But there are two ever-present antidotes. One is the Welsh sense of
humour, the nearest relative or the best friend of toleration. The
other is the hymn--creed has been turned into song, and that is at
least half way to turning it into life; the heresy hunter is disarmed
by the poetry of the hymn, and its music has charms to soothe the
sectarian breast. The co-operation of all in the work of local
government has also enlarged sympathy.
Unity has arisen in spite of the bilingual difficulty. Rather more
than one half of the people now habitually speak English. For three
centuries an Act--a dead letter from the beginning--ordered all
Government officials to speak English; for many generations, until
recently, Welsh children were not taught Welsh in schools, and they
could not be taught English. The bilingual difficulty is now at an
end. The two languages are taught in the schools, and as living
languages. It is clear, on the one hand, that every one should learn
English, the language of the Empire and of commerce. It is also
clear that, on account of its own beauty as well as that of the great
literature it enshrines, Welsh should be taught in every school
throughout Wales.
Next to its unity, a characteristic of modern Wales is its democratic
feeling.
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