The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-05 00:00:00

LONDON CYMREIGYDDION SOCIETY

The 45th anniversary of the above society was celebrated
on the 23d December ult. Though the old " Fam Gym-
deithos" cannot boast of the splendour of some of her pro-
geny, yet the muster on that day was a sufficient proof that
the lapse of time has not had an injurious effect upon her.
At two o'clock the members and a considerable number of
strangers, of both sexes, assembled at the Welsh Baptist
Chapel, Moorfields, to hear the reports of the judges as to
the prizes offered at the preceding anniversary. The judges
are best known by their bardic names of Caervallwch, Twrog
and Eryron Gwyllt Wallia.

The .husiness'was commenced with a prayer by the Rev.
Mr. Davies, of the borough of Southwark ; and William
Morgan, Esq., (Surgeon Dentist) having been called to the
chair, entered into an interesting detail of the objects of
Cymreigyddion Societies, and then ordered the competitors
for the prizes to the best Welsh readers, to retire into a room
by themselves. They were then called, one at a time, to read
before the meeting, and examined as to their knowledge of
Welsh grammar. Mr. Wm. Owen obtained the best prize,
and Mr. Owen Rowland (Awenydd Mon) was declared second
best. Similar prizes were limited to the ages of 13 and 17.
First prizes were obtained by Mary James and Frances
Evans, and William Fall, a young Englishman, was rewarded
with a second best prize. Caervaltwch then delivered an
elaborate report upon the merits of the Essays received " upon
the Evil Tendency of Chartism in the Principality." Two
possessed considerable merit. Alfred often wandered from
his subject, and Gwladgarwr kept closer to his text ; but the
Welsh of both was imperfect. Gwladgarwr possessed the
greater merit, but on account of the great labour of Alfred,
it was recommended that the prize should be divided betwixt
them. They proved to be Mr. Hugh Williams, of London,
(Gwladgrrwr) and Mr. H. Evans, of Cardiff (Alfred).
Twrog delivered the opinion upon the odes received " To
the Memory of the late Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart., M.P. The
defects of four were pointed out in a masterly style. The fifth,
signed " Ilenadur," was a very superior performance ; but
the adjudicators had not the slightest hesitation in awarding
the prize (4:10 10s) to " Milwr," whose composition was not
only worthy of the prize but of the subject. The judges had
no doubt but that after its publication it would become the
model for the younger bards of Cambria. The Secretary
stated that " Milwr" had not sent his proper name. The
meeting was then addressed by Mr. Dewi Watkins and Mr.
Robert Parry, until it was time to adjourn to discuss the
merits of the fare provided by mine host of the Old Parr's
Head, in Aldersgate-street.

After dinner the President, who had been supported by D.
Lewis, Eq., M.D., Rev. P. Llewelyn, M.A., Thus. Edwards,
Esq., (Caervallwch) Rev. D. Jones, 0. W. Thomas, Esq.,
Win. Jones, Esq., Dr. James, and about sixty other ancient
Britons, vacated the chair, and Mr. Dewi Watkins, the Pre-
sident tbr the ensuing year, was moved thereto. The first
toast was "The health of her Majesty," and the national
antliern, in Welsh, was sung in a very superior style. After
the toast of the " Principality" Mr. H. Thomas sang " Ses-
seiwn yn Nghymru." The next toast was " Oes y Byd i'r
laith Gymreig," and the noble race of Sbenkin was beauti-
fully played on the harp by Master Thomas, of the Royal
Academy of Music.

EXTRA SHOT.—On Monday last, Mr. F. Crosfield, of
Arnside, killed on the Sands, near Silverdale, at one shot,
twenty wild-ducks! Napier himself would hardly beat that.
—Lancaster Gazette.

REPRESENTATION OF ROCHDALE.—The conservative
candidate for this borough is James Fenton, Esq., brother to
the present member. Ile liberals have fixed upon Sharman
Crawford, Esq.
SINGULAR ROBBERY.—Some days ago the country house
of W. Hulton, Esq., at Bag-lane, was forcibly entered during
the night, and the iron safe was dragged from the wall, and
the guard at the key-hole having been removed, the aperture
was tilled with gunpowder, and blown up, and thus access
was effected. Little more than £lO however were taken,
but, singular to relate, two persons were sleeping in a room
adjoining and were not alarmed by Ithe thiews.—Bolton
Chronicle.

wALsA,Lt

MR. JOHN BENJAMIN SMITH, OF MANCHESTER, CANDI-

DATE FOR WALSALI

BIRMINGHAM, JAN.. 3.—Elated with their success in
driving the Hon. Mr. Lyttelton, the Whig-candidate, from
the. field, Messrs. Rawson, Prentice, and Acland, the emis-
saries of the anti-corn-law league, have, in imitation of the
three Tooley-street tailors, been amusing the good people of

v uul lug Lue pan week, oy cneir electioneering antics
publishing manifestoes in the name and on behalf of " the
people of England."

