The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-23 00:00:00

ney from Edinburgh to Liverpool. He commenced with the
rock that frowns over the capital of the North, called Arthur's
Crag, and ended with Morecambe Bay, in our own county.
Now, if, (said he) in addressing a popular assembly, I have
been enabled to make out a case, is it not too bad that our
language and literature should not be patronized by the go-
vernment
of the country, as well as by Welshmen ? Have we
not a right, a sacred right, to demand that some portion of
those numerous revenues which the English extract from the -
Welsh for the service of England and Englishmen, should
be restored to us for our benefit and the benefit of our chil-
dren ? (Cheers.) They have borrowed unmercifully from us
—I leave other gentlemen to tell the tale ; but there is hardly
an English college or cathedral which has not thrust its long
hand into our purse. (Cheers.) 1 would have travelled a
thousand miles to have been enabled to give utterance to the
feelings which I have expressed on this occasion ; and if
there is a single Englishman who has sympathised with me,
I beseech him to cherish theleeling, and tell his brethren
that we are a much-injured, now an innocent and harmless
race, and they ought to do all they can to place us on the
same platform as themselves. Give us the same advantages
which you possess, and we will show you as vigorous talents.
as good scholars, and sound judgments, and as clear heads,
in the mountains of the Cymry as in the more physically fa-
voured land of England. I speak from experience. I have
taught numerous classes of young 'Welshmen, of young Eng-
lishmen, and of young Scotchmen, and do conscientiously
declare this my opinion, that the Welsh, in quickness, are
superior to either the English or the Scotch. I don't say
that they are equal in perseverance, because perseverance is
the result of studious habits and education. Give them that,
and I have no doubt that their quickness, backed by perse-
verance, will cause them, in time, to be welcomed by you as
worthy countrymen of Shakspeare and Milton, of Newton
and of Locke. (Applause.) And now I address myself to
the Welsh. We have been invaded both by Saxons and Nor-
mans. We did all we could to preserve our independent
existence, though we were not successful : but I am sorry to
tell you now that a Saxon has made an attack on the Cymry,
not like one of the old times. He calls you not Cymry, but
Cymmerwyr—that is, robbers. This is done by an English-
man, and a wise one, except for this folly. He says, too,
that you are descendants of the Picts, and not of the old
Britons. Is it not strange that such nonsense should not
only be published but patronized by the public ? The rev.
gentleman mentioned, in conclusion, that there were two
societies the (as we understood) lona Society of Scotland,
and the Royal Irish Academy, the secretaries of which had
expressed an anxiety to know what Welshmen were doing,
and accompanied with an offer to make known, in return, all
that they were doing. It had been said by an Englishman
that the Welsh arrogated everything to "themselves, that the
Scotch arrogated everything to themselves, and that the
Irish did the same thing. He (the'speaker) hoped that that
day was now past, and that they would all make common
cause to throw light on the history, the language, and the
literature of one of the most ancient nations in the world—a
nation which came from.the Caucasus before either the Hel-
lenic or the Teutdnic streams of emigration.—(The archdea-
con sat down amidst very animated and general applause.)
The Rev. T. PRICE then addressed the meeting at some
length, but our limited space prevents us from giving his
speech with the same fulness as the preceding one. His ob-
servations may be considered as continuatory of those of
Archdeacon Williams. He said that when they had been in
the habit of responding to the bardic call amidst their native
mountains, they always came together in anticipation of
hearing their land's language in purity, and of listening to
the strains of the harp. So far, their gratification was purely
selfish. Here, however, a new state of things had been ex-
hibited. Their able advocate had not only assured that their
oivn language was in reality their own, but that it was inter-
woven with thu very basis of the English tongue. This, cer-
tainly, had never before been put before the English in so
striking a point of view as Archdeacon Williams had done it.
As to the Welsh language, they had always known it was
their own, warp and woof ; but they were not aware that it
had taken such a part in the formation of the English lan-
guage. As this was the case, however, perhaps the audience
would permit him to lay before them some few remarks on
the part which Welsh literature had taken' in the formation
of European literature. The first language formed in Europe,
after the breaking down of the Latin, was the French. But
in the eleventh century, if not in the twelfth, it was a com-
plete jargon, and bore no resemblance to the French lan-
guage of the present day. In the production of that period
and jargon, however, the heroes of Wales, Arthur and the
knights of the round table, were the principal figures. It
might be said that chivalry and the romances of the trouba-
dours were not of Welsh origin ; but he was not ready to ad-
mit that, seeing who were the personages figuring in the
romances ; and that the very names Caerleon and Cardiff
were Welsh names. The troubadours of the south of France
altogether depended for their materials on the importations
made from Cambria. It might, probably, be asserted that
they got their materials from Italy ; but that assertion would
would not stand the test of examination ; for the Italian
language was not formed much before the time of Dante,
and before he improved, or re-constructed it, it was a
mere jargon. It was quite evident that Dante, Ariosto,
and Tasso, were acquainted with the Welsh legends.
Some one might say, " Ah, they. had those from
Spain ; the Spaniards were always a chivalrous na-
tion." But the Spanish language was formed still
later than the Italian ; and, looking at the first essays of
Spanish minstrels, what did they find ? Positively, the
heroes of the Round Table, in so prominent a point of
view, that it was quite plain that their literature was
drawn from the fountain head of Wales. In' order to
bring this home to every person, the speaker referred
to the novel of Cervantes, one of the most striking
scenes in which was the forest-scene, the principal actor
in which was the great enchanter Merlin. Romance, there-
fore, did not originate with the Spaniards. Could it be
attributed, then, to the Saracens ? No ; for the Arabian
Nights were not composed till the fifteenth century, though
some few straggling tales might have had a previous existence.
It might be said, " Look, then, at Germany." The Germans
have an ancient language, not intelligible to the common
people, which has disappeared, like all those of ancient
Europe, with the exception of the Welsh. There is the
romance called—(we could not catch the name)—true ; and
the romance sets forth the actions of King Arthur and his
Knights ; but in the descriptions many Arabic words occur ;
the days of the week and months were Arabic, and some
other matters evidently indicated an Arabian tint. Now,
how did the Arabians happen to introduce Welsh names into
the romance ? "Oh ! they are not Welsh, but Arabic."
Well, if so, how did they come to introduce the name of
Arthur? . Why was the whole machinery perfectly Welsh ?
And why did not they introduce Rustain and Iskander ? The
romance was incr.:ay
4" embodiment of the tales of 0--
crueadcrs, with the introduction of some, Aranic words.
After some farther remarks on the same subject, the rev.
gentleman concluded.
In the course of the subsequent proceedings there was a
great variety of singing and harp playing. The prizes were
hen distributed