"He burst open the heavy door, and, being provided with the means of unriveting these strong fetters, he accomplished the task, conducted his revered parent into the free and open air, and breathed with him the breath of freedom and of liberty."

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'During the reign of a Saxon king, named Offa, who ruled over that portion of the Saxon heptarchy called Mercia, which bordered upon Wales, the Welsh were, as usual, continually making depredations on the Saxon border, and frequently carrying away cattle. It was vain for the Saxons to pursue, as the Welshmen soon reached the fastnesses of their mountains, which, by reason of bogs and precipices, were not to be attained with safety by strangers, who were unacquainted with the ground.

"Offa, king of Mercia, determined upon making an artificial boundary between him and these troublesome Welshmen; so he set some hundreds of men to work in digging a deep ditch. They threw the earth out of it up on their own side, to form a wall or mound, and carried it on from the estuary of the Dee, near Holywell, in Flintshire, North Wales, to the Severn sea, near Chepstow, in Monmouthshire, which was then a part of South Wales, but was made an English county in Henry VIII.'s time. This rampart was called Offa's Dyke; and it can yet be traced very distinctly in many parts of its course Offa took to himself the ground between the Severn and the Wye, which had hitherto been considered as neutral ground, and was the place of barter between the two nations. He removed the seat of the princes of Powis from Pengwern, now Shrewsbury, to Mathraval, inclosing their former residence within the boundary of his own dominions. The punishment of Welshmen for passing over this ditch was to have the right hand cut off, but their bold spirit was not to be curbed by so inefficient a defence; they often broke down the barrier, and were as successful as before in their encroachments.

"Offa began to reign in the year 763; Rodri or Roderick the Great, in 843."

After the above, our little friend Lewis is taken to see an exhibition of wild beasts. A comparison is drawn between reason and instinct. Two curious and well-authenticated anecdotes, of apparent reflection in goats, follow; and, in the next chapter, the extermination of wolves from Wales. Thus:

"When little Lewis Campbell returned from seeing the wild beasts, he could talk of nothing but lions and tigers, panthers and leopards, and all the variety of curious creatures belonging to foreign countries, which he had seen in the show; and he

asked his papa if there were no wild beasts in England or Wales, or in Scotland.

"Papa remarked, that Great Britain was now so generally cultivated, that no beast of prey was known to exist in the kingdom in a wild state; but that Wales was formerly infested by wolves, which, when hungry, became so bold as to attack and devour men, women, and children. 'Did you not see a wolf to

day among the other quadrupeds?'

"O yes, papa; it was of a dark-brown colour, and I thought it very like a dog, but larger. Do tell me if there are any of these fierce wolves running about Wales now?'

"There have not been any for about nine hundred years. It happened, in the tenth century, that the princes of Wales refused to pay tribute to Edgar, the king of England; so he made war with Wales; and, having the advantage of the Welsh in number and power, they agreed to conclude a peace with him on the conditions he proposed, which were these: That the Welsh should, every year, bring him three hundred skins of wolves, that had been killed in the course of that year in Wales. In order to fulfil this engagement, all the wild and untraversed forests and deserts were hunted and ransacked, till in the course of a few years not a wolf could be found throughout the country.'

"Yet, I think,' said Anne, 'some stragglers must have escaped the hunters, if the story of Llewelyn and his dog be true.'

Here we are promised the story of Beddgelert, or Gelert's Grave; but, as some incidents in the order of time intervene, such as "King Henry the Second's disasters in Wales," &c. it is deferred for some chapters.

"There was once a king of England (Henry II.) who made many attempts upon the freedom of poor Cambria; but he found that the enemy he had to deal with was not to be subdued very easily. First, he assembled the whole power of England, making an army of 30,000 men, and had the advantage, besides, of the assistance of Madoc, prince of Powis, and Cadwalader, the brother of Owen Gwyneth, the reigning prince of North Wales. "Cadwalader had been banished by his sovereign, and was persuaded to join Henry against his own native country. To the invaders this was an important assistance, as Wales was very difficult of access without a native guide. You would suppose

that, with all these resources on the enemy's side, Wales could scarcely avoid becoming its prey; but it made a gallant resistance; the English army was reduced to the greatest distress, and Henry narrowly escaped with his life. He was glad to make peace with Owen. Cadwalader was kindly forgiven by his brother, and had all his lands restored, upon a solemn promise of future fidelity and obedience.

"For a few years England and Wales continued at peace; but this tranquillity was interrupted by David, the son of Owen Gwynedd, invading Flintshire, which then belonged to the king of England, and carrying off the cattle to his father's dominions.

"King Henry was very angry at this, and set off for Wales in a great fury; but, as his army was too small to quell the turbulent spirit which David had excited, he relinquished his object, and went back to England, determined to muster such a force as should be irresistible, and destroy all that had life in the land. For this purpose he sent off to his possessions in France, Normandy, Anjou, Gascony, Guienne, to select the choicest soldiers. These he joined to the best of his English subjects, and with this formidable army set forward, in the year 1164, in full confidence of success, to crush the power of the Welsh princes, and attach their territory to his own dominions.

"I am afraid,' said Lewis, they will be too much for the poor Welshmen now.'

