The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-03 00:00:00

THE CAMBRIAN SOCIETY.

Yesterday evening, the above respectable and truly ex-
cellent society celebrated their thirty-ninth anniversary
by dining together at the Vine Tavern, Pitt-street.
Nearly 120 sat down to a most sumptuous dinner, which
did credit to the catering capabilities of the worthy host.
The Chair was ably filled by Mr. E. P. Jonas, the
worthy rresident of the society, supported on his right
by the Rev. W. Hughes, the key. D. Parry, of Llywel,
the Rev. R. Davies, Mr. C. S. Rowlands, Mr. Higgins,
Mr. W. Jones, and Mr. Henry Jones; and on his left
by Mr. W. Morris, Mr. E. G. Williams, Mr. 11.
Thomas, Mr. John Jones, Mr. W. Wynne, Mr. D.
Hughes, &c., &c. Mr. Thomas Owen filled thel vice-
chair.

The cloth having been drawn, and bimpers filled,
--

• .
The CHAIRMAN rose and sa,d, in addressing Welsh-
men it was hardly nrcessary for him to ask them to join
with enthusiasm in drinking the toast he was about to
iropose, 89 their feelings of nationalism were so well
known. He therefore begged to give the health of her
Majesty the Queen. (Three times three )
Song—" God save the Qneen."

The CHAIRMAN then gave the health of the "Prince
of Wales, and may he equal his ancestors, and do honour
to the country from which he has gained his title."—
(Loud cheers arid three times three.)
The VICE-PRESIDENT neat gave " Prince Albert and
the Royal Family."
The CHAIRMAN then gave the health of the " Lord
Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese."—( Lcud cheers )
The Rev. W. HUGHES was very warmly received on
rising to respond to the roast. The reverend gentleman
said—they generally found cn occasions I,ke that, that the
hearts of their people were not altogether estranged from
the Church and her Clergy. (Hear, bear.) It might be
said that the rraise of the Lord Bishop of Chester was in
all the churches : it was not very long since the greatest
statesman of the age alluded to his faithfulness and zeal
in the senate of the:, land. May every clergyman in the
diocese (said Mr. }login's) be hke his bishop, an ornament
to that Church, whose name is Protestant, and whose
surname is Catholic. (Cheers.) He had great pleasure
in meeting them oace more on the snniversary of their so-
ciety, and had every reason to think he might congratu-
late them on the success and prosperity of their society ;
their number he believal was greater than it was the pre-
vious year, and their funds he had no doubt had increased.
Nothing seemed to have disturbed the unity of the insti-
tution—ftiendship and love appeared to have prevailed.
He knew of no better mode for the safe diffusion of cha-
rity than the instrumentality of institutions like that ;
what one man could riot effect, the combination of many
would easily accomplish—cne little stream would not set
the wheels of a huge machine se going. but many concur-
rent streams, formed into one body, would turn the pon-
derous wheels, and its power and execution were wonder-
ful and great. The Cambrian Society had become a great
machine ; the President himself would not be able to keep
its wheels in operation—yea, all the officers' if left to
themselves, would shrink from the task ; but having the
assistance of all the members, the great machine was kept
in operation, and many were the hearts that were glad-
dened by its work and labour of love. (Hear, bear.)
As Welshmen they were allowed on that day to give utter-
ance to their national and patriotic feelings. Cambria
could number among her sons some of the most eminent
in every age. (Cheers.) Not to mention their patron
saint, they had their Caractacus, Taliesin, &c., &c.
Every glass of water a Londoner took ought to put him
in mind of Sir Hugh Middleton. Sir William Jones, the
eminent oriental scholar, was an immediate descendant of
one of her sons. He had been told, on good authority,
that the great hero of many battles—General Sale—whose

death the British nation then so greatly lamented, was
likewise a descendant • and not only that, but that they
could claim to be of kindred blood with his gallant lady,
who bad such a just claim to the sympathy of every British
heart, having had to exchange the laurel for the cypress
so-awfully sudden. The names of Picton and Nott were
,ell known. The author of Alexander—the Venerable
Archdeacon Williams—was still alive,—without saying a
word about her many other celebratrd and eminent di-
vines. He here alluded to the talented and well-known
preacher of the day ; famed, he said, as Liverpool was for
its ministers, he was quite sure that the term " pendebant
ab ore" could not be more applicable to any congregations
that those assembled at St. David's the previous day and
that morning. (Hear. hear.) He might safely say that
Wales, considering its size and advantages, had given
birth to as many worthies as any other country on the
face of the earth. (Loud cheers.) As to their language,
it had been lately said by the Lord Bishop of St. David's
that the Welsh was the most interesting, not only of the
dead, but also of the living languages. It an Englishman,
having lately learned the language, admired it, what must
a Welshman feel for it. It was a matter of surprise that
their language was still extant and living. The ancient
language of Palestine was dead; the language in which
Homer sang and Pinder soared, yea that flowed so majes-
tically from the mouth of Demosthenes, and sounded so
mellifluously from the tongue of Pericles, was now only to
be found in books ; the language of the Itmaans, once
masters of the world, was likewise in its grave; but the
ancient language of the Britons was still alive—it looked,
too, strong and healthy, and was likely to Fee the death of
many more languages—(hear, hear)—it bad withstood the
encroachment of the English, the fury of the Dane, and
the address of the Norman, and he had no doubt it would
be handed down in its surpassing excellence to :he latest
posterity. (Loud applause ) Some had traced its anti-
quity to the family of Ada Fri. The first san was called
Cain—"cawd un"—they had found one. Abel—"Ab ail"
- the second son. He called on them to observe its univer-
saliry : all infants lisped it in their " dad, dad," " ta, ta."
(Applause and laughter.) In the East Indies there was
a dangerous pass called " savan drooge"—safn drwg ; and
without mentioning the different names of places in Ire-
land, Scotland, and England, there was Glasgow—" coed
glas," Avon in the south of England, &c. There was a
shade of it in the Irish, the Manx, and the Gallic ; it
flourished in America, it was alive in France, it was ca-
ressed in London, it was to be heard, not only in the courts
and alleys, but likewise on the finest streets of Liverpool.
( Hear, hear.) If some were desirous of extinguishing
their language, they found that bishops began to learn it,
and princes were coming to patronise it. He thought if
they lost their native language, they would hear their
mountains groan—they would hear the giant Snowdon
complain, in a rumb.ing tone, to his brother Ceder Idris ;
their rivers would mutter their lamentation—(laughter
and appl'aese)—the Teivy meeting the Dovey in the bread
Atlantic would cry shame upon the sons of Cambria.
(Loud demonstrations of applause, which were continued
with great enthusiasm for some time after the reverend
gentleman resumed his seat.) _ .

