Cylchgronau Cymru

BIOGRAPHICA ET BIBLIOGRAPHICA ROBERT SAUNDERSON YR ARGRAFFYDD Ceir dwy ysgrif ar Robert Saunderson 'o'r Bala' mewn cylchgrawn o'r enw Cronicl yr Ysgol Sabbothol, rhifynnau Tachwedd 1883 ac Ionawr 1884. Bwriedid cael cyfres o ysgrifau ar 'Argraffwyr a Chyhoeddwyr Cymreig a'r Ysgol Sabbothol' ond daeth y cylchgrawn i ben, mae'n debyg, gyda rhifyn Chwefror 1884, cyn i'r drydedd ysgrif ar Robert Saunderson ymddangos. Ysgrifennwyd y ddwy ysgrif dan sylw gan Mr. Evan Davies, Bala, a cheir yn y gyntaf ohonynt ateg arall i'r dybiaeth mai eiddo Robert Saunderson yw'r dyddiadurl y cyfeiriwyd ato mewn nodyn yn Rhifyn Haf 1960 o Gylchgrawn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, oherwydd ceir ynddi ddyfyniadau o'r dyddiadur hwnnw wedi eu trosi i'r Gymraeg, weithiau'n fanwl ac weithiau heb fod mor fanwl, ond credwn mai'r un yw'r sylwedd. Ymddengys oddi wrth yr ail ysgrif fod Robert Saunderson yn cadw dyddiadur tebyg yn ystod y blynyddoedd 1804-6, ar 61 iddo symud i'r Bala, a bod y rhan fwyaf o hwn wedi ei ysgrifennu yn Gymraeg. Gresyn os aeth y dyddiadur neu'r dyddiaduron hyn ar goll oherwydd y mae'r dyfyniadau a rydd Evan Davies ohonynt yn ddiddorol iawn. Ceir hanes, er enghraifft, am Robert Saunderson yn cychwyn Ysgol Sul mewn ysgubor yn Fachddeiliog bore Sul, Tachwedd 18, 1805 [?18o4], ac enwir rhai o'r pregethwyr y bu'n gwrando arnynt ar y Sul yn y Bala. RHIANNON F. ROBERTS. 1 N.L.W. MS. 16370A. JOHN VYRNWY MORGAN John Vyrnwy Morgan was born in Cwmafan, Glamorgan, on 21 March 1861, and died in Tenby, 9 August 1925. He is remembered today as the editor and part-author of two useful collections of biographies, Welsh Religious Leaders in the Victorian Era and Welsh Political and Educational Leaders in the Victorian Era, but the main body of his prolific work has been largely forgotten and seems to have been ignored during his lifetime-at least, by those leaders of Welsh thought whom Morgan sought to influence. After initial training at the Aberafan Academy, and the Memorial College, Brecon, Morgan began his ministerial career in Llanwddyn, where he assumed the middle name of Vyrnwy. Aptly enough, he later followed the water to Liverpool, where he enjoyed 'a brilliantly successful pastorate', and then returned to Wales to become minister of an English Congregational Church in Pontypridd. Here he caused a considerable furore by giving evidence in a libel action in favour of a Baptist minister who had been accused by the Rev. W. Isaac Morris of acting as a brewer's agent. Morgan's part in this action made it difficult for him to remain with the Congregationalists and for a time he served as a Baptist minister in Cwmbwrla, Swansea, and in London, where his social activities and ability as a preacher again brought him much praise. In 1897, the Breconshire Baptist Association gave its blessing to Morgan's proposed visit to the United States of America, recommending him 'most warmly as a brother of very worthy character' and 'an excellent preacher in both languages'. In America Morgan held pastorates in Omah, Nebraska, Baltimore and Maryland, and he also obtained a D.D. from an American University. He returned to Wales in 1903 and 'devoted himself to authorship'. Later, after a fitful attempt to renew his association with Congregationalism, he ended his meanderings in the Church of England. Perhaps the kindest way to describe Vyrnwy Morgan's views on Welsh matters would be to say that they were reactionary. It is regrettable that a man of his ability and industry found himself so much out of touch with the aspirations of Wales in his time. In such works as A Study in Nationality, The Philosophy of Welsh History, Wales and the War, and The Welsh Mind in Evolution, Morgan devoted his energies to an examination of Welsh history, culture and psychology. He could write incisively at times, but he was given to facile generalisation, one-sided selection of facts, and,