Welsh Journals

The Older Universities of England: Oxford and Cambridge. By Albert Mansbridge, Hon. M.A. Oxon., Hon. LL.D., Manchester. With Drawings by John Mansbridge. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 7/6. Mr. Mansbridge was a member of the Royal Com- mission which enquired into the financial resources, administration, and government of the Colleges and Halls of Oxford and Cambridge from 1919 to 1922. He also delivered a course of eight Lowell Lectures on these Universities at Boston, Massachusetts, in March, 1922. The fruit of these labours and experiences has been gar- nered into the volume before us. There have been books innumerable written about Oxford and about Cambridge, but not one quite like this by Mr. Mansbridge. To begin with, he himself in his younger years had no share in the sweet food of academic institution." True he is now an adopted son, and can hardly behold a fault in his foster-mother. He writes with a zeal born of a deep affection. But in essentials he is inevitably a stranger within the gates, however friendly his disposition and however wide his acquired knowledge. Then, secondly, he approaches his subject from the angle of the British trade unionist, who is only beginning to enter into the inheritance provided by these ancient seats of learning. Here our author is able to make a unique contribution. Like General Booth and General Baden Powell, Mr. Mansbridge may claim to be an originator of a method of social advance of great and growing significance. It is when he writes of the early days of the Workers' Educational Association, of the generous sympathy of some of the great figures of Oxford and Cambridge with that movement, of the fine character of the pioneering tutors, and, generally, of the effort to adapt the Universities to the needs of a demo- cratic age, that Mr. Mansbridge is at once most illumi- nating and most inspiring. In telling the story of the earlier centuries, he is repeating, in his own way no doubt, what he has read. In the story of the last quarter of a century we are in direct contact with one who has himself done things which have largely helped to shape the story, and no one can read these later chapters without catching something of the author's hope for the future of higher education. His testimony should carry great influence in Labour circles when he writes: It is only enemies of scholarship and learning who accuse the Universities of being the institutions of a class, and who, as a result, strive to discourage adult workers or the children of working people from entering them." The Universities mirror the characteristics of English life, good, bad, and indifferent, just as our Welsh colleges reflect the strength and weakness of our national life. When all has been said of excessive devotion to athletics and extravagant habits of living at Oxford and Cambridge, it remains true that in these two Universities there is always going on research demanding the utmost mental and moral concentration, pursued for its own sake, but ultimately emerging in such powerful practical shape as to affect the currents of everybody's life in these islands. The old Cambridge toast, God bless the Higher Mathematics and may they never be of any use to anyone," may be the best prayer for a man of science, but fortunately Heaven has its own way of answering it. There is a third characteristic of this book which should be mentioned. Oxford and Cambridge are here described within the covers of one volume. This would normally be a rash enterprise, but Mr. Mansbridge brings to the task a vast store of tact accumulated in the end- less negotiations and persuasions in which he has been engaged for many years, and the highest praise we can give him is to say that he moves from the Cam to the Isis and back again with such skill that we cannot decide on the banks of which he would prefer to have been nurtured. It must be a delight to the father to have his book illustrated by his gifted son. We like best the richly designed title page and A Part of Cambridge." The other drawings seem to have suffered somewhat in trans- lation from one medium to another. But the general production of the book is admirable, and we congratulate the author on this fine achievement in the cause of democratic learning. T- Cyfres y Werin. No. io, Traethawd ar Drefn Wyddonol, D. Miall Edwards, pp. xxvi, 76. No. 11, Faust, T. Gwynn Jones, pp. xvii, 220. Cardiff: The Educational Publishing Co., Ltd., Penarth Road. These two volumes form a most valuable addition to this unique series of translations into Welsh. The first one by Professor Miall Edwards is a trans- lation of Descartes' "Disoours de la Methode," an epoch-making book in the story of philosophic thought. We congratulate the translator on his courage in venturing upon such a difficult task; for the book is a most difficult one to translate into any language. The writer delighted in long involved sentences, which stretch themselves sometimes into bewildering lengths; and although the meaning is always clear they present serious difficulties to the translator. Professor Miall Edwards wisely chose not to attempt a too literal translation, contenting himself with putting in terse clear Welsh the mean- ing of the original. Here we have René Descartes speaking Welsh for the first time, and excellent Welsh, too, in spite of slight stiffness here and there, which is only prominent because of the ex- cellence of the context. The second volume is a translation of Goethe's Faust by Professor T. Gwynn Jones. Every reader of Welsn. knows already of the brilliant work of Professor Gwynn Jones as a translator, but it is doubtful if any of his most ardent admirers could have believed that such a translation as this was possible. It is an article of belief among most of us that the best literature is intranslatable. This work challenges that belief. We read the work through first of all without reference to the original noting literary excellencies on every page, and wondering at the Professor's masterful handling of the Welsh language as an instrument for translating the masterpiece of, perhaps, the greatest literary genius of modern times. Later, in a critical mood the translation was read side by side with the ori- ginal German, and this only served to enhance one's admiration. The work is without doubt wonderful from beginning to end, the translator, not content with rendering the meaning of the original in polished Welsh verse, has actually kept to Goethe's metres, imitating his peculiarities without doing injustice to the original or straining his Welsh medium. In a characteristic note at the beginning the translator modestly attributes any success he may have attained to "the flexibility of the Welsh language and the music of its words." But the finest harp in the world yields its best music only to the great master. By pursuing these volumes thoughtfully the monoglot Welshman can henceforth get a good idea of Descartes' "Methode" and Goethe's "Faust;" and what better cheer could a class of young people find to feast upon during the long evenings of the winter months ? R. English for Home Students. F. J. Adkins. The Labour Publishing Co., Ltd., 38, Great Ormond Street, London, W.C.I. 2/6. This is an excellent little volume on the English language, and one which every student should have at his elbow. The first four chapters deal with reading and reproduction, arrangement of matter, speaking, and writing, and the remaining three chapters with etymology, grammar, and punctuation. There are also two short and valuable appendices. Every page is brimful of instruction and guidance for all who desire to write and speak English accurately and effectively. The chapter on grammar is especially commendable, and will prove a welcome addition to the many books on the subject. Interestingly written throughout, Mr. Adkins' work is likely to attract innumerable readers. D.W.