The CHAIRMAN expressed his obligations to those pre-
sent, who were not members of the society, but who were
its friends, and had honoured them with their company.
lie delighted to find present gentlemen of various sects of
religion and politics, fr'orn the several portions of the
United Kingdom, and proposed " The health of the
Strangers."
Mr. SIMPSON and Mr. ELLIS returned thanks in feel-
ingterros.

'The nest toast was " The Mayor slid Town Council,"
which was received with much applause.
Mr. ROWLAND, after a very emphatic and pleasing
speech, in which he manfully assumed his claim to be by
descent an Anc ent Briton, proposed, in terms of deserved
encomium on the individual, " The health of the worthy
President of the Society." which was enthusiastically re-
ceived,

The CHAIRMAN expressed his heartfelt gratitude for
the compliment, and after pointing out the effects of the
society, as of the most benevolent kind, expressed a hope
thot when it became better known it would be better sup-
ported.

A capital, humorous national song was here sung by the
PreEiden!, Mr. Thomas Owen, written, we believe,
for the occasion.

The health of the Rev. D. PARRY was then proposed,
with a warm eulogium, and was feelingly responded to by
the rev. gentlemen, who said that his long travel of 200
miles to this town, and all that ho bad been enabled to do,
had b-en amply recompensed by tine delight he had expe-
rienced amongst his countrymen, and by witnessing the
examination of the chilJren of the school. He proposed
the " Immortal Memory of St. David," and gave an his-
torical account of that worthy. The toast was then drunk
with great applause.

The. CHAIRMAN said they had a token of respect to
present to a most faithful servant of the society, and re-
quested Mr. W. Morris to express the sentiments of the
members in that respect.

. -
Mr. MORRIS stated, in terms of high encomium, the
valuable and disinterested services to the society of Mr.
Jones, the secretary, who had for eleven years been unre-
mitting in his services. He also sheaved to the company
the present, a beautiful portrait of the secretary, by H ug-
gins, and in a handsome gilt frame, with an appropriate
inscription.

The SECRETARY, in replying, commenced by reading
an abstract of the accounts for the past year, which are
most satisfactory, spewing a balance of £360 on the right
side. He said that he could not follow the customary rule
by expressing his gratitude in a long and eloquent speech ;
for he had not the power to do so. The power of lan-
guage, if he possessed them, could not at all times ex-
press the honest effusions of the heart ;—and such grati-
tude as he felt, surpassed such efforts, and denied utterance
to the tongue. 'Whatever services he had rendered were
but the offspring of his duty, and all his exertions were
amply repaid by their kindness and their present that
night, which would prove a more lasting incentive to hie
future endeavours than any possible pecuniary reward.
It would be to him a perpetual memento of their kind-
ness—not of his own deserving. (Much applatise.)
On the health of the Rev. Mr. DAVIES being proposed,
that gentleman returned thanks in eloquent and feeling
terms, stating that although he had been called to the
ministry of St. Paul's, he had not ceased to be a Welsh-
man—he had not, in fact, gone over to the Saxons. He
alluded, in terms of high commendation to the Welsh
School, and the system of religious education there pur-
sued, which he believed was alone effectual for happiness
here, and salvation hereafter.
The health of the Vice-president, of the Treasurer, of
the Steward, &c., were afterwards given, and ably res-
ponded to. The toast of " The Press" was also given,
and ably responded to by Mr. Cloke.
The company separated highly pleased with the day's
proceedings.
We understand that the Rev. David Parry, the talented
preacher from South Wales, is to preach again at St.
David's, in this town, on Sunday next.

Yesterday evening the members of the Ancient Britons'
society celebrated the anniversary of their patron Saint
by partaking of a sumptuous dinner and adjuncts, at the
Globe tavern, in Williamson-street. The whole proceed-
ings were most agreeable and harmonious, enlivened by
pa' riotic addresses, songs, and sentiments, and the com-
pany separated in excellent rood humour with themselves,
and with the kindliest feelings towards all their fellow
subjects in this realm.