"You shall hear. You remember that Cadwalader has been on his brother's side ever since the failure of Henry's first invasion. Owen was also supported by Rhys ab Grufydd, prince of South Wales, Owen Cyveilioc, and the other princes of Powis; Madoc ab Ednerth, and the people beyond the Wye and Severn. So that the Welsh mustered a very formidable army, though perhaps not equal in discipline to that of Henry.

"The English army encamped on the Berwyn mountains, in a very commanding post, not far from the town of Corwen. The Welsh were stationed on the heights above the town. Thus the two armies were in sight of each other. The English endeavoured to tempt the Welsh to a general engagement, but the latter contented themselves with harassing the outposts of the enemy, and stopping their supplies on the way to the English camp. They were reduced to the most wretched extremities. Heavy rains falling, the ground being extremely slippery and intersected with bogs, the English found it impossible to hold their ground, or to attack the Welsh with advantage. Henry himself had a very narrow escape of his life; for a Welshman aimed an arrow at him so dexterously, that had not Hubert de St. Clere, constable of Colchester, sacrificed his own life by receiving the arrow, the King of England must have been killed. Henry therefore returned home in the deepest mortification, and satiated his revenge upon some poor young lads, who had been committed to his care long before, as hostages for the fidelity of the princes of North and South Wales. These were two sons of Owen and two sons of Rhys; and, although these little boys were quite innocent of all his misfortunes, he most barbarously ordered their eyes to be put out. I never heard whether they survived the dreadful operation; but, if they did, their future lives must have been rendered miserable and useless.

"King Henry made another attempt to invade Wales by sea, but this was unsuccessful.

"Rhuddlan and Prestalyn castles still remained in the hands of the English, but they were retaken by the Welsh, after a long siege, some years after Henry's invasion; and North Wales thus became freed from the English power.'

A history intended for the use of young persons cannot prefer claims as to novelty of matter, nor does the author profess to have devoted great research in the compilation of her work; but she has assuredly succeeded in rendering it interesting, and well adapted to the capacities of children, while at the same time adults may spend an hour in its perusal, and rise with more satisfaction, unless indeed they be of "the true antiquarian breed," than if they had waded through the dusty shelves of family archives, or a laboured transcription from the British Museum.

REVIEW OF FINE ARTS.

THE SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOURS.

A HISTORICAL picture by Mr. CHISHOLM, as an effort of art, must rank very high. The subject is interesting: "Queen Mary surrendering to the confederated Lords;" and in a space of about 30 inches are introduced more than forty figures, besides horses. Mary, a female attendant, and page, are confronted with the associated nobles; and the portraits of Morton and others are easily recognised, whilst those not seen are indicated by their banners. The valiant Kirkcaldy of Grange is behind his mistress, and presents a noble figure, animated by indignant wrath, as he draws his sword to repress the Highlanders, who are scoffing at the unhappy Queen. The artist deserves high commendation for the propriety of costume and armour. We particularly allude to the Highland chiefs and Cearnach, who appear in all the picturesque grandeur of their garb. We perceive the primitive Cuaran, from which they got the name of Redshanks, and we see the neat old Brogan. The labour necessary to produce so true a representation of the various setts of tartan has been great although merely mechanical labour, the operation is not to be despised by any artist; it is indispensable in preserving the verisimilitude in detail. The Breacan an feile is very judiciously introduced, instead of the less characteristic shoulder or scarf plaid. In the bonnet the eagle's feather and badge are fastened in the ancient manner, with the Dealg. The trenchant Tuagh cath, or Lochaber axes, are bristling along the phalanx, and the clan Bratachan are waving over the respective bands.

A prominent figure carries his targaid over his shoulder, ornamented with the crown and thistle. The artist is not so correct in his heraldic knowledge as he ought to be.

Another picture, of the massacre of Glenco, by Mr. STONE, is a work of merit. The old chief is designed with much good taste; but the introduction of the most horrible incident of this diabolical affair is in bad feeling. The inattention to correctness of costume observable here, is a contrast to the preceding.

LITERARY NOTICES.

LATELY published, in one vol. 8vo. "A Letter of Reply to Arthur James Johnes, Esq." being a Comment on certain portions of his Essay on the causes which have produced dissent from the Established Church in the Principality of Wales.

"A Genealogical History of the Clan Coinnich or Mackenzies," has been announced. It is to be published by subscription, under the superintendence of Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart.; and information is solicited from those possessing documents illustrative of the subject.

"Clan Costumes." Coloured Portraits of Chiefs of Clans, Ladies, and Highland Officers, in proper costume, with accompanying letter-press, is in course of preparation, by a Committee of Gentlemen in Edinburgh.

"Commun na Gaelic." A small association of gentlemen from the Highlands, under this designation, has removed to the British Coffee-house, Cockspur-street, where they meet every second Monday in the month, for the purpose of improving themselves in their national language and literature, and the preservation of ancient manners.

Mr. Angus Mac Intyre is preparing for publication a Gaëlic translation of "Reasons for the Hope that is in us," by R. AINSLEY, Esq. W.S.

"Gwladgarwr," contains Astronomy-Biography of Columbus-Geography-Natural History-Logic.

"Gwyliedydd." Church of England-Memoirs of Dafydd Ddu-History of the Silkworm-Principal Rivers in Carnarvon and Merionethshire-The Ash Tree-Introduction to Dr. John David Rees-Letter of Gronwy Owain.

"Seren Gomer." Letter from America-Address by the Rev. J. Davies, Glandwr.