A letter addressed to the Right Honourable Lord Robert Grosvenor, M.P. / explanatory of the object and design of the Chester Cambrian Society

Transcribed from the 1832 T. Griffith edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
EXPLANATORY OF THE
OBJECT AND DESIGN
OF THE
CHESTER CAMBRIAN SOCIETY .
BY THE REV. EVAN EVANS, CHAPLAIN TO THE SOCIETY.
CHESTER : PRINTED BY T. GRIFFITH, GROSVENOR-STREET; AND SOLD BY H. HUGHES, ST. MARTIN’S LE GRAND, LONDON; AND THE BOOKSELLERS IN CHESTER.
1832.
My Lord,
The relation in which your Lordship stands to the City of Chester, as one of its Representatives, and the lively interest you always evince in every thing connected with its welfare, induce me to address your Lordship on behalf of the Cambrian Society, established in this City, about six years ago, for the purpose of providing the Welsh residents with the means of religious instruction in their native language; and that in connexion with the Established Church. Though the success with which this Institution has been attended, has far exceeded the most sanguine expectations of its friends; and though the important benefits resulting from it, have been fully appreciated by those, for whom they were originally intended; yet, my Lord, some are still to be found, who entertain conscientious scruples respecting the propriety of supporting this Society—who are yet to be convinced of the expediency of providing the natives of Wales, who come to settle in the principal towns of England, with the means of vernacular religious instruction;—who are of opinion that the Welsh, thus situated, ought to learn the language of their neighbours, by which means they would have access to all their privileges: this, they contend, would supersede the necessity of all such institutions as are founded on the principle of the Chester Cambrian Society.
It is with a view of examining the practicability of this suggestion, that I beg to submit the following pages for your Lordship’s perusal. But, before I enter upon the subject, I trust it will not be considered an improper digression, to furnish your Lordship with a brief sketch of the circumstances which led to the formation of this Society.