in lieu of the tyrannical rule of strange lords, led to and resulted in a better understanding between the two nations.
Even the rigorous proscription of the Welsh language by Henry the Eighth did not last long, for within twenty years a great change came over Parliament and the government of the country, which is evidenced by the statute passed in 1562 during the reign of Elizabeth for the translation of the Bible and the Divine services into the Welsh language. In this recognition of the Cymric tongue there was contained the seed of a great movement which had far-reaching results.
The historical consequences of the introduction of English land laws, entailing the abolition of the system of Welsh land tenures, were important Welsh tribal customs and tenure were ousted by a long and difficult process. Not even the vigour of Tudor administration could by statutory process alter the ancient national conditions. The result has generally been that the smaller holdings of the Welsh yeomen have gradually disappeared and following the legislation of Henry the Eighth the modern landlord system, with its great estates, has been developed.
After the time of Henry the Eighth Wales made rapid progress. There was a strong national revival. Professor Tout, in "Wales under the Tudors," says, that "Schools were set up; a Welsh college founded at Oxford; Welsh grammars, dictionaries, histories were written; many Welshmen rose to eminence in the service of their Church, both in Wales and England. Agriculture prospered now peace was secure and markets accessible. As Churchyard, the Welsh poet, sang in describing the Worthiness of Wales:—
"Markets are good, and victuals nothing dear,
Each place is filled with plenty all the year;
The ground manured, the grain doth so increase
That thousands live in wealth and blessed peace."
"The coal mines of Flintshire and Glamorganshire were developed. The Society for the Mines Royal, set up in 1567,
