention of the Compass, of the art of
Printing, and of Gun-powder, the Welsh had very few advantages to
boast of above the Native Americans: thence we may conclude that
Madog and his Colony landed amicably, and that they were received
by the Natives with Cordiality.
That so extraordinary an Event should not excite either the English
or the Welsh to attempt a Discovery of their hardy Countrymen, and
their New Settlement, can only be accounted for by the Ignorance
and poverty of the times. It is most natural to suppose that the
English knew nothing of this Expedition from a Province which
acknowleged not their Authority, and with which they were almost
continually at War, and whose Inhabitants they would have been
exceedingly glad to hear were all gone away: and the poverty of
the Welsh, robbed of their Inheritance by the usurping Saxons,
Normans, and Flemings, would effectually prevent their making any
attempts.
In short, Mr. Jones's recital of his Travels confirms the Truth of
Prince Madog's Emigration and settlement in some part of America;
for it expressly says, that in the Year 1660, there were some whole
Tribes in North America, who spoke Welsh, and therefore most have
descended from the Ancent Britons.[y]
[Footnote y: I am obliged to a learned Welsh Divine for several
of the above Observations.]
A Letter written by Charles Lloyd, Esq. of Dol y fran, in
Montgomeryshire, already mentioned, published in 1777, by the Revd.
N. Owen, junr. A. M. in a pamphlet entitled, "British Remains,"
strongly confirms Mr. Jones's Narrative, and of consequence, the
Truth of Madog's Voyages. Mr. Lloyd says, in a Letter, that he
had been inform- by a Friend, that one Stedman of Breconshire,
about 30 Years before the Date of his Letter, was on the Coast of
America in a Dutch Bottom, and being about to land for refreshment,
the Natives kept them off by Force, till at last this Stedman told
his fellow Dutch Seamen that he understood what the Natives spoke.
The Dutch bade him speak to them, and they were thereupon very
courteous; they supplied them with the best things they had, and
told Stedman, that they came from a Country called Gwynedd, (North
Wales) in Prydam, (prydain) fawr, Great Britain.[z] It is supposed
by Mr. Lloyd that this place was situated between Virginia and
Florida. It is farther said by this Gentleman, that one Oliver
Humphreys, a Merchant, who died, not long before the Date of this
Letter, told him,
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