The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-05 00:00:00

THE FRPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 5, 1849.

CAMBRIAN

tY SOCIETY.

A cOnverteeiOne, designed to further the interests
of this institution, was hsld yesterday evening, at the
Classes Hotel, Aldersgate, almost dandy opposite the
rooms of the society. Tee friends of the Principality, of both
sixes, assembled in considerable numbers. A ter partaking
of tea and coffee, they adjourned toe spacious room, where,
at hateptst sous, the chair was taken by G. C. LZWUN
Esq., M.P., and Under-Secretary of State, who was sup-
petted by Mr. J. 8. Knowles (the dramatist), the Rev. W.
lona, and other Restless..
The CHAIRMAN observed that the isstituties led
originat-d in • desire to provide a plus of intellesthal
meeting for persons coming from Wales, who might diet.
wise be exposed to the temptatioas of them i anvil
although its commencemeat had been he
trusted it would c.imbine the energies of a great sushi. a
parsons for a common and most becieficial end. The elgeth
was to afford instruction by means of the reading ul
cations, and the holding of weekly meetings for diastase es
literary and other interesting topics ; and it was hoped that
a foundation would that be laid for establishing a useful
trusty, open to all the members. Such an institution re-
quired no !ketone to commend it to cordial support. was
obvious,that to young men coming from the Principality it
must prove exceedingly advantageous. (Hear, hear.)
With regard to the cultivation of the Welsh language,
without intending to disparage that ancient tongue, he must
my, that although it comprised many poems of undoubted
antiquity, it was not at the present time what could be pro-
perly termed a literary language It was not the lan-
guage of the current literature of the day—of
the laws, or of government. No foreigner acquired it with
• view of studying Welsh literature, or of conversine in
Welsh. In sal log this be was far from wiseieg to wound
the seasibilities of any Welsh gentleman whoa* patriotism
was bound up with the language of his native country. The
Welsh hernia was, in truth, in the same position u many
other languages In the British Isles and on the continent of
Europe. They all knew that the Gaelic was spoken in the
highlands and islands of Scotland and in some parts cf Ire-
land. In Belgium the upper classes for the most part spoke
French, while the Flemish tongue was the language of the
people in one part of Belgium, and the Walloon in another
pert. In Malta the language of the government and of
upper classes of society was Italian, whereas the
lower classes spoke an Arabia dialect a relic
of the fiaracenie occupation of that island. lits
object in making these allusions was to show that the
env of the Welsh people was by no means a solitary one.
Wherever such a state of this's existed, however, it stud-
-1 tined a hurler between different classes of society, and those
who spelt, what he would term the non-literary language
exclusively were necessarily impeded in their career in life.
However great might be their industry or their abilities, they
were, to a certain extent, kept in that class of society in
which they were born. (Hear, hear.) While he could set
advocate the extinction of the Welsh language, he must say,
with great deference to the ariembiy, that he sundered it a
misfortune to any person to have been educated exclusivsly
in Welsh, and to possess no knowledge of the language of
the t literature, of the laws, and of governments
1 he diffusion of the English language would conduce to the
welfare of those who acquired it, would tend to unite the
different classes of society, and to throw down the barriers
which separated the rich and the poor, and would
give to all, whatever might be their station in life, a fair
chance of realising their own best littered'. He hoped
that whenever natives of Wales who resided in Lon-
don visited the Principality, they would take occasion to
urge upon those of their countrymen with whom they
name in contact, the advantage et cultivating, as far as prac-
ticable, the English language, and of assisting in the re-
moval of the bar:ier to success created by an exclusive so-
tetaintince with the Welsh. (Cheers )
The SECRETARY then read a report setting forth the
advantages presented by the institution in terms substan-
tially the same as those employed by the Chairman.
The Rev. Mr. JONES, incumbent of All Saints, Rotes.-
bites, moved the adoption of the report in the usual form,
and remarked that although the lower classes in Wales were
undoubtedly deficient in general literature, they were nearly
all excellent divines, and were well acquainted with the
Bible
Mr. J. S. KNOWLES hoped that Welshmen would sot
forget the advice of the Chairman, not to love their lan-
guage too well. (Hear, hear.) Kiwis( travelled in Wales,
he had found the people ieconveniently prejudiced in favour
of their own language. (Laughter.) He admitted that the
prejudice was • patriotic ono, but he weld desire in future
the English language might be always tenet in conjunction
with the Welsh. (Hear, hear.) He rejoiced to see the
establishment of that institution. Next in importance to
the love of the Creator was the duty of cultivating the
faculties winch his boundless munificence had bestowed.
(Cheers.)
The resolution was then put, and unanimously adopted.
Mr. FEROVSON moved the following: " That this
meeting approves of the efforts made by the committee of
management to extend the usefulness of the society, and
fully concurs in recommending that application be made to
Welshmen generally, soliciting their co-operation in carry-
ing out so desirable an object.'
of r. EDWARDS, in seconding the resolution, remarked
that it was almost impossible to cure the evil pointed out b
the chairman by estinthishing the Welsh language, which
would probably last for hundreds of years, and that the most
effectual mode of promoting the eventual diffusion of the Eng-
lish tongue, which be admitted to be an object of great impor-
tance, was to afford instruction in Walsh on a more liberal
and extended scale, by which means the tone of the Welsh
mind would be more assimilated to that of the English
mind, and • general desire for improvement would be

The resolution was then adopted.
Other speeches, partly in Welsh, followed, and the ocra.
don proved on the whole a most interestiag one.