î;
Apprectatìon of the Work, xxix
fascination is due to hisstriking similes. I know of no other writer so truly felicitous in this.
Julius Caesar, in his first invasion of Britain, found here an unexpectedly powerful and deter- mined foe, and he and his men beat a hasty retreat " fel y gwelwch chwi Haid o ÍVenyn n taro i'r Cwch o flaen Tymhejir'* (p. 31,
The ease with which Constantius obtained the supremacy in Britain, due to the truculent rivalry of ambitious chieftains, is vividly pour- trayed "megis ^?in fyddo dau Waed-gî yn tynnu Llygaid eu gilydd am Olwyth o Gig^ heb fod well oddiwrtho ; y mae Corgi taeog yn dyfod heibio, yn myned ymaith à'r Golwyth, ac yn gadael y ddau Golwyn wneuthur Hedd'9fch gan eu Pwyll " (p. 63).
Pages of description would not convey such a picture of the tottering Roman Empire as we have in that beautiful simile on p. 89 where he says that the Romans could no longer help the Britons "am fod yr Ymherodraeth yn llawn Terfyfc a Gwrthryfel ym mhob man ; megis hen Balas mawr wedi adfeiUo^ bob cymmal yn Siglo^ a'r Trawjìiau oll yn yfbongcio 2lX ucha' awel o wynt Rhyferthwy^
Nor should we forget his art of Scriptural quotation. Whenever he seeks to prove a contention or point a moral, he clenches his argument with a ^erse, the use of which, how- e^er, very often begs the whole question. The reader will find so many instances of this throughout the text that it would be superfluous to adduce any here.
Unfortunately, howe^er, for those who claim to find in " Drych y Prif Oesoedd " a trust- worthy account of former days, the author's
