Henry count de Kolinski Author:Murray Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: with their history, laws, and religion, which last he fancied must have been originally founded on the precepts of the Gospel,—but at present so obscured by the ... more »different opinions of the several writers who had compiled what they called their sacred books, that a second illumination seemed necessary to clear away the clouds of ignorance and superstition : this he had some hopes of being able to compass, their laws were simple and plain, but yet suffu. ficntly strong to maintain equity and order through. out the kingdom. Of their history, a sketch, as translated by Kolinski, may not be unacceptable to the reader. Towards the close of the twelfth century, Ma. doc, second son of Owen Gwynnedh, Prince of Wales, taking umbrage at the marriage of his eldest brother with the black-eyed Winna, only daughter to Tudor, quitted Wales, attended by a number of his followers in quest of new settlements; when discovering a fertile country to the west, they fixed themselves in it; the valley being almost depopulated in consequence of a war which raged for many years between the Mountain Gods and the Giant Missouri. This sanguinary war was at length terminated by a furious battle, -which took place on the top of Apallia; when the giant happening to turn his ancle, the Gods immediately hurled him down to the plains, commanding him to take the form of a river; swearing that he should there foam and roar to the flinty rocks until time should be no more. In this valley Madoc gave laws to his vassals, which some timo before his death were committed to writing. Here, quite taken up with dispensing happiness to hit people, the image of Winna vanished from his recollection, and Peace appeared to him in a dream, young as the morning, shining forth in all her native beauty. Madoc becoming enamon...« less