Mr. Forst

jun. having declined to act as the puppet of
these itinerant agitators, one of them, Mr. Archibald Pren-
tice, was sent off to Manchester to fetch a candidate from
thence—every respectable man in Walsall, rejoicing in the
name of liberal or radical, having in vain been solicited to
come forward. During his absence, Mr. Acland (another

of the lured anti-corn men), put forth an address to the elec-
tors, as pub;ished in Saturday's Herald, informing them that,
should his colleague, Mr. Prentice, not succeed in search of
a candidate, he (Mr. Acland!), rather than that the cotton
cause should suffer, would offer himself as their candidate ;
and, in order to keep up the excitement, he forthwith com-
menced a system of speechifying in the public streets, with
the view of enlightening the people on the subject of " the
bread tax," during which every clap-trap was had recourse
to for the purpose of exciting a laugh or a cheer. This
course of proceeding, accompanied with the most foul-
mouthed abuse of Mr. Gladstone and his conservative friends,
continued up to Saturday morning, when Mr. Prentice
returned from Manchester, bringing with him " John Ben-
Smith '

Jamin a, .t.sq., one of her Majesty's justices of the
peace, chairman of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce,
and president of the national anti-corn-law league."
A meeting was forthwith called by the anti-corn law de-
puties, for half-past one o'clock, for the purpose of intro-
ducing the last new candidate, labelled as above. The Dragon
Inn, at which the deputies, with the candidate elect, have
put up, for very prudent reasons, being in the centre of the
market, a crowd was speedily collected, when Mr. Acland
presented himself at the window, mounted on a stool, and
informed the meeting that Dr. Bowring, who had been in-
vited to stand by " the league," had declined the honour, on
the plea that he was engaged for another bOrough, and he
therefore had the pleasure of introducing to their notice his
worthy friend and employer, John B. Smith, Esq., president
of the league, for whom he endeavoured to get up three cheers.
Mr. Acland hoped the electors would not be influenced by a
set of monopolists " to vote against their conscience," as he
had been informed that a certain tory banker in this town
(alluding to Mr. Forster, the late conservative representative)
had refused to discount a bill of £2O for a regular customer,
because he would not promise to vote for the tory candidate.
Mr. Forster, who fortunately was passing along the street
at this moment, heard with no little indignation this bare-
faced and most unfounded assertion, and he immediately beg-
ged to be heard in reply. ,The moment Mr. Forster was re-
cognised by the crowd be was heartily cheered, and a way
being instantly opened in front of his traducer, lie asked Mr.
Acland on whose authority he made the statement he had
just heard him utter?

Mr. Acland declined to give his authority! for which he
was assailed with hisses and other marks of disapprobation
by the crowd.

Mr. Forster then observed, that as he was plainly referred
to by Mr. Acland, he begged to assure the meeting, that
there was no truth whatever in the statement ; and, further,
that he had not, nor did he intend to exercise the slightest
undue or unworthy influence with any of the electors during
the present contest.

This manly declaration was received with loud applause,
and Mr. Acland skulked out of the way, saying that he would
make further inquiry into the circumstance, and would be
more careful what statements he made for the future.
Mr. Smith, of Manchester, afterwards came forward, and
addressed the meeting, declaring that he would not leave
Walsall until he had given every elector an opportunity of
recording his vote. Mr. Smith proceeded to explain his
principles and his views on the subject of the corn laws ; but
it is unnecessary to follow him throughout the details of his
political creed, which are in substance similar to those con-
tained in his published address to the electors which he issued
yesterday evening.

