But the assumption, that the Welsh, resident in English towns, will soon acquire a sufficient knowledge of the English language, to render it a proper vehicle of religious truth, is not founded in fact. It is contradicted by daily experience. We know, my Lord, that it is not an easy task for adults to learn a new language. It is true, (as stated in the Report), “That by the constant intercourse with society, to which their varied avocations would necessarily lead them, such a smattering of the tongue would be gradually acquired, as might enable them to fulfil their civil engagements, without material inconvenience; at the same time that it would be difficult, or rather impossible, for them to understand discourses from the pulpit, on moral and religious subjects, when delivered in English; or to join in the services of Divine worship in that language.” As a further proof of the truth of this observation, it may be stated, that some of the members of the Sunday evening congregation, at St. Martin’s Church, who have resided in England for several years, affirm, that at this day, they cannot enter into the spirit of Divine worship, when performed in English—they declare that they have not yet been able to think in it; and in order fully to comprehend the meaning of a text or a sentence, it must undergo the process of a mental translation into their own language, and be viewed through that medium. This will appear less surprising, when we consider that it is the language in which they received their Christian education—that all the good impressions made upon their minds, were produced through its instrumentality—that it is the channel through which were conveyed the moral precepts of their early instructors, and the advice of parents, relatives, and friends. In it are treasured up all the texts of scripture, with which their memories are amply supplied. This language is associated with their most interesting recollections—with their sorrows, and with their joys; they think in it, they pray in it, they read their Bibles in it, they praise their Maker in it; and is it not desirable, my Lord, that they should hear the Gospel preached in it?