Welsh Journals

assess. 'It is easier to point out the Leveller notions that were realised' (p. 148). Yet, in matters of toleration he was ahead of his time. 'Always when you peel one layer off Cromwell you find another, more tender, underneath' (p. 217). The final paragraph on Cromwell is very well done. Again, the concluding chapter, which surveys the fruits of the Great Rebellion, is tautly argued and deserves the closest study. He believes that perhaps the principal lesson of the constitutional struggles of the Stuart period was that 'slowly it came to be seen by the severest critics that the powers of the executive were not things evil through and through, but potential benefits to the political community-if lodged securely in the right hands. Effective transfer was better than destruction' (p. 269). He acknowledges the mean and sordid aspects of the age but never loses sight of the real nobility of the struggle. Men debated and fought for large issues, 'the search and expectation of greatest and exactest things', in Milton's words, which he quotes at the end. Throughout, the author writes sturdily and eschews cliche. The volume is studded with searching and memorable observations upon men and events which are clearly the fruit of deep learning, insight and reflection. Professor Roots has undoubtedly established himself as a leading authority upon the period of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, and it may be added that this view is amply reinforced by eleven pages of exceptionally penetrating bibliographical notes. J. GWYNN WILLIAMS Bangor MADOCKS AND THE WONDER OF WALES. The life of W. A. Madocks,M.p., 1773-1828, Improver, 'Chaotic', Architectural and Regional Planner, Reformer, Romantic; with some account of his agent, John Williams. By Elisabeth Beazley. Faber and Faber, 1967. Pp. 276. 36s. This book reads like a good uncomplicated novel. It takes as its main theme the exciting story of the construction of the great embankment across Traeth Mawr-the 'wonder of Wales', the cob at Portmadoc-and weaves cleverly around it a fine character-study of William Alexander Madocks, that 'improver'-extraordinary whose vision and drive made the age-old dream of enclosing the Traeth a reality. It is rather strange that, with so promising a tale and so colourful and dynamic a central character, a full-length study of this kind had not been attempted before. There is no lack of source-material for the crucial years, and some of it-in particular Madocks's letters to his agent John Williams-is highly entertaining and rewarding. Miss Beazley has wisely quoted extensively from these letters. Clearly Madocks fascinated her from the start. He impressed her, as he