As a specimen of the means resorted to by Messrs. Acland
and Co. to accomplish their object, they have given notice
of their intention to have a Bible placed on a table in the
market place, in which the people are to be shown the various
passages of Scripture wherein, as he impiously asserts, the
Word of God denounces all taxes on food and corn. In ad-
dition to this, he has publicly threatened to publish the names
of those electors who may vote against Mr. Smith.
Last night the new candidate and his anti-corn-law coad-
jutors again addressed the people from the front of the Green

Dragon, the great drift Of the speakers evidently being to
convince the electors that there was to be "no mistake" with
the present candidate, who himself repeatedly assured the
crowd that he would poll to the last man. In the mean time
there are rumours afloat that the London Reform Club, sorely
vexed at the stupid interference of the anti-corn-law dele-
gates, who have marred their hopes of securing the return of
a " liberal" representative, intend to try the forlorn hope of
sending a ministerial candidate into the field in order to see
what can be done in the way of compromise with the mar-
plots who have inflicted so much mischief on their cause.

Mr. Gladstone has been nobly supported by the conserva-
tive electors of Walsall during his canvass. Intending to re-
join his family, from whom he was called rather suddenly, he
will leave Walsall in a few days ; but his absence will be
brief, as he is well aware that the opponents with whom he
has to deal are not very scrupulous as to the means they use
in turning circumstances to their advantage. The following
address, which he published late last night, will be read with
no small gratification by his conservative friends and well-
wishers throughout the country. Although there are many
" turns " in the " tide " of electioneering affairs, there is, in
the present contest, little doubt of his success.
" TO THE ELECTORS OF WALSALL.

" Gentlemen,—Having now completed my canvass, allow
me to offer you my most grateful thanks for the uniform kind-
ness and civility which 1 have experienced from all, and the
positive promises of support which I have received from a
large majority of electors, placing beyond doubt the certainty
of my return to parliament, as the humble, though I trust
honest, representative of those loyal conservative principles,
which I rejoice to find have taken such deep root in your bo-
rough, and are rapidly extending themselves.
" It has been my desire to wait personally on every elector.
Should 1 in any case not have done so, I hope the omission
will be attributed to an accidental and not to any other cause.
" You are no doubt aware that hired itinerants have been
sent here from Manchester to dictate to you the choice of a

tally regardless of the peace and comfort of the inhabitants;
vainly hoping, by partial and gross misstatements, most un-
warranted quotations from the Holy Bible, and unprovoked
vulgar personal abuse of myself, to induce you to break your
promises, and thus promote the return of a candidate
pledged to vote for the total repeal of the corn laws ; the
effect of which, you may rest assured, whatever it may be
elsewhere, cannot be otherwise than most ruinous to Wal-
sall, involved, as its interests are, in the prosperity of the
home trade, of which the landed proprietors, and the nume-
rous classes employed in agriculture, form so great a pro-
portion. _ _

" I feel, however, the most perfect confidence that the
good sense and right feeling of the electors and inhabitants
of Walsall will insure a signal failure to the efforts of these
dictators, in their attempt to create between landlord
and tenant, employer and operative, and to poison the minds
of the labouring classes of the community.
" I shall remain in town for a few days, for the purpose of
again calling upon those electors whom I have not yet had
the pleasure of finding at home ; when 1 shall rejoin my fa-
mily, and be ready, at the shortest notice, to repair here
whenever my friends may deem it desirable ; and on the day
of election shall proceed to the poll in the fullest assurance of
their efforts being crowned with success.—l have the honour
to be, gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
" Walsall, Jan. 2, 1841." , "J. N. GLADSTONE.

The Bank of England stands in four parishes ; to the
poor of each it presented on Wednesday £lOO.
PORTSMOUTH.—The steam-vessel Avon, Lieut. Pritchard,
has passed on to Sheerness from Plymouth, with men for the
Monarch, 84, and Vernon, 50, at Sheerness. The Incon-
stant, 36, Captain Pring, has arrived at Plymouth from Cork,
with volunteer seamen tbr general service. Ths Vindictive,
a fine frigate, to mount upwards of 50 guns, is preparing here
with every despatch for commission; and at Plymouth also
are two more of the same class bringing forward, namely,
the Portland, 50. and the America, 50. The greatest dis-
patch is used here in the equipment of the St. Vincent, 120,
a three-decker of the largest class ; she is getting rigged, and
otherwise fitting for sea., The pendant will be hoisted in
about a month. The Vengeance, 84, is in the basin, rigged
and masted, and only waiting orders for commission. The
Driver, a new steam-ship recently launched here, is in dock
preparing for immediate commission. She is intended for
the Mediterranean. The Impregnable, 104, Captain Thomas
Forrest, C. 8., and Belleisle, 78, Captain Toup Nicolas, are
in Plymouth Sound, where they will complete their crews,
and sea stores. They will not proceed to the Mediterranean,
however, for some time. The Indus, 84, Captain Sir James
Stirling, and Tweed, 20, Commander Douglas, are alongside
their respective hulks, fitting out. Both ships will be ready
for sea about the 25th of January. The above are the only
ships equipping here, but orders are daily looked for to, com-
mission several more. The steam firigate Phoenix is rapidly
refitting in the harbour, to return to the Mediterranean.
There is no commander yet appointed to her. It is expected
that she will proceed about the sth of January. The Apollo
and Athol, troop-ships, are nearly ready for sea. They will
go to Cork to transfer troops, the 42d regiment, thence to
the lonian Islands. The Neptune, 120, is to be overhauled
at this port for commission, if necessary.—Brighton Gazette.

