his slandered countrymen; and in a masterly lecture, which he delivered in Crosby Hall in the spring of 1848, he vindicated the character of the Welsh people, and succeeded in a great measure in rolling back the rising tide of English prejudice and calumny. Further, in 1866, Mr. Richard contributed to "The Morning Star" an exhaustive series of letters on the "Social and Political Condition of Wales," the value of which Mr. Gladstone thus handsomely acknowledged in the speech which he delivered as president of the national Eisteddfod, held at Mold in 1873: "I will frankly own to you that I have shared at a former time, and before I had acquainted myself with the subject, the prejudices which obtain to some extent with respect to Wales; and I am come here to tell you how and why I changed my opinion. It is only fair that I should say that a countryman of yours—a most excellent Welshman, Mr. Richard, M.P.—did a great deal to open my eyes to the true state of the facts by a series of letters which, some years ago, he addressed to a morning journal, and subsequently published in a small volume, which I recommend to all persons who may be interested in the subject."
Not without reason has Mr. Richard been dubbed "member for Wales." He incarnates all the best characteristics of his race. If he is trusted as a good Welshman, he is none the less so as a stanch Nonconformist. Welshmen are born Dissenters, and it is natural that they should follow Mr. Richard in such matters; but it is a higher compliment to him to say that the confidence of his countrymen is heartily indorsed by the whole body of English and Scottish Nonconformists. There is not a better representative Nonconformist in Parliament than the member for
