given evidence to the 1847 commission as themes in his poetry. Derfel also used the medium of essays to expound his views on a Welsh nation. In his 1864 work, Traethodau ac Areithiau (Essays and Discourses) he proffered the notion of a Welsh-language education system comprising schools and universities and the foundation of a national library, museum, school of arts and crafts, observatory, and a daily Welsh-language newspaper. Later life His political views were heavily influenced by the utopian socialist, Robert Owen, and he wrote the first articles on Socialism in the Welsh language, campaigning for causes such as a university for Wales. In 1865 he gave up religion and bought a bookshop in Manchester, which soon collapsed. In his later years he wrote more in the English language, particularly on the subject of socialism and he wrote annotated English poems on Llywelyn the Last, amongst others. Derfel published a total of about 800 poems in Welsh, 500 in English, and more than 50 other publications. He died on 16 December 1905 in Manchester and was cremated there the same month. Works Brad y Llyfrau Gleision (The Treason of the Blue Books) (1854) Traethodau ac Areithiau (Essays and Discourses) (1864) References External links Robert Jones Derfel MSS. National Library of Wales 1824 births 1905 deaths Welsh-language poets 19th-century Welsh poets Welsh male poets