GUIANA BOUNDARY EXPEDITION.—An expedition has
this week left this country for Guiana to explore and settle
the boundaries of that important colony.—ln order to fully
understand the objects of the expedition, it is necessary to
state the position in which this country stands in reference
to our possessions in South America. The present colony of
British Guiana was conquered from the Dutch, and ceded to
Great Britain by the treaty of Paris. This country, there-
fore, is entitled to the same extent of territory as was pos-
sessed by the Dutch; and, as far as the Dutch outposts and
possessions extended, Great Britain claims the right to ex-
tend her boundary. There had never been any treaty
between Portugal,'Spain, and Holland when in possession of
this part of South America, in regard to their respective
boundaries; and, as far as these powers are concerned, they
are, therefore, undetermined. The Brazilian government,
however, which is always grasping, has lately laid claim to a
large portion of the country claimed by, and hitherto sup-
posed to belong to, Great Britain. They have encroached
largely on the, south-western boundary of the colony ; and
so barefaced have been their proceedings, that they have
even ventured to seize upon Pirara, a village in which En-
glish colonists were settled as early as 1811, and where, as
late as the year 1838, a missionary of the established church
founded a protestant mission. This village has recently been
taken possession of by a detachment of the Brazilian militia,
and the mission dispersed. A second attempt of the mis-
sionary to found a mission, further eastward, on the right
bank of the Russunasic, met with a similar fate. The Bra-
zilians have also, for some time, pursued an atrocious sys-
tem of making predatory incursions into the country,
where they surprise the Indian villages by night, set fire to
the houses, carry the unfortunate inhabitants into their own
territories, and detain them in a state of slavery. This sys-
tem has been pursued for a series of years, and is, to the pre-
sent day, in full operation. The consequence is, that the
unfortunate natives, who look to Great Brit-in for protection,
are kept in a state of constant alarm, and are, in fact, hourly
exposed to be kidnapped, as many of their countrymen have
already been. In these circumstances, and in pursuance of
the reiterated application of the colonists, her majesty's go-
vernment has resolved to ascertain the exact boundaries of
the colony, in order both to prevent future question with the
Brazilian government, and to enable it to afford efficient pro-
tection to the natives living within our territories. The
commissioners selected to execute this duty is Mr. Robert
H. Schomburgh, a gentleman of great scientific acquirements,
and well calculated for the employment, both by his previous
pursuits-and by his extensive knowledge of the colony, to the
exploring of which he has already devoted several years of
arduous exertion. Along with Mr. Schomburgh are asso-
ciated Mr. Glascott, R.N., as assistant surveyor, and Mr.
Walton, an artist. The Baron de Humboldt, who takes a
great interest in the subject, having communicated to his ma-
jesty the King of Prussia, the object of the expedition, and
the region it was to traverse, the Prussian government applied
to Lord John Russell for permission to appoint a gentleman
to the expedition, who, at their expense, would collect speci-
mens of natural history and plants for their institutions. The
consent of the British government was at once given ; and
Mr. Richard Schomburgh, a younger brother of the British
commissioner, accordingly accompanies the expedition for
that purpose.—iforning Chronicle,

taken place. ..ne large clock in front of the spire was so
injured by the lightning that•it instantly stopped, and such is
the damage done to the steeple that the Rev. Mr. Stone, the
rector, and the churchwardens, did not deem:it advisable to
sing the bells, or open the porch or western entrances during
the day ; and those of the parishioners who attended divine
service in the body of the church, which is not at all injured,
were admitted at the northern entrance in Church-street.
The lightning during the storm, which at this period of the
year iu the metropolis is almost unprecedented, was in the
whole of this neighbourhood (Spitaltields) most awful, so
that it is much feared that considerable damage has taken
place.

STREATHAM CHURCH STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.—TOTAL
DESTRUCTION OF THE SPIRE. - Yesterday morning, be-
tween six and seven o'clock, the inhabitants of Streatham,
Surrey, were thrown into the utmost consteivtion and
alarm, in consequence of discovering that the sf re of the
church was in flames, it having been struck by lightning.
An alarm was instantly given, and the parish engines were
soon on the spot : but there was not a sufficient quantity:of
hose to reach the flames. In the meantime a mountede x-
press had been sent to London for the engines, and in an
incredible short time, the one from the Waterloo-road station,
under the direction of Hamilton, the engineer, was on the
spot, and the men instantly got to work. In a very short
time, the engines from Southwark-bridge-road, Watling-
street, and Morgan's-lane, arrived, and with the united aid
of the firemen (to whom the greatest praise is due), the clock
and the fine peal of bells were saved from destruction; but
the spire is totally. destroyed. The loss will fall on the
Union fire-office. The curate and churchwardens were on
the spot, and expressed the greatest apprehension for the
safety of the bells. The ringers, as soon as they were allowed
by the firemen (the water wetting them through to the skin),
rang a merry peal, to the great satisfaction of the inhabitants.
But for the timely arrival of the first London engine, the
whole of the sacred edifice must have been destroyed.
THUNDEft-STORM.—Yesterday morning, shortly after four
o'clock, the town of Greenwich and its vicinity were visited

by one of the most awful thunder thunder-storms, accompa-
nied with continued lightning'of the inost vivid appearance,
eve': remembered in this locality. It was followed by a long-
continued and heavy fall of hail, which has done considera-
ble damage to the glass of the numerous market-gardens in
the neighbourhood. It continued with unabated violence till
six o'clock, and from that hour its fury was lessened until
seven o'clock, when it entirely ceased.
THE THUNDER-STORM ON THE RIVER.—(From a Cor-
respondent.)—The dreadful " war of elements" yesterday
morning was awfully grand on the bosom of "Old Father
Thames." Several vessels were coming up the river with the
flood tide at the time; and the vivid flashes of lightninv,
illumining and darkening their sails, followed by the loudb
peals of thunder, rendered the scene not an imperfect repre-
sentation of a naval engagement. The crews of several ves-
sels lying off the Tower, on being aroused from their slum-
bers, were in the greatest state of trepidation imaginable—
they actually believing that the garrison had commenced a
cannonading upon them.. The shipping on the river did not
sustain any damage from the electric fluid.

(From our own Correspondent
On Sunday morning, about five o'clock, the neighbourhood
of the metropolis was visited with the most awful storm of
thunder and lightning which it has ever been our fortune to
witness, and which we fear has been attended with most de-
structive effects. Our first intimation of its presence was by
being roused from sleep by a sudden glare of light within our
bedroom, which was succeeded by a roll of thunder, so unlike
anything which we have hitherto been accustomed to desig-
nate by that name, that at first and for some time during its
countinuance we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe
that it was indeed that awful phenomenon which was sound-
ing upon our ear. It was not the sharp crash distinctly re-
verbrated until it dies away in a low rumbling sound in the
distance, and which Maturin has fancifully compared to "the
trampling of mailed steeds upon a rocky pavement," but a
continuous roar as of a thousand pieces of artillery, discharged
so quickly in succession as to produce but one prolonged re-
port. For five minutes, at the least, we should imagine this
terrific peal poured itself out over the multitudinous streets
of the silent metropolis, mingled with the hissing sound of a
shower of hail and sleet which dashed against the windows
and streamed down the roofs of the houses, until another
flash, more vivid if possible than the first, seemed for a mo-
ment to awe even the very elements into silence.
We could imagine the impression produced by the sudden
bursting of a Congreve rocket into a dungeon cell, whose
occupant had languished in darkness until even the light of
his gaoler's flickering lamp dazzled his enfeebled vision ; and
the glare of that flash was more overpowering than could be
produced by such an explosion ; whilst the darkness which
succeeded was even denser than " dungeon darkness."
Possibly the latter might be the result of a nervous affection,
for we admit that for some seconds afterwards we were
completely blinded, and the same effect was produced upon
every individual with whom we have conversed upon the
subject. The thunder which almost immediately followed,
was nearer and louder than the first peal ; and as flash suc-
ceeded flash, and one report chased another, we were glad to
close our eyes and- to stop our ears, in the vain hope of
shutting out their overpowering and frightful magnificence,
[Our correspondent then adds some further particulars
which will be found above.]